History Repeating Itself!
Many Americans died in World War 2 to help the Allies save democracy! Yet today, millions in the USA are willing to follow a dictator of their own making into the abyss because they too have been brain-washed by another would-be Führer. The Republican Party, which is the neo-Nazi party of today, is using the same tactics employed by Hitler and his cohorts when they set out to fool the German people into believing that their intentions were good. History has taught us that the Nazis were an evil cult that brought devastation and death to countless millions, foes, and fellow countrymen and women alike. “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it!" (George Santayana-1905).
Fox News, Trump's mouthpiece, has become the equivalent of Joseph Goebbels’ Ministry of Propaganda which has driven Trump’s narrative for one reason only; to make a fortune in doing so! Rupert Murdoch is just another Goebbels who will rot alongside his meal-ticket, Trump, in Hell if there is any justice in the life hereafter.
“What is Propaganda? It’s information that is intended to persuade an audience to accept a particular idea or cause, often by using biased material or by stirring up emotions—was one of the most powerful tools the Nazis used to consolidate their power and cultivate an “Aryan national community” in the mid-1930s.
Hitler and Goebbels did not invent propaganda. The word itself was coined by the Catholic Church to describe its efforts to discredit Protestant teachings in the 1600s. Over the years, almost every nation has used propaganda to unite its people in wartime. All sides in World War 2 for example. But the Nazis were notable for making propaganda a key element of government even before Germany went to war again. One of Hitler’s first acts as chancellor was to establish the Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda, demonstrating his belief that controlling information was as important as controlling the military and the economy. He appointed Joseph Goebbels as director. Through the ministry, Goebbels was able to penetrate virtually every form of German media, from newspapers, film, radio, posters, and rallies to museum exhibits and school textbooks, with Nazi propaganda.
Whether or not propaganda was truthful or tasteful was irrelevant to the Nazis. Goebbels wrote in his diary, "No one can say your propaganda is too rough, too mean; these are not criteria by which it may be characterized. It ought not to be decent nor ought it be gentle or soft or humble; it ought to lead to success." Hitler wrote in?‘Mein Kampf’?that to achieve its purpose, propaganda must "be limited to a very few points and must harp on these in slogans until the last member of the public understands what you want him to understand by your slogan. As soon as you sacrifice this slogan and try to be many-sided, the effect will piddle away." [Teaching Holocaust and Human Behavior]
Does all this feel familiar where Trump is concerned? What is it with these people that follow Trump? He has exhibited by his rhetoric and actions every conceivable human character failing that a person can have, and yet his followers think he’s wonderful! Millions of people in the past thought Adolf Hitler was God Almighty We all know how that turned out for the German people and the rest of the world!
Listening to the rantings of the many crazies in the Republican Party as they prattle on about things that the sane among us know to be blatantly false, one can't help but wonder if the followers of that Party are suitable cases for treatment. I'm not referring to the Republican members of Congress or those in the Senate who are preaching nonsense simply to further their own ends. Rather, I'm referring to the rank-and-file members who seem to really believe everything that comes out of Donald Trump's mouth even though we, the clear-headed ones, know that he is an inveterate liar. Common sense alone should surely tell anyone in their right mind that Trump is a charlatan.
There are numerous cases in world history where people have been swayed in their thinking by disingenuous individuals. Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Manson, Jim Jones, and David Koresh to name just a few. These maniacs all have one thing in common. They are cult figures that profess to be all-knowing and Trump is no exception.
Here's a checklist established by the International Case Studies Association that outlines the characteristics of a cult. I've used the male gender but this could, of course, equally apply to females where leaders are concerned as well.
The Leaders of cults do the following:
It’s Trump's modus operandi to a tee! He's done it all his life to get what he wants. He's therefore the master of this strategy if nothing else. He has advocated and employed every dirty trick in the book to undermine democracy and has then turned around and accused the Democrats of doing exactly the same thing. His hypocrisy knows no bounds.
Teri Buford O’Shea, a survivor of the Jonestown massacre, stated the following
“He, Jim Jones, was very charismatic and attracted people who were feeling vulnerable or disenfranchised for whatever reason. Most of them were African American, but there were also white people, Jewish people, and people of Mexican descent. There were religious Christians and communists. If you wanted religion, Jim Jones could give it to you. If you wanted socialism, he could give it to you. If you were looking for a father figure, he’d be your father. He always homed in on what you needed and managed to bring you in emotionally.
I believe that many of Trump's followers are caught up in the Jonestown syndrome. That's the only thing that computes. That's the only thing that makes any sense to those of us that are standing around scratching our heads at people that seem to lack any common sense whatsoever.
It is self-evident to those among us that can see through Trump's chicanery that his brand, namely 'Trumpism', has been developed by him into a movement as dangerous as Nazism in the thirties, and we all know where that ended up.
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It's high time that Americans did some soul searching. Let’s be honest! America’s “...land of the free and the home of the brave” was always a myth. The USA in the South is still the land of the oppressed and it is now even more so because it is infested by Republican trolls. Democrats are worried that Democracy itself is at stake, but the truth of it is that the USA has never been a democratic country from its inception. The word ‘democracy' means “… rule by the people” In America it has always meant “…rule by the people as long as they are WHITE!” The only way colored people can get ahead in America is for them to excel in sports, acting, or some other endeavor that places them before the public eye. Otherwise, they are treated as second-class citizens. The treatment of colored men in certain US states in the South is horrendous and is a reflection of the white population's attitudes to black people in general. Even heroes of color that return from overseas tours, past and present are treated as second-class citizens. What type of equality is that?
