The destruction, death and flag-waving in Washington yesterday afternoon, January 6th 2021, was reminiscent of the Reichstag fire in the early 1930s.
Adolf Hitler was leading the Nazi Party and had recruited a group of thugs (Stormtroopers) and Hitler used the Reichstag fire incident to further his quest for absolute power.
Trump has consistently spouted lies to gain and hold power. He incited hordes of his own stormtroopers to trash the Capitol building, praising that mindless rabble and saying how much he loved them - almost as much as he loves himself.
I hope that the majority of American citizens wake up to the reality that Democracy is on the verge of being crushed into oblivion by devotees of Hitler and similar ilk.
11 comments:
Sadly, there's never one guy: Stalin, Hitler, Trump and the like.There are millions behind them, supporting them, which makes it very difficult to fight against these people. There's need of great wisdom to do that, and the democratic party in the USA has failed to show wisdom from the very beginning - after Trump's election for President.
Perfectly, though sadly, correct, Duta. Millions in America continue to stand by Trump despite his dictatorial and narcissistic persona. Itis now certain that Trump and his cohorts are now persona non grata in America or anywhere else.
Well said Philip, and all calls from the left around the world or in the US were deemed overdramatic and sour grapes by people like my very own father at one point. I said that when people look back they ask how perfectly normal, nice families supported Hitler, gave him the power he had and it's because they were slowly conned and manipulated into thinking they could share their beds with far-right extremists. It was normalised and that's exactly what Trump did. Many of those supporting Trump think they're standing up for the American Way, it's frightening how history repeats itself again and again.
Yay! A Philip post! So to begin...
Trump has pardoned scores of criminals with whom he had ties; there's a good chance that he will pardon the murdering insurrectionists who took over the capitol; and it's almost a sure thing that he will pardon himself for his many years of known and unknown felonies. It seems a strange thing indeed that a president could issue a pardon for someone who hasn't even been charged with a crime, but that's what he has done, and that's what he might do again in the case of the insurrectionists. As for pardoning himself, it probably won't hold up in court, and even if it does, the pardon will be for federal crimes only, leaving the states free to prosecute him. I mention all this because there is a move to impeach him, although the proceedings couldn't be completed before the inauguration on the 22nd. However, once the trial has started, it would hopefully put a lid on his pardons, and it could even continue when he is no longer in office.
20% of Republican voters think that the attack on Wednesday was a justified response to election theft, and approximately 150 of Republican legislators voted to overturn the election results--thereby giving Trump the victory--and they did this even after the attempted coup. They had no Constitutional authority for it, but far too many Republicans only value the Constitution to the extent that it is on their side, or they can twist its words to make it seem--in their own minds--to be on their side. Bear in mind that Trump filed more than 50 lawsuits alleging election theft, every last one of which was overturned or dismissed. Trump's own attorney general and FBI director say that there was no election theft, and state officials (many of them Republicans, in every state also say there is no basis for the claim that the election was stolen. Yet, nearly all Republican voters claim that it happened, as of course they would, since they can hardly admit that, yes, they lost fair and square, but they are willing to end democracy in order to keep their man in office. It's such an irony to see the members of the self-professedly "party of law and order" attack policemen in order to illegally occupy the national capitol (which was last forcibly occupied by the British in 1814). These same people are also the first to honor military veterans for having "defended democracy" (Democrats tend to be torn about such honors, so many of America's wars having been acts of unjustifiable aggression).
cont.
I, too--from his first months in office--compared Trump to Hitler, not because he has done anywhere near as much harm as Hitler, but because he is an obese and phlegmatic version of Hitler, who shares Hitler's pettiness, violence, vindictiveness, manipulativeness, and goal of personally dominating as much of the world as he can. He also appeals to the same sort of brainless authoritarians who have no sense of purpose that is nobler than worshipping at the feet of a "strong man" politician. Think of loud, obscene, street-brawling, brown-shirted Storm Troopers, and you have an accurate image of millions of Trumpians. Hillary Clinton referred to them as "a basket of deplorables."
