Cyrano
Cyrano's JournalNot with a bang but a whimper
Through gerrymandering, voter suppression, and laws in some states that let state Republican legislatures decide who "won" an election, we're going to lose the House next year. And that will make it a lot easier for the thugs to steal the Senate and the presidency in 2024. It seems to me, and many, many others, including Rachel who is terrified, that this scenario is coming at us like a freight train. And if you disagree, I'd like to hear your reasoning.
The next paragraph may well get this post locked. But it really needs to be said ... and HEARD.
I'm beyond pissed at our party leaders and our president. Our country is being brazenly raped and murdered, in broad daylight, by malignant barbarians, and they're doing ... either nothing, or not much. Maybe Merrick Garland is doing stuff behind the scenes. Who knows?
By the way, the headline to this OP is the last line of T.S. Eliot's poem, "The Hollow Men."
So if Trump is hit by lightning,
it wouldn't change a damn thing. The Republican Party has gone over the insanity cliff and they haven't hit bottom because there is no bottom. And they have so many crazies who want to be president that Trump is no longer required.
Given Republican gerrymandering, voter suppression, and in some states, rules that the state legislature can decide who "won" an election, there seems to be no way to stop them from stealing the House in next year's election. And that will help make it easy for them to "win" the presidency in 2024.
Some (many?) are talking about a second Civil War. I don't believe it's going to happen. I believe that Democratic leaders don't have a clue as to how to fight the barbarians. I believe the Republicans are just going to skip the War and go straight to a GOP dictatorship. And I'm pretty certain it will resemble the Third Reich.
For those of you who think I'm an alarmist who has gone overboard, l really don't want to say "I told you so" as you're being marched in large groups to a huge "shower" room.
Is the America we know coming to an end?
Hate mail, death threats, random violence, spreading fear and intimidation, book banning and burning: This is now the norm of the Republican Party's base. And what do elected Republicans have to say about any of this? Nothing. Not a word. Not a peep. Not a frown. Some of them heartily agree with this way of operating. And those who don't like what's going on are keeping their mouths shut out of fear for their jobs and fear for their personal safety. This is today's Republican Party which is on the cutting edge of turning America into a fascist hell.
The mindless haters have been whipped up by the likes of Trump, Majorie Taylor Greene, Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley, Tom Cotton, and countless others in a party that has gone bugshit mad. IMO, a couple of them are truly insane while others are riding the crazy train hoping to fulfill their personal ambitions of becoming top dog. -- And let's not leave out the purely evil, deadly propaganda spread every moment of every day by Fox "news."
Can they be stopped before they can seize all the levers of power? Beats me. Maybe Merrick Garland and the DOJ are doing far more than is apparent to any of us. And maybe they're not. But even if enough voters come to their senses and try to vote these cretins out of office, what about those states where Republcan state legislatures can override the will of the voters and appoint the next whoever they want to appoint.
This isn't the America that existed less than a dozen years ago. Not only are we going downhill, but we're picking up speed. And the 2022 election is now just a year away and coming at us like a souped up bulldozer.
To those of you who will condemn this as "Just another doom and gloom post" I say this. Call it what you will. But the tide of fascist shit is above your waist and rising. And if/when you finally "get it," it may just be too late.
And for those of you who ask, "Well what can we do about it?" my answer is "very little." It's up to our elected Democratic leaders to stop the onslaught of the barbarians. All we can do is give them all the support possible.
Why can't Democrats win in rural areas?
Actually, the answer isn't that deep. In general, people who live in rural areas tend to be less well educated than urban and suburban populations. Rural voters tend to tune out white papers, sophisticated explanations, or statistics that show they're better off under Democrats. And this makes it much simpler for Republicans to hit those rural voters at the gut level.
I've always wondered why a state like Pennsylvania is up for grabs until someone who lives there explained to me that Pennsylvania is Philadelphia and Pittsburgh with Alabama in the middle. Which makes Pennsylvania a lot more rural than it seems.
Democrats are tearing their hair out wondering how they can get the rural vote. The answer is, they can't unless they start using the Republican "Southern Strategy." But then they wouldn't be Democrats any longer.
Anyhow, rural America's rural election turnout requires a massive turnout for Democrats in urban and suburban areas. And the Supreme Court might just cause this to happen if they kill abortion and let everyone carry a gun.
Interesting article on this issue in today's WaPo. (Link below.)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/sundaytake-democrats-losing-rural/2021/11/06/3f316194-3f0d-11ec-bfad-8283439871ec_story.html
Message from the future
I don't know whether or not this will reach you. We sent it through an Amaz-Meta unit that seems like it may have some kind of ability to send messages to the past.
We don't know what year it is, but what the hell. It's just a number.
From the little we know, it seems as though you people may have had a somewhat reasonable jumping off point to build a better world. Those who are left from your time, (the Old Ones), are now very few and we don't know whether the tales they tell us are true. Some of them say that almost eight billion people lived on this planet. We laugh at that number. After all, there aren't many of us and it's impossible that billions of human beings could have been so incredibly fucked up. (It's probably an old fable of some kind.)
The Old Ones tell us about plentiful clean water, food and air which you people poisoned. We don't know what really happened, but we think it's just one of those Old One's shared fantasies. (They do tend to exaggerate. They say that most people had electricity.)
Anyhow, some of them talk of something called "politics." They mumble about how this thing came to cause world-wide conquest, war, famine and death. Hard to put any meaning into their fading memories.
But, whatever. If somehow, this message gets through to you, know that those of us left are a dying species. We are working on survival, but our hopes are dim. However, we suspect that what happened in the past can change the future. Maybe you all can do something different to give us more of a chance of continuing on. I don't know what it is that you did do, but whatever it was really fucked us.
Anyhow, if you're reading this message, why don't you try doing something different?
