I was driving around today listening to Chuck Todd on MSNBC and found myself yelling at the radio in my car as Todd and his guest were musing about how “conservatives” seem to be successful in manipulating public opinion via a series of LIES which get repeated often enough for “regular people” to begin to either believe the LIES or question known facts. I just had to wonder how many “commentators” in positions to have LARGE audiences like Mr. Todd and who claim to be political “experts” continue to short change “we the people” regarding what is REALLY happening to America’s republic.

I keep waiting for someone who’s in a position to matter to tell this like it is. Here’s the TRUTH – This organized strategy to rely on LYING to keep their “sheep” in the “herd” comes directly from the Third Reich. It’s called the “Big Lie Theory” and it was the brainchild of Joseph Goebbels who was Adolph Hitler’s minister of PROPAGANDA. The theory goes like this (it’s very simple): If you repeat a LIE often enough people will eventually believe it’s true. This is why you hear phrases like “no collusion no obstruction” at every opportunity from individual 1 because he knows this theory works. It worked for the Nazi’s and it’s working for the republicans. (Pay attention – you’ll see the “key words” coming from the mouths of multiple republican sycophants and repeated over and over)

I know you’re not supposed to refer to Nazi’s when talking about American politics but, the reality is, “we the people” SHOULD have been making these references long ago (well, actually, I’ve been doing so for several years now). We’ve actually been BRAINWASHED (by well meaning people) to believe something like a fascist takeover of this country is impossible and, because the HOLOCAUST was so horrific and because so many died fighting Hitler in WW II we’ve all (Americans) been led to believe “it can’t happen here.” (Many say, “Don’t talk about it.” Well, here’s the rub: “Those who deny history are destined to repeat it!”)

Well, to those who say we shouldn’t say the word “Hitler” o mention the term “Nazi,” think again! Not only are there people in positions of importance (like Mr. Todd) who seem to be unable to do the research necessary to be able to take this seriously and report accurately what is actually happening, but there’s a lot of DAMAGE which has already been done. For example, I saw results of a recent poll (I’m not sure of the poll) which stated that a plurality of republicans believe individual 1 is a better president than Abraham Lincoln. Really, I’m not kidding! For heaven’s sake, a majority of republicans still believe President Obama is a Muslim! I could give more examples, but you get the idea!

That just reminded me of the times I’ve referred to some in the republican party as “STUPID” – almost apologetically – because I love my country and it pains me to think there’s a large segment of people who are so susceptible to the above referenced NAZI propaganda scheme. There are even republican Senators and Congresspersons who continue spewing the Russian propaganda that it was Ukraine who “interfered” in the 2016 election despite the FACT they know this is a Russian “talking point.” The FACT we have republicans doing the bidding of Vladimir Putin seems almost unbelievable to me – as someone who’s been following politics in America since Dwight Eisenhower was president. However, the lure to preserve POWER at all costs seems to cause those susceptible to CORRUPTION to show their moral weakness.

Republicans always tried to portray themselves as the party of national defense (and, of course, the “party of family values”) so who would have believed they’d be pushing the conspiracy theories of Vladimir Putin. Republicans KNEW individual 1 was fully CORRUPTED when they voted for him in 2016. For example, do you really think there was ONE of them who believed individual 1 when he claimed ALL of the 20, or so, women accusing him of sexual misconduct were LIARS? Do you really think all of them who called him the LIAR he is before he was “elected” think, at this moment in time, he’s a truth teller? Really, that would be absurd – even for today’s republicans. Here’s the reality: They have NO moral compass! Full Stop!

And, of course, because of the above mentioned “Big Lie Theory” their scheme is working on “their own” supporters. I saw another poll which suggested a significant portion of republicans would be happy to get rid of our “checks and balances” AND the judiciary’s ability to “check” THEIR president. In fact many of them have said they’d “rather be Russian than a democrat.” Yikes!!! Of course, they believe there’s no way individual 1 will lose the election in 2020 and, maybe, that he’d somehow run again in 2024 – or, maybe Jared or individual 1 Jr. would somehow take over – you know, like the monarchy our fore fathers fought against for our INDEPENDENCE!

So, for any right winger who might pass this way (or someone who likes to read books) I would recommend reading “Bonhoeffer, Pastor, Martyr, Spy” by Eric Metaxas. For those who don’t read, which is apparently MOST of America (I believe including many Congresspersons), I’ll give you a quick history lesson. What happened in Germany in the 1930’s has way too many parallels to what is happening in America today – not the least of which is the republican’s dependence on Goebbels’ “Big Lie Theory” as I mentioned above, in order to spread their deplorable message onto their unsuspecting “base.”

Just as republicans are using the Nazi propaganda scheme to fool their followers – the make-up of their so-called “base” is very similar to that of the Nazi’s – which may surprise many Americans who haven’t spent time studying the basics of World history. The so-called “Christian right” (evangelical “Christians”) appear to be the “base” of individual 1’s “party” just as “Conservative Christians” made up the base of the Third Reich. In both instances the bases of the fascist movements met the definition of cults. ( a system of religious veneration and devotion directed toward a particular figure or object.)

People like me – I’m a Christian – struggle to understand how others who read the same Bible as I do can even stomach individual 1 let alone, from some quarters I’ve heard, call him the “chosen one.” Talk about heresy! But when you study history you see this is simply history repeating itself as it often does. That I get. What I don’t get is when you have people in positions like Chuck Todd – the commentator I was listening to today – pondering the phenomenon of right wing talkers LYING repeatedly and trying to figure out why they’re doing it – with no apparent answer (other than “it works”) – i, well, as I said above, start yelling at my radio!

Mr. Todd, you’re supposed to know better. The democrats who are running for the democratic nomination for president should know better and should be EXPOSING, at a minimum, that republicans are using the Nazi propaganda scheme in order to FOOL their followers (and, anyone who’s susceptible to mind manipulation). So, to Chuck Todd, (and Chris Matthews, and Chris Hayes, and Rachel Maddow, and Lawrence O’Donnell, and Brian Williams, and Nicole Wallace, and Ari Melber, and Katy Tur, and the rest of them at MSNBC – which is what I usually watch) maybe you should “fight fire with fire.”

Step one in stopping this right wing takeover of our nation is to identify what is actually happening. Yes, we all know individual 1 is DANGEROUS, we all know he’s a pathological LIAR, we all know our country will be unrecognizable should he CHEAT his way back into the “White House” in 2020. What we need to understand is how he’s doing this. The starting point in fighting back might simply be to EDUCATE “we the people” on the tactics the republicans are using. We know republicans are repeating the Russian talking points! How many people know they’re using the NAZI propaganda scheme to get their message across?

Final Thought: I would love to see those at MSNBC (and, presumably, those at CNN, and, maybe the network news outlets) point out, using the name of the scheme – “The Big Lie Theory” every-time they’re explaining how individual 1 or his sycophants are repeating the same PROVABLE LIE over and over again. Maybe then it will be more understandable to people as to why so many Americans are falling for individual 1’s shtick. OVER and OVER again, I’d like to hear commentators saying something like, “Here’s another example of the Nazi’s Big Lie Theory coming from individual 1, or “coming from………………………” (fill in the blank) (And, how about democrats exposing this in their advertisements and put the adds in “individual 1 territory”) Maybe more people would be willing to dialogue on actual FACTS if they knew the republican “alternative facts” were part of a scheme originally designed by the Nazi’s of the Third Reich!