This Is Your Brain On Con-servatism

Montana Republican House candidate Greg Gianforte is a thug.

The authoritarian Republican thug was annoyed by the questions from a journalist, and apparently grabbed him by the neck and threw him to the ground.

The extreme Right’s war on journalism is getting violent. Let's be clear. Journalism-hating thugs with a political agenda are fascists.

An editorial in the Helena Independent Record described the paper as “sick and tired of Gianforte’s incessant attacks on the free press.”

“In the past, he has encouraged his supporters to boycott certain newspapers, singled out a reporter in a room to point out that he was outnumbered, and even made a joke out of the notion of choking a news writer, and these are not things we can continue to brush off,” the paper’s editorial staff wrote Thursday.

Last month, a voter at a Gianforte town hall pointed out a journalist in the room, called the media “the enemy” and mimed the act of wringing a neck.

Gianforte smiled and pointed at the reporter.

“We have someone right here,” he said, according to the Ravalli Republic. “It seems like there are more of us than there is of him.” 

Fascists are bullies. Fascists body slam journalists. Liberals do not.

The difference is as clear as it is between Trump and Obama. And Obama wasn’t even that liberal.

One is a decent human being. The other is not. One is well-informed and educated. The other is not. One was demonized as a foreign Muslim. The other is our gift from the Republican Party and conservatives.

The ugly monster of “Lügenpresse” has returned. “Lügenpresse” was a Nazi slur shouted at a Trump rally.

Critics of Hitler’s regime were frequently referred to as members of the “Lügenpresse apparatus.”… “Lügenpresse” (lying press) was an important component under propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels.

And yes, it is reasonable to invoke similarities to Nazis when noting fascist behavior. Look at the open hate at Trump rallies. “Lock her up!” was chanted by the liar and Russian tool Flynn. Kremlin Don has cozied up to Russia and  called American journalism the “enemy of the people”.

The Nazis were defeated. Fascism survives, and Republican fascists are coming out of the woodwork.

Other Republican thugs rallied to Gianforte’s defense.

Trent Franks: “The left has precipitated this tense, confrontational approach…”

Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) : “It’s not appropriate behavior. Unless the reporter deserved it.” 

Brent Bozell: “Jacobs is an obnoxious, dishonest first class jerk. I'm not surprised he got smacked.”

This is your brain on American con-servatism folks. This is fascism.

Resist and persist. 

Kremlin Don

We have a tyrant, an ignorant, corrupt, whiny, childish, victim-playing tyrant. 

Our electoral system failed us, but we are lucky to have a legal system that deters him from greater destruction. But will it?

After FIRING James Comey, the man running the investigation of his gang’s Russian contacts, Kremlin Don openly GAVE Russia highly top secret code word information. In the OVAL Office. With RUSSIAN media there. And he insultingly EXCLUDED American journalists. 

Adding further insult to injury, our Asshole in Chief bragged about shaking the investigation by purging "nut case" Comey.

America has fallen, and this is what it looks like.

This story used to be the stuff of Pravda fantasies and Putin’s dreams.

“No puppet! No puppet!”, Kremlin Don assured us.  

Now Putin laughs at the television as he pours drinks for his henchmen. “To our new asset,  Secret Agent Dim Bulb!”

Of course Hillary is still the real villain for having low level classified content on a private server, which wasn’t passed on to foreign governments. 

If Kremlin Don cannot be held legally accountable, then his party must hold him politically, if not morally, accountable. That won't happen soon will it? Not unless something drastic occurs.

It's unlikely by now that the Republicans can make a credible stand for decency, so nothing will happen on their initiative. Maybe when the country is rallying to defeat them at the polls they may finally remove Trump by means of the 25th Amendment.

Anyone who still thinks Secret Agent Dim Bulb is competent and qualified for office is a cultist and utter fool. None of them deserve to run our country or even be allowed to operate a motor vehicle.

We shall see how far they follow their Dear Leader into infamy. Remember, as nasty, infantile, and sociopathic as he is, Republicans and conservatives largely agree with his agenda. (That should tell them something, but it doesn't.)

Pence, a loyal Trumpist with theocratic leanings, cannot be trusted since he parrots many of Dear Leader's lies, and abets the behavior that desecrates our White House. It's not hard to imagine Pence would pardon Kremlin Don and his thugs if given the opportunity. He would be our second worst president at best.

But that's what we may as well expect. Democrats won’t save us. Republicans certainly won’t save, or even serve us. Consequences, rather than accountability, will ensue.

It's going to be a long, long future, kids. Reverberations from this Great American Tragedy may well outlast us all. 

The Purge Continues

Every Dictator loves it. Every authoritarian craves it. They want power, especially power to purge adversaries. Hitler and Stalin industrialized the purging of opposition and undesirables. 

Over here, and now, it has been more refined. 

Republican demonization of educators, liberals, union workers, and journalism, in effect, purges opposition. Their voter suppression is another example of this principle in action. Authoritarians chanting "Lock her up!" is what this desire to purge sounds like.

And here we are, living with Trump and the Republican Party running our government. 

