JOHN ADAMS:
"Remember Democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes exhausts & murders itself. There never was a Democracy Yet, that did not commit suicide. It's in vain to Say that Democracy is less vain, less proud, less selfish, less ambitious or less avaricious than Aristocracy or Monarchy. It is not true in Fact & no where appears in history. Those Passions are the same in all Men under all forms of Simple Govt. & when unchecked, produce the same Effects of Fraud Violence and Cruelty."
"We're living in the moment the American founders feared most: A populist authoritarian (they used the term "demagogue" -- same difference) has gained power through a legitimate election.
Worse. Trump has the most concentrated, anti-democratic coalition since the Confederacy.
Indeed, for those searching for comparison points from American history, I believe there is no simple parallel for what a threat this poses to our democracy."
"Moving forward, there'll be two narratives of American history: the Trump regime's narrative, bolstered by powerful media on the right: E. Musk vs. reality.
The regime's narrative will be: Trump as American savior, January 6 was righteous (if misguided), and restoration of a Christian America. Trump will almost certainly pardon most or all January 6 rioters, whose 'bravery' will be celebrated by the regime's propaganda.
The other narrative -- the complicated story of America's yet-to-be perfected union, of growing pluralism since the 1960s, of the derailment of that trajectory through a white majority and Christian majority backlash -- will be forced to live in the shadows of disfavor and censorship.
I expect -- and I'd be thrilled to be wrong -- we'll see a surge in Christian nationalist and Christian supremacist rhetoric and identities around Trump in the coming weeks and months.
Trump's seemingly 'miraculous' re-election on the heels of his 'miraculous' survival of the assassination attempts will pour jet fuel on the already popular idea that Trump is ordained and anointed by God for office.
Trump gestured toward this in his victory speech.
Over the past 10 years, charismatic Christian prophets have issued hundreds of positive prophecies about Trump, his divinely appointed destiny, endurance of persecution, etc. This means that Trump has taken on a quasi-messianic aura for many American Christians.
What makes this so dangerous is that, to his followers -- the only segment of the American populace that he cares about -- Trump can make the case that he has not only a democratic mandate, but that he also has a divine mandate to enact his agenda. 'Promises made; promises kept.'
I am especially concerned about this 'Trump as Jehu' prophecy narrative that has set in in recent months, because it is preparing the ground for Christians to accept and even endorse Trump's threatened violence against his opponents as a necessary purge.
It is well past time that we lay aside any lingering forms of American exceptionalism to recognize that autocracy, kleptocracy, and theocracy absolutely 'can happen here.'
Like most populist authoritarians, Trump uses the language of democracy to dismantle liberal democracy.
We need to learn from resistance movements around the world how to stand in the face of MAGA hegemony.
Our dream of a pluralistic, liberal, multi-religious, multi-racial American democracy is not dead; it is on life support."
16 comments:
It won't be long and resistance cells will form, develop, cause much chaos confusion, and destruction. All in the righteousness fight to restore democracy, decency, and compassion to governance.
The cabal of fascists and Christian Nationalists will face deep resentment and disdain among the MAJORITY of Americans for their singular pursuit of ignorance, hate, abd delusion.
Project 2025 will be the eventual spark that will ignite another revolution.
This is frightening
If Democracy is on life support, it’s time for Democrats to do some sober reflection.
Rather than spend time blaming Trump for winning or hectoring his supporters, Dems need to look at the facts. Yes, Trump won the election, but with a vote total that is roughly equal to his 2020 vote total. In other words, he hit his ceiling of support. Harris on the other hand, got roughly 13 million less votes than did Biden in 2020.
Bottom line, Harris and/or her message did not appeal to GOP crossover voters or the Dems. How else to explain that 13 million vote drop in votes?
Here’s how bad it has gotten for Dems, as explained by historian Michael Beschloss. “The Democrats are in danger of becoming a regional, as opposed to a national party, existing only on the west coast and upper northeast.”
