Neil deGrasse Tyson @neiltyson
In 1945 we defeated violent fascist leaders who controlled the press & public perceptions of truth. If you were 20 then, you are now 97 — or dead.
I wonder if dictators are popular today because hardly anyone alive remembers the havoc they wrought & why we fought against them.
19 comments:
As someone way smarter than me said this morning on a show I was watching, 2022 will be the first election in generations where we will have significant numbers of candidates who do not accept that the US has a rule to play in world politics and peace.
How does this play into deGrasse Tyson's question?
Well, At least 30%-35% of Americans either have forgotten, just don't care, or never knew to begin with. But we can rest assured that when America becomes a fascist state (it will if idiots keep electing Trumpublicans to office) it will accrue all the evils of fascism. Karma can be a bitch when it comes to collect.
Dave M., RN
In Arizona, there are Trumpublicans and Trumpublican pols who are praising Joe McCarthy and wondering if they even want democracy at all.
We are on a trajectory to welcome fascism to these shores, thanks to the GQP
From the NYTimes article:
"What is different now is the use of “democracy” as a kind of shorthand and even a slur for Democrats themselves, for the left and all the positions espoused by the left, for hordes of would-be but surely unqualified or even illegal voters who are fundamentally anti-American and must be opposed and stopped at all costs. That anti-democracy and anti-“democracy” sentiment, repeatedly voiced over the course of my travels through Arizona, is distinct from anything I have encountered in over two decades of covering conservative politics.
It’s the failure to reinstall a legitimately defeated president, under the misguided belief that victory was stolen from him, that seems to have ushered in the view among Arizona Republicans — and many more across the nation — that democracy itself was at fault and had been weaponized by the political left, or the “enemies from within,” as McCarthy once put it. As it happened, Rose Sperry wasn’t the first person to invoke the Wisconsin senator at the Lions of Liberty event. “I had a weird dream last night about Joseph McCarthy,” said one of the morning’s featured speakers, Jim Arroyo, the head of Arizona’s biggest chapter of the Oath Keepers, a far-right paramilitary group made up largely of current and former members of the armed forces and law enforcement. McCarthy, he said, “was not only right — he understated the seriousness of it.”
Absolutely frightening.
Still working on the Mrs. to see if I can convince her to leave these shores before the jackboots arrive. And they WILL be arriving at our doorsteps when the TRumpublicans take over again.
This nation is now in great decline in spirit, intelligence, integrity, truthfulness, compassion, and wisdom. And we have Trump and the authoritarian minded horde of Trumpublicans to thank.
I thought over 30 years ago I would never need a firearm again as I quit hunting. With the rise of Trump and the Trumpublican party I am no longer certain of that. Best get a move on to re-arm myself because I am sure I'll be needing firepower to protect myself from Trumpublican jackboots if the wife won't leave these shores...
Being a proud American is rapidly becoming a thing of the past. Certainly for me anyway.
The Right has been waging a propaganda war on the US for decades.
It has succeeded beyond expectation.
Step one: Delegitimize the media, journalism and the press as "liberal media" and "fake news".
From there on, they are the only voices their target audience will listen to.
Talk radio and Murdoch's empire of politicized misinformation have taken root in the heartland. It only follows that more extreme platforms like OAN, Newsmax and Q-Anon would emerge to make FOX(R) look "moderate" or even "too liberal" for our authoritarian-minded citizenry.
The MAGA cult are always ripe for the lies and propaganda they crave to feel like they are victims, and give them license to hate the “others” they want to blame.
Of course it is the essence of fascism.
I have to share this insightful piece:
The Propaganda Professor maps out the simple course you follow to agitate the angry dupes of the American radical Right.
How to Make a Right-Wing “Documentary”
https://propagandaprofessor.net/2022/08/17/how-to-make-a-right-wing-documentary/
The right audience, of course, is The Right. They're the most impressionable, the most volatile, the most gullible demographic on the planet... . And they have a simplistic, black-and-white view of the universe, so you don't have to bother with nuance or qualifiers... When catering to the MAGA mob, you can't lose if you tap into their insatiable need to feel victimized. So pick a subject that feeds that obsession and provides fodder for the white privilege grievance industry...Well, okay, there is one little hitch. This formula for success presupposes that you are a person of absolutely no scruples, no conscience, no soul.