There's nothing quite like the power to not only eliminate people who oppose you, but to remove anyone who may have an undesired inclination to tell or expose the truth.

In Nixon's dark image, Trump fired FBI Director James Comey. THAT should put an end to this pesky fake news about Russia, right? (Besides, it served him right for not imprisoning Hillary. This was always the burr in the butt of Trumpists and con-servatives.)

Trump's banana Republican act prompts us to remember and paraphrase the classic Doonesbury take on Nixon:

“It would be a disservice to Mr. Trump and his character to prejudge the man, but everything known to date could lead one to conclude he’s guilty.

That’s GUILTY! Guilty, guilty, guilty!"

Acting Attorney General Sally Yates was purged for doing her job, asking questions about Trump's Muslim ban being constitutional. She also had the gall to warn Trump about his crony Flynn being compromised by his dealings with Russia. 

The woman was doing her job. Obviously Yates was the one who had to go.

Now James Comey has been purged. This was to be expected, especially in light of Comey testifying before Congress. You know, doing his job. And worse yet, sworn to tell the truth.

Comey was fired because he wasn't working only for Dear Leader anymore. 

Never mind the fact that Comey gave Trump the best possible October Surprise. That last bit of nothing from an unrelated case tilted enough undecided voters, that even Putin was impressed. Ironically it was Comey's letter that would eventually get Comey purged.

Comey's final treason against Kim Jong Don was working for the American people. He had the nerve to request funding and staffing for the ongoing FBI investigation of Russia's influence on our election and the Trump campaign's collusion with Russians. (Hint: Start with, "Russia, if you're listening..".)

Merely doing one's duty is enough an offense to get one purged in Trumpistan. One pays a price for enraging an authoritarian leader, even for the man who handed him the keys to the White House. 

And what happens next? Trump welcomes Russians with their media into the Oval Office while excluding American journalists. 

Smelling the borscht yet, komrads?

I have to wonder, how soon before law enforcement and government employees are required to swear loyalty oaths?

The Beast

Modern humankind has been put in the difficult position of managing the institutionalized beasts it has created. These beasts have their benefits and their problems. Government is one such beast, one conservatives wish to "drown in the bathtub". Other beasts are the "necessary evils" wielding power over citizens, like a military, or law enforcement. Democracy, with it's justice system, is the only check on their power.

Then there is the beast that is not of the government, and not accountable to the democratic representative process. That beast is capitalism. Or more specifically, the de-regulated, free speech and person-hood endowed, banking and global corporatist "Free Market" capitalism the economic Darwinists employ to gain limitless wealth and power over government.  

It is the essence of that capitalism to take the most while giving the least. That is its ethos. This is why it needs regulation. Capitalism needs regulation just like government, police and the military need the rule of law and a constitution.

Capitalism becomes an all-consuming god if allowed to go unregulated. And far too many Americans revere capitalism over democracy and even freedom itself.

Trump, the vile and vulgar spawn of corporate media and capitalism, is president for several reasons politically. Comey, Russia, Hillary's baggage, etc. 

Missing from every analysis is the American people's reverence for wealth and the wealthy. Mammon is our god, and the rich are our prophets. This is our subliminal and overt programming from corporate media and political indoctrination. Make no mistake. Look at all the millionaire TV preachers who prove this statement.  Look at the cult of celebrity behind famous people. Trump even told us "when you're a celebrity, they let you do that".  

And too many of we the people let him do it.

Capitalism, like the machinery of big business, is amoral. It may offer jobs, but it also has its price and political demands. It inherently serves the elites over all others. It is not democratic. It is not representative. 

The founders understood we need to tax and regulate commerce or it would regulate us. And that is what has happened. 

The founders wanted to discourage an aristocracy. The Party of Trump is eliminating the inheritance tax. They want to gut health care in order to cut taxes for the rich. They want aristocratic rule, and they have it. The vulgarian in the White House and his billionaire cabinet exemplify aristocratic rule.

The actions of Republicans have nothing to do with Christian values. Yes, they cleverly pander to Christians and their churches for votes, but everything else they do elevates the rich and steps on the poor. This is in direct opposition of not only Christian values, but our Constitutional regulation of commerce and provision for the general welfare. It is in opposition to basic human dignity and decency.

The Party of Mammon is devious enough to fuel and exploit resentment of others, to divide and dupe voters on wedge issues. If the serpent of Eden wore a hat it would have read, "Make Eden Great Again" to enhance the appeal of its fruit.

The Reptilian Party of Billionaires with the ethos of "You're on your own" is in power. And they make it clear they don’t want to be their brothers’ keeper. In fact, human beings will suffer the consequences of their kleptocracy and destruction of our constitutional general welfare.

Reptilian Republicans and their Corpo-Dem appeasers serve the Beast of unregulated capitalism. Their Beast has no conscience. Their Beast has no use for democratic institutions. Their Beast has no concern for justice. Their Beast has no objection to fascism and a police state. Their soulless Beast is concerned only for profit.

If the Reptilian Republicans and Corpo-Dems have their way, we shall all serve their unregulated Free Market Beast, instead of having the Constitutionally regulated market serving the people.