To my mind, the South never got over losing the Civil War. Perhaps someone should remind them that it's over and they were soundly thrashed. The North, for its part, has always been afraid to hurt the sensitivities of their former foes. Consequently, the North’s victory was a pyrrhic one because nothing was really achieved. Bigotry, racism, ignorance, and white supremacy still permeate Confederate thinking minds like a canker that can only be disgorged by a dose of sound reasoning or early death because they refused to be vaccinated.
The word “Confederate’ is an apt name by the way because one of its meanings is “a person one works with, especially in something secret or illegal; an accomplice.” Trump has certainly proven to be that and more. To any sane-minded person, he is a total abomination; a nut-job that Adolf Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini, Pol Pot, and the like would gladly welcome into their Despot Club.?
If Trump has his way, the USA will become an autocracy with a dangerous clown at its head. He is playing a monstrous tune and the lemmings he controls are mindlessly following in his wake until they all go over a cliff together. He's already killed many of them with his Covid lies. As for his 'Stop the Steal!' nonsense, he's the one that has been trying to steal the election even before the election actually took place. He won't stop now until he has taken down his followers too. That's all right with me though! If they want to destroy themselves by so doing, all I can say is, "Good luck!! Rest in Peace!" Maybe then, the rest of the world can get some rest too from all their foolishness!
What amazes me and countless others, I have no doubt, is that Trump’s moral turpitude is there for all to see. Trump's wickedness is in our face, yet he is able to gather millions of followers to his cause. It just doesn't make any sense unless we are prepared to look back at similar events in American history, be they on a smaller scale. Jim Jones, a like-minded fruitcake, convinced his followers to commit suicide en masse. Trump has done the same by convincing them that vaccinating themselves against Covid is a bad thing. Now he's getting shouted down by his followers for changing his tune. ?
At least Jim Jones was man enough to follow through and do himself in whereas Trump got vaccinated in secret. That's how committed he was! But then Trump always backs away when the going gets tough. Didn’t he also tell his followers he would march to the capital with them, and then went somewhere else, where he sat watching it all unfold on television? Shades of Nero fiddling while Rome burned! "I'm all right, Jack!" is his mantra. Why should he care if some of his followers spend time in prison? As long as he doesn't is all that matters.
What a man he is to be sure!" my Irish mother would have remarked. "Sneaking home whilst others are off doing his dirty work!"
Fortunately, I believe that the majority of Americans are still in touch with reality. I am confident that they will rid themselves of Donald Trump and his Republican brownnosers at the next election, paving the way for reason to return to politics in America by re-electing an administration that is focused on serving others rather than serving itself. Joe Biden is an honorable man, striving to do his best with what he inherited from a madman. He is trying to pick up the pieces of what Donald Trump has blown apart in an effort to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN. Contrast this with Trump's idea of what MAGA represents - Maniac, Anarchist, Gerrymanderer, Amoralist
Believe me, history will not be kind to those that have aided and abetted Donald Trump in his tenure as President of the United States. Nor will the Law for that matter. Be that as it may, what this “near run thing” should demonstrate to the American people above all else is that their political and justice systems are broken. Both systems need a complete overhaul to ensure that this calamitous situation never arises again.
The systems that currently exist within American Politics and the American justice system in general, I suspect, are in need of a major overhaul. Trump's ability to repeatedly use the legal system for his own purposes and then snub his nose at the Law when he chooses to pervert it, should be a wake-up call that something is dreadfully wrong with the checks and balances of that system alone.
The political system in America is underpinned by dark money. Many politicians sell their constituents short by accepting donations from donors with hidden agendas. Gun manufacturers, drug companies, and the like. Joe Manchin's stymying of the BBB bill is a classic example of a man that has sold out! How can any political system operate on behalf of the people when it is being undermined from within in such a way? That's what makes Donald Trump's, "We must drain the swamp in Washington!' classic remark so laughable. He's been the biggest grifter of all by far!
If the Democratic Party fails in the primaries and Joe Biden is neutralized by the Republicans, don't blame them or Joe Biden for this happening. Rather, the blame lies with the American people who will have given the Republicans the opportunity to do so. If the voters can't see just how far the Republican Party has sunk in its depravity, then they deserve nothing better. "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country." JFK. Get out there and vote the Republican's Trump sycophants and would-bes out of Office permanently! The good ones can stay even though they are few and far between. People like Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger don't come along every day so America needs to hang on to them,
The political system aside because it's just a joke in its present form, what amazes onlookers like me, that are looking in from overseas, is the inertia that presently exists within the Justice Department itself. Merrick Garland has been serving as the?United States Attorney General?since March 2021. Why haven’t those within the Justice Department who collaborated with Trump when he was in Office been investigated? Bill Barr is just one case in point. Why hasn’t Donald Trump and his cronies been charged with anything yet? Did Mickey Mouse enact the laws in play today in America so enabling a corrupt system where power and money override equity and justice? Consequently, the will of the American people has taken a backseat to self-interest and self-aggrandizement.
There is an abundance of evidence out there already relating to Trump's nefarious activities, both while he was in office and afterward. Yet Garland seems impervious to it all. It makes one wonder whether the man is up to the job? Maybe Glenn Kirschner should have got this job? At least, he has the balls for it, so I am told!
Believe me, the situation in America today is not only frustrating for those that live there but also those looking in from across the oceans. I never thought in my lifetime that I would see the America of old turning into a fascist regime but it sure looks like it is going that way from where I am.
Are any alarm bells ringing yet? If America should keep on this path, then all hope is lost for the rest of us around the world as well! Wake up America. Put Trump in Jail before it is too late! Better still, hang the man for high treason because he deserves nothing less.