It should be obvious by now that today’s Republican Party is not that which condemned Richard Nixon and advised him to resign. Nevertheless, in order to move past his Watergate debacle, the party has found it politically expedient to aggressively capitalize on his “Southern strategy” of soliciting Jim Crow Democrats angry and disgruntled after LBJ signed the Voting Rights and Civil Rights acts.
For the past 50 years, a party bent on power at any cost to advance its class interests hasn’t hesitated to pander to the most noxious and repulsive elements of a society in the throes of massive economic and democratic disruption. Ronald Reagan’s campaign speech extolling “states rights” in Philadelphia, Miss., where civil rights workers had been brutally murdered barely a decade and a half earlier, heralded the party’s callous design. His election helped normalize the conjunction of class and racial animus with reactionary politics that steered the country backwards for decades.
Donald Trump astutely understood the rising power of this retrogressive resentment and the opportunity it offered to his efforts at self-promotion. He brilliantly nurtured it and rode its trajectory to become its anointed champion. Inadequate pushback over the ensuing decades has allowed this constituency to expand exponentially; requiring a fascist coup to finally demonstrate to America how pernicious, ingrained, and extensive this scourge has become, even to the point that most Republicans still support Trump.
In similar manner, scant attention is being paid today to the international interconnectedness of racist and far right groups. Ukraine’s fascist Azov battalion (recently spotlighted in Harper’s January issue), which has trained some of America’s most militant racists, such as RAM (Rise Above Movement) that played a prominent role in the Charlottesville uprising, goes under-reported and mostly unnoticed. Early last year a soldier at Fort Riley, Kansas, was arrested for planning an attack with a cache of stolen weapons and thereafter fleeing to Ukraine to join the Azov battalion. That this group is an official part of the Ukrainian state which we support is the true “Ukraine Scandal.”
It’s crucial, therefore, to recognize that the poison powering such malignancy goes deep and far beyond our borders. Almost 100 years ago, Sinclair Lewis wrote a book, facetiously titled, “It Can’t Happen Here,” about European fascism finding a foothold in America. The insurrection of Jan. 6 proved his foresight and fear. To dismiss it as an aberration would be calamitous and imperil our future. It must be recognized as a clarion call for vigilance and determination to prevent it from happening again.
ROBERT McALLISTER, Lantana, Fla.
The passing of the right wing AM radio personality Rush Limbaugh captured news throughout the US and other parts of the world. We have heard endless accounts of ex-president Donald Trump anointing Limbaugh with the Presidential Medal of Freedom – arguably one of the true low points in American history.
I’d like to take a moment to contrast Rush Limbaugh with another veteran radio broadcaster, educator and advocate who has been in the profession for over three decades. There are no words in the human language that can capture the scope, breadth and contrast between Limbaugh and Alternative Radio’s David Barsamian. Limbaugh became an entrenched right wing AM radio icon who for decades showered the American conscience with endless tirades and rants. He targeted minorities, gays, women, the transgender population and virtually any group or entity that didn’t pay homage, adherence and loyalty to both entrenched white power and corporate oligarchy. Towards that end the xenophobic and serial liar Limbaugh achieved huge fortune, fame and almost total fealty from the hordes of cowards who call themselves the Republican Party.
Contrast Limbaugh with Barsamian who has for decades advocated for, sponsored and promoted true democracy. The list of those voices that he has helped cast light on include Noam Chomsky, Chris Hedges, Seymour Hirsch, Howard Zinn, Dave Zirin, Ralph Nader, Michael Parenti, Daniel Ellsberg, to list a few. Barsamian hasn’t built any empire, much less one on a foundation of lies. He enjoys no corporate sponsors and depends solely on individual donors. He is an advocate and champion for global human rights, democracy and environmental sanity.
Barsamian truly is, as Howard Zinn once commented, our generation’s Studs Terkel. Barsamian and Alternative Radio will never achieve the household recognition or notoriety of Rush Limbaugh. That said, if truth, goodwill, human rights, racial equality, human survival and progressive democratic thinking matter — then David Barsamian stands separate from, and far, far above Rush Limbaugh. Comparing the two shows the enormous contrasts, the chasm between a hate filled demagogue and a true champion of truth, democracy and decency.
JIM SAWYER, Edmonds, Wash.
