Thank you for another critically important essay. Oof, thats depressing.
It makes me think we’re really screwed here. It was one thing when our crazed authoritarians were opposing crazed communist authoritarians in the balance for global power. They perhaps both did much damage but the overall trajectory of the world was positive, in some ways balanced towards a moderate middle ground. But now, Putin and this band of a-holes are essentially on the same page as the dark elements within our society and power structures. The Chinese are not exactly left wingers any more. Britain is as dark as the USA. France and Germany are better but still conflicted and have very little military clout if push comes to shove.
Even with just controlling one house of congress, Republicans can essentially tank the USA and the world order in the process...and they appear poised to do so.
Thank you for speaking up about it. Why is this not the main topic of every news broadcast?
From Thom Hartmann: the billionaire-funded Heritage Foundation is pulling together fully 20,000 hard-core rightwingers to staff a new Trump administration starting on day one. This time here will be none of the bumbling characterized by Trump’s first three years. We could go from democracy to authoritarianism in a matter of months, much like happened in Germany in 1933, as Trump also fulfills his promises to realign America with Russia and Saudi Arabia and abandon our democratic allies around the world.
In April of 2022 The Heritage Foundation announced the launch of the 2025 Presidential Transition Project, a new initiative exclusively focused on preparing the next administration with conservative policy recommendations and the properly vetted and trained personnel needed to take back America.
The 2025 Presidential Transition Project builds off Heritage’s longstanding “Mandate for Leadership,” which has been highly influential for presidential administrations since the Reagan administration. Most recently, the Trump administration relied heavily on Heritage’s “Mandate” for policy guidance, embracing nearly two-thirds of Heritage’s proposals within just one year in office.
Heritage also announced that Paul Dans, former chief of staff of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) during the Trump administration, will join the organization as director of this initiative.
Trump wants to get rid of the civil servants and here is his well for new employees dedicated to him, not the Constitution. He has also said he wants to get rid of the Constitution.
Former President Donald Trump called for the termination of the Constitution to overturn the 2020 election and reinstate him to power Saturday in a continuation of his election denialism and pushing of fringe conspiracy theories.
Well this is for the both sides crowd! There is no both sides to any of this un democratic, anti freedom horseshit going in American politics today. There is only one sorry ass fascist party today, right now, this very second in America, they call that party the GOP!
Regarding the debt limit: I would ask Nancy Pelosi to identify enough level-headed Republican House members, enough to join with the Democratic minority--I think the number is five--and find a way to pay the bills.
Last week I was labeled “paranoid” on this site, funny shit. After this article, you probably will be so labeled as well. Those who warn, get ignorant comments. I was in Chile in 1971. That was some wild stuff. Don’t forget the banks, Ruth, they are a part of it. Nixon and Company, removed us from the gold standard in 1971. Todays banks are no accident. JP Morgan, is becoming the “Mother” of all banks. History is our teacher, or, it isn’t. Thanks Ruth, exceptional article.
In the not-too-distant past, a mere threat by the GOP not to raise the debt ceiling led to a major stock market slide and some attendant economic strife here in the U.S. If the GOP doesn't "pull back" quickly from its current threat, we could see a similar situation - except this time on a global scale.
And while it may be true that many in the GOP would be willing to crash both the U.S. and world economies in order to "set the stage for right-wing rule," history also shows us that the GOP never learns from its mistakes.
The GOP THINKS that if the economy crashes, "the people" will blame Biden and the current Administration, since they are the ones in power, and that this will help the GOP. But, unable to learn, the GOP forgets that every single time they have tried this in the past, with either the debt ceiling or "shutting down the government" (which many of them seem to be conflating), it has backfired - bigly.
Most famously, the Newt Gingrich-led government shutdown of 1995-96 actually helped get Clinton re-elected. And while the GOP held both houses of Congress, they lost seats in the House. In the 1998 midterms, they again maintained control, but lost more House seats - the first time this had happened in a midterm in decades. The GOP tried it again in 2013, shutting down the government over the passage of the ACA. And while it did not hurt them electorally in 2014, the majority of the public nevertheless blamed the GOP for the temporary economic misery.
