June 24, 2019

Bannon's goal: destroy liberal democracies from within, opening the way for white-nationalist rule.

He foresees a white nationalist “empire” running from North America across Europe into Russia. His “reasoning” is to create new, strange-bedfellow alliances between old enemies, in order to combat the migration of brown people who are fleeing their countries due to political upheaval, and the effects of climate change, where water and crops are increasingly difficult to manage.

Bannon’s favorite book reveals his true nature: a lurid, extremely racist 1973 French novel, “Camp of the Saints,” by Jean Raspail, which presents the following scenario, per Sarah Jones in New Republic, 02/02/18:
https://newrepublic.com/article/146925/notorious-book-ties-right-far-right

Raspail’s enemy is the entire non-white world. It tramples monks and white saviors alike in its invasion of France. His refugees are nameless caricatures, with no inner lives. He ascribes to them an almost supernatural combination of obstinance and depravity. The smell of death is the first sign their rickety ships are about to land, because they dump their corpses in the sea. They are savages, led by a literal shit-eater, and they foist their poison dead upon the shores of Europe before their feet touch earth.

And here is a telling portion of a reader review on Amazon, where the book has 308 reviews and a disturbing 4.5-star rating:

The truth people do not face
This ill-reputed narrative of the invasion of France by filthy outcaste masses from India has been reprinted several times since its publication in 1973 and seems to be going stronger than ever. Recently Steve Bannon called the recent migrations from Middle Eastern countries a ‘Camp of Saints’ type of thing”. Commonly ragarded as a racist tract, this book is actually rich in ideas and says more about the West than the East.“I had no idea this Steve, eh, Bannon existed at all,” the author said recently in an interview with Tablet magazine. “... a French journalist had me listen to what Bannon said about me the other day. I must say I was stunned. ... I don’t know this character and he has understood “The Camp of the Saints.” He has said that reading it made him see what should be done. Isn’t it extraordinary?”

More here:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/observer.com/2018/05/the-insanity-of-alt-right-bannon-approved-the-camp-of-the-saints/amp/
Alt-Right Bible ‘Camp of The Saints’ Proves Everyone’s Still Insane
The Observer
By Michael Malice 05/02/18
<snip>
Yet for members of the alt-right, these aren’t headlines so much as a prophecy made 45 years ago. In 1973, French author Jean Raspail published “Le Camp des Saints,” translated into English as “The Camp of the Saints.” Steve Bannon has repeatedly made reference to the text, using it as a shorthand for the worst-case-scenarios of immigration. Richard Spencer’s Radix declared it “highly original” and decreed that Raspail’s “narrative, howsoever exaggerated for effect, was a distillation and condensation of observable reality.”

The plot of the book is the same as today’s stories: Does the West have the will to repel Third-World migration? Though the novel—more a fable than anything else—is largely unknown to the general population, for the “demographics is destiny” crowd it approximates the same place that Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged” does for libertarians.
<snip>

June 23, 2019

Bannon is a scourge to democracy; that bastard has sown chaos on at least 3 continents...

He is a dangerous, utterly toxic creature who has ZERO qualms about destroying people’s lives by fomenting chaos and confusion, and blueprinting the destruction of the world’s vulnerable democratic governments. He does so by amping up the WORST aspects of the human personality: blind hatred of “the other,” anti-Semitism (“globalists,” as used by David Duke and Alex Jones), militarism, and destruction, in this case, of checks and balances, transparency, and stability.

Bannon, doggedly pursuing what he terms “deconstruction of the administrative state,” has spread his ideology by coaching right-wing nationalists worldwide. He’s been given shrift by nationalists in the U.S. and U.K. (obviously), Russia, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Italy, France, Sweden, Israel, Brazil, and he’s expected to consult on 45’s re-election bid (no surprise there).

Just take one look at Bannon: his crusty, greasy, scabby, moth-eaten, repulsive exterior dark is merely a reflection of the disturbed, dark undercurrents going on INSIDE the man. More than any other alt-right/neo-fascist, Bannon got the ball rolling for 45 and his team of far-right extremists. (They are anything but “conservative.”) He’s even acknowledged having a role in selecting 45’s insane, ill-fitting and nihilistic cabinet appointees, stating that they “were selected for a reason, and that is deconstruction.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/top-wh-strategist-vows-a-daily-fight-for-deconstruction-of-the-administrative-state/2017/02/23/03f6b8da-f9ea-11e6-bf01-d47f8cf9b643_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.c6d384eb687a

June 17, 2019

Funny how much they love BIG government when they're in power.