Ohio used to be a “bellwether” state. That state is now reliably red. Wisconsin is trending red. So is Nevada. Stop and think folks… what swing state has flipped to reliably blue in the last thirty years?
The Dems have broad approval for their financial policies supporting a strong Social Security, Obamacare and higher taxes for upper income individuals. But they failed to consider how badly some families, primarily working class Americans, were hit during the recent pandemic and globalization over the last 40 years.
Add in a few cultural issues, which always seem to doom the Democrats, and you see the problem. Consider these and ask how Dems reverse this trend…
A Dem cannot say, and receive support from the DNC, “abortion should be safe, legal and rare”, as Bill Clinton once did. This has made it difficult for left leaning people of faith to have serious conversations with their more conservative friends.
Dems are functionally unable to say the US needs a strong border policy, that the border needs to be secure and illegal immigration is wrong. Because of this, Dems are not seen as the party of America, but rather supporting ppl here illegally who make use of American resources.
Dems are unable, or unwilling to say trans women have no right to participate in women’s sports, either at high schools, colleges or the Olympics. This has allowed the party to be seen as out of touch with middle America.
Finally, as many Latino legislators have noted, Dem support for silly terms like Latinx have hurt them in their more conservative circles. I essentially live in a Latino world. The only ppl who use Latinx are Dem activists proud of, as Rev Al calls it, their “liberal latte” talking points.
As the cartoon Pogo famously said, “We have met the enemy and they are ours”. Will the Dems respond?
I've been doing some reading and listening. To a person they all agree that the campaign run by Harris/Walz was the best they could do considering the time restrictions. Their message was well received - by those who heard it. And therein lies issue number one - the Democratic Party elite insist on running everything through traditional media, even though that media isn't in the business to defend democracy but to make lots and lots of money. Changes must be made.
Issue two is a lack of understanding of how our government works. So many humans, including many of my friends, wanted Biden to smack the smirk off of Netanyahu's face. As I tried to explain foreign policy as practiced by the USA was set into stone at least fifty years ago, maybe a bit less. I'm fairly certain it's not been expanded as Bidens response to Israeli aggression against the Palestinians and World Kitchen aid workers was less than satisfying, weak tea is the phrase used. I agree. But I also know that Biden, a law and order kind of guy couldn't just go cowboy and tell leaders of another nation how to run their business. Stop and think how we would react if another country tried to do the same with us. I'll wait. How we get the word out is underground - you talk to your people, I talk to mine, they all talk to their own people, and bam, everyone is a civics expert by the time of the next election.
Anyway, because many didn't get the desired social justice for Gaza they didn't vote. I hope they understand that what happens next for the Palestinians is on them. Not entirely but they had it in their power to stop Trump and his cronies and instead they had a hissy fit because 'both sides'.
Right.
As for the term Latinx, I was told by Latinos that to not use it was a sign of disrespect. So huh.
And here is where I learn more about a human than I wanted to know. Dave D said "Dems are unable, or unwilling to say trans women have no right to participate in women’s sports, either at high schools, colleges or the Olympics. This has allowed the party to be seen as out of touch with middle America."
Middle America doesn't view transgendered humans as well, human so why would they want them included in what makes most kids happy? Sounds like you Dave, don't consider transgendered humans as human either. Good to know.
For the record, kids know who they are, and whether or not their insides match their outsides. This hogwash of transgendered kids is MAGA propaganda. How do I know? I've only heard horror stories of MtF transitions and nary a word about FtM. It's crap that you bring it up even if Middle America sucked down the nonsense uttered by Trump that kids are transitioning in the middle of school.
Every generation has SOMEONE to demonize. Ursula Le Guin wrote a story about a population where everyone was happy except one person - they received no help, no foods, they were mocked and beaten in order for the rest of the population to exist in peace. It wasn't advocating that system. Either we all move forward or none of us do.
The resistance is already up and running. Find your channels. They keep you informed.
