On Tyranny: History Instructs

Hillary Clinton, at Wellesley, NYT, 27 May 2017,
by Jess Bidgood & Katharine Q. Seelye. Photo: Brian Snyder/Reuters.

"As the history majors among you here today know all too well, when people in power invent their own facts and attack those who question them, it can mark the beginning of the end of a free society./That is not hyperbole. It is what authoritarian regimes throughout history have done. They attempt to control reality. Not just our laws and our rights and our budgets, but our thoughts and beliefs." Hillary Clinton commencement address, Wellesley College, May 2017

Timothy Snyder, Yale historian and author of The Bloodlands, was in Toledo at the public library to talk about his latest little book called "On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century."  He said he sat at his computer the day after the shock of Trump's election and wrote the book right then and there. He made use of his extraordinary knowledge of the tyrannies of Hitler and Stalin and the murderous havoc they caused during and after World War II. He's an expert on authoritarian regimes.

He saw red flags everywhere during the presidential campaign. Trump's overblown rhetoric and Hillary-hatred; his attacks on Mexicans, Muslims, anyone he didn't like; the whipping up of a false nationalist fervor; the way he framed and repeated his rants ("Build a Wall," "Lock her Up"); his ignorance of history; his ego-driven obsession with numbers and winning; the focus on himself and not the issues, which he knew little about; a facile disregard for Rule of Law; and perhaps most disturbing of all, his attacks on the media, the charges of "fake news" against any news he didn't like, the embrace of such outlets as Breitbart, his denigration of facts and truth.

Snyder notes in his book that Trump fact-checkers at one time "found that 78% of his factual claims were false."  That's a pretty high rate of lying. "Demeaning the world as it is begins the creation of a fictional counterworld," Snyder emphasized. Yep, his attentive audience nodded, and we are living with that "counterworld" today.

"On Tyranny" is a series of lessons on how to resist the totalitarianism Snyder sees in the rise of Trump. Lots of us saw it; experience is confirming it. The truth and timeliness of Snyder's message was not lost on this informed and appreciative audience. Marcy Kaptur, our representative in Congress, introduced Snyder.  It was Marcy who introduced me to The Bloodlands when I returned from Ukraine. It's her favorite recent history book, and it's become mine as well. Snyder wrote about eastern Europe caught between Hitler and Stalin.  He revisioned the history of WWII and the murderous legacy of the times, the consequences of which are still felt today. I felt them in Ukraine.

And they have only became worse with time. The rise of Putin's fervent Russian nationalism, his ramped up propaganda machine, his invasion of Crimea and eastern Ukraine, his interference in our world as we know it and his goal to destabilize Europe and the US, confirm that totalitarianism is alive and well, and as devastating to human kind as it ever was.

Now, Snyder fears, it is alive and well in America too, and it will destroy our democracy, as the Founding Fathers feared it would, unless we deliberately confront it head on. Snyder repeats some of the obvious truisms about resistance--be an informed citizen, defend democratic institutions, remember professional ethics, beware the one-party state, stand out, investigate, be a critical thinker. But what for me resonated the most is the very issue Hillary Clinton addressed in her Wellesley commencement address. "Believe in truth."  Snyder puts it as succinctly and firmly as Hillary did: "To abandon facts is to abandon freedom.  If nothing is true, then no one can criticize power, because there is no basis upon which to do is.  If nothing is true, then all is spectacle.  The biggest wallet pays for the most blinding lights." 

Hillary warned us. 

I believe this. The whole phenomenon of questioning what is fact and what is "alternative facts," what are lies, what is real, has swept us onto the terrain of tyranny. People who believe they have facts when they have false information and false news on which they base their votes and their allegiance leaves the rest of us who know it's false news hanging out to dry in a kind of no-man's land. Hillary warned us time and again during the campaign. But a fictional counterworld had already arisen, it doesn't take long, and it spelled tragedy for the United States. When facts don't matter, when truth doesn't matter and becomes awash in "alternative facts" made up by tyrants, we are in dangerous territory. It's where we are today.

McCain and The Trump Titanic on Impeachment Ground

The Trump Titanic: Created by the Senate Republicans

Now comes Senator John McCain, and slowly but surely the rest of his Republican colleagues, starring the Comey memos and the accumulation of outright lies, conflicts and treason  in the face.   He fears we are on impeachment ground the size and scope of Watergate. 

Well sure we are.  You put us there.  

You approved Sessions, Tillerson, Wilbur Ross and the rest of the rotten Transition Team's nominees knowing about their conflicts, having the intel you needed to vote 'no' on every one of them. All the Republicans did.  Did you do the right thing when it mattered most? No, you did not. 

Now you are saying things that you should have said in the confirmation hearings, McCain.  You surely knew about Kisylak, that old KGB spy, and Putin, the invader of Ukraine and friend of Assad, when you approved these guys.  You approved people who worked with the guy you knew was a "murderer and thug."  

