#trump is responsible for maga violence

[christinareedy-love]

trump incites violence

I keep hearing & seeing that trump insists that the crime rate has skyrocketed since Biden has been president. If that is the case then we, the people, have all witnessed why. trump has been inciting violence since he lost the election 4 years ago. He even threatened bloodshed if he loses again, so gee I wonder where all the violence is coming from? 🤔🙄

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

Nine people died as a result of the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection that Republicans pretend was a "normal tourist visit." Four rioters and five police officers lost their lives during the attack or in its immediate aftermath, in ways that likely would not have happened but for the Capitol riot. This death toll is rarely discussed in the media coverage of the attack, likely because journalists don't want to argue with gaslighting fascists who want to get into bad faith debates about whether the assault "caused" the heart attacks and suicides that took lives. But there is one death that no one can deny was due to Jan. 6: That of Ashli Babbitt, the QAnon-believing insurrectionist who was shot by a Capitol police officer as she attempted to lead a charge of rioters to run down fleeing members of Congress.

Instead of erasing her death in their efforts to pretend the riot was "peaceful," Donald Trump and his goons have turned the 36-year-old conspiracy theorist into a MAGA martyr. As with much of Trump's campaign antics, it calls back to the tactics of the Nazis, who turned a murdered scumbag named Horst Wessel into a fallen fascist hero honored in iconography and song. Babbitt is even easier to prop up as a sympathetic figure, she was both pretty and female.

Trump in particular likes to get maudlin, calling Babbitt an "innocent, wonderful, incredible woman." He also spent months demonizing the Capitol police officer, Michael Byrd, who was forced to shoot Babbitt that day. (Byrd's actions have been exonerated through multiple investigations, though anyone who has seen the footage of the shooting can see he had no choice.) Trump has suggested Byrd should face extra-legal execution, complaining, "if that were on the other side, the person that did the shooting would be strung up and hung." It's language that should remind us that his "bloodbath" talk is both serious and literal.

So really, it should be bigger news that recently released testimony from a White House valet shows that Trump's reaction when told about Babbitt's death was utter indifference. It's buried in a New York Times report on this recently released transcript of an interview the anonymous valet did with the House committee investigating Jan. 6. The Times reporters are more focused on the valet's recollections of how Trump told his vice president, Mike Pence, that it would be "a political career killer" if Pence refused to steal the election for him. In passing, however, they also mention Trump did not care about Babbitt's killing — and the timeline suggests he understood perfectly well at the time that Babbitt was to blame for her own death.

As the transcript shows, the investigator asked the valet about a note that was given to Trump, shortly after the shooting, informing him that "1X civilian gunshot wound to chest at door of House Chamber." The valet affirmed that he saw Trump with the note, and that they also knew of the killing because it was being reported on cable news, which Trump was watching avidly throughout the riot.

"But there was no, like, reaction" to the news, the valet explained. Trump said nothing. But shortly after being informed, he did send out a tweet telling the insurrectionists "to remain peaceful, no violence," and to "[r]espect the law and our great men and women in blue."

Everyone understands — and understood at the time — that the tweet was just a CYA measure from Trump, who stubbornly refused for hours to ask the rioters to chill out, despite drinking in all the violent images on TV. But that he issued it after being told a supporter of his was shot makes it all the more clear that his main focus at the time was disavowing responsibility for the violence he fomented.

That Trump did not actually care about Babbitt's death, outside of fears that it made him look bad, is not a surprise to most Salon readers, journalists, or anyone who is honest about Trump's utter lack of morality. Perhaps this is why this revelation isn't getting more press attention. There's a tendency in the jaded press to assume "everyone" knows that Trump has never in his life cared about anyone but himself. But not all voters know that Trump is for-real sociopathic, and they may be surprised to find he reacted to a deluded woman dying for him like normal people react to stepping on an ant.

But this should be a huge story. Trump is making his phony concern about the fates of the January 6 insurrectionists the centerpiece of his campaign. He opens his rallies with elaborate ceremonies to honor the rioters, characterizes them as "hostages" and "unbelievable patriots," and promises pardons for people convicted of assaulting police and seditious conspiracy. He pretends to care about these people to valorize his selfish efforts to overthrow democracy. His feigned love of them is also about keeping up morale among the nastier members of the MAGA movement because Trump unsubtly expects them to use violence on his behalf again.

Trump's exploitation of Babbitt's is also part of a larger habit of faking outrage over imaginary threats to innocent white womanhood from dark-skinned men. Trump loves to brag that "I protect women," which is a lie like most words that come out of his face. But he definitely likes to share his elaborate fantasies of men of color raping and killing white women. That goes back to his 2015 campaign kickoff when he said Mexicans were "rapists." He has falsely declared that, because of immigration, "women are raped at levels that nobody has ever seen before." He's recently been hyping the murder of Laken Riley, a Georgia woman who was allegedly killed by an undocumented immigrant.

Trump's lurid obsession with violence against women is dishonest on two levels. First, he's lying about the racial dynamics of gendered violence. Most men who sexually abuse, beat or kill women target those they know, and who are usually of the same race. It's not the dark-skinned strangers lurking in bushes of Trump's imagination. Trump knows this personally, as nearly all the over two dozen women who have come out with stories of being sexually abused by him are white women who met him through normal work and social situations.

Thus, Trump not only doesn't care about violence against women, he's a big fan of it. He bragged about sexually assaulting women on the infamous "Access Hollywood" tape. A New York jury found he did sexually assault journalist E. Jean Carroll in the 90s. He's repeatedly used the word "fortunately" when asked if he thinks rich men have the privilege of sexually assaulting whomever they wish. Over and over, Trump goes out of his way to defend other men who are accused of sexual harassment or abuse.

Babbitt's death is an outlier in the sense that she was the person at fault and gender had nothing to do with it. Still, Trump talks about her with the same tones of fake outrage he brings when exploiting the deaths and rapes of genuine victims. Pretending to suddenly care about violence against women when it suits his political needs is doubly gross, given Trump's otherwise lengthy record of cheerleading for gendered violence. But the mainstream media tends to avoid contrasting his pretend views on this issue with the substantial real-world evidence that he has no problem with violence against women.

The Babbitt case is especially egregious because, ultimately, her death is his fault. If Trump hadn't spun up ordinary people with lies about a "stolen" election, she wouldn't have been in the Capitol, foolishly dying for a man who does not care about her. That he's now using her corpse as a campaign prop is disgusting. Most MAGA voters will refuse to see this, of course, or make false claims that "all" politicians do it. But if they knew how little he cared, maybe a few would wake up and see that Trump would happily let them all die for him.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

The MAGA GOP firmly believes that violence and violent threats against their fellow Americans is the surest path to power. As David French explains, that's a huge problem. In 2021, Reuters published a horrifying and comprehensive report detailing the persistent threats against local election workers. In 2022, it followed up with another report detailing threats against local school boards. In my own Tennessee community, doctors and nurses who advocated wearing masks in schools were targets of screaming, threatening right-wing activists, who told one man, “We know who you are” and “We will find you.”

My own family has experienced terrifying nights and terrifying days over the last several years. We’ve faced death threats, a bomb scare, a clumsy swatting attempt and doxxing by white nationalists. People have shown up at our home. A man even came to my kids’ school. I’ve interacted with the F.B.I., the Tennessee Department of Homeland Security and local law enforcement. While the explicit threats come and go, the sense of menace never quite leaves. We’re always looking over our shoulders. And no, threats of ideological violence do not come exclusively from the right. We saw too much destruction accompanying the George Floyd protests to believe that. We’ve seen left-wing attacks and threats against Republicans and conservatives. The surge in antisemitic incidents since Oct. 7 is a sobering reminder that hatred lives on the right and the left alike.

But the tsunami of MAGA threats is different. The intimidation is systemic and ubiquitous, an acknowledged tactic in the playbook of the Trump right that flows all the way down from the violent fantasies of Donald Trump himself. It is rare to encounter a public-facing Trump critic who hasn’t faced threats and intimidation. The threats drive decent men and women from public office. They isolate and frighten dissenters. When my family first began to face threats, the most dispiriting responses came from Christian acquaintances who concluded I was a traitor for turning on a movement whose members had expressed an explicit desire to kill my family. But I don’t want to be too bleak. So let me end with a point of light. In the summer of 2021, I received a quite direct threat after I’d written a series of pieces opposing bans on teaching critical race theory in public schools. Someone sent my wife an email threatening to shoot me in the face.

My wife and I knew that it was almost certainly a bluff. But we also knew that white nationalists had our home address, both of us were out of town and the only person home that night was my college-age son. So we called the local sheriff, shared the threat, and asked if the department could send someone to check our house. Minutes later, a young deputy called to tell me all was quiet at our home. When I asked if he would mind checking back frequently, he said he’d stay in front of our house all night. Then he asked, “Why did you get this threat?”

I hesitated before I told him. Our community is so MAGA that I had a pang of concern about his response. “I’m a columnist,” I said, “and we’ve had lots of threats ever since I wrote against Donald Trump.”

The deputy paused for a moment. “I’m a vet,” he said, “and I volunteered to serve because I believe in our Constitution. I believe in free speech.” And then he said words I’ll never forget: “You keep speaking, and I’ll stand guard.”

I didn’t know that deputy’s politics and I didn’t need to. When I heard his words, I thought, that’s it. That’s the way through. Sometimes we are called to speak. Sometimes we are called to stand guard. All the time we can at least comfort those under threat, telling them with words and deeds that they are not alone. If we do that, we can persevere. Otherwise, the fear will be too much for good people to bear.

