Excerpts from an op-ed in the New York Times:
Yet when Mr. Trump posted on Monday a video on his Truth Social account that featured mock headlines about his re-election in 2024, including one that predicted that “what’s next for America” was the “creation of a unified reich,” it was a shock of a different order, a suggestion that our country was on a glide path toward Nazi Germany in a second Trump term.The Associated Press reported that the references in the video “appear to be a reference to the formation of the modern Pan-German nation, unifying smaller states into a single reich, or empire, in 1871.” A Trump campaign representative claimed that the video was posted by a campaign staff member while the candidate was in court. That underscores the bigger problem in the Republican Party today, one that goes far beyond Mr. Trump: a generation of young Republican staff members appears to be developing terminal white nationalist brain. And they will staff the next Republican administration...Contemporary far-right activists like Mr. Fuentes clearly see Mr. Trump’s campaign as another opportunity to build power and influence. And unlike in decades past — where the far right was an important part of the right-wing popular front but did not exert hegemonic control — MAGAism is today the dominant strain in conservative politics...If elected, Mr. Trump has promised to not govern as a dictator “except for Day 1” of his administration and to “root out the communists, Marxists, fascists and the radical-left thugs.” These are not empty words; the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 proposals are a road map to use executive authority to purge the federal government and replace current civil servants with conservative loyalists.The likeliest candidates for those positions are campaign staff members and other activists. A unified reich in America may still be just a fantasy, but those fantasists could soon be in positions of real power.
"The Real Meaning of Trump’s ‘Unified Reich’ Post"
ReplyDelete"The video the former president reposted on Truth Social yesterday isn’t what people are making it out to be."
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/05/trump-unified-reich-truth-social/678443/
It is unbelievable for anyone with a modicum of intelligence, that such a blowhard narcissist could have so much support as to be elected as president of what we consider the most powerful country.
ReplyDeleteBut then the reality is that he was.
And may be again.
And while I'm far from ageist, I have to point out that the two contenders are old and well past their cognitive prime, the colourful one perhaps since birth.
I say this because the people of America seem oblivious to the charade being performed, with both Joe and Blow both causing mirth aplenty to the people, and statesmen and women, of the world outside America.
Surely amongst your 370 ish million people you all could select someone intelligent, urbane and hopefully not skating quickly to their own mental sunset.
My mum and I cried when J.F. Kennedy died, and we were not Americans and we were oceans and lands away.
These days your most recent leaders are fodder for memes and jokes.
The focus in the job application questionnaire being used by Project 2025 is on political opinions, not qualifications, which tells me all I need to know about the authoritarian theocracy angle in play. I'm frankly terrified by the possibility of tfg winning again, he and his acolytes have been frank about their intentions.
ReplyDeleteThere is nothing clandestine about the Republican plan for America. What is most terrifying is that huge numbers of people are buying into it. I’m Canadian and I see many of my countrymen goose stepping to the same twisted tune our right wing party is spouting.
ReplyDeleteChange the words Trump to Biden, Republican to Democrat, and conservative to Liberal, and it equally applies in the general sense that neither party nor candidate has anything but extremists pushing them on, ignoring the middle of the road types that would get elected instead, if they the country was offered 2 different candidates instead of Biden and Trump, who equally fill all appointment positions with the worst of the extremists, all to gain more support from their party and their voters. Instead of a honest, intelligent, patriot who was only going to run for civic duty and to prevent the extremists from staying in for another term (applies to both Trump and Biden) all we are offered by the two party system are millionaires and billionaires, corrupt, out to get richer, and make their campaign donors richer.
ReplyDeleteWho was the last honest President, not there for personal gain, not there because they had an ego, or were nepo babies, etc etc? Ike? Truman? Teddy Roosevelt? Ford? Carter?
It's not the mass majority of the population of voters selecting the extremist Presidential candidates.
It's not the popular vote that elects the president.
The system has become corrupt, and only the corrupt will get elected.
Notice, Condoleezza Rice wouldn't run for president, neither would Schwarzkopf, or Powell. Any one of them would probably have been a good president.
Blue collar workers can't run for office, it's all about who can raise the most money to even get nominated. That results in only lifetime politicians, like Biden, Clinton, Obama, or extremely rich like Trump. Ford was as default, Nixon was a crook, Clinton was a crook, Kennedy was a nepo baby, and I don't know how Carter got the job, but he was the worst in office, and the best out of office. We can't even get unbiased bloggers, how do you figure we will ever get unbiased politicians?
Jesse, it would be hard to argue with you - and I won't (others may). I agree the system has been corrupted by money. IMO the last honest candidate I remember was Bernie Sanders - which is why he was doomed. (And I think Dolly Parton would be ok - but that will never happen)
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