So many of the things discussed here have been of concern to me for a while now.
When the Civil War 2.0 comes (and it will whether Trump loses of wins) I believe it will look more like Northern Ireland in the 1960s and 70s. Outbursts of violence, bombings, assassinations, street brawls, etc. It won't be like Syria, or Yemen.
Here in Florida--- which has become laboratory of fascist adjacent policies--- most of our county sheriffs are Trump supporters and many of them have their eyes on political careers beyond the county level. They in turn endorse candidates for school board from "Moms for Liberty" and Trump adjacent congressional candidates.
The Governor has reinstituted a "State Guard" under his complete control in addition to the federally controlled national guard. This force, recruited from who knows where and with what qualifications, was marketed to be feet on the ground for emergencies like hurricanes. Now they are being deployed to the Texas border. So it is clear that these "guardsmen" under the personal control of the Governor can be used to enforce laws and maintain order at the governor's discretion. A personal police force. Or paramilitary unit?
The "Stand Your Ground Laws" can be used as a cover for murder and so long as there were no witnesses your MAGA adjacent police forces and MAGA adjacent DAs (see dog park murder in Tampa) will let you walk away. Even though you have been threatening to kill the victim for over a year.
Public service unions are shorn of their ability to work on behalf of their members while law enforcement and fire fighter unions are cynically exempt for obvious reasons.
There was a legislative attempt, at the behest of the Governor, to allow local law enforcement to utilize armed citizens (paramilitary members) to assist in keeping the peace. However, local law enforcement would not be responsible for anything these volunteers did and essentially would be able to use their own judgment when deploying armed violence. This was admittedly suggested during the "Summer of Floyd" when violent uprisings were happening in Portland and Minneapolis and none of which happened in Florida.
They did however pass a law that allowed drivers to run over protesters "if they felt threatened." This seems to be the caveat of choice for everything from road rage street killings to police killings, where the subjective "feeling" as opposed to the objective fact of "being" threatened is sufficient justification.
So what we see in Florida is the organizing of a militarized asymmetrically empowered by the state government. Not unlike the "bully squads" in Mussolini's Italy in the 1920s.
And as a conservative most galling is the usurpation of the power of local decision makers by state government. Local school boards can no longer act in response to an outbreak of measles without the State signing off first. A city cannot decide what kind of flags they want to fly on, or around, municipal buildings. Local governments cannot pass nondiscrimination protections. Local governments cannot require contractors to meet wage standards beyond the minimum wage. Confederate statues cannot be removed by local authorities even if most of the residents where the statue stands find it offensive. The list goes on.
And finally I am tired of people minimizing the significance of January 6 by decontextualizing the episode from the overall project to undermine/overturn the election of 2020. It wasn't much in and of itself only a small, but violent, and well organized attack. I believe it was probably the first time a confederate flag was ever raised inside the Capitol building as a sign of victory. The riot that day, the sacking of Pelosi's office, the vandalism of the Senate Chamber, the spreading of feces on the wall, the assault on capitol police, the "martyrdom" of Ashli Babbit were just outward and visible signs of the inward corruption that was being perpetrated from the White House itself against the American people.
You might obsess on "the deadly January 6 insurrection," but I watched the sacking of Oakland Chinatown from my own window during the Summer of Floyd (for many throughout the country, a local, in-your-face, tangible phenomenon). In contrast, January 6, as seen on TV, ultimately no more proved to be the end of American democracy than the Yippies' antics at the Stock Exchange were the death knell of capitalism.
I've been destitute and homeless, but I've never felt prompted to mug a grandma (nor to live in an encampment), so don't lecture me on "root causes." The streets are strewn with garbage, broken glass and potholes, but we're told that the true enemy is "traffic violence" (i.e., people in cars)...
And when an intruder dies trying to scale a fence, are you trying to tell me that the true enemy is the fence?
Enough! People are fed up -- and the "woke" element is dead wrong in attributing the underlying values to "white supremacy." These values are as strong among Latinos as among earlier immigrants (certainly including my neighbors in Chinatown). In other words, the entire "people of color" trope -- and the grievance industry built around it -- is grossly off-base.
So don't go to the barrio touting the pseudo-word "Latinx." And don't come around calling me "queer."
I’ve fought all my adult life to advance a recognition that there's nothing “Queer" about same-sex attraction. I’m attracted to guys; I’ve never hidden that fact, and (as my parents raised me) I’m proud (as an individual) simply to be myself. I never signed up to "smash cisheteropatriarchy" in the name of some Brave New World.
