Here goes David as a “broken record” once again. Today is the day Joe Manchin announced he’s not running for re-election to the Senate in West Virginian – for a seat he was likely to lose regardless – and the talk coming from democratic pundits is focusing in on the reality of how Trump and his sycophants are planning to CHEAT in order to “win” the 2024 election. I “get” the real issue SHOULD be the foreign “interference” coming from the Russians, Saudi’s, Emerati’s, Egyptians, and (maybe this time although not looking as probable as prior to October 7th) the Israeli’s replicating what took place back in 2016. However, there are emerging a group of “third party” candidates who will be bankrolled by republicans – just like in 2016 in the case of Jill Stein – with the plan to siphon off enough votes from President Biden’s “supporters” to carry targeted states like Wisconsin’s, Michigan’s, and Pennsylvania’s Electoral College votes to Trump.

In 2016 Ms. Stein was part of some kind of celebration in Moscow where she was seen in a photo which also included Michael Flynn and and Vladimir Putin and her third party candidacy via the “Green Party” swung enough votes in the aforementioned Mid Western states to swing the 2016 election for Trump. So, here we go again. There’s an old saying: “All’s fair in love and war – and American politics.” OK, I made up the “American politics” part of that, but, in essence, that appears to be historically true. Maybe the saying should be “fool me once, shame on you – fool me twice, shame on me?” And, the sad reality, from my perspective, is that republicans in this regard are like “men against boys” with a plan to “fool us twice.” I’ve been saying since my observation of the Obama v Romney election the republicans mantra – “The end justifies the means.” Of course, historically, this goes back, well, farther than my eyes can see. Now, we’re witnessing some of the experts of this “philosophy” who have turned against their original “home.”

The Lincoln Project is led by Rick Wilson, Reed Galen, Stuart Stevens, and Tara Setmayer among others (including George Conway and formerly Steve Schmidt) and they are teaching democrats (OK, we can hope) how to respond to the PROJECTION of Trump and the republicans. Their ads get under Trump’s (thin) skin which is why I’ve sent them my (meager) financial support. The democrats, sadly, just don’t know how to “fight fire with fire.” The republicans involved in the “Lincoln Project” were critical parts of the GOP as it evolved to the MAGA movement. I firmly believe that in this upcoming election they will be putting out some “biting” ads opposing Trump and some of his sycophants. This next election very well will be decided in the “confines” of Social Media – a place which is “foreign” to me. That said, should Trump once again prevail, these former republicans STILL represent culpability.

I read a report the other day suggesting America’s “young people” get more news on “Tik Tok” than they do from traditional media outlets or cable’s 24/7 “news” cycle. Additionally, both Twitter (X) and Facebook have announced they are open for a flood of mis/disinformation to washing over their platforms – why the change? – well, of course it’s because of the MONEY. And, I have to add that the place I watch/listen to (when I do either) for “news” is MSNBC and watching that channel you’ll get far more Trump “stuff” than Biden “stuff.” The reason I keep going back for more Trump “stuff” on MSNBC is because the one thing left on my “bucket list” that seems achievable is to live long enough to see Trump going to jail. (I’m 76 with some interesting ailments so this could be a close call – especially if republicans find a way to CHEAT their way to “victory” in 2024)

I’ve been referring to Trump as a “mob boss” on some occasions and a “fascist” on many others over the past 8 years. Before he decided on his attempt to destroy our republic in 2015 I referred to him, if I ever did publicly, as a nincompoop! Here’s the definition:

nincompoop /nĭn′kəm-poo͞p″, nĭng′-/

noun

1. A silly, foolish, or stupid person.
2. A fool; a blockhead; a simpleton.
3. A fool; a silly or stupid person

That’s straight from the American Heritage dictionary. Sadly, that’s now how I veiw many of his supporters. Trump has graduated to a cunning authoritarian, pathological lying, mysogyinistic, xenophobic, islamophobic, narcissistic A-hole “state,” from my perspective. I know as a Christian I’m supposed to “judge not lest I be judged” – but, I just can’t help myself. (Yes, I’ve got my own issues)

I’ve been reading (for a long time – it’s maybe more “detailed” than the Mueller Report – if you’re one of the 1% who took the time to read that) “Proof of Conspiracy” by Seth Abramson which lays out in (painstaking) detail the CONSPIRACY among the Russians, the Saudi’s, the Emerati’s, the Egyptian’s, and the Israeli’s – along with Trump’s campaign, to get Trump “elected” in 2016. These are all authoritarian regimes (yes, including Israel) who recognize “conservatives” are a distinct minority in America, but, due to the importance of who is in POWER in America – “The end justifies the means.” Representatives from these “authoritarian” countries CONSPIRED to manipulate the (thinking of) VOTERS in various targeted “swing” states in America’s election – via Social Media – and, of course, they’re still at it today.