[azspot]

These threats of violence in response to Donald Trump's arraignment(s) and arrest(s) are part of a much larger dynamic in this era of ascendant American neofascism where right-wing violence, threats, intimidation, and terrorism have become increasingly normalized. Contrary to what many among the mainstream news media, political class and general public would like to believe, such anti-democratic beliefs, values, and pathological behavior are not outliers or aberrations among the Republican Party and larger "conservative" movement and right-wing.

Don't let your guard down: MAGA is still plotting

[originalleftist]

Biden addressed the Gaza protests. I haven't watched the full address yet, but apparently he said the expected things, ie asserting the right to peaceful protest, while also insisting on the rule of law. So far so good, as President it's his responsibility to uphold both.

I do think he erred in not specifically addressing the violence against Gaza protesters at UCLA, as President he must uphold the rule of law for everyone, regardless of which side they're on.

That said, I think Biden's mostly hands-off approach to the protests and responses to them may actually be a good thing. I'm sure Republicans desperately want a Federal military/National Guard crackdown on the protests- they will play this as being "pro-Israel" and "pro-rule of law", but they likely know that any violence will ultimately be blamed on Biden, and can be more easily blamed directly on him if he orders the National Guard in. Their dream is a Kent State before the election, to break off young and progressive voters*, and get them engaging in street violence that the fascist Right can then use to justify a violent crackdown, and as Whataboutism to deflect from and excuse their own planned post-election violence.

So far, Biden isn't taking the bait. And by keeping mostly hands-off, he is drawing a clear distinction between himself and Trump. Because I trust we all remember how Trump handled the Black Lives Matter protests in the months before the election in 2020 (and if you don't, you really should): He suggested shooting protesters, sent secret police to Democratic areas to grab people off the streets, and used the military to clear out protesters in DC ahead of a photo-op- when he wasn't cowering in the White House bunker.

Once again, Biden's response may be lacking in some respects, but it is WORLDS better than what Trump offers. Except, of course, for Republicans, who was violent unrest to damage Biden, and Leftist/anarchist "accelerationists", who want to maximize violence because they believe it will lead to a Marxist revolution*, instead of the more likely prolonged civil war or fascist dictatorship.

Edit: Think I'm kidding about this? The fascist Right is VERY actively trying to recruit and co-opt the radical Left. If I didn't know that before, the sight of "Communists for Trump" stickers (including one of Marx wearing a MAGA hat) defacing a bus stop in my CANADIAN home town last night would be proof enough.

[tomorrowusa]

North Carolina seems to be the vortex for MAGA extremism this year.

We thought that the GOP candidate for governor Mark Robinson was off the scale.

Meet North Carolina’s GOP Governor Candidate: A Hitler-Quoting Extremist

But Michele Morrow, the GOP nominee for North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction, makes Mark Robinson sound almost mainstream.

In other comments on social media between 2019 and 2021 reviewed by CNN’s KFile, Morrow made disturbing suggestions about executing prominent Democrats for treason, including Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Hillary Clinton, Sen. Chuck Schumer and other prominent people such as Anthony Fauci and Bill Gates. “I prefer a Pay Per View of him in front of the firing squad,” she wrote in a tweet from May 2020, responding to a user sharing a conspiracy theory who suggested sending Obama to prison at Guantanamo Bay. “I do not want to waste another dime on supporting his life. We could make some money back from televising his death.” In another post in May 2020, she responded to a fake Time Magazine cover that featured art of Obama in an electric chair asking if he should be executed. “Death to ALL traitors!!” Morrow responded. In yet another comment, Morrow suggested in December 2020 killing Biden, who at that time was president-elect, and has said he would ask Americans to wear a mask for 100 days. “Never. We need to follow the Constitution’s advice and KILL all TRAITORS!!! #JusticeforAmerica,” she wrote. CNN reached out to Morrow and her campaign multiple times but did not receive a response.

But wait, there's more!

Morrow also promoted QAnon slogans and tweeted that the actor Jim Carrey was “… likely searching for adrenochrome” – a reference to a conspiracy theory shared by QAnon believers that celebrities harvest and drink the blood of children to prolong their own lives. Media Matters, a left-leaning publication, was first to report the QAnon tweets. All together, Morrow tweeted “WWG1WGA” – the slogan that stands for “where we go one, we go all” and is commonly associated with the QAnon conspiracy – more than seven times in 2020. Central to QAnon lore is the notion of the “Storm,” a belief there will be a day when thousands will purportedly be arrested, subjected to military tribunals, and face mass executions for their alleged crimes, with Donald Trump leading efforts to dismantle them alongside other QAnon “patriots.”

Morrow seems to get off on executions a lot. Her addiction to QAnon (who hasn't been around for years) is not at all out of character.

Sadly, such Republican candidates are hardly unusual these days.

To defeat such MAGA fascist extremist psychopaths it will be necessary to become more politically active in real life this year. That means volunteering, donating, and being more visible as pro-democracy Americans. And not just in North Carolina but nationwide.

My new favorite slogan this year is a classic rallying cry from civil rights activist Rev. Jesse Jackson:

Nobody will save us from us but us.

[mariacallous]

The frozen conflict between Serbia and Kosovo has come dangerously close to heating up again in recent weeks. First, an armed standoff between  Serb gunmen and Kosovo authorities in the north of the country left three assailants and one police officer dead. Then, just a few days later, the White House warned of an unprecedented buildup of Serbian troops along the border with Kosovo, raising concerns that war might be about to return to the Balkans.

Washington vaguely warned Belgrade that it could face possible punitive measures if it didn’t withdraw its forces. Fortunately, the response was immediate and Serbia’s often stubborn president, Aleksandar Vucic, wasted no time in pulling back his military.

This wasn’t the first time that the Serbia-Kosovo dispute led to a troop surge, and Vucic often uses this as a scare tactic when the EU-facilitated dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina isn’t going his way. But what was noteworthy this time was how quickly he followed orders when they came from Washington, which is a stark contrast from the foot-dragging and feigned compliance that he usually shows Brussels, which doesn’t tend to issue threats and warnings the way Washington does. What this shows is that, when the United States slams its fist on the table, Vucic listens.

Although this proved useful last month, this episode should set off alarm bells in the European Commission. Over the course of this year, Brussels has sought to inject greater urgency in the stalled Serbia-Kosovo dialogue and push the two sides toward normalizing their relations, which would in practice require Serbia to de facto recognize Kosovo’s independence and cease campaigning against its entry into international organizations in exchange for a degree of self-rule for ethnic Serbs in the north of the country.

The bloc’s newfound determination seemed to initially yield results, when Vucic and his Kosovar counterpart, Prime Minister Albin Kurti, agreed on how to implement an 11-point EU plan setting out a process for normalization in March. But it didn’t take long for intransigence to set in on both sides, and while Brussels showed some authority by sanctioning Pristina for failing to honor its commitments to the agreement and for stoking tensions with ethnic Serbs in the north of the country, it ultimately failed to force compliance, and recent events suggest that the dialogue has actually gone backward.

This should worry the EU for a number of reasons. First, it doesn’t seem to have much control over events in its own backyard. Second, the next U.S. presidential election is fast approaching, and Brussels could end up finding itself completely sidelined in the Balkans if the Republicans end up retaking the White House. Indeed, this came dangerously close to occurring three years ago, when rumors emerged that the Trump administration was open to approving a controversial land-swap proposal between Belgrade and Pristina that would see the Serbia-Kosovo border redrawn along ethnic lines by transferring the Serb-majority north of Kosovo to Serbia in exchange for an ethnic Albanian portion of southern Serbia.

The EU managed to torpedo the proposal by bringing war crimes charges against Kosovo’s then-president, Hashim Thaci, but it was fortunate in that then-U.S. President Donald Trump failed in his reelection bid several months later. The Biden administration has been happy to take a back-seat role—compared to the Trump administration—and allow Europe to take the lead in Balkan affairs. But this is unlikely to be the case if Trump or any other norm-defying MAGA Republican wins next year’s election.

Border corrections will undoubtedly be back on the table, and although this would be the most straightforward solution to the conflict that would also make Kosovo a more politically coherent state, it would almost certainly prove more divisive than the status quo in practice. So, for that reason, Brussels and Washington would be well advised to move quickly, while the Democrats are still able to control events. But this might require a drastic change of approach.

The main reason the Serbia-Kosovo dialogue remains stalled is because Belgrade prefers the status quo to any other proposed solution barring, perhaps, border corrections. Indeed, Vucic has made this very clear, and there is no sign that the new plan agreed to this year has actually changed anything. In fact, Vucic has openly mocked the EU on Serbian television, claiming that he didn’t sign the aforementioned proposal, termed the Ohrid Agreement, because he has an “excruciating pain” in his right hand that is “expected to continue for the next four years.”

Inevitably, there have been calls to sanction Belgrade, but Vucic’s critics tend to overestimate how much leverage Brussels has over him. Whenever Vucic is seen as undermining Western values and interest in the Balkans, Serbia hawks usually propose that the EU suspend the country’s accession process and cut the significant financial support it receives from Europe. But it’s questionable how effective such an approach would be, and neither method is a silver bullet that would yield quick results.

Firstly, there is little reason to believe that Vucic’s government is serious about leading his nation into the bloc anymore. His decade in power has been marked by constant democratic backsliding, and Serbia, which has become increasingly authoritarian, looks less like an EU-style state with every passing year.

The country’s opposition has been completely neutered, while almost all media outlets come under the control of government-aligned oligarchs. This drift shows no signs of abating, and the government is currently in the process of amending public information and media laws in a way that would allow state-owned entities like the national telecoms provider, Telekom Serbia, to issue its own media licenses, which would inevitably lead to the emergence of even more pro-government voices in a country that barely has a free press anymore.