"...and when they come for me"? Given my experience with the left -- and the left's contempt for the so-called "petty"-bourgeoisie, striving for a middle-class life with a house and a car -- I understand why they first came for the communists, and how the petty-bougeeoisie get driven into the arms of fascists.
Meanwhile, as we pick each other to pieces over "pronouns" and "privilege," the oligarchs keep laughing all the way to the bank.
As for “solidarity” — and tribalism? Every person exists at a unique intersection of identities. Respect the individual, AS an individual -- and to heck with the would-be arbiters of the Oppression Olympics.
Wake up and smell the coffee -- or (sick of hearing endlessly about slavery-and-genocide that most of our ancestors didn't commit) America will come for you!
PS:
<< The incessant countervaiing message has been brought to you by a slew of self-righteous, self-serving, foundation-funded NGO bureaucrats, by a host of would-be "experts" preaching "behavioral health," and by viewers like you. I'm switching to the country station, or to jazz -- as I lament to my cat, "Lucy, I don't think we're in Woodstock anymore!" >>
"I will just say as someone who's been politically active most of my life, for anyone listening to this program, if you value what we have and what we want to preserve, it is absolutely imperative that you get out and do everything possible on your own behalf to make sure that Donald Trump never reaches the White House."
Just wanted to draw attention to Molly Ball's February 4, 2021 Time Magazine article: "The Secret History of the Shadow Campaign That Saved the 2020 Election." Is that a template that could work again in 2024?
> Aaron Ross Powell: Yeah, I think that's the big thing that we, more of us have to grapple with is how much more widespread than we thought a genuine dislike for freedom and democracy is among Americans. And not just the kind of people who show up for Trump rallies, but also, I mean, the Heritage Foundation, which is the, you know, next to AEI, the big conservative think tank for decades that set policy for the American conservative movement has their new Project 2025, which is an incredibly systematic, thought out, serious plan to install an autocrat the next time there's a Republican holding the White House. It is a plan for overthrowing American democracy. And that's terrifying that like the commanding heights of the conservative movement are—not all of them; there are your Never Trumpers—but so much of it is all-in on not just Trump himself, but the basic project of destroying American liberty.
I'd argue that first, everyone should grapple with whether they know the technical meanings of the psychologically powerful words they so casually throw around or make reference to, like truth.
So many of the things discussed here have been of concern to me for a while now.
When the Civil War 2.0 comes (and it will whether Trump loses of wins) I believe it will look more like Northern Ireland in the 1960s and 70s. Outbursts of violence, bombings, assassinations, street brawls, etc. It won't be like Syria, or Yemen.
Here in Florida--- which has become laboratory of fascist adjacent policies--- most of our county sheriffs are Trump supporters and many of them have their eyes on political careers beyond the county level. They in turn endorse candidates for school board from "Moms for Liberty" and Trump adjacent congressional candidates.
The Governor has reinstituted a "State Guard" under his complete control in addition to the federally controlled national guard. This force, recruited from who knows where and with what qualifications, was marketed to be feet on the ground for emergencies like hurricanes. Now they are being deployed to the Texas border. So it is clear that these "guardsmen" under the personal control of the Governor can be used to enforce laws and maintain order at the governor's discretion. A personal police force. Or paramilitary unit?
The "Stand Your Ground Laws" can be used as a cover for murder and so long as there were no witnesses your MAGA adjacent police forces and MAGA adjacent DAs (see dog park murder in Tampa) will let you walk away. Even though you have been threatening to kill the victim for over a year.
Public service unions are shorn of their ability to work on behalf of their members while law enforcement and fire fighter unions are cynically exempt for obvious reasons.
There was a legislative attempt, at the behest of the Governor, to allow local law enforcement to utilize armed citizens (paramilitary members) to assist in keeping the peace. However, local law enforcement would not be responsible for anything these volunteers did and essentially would be able to use their own judgment when deploying armed violence. This was admittedly suggested during the "Summer of Floyd" when violent uprisings were happening in Portland and Minneapolis and none of which happened in Florida.
They did however pass a law that allowed drivers to run over protesters "if they felt threatened." This seems to be the caveat of choice for everything from road rage street killings to police killings, where the subjective "feeling" as opposed to the objective fact of "being" threatened is sufficient justification.
So what we see in Florida is the organizing of a militarized asymmetrically empowered by the state government. Not unlike the "bully squads" in Mussolini's Italy in the 1920s.
