Pillars of Con-servatism

Let's take a moment to lift the veil of virtue and values shrouding the core of American con-servatism found in the Republican Party. 

Trumpism thrives in the fertile ground of the reactionary/authoritarian/greed mindset of the Republican Party. The trajectory of this ideology is seen through the arc spanning Hoover, McCarthyism, Nixon, Reagan, the Bush/Cheney Cartel and ultimately Trump. Maximizing personal power and wealth for the economic elites has been their real goal all along.

FDR was called a "traitor to his class" for his concern for the welfare of the common folk.  Anything that doesn't support a trickle-up economy is demonized as socialism/communism. Not that they care to know the difference. Never mind our Constitution is loaded with socialistic principles like taxes, regulation of commerce, and the dreaded "provision for the general welfare”.

Taxes, regulation, and welfare! Oh, my! The founders were communists!

Everything the Right hates most is in our founding document, except the electoral college, of course. Where would they be without racism, resentment, bigotry, ignorance, and indifference? These have become their tools to seize the levers of power. 

This is why Trump said, "I love the poorly educated". This is why voter rights, fair representation, and education are always their primary targets. As the saying goes, they need to fuel a culture war to ward off a class war.

Divide and conquer, with a sprinkling of deep reverence for wealth and the wealthy,

By stoking fear, anger and resentments, they've been successful at building conformity, loyalty and groupthink into a neo-fascist agenda.

And so, we have the three primary pillars of con-servatism.

1. Racism/bigotry for the most ignorant bottom feeders wallowing in the white fright and resentments of white nationalism..

2. Authoritarianism for the fascists, paranoid militia gun nuts, and religious fanatics who are not fully embedded in, but tolerant, or dismissive, of racism and bigotry. This is all presented in the guise of "liberty and faith". Yes, American fascism comes carrying a Bible and wrapped in the flag.

3. Insatiable greed and lust for power by rigging government, law, and the economy to favor the economic elites.

And there it is, the unwritten and unspoken platform of the radical Right.

Bigotry, authoritarianism, and greed.

Mar-a-Lago Indictment

 

At last Trump has been indicted in the Mar-a-Lago documents case.

This is good. Not charging him would tell the world Trump is above the law, and shatter any pretense we are a nation of laws, not men.

There are 38 counts against him and his co-conspirator, personal aide Walt Nauta.

COUNTS 1-31

Willful Retention of National Defense Information

18 U.S.C. 793(e)

Destruction, alteration, or falsification of records in Federal investigations and bankruptcy

18 U.S.C. § 1519

COUNT 32

Conspiracy to Obstruct Justice

18U.S.C. § 1512(k)

18 U.S.C. § 1512 (b)

18 U.S.C. § 1512(c)

COUNT 37

False Statements and Representations

18 U.S.C. §§ 1001(a)

COUNT 38

False Statements and Representations

18 U.S.C.§ 1001(a)

I’m disappointed by the one charge not included in the indictment. It was the one crime that would have mandated Trump could never hold office again.

18 U.S. Code § 2071 - Concealment, removal, or mutilation generally

(a)

Whoever willfully and unlawfully conceals, removes, mutilates, obliterates, or destroys, or attempts to do so, or, with intent to do so takes and carries away any record, proceeding, map, book, paper, document, or other thing, filed or deposited with any clerk or officer of any court of the United States, or in any public office, or with any judicial or public officer of the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.

(b)

Whoever, having the custody of any such record, proceeding, map, book, document, paper, or other thing, willfully and unlawfully conceals, removes, mutilates, obliterates, falsifies, or destroys the same, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both; and shall forfeit his office and be disqualified from holding any office under the United States.

 

My theory on why this charge isn’t included is the penalty would apply to an election. Supposedly the FBI is loath to “interfere” in elections, right, James Comey?

Merrick Garland’s Memo on “Election Year Sensitivities” may have had an influence on the decision. I don’t think it should have, but maybe that was part of the reasoning.

