One of the reasons I love Rachel Maddow so much is that she doesn’t just scrape the surface on an issue, she digs in. And she has the patience to not only find the pin in the haystack, but then look closely enough to see The Lords Prayer etched on the head.
She did it again last night. Her opening riff was basically about the fact that former Michigan Governor Rick Snider, along with sever others, had been indicted on multiple charges stemming from the tragic Flint water crisis. But she didn’t just stop there. She went on to talk about Michigan’s disastrous Emergency Manager Law, and how Snider was able to use it to basically do away with small-d-democracy in Flint, usually in majority African American communities. But she went on to draw a direct line between the disappearance of any kind of governmental accountability, and the increasing increase of unruly activity from the GOP’s far right, most militant wing. Most graphically, the failed attempt to overtake the Michigan Capitol, and the failed attempt to kidnap and assassinate Governor Gretchen Whittmer.
And then she nailed the 10 ring. She directly compared the increase of militia activity in Michigan as government GOP accountability waned, with the violent insurrection against the US Capitol building last Wednesday. And she is 100% correct.
I have always been a news junkie, and not just political news. Even as a boy, Hitler’s dictatorship both revolted me as well as fascinated me, and I studied it as deeply as I could. As a result, I became fascinated with dictatorships in general, and found myself focusing on Central America.
Because it was such a natural choice. El Salvador, Guatemala, Panama, Nicaragua, it was a stewing pot of what has become infamous as Banana Republics. And in researching both the dictators as well as the countries and politics, there were a couple of similarities that immediately jumped out at me.
For starters, they all of these tin pot dictators came to power the same way, by a coup d etat. And a major part of that was to begin by creating a ragtag band of sociopaths, psychopaths and other misfit toys that were totally devoted only to the leader. This allowed them to basically overtake a large area, and give them a place to launch incursions into enemy territory as well as a jumping off point for the glorious revolution.
But if you follow through on the history, you find that one of two things happens, Either the pocket Caesar drops all pretense, and proclaims that all legal and constitutional constraints no longer apply to the regime, or his power is somehow weakened, usually by a primeval insurrection looking to attempt a coup of their own.
And either way, the result is almost always the same. With the disappearance of any form of legal constraints, the dictator’s ragtag army suddenly finds itself feeling free of anything to hold them back. And when that happens, the end result is almost always a bloodbath of innocents, as they take out their petty grievances on whomever has pissed them off.
That was the point that Rachel was making about Michigan. As the GOP government continued to unshackle itself from any forms of legal or political accountability, the far right militias that had long supported them also felt themselves liberated to throw off the shackles, and flex their muscles. And we all see how that turned out.
And the same is now true for Trump and the national GOP. Whether Trump conceded or not, the fact that he had to acknowledge that he would be out of office on January 20th was a sign of weakness. And since the Trump administration had long ago declared itself, and certainly Traitor Tot as being above the law, and after the election Trump kept pushing extralegal means for staying in power, they also felt that the shackles were removed to take whatever action they thought necessary to save The Cheeto Prophet.
And sadly, this is where we are today. As I wrote yesterday, once a pit bull is off of the leash, he doesn’t need his owner anymore. These far right militias and other extremists were looking for one thing, and one thing only, and that was permission. and once he gave it, he immediately became extraneous to them. Here, hold my beer! These groups have long pined for armed insurrection, and now they’re out of their cages. Buckle up, I fear it will get worse before it gets better.
If you enjoyed this article, you might also like to check out President Evil, and the sequel, President Evil II, A Clodwork Orange . They comprise a pretty much daily report from the front of the 2016 GOP primaries, as well as the general election
Follow me on Twitter at @RealMurfster35
I always knew that the GOP would lose control of their sanctioned thugs in the end. None of the leadership, even before Trump showed up, had the will or skill to keep them in line. As Twilight Zone has been a frequent reference point during this era, may I point to the episode “The Mirror” starring a pre-Columbo Peter Falk? It features Falk as one of those banana republic dictators you mentioned, Murf, who gradually falls apart thanks to a magic mirror that shows him his closest allies betraying him. Any resemblance to Trump is purely uncoincidental.