I wrote several times (in the archives) about the work of Cambridge Analytica (a company put together by Steve Bannon and Robert Mercer) where they STOLE the personal information of over 57 MILLION Americans from Facebook, created a database putting people into “neighborhoods,” and funneling information to them with the objective to MANIPULATE their thinking – ie who they were going to vote for in the 2016 election. This information was shared with the Russians who worked to subvert the 2016 election along with a group of Israeli intelligence officers who worked with (for MONEY) the Saudi’s, the Emerati’s, the Egyptians, AND, of course, the Russians. Their expertise is MANIPULATING groups of people via Social Media. Jared Kushner was involved with all of this – PLUS he became BFF with Mohammed bin Salmon (The “Crown Prince” of Saudi Arabia known as MBS) a “friendship” which endured beyond Trump’s time in the “White House.” (To the “tune” of $2 BILLION)

Speaking of Jared Kushner, it boggles my mind that republicans are so obsessed with Hunter Biden getting a couple MILLION from his association with Burisma in Ukraine (Yes, it seems apparent he got the “gig” because he is the former VP’s – now President’s son) Kushner not only pocketed $2 BILLION within a few months from leaving the “White House” for an investment startup he was unqualified to lead – directly as the result of his association with MBS – a deal reportedly providing Kushner a salary of $25 MILLION annually. And, that’s not all which SHOULD be investigated, in my view. Kushner, who should NEVER have had a security clearance was (reportedly) a voracious reader of the Presidential Daily Brief and (allegedly) passed on information to MBS which led to the incarceration (and TORTURE) of several Saudi’s who were identified by American intelligence of not supporting MBS’s takeover of the Saudi government. Kushner was (allegedly) involved in encouraging the blockade of Qatar during the first year of Trump’s administration as (allegedly) “pay back” for the Qatari’s refusal to bail Kushner out on his TERRIBLE “666 Fifth Avenue” investment which had a “mortgage coming due.”

Well, guess what, eventually the Qatari’s “caved in” and came to Kushner and his Father’s rescue – by, in essence, taking over the failing building Jared had purchased over ten years earlier – right before the Kushner Mortgage was coming due. And, surprise, surprise, suddenly Trump was no longer in support of the blockade on Qatar. (A stalwart American ally) Now this (nefarious) situation is as clear as “black and white” but, of course, there’s been no investigation of Kushner’s underhanded dealings while an “advisor” to the president. (There’s so many things to investigate regarding Trump, himself, I kind of understand how this OBVIOUS “double dealing” managed to escape scrutiny. I’m just saying, Compare the dealings of Kushner to those of Hunter Biden and, well, there’s no comparison. Heck, it’s even been reported Kushner played a (side) role in the murder of Jamal Khashoggi – again, (allegedly) giving intelligence to MBS.

What Trump (and the republicans) has truly mastered, is the skill of PROJECTION. He’s now routinely referring to the “Corrupt Biden Family” and to progressives as “Communist, Marxist, Fascist thugs” and using words like “vermin” to identify his enemies who he will “crush” once he’s back in the “White House.” Those around him say he doesn’t read, so I suppose I’m safe, for now :o). Trump’s recent rhetoric, his use of PROJECTION, and his long time use of the BIG LIE THEORY makes me wonder about whether he really does read or not – because all of this is right out of “Mein Kampf” and workings of Hitler, Goebbels, and the rest of the Third Reich.

Now, it’s not just people like me noticing this – major media outlets are picking up Trump’s neo-Nazi leanings. Here’s how he and his supporters will deal with this issue. Of course, it goes without saying he’ll be back at the press as the “enemy of the people” (presumably because it’s attempting to educate the “people”) and, just yesterday I listened to a clip coming from Steve Bannon in his “war room” telling his followers that by the media connecting Trump and his rhetoric to Hitler back in the 1930’s “they are calling you (Bannon’s listeners) fascists.” Apparently, that line of thought assumes it will cause his listeners to “put their heads back in the sand” in reference to the reality of what they are supporting. I’m always reminded of Trump claiming, after the Iowa caucuses back in 2016 “I love my uneducated voters.” (One of the rare occasions when Trump blurts out the TRUTH – he depends on his “uneducated voters” to remain “uneducated”)

Will America’s progressive, independent, and disaffected republican voters band together in a massive effort to put this MAGA movement in the “rear view mirror?” Only time will tell. I’m having a hard time believing America’s voters will choose to go back to what Trump provided (only, this time far worse), but, at this point, who knows? I sure don’t. What I do know is that, surreptitiously, the Trump “operatives” are, behind the scenes figuring out new ways to CHEAT and actually get away with it. I read the Mueller report twice, but didn’t understand the role of the Saudi’s, Emerati’s, Egyptians, and the Israeli’s until I got deep into Abramson’s book. When I think back, the “signs” were all there, but Trump’s misdeeds were coming so fast it was almost impossible to keep up. What I firmly believe is there are “shenanigans” going on where “we the people” can’t see them AND one of them is Trump willingly taking support from foreign entities. The latter of which is easily hidden from public view by the (HORRIBLE) “Citizen’s United” Supreme Court decision which was “legislating from the bench” in its worse form. No matter what happens in the 2024 election Trump’s “cronies” have a grip on the Courts and “we the people” will be dealing with the fallout of that reality for, well, MANY years. Beyond my lifetime. Stay tuned…….

Final Thought: If you’re a progressive who, somehow, is turned off for any reason by Joe Biden I hope you’ll think very hard about the alternative. First of all, in my view, I’ve BECOME a strong supporter of President Biden. I look at what he’s managed to accomplish and I struggle to understand why so many Americans seem disillusioned about him. From the Covid rescue bill to the “Chips Act” President Biden accomplished more than any president in my lifetime – benefitting “we the people” as opposed to the top 1% – he’s had well over 30 STRAIGHT months of job gains with a record number gained up to this moment in time plus he’s tried to get critical legislation through which was blocked by his lacking a supportive Congress. It’s amazing what he did get through. I’ll emphasize it once more – a vote for ANYONE other than Biden is a vote for Trump. And, trust me, republican operatives will be funneling money to the “third party” candidates in order to siphon off votes which otherwise would have gone to Biden. They (republicans) did it in 2000 – resulting in the Bush/Cheney administration AND the invasion of Iraq – and they did it in 2016 with Jill Stein funneling off enough Clinton voters to help Trump over the (Electoral College) finish line. Will we be fooled twice? Yikes……….

