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Bill R
Half of Americans see “fascist undertones” in the Donald Trump campaign according to a Huffpost/YouGov poll released this week. I would go further and say that in this election, we are facing a choice for the first time in American history to vote for or against fascism assuming control of the U.S. presidency. Donald Trump is the face of American fascism. I don’t know if those polled know what fascism means, but as a student of political science and history, I know the meaning of the word in its common ideology and how fascist dictatorship has damaged our world historically. The common elements of fascism as an ideology have been these: appeal to authoritarian absolutism, violence as a means of assuming and maintaining power and order and eliminating or intimidating political opponents, racism as a means of scapegoating and targeting ethnic and religious minorities, misogynistic patriarchy as a means of subjugating and dominating the female population.
In the case of Donald Trump they can be found in his behavior and his communications as a political candidate. From the point of joining the “birtherism” movement to the present, he has systematically attacked the legitimacy of the presidency of Barack Obama. He has dismissed the rule of national and international law if it gets in the way of his desire to institute torture or eliminate entire populations of civilians on the battlefield. He has been emphatic in his hatred of Latino immigrants as “rapists and murderers” who deserve only mass deportation. He has targeted all Muslims as enemies of America to be gotten rid of, eliminating any further entry into the U.S. He has called African Americans “lazy” and welcomed the support of overtly racist white supremacist leaders and organization. His central theme is “to make America great again,” suggesting that ethnic and religious minorities have betrayed and undermined America’s standing in the world.
More here
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The Obama Diary 
Thanks, Nerdy! The MSM will try to rehabilitate Trump.
You’re welcome.
Thank you Bill R. I have seen the correlation of what Hitler did with the Nazis and what this behavior did to Italians. I see it happening and feel helpless to stop it.
They need to put his face in the dictionary next to Narcissist.
Great post – thanks Bill R and Nerdy. As soon as the primaries wrap up, I will go back to engaging my Bernie relatives on the subject of Hillary’s vast superiority to Drumpf. No contested convention for Democrats!
Had a great talk with my hairdresser today. Her son wanted and his friends, high school seniors, wanted to go see Bernie, she wanted to know my opinion. She had listened to one of his speeches and asked me how is he going to do what he wants and I told her he wouldn’t unless he had a full congress and that was probably not going to happen. Montana will still go for Bernie in June, we have so many emos here. They don’t think Obama did enough. Not very many here I can discuss politics. So thankful for TOD.
What a great piece, Bill R. We need to flood all media with this message, take nothing for granted. It is our job at this critical time in American history.
Bill R, I can’t thank you enough for this description of Fascism and the brutal impact it has on the lives of citizens. We will be seeing the face of evil in the coming presidential campaign disguised as an orange, overweight, intellectually lazy tv personality. We will have to confront it with all of our skills of outreach and organization. And we will have to remain informed so that we can counter the lies and media propaganda. This is the great challenge ahead of us and we have to enter the fight with everything we have because everything we care about is at stake.
I can honestly say, that Donald Trump is the most crudest, ignorant presidential nominee of my lifetime.
mophene, I agree.
He is disgusting racists sexists thin skin lying birther bully. And so is his supporters.
THIS!!!!!
Wow! Wasn’t expecting this piece to be posted.
🙂
I wanted to point out the threat of Trump fascism, but also wanted to point out that the historical conditions are not there to support a fascist takeover of our country, especially if we all recognize the threat and mobilize to elect Democrats to the presidency and congress.
Yes We Can, Bill!
Important point…Bill…
Tell me what do you think Sanders is up to…what is his mission here….
ans will he face a backlash when this is all over…
I don’t know what Sanders is up to actually. Because he is acting very irrationally. Sanders has no power base outside of the Dem Party, but he’s doing everything possible to undermine and attack the Dem Party right now. I think party leaders are going to give him some payback at the appropriate time.
i hope so like running a strong dem candidate against him in 2018….that is an interesting point…that he has no power base outside of the DEM party…perhaps he thinks he can build one…
Bill, an amazing post. Thank you for sharing your history. These are the stories that need to be told.
Very well done, Bill!!!
#FORWARD Together
ONLY GOD CAN LIFT THIS WORLD FROM THE DITCH IT IS IN..BUT WHEN SO MUCH HATRED,RACISM AND GREED EXISTS..HE JUST MIGHT NOT BOTHER!
Nena, I have to agree with you about the SNL vid you posted on the previous Post. That Leslie had me laughing out loud too.
I hope she has some funny parts in Ghost Busters 🙂
😉
Bill R…FABULOUS:) Thank you for this piece…one for the “share files”….Lovely website, by the way!
Bill, I followed the link over to your site. Your whole article is fascinating. Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us!
Thanks for the kind words, friends.
Excellent! Excellent, Bill!
i hope that the Dem running against Grassley…defeats him…..if we cannot defeat these folks …then they are right not fear the electorate..
Excellent post BillR. I hope you don’t mind my posting this on my FB Page. I will do it through TOD.