America has had to face the consequences of your votes, and all your Republican colleagues' votes, ever since.  Millions of us knew it was only a matter of time before the truth was revealed and the shit hit the fan.

The resistance movement mounted. The women marched. The scientists and the environmentalist marched. The American people took to the streets. We followed the advice in the Indivisible handbook written by former Congressional staffers about contacting our elected officials.  We  started to make our voices heard, the majority of us common folk, outraged at what was happening in Congress.

How many calls did you and your fellow Senators get, flooding you with facts and warnings?  How many letters urging you to hear us out, knowing you were voting for DeVos, Tillerson, Ross, Pruitt, Price? How many emails and twitter and facebook posts, pleading with you, begging you, to do the right thing for America? How many petitions, dozens of them, signed by thousands?  

No matter.  You went ahead and voted for the worst nominees imaginable. You ignored our voices.  You went along and you did nothing.  

Do you know how helpless we felt in the face of your indifference.  Do you know how infuriating it is now to hear you say the things you are saying?  

Your mea culpas are needed, yes.  We knew we needed some Rs with a conscience to step up.  You didn't do it when you brought us the Trump regime.  We tried, to no avail.   Now you have to step up or go down with the Trump Titanic you created. You have to save your ass.  Now it's more a matter of self-interest than patriotism. 

We see it all. We will not forget that you created this monster.  We will not forget.

                                          

Rotten to the Core: The Republicans are on the Trump Titanic they Created

"...The Republicans know exactly what they are doing: They are taking [actions] that risks the destruction of the American republic to advance their personal interests."  Josh Barro, Business Insider, May 3, 2017

It all started with the Transition Team of Pence/Bannon/Rebekah Mercer and the self-interest billionaires.  It all started when the Senate Republicans rubber stamped nominees who were against the mission and programs of the agencies they were to head.  Didn't matter.  That's why of all the various charges thrown at the Republicans in  Congress, Josh Barro's resonates the most. 

Even knowing how unfit and dangerous Trump is, how unfit and dangerous the cabinet they rubber stamped, even having damaging intel on them and knowing the billionaires had extreme conflicts of interest, Republicans voted to confirm them. They acted as if everything was within normal range.  They created the Trump Titanic.

It wasn't "normal" then and it's not normal now. It is not normal to fire the head of the FBI who is investigating you.  It is not normal to share classified intel with the Russians. It is not normal to fill the White House with relatives. It's not normal to obstruct efforts to appoint a Special Prosecutor in the face of such ongoing outrageous behavior. 

The Republicans are deluded.  They have been so wedded to their own personal issues agendas, salivating to ram them down our throats and undo Obama's legacy, that they have acted like tyrants to obstruct truth and justice. 

McConnell and Ryan are at the top of the rotten heap.  Graham and McCain unfortunately are up there, too, now   aware that they are standing on the grounds of impeachment.  The Republicans have been following their treasonous lead like sheep to the slaughter. They have not listened, heard or cared. Their constituents are angry. The town hall meetings, the dedicated resistance in every state, the marches and protests confirm this. 

So slowly but surely, one by one, Republicans who have done so much to destroy the GOP in their allegiance to non-Republican Trump,  and to destroy our democratic government, have to step up and call a spade a spade. They don't want to do this; they are forced to do this.  These Republican votes were acts of tyranny and treason.  The Republicans created the Trump Titanic and they will go down with it.     

Mourning in America

"The election of Donald Trump to the Presidency is nothing less than a tragedy for the American republic, a tragedy for the Constitution, and a triumph for the forces, at home and abroad, of nativism, authoritarianism, misogyny, and racism. Trump’s shocking victory, his ascension to the Presidency, is a sickening event in the history of the United States and liberal democracy. On January 20, 2017, we will bid farewell to the first African-American President—a man of integrity, dignity, and generous spirit—and witness the inauguration of a con who did little to spurn endorsement by forces of xenophobia and white supremacy. It is impossible to react to this moment with anything less than revulsion and profound anxiety."  David Remnick, The New Yorker, November 2016

For more than 50 percent of the electorate, it's mourning in America. I believe with David Remnick that the election of Trump "is nothing less than a tragedy for the American republic..." Every day, as Pence's appointments are announced and his alt-right foil's erratic unhinged behavior threatens our stability and security, American democracy is being shredded and a fascist oligarchy is rising.  The toxic combination of unregulated corporate power and undisciplined government power looms like a black cloud over our country and the world.

yahoo image. 

Pence's nominations of those billionaires, most of whom hate the agencies they have been selected to lead, most of them 1 percenters who contributed to trump's campaign, bode ill for our democracy. .

Is this what people wanted when they voted for such an unqualified ignoramus with so little knowledge, so little dignity? Is this what evangelical Christians voted for, a man who literally encompasses the seven deadly sins  Are we so easily propagandized that we will fall in line like sheep to the slaughter?                                
Oh sure we old warriors will continue the good fight as best we can. Afterall, Hillary won the popular vote, which means the Pence/Ryan/McConnell regime does not have a mandate.  We are a divided country. In my view, Trump is the most hated man in America, and for the majority, he will never be our president.