STATEMENTS, INVESTIGATIONS, AND CHARGING NEAR AN ELECTION

The Department of Justice has a strong interest in the prosecution of election-related crimes, such as those involving federal and state campaign finance laws, federal patronage laws, and corruption of the election process. As Department employees, however, we must be particularly sensitive to safeguarding the Department's reputation for fairness, neutrality, and non-partisanship.

Simply put, partisan politics must play no role in the decisions of federal investigators or prosecutors regarding any investigations or criminal charges. Law enforcement officers and prosecutors may never select the timing of public statements (attributed or not), investigative steps, criminal charges, or any other action in any matter or case for the purpose of affecting any election, or for the purpose of giving an advantage or disadvantage to any candidate or political party. Such a purpose, or the appearance of such a purpose, is inconsistent with the Department's mission and with the Principles of Federal Prosecution.

 

We know Trump and the radical Right will howl about “election interference” no matter what, anyway.

But that’s not the worst response in their radical reactionary hysteria.

We already have Republican insurrectionist traitors beating the drums for civil war. They are emulating Trump, when he told his white nationalist "Proud Boys" thugs to "stand back and stand by".

“President Trump said he has "been summoned to appear at the Federal Courthouse in Miami on Tuesday, at 3 PM." This is a perimeter probe from the oppressors. Hold. rPOTUS has this. Buckle up. 1/50K know your bridges. Rock steady calm. That is all.” ~ Rep. Clay Higgins

“We have now reached a war phase. Eye for an eye.” - Rep. Andy Biggs

The DOJ should take these threats seriously.

Mary Trump recently warned us.

There is nothing he won’t do to get away with his crimes. He will turn his followers against the rest of us, he will threaten to destroy the Republican Party if it doesn’t do his bidding (and it will do his bidding). If none of that works, he will burn it all down.

It will get worse before it gets better. It will be frightening, it will be frustrating, and it will be dangerous. But it will get better eventually. If we stick together and refuse to give up hope, it will get better.

The time to take a stand for our Constitution, rule of law, and our democracy is at hand. All Americans of conscience need to unite against the enemies within. We can, and must, vote them all out.

Another D-Day

 

Trump’s lawyers’ meeting with Special Prosecutor Jack Smith didn’t pan out as he’d hoped. After complaining about an unfair process and mistreatment of Trump, they were advised by Smith’s team to file a complaint with the Inspector General’s office next door. Obviously, they had nothing legally improper to complain about, so they just left the building.

Trump’s panicked reaction was what a criminal authoritarian narcissist right out of “Central Casting” would say, to borrow one of his favorite phrases.

Reports are the Marxist Special Prosecutor, DOJ, & FBI, want to Indict me on the BOXES HOAX, despite all of the wrongdoing that they have done for SEVEN YEARS, including SPYING ON MY CAMPAIGN. Biden Crimes go unpunished, including that he had Boxes in Chinatown, in his garage by the 'Corvette,' & 1,850 Boxes in Delaware that he won't allow anyone to see. That is real OBSTRUCTION! They seek retribution for Republicans looking into Biden's CRIMES! I HAVE DONE NOTHING WRONG. ELECTION INTERFERENCE!"

Trump whined on his absurdly named “Truth Social” about a “Marxist Special Prosecutor, DOJ & FBI” wanting to indict him on the “BOXES HOAX”, and that the FBI spied on his campaign, repeating another old debunked claim.

True to the old Nazi playbook, he played all the usual cards, including the “commie card”, the “victim card”, and the wildly false “accusation card”. This is just his latest in a long string of lies that also adhere to the Nazi line he projected on July 3, 2021,  “If you say it enough and keep saying it, just keep saying it, they’ll start to believe you.”

Right, except when you say it to federal law enforcement.

His crazed wild-eyed tirade about “Biden Crimes” going unpunished is also pure projection, of course. He couldn’t cite any crime that he hadn’t already committed. So he piled on more projection about ”OBSTRUCTION”, “retribution” and lastly, “ELECTION INTERFERENCE!”