And: I wrote all this a few weeks back, so I’m going to publish and hope my brother-in-law edits it before too many people discover this former sixth grade teacher misspells words! One last thing – I’m getting a bit tired of republicans calling the TRAITORS who are working to undo our constitution as “patriots.” I hope the media will start referring to them (including Trump) as the TRAITORS they are.

As usual, Thom Hartman can explain in one post what I’ve been attempting to do for the past eight years. I copied this article from one of the outlets I support, “Raw Story:”

Now we know how Hitler did it

Thom HartmannNovember 19, 2023 6:38AM ET  

Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Phoenix (Gage Skidmore)

The Nazis in America are now “out.” This morning, former Republican Joe Scarborough explicitly compared Trump and his followers to Hitler and his Brownshirts on national television. They’re here.

At the same time, America’s richest man is retweeting antisemitism, rightwing influencers and radio/TV hosts are blaming “Jews and liberals” for the “invasion” of “illegals” to “replace white people,” and the entire GOP is embracing candidates and legislators who encourage hate and call for violence.

Are there parallels between the MAGA takeover of the GOP and the Nazi takeover of the German right in the 1930s?

It began with a national humiliation: defeat in war. For Germany, it was WWI; for America is was two wars George W. Bush and Dick Cheney lied us into as part of their 2004 “wartime president” re-election strategy (which had worked so well for Nixon with Vietnam in 1972 and Reagan with Grenada in 1984).

Hitler fought in WWI but later blamed Germany’s defeat on the nation being “stabbed in the back” by liberal Jews, their fellow travelers, and incompetent German military leadership.

Trump cheered on Bush’s invasion of Iraq, but later lied and claimed he’d opposed the war. Both blamed the nation’s humiliation on the incompetence or evil of their political enemies.

The economic crisis caused by America’s Republican Great Depression had gone worldwide and Hitler used the gutting of the German middle class (made worse by the punishing Treaty of Versailles) as a campaign issue, promising to restore economic good times.

Trump pointed to the damage forty years of neoliberalism had done to the American middle class and promised to restore blue-collar prosperity. Hitler promised he would “make Germany great again”; Trump campaigned on the slogan: “Make America Great Again.”

Both tried to overthrow their governments by violence and failed, Hitler in a Bavarian beer hall and Trump on January 6th. Both then turned to legal means to seize control of their nations.

Hitler’s scapegoats were Jews, gays, and liberals. “There are only two possibilities,” he told a Munich crowd in 1922. “Either victory of the Aryan, or annihilation of the Aryan and the victory of the Jew.”

He promised “I will get rid of the ‘communist vermin’,” “I will take care of the ‘enemy within’,” “Jews and migrants are poisoning Aryan blood,” and “One people, one nation, one leader.”

Trump’s scapegoats were Blacks, Muslims, immigrants, and liberals.

He said he will “root out” “communists … and radical left thugs that live like vermin”; he would destroy “the threat from within”; migrants are “poisoning the blood of our country”; and that under Trump’s leadership America will become “One people, one family, one glorious nation.”

Hitler called the press the Lügenpresse or “lying press.” Trump quoted Stalin, calling our news agencies and reporters “the enemy of the people.”

Both exploited religion and religious believers. Hitler proclaimed a “New Christianity” for Germany and encouraged fundamentalist factions within both the Catholic and Protestant faiths.

Every member of the Germany army got a belt-buckle inscribed with Gott Mit Uns (God is with us).

Trump embraced rightwing Catholics and evangelical Protestants and, like the German churches in 1933, has been lionized by their leaders.

Hitler made alliances with other autocrats (Mussolini, Franco, and Tojo) and conspired with them to take over much of the planet. Trump disrespected our NATO and European allies and embraced the murderous dictator of Saudi Arabia, the psychopathic leader of Russia, and the absolute tyrant who runs North Korea.

Both Hitler and Trump had an “inciting incident” that became the touchstone for their rise to illegitimate levels of power.

For Hitler it was the burning of the German parliament building, the Reichstag, by a mentally ill Dutchman. For Trump it is his claim that the 2020 election was stolen from him and the martyrdom of his supporters after their attempted coup on January 6th.

Hitler embraced rightwing Bavarian street gangs and brawlers, organizing them into a volunteer militia who called themselves the Brownshirts (Hitler called them the Sturm Abeilung or Storm Division).

Trump embraces rightwing militia groups and motorcycle gangs, and implicitly praises his followers when they attack people like Paul Pelosi, election workers, and prosecutors and judges who are attempting to hold him accountable for his criminal behavior.

While Trump has mostly focused his public hate campaigns against racial and religious minorities, behind the scenes he and his administration had worked hand-in-glove with anti-gay fanatics like Mike Johnson to limit the rights of the LGBTQ+ community.

His administration opposed the Equality Act, saying it would “undermine parental and conscience rights.” More than a third (36%) of his judicial nominees had previously expressed “bias and bigotry towards queer people.” His administration filed briefs in the landmark Bostock case before the Supreme Court, claiming that civil rights laws don’t protect LGBTQ+ people.