Ending Serbia’s long-stalled accession process is also unlikely to lead to any sort of public backlash that might put pressure on Vucic. Committed pro-Europeans make up only 13 percent of the national electorate, and even the country’s moderate opposition attacks Vucic for having conceded too much ground over Kosovo. As things stand, an overwhelming majority in the country has no interest in normalizing ties along the terms currently being pushed by the West, and the only button that it has left to push is economic sanctions. But this, too, is unlikely to elicit a radical rethink in Belgrade because the inconvenient truth is that Vucic can easily ride out any sort of sanctions until the 2024 election and arguably much longer.

Although Europe is Serbia’s main trading partner and its biggest source of international aid by some distance, Belgrade has reduced its dependency on the bloc over the last decade by diversifying the list of countries that it does business with. The most notable of these include China, Russia, Israel, and the Arab Gulf states. It’s also worth remembering that, unless Vucic invades Kosovo, he’s unlikely to face anything nearing the sort of sanctions that were imposed against Serbia in the 1990s.

These had a crippling effect on the country, yet then-President Slobodan Milosevic still managed to ride out the economic storm for almost a decade before being deposed. Cuts to economic grants and development funds are likely, but there won’t be sanctions that prevent EU members trading with Serbia. Unlike 15 years ago, Serbia has developed new international partners, so the economic situation is unlikely to get so dire that Serbs will protest en masse and threaten Vucic’s rule. This makes Vucic incredibly difficult to coerce.

There aren’t any easy solutions for the Kosovo-Serbia problem. Border corrections remain the quickest path toward resolving the conflict, but even if such a solution were achievable, the window of opportunity has undoubtedly closed now that Thaci has been replaced by a committed nationalist like Kurti who has shown zero appetite for even moderate compromise.

Kurti has consistently resisted Belgrade’s central demand, which is the establishment of an Association of Serb Municipalities (ASM) that would give Serb-dominated areas in the north of the country a degree of autonomy. Pristina initially agreed to this in 2013, but it has dragged its feet on implementation. This has been made even more difficult with Kurti in power because he opposes the ASM in principle, fearing that it would give Serbs the power to act as a fifth column and undermine the central government in much the same way that Republika Srpska, the ethnic Serb entity in Bosnia, obstructs federal leaders in Sarajevo.

There will be no movement from the Serbian side until the ASM is established, a move that the EU supports. The inconvenient truth for Kurti is that Kosovo’s dream of economically viable statehood and U.N. recognition ends the moment that either Brussels or Washington decides to turn off the life support. The West has incredible power to coerce Kurti into compliance, and it would be well advised to use it if it wants to see progress before next year’s election. Pristina should therefore be presented with an ultimatum: Establish the ASM if you have serious ambitions to become a fully independent state.

Such a move would undoubtedly invite strong criticism from the loud chorus of pro-Kosovo voices, who would no doubt argue that Vucic is being “rewarded” for his belligerent behavior in recent weeks. But these people can be easily ignored. Kosovo has no inherent right to exist, and its claims to nationhood are no more valid than those of other unrecognized states around the world. The only difference between them is that Pristina enjoys Western support. If Kurti wants international recognition, he should be forced to accept the risk of Bosnia-style dysfunction as the price of getting it.

Of course, there is every possibility that Belgrade would continue to pursue its usual policy of obstruction even if the West were to do this. With 2024 fast approaching, Vucic is probably gambling on a Republican victory in the hope that it could reopen the possibility of border corrections or other terms more favorable to Serbia. But even if the Democrats do manage to hold on to the White House, there is an argument to be made that Washington should take the lead in the Balkans, even if that would mean quite openly stepping on the Europeans’ toes.

By putting all its bets on Vucic as the solution to the Kosovo dispute, the EU has allowed itself to be painted into a corner. It’s done this by muting criticism of Vucic and standing idly by as he has dismantled the fledgling democracy that was emerging in Serbia in the first decade of this century. That sort of passivity is profoundly useful to Vucic and has allowed him to entrench himself.

The president’s control over state institutions and the media in Serbia has made it impossible for any potential challengers to emerge, which means that there aren’t any alternative partners that the international community can turn to. Changing this will require long-term and potentially quite aggressive action like the sanctioning of Vucic’s inner circle or actively incubating the emergence of a viable political opposition, like the National Endowment for Democracy did in Serbia in the late 1990s.

Civil society effectively needs to be rebuilt from the bottom up after being eroded over the last decade, and the country’s independent media needs help fighting off the threat posed by Telekom Serbia if the free press is to survive. In many ways, what is required amounts to a total state-building project of the sort undertaken in Kosovo. Brussels has shown that it is incapable of doing this, so it might be time for Washington to slam its fist on the table if anything is to change.

[grits-galraisedinthesouth]

Not satire🤦‍♂️ Salon Magazine: "MAGA Republicans & Christian Nationalism ‘Bigger Threat to America than Hamas’ "

When Hillary Clinton called for the deprogramming of Trump Supporters, it was evident that Big Brother plans to imprison any American who refuses to relinquish love for God & love of country.

Today’s Republicans, as well as Christian nationalism, are a greater threat to the United States than the Hamas terrorist organization, which is responsible for scores of terror attacks including the most recent massacre of over 1,000 civilians — according to a recent Salon piece that is drawing fierce backlash for the “gross” assertion.

Following the deadliest attack on Jewish people since the Nazi Holocaust, Salon magazine published an essay declaring MAGA Republicans and Christian supporters a “bigger threat” to America than the Hamas terrorist perpetrators. 

The Thursday essay, titled “MAGA and Christian nationalism: Bigger threat to America than Hamas could ever be,” was penned by columnist Brian Karem, the former senior White House correspondent for Playboy.

— while forcing the rest of us to worship the way they choose,” he asserts, accusing them of appearing “hellbent on returning to the Middle Ages, driven there by the first Christian nationalist House speaker.”

He also claims that modern Republicans are unconcerned about the possibility of theocratic threats to freedom.

“They revel in their own chicanery. They despise free thought and independence, and are happy to play games with a government shutdown — the modern equivalent of fiddling while it all burns,” he writes. 

The longtime White House correspondent concludes with a reflection on President Joe Biden’s dwindling popularity and the broader challenges facing the country, from climate change to the potential of widespread violence and political turmoil.

In response, many took to social media to express outrage over the essay.

“Good grief,” remarked Tesla CEO and X (formerly Twitter) owner Elon Musk.“Yep. Some editor at Salon actually signed off on this piece by Brian Karem, who somehow is a credentialed WH ‘reporter,’” wrote columnist Joe Concha.

“In a sane world they’d be out of a job in about 30 seconds. Instead, Salon is actually promoting it,” he added.The U.S.-designated Islamic terror group, whose charter calls openly for the murder of Jews and the elimination of the Jewish state through relentless jihad, perpetrated the worst terrorist attack in Israel’s history last month, in an operation stemming from its radical beliefs. 

Hamas’ attack last month, which drew parallels to scenes from the Nazi Holocaust, saw some 2,500 terrorists burst into Issrael by land, sea, and air and gun down participants at an outdoor music festival while others went door-to-door hunting for Jewish men, women, and children in local towns who were then subject to torture, rape, execution, immolation, and kidnapping.

The attack resulted in more than 1,400 dead inside the Jewish state, over 5,300 more wounded, and at least 242 hostages of all ages taken.

The vast majority of the victims are civilians and include dozens of American citizens.On Tuesday, FBI Director Christopher Wray warned of heightened threats in the U.S. due to the Israel-Hamas war.

“We assess that the actions of Hamas and its allies will serve as an inspiration the likes of which we haven’t seen since (the Islamic State group) launched its so-called caliphate several years ago,” Wray told the Senate Committee on Homeland Security.

Salon has a history of smearing Republicans and Christians.

In March, a Salon piece insisted that Republicans are in the midst of waging a “fascist war” against freedom and democracy.Last year, an article in the progressive publication described the GOP as being a “de facto terrorist organization” as well as the “world’s largest white supremacist” group.

Previously, Salon published an interview in which “the Republican fascist movement” was referred to as “objectively evil,” and “white Christians” were accused of embracing lies, terrorism, white supremacy and fascism.

Joshua Klein is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jklein@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter @JoshuaKlein.

[longwindedbore]

I’m shocked! Shocked I say that Darth Brandon called fascists “fascists” just for

Carrying Nazi flags [1]

Advocating shooting LGBTQ+ in the back of the head [2] or locking them up in camps [3]

Advocating hunting down and shooting RHINOs ~ AKA Republicans or former Republicans who are ‘disloyal’ to the Great God Trump [4]

Calling for a ‘Purge’ of Liberals and posting how great it’ll will be when we are all dead. [5]

Lynching black people in election years [6]

Storming our Capitol with fascist regalia. [7]

Marching around like The Nazi’s SA (Sturmabteilung) [8]

Threatening civil insurrection on an hourly basis. [9]

Inciting violence against women [10]

Open advocation of white Christian theocracy [11]

With nary a condemnation from a certain political Party leadership [12]

Every triggered fascist wants to claim Brandon insulted “1/2 the country “.

I think they’re going to find that they are a minority within the white community.

I think they’re going to be surprised and dismayed at how many Republicans who voted for Trump are going to sit out the Election .

And how many Independents are going to vote against their candidates.

How the electorate is really really really angry about SCOTUS Dobbs decision overturning R v W. And Uvalde.

PSA - there’s a whole lot of disgusting 💩below the line. Proceed at your own risk. Not responsible for projectile vomiting nor aneurysms resulting from outrage.