Hmm. I dare say the Tangerine Tyrant is “going through some things”.

And no matter what he says, Biden isn’t going through those things. Trump will howl about Biden and Pence being as guilty as he is, but there’s a wee difference in their cases concerning government documents. 

They complied with the law and returned them without being asked. Trump refused to return them after being asked.  He proceeded to obstruct efforts to have them returned by having them moved just before the FBI came to get them. He was reported to have waved secret war plans on Iran at his country club. That’s a big no-no.

Trump remains the “only one” to have done this, despite his desperate lie, “I HAVE DONE NOTHING WRONG”.

Now he’s about to face real felony charges.

Here’s a partial list of the crimes Trump committed that Biden and Pence did NOT commit:

 

18 U.S. Code § 2071 - Concealment, removal, or mutilation generally

(a)

Whoever willfully and unlawfully conceals, removes, mutilates, obliterates, or destroys, or attempts to do so, or, with intent to do so takes and carries away any record, proceeding, map, book, paper, document, or other thing, filed or deposited with any clerk or officer of any court of the United States, or in any public office, or with any judicial or public officer of the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.

(b)

Whoever, having the custody of any such record, proceeding, map, book, document, paper, or other thing, willfully and unlawfully conceals, removes, mutilates, obliterates, falsifies, or destroys the same, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both; and shall forfeit his office and be disqualified from holding any office under the United States.

 

18 USC 793 — Gathering, transmitting or losing defence information

(f)

Whoever, being entrusted with or having lawful possession or control of any document, writing, code book, signal book, sketch, photograph, photographic negative, blueprint, plan, map, model, instrument, appliance, note, or information, relating to the national defense, (1) through gross negligence permits the same to be removed from its proper place of custody or delivered to anyone in violation of his trust, or to be lost, stolen, abstracted, or destroyed, or (2) having knowledge that the same has been illegally removed from its proper place of custody or delivered to anyone in violation of its trust, or lost, or stolen, abstracted, or destroyed, and fails to make prompt report of such loss, theft, abstraction, or destruction to his superior officer—

Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both.

 

18 U.S. Code § 1519 - Destruction, alteration, or falsification of records in Federal investigations and bankruptcy

 

Whoever knowingly alters, destroys, mutilates, conceals, covers up, falsifies, or makes a false entry in any record, document, or tangible object with the intent to impede, obstruct, or influence the investigation or proper administration of any matter within the jurisdiction of any department or agency of the United States or any case filed under title 11, or in relation to or contemplation of any such matter or case, shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both.

 

18 U.S. Code § 1924 Unauthorized removal and retention of classified documents or material... shall be fined under this title or imprisoned for not more than five years, or both.

18 U.S. Code § 1001 - Statements or entries generally

(a)Except as otherwise provided in this section, whoever, in any matter within the jurisdiction of the executive, legislative, or judicial branch of the Government of the United States, knowingly and willfully—

(1)

falsifies, conceals, or covers up by any trick, scheme, or device a material fact;

(2)

makes any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation; or

(3)

makes or uses any false writing or document knowing the same to contain any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or entry;

shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 5 years or, if the offense involves international or domestic terrorism (as defined in section 2331), imprisoned not more than 8 years, or both. If the matter relates to an offense under chapter 109A, 109B, 110, or 117, or section 1591, then the term of imprisonment imposed under this section shall be not more than 8 years.

 

So here we are, on the 79th anniversary of the D-Day invasion of Nazi-occupied Europe. Within a year, Hitler would be dead, and his Third Reich destroyed.

But tragically, fascism, racism, and Nazis would survive. We are now in a strikingly similar time of criminal authoritarian leaders, with the rising racism and white nationalism that infected 1930’s Germany.

We survived Trump’s Putsch of January sixth, but his threat remains.

The lesson we must learn should be clear by now. The struggle against fascism never ends. It is time for democracy’s 21st Century D-Day, as the Orange Fuhrer glowers in a seething rage from his bunker.