JFK60
JFK60's JournalWhat's alarming are all the goddamned Republicans who are backing this downmarket Mussolini.
That so many Americans support this overtly fascist administration is more than sobering. I used to have some trust in my fellow citizens, and believed that if something (or someone) genuinely bad for democracy came along, partisanship would take a back seat to salvaging our republic.
I have no such illusions any longer.
The "folks who don't know yet" are really the "folks who don't care, ever."
They can’t get enough of their Neanderthal figurehead; for them, etc he can do NO wrong. If one ever undertook the loathsome task of looking at RW websites, or watching the vile prime-time Hannity for even a few moments, one can grasp how vast the divide really is. Republicans would LOVE to have a right-wing fascist dictator who “punishes the libs.” That’s how simple-minded and cul-tlike they’ve become.
it’s all there in plain sight: EVERYTHING, every Republican-hatched screw-ups and firings are also very telling.
But whenever things go south, the blame is projected onto the ”lunatic socialist Democrats” and pronto. It’s as evergreen a right-wing trope can be.
Biden's got intelligence, empathy, experience, honesty. He's the Anti-Trump.
A vast majority of Americans are sick to death of the daily in-your-face corruption, chaos and unbridled insanity that is the Trump family and complicit Republicans. They’ve got some serious nerve to subject the country to the crazed and hurtful whims emitted from the pitifully twisted “mind” of such a dangerous buffoon.
Joe Biden is the complete opposite of 45, in every way. He’s time-tested; and he’s “pre-disasterized” in that his past goof-ups are known, so there are no surprises down the road. He looks for the good in others, and yeah, his empathy has been “touchy-feely” at times, both with women and men. But unlike 45, I take Joe at his word that he’ll be more mindful of that.
I understand the longing for a younger, more progressive candidate— and in normal, average circumstances, I’d probably support such a person. But clearly, America has been pushed radically off course, both at home and in relations with other countries. My sense is that Biden is best qualified, both in temperament and experience, to lead a 45-damaged country in a return to normalcy, as a first step.
The one hitch I have in supporting Biden, is that, should he emerge on top, he’d make a grave mistake if he didn’t share the ticket with a younger, more progressive candidate, ideally a woman, who’d be positioned to play a much bigger role than the usual veep, with the idea in mind that Joe may only have one term in him.
All food for thought, while it’s still very early in the game. The best thing is, there are several really terrific Democrats who’ve announced. Whatever happens, there’s little chance of producing a weak candidate.
The BIG question: Is the 2020 election a sure thing for Democrats?
Common sense dictates “yes,” but common sense took an extended hike in 2016 and hasn’t been seen since. There is a number of variables stacking up, far broader than usual, all due to Trump and his unshakable loyalists:
-Will the 2020 election be free and fair? Will it even occur?
-What form and degree will Russian interference take place? (Because it’s the one certainty.) There are rumblings about China and other countries getting in on the act as well.
-Can Democrats come up with a strong, broad-appeal candidate who can beat Trump in the usual “battleground” states, which is where the 2020 election will be decided, as lousy as that is.
It pains me deeply to say it, but I no longer have faith in the American people to do the right thing. Thus, there is a chance that Trump could be re-elected, if he gets the same lucky bounces he did in 2016. That’s a scenario that spells doom for democracy.
All of which is why I’ve come to favor impeachment proceedings. A popular talking point asks, “Why impeach when there’s no chance for a conviction?” Because conviction should not be the immediate goal. Rather, the focus should be on enumerating the lawbreaking, and repeating that message to the citizenry. What’s important to illustrate to the American people is that NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW. Without the rule of law, there is chaos (as we’ve seen for two-plus years), and chaos is an open invitation to authoritarianism— R.I.P. America.
Save our democracy: IMPEACH NOW.
Don't forget that statute of limitations time-frame is in play now.
Rachel Maddow was discussing this yesterday. Almost all of the Trump situations / transgressions / potential criminal involvements that Muller investigated occurred in 2017. The statute of limitations on these events lapses in five years— 2022.