=====================================

[1] Nazi Flags at Turning Point USA

[2] Shooting LGBTQ.

[3] Kamps

[4] Hunting RHINOs

[5] The Purge fantasy.

[6] Lynchings

[7] Fascist symbology at the Capitol Jan 6. https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/interactive/2021/far-right-symbols-capitol-riot/

[8] The SA in the USA.

[9] Threatening Civil Obsurrection

[10] Threats against women.

[11] Pushing for a theocracy

[12] Radio silence on condemning violent extremism

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

By Kirk Swearingen

In the face of what seems like endless gun carnage in the U.S., Republican politicians call for more mental health funding even while withholding it. Not only are there now more guns than people in this country, many Republicans and the right-wing media continue to profit by leading people, especially younger men, to despair.

They're projecting their own unexamined mental health issues on others. As Salon's Amanda Marcotte has often pointed out, for Republicans it seems that every accusation is a confession.

When Donald Trump and his confederates claim that Democrats cheat in elections, that's what is known as a tell, since cheating at elections is precisely what they themselves are trying their best (or worst) to do.

When Ivy League–educated Republicans attack the liberal "elite." When Trump Republicans profess outrage about the "Biden crime family." When the malignant narcissist who formerly occupied the White House claims that liberals (whom he claims are "socialists," "radicals" or "Marxists") are out to destroy the country. Every accusation is a confession.

So Republican politicians and their media allies call for more mental health spending as a supposed solution to the gun violence crisis, one suspects that's a reflection of their own mental strain in championing an absurd interpretation of the Second Amendment and steadfastly ignoring the fact that people in other large Western nations have issues with mental health too, but for some reason don't shoot each other, or themselves, nearly as often.

Many men who vote Republican, it seems, are too focused on propping up their fragile masculinity to seek help in any case. (It might make them look like "betas.") Far too often, a right-wing man gets so worked up about a perceived threat to his manliness that he goes on a shooting rampage with assault-style weapons, which the Supreme Court has helpfully explained is every American's God-given right, under the twisted logic that there was no "history or tradition" in the 18th century of prohibiting high-powered firearms that hadn't been invented.

So many American conservatives live in a seemingly incessant state of fear — about books and experts and science and liberals and immigrants and independent women and people of color and people with different sexual preferences or gender identities — that it's no wonder they appear mentally and emotionally unhealthy. Then there are the evangelical and fundamentalist Christians who form the most reliable MAGA Republican base: Their alleged belief in Jesus Christ has become so warped they now perceive their savior in the person of our twice-impeached, four-times-indicted ex-president. None of this signals a group of well-adjusted human beings. The HBO series "The Righteous Gemstones," a dark comedy about shallow, grifting televangelists stunted and spoiled by wealth, has to work hard to outdo what we see at Trump rallies.

Come on, it's not like we weren't warned about all this. Remember Trump's infamous 2016 response to Hillary Clinton: "No puppet, no puppet … You're the puppet!" Did that sound like a mentally well-adjusted adult? Or an adult of any kind? How about this lovely Mother's Day greeting, earlier this year. Who defends themselves against allegations of criminal actions by saying, "I'm a legitimate person"? Who frequently posts in all caps on social media, flinging incomprehensible accusations at political opponents?

As for anti-"woke" warrior Ron DeSantis, his campaign against Trump appears to be a spectacular failure, even as he apparently mimics Trump's fragile ego, accompanying vindictiveness and bizarre obsession with manliness. Like "personality" Tucker Carlson's 2022 special on "The End of Men," DeSantis' anti-Pride video was pretty darned homoerotic.

Along with the right-wing cable news machine profiting by actively diminishing the mental acuity of its viewers, "manfluencer" grifters like Andrew Tate, selling "alpha male" misogyny to lonely, insecure young men, have made fortunes encouraging them to become misogynistic white nationalists — essentially mini-Trumps, but with actual muscle tone (not just in risible fantasy). It's good to see some mentally healthy young people fight back with satire.

When a serial liar and hatemonger like Trump remains the choice of a large majority of Republican voters even after two impeachments, an ever-growing count of felony indictments and an ongoing attempted coup; when voters send deeply unserious, dysfunctional or delusional individuals to Congress as their representatives; when fascist-fanboy Governors like DeSantis and Greg Abbott model their states after authoritarian regimes and deploy stochastic terrorism to put marginalized populations at risk of violence, is it any wonder that ordinary citizens feel permanently on edge, in a state of chronic existential dread?

But the right won't give up — I don't mean on issues of principle or policy, since it doesn't have any, but in its crusade to "own the libs," take rights away from people who are not like them and enforce theocratic minority rule. In fact, that mean-spirited crusade is the basis of the right's tribal identity. As Adam Serwer of The Atlantic famously pointed out some time ago, the cruelty is the point:

“Taking joy in that suffering is more human than most would like to admit. Somewhere on the wide spectrum between adolescent teasing and the smiling white men in the lynching photographs are the Trump supporters whose community is built by rejoicing in the anguish of those they see as unlike them, who have found in their shared cruelty an answer to the loneliness and atomization of modern life.”

As I reread those lines, I think back to the cheering and laughter of the Trump supporters during CNN's pathetic "town hall" rally for Trump in May, as he turned in his typical shameless performance of lies, bluster, bullying and whining. Here's a suggested campaign slogan: "Trump 2024: Come for the Lying, Stay for the Crying." As Salon contributor Mike Lofgren has observed, the GOP's "heart of darkness" has moved beyond just whining; They want retribution, payback for all the real or perceived slights they have suffered, and they believe only their cult leader can deliver it.

Brian Klaas, a professor of global politics at University College London, writes that we end up with bad people in power so often for three main reasons: power acts as a magnet for corruptible people (often "Machiavellian narcissists, perhaps with a dash of psychopathy thrown in too"); holding power tends to corrupt people; we tend to give people power for the wrong reasons.

"Corruptible people are disproportionately drawn to power, disproportionately good at wriggling their way into it and disproportionately likely to cling to it once they've got it," Klaas notes. We can fix this, he argues, by fixing our political system, recruiting better candidates and instituting real accountability for wrongdoing. Good systems, he says, attract good people. Fighting corruption is an integral part of the Democratic Playbook published by the Brookings Institution. A political system dominated by money, "dark" or otherwise, is not working.

Most politicians would not entertain the thought that they are mentally unwell. They are simply playing the game; looking to gain advantage in any way that works and is not blatantly illegal (with some notable exceptions. But does that kind of Machiavellian behavior, part of the "dark triad," suggest a well-functioning mind and spirit? We too often shrug at politics, accepting the narrative that it's just a game. But it's not; it is freedom or tyranny, dignity or subjugation, life or death.

Those who dehumanize their political opponents by referring to them as enemies and who call teachers, librarians and parents "groomers" have mental health issues far exceeding those of young people struggling with questions of sexual orientation or gender identity. Men who work to limit women's autonomy over their own bodies, or for that matter conservative women who punch down to bolster their fragile status have serious issues to work on and should quit afflicting them on the rest of us.

To be fair, a great many of us in America face our own mental health issues across the political spectrum. More of us, almost certainly, should seek the counsel of friends and professionals. We are chronically depressed and lonely. Political polarization has separated friends and family members from each other. The religious right has embraced an evangelism of intolerance against other people whose mental and emotional struggles they don't understand. While Republicans play-act as defenders of the working class, they labor tirelessly to drive working people deeper into lives of endless labor and debt servitude.

As the late, great American novelist Kurt Vonnegut would have said, about this and about his currently banned books: "So it goes." I don't think he meant to indicate cynical acceptance, more like an acknowledgment of humanity's deep history of stupidity and intolerance — and the need to carry on nonetheless. So we work diligently to maintain our own sense of self, our fragile balance, our purpose and our will — even in a country where, far too often, the inmates are running the asylum.

[johnnyrobish]

Biden Goes ‘Dark Brandon’ - Says MAGA Republicans a Threat to Democracy

In a prime-time address outside Independence Hall in Philadelphia, President Joe Biden warned that Americans can no longer afford to pretend that democracy isn't under assault, adding that Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans are an extremist sect that is putting the U.S. in danger.  Biden went on to point out “History tells us that blind loyalty to a single leader and a willingness to engage in political violence is fatal to democracy.”

In response, MAGA Republican talking heads like Tucker Carlson immediately took to the airwaves, attacking Joe Biden for giving a speech they labeled as “extremely divisive.”  Extremely divisive?  Oh, my word!  Where are the smelling salts and the fainting couch when you need them?  Well, what’s up with that, Brandon?  After all, everyone knows Republicans have always bent over backward to be cooperative and conciliatory.

I mean, it isn’t as if Republicans have been repeatedly threatening judges, FBI agents, teachers, librarians, poll workers, IRS employees, healthcare workers, banning books they don’t like, spreading election lies to undermine the integrity of US democracy, attacking the US Capitol, and threatening a bloody civil war if Trump is prosecuted for his crimes against the US.

Why, Republicans are so insulted, they plan to demand we allow totalitarian dictators Viktor Orbán of Hungry and Saudi Arabian murderer Mohammed bin Salman, to come over here and explain to silly Americans once and for all, exactly why democracy simply does not work - which is because Libtards get to vote too.  Tell me that won’t show old Brandon who’s boss!  

Now, you can call me old-fashioned, but I’ve always preferred presidents who use their podium to defend democracy, rather than direct their fascist hordes to the Capitol to try and stop the democratic process.  I’ve always been kinda funny like that.  One thing’s for sure, after Joe Biden’s MAGA speech, the elephant in the room has been fully exposed, and I’ll be damned - if it isn’t “orange.”