His Department of Health and Human Services ended Obama-era medical protections for queer people. His Secretary of Education, billionaire Betsy DeVos, took apart regulations protecting transgender kids in public schools. His HUD Secretary, Ben Carson, proposed new rules allowing shelters to turn away homeless queer people at a time when one-in-five homeless youth identify as LGBTQ+.

German Pastor Martin Niemöller’s famous poem begins with, “First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out because I was not a socialist.” But, in fact, first Hitler came for queer people.

A year before Nazis began attacking union leaders and socialists, a full five years before attacking Jewish-owned stores on Kristallnacht, the Nazis came for the trans people at the Institute for Sexual Research in Berlin.

In 1930, the Institute had pioneered the first gender-affirming surgery in modern Europe. It’s director, Magnus Hirschfeld, had compiled the largest library of books and scientific papers on the LGBTQ+ spectrum in the world and was internationally recognized in the field of sexual and gender studies.

Being gay, lesbian, or trans was widely tolerated in Germany, at least in the big cities, when Hitler came to power on January 30, 1933, and the German queer community was his first explicit target. Within weeks, the Nazis began a campaign to demonize queer people — with especially vitriolic attacks on trans people — across German media.

German states put into law bans on gender-affirming care, drag shows, and any sort of “public display of deviance,” enforcing a long-moribund German law, Paragraph 175, first put into the nation’s penal code in 1871, that outlawed homosexuality. Books and magazines telling stories of gay men and lesbians were removed from schools and libraries.

Thus, a mere five months after Hitler came to power, on May 6, 1933, Nazis showed up at the Institute and hauled over 20,000 books and manuscripts about gender and sexuality out in the street to burn, creating a massive bonfire. It was the first major Nazi book-burning and was celebrated with newsreels played in theaters across the nation. It wouldn’t be the last: soon it spread to the libraries and public high schools.

The conservative elite of Germany, particularly Fritz Thyssen, Hjalmar Schacht, and Gustav Krupp were early supporters of Hitler, as he promised to crush the German labor movement and cut their taxes.

Without the support of rightwing billionaires funding Cambridge Analytica and Trump’s campaign he never would have won the electoral college in 2016.

Hitler couldn’t have risen to power without the support of the largest outlets in German media. Some treated him as “just another politician,” normalizing his fascist rhetoric. Others openly supported him.

After his failed beer hall putsch, he was legally banned from public speaking and mass rallies but, in 1930, German media mogul Alfred Hugenberg — a rightwing billionaire who owned two of the largest national newspapers and had considerable influence over radio — joined forces with Hitler and relentlessly promoted him, much like the Murdoch media empire and 1,500 billionaire-owned rightwing radio stations across the country helped bring Trump to power in 2016 and still promote him every day.

Hitler’s first major seizure of dictatorial power was his use of the Weimar law Article 48 which, during a time of crisis, empowered the nation’s leader to suspend due process and habeas corpus, turn the army’s guns on people deemed insurrectionists, and arrest people without charges or trial.

Its American equivalents are the State of Emergency Declaration and the Insurrection Act, both of which Trump has promised to invoke in his first days in office if he’s re-elected in 2024.

Once Hitler had seized full control of the German government, he set about changing the nation’s laws to replace democracy with autocracy. His enablers in the German Parliament passed the “Enabling Act” that gave Hitler’s cabinet the power to write and implement their own laws.

Trump promises to use the theoretical “unitary executive” powers rightwing groups claim the president holds, but has never used in our history, to have his new cabinet rewrite many of our nation’s laws.

Hitler followed the Enabling Act, six months later, with the Act for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service which authorized him to gut the German Civil Service and replace career bureaucrats with toadies loyal exclusively to him. It was the end of any semblance of resistance to the Nazis or preservation of democracy within the new German government.

In his last three weeks in office, Trump issued an executive order called Schedule F that ended Civil Service protections for around 50,000 of America’s top government officials, including the senior levels of every federal agency, so he could replace them all with political appointees (Biden reversed it). The Heritage Foundation is reportedly now vetting over 50,000 people to fill these ranks if Trump is reelected and, as promised, reinstates Schedule F.

The last bastion of resistance to Hitler within the German government was the judiciary, and Hitler altered the German Civil Service Code in January 1937, giving his cabinet the power to remove any judges from office who were deemed “non-compliant” with “Nazi laws or principles.”

When Judge Jon Tigar of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals struck down Trump’s new rules barring people from receiving asylum in 2018, Trump attacked Tigar as “a disgrace” and “an Obama judge.” He added that the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals is “really something we have to take a look at because it’s not fair,” adding, “That’s not law. Every case that gets filed in the Ninth Circuit we get beaten.”

Because the German Supreme Court was still, from time to time, ruling against Hitler’s Gleichschaltung or Nazification of the German government and legal code, and he had no easy legal mechanism to pack the court or term-limit the justices, in 1934 he created an entirely new court to replace it, which he called the People’s Court.

Trump packed the US Supreme Court with rightwing ideologues, many of whom are heavily beholden to oligarchs and industries aligned with Trump and the GOP. If they continue to go along with him — and there’s little to indicate they won’t — he won’t need to create a new court.

When Hitler took over the country in 1933, the military leadership was wary of him and his plans. While they shared many of his conservative views about social issues, most still held a strong loyalty to the German constitution.

It took him the better part of two years, with heavy support from his Brownshirts (who he’d by then integrated into the military) to purge the senior levels of the Army and replace them with Nazi loyalists.