An outrageous post
Some of you have been reading my endless posts over the past few months about the Republican Party. And for those of you who haven't, let me state my position. Today's Republicans are fascists. And they are perhaps among the most vicious fascists the world has seen.
The Most Vicious Fascists? What does that mean? For those of you a step ahead of me, I mean Nazis. You all saw them on TV in Charlottesville. "Jews will not replace us." That's what they chanted, and chanted, and chanted, as they carried their Tiki torches through the streets (with no authorities stopping them).
There's more than a good chance that the Republican Party will steal our government over the next two to three years. And that's because we can't pass a voting rights act to stop them from doing so.
Let's say that happens. Let's say that by 2025, Republicans are in charge of the entire federal government. And it really doesn't matter if the president is the orange prick, or not. If it's not him, it will be some other authoritarian, but one who is smarter.
So here's my point. And it's really ugly.
I personally believe that American fascism will be as diseased and deadly as German fascism was. I believe American fascism will match Nazi fascism. I believe our country can become as uncivilized as Germany was during the 1930s and 1940s.
If Republicans/fascists are in charge of everything, does anyone really believe there won't be "camps?" Camps for blacks, browns, Jews, Muslims and all "Others?" Is there anyone who really believes those German death camps could never again happen?
Yes, I'm talking about genocide. Look at the people wearing MAGA gear. Do you think they would object to death camps?
Look at the people waving Confederate flags. Do you really believe they would object to death camps?
Look at the people who carry their guns in full sight in public. Do you really believe they would object to death camps?
Let me say this as plainly as possible. A Republican/Fascist takeover of America will lead to death camps.
Some of you will think I'm nuts. Some will think I'm overreacting, some will think I'm smoking too much grass. Some will think the very idea is insane. And some of you will agree with me.
Here's the bottom line. We stop them now. We won't get another chance.
What is Merrick Garland doing to help save our country?
Have the Republicans taken him hostage?
Have the MAGAs kidnapped him and replaced him with an AI replica?
Does Putin have something on him?
Actually, I don't believe any of those scenarios. Garland has always been a dedicated professional who fervently believes in the Constitution. This is a man who has always stood for and defended the best concepts of America.
So what's he doing to protect America right now? I don't know. But if I had to guess, I believe he's intentionally keeping, whatever it is he's up to, out of public view.
Why the silence? Here's my opinion. When you're trying to gather evidence to indict a former United States president, it's not something you're going to announce. Were he to do so, the alphabet of wingnut organizations would be running amok in the streets. Therefore, saying nothing is the wisest thing to do.
Maybe a bit more trust in Garland is needed. I know this won't stop the bitching, but I'm more than willing to be patient and give him more time.
And let me repeat the important idea in this post: When you're going after TFG, you don't announce it.
Steve Schmidt: "Where are Susan Collins and Mitt Romney?"
This morning, Steve Schmidt was on Jonathon Capehart's show and he asked why a couple of (supposedly sane) Republicans won't join with Democratic senators to stop the fascism that is taking over America.
Yesterday, I did a post about Schmidt and Rachel Maddow discussing the imminent fascist/Nazi threat to democracy. Link: https://democraticunderground.com/100215893960
Today, Schmidt stated the perfect question regarding people like Collins and Romney. To paraphrase him, "What the Fuck is wrong with these people?"
Millions of Americans also "get it." Why is it that the only answer we can come up with is "Get Out The Vote." Getting out the vote doesn't mean shit when red states are passing laws where the Republican legislature decides which candidate "won." And it's exactly laws like that which are being passed in red states. (Georgia has already done it.)
So even though supposed Dems like Manchin and Sinema won't do the right thing, let's go back to Schmidt's question of "Where are Collins and Romney?" Are they total captives of their party's insanity? Do they fear the consequences? Where are their values? Where are their consciences? Where is their dedication to democracy?
I guess we could ask Manchin and Sinema these same questions, but their owners (Koch, big oil, big pharma, etc.) wouldn't allow them to reply
Rachel Maddow and Steve Schmidt
Last night, Rachel Maddow had a conversation with Steve Schmidt. These are two people who grasp current events better than most and are brilliant at shining a glaring light on reality.
Watching it, I couldn't help but see, (some of you will strongly object to this), America becoming a 21st century version of Nazi Germany within the next three or four years.
They didn't use the word "Nazi," but they didn't need to. In listening to them, I could see the likes of Trump and his followers, both in and out of elected office, drawing up plans for what they might label "Reeducation Camps" as a starter, and then far, far worse. Do I need to draw a picture?
They are a crazed, evil minority of Americans. But, as history has shown us time and again, numbers don't matter.
I'm literally living my life like it's my last few years as a free person. And if you think I'm overreacting, or have gone over the edge, take a look at, or read about, Germany in the early 1930s.
https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/schmidt-republicans-are-driving-chaos-promising-order-with-easy-scapegoats-121953861736
Why are Republicans such pricks?
I've asked this here previously, but no one really knows the answer.
It seems to me that many Republican voters are mentally challenged. And while some of their elected officials are dumber than dirt, others know better, are playing along in order to cling to power, and they have a "fuck the consequences" attitude.
All too often, the answer to my OP question is: "Trump." Yeah, perhaps among some of those voters "Trump" may be the answer. But the Republican Party was an established collection of world class pricks long before the orange mound of shit rode down his golden escalator.
I often wonder if Republicans are the same species as the rest of us. Are they missing some gene that is standard in normal, sane human beings? Beats me.
But what I do know is that, next to climate change and Covid-19, the Republican Party and their voters are malicious, uncaring people and they are a deadly danger to all of us.
And they're not going away.
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Gender: MaleHometown: Palm Beach County, Florida
Member since: Fri Apr 16, 2004, 02:36 PM
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