If you’ve enjoyed what you’ve just read, please consider joining me at:

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Ann Telnaes, Washington Post :: [h/t Robert Scott Horton]

* * * *

Standing up to Trump's political terrorism.

August 18, 2023

ROBERT B. HUBBELL

          Trump knows that a jury of his peers will convict him in a fair trial. He has therefore resorted to extra-judicial efforts to intimidate and prejudice the jury pool. His efforts are not only extra-judicial, they are undemocratic, thuggish, and illegal. Like a crime lord with feral instincts, Trump knows how to threaten without threatening and brutalize without leaving fingerprints at the scene of the crime. Instead, he grants permission to his followers to violate laws and norms, encouraging them to do the dirty work necessary to defend the indefensible.

          Over the last several days, the breadth and viciousness of Trump’s assault on the legal system became manifest as MAGA extremists attacked the judge and jurors in Trump's various criminal proceedings. Before reviewing the latest insults to the rule of law, let’s skip to the end to discuss the solution: We must recognize that Trump is engaged in political terrorism designed to frighten good people who are the backbone of democracy. We cannot let that happen. The solution is not to shrink in fear, but to swell in numbers, strengthen our resolve, and dispel the exaggerated fears created by a skulk of cowards who hide in internet shadows.

          In America, there is an ever-present risk of violence that cannot be entirely dismissed. Law enforcement and prosecutors should, therefore, vigorously pursue and prosecute the small, frightened, impotent cultists who threaten jurors, judges, and prosecutors. But we must recognize that the business model of political terrorism is for a few individuals to instill outsized and unwarranted fear in the masses. Recognizing that truth should allow us to keep in perspective the fact that a few thousand online pseudo-terrorists vanish to nothingness compared to 335 million Americans.  

          America is bigger than Trump and his minions. We should not cower in fear but should pursue justice with confidence and righteousness. We are protecting the Constitution and our system of laws. We cannot fail in that task—and there is nothing that cowards with keyboards can do to deter us.

          Against that background, let’s look at the events on the ground.

          Abigail Jo Shry of Alvin, Texas, threatened Judge Tanya Chutkan in a voicemail message that began with racial slurs and ended with threats of violence. Shry was quickly questioned, arrested, and charged in federal court. The magistrate ordered that she remain in pretrial detention for at least 30 days pending a determination of her danger to the community. That is type of federal response that will deter future threats.

          At Shry’s detention hearing, her father provided background on Abigail Shry’s threats:

Her father, Mark Shry, testified at her detention hearing and said his daughter is a “non-violent alcoholic,” according to the court filing. [Her father] testified, “that she sits on her couch daily watching the news while drinking too many beers. She then becomes agitated by the news and starts calling people and threatening them.” Her father said, “his daughter never leaves her residence and therefore would not act upon her threats.”

          There have also been threats against members of the Fulton County grand jury that indicted Trump and eighteen other defendants on RICO charges. See NYTimes, Officials Investigate Threats Against Trump Grand Jurors in Georgia (accessible to all). The Fulton County sheriff issued an anodyne statement acknowledging the threats and stating that the sheriff was investigating. (The statement said the sheriff was “aware of online threats against grand jurors and was working with other agencies to track down their origin.”)

          A stronger statement from the sheriff and the quick arrest of several perpetrators would go some distance to damping the false bravado of other beer-fueled couch terrorists. A stronger reaction is necessary because the online threats are directed not only against the grand jurors, but future jurors who will preside over Trump’s criminal trials.

          But there is more.

          Trump released a video in which he attacked special prosecutor Jack Smith as a “deranged lowlife” for obtaining Trump's Twitter feed. See Forbes, Trump Attacks Jack Smith For Gaining Access To His Old Twitter Account. This is the type of statement that should cause Judge Tanya Chutkan to remand Trump into custody. At the very least, the statement should be added to the list of offenses that will finally cause Trump to be detained pending trial.

          Detaining Trump before tria is not only inevitable but also necessary. Trump's continued attacks are having a corrosive effect that seeps into the nooks and crannies of the justice system everywhere. Many readers have commented on the raid on a Kansas newspaper because of efforts by the newspaper to report on the failure of local police to enforce DUI laws against a local businessman. Based on a questionable search warrant issued by a local magistrate, police seized computers, cell phones, and files—a gross violation of federal protections granted to members of the news media.

          The public outcry and obvious illegality of the seizure forced the police to return the seized items and the local prosecutor to withdraw the questionable warrant due to 'insufficient evidence’. But the question remains, “How could this happen? How is it that local police and magistrate could ignore constitutional and statutory protections for the press?” Some of the sordid answers are detailed in this investigative piece by The Wichita Eagle, Judge Laura Viar, who approved newspaper raid, has DUI arrests.  

          Apart from the local magistrate’s questionable potential bias due to her own history of DUI troubles, another answer is that the police and magistrate are modeling themselves after a national GOP in which the rule of law is an impediment to power. In short, they thought they could get away with trampling the Constitution. Fortunately, they were wrong—and will likely be charged with crimes and serve time in jail. As should Trump.

          If Americans see that Trump is punished for his attacks on the justice system pending trial, others will realize that they, too, must respect the justice system. We owe the Constitution nothing less.

[Robert B. Hubbell Newsletter]

[xtruss]

Latin America’s New Hard Right: Bukele, Milei, Kast And Bolsonaro! Crime, Abortion and Socialism, Not Immigration, Are The Issues That Rile Them

— April 1st 2024| Santiago, Chile 🇨🇱

A montage of right-wing Latin American leaders on a red and blue background with Donald Trump throwing maga hats at them. Illustration: Klawe Rzeczy

“Mr president!” Javier Milei could barely contain himself when he met Donald Trump at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) near Washington in February. The pair embraced and exchanged slogans, with Mr Trump intoning “Make Argentina Great Again” several times and Argentina’s new President yipping “Viva la Libertad, Carajo” (“Long Live Freedom, Dammit”) in response.

Nayib Bukele, El Salvador’s Popular Autocratic President, had already addressed the conference. “They say globalism comes to die at CPAC,” he told enraptured Republicans. “I’m here to tell you that in El Salvador, it’s already dead.” Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil’s Hard-Right Former President, was a star guest in 2023. He, like Mr Trump, claimed without evidence that his bid for a second term was thwarted by fraud. His supporters also attempted an insurrection.

These scenes suggest a seamless international alliance between Mr Trump and the leaders of Latin America’s hard right. Its members also include José Antonio Kast of Chile, who has spoken at cpac in the past too. This new right basks in Mr Trump’s influence. It has turned away from a more consensual form of conservative politics in favour of an aggressive pursuit of culture war.

Its ascent began with the surprise victory of Mr Bolsonaro in Brazil in 2018, followed by that of Mr Bukele in 2019. In Chile Mr Kast, the founder of a new hard-right Republican Party, got 44% of the vote in a presidential run-off in 2021 and his party won an election for a constitutional council in 2023. Mr Milei won his own surprise victory in November. Would-be leaders of the radical right jostle in the Politics of Peru and Colombia.

Unlike its older European and North American equivalents, the Latin American hard right does not have roots in the fertile soil of public anxiety about uncontrolled immigration (although this has become an issue recently because of the arrival of millions of Venezuelans fleeing their country’s rotten dictatorship).

The new group shares three hallmarks. The first is fierce opposition to abortion, and gay and women’s rights. “What unites them is an affirmation of traditional social hierarchies,” as Lindsay Mayka and Amy Erica Smith, two academics, put it. The second hallmark is a tough line on crime and citizens’ security. And the third is uncompromising opposition to social democracy, let alone communism, which leads some to want a smaller state.

There were common factors in their ascents, too. They were helped by a sense of crisis—about corruption and economic stagnation in Brazil and Argentina, gang violence in El Salvador and the sometimes violent “social explosion” in Chile.

Cousins In Arms

But each leader has adopted a different mix of these ideological elements. The hard right in Latin America are “cousins, not brothers”, says Cristóbal Rovira of the Catholic University of Chile. “They are similar but not identical.”

Mr Bolsonaro’s constituencies were evangelicals, to whom he appealed with his defence of the traditional family, and the authoritarian right in the form of the army, the police and farmers worried about land invasions and rural crime. But he was lukewarm about the free market and fiscal rigour. Mr Bukele made security the cornerstone of his first presidential term, overcoming criminal gangs by locking up more than 74,000 of El Salvador’s 6.4 Million Citizens. His economic policy is less clear and, despite his claim at CPAC, is not self-evidently “anti-globalist”.

Mr Milei was elected for his pledge to pull Argentina out of prolonged stagflation and to cut down what he brands as a corrupt political “caste”. A self-described “anarcho-capitalist”, he is a fan of the Austrian school of free-market economics. Unlike Mr Trump, he is neither an economic nationalist nor protectionist on trade. He has only recently adopted his peers’ stance on moral issues. His government supports a bill to overturn Argentina’s abortion law, and says it will eliminate gender-conscious language from public administration. Mr Bukele followed suit.

Mr Kast attempted to put conservative morality in the constitutional draft his party championed, which was one reason why it was rejected in a plebiscite. He wants tough policies on security and against immigration. “We should close the borders and build a trench,” he says. He wants to “shrink the state and lower the tax burden”. Whereas Mr Bolsonaro is a climate-change sceptic and anti-vaxxer, Mr Kast is not.

Democracy For Thee, Not For Me

Right-wing populists also have differing attitudes to democracy. With his attempt to subvert the election result, for which he is under police investigation, Mr Bolsonaro showed that he was not a democrat. Mr Bukele is contemptuous of checks and balances. His success at slashing the murder rate made him hugely popular, allowing him to brush aside constitutional term limits and win a second term in February.