If American democracy succeeds, it won't be with the help of the Republican Party but despite opposition from the Republican politicians and voters. Of course, the Party wasn't always like this, and there are, even today, some decent people in it, people who were doing their utmost to say no to Trump even before Wednesday's attempted coup. The problem is that they're aren't nearly enough of them. Of course, now there are more. Last I heard, twelve members of his inner circle have resigned in the last two days, and others who have brown-nosed him all along, among them Mike Pence, who refused Trump's demand that he single-handedly refuse to accept the vote of states unfavorably to Trump, thus giving Trump the presidency. And then there is Facebook's indefinite ban of Trump and Twitter's lifetime ban. The latter is especially bad for Trump since it has been the main platform on which he has conducted the business of the presidency.
Did you know that when Trump sent that mob to the capitol, he promised repeatedly to go with them, there are three examples of it in the following sentence alone: "And after this [speech], we're going to walk down there, and I'll be there with you, we're going to walk down..." He didn't, of course, but just as his followers explained away his tens of thousands of other lies, they explained away this one too. "He only meant that he would go in spirit," they claim, or, "He wanted to go, but the Secret Service wouldn't let him." Trump's words are like the words of the Bible to his followers, accepted on faith as divinely inspired truth, yet ignored when dishonest or nonsensical. "We love you--you're very special people," he told the insurrectionists even while they were vandalizing, killing, and stealing," but upon being warned that he could be charged with insurrection if he didn't read a prepared statement, he threw them under the bus the next night. Of course, they forgave him immediately because he is, after all, their God, and whatever God does is right, no matter how bad it might look.
I slept badly for two nights preceding Wednesday's attack because I knew that it was coming, but if it was obvious to me, why wasn't it obvious to the capitol police who had access to classified intelligence information? I suspect that their leadership--and many of their rank and file members--were themselves Trumpians, him being very popular with law enforcement. Why else would they have removed the barriers, schmoozed with the invaders during the invasion, took selfies with the invaders, and, when it was all over, allowed them to leave unopposed? Also, if the invaders are the patriots they claim to be, why was the event dominated by flags with the word TRUMP? All this, like so many things in America anymore, stinks to high heaven.
Philip, you really must write longer post, so I won't look bad by saying more on your blog than you say. In the common parlance, I am "exercised" and "worked up." I know you understand, my dear friend. Otherwise, I wouldn't be so bold, presume so much, and take such appalling liberties...
Thank you for the cat toy recommendations. I'll let you know if we order any of them.
Good to read your comment "Ruby", and cheers for popping in to this old blast from the past. Hope he enjoys his final few days in the Whitehouse, trying to ignore the slings and arrows of justified ridicule showering upon this excuse of a President.
Snowy, dear chap, thanks for your response. I'm gratified by all the time and thought you devote to your comments, all of which I totally agree with.
We must now hope that Joe Biden will be up to the formidable task of healing the damage caused by Donald J Trump and his henchmen.
Thanks again, Philip
"January 6th 2021, was reminiscent of the Reichstag fire in the early 1930s."
Arnold Schwarzenegger--a native of Austria--has also equated the event with Nazi crimes.
I agree, Ruby, that Trumpians have normalized behavior that would have been unthinkable before Trump, yet his main support comes from Christians who represent themselves as on the side of "law and order") in the struggle to save America from falling under the control of "Godless socialists." When Clinton was impeached, Republican's rallying cry was "character matters," and everyday of the eight years that Obama was in office, they claimed that he was born in Africa (his birth certificate says Hawaii) and isn't even an American citizen, yet they now look at Trump and say that he is "God's choice to lead our nation through this difficult time." Many even claim that he is the "most Christian president that America has ever had."
Philip, I haven't heard from you in a long time, so I came here in the hope that you had a new post up. I hope you and Pat are well.
I drop by every now and then to see if you've posted. I know that it has become hard for you, and I respect you. I also miss you. I rereading this post, I reflect upon how much as changed since January. For example, I just had a long-dreaded surgery that turned out to be a lot worse than anticipated; winter is over; Oregon is, by far, hotter this summer than it ever has been; and the wildfires are bad and will get a lot worse. I know that a lot has happened in your life too. In some ways, time flies by. In other ways, it seems to go on forever.
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