"The dispossessed middle-class, inflated out of prosperity, tore up the Weimar Republic, not just or even mainly the beggars and the people queueing at the soup kitchens."- Janan Ganesh, The Financial Times, 'Beware The Downwardly Mobile'.
The classic historical case of voter malaise, discontent leading to catastrophe was in the "good".Germans catapulting Hitler and his Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (NAZI) party to power in 1932. Years preceding the calamity - as related by my late German friend Kurt - saw continual unrest in the streets, soaring inflation - with a loaf of bread in 1923 costing over a billion marks - and finally voters having had enough of the Weimar Republic by 1932-33. They voted their nascent democracy out of existence in two steps: 1) Electing Hitler and the Nazis to the point they could take over the government, and 2) Allowing the Nazis to push through the Enabling Act. e.g.
http://www.dw.com/en/the-law-that-enabled-hitlers-dictatorship/a-16689839
The preceding provides a cautionary tale, contrary to many pundits who beseech us to "chill" because our Constitution is "too resilient" to be trashed by a deranged authoritarian narcissist. They say this even as we've since learned a hired Trump thug named Johnny McEntee assembled an inner White House Gestapo to root out anyone disloyal to Trump, e.g.
For too many voters in this November of discontent, the state of the union is just … blech. This is despite many signals that things are improving: the stock market is hitting record highs; hiring is accelerating sharply, with 531,000 jobs added in October and workers are earning more. Even COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths nationally are dropping from their autumn peaks — though there remain hot spots.
But too many Americans seem stuck in a pandemic hangover of pessimism and rage and have taken their ire out on Biden and the Dems. More than 60% of voters in recent opinion surveys say that the country is "heading in the wrong direction" — a national funk that has pummeled Biden’s approval ratings and fueled a backlash against Democrats that could cost them control of Congress in next year’s midterm elections.
The most depressing indicator that American minds have been warped to match the "good Germans" in 1932? A recent poll in which 42% indicated the Democratic Party is more a "threat to democracy" than the GOP (41%). Even given the margin for error, this is bloody insane. It screams a woeful inability to do basic reasoning, far less deep critical thinking. I blame almost all of this on the incessant spewing of lies emanating from FOX - many of which also find their way into the mainstream media.
Americans here would do well to process the German historical example - of 'jumping from political frying pan into fire' - and getting themselves out of their negative stupor. Nothing good will come if they follow up their inexplicable funk and reactionary voting this year by doubling down and voting in the Repukes in the 2022 midterms. Indeed, it will usher in a world of hurt - not quite on a par to what Germans got after they hit the Nazi restart button. But maybe close!
Why? Because the GOP isn't a genuine political party! It's a Trump personality cult of dedicated liars, obstructionists, traitor insurrectionists, Covid enablers - who only know obstruction and division. See e.g.
There isn't one damned positive outcome which will ensue by putting these deranged imps into power again - whether in the House or the Senate. Does anyone seriously believe the infrastructure bill would have been passed if Trump was still president, Kevin McCarthy the Speaker of the House and Mitch McConnell was Senate Majority leader? No way in hell! In fact, even as I write there is a movement among the bastards to punish the 13 Republicans who voted for the infrastructure bill to have their committee assignments stripped. They have also received death threats, after assorted Trump apes were incited by the likes of Marjorie Taylor Greene. Think of such, sordid tactics multiplying a hundred fold if Trump and the Reepos get in again in 2024.
At least one guy (Dem voter) in a recent AP interview nailed it when he said:
"They (Republicans) instigated too much division. Basically, they’ve kind of boiled it down to politics and power play. They’re not really solving issues. They’re just keeping you divided so they can do whatever they want.”
Despite all that, the WSJ reactionary voices of propaganda are still trying to convince the gullible and/or unwary that the Reeps are the sane ones - especially after last week's elections. In columnist Gerard Baker's idiotic words ('Voters decide to make America sane again', p. A 17, Nov. 9):
"There’s a way to go yet, but for the first time in a while there are encouraging signs that sanity is reasserting itself. The lunacy had been developing for some time, but it was the election of Donald Trump, himself surely a source of enough material to keep an entire psychology faculty employed for life, that seemed to send the country over the edge."
No mention at all of Trump's incessant gaslighting, lies, insane tweets (nearly every other hour of every day) from the moment he arrived at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. No mention of his lawless acts too numerous to count, his obstruction of congress, income tax evasion, his cozying up to Putin to the point of even volunteering to send federal agents as hostages to Moscow for "questioning" by the GRU. Add to that his impeachable actions including fomenting an insurrection that marked the first invasion and trashing of the Capitol since the War of 1812.
And Baker is incredulous that this sociopathic orange maggot had a negative effect on the sanity of 100 million + citizens? And to the extent they needed a desperate psychological release - to the point of tossing Trump' sorry ass out of office- when his own party would not? Bring back sanity? All any elected Reeptard traitors will do is bring back more insanity, chaos and division.
But even voters who supported Biden said they had grown dispirited about his ability to muscle through campaign pledges to address climate change, voting rights and economic fairness while also confronting rising prices and other disruptions to daily life exacerbated by the pandemic.