The night before January 6th, newly-elected Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville joined Trump’s sons to help organize the coup planned for the next day. As the Alabama Political Reporter newspaper reported at the time:

“The night before the deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol, Alabama Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville and the then-director of the Republican Attorneys General Association met with then-President Donald Trump’s sons and close advisers, according to a social media post by a Nebraska Republican who at the time was a Trump administration appointee.
“Charles W. Herbster, who was then the national chairman of the Agriculture and Rural Advisory Committee in Trump’s administration, in a Facebook post at 8:33 p.m. on Jan. 5 said that he was standing ‘in the private residence of the President at Trump International with the following patriots who are joining me in a battle for justice and truth.’ …
“Among the attendees, according to Herbster’s post, were Tuberville, former RAGA director Adam Piper, Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, Trump’s former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, adviser Peter Navarro, Trump’s 2016 campaign manager Corey Lewandowski and 2016 deputy campaign manager David Bossie.”

Tuberville is now holding open the top ranks of the US military, presumably so if Trump is reelected he can pack our armed forces with people who won’t defy his orders when he demands they seize voting machines and fire live ammunition at the inevitable protestors.

When Hitler took power in 1933, he quickly began mass arrests of illegal immigrants, gypsies, union activists, liberal commentators and reporters, and (as noted earlier) queer people. To house this exploding prison population, he first took over a defunct munitions factory in Dachau; within a few years there were over a hundred of these camps where “criminals” were “concentrated and separated from society.” He called them concentration camps.

The New York Times reports that Trump is planning to “build huge camps to detain people,” and “to get around any refusal by Congress to appropriate the necessary funds, Mr. Trump would redirect money in the military budget.”

How many people? “Millions” writes the Times. And not just immigrants: Trump is planning to send his enemies to them, too.

Will he succeed in getting around Congress? He did the last time, with money to build his wall taken from military housing.

So far, that’s as bad as it gets: what he has already promised. But these are early days.

Hitler was unbothered by the deaths of German citizens, and was enthusiastic about the deaths of those he considered his enemies.

On April 7, 2020 all three TV networks, The New York Times and The Washington Post all lead with the breaking story that Black people were dying at about twice the rate of white people from Covid. The Times headline, for example, read: “Black Americans Bear the Brunt as Deaths Climb.”

A month earlier Trump had shut down the country, but when this report came out he and Kushner did an immediate turnabout, demanding that mostly minority “essential workers” get back to work.

As an “expert” member of Jared Kushner’s team of young, unqualified volunteers supervising the administration’s PPE response noted to Vanity Fair’s Katherine Eban:

“The political folks believed that because it was going to be relegated to Democratic states, that they could blame those governors, and that would be an effective political strategy.”

It was, after all, exclusively Blue States that were then hit hard by the virus: Washington, New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. And there was an election coming in just a few months.

Trump even invoked the Defense Production Act and issued an Executive Order requiring mostly minority slaughterhouse and meatpacking employees go back to work. It led to a half-million unnecessary American deaths and to this day neither Trump nor Kushner have ever apologized.

In the final years of the Third Reich, Hitler authorized his “final solution to the Jewish problem” that included building death camps in countries outside Germany to methodically exterminate millions of people. These were different from the hundreds of prisons and concentration camps he’d built within Germany for “criminals and undesirables,” although at those camps people were often worked to death or slaughtered when the war started going south.

So far, Trump and his people haven’t suggested the need for death camps in America, although Ron DeSantis and Greg Abbott seem particularly eager to see immigrants die either from razor wire or gunshot.

But, then, the Nazis never officially announced their external death camps either; like Bush’s criminal “black sites” overseas where hundreds of innocent Afghans and Iraqis were tortured, often to death, they figured they’d never be found out.

There are few Americans alive today who remember Hitler, and for most of us the details of his rise to power are lost to the mists of time. But Donald Trump is bringing it all back to us with a fresh, stark splash of reality.

When I lived in Germany I worked with several Germans who had been in the Hitler Youth. One met Hitler. Another, Armin Lehmann, became a dear friend over the years and wrote a book about his experience as the 16-year-old courier who handed Hitler the news the war was lost and stood outside Hitler’s bunker room as he committed suicide.

They were good people, children at the time really, and were (they’ve all died within the last two decades) haunted by their experience.

It can happen here.

We’ve been sliding down this slippery slope toward unaccountable fascism for several decades, and this coming year will stand at the threshold of an entirely new form of American government that could mean the end of the American experiment.

To the extent that our Constitution is still intact, the choice for our democracy to rise or fall will be in our hands.

It’s been somewhere between 48 hrs. to 72 hrs. since Hamas began their attack on Israel MURDERING (the last I heard) around 1000 Israeli’s with the invasion leading to (up to now) around 600 fatalities among the Palestinians – most of them innocent victims – with likely many more to come. That goes without saying that Israel has cut off diesel fuel (which runs the Power Station in Gaza) along with deliveries of food and water. The loss of life by the time this conflict is “settled” (I pointed out to my son tonight this is a conflict which is thousands of years old) will likely be much more catastrophic. My son, who’s much more connected to the internet, pointed out to me what had transpired shortly after the invasion led me to explain to him the Israeli’s will level Gaza before this is over – a strip of land maybe covering 25 miles in length with a population of 2.3 MILLION Palestinians. This whole thing grieves my heart, but, at the same time, I pointed out that I’m a firm believer in Israel’s right to defend itself and history suggests their level of retribution will be devastating.

