Sunday, November 27, 2016

Thanksgiving



Steve Benson, Az Republic

It’s Thanksgiving weekend, and believe it or not, there’s much for all of us to be thankful for. This includes those of us who are not very happy with the results of the election. Here’s a list of some things I’m thankful for!

The Orange Guy himself! I’m a progressive independent, so you can safely assume I wasn’t too happy with Reagan or with Pappy and W. Bush. I voted against them, and griped to my legislators, and wrote the odd letter to the editor, but that was as far as it went. That’s because they had social skills and didn’t invite actual fascists into the government, didn’t publicly belittle handicapped folks, didn’t brag about groping women, didn’t get endorsed by the KKK, didn’t write off climate change as a Chinese plot, etc. To me, the empowering of such a person is a Pearl Harbor or 9/11 event. So now I’m all fired up, energized, and budgeting time and money weekly to work against fascism. Turns out I’m not alone. This is how real and enduring populist movements are born…from the seed-stock of hateful, dishonest, thin-skinned, dumb, dangerous and repressive people.

Minority Government! Not only did the orange guy lose the popular vote by a couple million voters, it turns out his support even among folks that did vote for him is thin. Anecdotally, I’ve had a dozen folks tell me they thought the 2016 choices for President were awful, and they “held their noses” and voted for the orange guy; hardly a ringing endorsement. The legislative majority he enjoys in both houses includes lots of people he insulted during the election, and many more who are appalled by his public behavior and afraid of his impulsiveness and immorality. The legislative minority, while justifiably engaged in angst and soul-searching, is unified in its disgust with the orange guy-elect. He’ll have to be a Kennedy/Reagan/Roosevelt to turn that around. I suspect he’s really not that kind of material. His non-fan club includes organized labor, virtually every minority community in the nation, the environmental community, the scientific and academic communities, the wealthiest and most successful states, and a number of relatively well-moneyed interests who view him as an existential threat. They’re probably not going to be helpful to him. There are people in the streets already, and he hasn’t actually done anything yet. Just wait till he does!

Sleaze/Corruption! Our boy has a track record. You can expect scandals both great (mixing private business with governing, extra and quasi-legal executive orders, manipulation of the press, encouraging violence and bigotry via 2:00 AM tweets, etc.) and small (lots of jiggling silicone, embarrassing diplomatic gaffes, public rows with theater people and comedians, unfortunate videos and images, etc.). He simply won’t be able to help himself and his gang of enablers won’t be able to stop him.

American Institutions! Given the high caliber of folks who seem to be appearing on the orange guy’s dream team, the federal courts, the military and the bureaucratic agencies won’t be very well led or well treated. This is a collection of very wealthy committed ideologues who will espouse and do dumb, cruel and unsuccessful stuff. You can expect the hateful crap that they will shove down the throats of their agencies to leak copiously and wind up on-line, in headlines, and in court in very short order.

Investigative Journalists and Attorneys! There will be lots to work with (see above).

These many festive gifts emanating from the spectacular election of 2016 are, of course, all potential tools to be used to begin the long, patient, and honorable process of building an actual representative democracy. That will take a lot of work from a lot of people, and a good deal of courage. More on that in another post. Happy Thanksgiving!

Saturday, November 19, 2016

Facing the Facts

As this is written, the cabinet that will implement the orange guy elect’s policies is beginning to take shape. We are beginning to see what the incoming government will look like.

So far, they include a fascist propagandist:

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/15/us/politics/stephen-bannon-breitbart-words.html?_r=0

See also:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Goebbels

An old school racist and homophobe:

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/19/us/politics/jeff-sessions-donald-trump-attorney-general.html

An islamophobe and apologist and lobbyist for nice folks like Putin and Erodogon

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/18/us/politics/michael-flynn-national-security-adviser-donald-trump.html

…and a Tea-bagger said to be a big supporter of domestic surveillance and “enhanced interrogation” …

http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/18/politics/trump-asks-rep-mike-pompeo-to-be-cia-director-sources-say/index.html

If you were thinking the orange guy is a pragmatic businessman who won’t do anything too crazy, you were mistaken, evidently…

I view this growing assemblage of thugs and bigots with substantial alarm. I work in history and heritage, and I’m familiar with lots of examples of what happens when minority governments undertake coups. I am also hopeful and confidant that following a great deal of damage, we can overcome this and build a better country and future.

Understand this: I think the orange guy has autocratic and despotic tendencies. He likes power and wants to keep it. His business record is a clear indication of the kinds of measures he is prepared to resort to. His rise to power in this country is in no sense a normal transfer of government from one democratically elected government to another. It is an attempt by the extreme right to seize power, in no way substantially different from the rise of fascist governments in mid-20th century Germany and Italy, or the modern Philippines. I would assume that this crop of goons will try to manufacture a crisis or take advantage of one (think the Nazi’s burning down the Reichstag) and then try to use it to seize more power. American institutions including the police, military and legal system will be taxed to and perhaps beyond the breaking point. There will be an attempt to silence any dissent or opposition. The heavily armed mob of True Believers will be called out to help shut up and punish the opposition. At least one dangerous ideologue will be seated on the US Supreme Court. There will be a big infrastructure bill coming out of the legislature, something the country desperately needs, but it will be laced with poisonous tax and environmental provisions that greatly enrich the top earners in this country at the expense of middle class and poor folks, and exacerbate global climate change, further pollute the air and water, damage our historical and cultural heritage, and help make us an international pariah. All regulation of the cheerful folks on Wall Street will be removed, and the crowd that brought you 2008 (remember 2008??) will be running the economic show unfettered. There will be a well-funded attempt to make conceal carry permits transferrable between states, thus empowering the armed mob of True Believers even further than it is right now. Muslim, African-American, Hispanic, LGBT and other minority communities will see and feel real persecution. We will be torturing people.

I’ll re-post this next November, and we’ll see if I was incorrect.

Now I’m sorry to be so dark here, but as noted in my last post, I’m interested in fixing things. Like the orange guy, I want to make America great again. The first step in addressing a festering wound is to rip the bandage off, and get a good look at it. So there it is…take it all in.

Now, take a deep breath.

I believe this is a time of existential crisis for this nation. I believe we are all called on to do our part to help overturn this dangerous minority government. The lives and futures of our kids and the planet are at stake. This is a time for real Americans, real patriots, to stand up and defend our country and our way of life. This is a time to speak and to act. If you are filled with disquiet, anger and fear, the only way to make those emotions dissipate is to channel them in positive and transformational directions. Like my parent’s generation who were forced to confront a depression and a fascist alliance, we’re about to find out what courage means.

Fortunately, there are lots of paths forward. There are lots of tools at hand. More than there have ever been. I’ll discuss some of them in my next post.