They pivot from “drowning it in the bathtub” to irradiating it into Godzilla:

-Adherence to the rule of LAW by the nation’s top executives and their supporting political party? NO, says big RW government.
-Women’s equality and reproductive rights? NO, says big RW government.
-Concentration of extraordinary power in the executive branch? YES, says big RW government.
-Secured national elections? NO, says big RW government.
-Go to war WITHOUT the consent of the people (Congress)? YES, says big RW government.
-Conspire with a hostile foreign power to win elections and financial gain? YES, says big RW government.
-A fair shake for POC and GLBTQ folk? NO, says big RW government.
-Quality healthcare for Americans? NO, says big RW government.
-Minority rule by the outdated Electoral College, gerrymandering, and voter suppression? YES, says big RW government.
-Denial of science and the existential threat of climate change? YES, says big RW government.
-Profiting monetarily off one’s office while “serving”? YES, says big RW government.

Sadly, this list could go on and on. If these criminals aren’t tossed out one way or another, we are all thoroughly (sorry, but...) fucked.

IMPEACH NOW. It doesn’t get rid of the problem, but it brands the S.O.B. as the asshole he is. And who knows what insanity the 2020 election will bring? There are no guarantees anymore.

Hold 45 accountable, NOW.

June 11, 2019

It's sobering that so many Americans are now very comfortable with (call it what it is) FASCISM.

All the "drown the government in the bathtub" reactionaries now prefer a government that drowns democracy on a daily basis. They love holding power much more than being faithful to the very Constitutional ideals which they crow about. How did America get so petty, so enraged, and so unwilling to be a fair-minded leader on the international stage?

Because one-time "conservatives" transformed themselves into right-wing radical nationalists. The entire Republican Party (which has been teetering toward fascism since Nixon) finally got completely sucked into a black hole of anti-democracy, anti-science, anti-intellectualism, and hatred of POC, women, and LGBTQ folk, etc. The far-right-wing media has played a huge part in this demolition-derby by stoking fear and rage on a daily basis for the past 30-plus years.

Merriam-Webster's definition of fascism:
Often capitalized: a political philosophy, movement, or regime (such as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition.

From the Encyclopaedia Britannica's entry on fascism:
https://www.britannica.com/topic/fascism/Neofascism
In the second decade of the 21st century, right-wing populist and neofascist parties and movements in western Europe enjoyed a surge of popularity, fueled in part by a large influx of Muslim immigrants following the Arab Spring revolts in 2010–11 and, in some countries, by continued resentment of the European Union (EU). Although Muslims in Europe nowhere became a majority of voters, they increased their numbers substantially. In France the FN, now led by Le Pen’s daughter Marine Le Pen, advanced for only the second time to the second round of that country’s presidential elections in 2017 (she was defeated by the centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron). In Germany in 2017, the far-right party Alternative for Germany (Alternative für Deutschland; AfD), which had adopted an overtly anti-Islamic platform, won nearly 13 percent of the presidential vote in national elections, and by the following year it was the second most popular political party in Germany, after the Christian Democrats.

At about the same time, a wave of right-wing populism in the United States led, in 2016, to the unexpected electoral victory of Republican presidential candidate Donald J. Trump. His campaign had stoked hostility toward Muslim and Mexican immigrants. Trump promised to suspend immigration from Muslim-majority countries because of the threat of terrorism; to build a wall along the country’s southern border to prevent the illegal immigration of Mexicans; and to deport all 11 million undocumented immigrants in the country, the great majority of whom had come from Latin America. Among Trump’s supporters were white supremacists—including members of the Ku Klux Klan—self-described “white nationalists,” and neo-Nazis, none of whom he disavowed. Indeed, members of those groups became more outspoken as Trump’s campaign gained momentum and especially after his election in November, believing, with some justification, that their ideas were finally gaining a place within mainstream political discourse. In the immediate aftermath of Trump’s election and during the first year of his presidency, reported hate crimes directed at minorities—including Hispanics, Muslims, and Jews—increased significantly.

June 7, 2019

A not-insignificant number of Americans would welcome totalitarian rule.

Because they really care *nothing* about the laws of the land, national debt, healthcare, science, climate change, education, women’s rights, infrastructure, foreign policy, etc., etc.

The ONE thing they want, above all else, is “owning the libs.” If it meant destroying everything in sight, they’d be fine with it, as long as some tinpot dictator is “owning the libs” on their behalf.

