I've been following the January 6th Select Committee hearings and I must say I am riveted to the TV during the 2 to 3 hour long sessions. My feeling are mixed. On the one hand I am reassured that the corrupt administration of trump and the Republican cult that used him to gain unprecedented power that continually disregarded the law in its day to day assaults on the people of the United States is being held up for the American people to finally see clearly. On the other hand, I am skeptical about whether anyone, least of all trump will be held accountable.
I hope so.
But trump and his ridiculous lies about the election being stolen and his narcissistic refusal to let it go is only the tip of one of the more obvious icebergs posing a mortal danger to this country.
I listened to parts of NPR this morning (I was in and out of the car doing errands) and found Terry Gross’ interview with New Yorker journalist Andrew Marantz eye opening.
While it focused on Hungary, the connection between Hungary and the GOP/CPAC (Conservative Politcal Action Conference that was held in Hungary this year) is really frightening.
The take-away for me was, and I am putting it in my own words and how I interpret it, this:
trump has become expendable even if he doesn’t think so, and he was a very convenient and pliable instrument for the republican party to advance their authoritarian agenda. The ultra right republican ideology was able to make advances with trump at the helm but the Republican party/cult now has such momentum that it no longer needs trump. It can bulldoze the government and easily set up an authoritarian regime. Republicans like Romney, Cheney and Kinzinger should be worried about the fact that their party has become an authoritarian cult and they and any old school republican will be irrelevant in the party's quest for power and complete control.
Warning: the republican party is a danger and a threat to democracy with or without trump. You can listen here.
https://www.npr.org/2022/07/13/1111274698/how-the-american-right-became-aligned-with-hungary-and-its-authoritarian-leader
In another interview did I hear Jason van Tatenhove (the former Oath Keeper who testified in the Jan 6th investigation) correctly? I thought he said that he identified as openly queer.
But he also detailed the growing threat of very un-regulated militias that are aligned with white supremacists and other far right ideologies. These people are sabotaging local governments, school boards, and councils and confronting citizens, and particularly LGBTQI+ events, with threats and intimidation.The tip of another iceberg. And I believe there are many more icebergs we haven't seen the tips of.
I hope I am Chicken Little. I hope the sky (or should I say Democracy) is not in fact falling. Time will tell.
5 comments:
The worst threats faced by the USA today are all internal and largely self-inflicted.
Now Frank, tell me this is not the first time you've thought these things, please.
I've been saying on my blog ALL THESE MANY YEARS that the Republican Party is unfit to govern - that it is full of fanatics and has become a religio-political cult that will stop at nothing to achieve dominance - that was true in 2008 when I started the Blue Truck and even more evident now. And other, more highly placed, brand-name (TM) writers and commentators have been saying the same thing, not just me.
Problem is, the candy-ass Democrats have nothing much to offer and are not nearly butch enough - collectively speaking - to fight off the bad guys. But fighting is not really the answer. What is really needed is a grand motivating IDEA or principle or movement - cf. the New Deal - to get the whole country behind an honest, effective government.
Squabbling and squawking about piddling little interest-group issues is NOT cutting it. But there is no great big wonderful IDEA to rally around. And there is NO leader to guide the sheep.
When push comes to shove, I'm afraid a few skittish baaas will be the only reply. Sad.
No, Russ, this is not my first foray into commentary on the Republican plan to destroy democracy, but the comment was spurred by the Jan 6th hearings and my listening to the NPR interview I cited. You, I, and about a million others have been saying such for years, but the voices in the wilderness/desert seem to be coming together and getting a bit louder (or less faint).
Your Grand IDEA theory might work if there was one. With the country so divided and with so much mindless adherence to conspiracy theories, lies and just plain made-up crap I can't see the citizens of this country EVER getting behind a single idea, Grand or not. My only sense of satisfaction is that the hearing will have made history, that the facts are archived and the donald will be forever regarded as the worst, the most destructive, most incompetent and most dangerous president in US history. Unless of course the authoritarians completely destroy all records.
Forgive me if I came on too strong in that first comment -it's hotter than hell here, and my fuse is short. In fact, M.P. and I had a rare shouting match earlier today over some triviality - but we got over it pretty quickly.
I haven't watch the hearings but from the summaries it doesn't seem they've exposed anything that wasn't plain and obvious on that January 6 - I watched it live, so apart from a few details of who said what to whom and when, it's just a rehash of what we all saw and heard that day.
But yes it's great that Cheney & Co. are getting it all down for posterity in the historical record. Which at the present time seems like putting the log of the Titanic on a life raft for someone to find later on. God help us all, I don't see how this big division will be healed or helped, it's gone on way too long and cuts way too deep.
As for "the worst, most destructive, most incompetent" president . . . well, we thought that about W, didn't we? Little did we know what the future held.
But the only good thing about Trump is that he is a lazy, stupid oaf. The next would-be fuhrer will be much more cunning and ruthless. DeSantis in Florida already has a supine legislature giving him all the powers he wants - and has created both a Gestapo and a Pretorian Guard (the Fla. Election Police and new Fla. State Guard [not part of the National Guard], respectively). He's the one to watch.
Be afraid, be very afraid.
I think it's good for the media ratings on ALL networks and such to play up Thing 45 but from the looks of some of his rallies, his "people" are not coming out for him.
My fingers remain crossed.
Post a Comment