Either the majority of us overcome the pestilence of ignorance & arrogance & REFUSE to join the rebels without a clue, or bye bye ms American pie. The story of the human race is overcoming our certainty to learn we were in error. 1500 years ago the earth was flat. 500 years ago we were the center of the universe. We are spinning 1000mph. The earth is orbiting at 67,000mph around the sun. The milky way galaxy is traveling one million mph. I don’t believe it cuz i don’t feel nutin. It takes openness & courage to face the reality of our situation. No problem i have encountered ever was solved by pretending it wasn’t there.
Syntax error for real! This drives me crazy because the political columnist at my publication is ALWAYS doing this. No matter ho much you hate them, people are always “who,” not “that.”
“And a major part of that was to begin by creating a ragtag band of sociopaths, psychopaths and other misfit toys that were totally devoted only to the leader.”
I am someone that always strive to avoid that error. ?
The verb here belongs to “toys”.
“That” refers to “band”, not the people in it.
“That” refers to the event, not the people. Do get over yourself.
Rachel is brilliant. I think part of her talent is that she’s often able to arrive at the historical standpoint immediately, rather than having to wait for time to temper her views, and then when we hear it we recognize it as an accurate telling and how things will be remembered.
Most people would probably take years to be able to look back and connect the dots to tell the story of Michigan in this era. She’s able to do so now, and when she outlines her view it rings true to us. It’s almost like she’s not a journalist so much as a prosecutor of history. Her style is a lot like a prosecutor making their case, and I wonder how aware she is of that.
The truly tragic part of the thug idea is that the so-called “banana republics” were generally a creation of the American government to support its interests abroad, which usually coincided with the discover of oil or other “treasure.” I have witnesses it first hand in Brasil, not in a bloody coup but a legislative one in 2015, one bought and paid for by the CIA and billionaire interests that want the oil revenue from the hundreds of billions of barrels of offshore oil and did not like it a single bit that the left government was using these revenues to give the average joe a better life, educational opportunities, and had freed it self from economic control by the US and the World Bank and IMF. The foundation was laid by the economic elites, who for half a millennium had plundered the country and created a meritocracy. They were willing participants, along with fascists trained by the FBI to help railroad a former president into jail on trumped up charges with not a shred of evidence. No politician has ever completely concealed a smoking gun.
I see it as with all right wingers, Hitler got it right in MEIN KAMPF about hos to use propaganda to ruin good, moral people trying to make a difference. The GOP has been using this playbook for decades, and the media has rarely asked strong questions when reporting such assertions.
The thugs can take over only when the good guys are too polite to push back, as the Democrats have been for a very long time, thus allowing themselves to be define and pigeon-holed by the worst of American society. We have only ourselves to blame for ever allowing things to get to the point that a Trump could ever be in the White house
A lot of the killers were trained by us in ga. Everytime raygun’s name comes up with admiration, i think of 3 nuns raped & shot by forces he trained in el salvador. Locking up pot smokers while funding an illegal war by selling coke & arms. Oh, & although he was at rhe meetings & gave the go ahead, he didnt remember anything, especially “just say no”. America, when will you face the truths of your past? “You made me want to be a saint”, allen ginsberg
I have ranted to my husband more than once about being tired of the double standard! Rethugs say what they want, but dem/liberals are supposed to be all meek and mild, clutching their pearls, saying ‘oh my’. Well, I am not meek, nor mild, and I’m more likely to say ‘Oh hell no’, or worse. It’s past time we stood up to their crud!
Rachel has a very likeable personality, Smart…Reflective…And quick with wit. If you examine the “Freedom caucus you know they are and have always displayed anti American, Anti Constitutional, Anti diverse in color population. These horrid people are the destructive force within this nation and must be dealt a losing card.
A ‘Coup d’etat’ is really only available in France, the country where the phrase emerged.
This is just simple sparkling white supremacy.
Oh, is that a Twilight reference? If so, shots fired!