There can be no doubt that Iran is right in the middle of this conflict and that Israel is looking at HUNDREDS of rockets aimed at her strategic locations from Hesbollah in Lebanon along with possible issues on the West Bank as they attack Hamas in Gaza. I’m no expert on any of this but I do know the U.S. will stand firmly with Israel while, at the same time, attempting to cause the other “actors” who might wish “evil” on Israel to stand down. I suspect if it’s determined that Iran was DIRECTLY involved in this attack (there can be no question they were indirectly involved – at a minimum) there will ultimately be strikes against Iran from Israel which could cause this war to spread. (Although the other major “players” in the Middle East – like the Saudi’s, the Emirati’s, the Egyptians, maybe the Qatari’s (on that I’m not sure are no friends of Iran and would like nothing better than to see Iran’s Nuclear capabilities attacked – which very will might happen depending on what is learned about their participation. (The Iranian leaders were openly CHEERING on the slaughter of Israeli’s at the beginning of this attack).

That all said, this is where my concern lies tonight. As I watch the (justified) level of response in the U.S. regarding this HORRIFIC slaughter of young Israeli’s in the most barbaric of manner – reminding me of Al Qaeda and ISIL – I want to emphasize the importance of Americans NOT to lose sight of what is happening in Ukraine. Honestly, to me, both situations somewhat mirror each other. In Ukraine THOUSANDS upon THOUSANDS of innocent civilians have been purposely targeted and killed by rockets crashing into the places they live, there have been THOUSANDS of Ukrainians KIDNAPPED into Russia – many of the children with reports they are being BRAINWASHED while in captivity. On top of all this, of course, Vladimir Putin has unilaterally decided to ANNEX Crimea and other parts of Ukraine – attempting to simply claim this sovereign Ukrainian land for Russia.

Additionally, in America right now, the House of Representatives is in a state of chaos – self inflicted by the incompetent republicans who have a razor thin majority with no idea how to govern – and, the reality is NOTHING can be accomplished in the American government until the republicans decide on a new Speaker of the House – although, that won’t help much unless the majority of republicans decide they MUST “work across the isle” or be subject to the EXTREME right wing segment who recently ousted Kevin McCarthy as the Speaker. We actually need these republicans to start acting like grownups which, to be honest, “I’ll believe it when I see it.”

They’ve already acted as if they will be unable to get a bill through which will provide the funding for MORE aid to Ukraine. Remember, ALL funding bills originate in the House, so if they can’t get their act together on Ukraine the result could be devastating. Unfortunately, there is a group in the House republican caucus who have expressed support for Putin. (Yikes!) On top of that, they also need to authorize funding for the American support of Israel which has already begun, but I listened to an Israeli official tonight suggesting the Israeli’s believe this war will last AT LEAST three months. (What if Hezbollah decides to attack from the North? What if it spreads to the West Bank?) My point is, American aid is going to require a unified Congress in authorizing the funds. And, honestly, I’ll be really p*ssed off if they provide aid for Israel but not Ukraine – that would be an unimaginable travesty from my vantage point.

And, once again I’m extremely thankful “we the people” have an “adult in the room” at the “White House.” As he’s done so many times during his time in office President Biden, so far seems to have said exactly the right things. Additionally, I’ve been impressed by the individuals in his administration who’ve conducted various interviews on public broadcasting of the ongoing war in Israel. Today, for example, Biden participated in a joint conversation with the leaders of the UK, France, Germany, and Italy who together put out a statement showing unconditional support for Israel. The people I’ve listened to have all been realistic about what is likely to happen in the following weeks.

Hamas is threatening to start executing the hostages and broadcasting it on Social Media (one of the reasons I loathe Social Media) for all the world to see in retaliation for Isreal’s retaliation. Is this the perfect example of a “catch 22?” Where do you think they’ll show the videos? My guess is “X” (formerly Twitter before the American Oligarch – or is he South African? – Elon Musk turned it into even more of a racist quagmire than it already was) and, likely somehow videos will make it to Facebook and other Social Media sites (TikTok? Instagram?) – and, of course the right wing sites like “Gab” and “Rumble.” I hope any of these sights who allow this carnage on their sites meet financial gloom sooner rather than later. (In my mind, Social Media has been the engine for the spread of terrorist activity both abroad and at home – in America)

I almost can’t wait to hear what Trump’s response was/will be. Of course, he’ll claim first and foremost that if he was in the :”White House” Hamas would have never had the nerve to make this attack. And, of course, that is as much HOGWASH as virtually everything coming from his mouth, but the reality is he’s got a large swath of Americans who respond to his every word who might think this is the perfect time to attack a Synagogue. Keep in mind, in one of Trump’s latest rants, where he was attacking immigrants – going so far as to suggest “we know Mexico is sending us their prisoners, their mental patients, and that democrats were allowing them in to “poison the blood” of Americans. While the immigrants coming into America right now are NOT (mostly) Mexicans his language was right out of Mein Kampf. I’ve been pointing out the similarities between Trump and Hitler for years now and maybe some in the “liberal media” just might start taking notice. Remember, Trump is a second generation immigrant (from Germany) and he’s married to a first generation immigrant. What a slug!