There were a few other times in the past several decades that the GOP "shut down the government" or threatened not to raise the debt ceiling - and although they hoped to blame the Democrats (who held the White House at those times), it was THEY who got blamed.
Of course, past is not always prologue, so vigilance and action are always important. But I'm not so sure that "the gang that couldn't shoot straight" - i.e., a GOP that has shown itself to be a modern version of the Keystone Kops, for whom it took 15 votes to elect a Speaker, and whose House caucus is run by certifiable loonies like MTG, Boebert, Gaetz and the rest of the clown car - won't shoot itself in the foot yet again. If that happens, the GOP may actually continue to self-destruct.
Finally! When I saw the obvious shift to some form of a dictatorship, I went looking for answers. Few websites out of Hungary have been active since 2018. It was a weird and sudden drop-off that made sense. I read Applebaum's, "Twilight of Democracy - The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism," and bought "Strongmen" last year but was sort of afraid of reading it. I've started it and intend to get through most of it in the next week. The only thing I see in umpf is a very weak organic being. I haven't forgotten his Mussolini imitation, though.
In the meantime, I have no trust in magas. I can't call them "republicans" because they aren't recognizable as that old party. Someone wrote a book called, "Cruelty is the Point," and it's an appropriate saying because magas do want to crash and burn us to get rid of Biden. They made that clear some years ago.
I'm glad to finally land in Ruth Ben-Ghiat's land of reality so at least I see where I'm going. Many thanks.
I do enjoy your work, and I thank you for it. I’m sure will wind up on the GOP list of people to be rounded up, then to be disappeared, when they go full Fascist on everyone. So we have that in common. Maybe we can have discussions while being forced to clean up our torture chamber. I guess we better learn know how to get dried blood stains out of the concrete now, that way we won’t be beaten harder. I’m personally am looking to see if I can buy cyanide capsules over the counter, or do I need a prescription to purchase them. Anyhow thank you for all you do.
Absolutely thank you for superb essay with so many angles to develop and enhance for our important discussions........and it is Final Exam Week with so much end of semester grading and presentations!!! AND my youngest son wants to take his mother to the theater on Saturday..........oh....
Irresponsible extremist actors in the MAGA congress hope to knock the US economy into economic armageddon ahead of the 24 election in order pave the way for a Trump come back. In addition to a weaponized debt ceiling crisis, I also am looking for other actors and powers from around the world to assist them in their efforts to bring about a Trump led autocracy right here in the good old USA. .
In the next year, should we be surprised if the Saudis led by Trump ally MBS sharply decrease oil production just in time for the election? After all a little pain at the pump is always good for an incumbent isn't it? Should we be surprised if other authoritarian actors like Putin instigate tension by creating an international military crisis's to make the American President look weak? Maybe that could involve missiles and jets flying into sovereign airspace of its European allies along certain borders? Is it a given social media will once again be rife with Russian propaganda spreading lies and disinformation just ahead of the election? Are the Chinese going to just sit idly by without meddling in some behind the scenes way? They're all looking for ways to hurt Biden and the economy any way they can. Ultimately, this is a contest between the West and its system of liberal, rules based democratic order and a system of global autocracies led by Validiir Piutin and his oligarchs.
Hi! I do a current events presentation once a month at the Wilkes Barre, PA JCC. My presentation today referred to George Soros. I presented that "Soros-backed" used by the Republicans today is an anti semitic trope. I referrenced the character of Emanual Goldstein in "1984". Do you agree and do you see the reference to Goldstein as legit? Most of my audience agreed that "Soros-backed" is antisemitic and said, "well that's just the way the republicans do business today." I expressed that we should be outraged! Then they repeated the same quote again. A. Frank
The debt limit imposed in 1917 was not a Constitutional amendment. Congress can't ignore the fourteenth amendment section 4.. Biden should by executive order have Yellen pay the bills. If the Republicans object, the DOJ should argue the debt limit is unconstitutional in the SCOTUS and get rid of the debt limit so the Republicans can't be used to force their economic agenda or tank the economy.