Mr Milei’s “disdain for democratic institutions is clear”, says Carlos Malamud, An Argentine Historian, citing Mr Milei’s break with convention by giving his inauguration speech to a crowd of supporters, rather than to Congress. But, Mr Malamud adds, Mr Milei may yet learn that he needs to include the parliament in government.

“I’m a democrat,” insists Mr Kast, and his opponents agree. “On security and shrinking the state, we share views with Bolsonaro,” he says. “But that doesn’t mean that we are the same as Milei or Bolsonaro or Bukele.” As Mr Kast notes, policy choices are shaped in each country by very different circumstances.

So are the prospects of the various leaders. Mr Bukele is by far the most successful, with would-be imitators across the region and no obvious obstacles to his remaining in power indefinitely. In contrast, Mr Bolsonaro’s active political career may well be over. The electoral court has barred him as a candidate until 2030 (when he will be 75) for disparaging the voting system at a meeting with foreign ambassadors. He may be jailed for his apparent attempt to organise a military coup against his electoral defeat; he denies this and claims he is a victim of political persecution.

Mr Milei’s future is up for grabs. Succeed in taming inflation, and he could emerge strengthened from a midterm election in 2025. But if he refuses to compromise with Congress and provincial governors, he may be in trouble before then. In Chile, Mr Kast seemed to overplay his hand with the constitutional draft. The election in 2025 could see the centre-right take power. One influential figure of that persuasion argues that Mr Kast is unable to represent the diversity of modern Chile.

Ultimately, the group is bound by an international network built around common political discourse and cultural references. Mr Kast chairs the Political Network for Values, an outfit previously led by an ally of Viktor Orban, Hungary’s Populist Leader. Vox, Spain’s hard-right party, organises the Foro de Madrid, a network of like-minded politicians mainly from what it calls the “Iberosphere” in Latin America.

These gatherings offer a chance to share experiences and sometimes a bit more. Mr Bukele has advisers from Venezuela’s exiled opposition. Mr Trump’s activists have shown up at Latin American elections. Recently, Mr Bolsonaro took refuge in the Hungarian embassy in Brasília for two nights when he feared arrest.

But there are no signs of central direction or co-ordination. The right in Latin America has long claimed that the Foro de São Paulo, a get-together of Latin American left-wingers, is a highly organised conspiracy. All the evidence is that it is a loose friendship network. That seems to be true of its right-wing peer, too. ■

— This article appeared in the The Americas section of the print edition under the headline "The Anti-communist International"

[drwilfredwaterson]

March 18th, 2024 Update: 2024 U.S. Presidential Election, U.S. Constitution, Human Rights, Civil Rights, Women's Rights, The Survival of American Democracy and the American Republic, and Easter 2024. Part 2/6: Hope, Alaska. Chapter 4/4: The MAGA Cult Messiah, The Aftermath of The October 7th, 2023 Israel Terrorist Attacks, and The MAGA Cult Messiah's Psychotic Serial Killer Anti-Israel and Antisemitic Responses.

The October 1st News Headlines Surrounding the Hamas Terrorist Attacks Against Israel Are of Key Importance:

October 7, 2023: The day of the Hamas Terrorist Attacks: "1" on Earth's Sun: https://suntoday.lmsal.com/sdomedia/SunInTime/2023/10/07/l0193.jpg

On Saturday Morning, October 7, 2023, as Israel celebrated the final day of the Sukkot holiday, Hamas terrorists launched a massive and vicious surprise attack on Israel’s southern towns and cities, murdering over 250 innocent men, women, and children in their homes and synagogues and taking dozens of hostages. (Israel365News.com)

October 7, 2023: During the Peak of the Hamas Terrorist Attacks Against Israel: Afghan earthquakes killed at least 2445 on the Afghanistan/Iran border (with up to 90% of the deaths being women and children), Taliban say, as deaths continue to mount. (Reuters)

Fact Check: Did Taliban ask for passage from neighboring countries to reach Jerusalem? "Taliban wants to join Hamas in its attack on Israel." Faizan Ali Oct 08, 2023 A statement associated with the Foreign Affairs Ministry of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has been circulating on social media platforms that the Taliban’s interim government of Kabul has asked the neighboring countries for passage to reach Jerusalem reportedly to fight against the Israeli army. The statement has been circulating in Urdu and English language and even Israeli newspapers also reported the statement. Israel National News reported, “Sunday 3:50 AM: The Taliban terror organization, which controls Afghanistan, has reportedly asked its neighbors for passage so it could join Hamas in its attack on Israel.” SAMAA Digital carried out a fact check that unveiled that the statement associated with the Taliban government was not true and completely against the facts. Foreign Affairs Ministry of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan issued a statement and said: “Afghanistan has been closely monitoring the recent events in the Gaza Strip and considers such events to be the result of the violation of the rights of the oppressed Palestinian nation by the Israeli Zionists and repeated insults and disrespect to Muslim holy places.” The statement reads, “Any kind of defense and the resistance of the Palestinian people for the freedom of the land and holy places is their legitimate right.” “The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan declares its support for the legitimate, historical and legal right of the Palestinian people to have a permanent country in the historical Palestinian land and calls upon the Islamic countries, The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the international community and especially the influential countries in the region to stop the violence of the Israeli occupying forces.” Source: https://www.samaa.tv/208732285-fact-check-did-taliban-ask-for-passage-from-neighboring-countries-to-reach-jerusalem

trump felt used on Soleimani strike: "Israel did not do the right thing" donald trump expected Israel to play a more active role in the attack, and he griped that then-Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was "willing to fight Iran to the last American soldier,” according to a former senior trump administration official. trump himself told me, “Israel did not do the right thing." trump made that remark in an interview last July for my book “trump’s Peace: The Abraham Accords and the Reshaping of the Middle East." “I can't talk about this story. But I was very disappointed in Israel having to do with that event. … People will be hearing about that at the right time," trump said. Netanyahu tried to pull trump aside to make amends when he visited the White House in September 2020 for the signing of the Abraham Accords, but trump wasn't convinced and continued to believe Netanyahu had used him, a former White House official told me. https://www.axios.com/2021/12/15/trump-soleimani-strike-netanyahu-israel

Dr. Hannibal Lecter is a character created by the American novelist Thomas Harris. Lecter is a serial killer who eats his victims. Before his capture, he was a respected forensic psychiatrist; after his incarceration, he is consulted by FBI agents Will Graham and Clarice Starling to help them find other serial killers. In her book Evil Serial Killers, Charlotte Greig asserts Lecter was inspired at least in part by the serial killer Albert Fish. Greig also states that, to explain Lecter's pathology, Harris borrowed the possibly apocryphal story of serial killer and cannibal Andrei Chikatilo's brother Stepan being kidnapped and eaten by starving neighbors. Hannibal Lecter is a cannibalistic serial killer. He is highly intelligent and cultured, with refined tastes and impeccable manners. He is deeply offended by rudeness, and often kills people who exhibit bad manners; according to the novel Hannibal, he "prefers to eat the rude". Hopkins described Lecter as the "Robin Hood of killers", who kills "the terminally rude". (Wikipedia)

Florida official who orchestrated Governor DeSantis' migrant flights to Martha’s Vineyard last year has quietly resigned. He illegally used a non-govt email address under the name ‘Clarice Starling,’ from the Hannibal Lecter movies, to arrange the flights with a private vendor. (Ron Filipkowski/MeidasTouch Media Network)

donald trump Shows Love To 'Hannibal Lecter' In Killer Blunder At Iowa Rally Ben Blanchet Sat, October 7, 2023 at 9:29 PM PDT Impeached former president donald trump ate up alleged support from “Hannibal Lecter” in a terrifying slip-up at an Iowa rally. The former president criticized open border policies on Saturday and claimed people were coming to America from “insane asylums” before bringing up “The Silence of the Lambs.” “Hannibal Lecter, how great an actor was he?” said trump in a mix-up between the fictional character’s name and Anthony Hopkins, the actor who played the cannibal in the 1991 film. “You know why I like him? Because he said on television on one of the – ‘I love donald trump.’ So I love him. I love him. I love him. He said that a long time ago and once he said that, he was in my camp, I was in his camp. I don’t care if he was the worst actor, I’d say he was great to me.” Hopkins has not publicly supported trump and neither have other actors who have portrayed Hannibal Lecter including Mads Mikkelsen and Brian Cox, the latter of whom called trump “such a f**king ahole” and “so full of shit.” Hopkins, who was born in Wales and later became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2000, told The Guardian that he doesn’t care for trump and explained that he doesn’t vote because he doesn’t “trust anyone.” “We’ve never got it right, human beings. We are all a mess, and we’re very early in our evolution,” the actor said in 2018. https://news.yahoo.com/trump-shows-love-hannibal-lecter-042941582.html

donald trump: Israel attack results of U.S. being seen as ‘weak and ineffective’ by Tara Suter - 10/07/23 4:17 PM ET After he and his anti-American MAGA nazi cult sabotaged the U.S. Congress to make it weak and ineffective on Monday, October 2, 2023, impeached and repeatedly indicted incestuous pedophile rapist and loser, former president donald trump, said that recent attacks on Israel by the militant group Hamas are a result of the U.S. being seen as “weak and ineffective” in remarks on Saturday. “The Israeli attack was made because we are perceived as being weak and ineffective and with a really weak leader,” the impeached and repeatedly indicted loser former president said at an event in Waterloo, Iowa. https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4243734-trump-israel-attack-results-of-us-being-weak-ineffective/

On the day of the terrorist attacks on Israel, and after donald trump and his anti-American MAGA nazi cult sabotaged the U.S. Congress to make it weak and ineffective:

vladimir putin turns 71, the president is considering a fifth term There have been rumors about his health for a long time but, at the moment, despite his obvious and progressive aging, he remains in power October 7, 2023 The Russian president vladimir putin turns 71 today. Born on 7 October 1952 in St. Petersburg (then Leningrad), the Russian head of state boasts a long past as a secret agent in the Soviet era, but after the fall of the Berlin Wall he pursued a rapid political career which led him to to become first prime minister and then president of the Russian Federation. Having reached 71 years of age, Putin will have to decide whether to run again in next year's elections: if this happens and he is confirmed as leader of the country he could hold the position until 2030, when he will be 78 years old. https://www.agenzianova.com/en/news/vladimir-putin-compie-71-anni-il-presidente-valuta-un-quinto-mandato/

Helping to create a breathing space for survival of ISIS Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi October 7, 2023 The continuation of terrorist attacks and actions in Syria in recent months is due to the continuation of intelligence, security and logistical support https://president.ir/en/147010

The Arab League was formed in Cairo on 22 March 1945, initially with six members: Egypt, Iraq, Transjordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Syria. Yemen joined as a member on 5 May 1945. Currently, the League has 22 members.