If impeachment is not pursued now, and if, for some extraordinarily crooked reason, Trump should retain the presidency, he will run out the calendar on the investigated incidents (which comprise the basis for impeachment), and he would, effective 2022, become a free man. (Not factoring in the New York State investigations.)
Using the frustrating Mueller guideline that one “cannot indict a sitting president,” should Trump lose the 2020 election and become a private citizen in January, 2021, he can still be prosecuted for what’s already on the books.
Think Trump wants to stay in office much? He will fight like a cornered animal, because losing could mean a trip to prison.
Start impeachment proceedings immediately. Chasten that bastard NOW. No conviction possible? Screw it, that’s not the goal, which is to keep him on the defensive, put him under stress and pressure from multiple directions to exhaust that monster, and have his approval ratings tank lower than ever. If his people and Russia conspire again to throw the election, America will be screwed beyond recognition...forever.
Impeach now. It’s not a sure thing, but it’s the right thing to do. And I seriously doubt that it’d “hand the election over to Trump.” That notion presupposes that there are scads of Trump voters out there who are considering voting for a Democratic candidate. That’s such a bullshit line— as if those who worship their white-nationalist Neanderthal figurehead could be lured away from their fuhrer.
The problem is that those who are destroying democracy are immune to love.
An extreme example is, of course, Nazi Germany. No amount of love could divert those ideologues from their murderous course.
And while Republicans haven’t gone completely full-fascist just yet, they’ve taken some alarming steps in that direction, and are accelerating the placement of partisan appointees to government posts that heretofore have functioned strictly as non-partisan (the Attorney General, for instance). This is a foreboding sign, as it’s obviously clearing the way for more lawlessness and corruption.
My opinion is that it’s past time to fight, tooth and nail, to retain what democracy remains. Kindness, looking the other way, generosity of spirit and taking the “high road,” while noble, have led us to where we are today— a sharply divided country with an autocratic, racist ruler who’s likely suffering some form of diminished cognitive function, supported by a gaggle of freakish, twisted men who, having no conscience or empathy whatsoever, would welcome a right-wing totalitarian government. They already speak of us as some sort of evil, foreign element that has no place in America. If 45 gets a second term, by rigged election or decree, I’d advise younger people to get the hell out: go to Canada, New Zealand, Australia, etc. in a hurry, because the U.S. will not be a healthy country, to say the least.
So fight back. Fight back hard. Do NOT let these lunatics win. They are already killing people with their heartlessness and greed. PUSH BACK WITH ALL YOUR MIGHT. Speak up and out. Avoid infighting with Democrats and progressives. VOTE BLUE in 2020!
Christ almighty, all these RW fatheads do is piss & moan & seek scapegoats for their every failure.
And it’s ALWAYS someone else who’s whizzing in the cornflakes. It’s Obama, it’s Hillary, it’s (gasp!) socialism, it’s the “Democrat Party” (sic), it’s “union thugs,” it’s the “communists” (a classic), it’s John McCain, it’s “government schools,” it’s Jeff Sessions’ recusal, it’s the CARAVANS of murderous barbarians headed this way, it’s the “liberal colleges that crank out more liberals,” it’s “death panels”....Any one of us could go on and name many more RW-paranoia-borne hobgoblins that they can never stop yapping about.
Think how MISERABLE it must be to have hitched your misery-wagon to 45’s dim star. Hate this, hate that, get all ginned up while listening to Rush and Hannity, just chugging down a steady stream of rage and being “informed” about how OTHER people (make them African American, for greater effect) are getting free stuff, all paid for by YOUR TAXES! Blah, blah...blah...
I do not underestimate the danger posed to our country by those who actually believe these whacked-out ideas. But their victimhood is second to none. Every day brings another wave of anger and fear to them. Snowflakes? They’re absolute slush.
It’s reached the point where Democrats are stuck in the roles of caretakers/civic minders for these folks when they do insane shit like start wars or elect Trump. Think of the heavy lifting done in these past two-plus years, just trying to hold the line, playing for time, (still) hoping that our democratic republic will survive this wild ride of lawlessness, corruption, and an authoritarian, white nationalist “government.” Thankfully, least some brakes were applied to this insane administration by re-taking the House.