Like conditioned lab rats, they will vote against their own interests time after time, as long as it means that women will be denied abortions; that they can keep their military-style weaponry; that persons of color will continue to be “kept in their place”; and that their religious beliefs can steamroller any laws.

June 5, 2019

Richard Nixon was "patient zero"; Trump is the advanced stage of disease.

And Reagan really spread the infection far and wide. Note that since Nixon took office in 1969, and allowing 45 to finish his term in 2021, America will have had 32 years under Republican administrations, and a mere 20 years of Democratic administrations. Two general elections were thrown to Republicans by the Electoral College and numerous other interferences, including a hostile attack by a foreign power.

I use the assassination of JFK as the lit-match starting point; after that tragedy, we got the phony Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, and then it was all-in for U.S. military contractors in Vietnam. Then comes Nixon, whose leftovers populated the Reagan, Bush I and II administrations.

Trump has added his own mix of overt gangsterism, overt lawlessness, overt fascism, overt old-Soviet-style disinformation, and overt suffocation of democracy.

Since this monster has been growing steadily since the early 1960s, it’ll take decades to recover and rebuild democracy. And it appears that there will ALWAYS be 30%-40% of Americans who will oppose ANYTHING that doesn’t consist of “owning the libs,” which, however infantile, is their most important goal.

June 5, 2019

More than 45, this insanity rests *entirely* on the Republican Party.

It was the GOP that wanted him, and they defend him to the hilt, even in the face of overt law-breaking, and a general attitude of lawlessness.

Republicans have put party over country, and they’d be happy as pigs in shit if their one-party rule never ended. THEY ARE THE ENEMIES OF DEMOCRACY, and need to be voted OUT.

It will take some time and serious resolve, as Republicans have never taken a break from their compulsive power accumulation, in small offices and large. They’ve been chipping away at bedrock American principles since Richard Nixon’s presidency.

I’ve been a proud Democrat since age 21 (couldn’t vote in a general election until age 23), and in all that time, I’ve realized that Democrats’ major weakness is long-standing: EXPECTATIONS.

Expectations of fair play, transparency, adherence to the law, truthfulness, inclusion, mutual cooperation, etc. Conversely, Republicans want none of this, It’s all-or-nothing with them. There is no gambit, no ploy, no smear, no false accusation that’s too low for them. They are long-standing, masterful practitioners of garbage politics. And sadly, it’s often effective.

Republicans in 2019 are to America as the Nazis were to Germany in 1933; sad to say, there’s no hyperbole in that statement. And that’s why impeachment proceedings NOW are a must, as a free and fair 2020 election (and its aftermath) isn’t a sure thing with the current configuration of power in Washington and Moscow.

June 3, 2019

First off, they are NOT "conservatives" any more. They're right-wing radicals, or frankly, fascists.

Secondly, their “base” on the internet appears to consist largely of Deep South and Midwest out-of-work poor whites, who fall for every nibble of Russian clickbait dangled in front of them.

Which brings up the other part of their online base ...Russian trolls. You can spot ‘em in your sleep: pantloads of angry eagles, flags, etc. No indication of an actual, single-person, breathing presence.

The biggest reason that right-wing mouth-breathers congregate online: HATE, done anonymously. The worst, soul-killing hatred for anyone not white or Christian. It’s so lowdown, brutal and god-awful, it’s like a distilled essence of pure hate. These “people” thrive on rage, fear, and hate. It’s all they have. They care about NOTHING but “owning the libs” and spreading hated of women and POC. It’s their addiction, and they are hooked.

Check the user comments on Breitbart if ever in need of an efficacious emetic. And “winning these people over”??? It’d be easier to climb a plate glass window with greasy hands.

June 1, 2019

11 dead in mass shooting; or, as it's known in America, "Friday."

These “events” are now so repugnantly routine that Americans are likely becoming inured to this USA-specific brand of sporadic mass violence, most often with killings in the double digits.

There will be no safety or control measures taken as long as this country suffers under right-wing minority rule. The Electoral College, gerrymandering, voter suppression, Russian interference, and over-represented-low-population Red States have the entire U.S. chained to the hard-right-wing’s insane, self-destructive addictions: irrational resistance to government as an engine of progress; white supremacy; complete denial of science and distrust in public/higher education; privatization of everything in sight, even if it means monetary losses and feeds corruption; infantile, vengeful religious beliefs; a cult-like, unswerving devotion to their ideological figurehead, and fetus/firearms worship.

Those who wave the flag hardest are those who know the least about their own country, and how it best relates to the world around us.