I doubt if Liz Cheney will get any support from sny of the Trump Deplorables. Liberals will NOT vote for her either as her dad is Dick Cheney. That will hurt any chances she has to ever become President. She will however get at least ONE vote from her Father.
Doobe, The main body of the media is liberal, that is not theory that is fact. The democrats funded cheney to embarrass trump and it failed. They will now not support her but do everything they can to forget her and move on to other candidates. I agree with deal, the liberals will not vote for her even if she changed parties. She is a total dud and it just shows how much of a dynasty daddy had to get her elected. That dynasty is gone and so is she.
Now we have the head of the DNC being totally caught in another lie. To say Mexico would pay for the wall was a lie. To say believe the science and have the CDC admit they got it wrong and raising your taxes will reduce inflation is a bigger lie. Will it be the taking point of every broadcast and front page news, no and the reason is we have a totally partisan media.
Liz Cheney is a person I disagree with at least 50% of the time. However, if she were to run as an independent against the authoritarian Trump and a dimwit democrat I would have zero problem voting for her. She is an intelligent women with integrity and she loves this country, the rule of law, and the Constitution. All things the Trumpublicans despise. As their actions since J6 2021 CLEARLY demonstrate.
Skud, your opinion is, "The main body of the media is liberal, that is not theory that is fact".
From the Right, any moderate news company would appear liberal. From the Left, the mainstream media is seen as what it is. Corporate.
Corporate media know which side their bread is buttered. Corporate customers buy most advertising.
Corporate media have a long history of pro-status quo stances. They would never refuse money from Big Insurance, the MIC, banks, or just about any other major corporate entity.
I don't recall any media against the Vietnam war, until it fell into an endless quagmire.
They tolerated a stupid and cruel war on drugs for decades without question. All we saw were anti-drug ads.
Most major newspapers endorsed George W. Bush over Gore. Most Americans were convinced Iraq and Saddam were involved in 9/11.
Corporate media went for years before calling out Bush's lies on Iraq. They practically cheered for the invasion of Iraq, regurgitating all the WMD hysteria and lies fed to them by Bush/Cheney.
They only questioned the Iraq War AFTER the torture and brutalities that went on in prisons under our control. AFTER no stockpiles of WMDs were found. AFTER they saw ZERO chemical and biological weapons programs.
Even today they tend to give liars an equal platform to the truth-tellers, and call it "balance".
The Right's greatest propaganda victory was their demonization of mainstream media as "liberal".
Why? Because they didn't conform to the Right's propaganda. Any moderate or unbiased news source would be attack as "liberal media" and liars.
It's been a long campaign against the truth.
This is how they hooked their cult of true believers that resulted in Trump.
Corporate media were never the voice of the poor, homeless, and disenfranchised. They never demanded universal healthcare and expanded public education. They were never out front, urging for minimum pay raises and union causes.
They dance to the corporate cash from their advertisers and promote corporate interests.
Only someone indoctrinated by the Right would see this a "liberal".
Your view of "liberal media" is what is biased.
If you insist on your belief, then at least consider the words of Steven Colbert at a White House correspondents' dinner when he boldly mocked Bush Jr.
"Reality has a well-known liberal bias."
As made abundantly apparent by the Party of Trump, "Falsehoods have a well-know conservative bias."
Just work backwards from the Big Lie, to "WMDs" to "Trickle Down" to see what I mean.
As always, Skidmark is wrong. I agree totally with my friend RN. I'd vote for Cheney in an instant if I didn't agree with the Democrat running. I may not agree with Liz Cheney on a lot of things, but this woman has more than proven that she's a true patriot who loves her country more than her party.