Where does it go from here? Every day brings another crisis, gaffe, embarrassment, outrage, and always more worry about a free and fair election in 2020. So we continue to hold fast, and push back as hard as humanly possible. It’s all we can do, for now.
If Obama had pulled just ONE Trump-like stunt, impeachment would have followed immediately.
Not that he would, but imagine Barack Obama wanting to put high-profile liberals on the Federal Reserve board, with the sole qualification being that they’re “good guys” and “friends of mine.”
Or holding rallies in Oakland, Detroit and Chicago, where the audiences were predominantly POC— Obama up in front, ripping Republicans for two hours-plus every time, calling them “sick, very sick people.”
Or installing his family in positions requiring security clearances.
Or saying, “I could shoot somebody and not lose voters.”
Or eating cheeseburgers in bed, while talking nightly to a network “news” personality who can further his agenda while on-air.
Or tweeting insane shit in the dead of night.
Just pick anything off the Trump menu of “behavior,” and Obama would have been crucified for it. As it was, Republicans treated him like shit, stonewalled him, criticized him for wearing a tan suit, blocked his SCOTUS pick, dug around endlessly for birth certificates, harassed his Secretary of State for years, etc. And the ACA was characterized as a ”power grab...trampling the Constitution.”
And there’s Trump, idiotically hobnobbing with the world’s worst (and most lethal) dictators, sometimes behind closed doors with no witnesses. Doing something outrageous every day— what Steve Bannon called “flooding the zone with shit.”
This is NOT okay. None of it is okay. Under Trump, America has been transformed into the world’s bully: xenophobic, racist to the core, intolerant of dissent, dismissive of women, belligerent toward long-term allies.
Why does Trump get to be the freest man in America (for now)? Because he’s THE world’s biggest white “victim” of (gasp!) imagined liberal oppression?
If Obama said, "I'm smarter than they are, I went to better schools," How long before R's...
Would begin mpeachment proceedings in a Republican-controlled house?
And this is only a portion of what this cult “thinks.” They’d really go for a *real* right-wing dictator, like ducks to water.
There’s now such a major ideological and social divide on numerous issues, and a completely different way of perceiving events and interpreting reality. Trump has turned Americans against Americans by being the ugliest American on the planet. He’s also making Americans deepen their resolve on both sides.
And what does it say about America, where 36%-44% of its citizens actually still back this sicko?
"Defending your own" is a discipline, and it's one big reason why Republicans win so often.
There is ONE thing that Democrats/progressives should learn from Republicans— discipline. Sticking together. Not tearing into one another in public forums or in the press. Supporting the Democratic candidate (or incumbent), even with flaws, because what the opposition has to offer is 1,000 times worse. It weakens the overall message, it weakens otherwise strong Democratic candidates, and it weakens the Party itself.
Worse, lack of discipline results in Republican victories, where laws are ignored and the courts get stacked with right-wing asshole judges.
Remember in 2014, when many Democrats distanced themselves from President Obama as a ”winning strategy,” instead of touting the ACA and other accomplishments? That fiasco resulted in a GOP takeover of congress, where Obama’s SCOTUS pick, Merrick Garland, was shunned and completely ignored. Running away from the Democratic president directly affected the balance of the Supreme Court.
Remember Democrats and progressives abandoning Al Franken—one of our strongest voices— after he was blitzed with a politically motivated right-wing organized hit? He wasn’t even allowed a chance to tell his side of of the story. He was kicked out and dropped like a hot rock.
Liberals, progressives, Democrats— we’re a tough bunch to wrangle. We think for ourselves, and have critical minds. It’s harder for us to stay on-message, because we’re tolerant of differing viewpoints, and we often feel that something’s not right with the message itself.
While all this is well-intentioned, it’s a big reason why Democrats come up short: no discipline, no sticking together, no looking out for our own.
The only reason Trump is still standing is because his party backs him to the hilt, no matter how much damage he does to our democratic republic and its institutions.
Imagine Democrats having a strong, charismatic candidate in 2020, with full, unwavering support from the left and center-left. S/he would destroy Trump and his criminals. (Assuming there will actually be a free and fair election in 2020; with 45 at the wheel, anything’s possible.)
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