Rev, Your post is spot on and points out many of the issues not addressed by the ruling party. Now we have people calling this the end of the US and the start of a dictatorship because the majority of voters, or garbage, didn't agree with the path of the country or the selection of their candidate. Trumps number are up with blacks, latino, jews, women yet he is a racist, how does that work.
The US has stood the test of time and changes in administration are part of the reason. Relax and smell the roses because the sky is not falling unless you listen to some and then you should duck.
skud: "...and yet he is a racist, how does that work?"
How quickly you forget, or maybe since you're not a person of color, it went over your head?
Why did Trump carry on a campaign to impugn our only bi-racial president's birthright? He never asked if GWB was a native-born American when he ran for the presidency. Trump (and his "lovely" immigrant wife as well) kept that up for years, even though it was a bald-faced lie.
Trump also insisted the Central Park 5 were STILL guilty even though DNA proof showed they were not, and the actual perpetrator of the crime confessed, and his DNA proved it. Why would Trump continue to insist those black and brown teens were guilty when they were not? Can you give me a reason other than his racism?
Also he and his father were taken to court by the Feds when they were found to be discriminating against Black people and not allowing them to rent apartments. Trump Sr. and Jr. settled out of court. IOW, guilty!
Propaganda, outright lies, and ignorance of what Trump is may be the answer to your question above.
"As for the term Latinx, I was told by Latinos that to not use it was a sign of disrespect. So huh."
There seems to be some conflict about this. I taught ESL for a few years in Boston. The majority of my students were from Mexico, Central and South America. We talked about the term "Latinx" in class, and not one of them said anything about it being disrespectful. Some liked it; some didn't. I took the cue from my students and used whatever term they wanted me to use. It was their choice, not mine. Maybe those who say they find it silly or disrespectful need to understand that there is a wide difference of opinion in the Latino community.
I'd also like to understand how transgender became an issue during this election when it affects such a tiny portion of the population, instead of climate change, which affects our entire country and the planet! I wish people would leave the trans kids alone. Members of my family are dealing with this -- long before it was even known to MAGA -- and it is a painful, gut-wrenching thing to deal with in a country where a majority know little or nothing about it, but everyone has an opinion.
Dave,
Your thoughtful observations ring true.
Democrats walked into a "trans trap" custom made for bigots to instill disgust and moral panic in people unfamiliar with trans people.
Smart Dems could have neutralized a lot of bigotry by just saying, "Let trans women play sports with their peers, instead of with women and girls".
They also neglected to hammer home their support, and Trump's obstruction, of the border bill. That should have been a massive ad program. You don't defeat fascists with "hope and joy". You defeat them with relentless strategic attacks.
A successful campaign of overwhelming foreign and domestic disinformation also fatally undermined Democratic support.
We can't discount the Russian disinformation that was emphatically regurgitated by Trump's lying media and even inserted into the Congressional Record by Republicans.
Putin was essentially on Trump's campaign team, and the same holds true for Netanyahu. He knew his war crimes against Gaza would divide Democrats. It's partly why he pressed on and expanded it to Lebanon.
These authoritarians' allegiance to Trump and their influence made a huge impact.
In Michigan we learned that thousands of Arabs in Dearborn who voted for Biden in 2020 could have won the state for Harris. The withdrawal of their support sealed her defeat.
Jill Stein voters are another reason Trump won. They are as delusional as MAGA if they thought anything good would come from voting for her.
The greatest failure by Democrats was Biden allowing Garland to slow-walk Trump's criminal investigation and indictments. The media failed by treating this as a normal election instead of a criminal seeking power. They should have shown J6 footage every day, along with listing and explaining all the evidence of Trump's crimes.
This is modern information warfare, and Democrats better learn how to fight that war, or there's no way back from the abyss.
Trumpism is like spiritual/political alcoholism. Only until they take us to rock bottom can we begin to climb out of the dark hole of fascism.
