* * *
 |
| Roy Cohn (who later advised Donald Trum) and Joe McCarthy |
Historically, such tactics were practiced by the late Senator Joseph McCarthy in the 1950s, and led to his exposure as an unrepentant liar when he bit off more than he could chew in attacking the U.S. Army with his anti-communist slurs. His counsel in his attacks was lawyer Roy Cohn who later provided the same skills to Donald Trump in teaching him how to lie and cheat. McCarthy and Cohn are long dead (rumored to be caused, respectively, by alcoholism and AIDS) but Trump is still around, refusing to testify in court on his own behalf where truth prevails. Donald calls his present website ‘Truth Social’ but please, don’t look for any truth there.
The former president, between court appearances, is running for president again, on the ticket of the once but no longer respectable, Republican Party whose label he has tacked on to what is now actually the Trumpublican Party. Remaining traditional Republicans, needing the votes of Trump’s MAGA supporters to stay in office, hold their noses and fall in line, before retreating to the bathroom to vomit.
These are the same Republicans who cannot even get their lies straight. Initially some lied by blaming the January 6 insurrection on Antifa. Then, recognizing that lie wasn’t being bought, they briefly condemned the rioters. But not for long. Their current lying has morphed into describing the rioters as constitutionally-protected heroes and those already sentenced by the courts for their lawbreaking as ‘hostages’ rather than the criminals they are ... and have been convicted by courts as being.
BUT THE NOVEMBER ELECTION IS ABOUT MUCH MORE THAN TRUTH VERSUS LIES AND DEMOCRATS VERSUS REPUBLICANS. It is about the future of democracy in the United States. The upcoming election offers an opportunity to those who feel a more autocratic, if not dictatorial, government would be better for the country and are trying to ditch our present representative democracy in favor of one.
That is worth repeating: THE NOVEMBER ELECTION IS ABOUT MUCH MORE THAN TRUTH VERSUS LIES AND DEMOCRATS VERSUS REPUBLICANS. It is about the future of democracy in the United States. The upcoming election offers an opportunity to those who feel a more autocratic, if not dictatorial, government would be better for the country and are trying to ditch our present representative democracy in favor of one.
There's no formal conspiracy to do that but their actions make their intentions clear. Those involved include most of the Republican leadership in both legislative houses and in many state governments along with at least two Supreme Court Justices. They are out to ditch representative democracy in the United States.
It's no secret to those with their eyes open that the January 6 attack on the Capitol to stop the electoral vote count, the threats to kill the Vice President and the House Speaker, the ennobling of that day’s insurrectionists in the eyes of the Republican Party, the legitimatization of the denial of the results of the election, and the Nazi-like allusions to ‘racial poisoning’ and detention camps for immigrants all echo the tactics of the Axis powers that we fought in the Second World War. One recent Republican piece, quickly withdrawn last week, even spoke of a new ‘Reich.’
Along with this is a disrespect for the rule of law in the highest levels of the G.O.P. One convicted January 6 rioter from Texas is vying for a seat in Congress. And Americans should be worried about the appearance of a leather-jacketed Hell’s Angel among those in the courtroom where the former president is on trial in New York. Guess who he was supporting.
And speaking of that trial, Senators and Representatives also came to New York to be in the courtroom demonstrating their loyalty to the former president and making speeches outside of the courthouse where he stands accused of cooking the books to hide an illegal bribe to keep a porn star’s mouth shut before the 2016 election. A Supreme Court Justice flies an American flag upside down, a traditional sign of distress, over his lawn to show his lack of faith in the rule of law. He also flew the ‘Pine Tree’ flag over his beach house in NJ, a banner used by Christian Nationalists who have little faith in the First Amendment and as a plea to heaven to ‘Stop the Steal’ of the 2020 presidential election, which that flag has come to represent. Millions of Americans are wondering if the loyalty of Supreme Court Justices and Federal Judges rests with that rule of law or with the President that appointed them.
None of this is being hidden by those who want to destroy our democracy. The signs are all around us, if you watch carefully. They are sometimes subtle. The whitewashing of the Mueller Report (remember that early attempt to corral Trump) was an early warning. When Trump’s AG, Bill Barr, blunted its edges, sirens should have been wailing. And today, here’s an example: A new gasoline station in my neighborhood included in its prominent corner landscaping an American flag flanked by a Florida State flag and a black POW/MIA flag. This was not a way of selling gasoline. It’s the proprietor’s legal way of advertising the conservative, if not reactionary, rights of States to oppose a Federal government that works to benefit all Americans. It is intended to stoke MAGA voters with the anti-communist hysteria that was directed at opponents of the Vietnam War half a century ago. There are no longer POWs or MIAs in Vietnam, where a lot of our clothing is now manufactured, so why fly that flag any longer? Think about it.
All of this is legal, but that is
what the flags really mean and needless to say, it will be a cold day in hell
before I patronize that gas station, although
Joe McCarthy and Roy Cohn would, were they alive. Keep your eyes open. The signs are all around you … and of course read or
re-read the recent Time Magazine interview in which Donald Trump included them in his own words! CLICK HERE to re-read it or navigate to https://time.com/6972021/donald-trump-2024-election-interview/
Defeating the foes of democracy will not be automatic. It will not be easy. Your votes and hard work are required. But I feel that most Americans know better than to fall for this neo-fascist crap and will, I hope, vote for ‘truth’ in November, sending Donald John Trump, in the words of poet William Ernest Henley, back ‘to the vile dust from whence he sprung, unknown, un-honored, and unsung,’ along with all of the MAGA trash that support him, especially in the States of the Confederacy, supposedly but not really, defeated in 1865.