ALL of the statements made above by you Dave are reasons I completely signed out of the GOP permanently after George W. Bush's second term. And now the current crop of cons are worse than those serving even 20 years ago. The now Trumpublican Crime Family Party has actually made dishonesty and criminal behavior chic.
I find myself asking these days just what's to love about America anymore?
RN, Careful on the dishonesty just being the GOP. The current president is setting a new record on the number of lies he spouts in his speeches. I will grant you he is really clueless and just reads what is written and signs what he is told to sign but they are making him the king of liars.
Yes all presidents and politicians lie but his are so bad and easy to prove it is a joke. Because he is such a stretch from his predecessor they think what he says will be believed but the polls show different.
We need a law that caps the age of all politicians especially the president. Instead of having a 35 minimum maybe we should have that as the maximum, just kidding but there has to be a limit. You can get full SS benefits at 66 so maybe that would be a good age.
Doobe, The media is a business no matter how large or small. Out of the top seven six are decisively liberal so your rant has a lot of holes.
Blueballs, name something liz accomplished beside standing against trump. She was elected because there was a chaney dynasty in Wyoming not because she was otherwise electable.
Since we hardly teach truthful history anymore, it's no surprise the younger generations don't know.
RN,
What's to love about America?
We're still relatively free. We're still enjoying a relatively higher standard of living. We still have relatively fair elections, if we can keep them.
Despite the Republicans' advantage in the electoral college and senate, MOST Americans vote Democratic. We had a Black President and MOST Americans voted AGAINST Trump twice.
We still have an advantage IF we get more people to vote.
I'm not proud of our embarrassing lack of public healthcare and public education, and our legacy of racism that remains stubbornly pervasive.
I'm certainly not proud of the flaws in our Constitution and inadequacies of fair representation, but the fact is most Americans do not want minority rule.
We are constrained by the archaic deficiencies in the Constitution.
The founders wittingly and unwittingly poisoned the republic with five massive impediments to democracy, justice, and stability.
1. Slavery
2. Lifetime Supreme Court Justices
3. The 2nd Amendment
4. The Electoral College
5. The unrepresentative, disproportionate, anti-democratic Senate
We're trapped in a rigged system that requires a super majority of voters to overcome this history of institutionalized inequality.
The darkness over our land must give way to light eventually.
So we do what we can with what we have. We outnumber them.
When we know better, we do better.
Rational Nation USA asked "just what's to love about America anymore?"
This is where I was born. This is where I grew up. I don't have to love how certain people behave, in fact I find their lack of empathy and sense of fair play to be abhorrent. That said, I do not conflate the behavior of an overly vocal greedy minority with the rest of the country (meaning not just people but the land too).
In a way I'm almost glad the former guy and his allies deconstructed so much of our governmental systems. It means it will be easier to get into the guts of our democracy to fix things up so the promise of America becomes a reality.
Not trying to be a Pollyanna but a realist in that I understand there is a boatload of work to do. Every statute, every clause, every constitution -federal and state - needs a good looking over to ensure it can handle the future.
I don't know if you've been following the kids these days but I've been watching on social media and they have a very good head on their shoulders. The kids I view grew up with parents who were slaves to the corporation, always buying more stuff to fill the void inside themselves. These kids grew up with therapy and an aversion to the accumulation of too much stuff.
We will never be free from those who wish to destroy what has been created. It is a part of life after all that after creation comes the eventual decay. What We The People must do is find a way to prevent those who only want to destroy from holding office. No clue of how to accomplish this ideal but pretty sure the kids of today are already on it.
And for that, I continue to love my country. Fascists come and go and can only take over if we let them. We The People are the descendants of those the Old Country couldn't control. I think we've got this. We beat them once; this time it will be for keeps.
As if the GOP was perfectly fine until Bush's second term
Grey One talks sass
"We The People are the descendants of those the Old Country couldn't control."
Yes.
My father left fascist Italy, and it took 50 years before he would return.
Thank you for your thoughtful comment.
Dave Dubya
Wise words. There is much to love about our country. And much to despair over. I hope more of us will see that this Republic is still worth keeping.
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