OK, I remembered how easy it is to find info on the internet so I “Googled” (I actually use “Duck Duck Go”) and, sure enough there was Trump claiming Hamas would never have invaded Israel on his watch (as if he was some kind of champion of the Palestinians) plus he HAD to add Putin would NEVER have invaded Ukraine either. Let me break this down – first, there is speculation Trump’s passing sensitive Israeli classified (at the highest levels) of info to two Russians in the Oval Office while celebrating the firing of Jim Comey may have led to this attack by Hamas. Apparently, the info would potentially help Hamas circumvent the “Iron Dome” – Isreal’s ability to shoot incoming rockets out of the sky. And, as far as Ukraine is concerned, how absurd can this man continually get? Of course, had Trump managed to “win” the 2020 election he would have pulled the U.S. out of NATO which would have provided Putin the ability to do what he originally intended which was to take Kyiv in a matter of days. Remember, it was Trump extorting Zelensky (leading to IMPEACHMENT #1 – the “perfect phone call”) and he was attempting to BLAME Ukraine for the Russian interference in the 2016 election. Trump would have allowed Putin to “have his way” with Ukraine.

I wrote the above on October 7th, the day Hamas slaughtered around 1400 Israeli’s. What has transpired since has not surprised me – although, personally, I believe the Israeli’s are acting in response to their RAGE and maybe not planning for the long haul. (Kind of similar to America post 9/11) President Biden gave them good advice to not make the same mistake the U.S. made by starting WARS in Iraq and Afghanistan. I don’t believe Israel will be able to “blot out” Hamas and, as I told my son back on October 7th, they are in the process of flattening Gaza. Just another chapter in the continuing saga of the plight of the Palestinians.

I actually believe Israel is doing exactly what Hamas wants by invading Gaza with ground troups. I’ve heard the underground tunnels under Gaze spans anywhere from 10 to 100 miles. (Hard to even imagine from my standpoint) Israel is going to lose a lot of their ground troops in this battle which is hard for me to imagine. I keep thinking, will the Israeli troops actually go into these tunnels in an effort to eliminate members of Hamas. This is definitely an historic time.

I have to add: The House of Representatives now has a speaker and his name is Mike Johnson. I’m not kidding. Who the hell is Mike Johnson? He’s a representative from Louisiana who is about as right wing as you can get. As a Christian it grieves my heart when i see others who claim to be “Christian” supporting “stuff” that, to me, just can’t be reconciled with the teachings of Jesus. This guy is a card carrying supporter of Trump. End of story, full stop! (If you can’t see the problem with that you’re likely a Fox “news” or “Newsmax” viewer – or worse)

Between Mr. Johnson leading the House (I believe he has no idea what he’s doing) and Senator Tuberville BLOCKING nearly 400 military appointments as a way to gain popularity with the MAGA base – at the expense of America’s National Security – this really is an historic time. We are STUCK with the makeups of the House and the Senate for another year, but it remains to be seen if Americans will flock to the polls in November of 2024 in numbers enough to put these republicans, starting with Trump, into the shameful part of American history which is where they belong.

Johnson’s first action as the Speaker of the House was to bring up (and pass) a bill sending aid to Israel (not including Ukraine) and tying it to a rollback of President Biden’s increased aid to the IRS in the “Inflation Reduction Act” giving the IRS enough Accountants to go after wealthy tax cheats. Johnson claimed the reduction of support for the IRS would be a “pay for.” That it would offset the cost of the aid to Israel. The Congressional Budget Office pointed out it would actually add about $30 BILLION to the budget deficit. That’s right, what Johnson is really proposing is to (as usual with republicans) make it easier for wealthy Americans to CHEAT on their taxes. (Republicans believe in CHEATING everywhere else, why not allow their benefactors to CHEAT on their taxes?) Between Johnson and republicans in the Senate (OK, just republicans) being unwilling to stop Tuberville’s of the Military promotions America could end up spreading this absurd chaos to the rest of the world – which would suit Putin in Russia and Xi in China “splendidly.”

Final Thought: The other thing Mr. Johnson seems to be dead set on is IMPEACHING Joe Biden. Of course, they have NOTHING to suggest he’s done anything which could possibly be considered a “high crime or misdemeanor.” They are making unfounded claims about President Biden when he was the Vice President – that would be over four years before he took the oath of office to be our 46th President. Additionally, they can’t even prove he did anything back they which could possibly be considered a “high crime or misdemeanor. This is all what they consider retribution for the IMPEACHMENTS of Trump. It will be interesting to see whether the 18 republicans who represent districts President Biden won will support this nonsense – which is simply a gross wasting of precious time where are government MUST be functioning.

From what I can tell, on November 17th the government will shut down due to the inability of House republicans to do their jobs. They will attempt ANTICS which will be intended to mollify their “base” but will be, if enacted, detrimental to the incredible economy established in President Biden’s first two years in office (When the House functioned under Democratic leadership). I haven’t heard Mr. Johnson, for example, even broach this subject publicly. I suspect the House republicans don’t have enough time (or knowledge) to pass the appropriate legislation in the two weeks from today which is the day when critical parts of our government can’t function without legislation from Congress. I believe Mr. Johnson has “bitten off more than he can chew.” Stay tuned………

Here’s another HUGE reason for “we the people” to vote these incompetent “duds” out of office – and, I’m thinking of the Americans much younger than myself – I’m 76. Speaker Johnson doesn’t believe in Climate Change. Whether you agree with him or not, he has said (I heard him) that his philosophy is written in the Bible. He apparently believes the earth is 6000 ;years old. I’ve pointed out many times here I’m a Christian – but, my beliefs are rooted in the teachings of Jesus. I really have a hard time believing things that are clearly debunked by Science. And, people who don’t believe in Science scare me – if they’re in positions of authority. If it wasn’t for the two regional WARS going on I believe the main issue is the Climate Crisis. In addition, if you believe women should have the right to choose how to manage their own bodies, you SHOULD be at the polls in 2024 voting AGAINST republicans. Then there’s the issue of gun control – which will never happen with the republicans we now have in Congress. I could go on, but if you’ve read this far I believe you get the point.