October 7, 2023: Palestine requests urgent Arab League meeting over Israeli escalation The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Saturday requested an emergency ministerial-level meeting of the Arab League over the latest Israeli escalation. In a statement, the ministry said it had directed “its permanent delegation to the Arab League to request an emergency meeting of the League Council at the ministerial level.” This comes in light of “the escalation of the Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people,” it said. Hamas launched Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on Saturday and said the surprise attack was in response to the storming of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and increased settler violence. It said it fired rockets and captured many Israelis. At least 350 Israelis were killed and over 1,860 injured in the attack, while several soldiers and civilians were captured by Hamas and taken back to Gaza. Israel retaliated with a series of airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, which left at least 313 Palestinians dead and nearly 2,000 injured, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/palestine-requests-urgent-arab-league-meeting-over-israeli-escalation-/

October 8, 2023: Morocco also calls for emergency Arab League meeting for consultation on situation in Gaza Strip https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/palestine-requests-urgent-arab-league-meeting-over-israeli-escalation-/

October 8, 2023: Arab League Chief Ahmed Aboul Gheit headed to Moscow on Sunday for talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on the situation in Gaza after Palestinian group Hamas launched the biggest attack on Israel in years. Aboul Gheit, who served as Egypt’s foreign minister during the final seven years of Hosni Mubarak’s rule, will discuss the “ongoing escalation in the Gaza Strip,” said a spokesman for the Cairo-based league of Arab states. After Hamas’s attack on Saturday, Russia expressed grave concern, calling on both Palestinian and Israeli sides to cease violence and blamed the West for blocking the Middle East Quartet. Moscow said that a proper negotiation was necessary to provide for the creation of an independent Palestinian state within the borders of 1967 with a capital in East Jerusalem. “We regard the current large-scale escalation as another extremely dangerous manifestation of a vicious circle of violence resulting from chronic failure to comply with the corresponding resolutions of the UN and its Security Council and the blocking by the West of the work of the Middle East Quartet of international mediators made up of Russia, the United States, the EU and the UN,” Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said. https://english.alarabiya.net/News/middle-east/2023/10/08/Arab-League-chief-Aboul-Gheit-heads-to-Moscow-for-talks-after-Hamas-attack-on-Israel

'Their first question was: ‘What is going on? What is this?’ defense official says ‘Horrified’ Israeli intel officials ‘were shouting at US counterparts’ over trump leak Foreign Policy reports tense meetings between sides after president revealed classified info to Russians By Times of Israel Staff 20 May 2017, 1:25 pm donald trump’s reported sharing of a highly classified Israeli tip with Russia led to incredibly tense meetings between Israeli and American intelligence officials, Foreign Policy Magazine reported Friday. The Israelis reportedly shouted at their US counterparts, demanding an explanation for trump’s actions, according to the magazine, which quoted a US defense official. “To them, it’s horrifying,” the official said. “Their first question was: ‘What is going on? What is this?’” Meeting Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Russian Ambassador to the U.S. Sergei Kislyak in the Oval Office on May 10, trump shared intelligence about an Islamic State threat involving laptops carried on airplanes, according to a senior US official. ABC News reported that the information came specifically from a spy embedded in the terrorist group on behalf of Israel, and that trump’s reported leak had placed the person’s life at risk. Though Washington and Jerusalem have publicly brushed aside reports of the incident, behind the scenes top Israeli defense officials are said to be angry and concerned by the president’s actions. Beyond the possible danger to the source, FP reported that Israelis feared they had lost any further access to the spy’s intel. Shabtai Shavit, who led the Mossad in the 1990s, said that were he in charge of the intelligence organization today, he would not be inclined to share more information with his American counterparts. “If tomorrow I were asked to pass information to the CIA, I would do everything I could to not pass it to them. Or I would first protect myself and only then give it, and what I’d give would be totally neutered,” Shavit told The Times of Israel on Wednesday. “If some smart guy decides that he’s allowed to leak information, then your partners in cooperation will be fewer or just won’t be at all,” he warned. Danny Yatom, another ex-Mossad boss, told an Israeli radio station that if reports were accurate, trump likely caused “heavy damage” to Israeli and American security. But it’s not a threat some Israeli officials didn’t foresee. Even before trump took office, Jacobs said, Israeli professionals expressed concern that his loose lips would intentionally or inadvertently lead to Israeli intelligence being shared with Russia. That, in turn, might mean the intelligence ends up with Iran, a sworn enemy of Israel. https://www.timesofisrael.com/horrified-israeli-intel-officials-were-shouting-at-us-counterparts-over-trump-leak/

October 8, 2023: donald trump campaign remarks on Israel and his and his anti-American MAGA Nazi cult's part in it: “And now it even pertains to Israel. What happened yesterday was incredible. I mean, whoa, so many people killed. I don’t know, you can hear, but the number was much bigger than they reported even this morning. It’s a very big number, very, very big number and vicious, young children just slaughtered. It’s terrible what’s going on.

After calling the devastation and inhuman cruelty of the Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel "Incredible" and reading "The Snake" immediately after the terrorist attacks, donald trump further chided Israel just days after attack with: ‘Netanyahu let us down’ His meandering remarks were the most extensive since the deadly weekend attacks. By Kimberly Leonard 10/11/2023 11:35 PM EDT PALM BEACH, Fla. — He criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and called Hezbollah “very smart.” Both less than a week after the attack on Israel. It was, as billed, a speech about the atrocities abroad. In the most trumpian way possible. Speaking to more than 3,500 supporters at a Palm Beach, Fla., convention center, former president donald trump spent nearly two hours recounting how he helped move the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem and boasted about signing the Abraham Accords, which formalized diplomatic relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. But he also meandered among various topics, zig-zagging from the weekend terrorist attack in Israel that has captured the world’s attention to criticisms of his GOP rivals, crime in Washington, D.C., boasts about rising in the polls despite multiple indictments and even mentioned the assault on former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul. Throughout his speech, trump, who leads his GOP presidential rivals, painted a picture of an alternate universe he thought would have existed had he been reelected in 2020 instead of President Joe Biden. “Israel would be flourishing, they would have no problem,” he said. “Iran would have never played that game.” Instead, he said, the world became full of “chaos, bloodshed, war, terror, death,” and he warned World War III was on the horizon. He called Biden “grossly incompetent,” and described members of the Biden administration as “stupid people.” He also directly went after Netanyahu, who he asserted did not help the United States in the drone strike in 2020 that killed Suleimani, the leader of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps responsible for secret military operations. At the time of the killing, Netanyahu praised trump for acting “swiftly, forcefully and decisively” but trump on Wednesday chastised the Israeli prime minister. “I’ll never forget that Bibi Netanyahu let us down,” he said. “That was a very terrible thing.” His disapproval of Netanyahu drew an immediate response from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is competing with trump for the GOP nomination and posted on X that “it is absurd that anyone, much less someone running for President, would choose now to attack our friend and ally, Israel.” The remarks, delivered to the Club 47 trump fan club, were the first extensive comments trump made on Israel after saying little about the topic during a campaign stop in New Hampshire Monday. Since the attack on Israel on Saturday that has since broken out into war that threatens to destabilize the Middle East, more than 1,200 Israelis and over 1,100 militants and Palestinians have been killed. The State Department said 22 Americans were among those killed and 17 more haven’t been accounted for. United States President Joe Biden has said the U.S. stands with Israel, and the White House plans to ask Congress to approve aid, though the exact request is still coming together and, at the direction of impeached and shamefully and repeatedly indicted former president donald trump, the Republican Party has intentionally sabotaged the U.S. Congress to make it impossible to aid U.S. ally Israel in their time of need. https://www.politico.com/news/2023/10/11/netanyahu-trump-chides-israel-hamas-war-00121142