You have elucidated the current and pending events that require every organization of any kind to start a marketing campaign that vividly shows the horrors that a fascist government will bring.
Moderate Republicans and independents need to be “awakened “ now, non stop, until the 2024 election. Every minority in our country should be shown the actual footage of how the Jewish community, in Germany, was used as a scapegoat for repression of the country as a whole. No minority should feel escape-proof if MAGA gains more control than they currently have in the federal as well as in many state governments. This effort will require the use of fear against the fear that MAGA has and will continue to use.
Thank you again, Ruth, for another truth-filled and insightful recounting of how the desire for power and greed has led to the destruction of a democracy! It’s shocking that there are groups of people that love chaos, discord, and division. For those of us that are peace loving and are devoted to the common good, we ask this question: When we see autocracy on the rise, what are the most effective ways to ban together and attempt to stop it?
'We are the middle-class' (Duh) ---- tell everyone you know. The majority of people in America are not oligarchs. People need to quit drooling over money & wealth. They are shooting themselves in the foot. Vote/ support the democratic party 100% to save our country. Talk to every one you meet.
"The massive domestic and international damage that a default on U.S. debt would bring might lead some to think that the GOP can't possibly be so vindictive or irresponsible. That would underestimate the Republican party's appetite for chaos and destruction."
The GOP has now moved in to the realm of Machiavellianism, where any means necessary will be used to accomplish their end goal. Their pleasure in hurting others is evident also. This is sadism. So the GOP now has two characteristics of the Dark Tetrad. But their leader, Trump has all four characteristics (Machiavellianism, sadism, narcissism and psychopathy). Trump's darkness is flowing down hill to his followers. Authoritarianism and psychopathy/sociopathy go hand in hand.
It's no coincidence that both Kissinger and Pinochet are/were sociopaths. People with no conscience, empathy or remorse, hate democracy. Their grandiose self image leads them to prefer feudalism, fascism or any form of authoritarianism.
Our GOP has become a party that is emulating the sickness of its sociopathic hero. They are suffering from collective delusion and I consider them to be radioactive in their destruction of our society.
Thank you for another critically important essay. Oof, thats depressing.
It makes me think we’re really screwed here. It was one thing when our crazed authoritarians were opposing crazed communist authoritarians in the balance for global power. They perhaps both did much damage but the overall trajectory of the world was positive, in some ways balanced towards a moderate middle ground. But now, Putin and this band of a-holes are essentially on the same page as the dark elements within our society and power structures. The Chinese are not exactly left wingers any more. Britain is as dark as the USA. France and Germany are better but still conflicted and have very little military clout if push comes to shove.
Even with just controlling one house of congress, Republicans can essentially tank the USA and the world order in the process...and they appear poised to do so.
Thank you for speaking up about it. Why is this not the main topic of every news broadcast?
From Thom Hartmann: the billionaire-funded Heritage Foundation is pulling together fully 20,000 hard-core rightwingers to staff a new Trump administration starting on day one. This time here will be none of the bumbling characterized by Trump’s first three years. We could go from democracy to authoritarianism in a matter of months, much like happened in Germany in 1933, as Trump also fulfills his promises to realign America with Russia and Saudi Arabia and abandon our democratic allies around the world.
In April of 2022 The Heritage Foundation announced the launch of the 2025 Presidential Transition Project, a new initiative exclusively focused on preparing the next administration with conservative policy recommendations and the properly vetted and trained personnel needed to take back America.
The 2025 Presidential Transition Project builds off Heritage’s longstanding “Mandate for Leadership,” which has been highly influential for presidential administrations since the Reagan administration. Most recently, the Trump administration relied heavily on Heritage’s “Mandate” for policy guidance, embracing nearly two-thirds of Heritage’s proposals within just one year in office.
Heritage also announced that Paul Dans, former chief of staff of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) during the Trump administration, will join the organization as director of this initiative.
Trump wants to get rid of the civil servants and here is his well for new employees dedicated to him, not the Constitution. He has also said he wants to get rid of the Constitution.
Former President Donald Trump called for the termination of the Constitution to overturn the 2020 election and reinstate him to power Saturday in a continuation of his election denialism and pushing of fringe conspiracy theories.
