I am not sure if you heard, but some Republicans actually filed impeachment charges yesterday. Yes, they did their patriotic duty in filing articles of impeachment against Rosenstein.
It is a known tactic, well-studied, that fascist governments overwhelm the populace with outrageous new behaviors and false news stories, all with the focused intent upon dulling the populace, even to the point that the citizens of that country come to simply “expect” such actions from that leader. Citizens roll their eyes a little, but stop caring, assuming everything will normalize eventually.
We are right there.
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Who We Are
About 40-45% of this country is furious about today’s news that Vladimir Putin attacked our nation by ordering an e-burglary with the goal of electing Donald Trump and that indictments were filed charging the crimes committed in the attack. That 40-45% has been meticulously manipulated by time honored techniques mastered over the years – this is a science – that the indictments are the outrage and are surely the product of a hidden cabal of people within the FBI who are anti-Trump. These charges are the product of proud members of the deep state who fear Trump’s greatness will make them irrelevant.
Our nation is right on the edge.
Were that our only problem.
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What We Face
We also now know that part of the attack by Russia involved breaking into state election databases, and a company that makes software to preserve voter rolls. That same nation that already launched a successful attack, knows without a shadow of a doubt, that the administration in charge of this nation’s national defense, not only refuses to really investigate those hacks, but will do nothing to prevent the next attack, already happening, with the intention of altering the 2018 election.
Consider this with me. Consider the difference in the next two years if there is a Democratic House, one that controls the committees and investigations, or a Democratic Senate (less likely because of the seats at stake), versus a Republican House and Senate. If the House is controlled by Democrats, the most intense investigations since the Church Committee on Assassinations and Intelligence, and/or Iran-Contra will take place, possibly much more intense and damning. But if Republicans control the House, we can expect them to continue to ignore every single issue from the White House, from Russia, to immigrants on the border, to corruption, none of it will mean a thing. They will attempt to impeach Rosenstein, they will pass tax cuts, and will allow Trump to rule by fiat.
Now take a wild swing at guessing which side the Russians – who most assuredly are rigging this upcoming election right now – plan to aid.
We can assume that every Republican politician and anywhere from 40-45% of the electorate believes the biggest threat to this country is the FBI in cooperation with the liberal media. That portion of the American electorate deserves to live in a fascist dictatorship. (Do they know that Putin is decidedly not pro-gun rights? That’ll be a buzzkill if it ever comes to matter). All polls indicate that a precious tiny majority of the electorate understands that the real question is Russian interference and the depth to which Trump is complicit. Right now, Trump could be anywhere from completely oblivious (unlikely) to wholly 100% compromised Russian agent (far more likely than anyone wants to acknowledge). “Oblivious” is only an option because Trump proudly remains oblivious to many important things that impact him.
If you recall, a precious tiny majority favored Hillary Clinton for president, indeed voted that way. And yet, in a peculiarly precise voting pattern across three states, Trump won the presidency, while losing the popular vote by the largest number ever for a victorious president. Now, imagine the difference between the country under Hillary Clinton, and Donald Trump.
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The Damage Done So Far
Our country has already been the target of an act of war that has dramatically altered this nation’s course in history. If only Trump’s SCOTUS judges survive his (hopeful) downfall, it will be an unthinkable alteration in the true path this country attempted to vote for itself, never mind the policy he is engaging in with respect to immigration, NATO, etc. Now consider the possibility he gets away with everything.
We are teetering on that edge, you know that, right?
We are doing absolutely nothing to prevent the Russians from altering our upcoming election. True, we like to think, and have damn good reason to believe, that a blue wave is coming. We felt exactly the same about Hillary’s election. We do not know, nor will we know any time soon, the depth of Russian penetration into our voting infrastructure. It is conceivable that the citizens of this nation will vote to right themselves, but those true election results will not see the light of day.
Furthermore, at least 40% of this country has worked against their right to self-government and are hoping to usher in a fascist-type government that shares their “values.” These values include a near bottomless hatred for liberal progressive ideals (they hate us, you know that, right? Some of them believe the state almost has the right to kill you as a traitor, please believe me). Trump won’t get a third term or become Imperial President for life, or suspend the constitution, we’re still too strong for that. But, an engineered election that lifts someone suspiciously like Trump in priorities (think Erik Prince) if not similarly deceitful and gluttonous in every way, is now possible beyond the percentages we want to admit.
Or, we can begin to heal and repair our democracy.
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History Is Staring Us Right in the Eye
We are literally teetering on the edge this summer. I can envision a future where we do not take over either House of Congress, and Robert Mueller will prosecute cases that get largely ignored by both Congress and Trump. Is it out of the realm of possibility that Trump would declare Mueller’s trials as that brought by a kangaroo court, and refuse to honor its findings by pardoning himself? We know that a Republican Congress will do nothing. The SCOTUS very close to having a person that doesn’t believe in investigations in the first place, and 5 staunch conservatives.
Does that sound impossible?
Not to me.
We are that close.
President Obama repeatedly said that self-governance requires hard, and necessary, work. It doesn’t happen by accident, habit, or words on paper. We are not immune from diverging sharply against what we assume are “American ideals.” Germany was, by far, the most sophisticated country on Earth in engineering, physics, music, and education in the 1920s. By the mid-‘30s, the most powerful tanks ever seen were rolling through Berlin to cheering crowds.
As I have written a dozen times over the last year, there is no rule that the United States must succeed as a constitutional democratic republic with Jeffersonian ideals. None. “We” control our fate. And, it is getting perilously close to “D-Day” with “D” standing for “Decision” Day. I do not know which way our citizens will go. Are we too lazy? You, dear reader, surely are not lazy or you wouldn’t be interested enough to read this article. I’m talking about your neighbors, even the non-political ones – especially them. The big “we,” are “we” too into ourselves with the net, sports, self-medication, porn, and such, to care? The nation should be reeling from the news yesterday! Russian military intelligence units attacked Hillary, trying to elect their favorite, for godsake! I don’t see the level of outrage one would want or expect. Do we still have the sufficient numbers who know enough to fight at whatever level of fight they face? It is hard to tell ahead of time.
But, it is not hard to tell the time is coming, fast.