Republicans slam trump’s comments on Netanyahu and Hezbollah By Eric Bazail-Eimil 10/12/2023 06:13 PM EDT Some prominent Republicans are distancing themselves from former president donald trump, after the current GOP frontrunner repeatedly criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and offered unexpected praise for Hezbollah militants. “Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran, the greatest state sponsor of terrorism, these are states and entities that are focused on wiping Israel off the face of the earth. That is neither smart nor good,” Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.), who represents a district that voted for President Joe Biden by double digits, told NBC News’ Kristen Welker on Thursday. “This is a fight of good versus evil.“ In an interview with Fox News’ Neil Cavuto on Thursday, Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio), chair of the House Intelligence Committee, said that “donald trump has to answer for donald trump’s comment,” before adding that “weakness begets conflict. Where people see an opportunity, where they’re looking at ways to harm others, where they don’t see a strong United States, they see opportunity.” Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican who has often been at odds with the former president, posted on X, formerly Twitter: “Women, children, elderly, Israelis, and Americans alike have been slaughtered by these evil terrorists. It is never acceptable to praise deranged murderers or undermine one of our closest allies in their darkest hour.” The rebukes of trump from members of his own party come after the former president and frontrunner in the Republican presidential primary began unexpectedly criticizing Netanyahu on Wednesday in light of Israel’s ongoing war with the Palestinian militant group Hamas. “He has been hurt very badly because of what’s happened here,” trump said in an interview for Fox News Radio’s “Brian Kilmeade Show” that was featured on television on Wednesday night. “He was not prepared. He was not prepared and Israel was not prepared.” Many of trump’s GOP rivals have condemned his remarks, calling them “inhumane” and “absurd.” The White House called the comments “dangerous and unhinged” in a statement on Thursday. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), the No. 2 Republican in the Senate, said that voters would be the ultimate judge of trump’s rhetoric. “Under our constitution, he has the liberty to say what he wants to say. He can be judged for it,” Thune said in an appearance on Fox News on Thursday. “That’s what the American people have to do. They’ll have an opportunity to do that in a presidential election coming up ahead of us.” “I hope people as they look at these leaders will make decisions and conclusions based upon who they think is best able to manage not only the United States of America and our domestic challenges, but the global stage, where the rest of the world looks for leadership,” Thune continued. https://www.politico.com/news/2023/10/12/republicans-trump-netanyahu-hezbollah-israel-hamas-war-00121314

donald trump has also recently praised and glorified Hezbollah. And we keep hearing how donald trump says he could make a call to Saudi Arabia and sell mar-a-lago for $1.5 billion in an instant. All while he and his anti-American MAGA Nazi cult keeps the United States Congress crippled to prevent any aid packages for Israel and Ukraine. Where's all of the Evangelical/Christian outrage about all of this Conservative/Republican treason?

[tomorrowusa]

Republicans hate Taylor Swift. So I'm glad they have to see her picture on all those magazine covers when they go to the supermarket to buy white bread, Diet Coke®, and ketchup. 🤭

Conservatives have yet again placed Taylor Swift in their conspiratorial crosshairs following her recent unveiling as TIME’s “person of the year.” Swift has been a target for right-wingers since at least 2018, when she broke from her largely apolitical persona and endorsed Phil Bredesen as Tennessee’s Democratic Senate nominee, who was running against then-Rep. Marsha Blackburn. In her endorsement, Swift said that Blackburn’s voting record “appalls and terrifies me,” citing Blackburn’s anti-LGBTQ views and her opposition to renewing the Violence Against Women Act. And footage from Swift’s 2020 Netflix documentary shows her upset over Blackburn’s eventual victory, with the artist saying “[Blackburn] gets to be the first female senator in Tennessee, and she’s Trump in a wig.” That Swift has used her Eras Tour to register voters has drawn conservative ire, too. (More examples of the hate directed at Swift here.) Liberals, for their part, seem to love that conservatives are trying to pick a fight with one of the most popular stars on earth. So that helps to explain the conniption pitched by Republicans on social media this week, which has featured right-wing pundits fueling baseless theories that Swift’s selection as Time’s “person of the year” is some sort of political manipulation campaign.  [ ... ] The right-wing response here underscores a problem conservatives have struggled with for decades now, which is that their widely unpopular politics often place them at odds with pop culture figures. Not all pop culture figures, of course. But certainly the ones who endorse the tenets of a democratic society, like voting rights, bodily autonomy for abortion-seekers and trans people, and freedom from discrimination. In fact, House Speaker Mike Johnson railed against liberal pop culture figures in a recent campaign email describing America's "depraved" culture. "[Y]ou don’t even want to see the filth that passes for popular culture these days," Johnson said. (Fact check: I do.)

The fact is that the MAGA zombies with their pagan worship of "Orange Jesus" are the truly depraved (and deeply hypocritical) ones.

As mentioned in the article, Taylor Swift has been promoting voter registration on her tour. Let's lend a hand...

Be A Voter - Vote Save America

[mariacallous]

The US Republican Party has become increasingly authoritarian and extreme in recent years, and it doesn’t seem likely to moderate that in the foreseeable future. Despite performing poorly in the 2022 midterms after running many candidates the public saw as too extreme, the GOP has decided to elevate and empower far-right lawmakers like representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene and Matt Gaetz. 

In Florida, books have been removed from school shelves as governor Ron DeSantis tries to reshape the public education system in his own image. Republican lawmakers around the US have passed abortion bans that put pregnant women’s lives in danger. The rights of transgender people are under attack throughout the country. 

Nearly half of Republicans say they would prefer “strong, unelected leaders” over “weak elected ones,” according to a September Axios-Ipsos poll, and around 55 percent of Republicans say defending the “traditional” way of life by force may soon become necessary. About 61 percent of Republicans don’t believe the results of the 2020 presidential election. 

Finding examples of extremism, a lust for authoritarian leaders, and general antidemocratic beliefs in America is not difficult these days—just spend a few minutes online. The question is how far down the rabbit hole the United States has gone and where it may end up in the not-too-distant future. 

“To call a party democratic—committed to democracy—they’ve got to do three basic things: They have to unambiguously accept election results, they have to unambiguously renounce violence, and they have to consistently and unambiguously break with extremists or antidemocratic forces,” says Steve Levitsky, a professor of government at Harvard University. “I think the Republican Party now fails these three basic tests.”

Levitsky says far too many Republican leaders have flirted with using violence to achieve their political goals and spread lies about the most recent presidential election. He says politicians like DeSantis appear to be experimenting with an authoritarian way of governing in their own states that could be applied at the national level should they successfully run for president. 

It’s difficult to find an apt comparison between the Republican Party and authoritarian movements that have risen elsewhere for a variety of reasons. One, Levitsky says, is that Donald Trump took over a party that has existed for nearly 170 years and made it more authoritarian. Historically, authoritarians tend to start their own parties. Another is that a relatively small percentage of the populace was able to wield such great power under Trump.

“There’s a minority of the population that’s pretty reactionary and, by a bunch of measures, fairly authoritarian in really all Western democracies,” Levitsky says. “The question is, how are they channeled into politics? What’s exceptional about the United States is that 25 percent or so was actually able to wield national power. Is MAGA comparable to far-right parties in Europe? Yeah. With the exception of maybe Golden Dawn in Greece, though, probably more openly authoritarian.”

Authoritarian movements of the past share characteristics with what we’re seeing in the US today—from Turkey and Hungary more recently to the rise of fascism in the 1920s—but the US governmental system and political parties present particular hurdles and windows of opportunity. 

Assuming democracy remains intact in the years to come, Levitsky thinks the GOP will have to eventually moderate its stance in response to changing demographics. The current extremism will not be sustainable if the party hopes to win enough elections to wield power in the future. However, Levitsky thinks any adjustments could take longer than one would hope.

“The problem is our incentives—the Electoral College, the Supreme Court, the fact that sparsely populated territories are dramatically overrepresented in our electoral system—allows the Republicans to wield a lot of power without winning national majorities,” Levitsky says. “If the Republican Party actually had to win over 50 percent of the national vote to control the Senate, to control the presidency, to control the Supreme Court, you would not see them behaving the way they’re behaving. They would never win.”

It remains to be seen whether Trump will be the Republican nominee in the 2024 presidential election, but there’s clear evidence that the effects of his actions wouldn’t simply disappear if he wasn’t controlling the party. A lot of Americans have been radicalized since he first took office, and it’s not easy to roll that back.

“I think the consensus is that democracy is not in the clear, and that’s because the rhetoric and actions of the GOP have emboldened their supporters to sort of accept certain behaviors that we wouldn’t have thought were in line with democracy,” says Erica Frantz, an associate professor of political science at Michigan State University. “Suddenly it’s OK to question if our elections are free and fair. Suddenly it’s OK to be provocative and suggest you might use violence if the election doesn’t go your way.”

Frantz says large sectors of the US population accept the authoritarian messaging Trump spearheaded, and that is likely going to have lasting effects. She says the fact that Trump was successfully removed from office despite his attempts to overturn the election in 2020 is a big deal, but there’s still a lot of work to be done to protect American democracy.

“I don’t think we’re going to backslide to dictatorship. The probability is higher than before Trump, but it’s still low compared to many other countries,” Frantz says. “It is very possible that we’ll muddle along for quite some time in this situation where undemocratic norms are being spouted and perpetuated by one of our main parties.”

In terms of what supporters of democracy can do in the face of an authoritarian movement, there’s no silver bullet—but there are ways to push back. Levitsky says it’s important to form large coalitions to “isolate and defeat” authoritarians, which means uniting democracy supporters on the left and the right. 

A. James McAdams, a professor of international affairs at the University of Notre Dame, says those who oppose authoritarianism need a strong message that will appeal to people who might be pulled in by authoritarian leaders. 

“If you look back historically, one of the big problems in democracies has always been that the forces of reason can’t figure out what they stand for,” McAdams says. “We’re at a point in history today in the United States and Europe where moderate parties aren’t sure what to say.”

You also need to support and strengthen democratic institutions like the courts, McAdams says. He says this is particularly important because weak courts are often part of the reason authoritarians are able to take power and chip away at democracy, such as in Latin America in the 1970s. 

“If you do have stable democratic institutions—particularly viable courts—then there’s a lot of bullshit that you can overcome,” McAdams says. “Perhaps the greatest victory for American institutions in the Trump age was that the courts weren’t overpowered.”