It is not just the federal government they blame and disturbing echoes of 1930 Weimar abound if one looks. Trash is piling up on city streets because of a dearth of garbage haulers. School bus services are being canceled and delayed for want of drivers. Americans who have been hurt economically by the pandemic are still struggling to get rental assistance and unemployment benefits, sometimes months after applying. Much of their pain has arisen from GOP obstructionism in either blocking the Build Back Better social spending bill or extending the unemployment and rent moratorium aspects of the American Rescue Plan bill.
But the tragedy is that way too many are piling all the blame onto Biden, when he doesn't have infinite power to improve every aspect of life they demand. He is no demigod after all. He can't just wave his hands and use 'the Force' from a distance and get 60 million red staters to get the vaccines. Or, force the Fed to deal with inflation, or get 100,000 truckers back to work to ease supply chain problems.
A case in point showing how the turbulent political events of the past 11 months and the pandemic have warped American minds lies in a comment made by one crisis therapist to the AP. Amanda Ramsey admitted she was "losing patience" with all the shifting Covid protocol requirements, clearly lacking the appreciation that requirements must change as the virus mutates, evolves. Again showing why - like Aaron Rodgers - she needs a proper college biology course.
She also went on to bemoan the same shifting requirements would antagonize an already divided electorate. Again, that's no skin off Biden's nose as he's done his best to get all and sundry vaccinated. He can't help it if so many are born stupid, relish being ignorant and make it worse by watching Tucker Carlson on FOX.
She then said she saw lots of depression and thoughts of suicide among her teen patients and - on account of that - found herself "unhappy with Biden's leadership". But again, what the hell does she expect? A good and decent president - the antipode of Trump - to also be a miracle worker? Give me a break. Then when she brayed: "It doesn't seem like he's doing anything to get us more unified", she convinced me that therapist or not she has no solitary link to reality. Because the man has done more in 11 months to try to get us all on the same page, than Trump did in 4 years.
To be blunt, she like too many others in this country has allowed irrational emotions to wipe away reason and common sense. If this infection of discontent spreads too far and metastasizes to the point of electing Republicans to take over the House and Senate next year, brace yourself for 'The Fall of Weimar- Act II'. And if she thinks the division, tribal rancor and disturbances - political upset are bad now, just wait until then.
Especially if Merrick Garland and his DOJ fail to do their duty to deem Bannon in contempt for blowing off a congressional subpoena. Thereby kneecapping the House Select Committee on the January 6th insurrection, and giving all those subpoenaed a 'get out of jail free' card. This lack of accountability and exposing the Trump party for the traitors they are will almost certainly enable them to find a route back into power in 2024. As Rachel Maddow put it last night:
"Each passing day of course is more fraught with uncertainty whether the Justice Department is actually going to see to it that the subpoenas are enforced. ..The Justice Department is still currently mulling whether they are. ...That Justice Department decision may well be determinative in terms of whether this investigation actually really has the power to investigate anything. Or is this whole process optional for witnesses who do not feel like dealing with it. ..Whether or not the subpoenas are in fact going to be enforced -- it is in Merrick Garland`s hand in a lot of ways."
Bingo! And we have these powerful remarks from Harvard Law Professor Lawrence Tribe appearing on Lawrence O'Donnell's 'Last Word':
"The only thing I can imagine my former student Merrick Garland thinking is why he hasn`t acted already and I really think he should have, he`s smart enough. The case is clear. ... Perhaps Merrick Garland being a good lawyer and wanting to dot his is and cross his T`s was waiting to hear a court say the executive privilege doesn`t apply to the former president when the current president doesn`t assert that privilege and when there is a legitimate need for the information. If that`s what he was waiting for, he got it tonight and if he does not move immediately will be inexcusable.
He will in all effects and purposes, he will be obstructing Congress. He will be preventing the legitimate and crucial investigation because all of these guys getting subpoenas that have no particular incentive to comply."
AND:
by Joan McCarter | November 10, 2021 - 8:45am | permalink
Excerpt:
“I hope you die. I hope everybody in your fucking family dies.” That’s the voicemail Rep. Fred Upton, Republican from Michigan, found after he cast a vote for the bipartisan infrastructure bill last Friday. The caller called him a “fucking piece of shit traitor.” Upton told CNN’s Anderson Cooper that he’s gotten other calls, and it’s like the others in that group of 13 have as well, because they’ve been targeted after poster child for deplorables Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia tweeted out the names and phone numbers of the 13 “traitors.”
AND:
by Michael Winship | November 10, 2021 - 8:03am | permalink
And:
by David Cattanach | November 10, 2021 - 5:05pm | permalink
Excerpt:
"I watched this as it happened; still remember feeling how devastating this had to be for the pervert's candidacy; but had forgotten the strength of its impact on first hearing it. I still think it needs to be heard again, each time some deplorable supports the Drumpf's possible presidential candidacy in 2024, if he runs again, alive or dead, for the position that he was, and is still, unqualified for in any human, moral, or ethical sense,"
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