Well this is for the both sides crowd! There is no both sides to any of this un democratic, anti freedom horseshit going in American politics today. There is only one sorry ass fascist party today, right now, this very second in America, they call that party the GOP!
Regarding the debt limit: I would ask Nancy Pelosi to identify enough level-headed Republican House members, enough to join with the Democratic minority--I think the number is five--and find a way to pay the bills.
Last week I was labeled “paranoid” on this site, funny shit. After this article, you probably will be so labeled as well. Those who warn, get ignorant comments. I was in Chile in 1971. That was some wild stuff. Don’t forget the banks, Ruth, they are a part of it. Nixon and Company, removed us from the gold standard in 1971. Todays banks are no accident. JP Morgan, is becoming the “Mother” of all banks. History is our teacher, or, it isn’t. Thanks Ruth, exceptional article.
In the not-too-distant past, a mere threat by the GOP not to raise the debt ceiling led to a major stock market slide and some attendant economic strife here in the U.S. If the GOP doesn't "pull back" quickly from its current threat, we could see a similar situation - except this time on a global scale.
And while it may be true that many in the GOP would be willing to crash both the U.S. and world economies in order to "set the stage for right-wing rule," history also shows us that the GOP never learns from its mistakes.
The GOP THINKS that if the economy crashes, "the people" will blame Biden and the current Administration, since they are the ones in power, and that this will help the GOP. But, unable to learn, the GOP forgets that every single time they have tried this in the past, with either the debt ceiling or "shutting down the government" (which many of them seem to be conflating), it has backfired - bigly.
Most famously, the Newt Gingrich-led government shutdown of 1995-96 actually helped get Clinton re-elected. And while the GOP held both houses of Congress, they lost seats in the House. In the 1998 midterms, they again maintained control, but lost more House seats - the first time this had happened in a midterm in decades. The GOP tried it again in 2013, shutting down the government over the passage of the ACA. And while it did not hurt them electorally in 2014, the majority of the public nevertheless blamed the GOP for the temporary economic misery.
There were a few other times in the past several decades that the GOP "shut down the government" or threatened not to raise the debt ceiling - and although they hoped to blame the Democrats (who held the White House at those times), it was THEY who got blamed.
Of course, past is not always prologue, so vigilance and action are always important. But I'm not so sure that "the gang that couldn't shoot straight" - i.e., a GOP that has shown itself to be a modern version of the Keystone Kops, for whom it took 15 votes to elect a Speaker, and whose House caucus is run by certifiable loonies like MTG, Boebert, Gaetz and the rest of the clown car - won't shoot itself in the foot yet again. If that happens, the GOP may actually continue to self-destruct.
Wouldn't that be nice?
Finally! When I saw the obvious shift to some form of a dictatorship, I went looking for answers. Few websites out of Hungary have been active since 2018. It was a weird and sudden drop-off that made sense. I read Applebaum's, "Twilight of Democracy - The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism," and bought "Strongmen" last year but was sort of afraid of reading it. I've started it and intend to get through most of it in the next week. The only thing I see in umpf is a very weak organic being. I haven't forgotten his Mussolini imitation, though.
In the meantime, I have no trust in magas. I can't call them "republicans" because they aren't recognizable as that old party. Someone wrote a book called, "Cruelty is the Point," and it's an appropriate saying because magas do want to crash and burn us to get rid of Biden. They made that clear some years ago.
I'm glad to finally land in Ruth Ben-Ghiat's land of reality so at least I see where I'm going. Many thanks.
I do enjoy your work, and I thank you for it. I’m sure will wind up on the GOP list of people to be rounded up, then to be disappeared, when they go full Fascist on everyone. So we have that in common. Maybe we can have discussions while being forced to clean up our torture chamber. I guess we better learn know how to get dried blood stains out of the concrete now, that way we won’t be beaten harder. I’m personally am looking to see if I can buy cyanide capsules over the counter, or do I need a prescription to purchase them. Anyhow thank you for all you do.