If this posting doesn’t start your blood boiling, check out Heather Cox Richardson’s ‘Letters from an American’ dated May 23. It relates today’s challenges to Abraham Lincoln’s 1858 ‘House Divided’ speech. (She writes it late in the evening and it usually appears the next day.) I recommend that everyone reading this right now make sure that they are receiving her daily postings every day! They are free unless you want to add your comments to them.) If anything should be ‘required reading' for today's American patriots, her postings qualify!
Just CLICK HERE to reach that May 23 posting or find it yourself at https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/may-23-2024-9ac . Mark Twain once pointed out that while history doesn’t repeat itself, it frequently rhymes. Yes, it does. That is why history is important.
And please, don’t forget to sign up to receive each free daily posting of ‘Letters from an American’ from Professor Richardson at https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/by or by https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/by CLICKING HERE.
JL
* * *
Israel’s Extremists
Before reading on, let me make one thing clear. In order to defeat a foe in a war, the deaths of innocent civilians unavoidably occur. It has always been that way. In World War Two, the deaths of hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of Germans and Japanese civilians took place in order to rid the world of the evil governments that they had allowed to control their countries. Tragically, this is what is happening right now in Gaza. Were it otherwise, it would amount to telling aggressors that their deeds might go unpunished and enhance the chances of their aggression attaining its goals. That’s why demands for a ‘cease fire’ ring hollow in many ears. They amount to telling Hamas that they won!
The preceding Jackspotpourri posting included the New York Times Magazine’s major article on how extremists took over the government of the State of Israel, with whose policies I strongly disagree, except for their insistence on defeat of Hamas despite the unavoidable deaths of innocent Palestinians among whom Hamas militants are intentionally embedded. I did not include my opinion as to where this will lead. But I did make a comment directly to the Times’ website concerning the magazine piece. It assumes that however the conflict in Gaza with Hamas is resolved, or at least stabilized, there will be elections in Israel that will remove Benjamin Netanyahu from office. Here is what I wrote:
‘When
there are elections in Israel, a new government will try to get the settlers
and their supporters to obey the laws. If the IDF, the police, and the Shin
Bet, under that new government, cannot do that, there will be civil war among
Jews in a country where everyone is armed. Strong, unshakable faith in one's religion, regardless of what it is, has never led to
peace.’
On numerous occasions, I have written that there must be a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinians. It would require full recognition of the permanence of the State of Israel by all Muslim nations and the Palestinians and a recognition by Israel that Jewish settlements have no place in the territory that will comprise the Palestinian state, including those already there. Both would be big steps forward, requiring basic changes in the positions of both sides. I do not expect that to happen in my lifetime, but it will happen. Any other solution is a recipe for continued war and conflct, and the tragedy of additional civilian deaths, something neither Israelis nor Palestinians want.
Part of the problem is
that too many Muslims and too many Jews act on a ‘strong, unshakable, faith’ in their
religions, preventing them from understanding the other side’s position. (Christians
are not immune from this pitfall either.) I
strongly suspect that the Creator of all mankind does not want it that way and
frowns upon those whose deep devotion causes misery to others. Not taking the beliefs of
one’s religion too literally is probably the best course for those who are
among the truly religious.
JL
* * *
How One State Successfully Deals with Climate Change
I emailed the following letter to the Palm Beach Post the other day. Afterwards, I realized that the Florida voters who keep Republicans in power in Tallahassee are so dumb that, if it is published, they will probably take it seriously.
‘When I read in
Monday's Post that the spreading crisis in homeowners insurance throughout the
nation is attributed to 'climate change,' I thanked my lucky stars that I
live in a State where that cause has been eliminated through the wisdom of
Florida's legislature and its governor's foresight. Effective July
1, according to HB1645, the words 'climate change' will be erased from several
state statutes and removed from being a priority in Florida's energy policy. The rest of the country should
be so lucky.’
Perhaps the Republicans in Tallahassee can do the same with cancer, diabetes, Alzheimers, and heart disease. All it would take is their voting to dump these diseases into the same wastebasket where they just dropped climate change. Poof ... like magic, they're gone!!
JL
* * *
Housekeeping on Jackspotpourri
Strange “Hits’! The large number of those accessing Jackspotpouri from Singapore has suddenly ceased. In their place, however, there have appeared large numbers of ‘hits’ on each posting in the hundreds, and as was the case with those from Singapore, but this time from Hong Kong! I suspect that the Chinese are playing around with internet transmissions, possibly to try to identify who is reading them.
Email Alerts: If you are NOT receiving emails from me alerting you each time there is a new posting on Jackspotpourri, just send me your email address and we’ll see that you do. And if you are forwarding a posting to someone, you might suggest that they do the same, so they will be similarly alerted. You can pass those email addresses to me by email at jacklippman18@gmail.com.
Forwarding Postings: Please
forward this posting to anyone you think might benefit from reading it.
Friends, relatives, enemies, etc.
If you want to send someone the
blog, you can just tell them to check it out by visiting https://jackspotpourri.blogspot.com or
you can provide a link to that address in your email to them.
There’s another, perhaps easier, method of forwarding it though! Google Blogspot, the platform on which Jackspotpourri is prepared, makes that possible. If you click on the tiny envelope with the arrow at the bottom of every posting, you will have the opportunity to list up to ten email addresses to which that blog posting will be forwarded, along with a brief comment from you. Each will receive a link to click on that will directly connect them to the blog.
Either way will work, sending them the link to https://jackspotpourri.blogspot.com, or clicking on the envelope at the bottom of this posting.
Again, I urge you to forward this posting to anyone you think might benefit from reading it, particularly if they are a registered voter. This is an election year. Spread the word.
JL
* * *
No comments:
Post a Comment