Great post Bill R.
what is up with Comely….
i don’t like him….
Isn’t he a Republication that served in the Bush administration???
not sure…but this is one appointment i do not like
Yes he was. He had a reputation for integrity so Pres Obama named him to head FBI.
Sound like he is trying to help out the GOP, his party.
hmmmmm
Loving, Lamenting, Losing, Obama.
As a boy, I’d often be taken aback whenever my father would express his platonic love and appreciation for different men in many ways. He loved Jim Brown. The pro football player, actor, and activist who embodied the ultimate in black manhood and machismo. Sydney Potier held for my father, grace, elegance and uncompromised sophisticated black maleness. Singer Eddie Kendricks, represented fun, independent spirit, and inner-city smoothness. Although he would never use these words, he adored them. It was always strange for me to watch someone so brainy, manly and athletic as my father gush over men. My youthful perception of manhood I’d acquired, taught me to like or appreciate with aloofness other men.
Enter Obama. Now I get it. As black men, we are often conditioned to display a limited range of emotions. Now, I see why my father broke all the rules of displaying openly black male affection and adoration. President Obama broke all the rules of black men for me and in large part the world. He held the grace of Portier. The spiritedness of Kendricks. The power, activism and the manliness of Brown. What he did in this way was nothing new. We grew up with men equally as regal. Obama had the opportunity to put it all on display and modernized it. He emotes. For many grown ass men, this is taboo. He steps around anger, as presidents do, but he will go there as well. And like Jesus, Obama wept. It’s oxymoronic to say, but he’s no punk about his emotions. Perform a random Google search for images of our President. You’re walloped with a vast display of emotion, character, and personality. His sincerity towards us makes him easy to love. And will make him easy to miss. we’ve lived through our own Camelot. A shining, rich, Black Camelot. And era replete with an iconic queen and not one, but two darling princesses. Now my son spies my gush.
Beautifully put! Thank you for your descriptive words.
Wow rikyrah- what a beautiful commentary!
❤
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
“a shining, rich Black Camelot” indeed but much more real than the JFK one.
Excellent Post. Thank you for sharing your thoughts. Wow!
perhaps this is what Sanders has wanted all along…
This sounds like Ron Paul crap. I am sure a lot of his supporters are former Ron Paul supporters.
Another way of Keeping “Some Power” & the continued efforts to kill the $$ rolling in. His Wife, Jane is a Paid Sr. Advisor & so too are the 2 Overly Paid Campaign Operatives, Weaver(sp) getting in the Tune of $800K+ a Month. The longer this Ca$h Fleecing goes on, the More $$ they make.
uh huh
uh huh
Lobbyists: NC Lawmakers turn up pressure to quiet HB2 opponents
Posted 6:00 p.m. today
RALEIGH, N.C. — While Republican state leaders have complained about being “bullied” by the federal government over House Bill 2, lobbyists in Raleigh tell WRAL News they and the businesses they represent are being bullied by state lawmakers seeking to silence business opposition to the new law.
Lobbyists say they’ve been told – either directly by legislative leaders or by lawmakers’ staff – that, if they or the businesses they represent speak out publicly against House Bill 2, they can expect retribution from House and Senate leaders.
Legislation they want won’t move, and other bills could actually target them.
WRAL News spoke with 11 lobbyists who have experienced or are aware of such actions, but none would speak on the record for fear they would lose business or be targeted for retribution. One has already lost business.
One long-time lobbyist called the pressure a “gross abuse of power.” Another veteran lobbyist labeled it “vicious,” adding, “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Commentary: Handicapping Saudi Arabia’s audacious plan to save itself
…………………..
When Saudi Arabia’s King Salman replaced his oil minister and reshuffled his cabinet on Saturday, he did so with the goal of executing an audacious plan to transform the country’s economy. “Saudi Vision 2030,” the brainchild of Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, seeks to end the Kingdom’s oil addiction and improve government transparency and
efficiency.
Highlights of the plan include listing 5 percent of Saudi ARAMCO on the Saudi stock exchange and internationally in New York, London and Hong Kong; reducing unemployment from 11 percent to 7 percent; increasing the role of women in the work force; privatizing huge swaths of Saudi Arabia’s economy so as to increase the private sector’s share of GDP; and creating a military industrial holding company that will supply half of Saudi Arabia’s weapons, thereby reducing the government’s yearly defense spending.
If even half of these milestones are achieved, it will be the Saudi equivalent of the moon landing.
People forget..
Harry used to feed himself through boxing…
he ain’t scurrred…
BWAHA HA HA HA HA HA H AH HA
……………………………………..
Rep. Alan Grayson angrily confronted Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid on Wednesday, disrupting a meeting of the Congressional Progressive Caucus in front of dozens of staffers and members of Congress.
Grayson (D-Fla.), who Reid vehemently opposes in his bid for the open Florida Senate seat, arrived at the meeting with Reid’s February statement in hand, according to two sources in the room. In that statement, Reid said Grayson has “no moral compass” and “used his status as a congressman to unethically promote his Cayman Islands hedge funds.”
