Thanks for the explainer, Robert, I had not seen any of the text of the memorandum or really understood how memoranda operate among all the executive decrees of the regime. It is disturbing but also right on brand and is not unexpected.
At some point, hopefully, the machinery of enforcement will breakdown because there aren't enough agents to enforce the laws and courts to adjudicate them along with all the other law enforcement commitments the administration has made.
Orban is having a hard time stopping thought crimes in a little 2nd tier country like Hungary. Putin is great at chopping of the heads of any resistance but who knows what is really happening among the masses of Russians. We also fell for the myth that the Soviet Union was strong until it collapsed like a house of cards. I find it hard to believe that Russia hasn't crushed Ukraine by now if it actually had the capacity to do so. Hungary and Russia are cultures that have been habituated to authoritarian governments.
This is not how the US functions culturally with 50 states and 300 million people used to doing whatever they want with little government interference. Trump and his 21st Century Christian Nationalists may have some success in the short term but the long term prognosis may not be so good.
Reactionaries talk about "traditional views" as something quasi-sacred, a manifestation of "the laws of God and nature," by contrast with "ideology," which they hold to be a fabricated worldview that is fundamentally destructive. They believe that their own presuppositions and religious doctrines are not ideology at all, but simply "truth" and "tradition," not needing a rational defense, but requiring vigorous protection from any challenge. Trump's directive veers close to the territory of "heretics must be eliminated because they have rebelled against God."
Nothing in the post says that Trump is "literally Hitler," or even figuratively Hitler. (There are, however, Trump supporters who hold weirdly positive views of Hitler and Nazism.)
But Donald Trump is, in fact, a bad man - aggressively self-centered, lacking empathy, devoid of a conscience (even his former pal Jeffrey Epstein said he had no "moral compass"), indifferent to the true-false distinction (which was obvious when he said "Nobody reads the Bible more than me.") I've directly heard three former Trump associates say he told them it didn't matter if what they said on his behalf was true or not; I saw a fourth quoted in print saying the same thing. He is deeply, congenitally dishonest.
In short, Donald Trump is a psychopath. He is also ignorant and stupid. His supporters like him because he shares their prejudices and because his lack of scruples is an asset in pushing their agenda.
Thanks for the explainer, Robert, I had not seen any of the text of the memorandum or really understood how memoranda operate among all the executive decrees of the regime. It is disturbing but also right on brand and is not unexpected.
At some point, hopefully, the machinery of enforcement will breakdown because there aren't enough agents to enforce the laws and courts to adjudicate them along with all the other law enforcement commitments the administration has made.
Orban is having a hard time stopping thought crimes in a little 2nd tier country like Hungary. Putin is great at chopping of the heads of any resistance but who knows what is really happening among the masses of Russians. We also fell for the myth that the Soviet Union was strong until it collapsed like a house of cards. I find it hard to believe that Russia hasn't crushed Ukraine by now if it actually had the capacity to do so. Hungary and Russia are cultures that have been habituated to authoritarian governments.
This is not how the US functions culturally with 50 states and 300 million people used to doing whatever they want with little government interference. Trump and his 21st Century Christian Nationalists may have some success in the short term but the long term prognosis may not be so good.
Reactionaries talk about "traditional views" as something quasi-sacred, a manifestation of "the laws of God and nature," by contrast with "ideology," which they hold to be a fabricated worldview that is fundamentally destructive. They believe that their own presuppositions and religious doctrines are not ideology at all, but simply "truth" and "tradition," not needing a rational defense, but requiring vigorous protection from any challenge. Trump's directive veers close to the territory of "heretics must be eliminated because they have rebelled against God."
Wow. This must mean DJT is literally Hitler and Orange Man Bad!! You commie CringeStackers should broaden your complaint selection criteria.
Nothing in the post says that Trump is "literally Hitler," or even figuratively Hitler. (There are, however, Trump supporters who hold weirdly positive views of Hitler and Nazism.)
But Donald Trump is, in fact, a bad man - aggressively self-centered, lacking empathy, devoid of a conscience (even his former pal Jeffrey Epstein said he had no "moral compass"), indifferent to the true-false distinction (which was obvious when he said "Nobody reads the Bible more than me.") I've directly heard three former Trump associates say he told them it didn't matter if what they said on his behalf was true or not; I saw a fourth quoted in print saying the same thing. He is deeply, congenitally dishonest.
In short, Donald Trump is a psychopath. He is also ignorant and stupid. His supporters like him because he shares their prejudices and because his lack of scruples is an asset in pushing their agenda.
100 percent !
I’m sure that’s completely unintentional on his part. But then, I also believe in a flat earth and the existence of gremlins.
Oh, it's morning I have to go out and feed Bigfoot.