And as a conservative most galling is the usurpation of the power of local decision makers by state government. Local school boards can no longer act in response to an outbreak of measles without the State signing off first. A city cannot decide what kind of flags they want to fly on, or around, municipal buildings. Local governments cannot pass nondiscrimination protections. Local governments cannot require contractors to meet wage standards beyond the minimum wage. Confederate statues cannot be removed by local authorities even if most of the residents where the statue stands find it offensive. The list goes on.
And finally I am tired of people minimizing the significance of January 6 by decontextualizing the episode from the overall project to undermine/overturn the election of 2020. It wasn't much in and of itself only a small, but violent, and well organized attack. I believe it was probably the first time a confederate flag was ever raised inside the Capitol building as a sign of victory. The riot that day, the sacking of Pelosi's office, the vandalism of the Senate Chamber, the spreading of feces on the wall, the assault on capitol police, the "martyrdom" of Ashli Babbit were just outward and visible signs of the inward corruption that was being perpetrated from the White House itself against the American people.
You might obsess on "the deadly January 6 insurrection," but I watched the sacking of Oakland Chinatown from my own window during the Summer of Floyd (for many throughout the country, a local, in-your-face, tangible phenomenon). In contrast, January 6, as seen on TV, ultimately no more proved to be the end of American democracy than the Yippies' antics at the Stock Exchange were the death knell of capitalism.
I've been destitute and homeless, but I've never felt prompted to mug a grandma (nor to live in an encampment), so don't lecture me on "root causes." The streets are strewn with garbage, broken glass and potholes, but we're told that the true enemy is "traffic violence" (i.e., people in cars)...
And when an intruder dies trying to scale a fence, are you trying to tell me that the true enemy is the fence?
Enough! People are fed up -- and the "woke" element is dead wrong in attributing the underlying values to "white supremacy." These values are as strong among Latinos as among earlier immigrants (certainly including my neighbors in Chinatown). In other words, the entire "people of color" trope -- and the grievance industry built around it -- is grossly off-base.
So don't go to the barrio touting the pseudo-word "Latinx." And don't come around calling me "queer."
I’ve fought all my adult life to advance a recognition that there's nothing “Queer" about same-sex attraction. I’m attracted to guys; I’ve never hidden that fact, and (as my parents raised me) I’m proud (as an individual) simply to be myself. I never signed up to "smash cisheteropatriarchy" in the name of some Brave New World.
"...and when they come for me"? Given my experience with the left -- and the left's contempt for the so-called "petty"-bourgeoisie, striving for a middle-class life with a house and a car -- I understand why they first came for the communists, and how the petty-bougeeoisie get driven into the arms of fascists.
Meanwhile, as we pick each other to pieces over "pronouns" and "privilege," the oligarchs keep laughing all the way to the bank.
As for “solidarity” — and tribalism? Every person exists at a unique intersection of identities. Respect the individual, AS an individual -- and to heck with the would-be arbiters of the Oppression Olympics.
Wake up and smell the coffee -- or (sick of hearing endlessly about slavery-and-genocide that most of our ancestors didn't commit) America will come for you!
PS:
<< The incessant countervaiing message has been brought to you by a slew of self-righteous, self-serving, foundation-funded NGO bureaucrats, by a host of would-be "experts" preaching "behavioral health," and by viewers like you. I'm switching to the country station, or to jazz -- as I lament to my cat, "Lucy, I don't think we're in Woodstock anymore!" >>
"I will just say as someone who's been politically active most of my life, for anyone listening to this program, if you value what we have and what we want to preserve, it is absolutely imperative that you get out and do everything possible on your own behalf to make sure that Donald Trump never reaches the White House."
Just wanted to draw attention to Molly Ball's February 4, 2021 Time Magazine article: "The Secret History of the Shadow Campaign That Saved the 2020 Election." Is that a template that could work again in 2024?
> Aaron Ross Powell: Yeah, I think that's the big thing that we, more of us have to grapple with is how much more widespread than we thought a genuine dislike for freedom and democracy is among Americans. And not just the kind of people who show up for Trump rallies, but also, I mean, the Heritage Foundation, which is the, you know, next to AEI, the big conservative think tank for decades that set policy for the American conservative movement has their new Project 2025, which is an incredibly systematic, thought out, serious plan to install an autocrat the next time there's a Republican holding the White House. It is a plan for overthrowing American democracy. And that's terrifying that like the commanding heights of the conservative movement are—not all of them; there are your Never Trumpers—but so much of it is all-in on not just Trump himself, but the basic project of destroying American liberty.
I'd argue that first, everyone should grapple with whether they know the technical meanings of the psychologically powerful words they so casually throw around or make reference to, like truth.