I for one Dave will not subscribe to the typical age old western beliefs any longer that are, in lion's share, one of the reasons we are where we are at today.
And now, the rightwing fascist Christian Nationalists, whose beliefs and ground of being are not the ground Jesus of Nazareth walked nor is their message the message of Jesus.
What we are seeing is a backlash to the message of compassion and loving kindness that the democrats are focused on. That Dave stands in opposition to the greed of corporate America, Christian Nationalists, and rightwing authoritarians and fascists that are only interesred in total complete control of the naeative and our lives. Tlhe west, especially the USA, is, maybe already has, list its soul.soul.
There is a sure path to healing Dave. You know it. Most of America IMO does not.
Apparently division, hate, and deceit sells more easily in America than unity, love, compassion, empathy , and truth does.
And therein lies the root of our growuing national delusions.
Grey... On Gaza, yes, I know more than a few ppl who decided not to vote based on no Palestinian speakers and the D Convention. Did it cost the Dems Michigan? Maybe, but by best measure, there are only about 160K Palestinians in the US. But your point is my point. If ppl held their vote from Harris, they effectively voted against their own interests as it relates to the Jewish/Palestinian divide.
To Latinx, as I said above, I live and work in a Latino, albeit Mexican & Guatemalan context. No person i know, political ppl excepted, uses Latinx. No one. So I don't know. Maybe within the LGBTQ Latin communities.
Dem Rep Ritchie Torres of Bronx, NY has been very critical of how this term has been brought forth and used and he specifically mentions it frequently when talking about the sliding strength of Dems among Latino men.
As for the trans issue, I have no idea how you could see my analysis of the more than 30K ads Trump ran during specific sporting events attacking trans ppl as agreement with him. I'm simply saying that Dems had no answer for his horrible ads. Additionally, data shows the great majority of Americans do not believe trans women should be competing in women's sports.
If I gave you the impression I don't think trans people are human, I apologize. That's not my view and not what I was trying to express.
RFK Jr. being in charge of anything healthcare bothers me more than anything else.
Polio, small pox, mumps, measles and more... coming to elementary schools near you soon!
Making Amerika Sick Again!
An advantage of the new world order.
Hallelujah!
Dave and Dave, I apologize for mixing you two. I'm doing the best that I can and I know I can do better.
Dave Miller, apology accepted. I know what bothered me the most was that I'd misread you - meaning I think of you as a wise and careful human but your comment made me think you were something totally different. Thankfully you set me correct.
All my transgendered friends are freaked by the return of Trump and his jackbooted thugs who love to pick on anyone who is other. All the ally sites I read have a post about preparedness, getting your ducks in a row, updating documents, stuff like that. A couple advise staying frosty because violence traditionally follows Trump rhetoric.
I saw all the Russian propaganda ads Trump was pushing. What I didn't know until after the election was how saturated the market was with all things Trump. And you are correct, the establishment Dems were clueless when it comes to fighting in the ring of Trump politics. The Lincoln Project did a great job but honestly, they are former Republicans doing good work in defense of the Constitution.
In my opinion the establishment Dems continue to fight based on antiquated rules of conduct whereas MAGA uses guerilla warfare. The kids are doing their best but they are battling the billionaire class. I have faith but they will need our help.
Best advice heard so far? Talk to people. The Democratic message of taking care of citizens by addressing every issue on the list is popular, but no one heard it. Also in talking to others we have to educate them as to how the system works here/now. Of course after the coming Trump admin the system may not work anyway.
So much work, but We are Americans. We thrive on hard work. We resist. It's what we do.
Grey said... "All the ally sites I read have a post about preparedness, getting your ducks in a row, updating documents, stuff like that."
This broke my heart. I haven't seen anything like that since the middle of the AIDS epidemic.
Sadly I'm guessing people today from the incoming admin are making jokes about trans ppl much like we know from actual video, members of the Reagan Admin did back in the 80's.
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