Right now, this is not comforting.  In grieving for America, I remember my brother Loren.  I listen for his wisdom, huddling with our sister Andy.  I'm feeling so low.  Revulsion and profound anxiety in Remnick's words . The shock, the painful disappointment, has barely worn off.  Loren would paint a dystopian picture of how Trump will govern, with Pence really in charge because he knows how things work in Washington and Trump knows nothing.  Nothing. McConnell and Ryan, who's only purpose for the last eight years has been to obstruct Obama, exemplified in the refusal to hold Senate hearings on Obama's Supreme Court nomination, are ready to dismantle the government and especially social safety nets and environmental protections. Obamacare, Medicare, Social Security, agencies that deal with discrimination, women's equality and gay rights, all on the chopping block.

The alt-right Tea Party movement, funded by the Koch brothers and the "dark money" that has bought its way into the White House and the Congress, is threatening our democracy. Their glee is palpable. Fear for the make-up of the Supreme Court, for Rule of Law, for the influence of racism and misogyny on public policy, for the walls that will be built, for the hateful backlash against people of color and immigrants, for the disregard of climate change, the chance of a nuclear "accident," untold conflicts of interest and self-serving policies that benefit the 1 percent, and yes, for the nature of international relations and the world, now fragile and precariously balanced.

Resist, Loren would say.  He'd join the fight, a fight I'm not even sure will get off the ground. In fact this is right now a huge question in my mind.  My kids say I should stop thinking about it, but it's hard. Will there be organized resistance? Will our elected representatives in the House and in the Senate stand up and be counted? Will they have the courage to obstruct everything McConnell, Ryan and the Tea Party stand for, as the Tea Party did to Obama for so long? Will Guides to thwarting the Tea Party agenda, such as "Indivisible," written by former Congressional staffers who witnessed the Tea Party's successful tactics, be taken seriously.  Will enough of the 99 percenters protest and resist in every way they can, obstruct at every turn?   Can Bernie mobilize his fan base again to resist this tyranny? Will the people rise up and resist?

I'm not confident. I worry.  I know Loren would put on his warrior hat, and take to the streets. Never give up on goodness and justice and a peaceful world.  Never forget the goddess is with us, and that her values will reign one day.  Never forget the struggle.  I'll try, Loren  I'll try. But my confidence has been shaken.

For "Indivisible," the guide: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1DzOz3Y6D8g_MNXHNMJYAz1b41_cn535aU5UsN7Lj8X8/preview

A Hollow Victory for a Hollow Man

"Nothing will come of nothing." King Lear, Act 1 Scene 1

So the House passed a terribly flawed health care bill without even trying to fix the Affordable Care Act (ACA aka Obamacare), without a rating from the Congressional Budget Office, without reading it, without thought for the harm it would do.  What kind of a victory is this?

It's a fake victory, just like the fake president spouting fake news from the White House. It is a hollow victory for the hollow man leading the House down the path of evil, as well.

Patting themselves on the back for a
fake victory. (BCC news/Reuter photo)

It was political theater, "full of sound and fury, signifying nothing" (Macbeth, Act 5). The unconscionable thing is that these hollow men were playing politics with real people, with the life and death issues of their constituents.  It didn't matter to them. They smiled, laughed, posed for photos, partied, congratulated themselves as if it were a real victory.  What an astonishing display of delusion on the national stage.

People caught on right away, and so did the Senate. It rejected the Ryan/trump fake bill.  Mindful of the upcoming mid-term elections, most Senators will aim for a real bill, maybe one that fixes the flaws in the ACA, doesn't remove coverage for pre-existing conditions, and doesn't include provisions that allow insurers free reign or that essentially cut taxes for the super rich.

At this point what happened in the House doesn't matter.  The House Rs once again exposed themselves for the anti-democratic, uncaring, inhumane elected officials they are.  These are fake politicians who prefer a game, political theater, over the hard work of making policy. These are fake politicians who aren't listening to their real constituents and who are pursuing their own personal issues agenda come hell or high water. Many will be voted out in 2018. Resisters are ready. The campaign has begun.

The clock is ticking on this Administration and this Congress. Hollow victories don't last long. Trump's days are numbered, and the Senate knows it. Most of them want to stay in office after he's gone. The political theater orchestrated by hollow men is like a Shakespeare tragedy that won't end well. "Nothing will come of nothing."

Reading:
https://www.vox.com/2017/3/6/14829526/american-health-care-act-gop-replacement

https://www.yahoo.com/news/look-house-republican-health-care-bill-081428198.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/04/health/health-care-bill-criticisms.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/politics/ahca-house-vote/?utm_term=.65ddfd2990ae