Yes, folks, history assuredly replicates itself in a multitude of ways; it does so especially with the weak-minded, gullible amongst us. Buying into all the propaganda, lies, religious dogmas, cultural feudalistic dictates that controlled people’s thinking and behaviors for eons of time was finally exposed via modernizations, reason, truth, facts and science during our 1700s/1800s Era of Enlightenment. All that was purported to be true regarding our planet/Earth, which was utilized by religion in controlling people’s minds and the perpetuation of the church’s dogmas and biblical precepts such Genesis declaring male/man’s superiority and females/women’s “lesser status” and dependency on male/man.
They retaliated against our 16th century physicist Galileo for exposing the Church’s lies regarding the bogus proposition that the Earth was flat and our planetary position, rotation and other factors to propagate their dogmatic utilization. Follow ing Galileo’s scientific substantiated tacts the Church led a campaign disputing reality, which eventually aided in Galileo’s death.
These basic reasons/facts are why our nation/world is presently under siege by the denial and gullibility of the “weak minded” that adhered to, bought into, accepted as reality until all was exposed as lies and negated with reason, truth and facts, as was done previously and must he done again for our very salvation.
Some time ago columnist/Professor Peter Berger of “Poor Elijah’s” column cited the fact of what our society is missing (pertaining to our societal problems): is accountability-shame-guilt and humility. An editorial targeting our Jan. 6 insurrection and our disgraceful abusers of social media, written by Daniel Bender, teacher/author from Pace University, has substantiated and fortified my long-held beliefs that what our nation/world needs is a 21st century Era of Enlightenment for the very salvation of our humanity, Democracy and civilization itself, foreboding our 22nd century attainment, should we fail to act now in 2021.
FRANK C. ROHRIG, Milford, Conn.
Thom Hartmann, in his book, “The Hidden History of the War on Voting,” lays out a very strong case that our elections have been rigged.
He first points out that exit polls are extremely accurate throughout the world, so accurate that most other countries call elections based on poll results before the final count is completed—and it works.
Then he comes to the 2000 presidential election where the exit polls gave Al Gore the win, but which the Supreme Court stole for Bush.
Then in 2004 the polls clearly gave the election to John Kerry. But the final reported counts gave the election to Bush. Hartmann: “In 2004, fully 22 states experienced what has now come to be called ‘red shift’—where the polls are ‘wrong,’ but almost always in a way that benefits Republicans.”
Now comes 2016. Again, we see the questionable “red shift” occurring in Florida. North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. In every case, the exit polls showed Clinton the winner; but in every state the “red shift” gave the win to Trump.
Hartmann: “Perhaps even more interesting, in states without a Republican secretary of state, there is virtually no shift at all, either red or blue, and hasn’t been ever. The election results typically comport with the exit polls in those states.”
We’ve always watched how the Republicons suppress the vote in their efforts to win. Now we are seeing very strong evidence of election fraud as well. The question for 2020 then becomes: Did Trump really pick up millions of voters over 2016, or did Biden just so outvote him that even massive cheating could not give the win to Trump?
LEE KNOHL, Evanston Ill.
Trump’s enablers failed to speak up as he ignored scientists and, with predictable incompetence, botched the coronavirus response, needlessly sacrificing thousands of American lives, businesses and jobs.
Republicans denied Biden won the election and is a legitimate president. For months they helped Trump organize and incite the Jan 6 Capitol riot that directly challenged our democracy. This sedition continued afterward by denying the electoral college results and promoting the “Big Lie” at CPAC.
Now, Trump supporters go further by refusing to support Biden’s $1.9 trillion rescue plan. No Republicans voted to repair the damage Trump unleashed on the country. To help America recover. Instead, they hope it fails, while taking credit for it at local and state levels!
TOM MINNERICK, Elgin, Ill.
For once, I agree with that demented dimwit Donald Trump. Do what diabolical Donald says, you fake “Christian” conservative Kool-Aid drinkers. Defund the Republican Party! Send all of your money to deranged Donald Trump, right now, so that your asinine anti-Christ Trump can buy a new country club to hide out in.
When the fine folks of South Florida finally descend upon tacky Mar-a-Lago with lit torches and pointy pitchforks in hand (which is sure to happen soon after the full truth of what traitor Trump unsuccessfully attempted on Jan. 6 is revealed to all in Trump’s upcoming criminal trial), Don the con is going to need a new golf course to cheat on — and a new wife to cheat on once Melania divorces him!
So send your money now to be converted into Scarface-sized mounds of cocaine to be deposited in full up the noses of Donald Trump Jr. and Kimberly Guilfoyle. “The best is yet to come!!!”
JAKE PICKERING, Arcata, Calif.
From The Progressive Populist, April 15, 2021
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