As each member took a turn to speak to Reid, it was Grayson’s turn. He asked Reid if the Nevada senator knows who he is. After Reid answered in the affirmative, Grayson went on the attack.
“Say my name, senator. Say my name,” Grayson told Reid as Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) tried to shut the confrontation down. Ellison chided Grayson, asking him what he was doing and why he was distracting from the meeting’s goals.
Grayson responded by angrily waving a printout of Reid’s searing February quote that called on Grayson to drop out of the primary race against Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-Fla.).
“Why’d you say that?” Grayson said, insisting Reid’s statement was false.
Reid calmly faced his inquisitor: “I want you to lose. It’s true.”
Political Animal – May 11, 2016 5:00 PM
Quick Takes …. By Nancy LeTourneau
// ……………………………..
* The Civil Rights Division at the Department of Justice has been busy lately. Not only have they filed a federal law suit against North Carolina’s discriminatory HB2 law, today they announced this:
“Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta, head of the Civil Rights Division, and U. S. Attorney Bill Nettles of the District of South Carolina announced today that a federal grand jury returned a three-count indictment charging former North Charleston, South Carolina, Police Department (NCPD) Officer Michael Slager with federal offenses related to his fatal shooting of Walter Scott on April 4, 2015. The indictment includes charges for a federal civil rights offense, using a firearm during the commission of the civil rights offense and obstruction of justice.”
A quick reminder: this is the Division that was gutted and politicized during the Bush/Cheney administration. Elections matter!
…………………………. //
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal-a/2016_05/quick_takes_112060535.php
I saw this earlier, vc….and thought it was an excellent reminder that this was the very portion of the DOJ that Bush/Cheney wanted to get rid of..because OF COURSE THEY DID!! Such great work they’ve been doing….Good government, hard at work for the citizens. Thanks for bringing it here…
Hi Desertf. Thank you for reminding me earlier this week that Nancy posts mostly in her new venue and is rarely at her old haunt. I still tended to drop by there, then wander away when I didn’t find much that was new.
I hear you! I did the same thing:) As long as we know where to find her wisdom, I don’t care WHERE it is:)
NOW: Bernie Sanders holds Montana rally – http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc2/watch/live-sanders-holds-montana-rally-684019267723
This one is in Billings,MT
A chuckle moment 🙂 :
She is upset and for what we don’t know…
lol, she’s adorable and hilarious 🙂 and her mom is pretty special too 🙂
It’s looks like she’s using the Techniques she picked up from the grown folks around her & in her small but mighty fashion, filibustering to get her Win;). This had me in stitches. Thanks! 😆 🙄 😆
Good evening, TOD!
Thank you, Nerdy, for highlighting bill R’s excellent essay.
🙂
Thanks a gazillion for the outstanding post, Nerdy!
🙂
Nerdy and Bill – Thanks so much for this interesting post – tried to finish it but I’m way too sleepy! I’ll try again tomorrow.
Spent the afternoon and early evening at the hospital with my son – he is doing great and looks great. Has the entire medical team eating out of his hand, as usual – there was a waiting list for private rooms in the thoracic wing, and he was moved to the top of the list and situated in one before I left. (What a racket he’s got going with the good-natured charm – he should bottle that stuff.) Still doing the pain management thing because of the muscles and removed ribs involved, but he’s walking the corridors four times a day (I took the third walk with him!), is eating well, and said “It just feels like any other day,” with a big grin on his face. Now, that last part is mostly because of his condition since last June, but what he meant was that he almost can’t believe himself that he had such a significant operation on Monday! Thank you, God, for being in his corner!!! Thank you, TOD, for keeping up the good thoughts for him.
Goodnight. Hope everybody sleeps as well tonight as I plan to!
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How wonderful! Hugs and prayers for both of you… ❤
JO’ your son sounds like a sweety pie blessed with good nature and fun! Wishing you both a good sleep tonight – or as near as you can get in a hospital. They’ll be checking up on him so that’s good. Goo’night.
Such great news jackie! So happy for you both!
Thank you, Bill R, for an excellent, educational and thought-provoking piece of history. They can’t change the facts. I am honored to have shared this, urging friends and family to read it carefully. Goodnight TOD, big hugs all around.
Fascinating, Bill. Beautiful piece of work. I keep reading parts of it over again. Have in-laws from Italy and would like to share it with them.
Thank you.
Hi Everyone! Just popping in to share some news. My idol will be this years Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient from the Saturn Awards on June 16.
Wooot! [Much deserved and long over due!] 👏🏾👏🏾😍
Correction: The ceremony is on June 22, which is even better ‘cuz I’ll be be back home from our TOD meet-up in DC and able to watch it! Squeeeee! 😜
G’night!
Morning!
https://theobamadiary.com/2016/05/12/early-bird-chat-744/
Wow! Wow! Wow!
Bill R…..Thanks You!
This is one Brilliant Post.
Thank You, Bill R!