Absolutely thank you for superb essay with so many angles to develop and enhance for our important discussions........and it is Final Exam Week with so much end of semester grading and presentations!!! AND my youngest son wants to take his mother to the theater on Saturday..........oh....
Irresponsible extremist actors in the MAGA congress hope to knock the US economy into economic armageddon ahead of the 24 election in order pave the way for a Trump come back. In addition to a weaponized debt ceiling crisis, I also am looking for other actors and powers from around the world to assist them in their efforts to bring about a Trump led autocracy right here in the good old USA. .
In the next year, should we be surprised if the Saudis led by Trump ally MBS sharply decrease oil production just in time for the election? After all a little pain at the pump is always good for an incumbent isn't it? Should we be surprised if other authoritarian actors like Putin instigate tension by creating an international military crisis's to make the American President look weak? Maybe that could involve missiles and jets flying into sovereign airspace of its European allies along certain borders? Is it a given social media will once again be rife with Russian propaganda spreading lies and disinformation just ahead of the election? Are the Chinese going to just sit idly by without meddling in some behind the scenes way? They're all looking for ways to hurt Biden and the economy any way they can. Ultimately, this is a contest between the West and its system of liberal, rules based democratic order and a system of global autocracies led by Validiir Piutin and his oligarchs.
Hi! I do a current events presentation once a month at the Wilkes Barre, PA JCC. My presentation today referred to George Soros. I presented that "Soros-backed" used by the Republicans today is an anti semitic trope. I referrenced the character of Emanual Goldstein in "1984". Do you agree and do you see the reference to Goldstein as legit? Most of my audience agreed that "Soros-backed" is antisemitic and said, "well that's just the way the republicans do business today." I expressed that we should be outraged! Then they repeated the same quote again. A. Frank
The debt limit imposed in 1917 was not a Constitutional amendment. Congress can't ignore the fourteenth amendment section 4.. Biden should by executive order have Yellen pay the bills. If the Republicans object, the DOJ should argue the debt limit is unconstitutional in the SCOTUS and get rid of the debt limit so the Republicans can't be used to force their economic agenda or tank the economy.
You have elucidated the current and pending events that require every organization of any kind to start a marketing campaign that vividly shows the horrors that a fascist government will bring.
Moderate Republicans and independents need to be “awakened “ now, non stop, until the 2024 election. Every minority in our country should be shown the actual footage of how the Jewish community, in Germany, was used as a scapegoat for repression of the country as a whole. No minority should feel escape-proof if MAGA gains more control than they currently have in the federal as well as in many state governments. This effort will require the use of fear against the fear that MAGA has and will continue to use.
Thank you again, Ruth, for another truth-filled and insightful recounting of how the desire for power and greed has led to the destruction of a democracy! It’s shocking that there are groups of people that love chaos, discord, and division. For those of us that are peace loving and are devoted to the common good, we ask this question: When we see autocracy on the rise, what are the most effective ways to ban together and attempt to stop it?
'We are the middle-class' (Duh) ---- tell everyone you know. The majority of people in America are not oligarchs. People need to quit drooling over money & wealth. They are shooting themselves in the foot. Vote/ support the democratic party 100% to save our country. Talk to every one you meet.
"The massive domestic and international damage that a default on U.S. debt would bring might lead some to think that the GOP can't possibly be so vindictive or irresponsible. That would underestimate the Republican party's appetite for chaos and destruction."
The GOP has now moved in to the realm of Machiavellianism, where any means necessary will be used to accomplish their end goal. Their pleasure in hurting others is evident also. This is sadism. So the GOP now has two characteristics of the Dark Tetrad. But their leader, Trump has all four characteristics (Machiavellianism, sadism, narcissism and psychopathy). Trump's darkness is flowing down hill to his followers. Authoritarianism and psychopathy/sociopathy go hand in hand.
It's no coincidence that both Kissinger and Pinochet are/were sociopaths. People with no conscience, empathy or remorse, hate democracy. Their grandiose self image leads them to prefer feudalism, fascism or any form of authoritarianism.
Our GOP has become a party that is emulating the sickness of its sociopathic hero. They are suffering from collective delusion and I consider them to be radioactive in their destruction of our society.