We hear a lot these days about the upcoming election in 2024 and, not astonishingly to me, there are a large swath of Americans who will support Trump until “the well runs dry.” That’s notwithstanding he’s our TWICE IMPEACHED so-called two time popular vote LOSING four times INDICTED with 91 FELONY counts (ex) president who’s led three successive elections where the majority of Americans have rejected his neo-Nazi bonafides. I regret I’ve had to refer to many of the MAGA Americans I’ve listened to – trying to understand their logic – as STUPID. So, if you’re on the “fence” about 2024 let’s take a close-up look at what you’ll be deciding:

There was another MASS shooting last night in Lewiston (No, Marjorie Taylor Greene – not “Lewistown”) Maine with AT LEAST 18 dead (three more in the ICU) and, once again, the predator using an AR-15 type weapon of war. Who continues supporting this gun violence? Yep, republicans!

Who is attempting to take availability of reproductive health care from America’s women? Once again, republicans!

What political party is working to restrict VOTING RIGHTS in America? You got it, republicans!

Who are working to BAN books in libraries across America? You’re right again, republicans!

What group is trying to “deconstruct the administrative state” in America? (That means our institutions of government) republicans!

Who is it attempting to kneecap Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid? Answer: republicans!

Which party in America is sucking up to Vladimir Putin, Viktor Orban, etc.? Answer: republicans!

Which party believes storming the nation’s Capitol and injuring over 140 Capitol and Metro Police officers is “normal visitor activity?” Almost (but not) unbelievably, republicans!

Who supports a candidate for president who wants to tear up our 240+ year old constitution? Answer: republicans!

Which party believes members of the military who defend our constitution against civilian overreach? Answer: republicans!

Which party believes our founders were lying when they wrote our constitution to prevent the commingling of church and state? Answer: republicans!

Which party is supporting a candidate for president who has stated “If you don’t believe in ‘our’ religion” you should be deported. Answer: republicans!

Which party believes their candidate to be “above the law?” Answer: republicans!

Which party has taken LYING to an exponentially higher level? Answer: republicans!

Which party doesn’t believe in the Climate Crisis? Answer: republicans (by and large)

Which party has turned the House of Representatives into a laughing stock? Answer: republicans!

Which party has a member creating real world National Security problems? (ie blocking ALL advancements needing Senate confirmation) Of course, the answer is republicans!

Which party has been responsible for MOST of the national debt they complain about? Not shockingly: republicans!

Which party is supporting OVERTLY racist candidates – up and down the “ticket?” Answer: republicans!

Which party has members who vote against legislation and then, back home, take credit for the legislation’s success? Answer: republicans!

Which party believes that, in order to provide help to Israel, there MUST be more tax breaks for their BILLIONAIRE benefactors? Answer: republicans!

These are just a few of the things I believe any American who is a “republican” might think of before committing to vote for our TWICE IMPEACHED so-called two time popular vote LOSING four time indicted facing 91 FELONY counts (ex) president. He’s openly stated “I’m your retribution” – which means, “I’m going to get revenge on my ‘enemies.'” I can’t bring myself to believe a majority of Americans will vote for this thug – but, republicans are counting on the (supposed) fact they don’t need a “majority” to “win.” (It’s all about the Electoral College)

Make no mistake, the supporters of Trump are busy as I’m writing this on ways they can CHEAT in order to “win” the 2024 election. I’m presently reading “Proof of Conspiracy” by Seth Abramson which is like reading a 500 (or so) page indictment of how Trump CHEATED to “win” back in 2016. While MOST of us know about the Russian interference in the 2016 election, MOST of us don’t know (I WAS included in this category) Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Bahrain, and Israel were all involved in funneling support to Trump’s campaign as well. I read the Mueller report twice and, apparently, I missed this part. I believe Mueller knew at least part of that as part of the COLLUSION he claimed there was no “law” to enforce and he didn’t have the stomach (or ????) to pursue a CONSPIRACY charge regarding many of Trump’s surrogates during the 2016 election (and, some foreign nationals).

My point here is I believe many of the “republicans” who are lined up to support Trump “come hell or high water” will be very unhappy should he be able to CHEAT his way to another “victory.” Several state legislatures, for example, have given themselves the POWER to override the “will of their people” should the vote not result in their preferred outcome. The key states are Georgia, Arizona, Nevada, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. There’s a lot of right wing “stuff” in each of those states. Stay tuned………..

Final Thought: Trump is LIKELY to have been CONVICTED of at least some of his alleged CRIMINAL conduct by the time of the November 2024 election. Once again, he’s been accused of 91 FELONIES in four different venues. Just like when he claimed ALL of the two dozen or so women who accused him of sexually assaulting them are/were LIARS (one of them has proved her case in a court of law) he’s suggesting, in the face of all of these charges, he “didn’t do anything wrong.” Well, if you actually believe that I’ve got a bridge…………

One more thing: If you’ve read the actual text of Section 3 of the 14th amendment of the constitution – and, like the conservatives on the US Supreme Court, you believe in an “originalist” view of the constitution – you’ve got to believe Trump has NO place on the ballot for any public office in “these United States.” Here’s the text so you can decide:

Section 3 Disqualification from Holding Office

No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.

PS – to my brother-in-law in Pittsburgh, I was too lazy to reread this, hoping you’re not too busy :o)