Next Stop: Fascism?

Posted on July 4, 2017 by Arlen Grossman

Trump and the War on the Media: On the road to Fascism

By  Steven Jonas/ OpEdNews/ July 4, 2017

 

Trump’s attacks on the media are getting evermore virulent. Much is known and has been written about the “what.” Not too much about the “why.” It’s not because Trump is a nut, an ego-maniac, the knowledge-free leader of the most powerful nation on Earth. Yes, he is, but the primary reason for the media-assault is to help pave the way for the establishment of a 21st-century form of fascism in the U.S. The media is the last major institution standing in the Trumpites’ way.

From flickr.com: Fascism is so 1930s. {MID-139072}
Fascism is so 1930s.
(Image by alisdare1)   Permission   Details   DMCA

In great detail, many have written about the Trumpite’s increasingly ferocious attacks on the media and how horrendous they are, in one sense or another. That is the “what” of this topic. But we also must look at the “why?” Why are the Trumpites doing this? After the election, there were two main sets of institutions that could have stood between the Trumpites and the establishment of some form of 21stcentury fascism, the increasingly obvious principal goal of the Trumpites: the Judiciary and the media (see below). Congress is in their pocket. The public is widely split. With the Republican Senate, the stealing of the Garland seat by Mitch McConnell and 135 Appellate and District Court seats (that Mitch McConnell preserved for Trump to fill), the Judiciary is falling fast. So now the Trumpites are going after the media.

This is happening not because Trump is an ego-maniac (he is, but that’s not the reason). It’s not that he knows nothing but attacking the media gives him something to do (he doesn’t know much, and does have fun doing what he is doing to Joe and Mika et al. But that’s not the reason either). It’s not because he is “crazy.” In my view, this man is crazy like a fox; he knows exactly what he is doing and is delighted to elicit the response he is eliciting. He is indeed the master of not one but two sets of WMD’s. The one here is the Weapons of Mass Distraction. His campaign is indeed helping him rally “his people” to his cause even if they don’t know yet what his cause is and how it will hurt some (his working-class supporters) — but certainly not all (his petit bourgeois supporters) — in the long run. But that’s not its primary purpose either.

The Trumpite attack on the media is rather because to eventually make the US into a fascist country of one form or another (that has yet to be fully defined — but it will be some 21stcentury variantwhich, in this country, will likely be made to appear Constitutional) he must destroy the media. He must get them out of the way. While he himself is a rampant liar,he must get them out of the way. He must destroy their credibility. He must artificially create so much mis-trust in them that many people on the Right (and indeed some on the Left too as they already are) will automatically repeat the Trumpian phrase — “fake news,” “fake news,” over and over again until they actually believe it. It matters not how many lies Trump tells.

In this space, I have written many timesabout Trumpand fascism. Unlike certain other of my colleagues on the Left, I have been convinced that Trump, in practice if not in mind, is a fascist, of the 21stCentury variety. And with Steve Bannon in his ear, Trump does not have to know much, if anything at all, about fascist theory and practice. For Bannon is an acolyte of the Italian post-World War II Mussolini hanger-on Julius Evola. Despite the 20thcentury experience with fascism in many countries around the world in addition to the Big Three World War II Axis Powers — Germany, Italy and Japan — one can add, for example, Spain, Portugal, Chile, Brazil, Argentina, and Hungary —, Evola thought it was just a great system. And so, apparently, does Bannon.

Since Trump ran his companies like a personal fascist empire, from one-man control to a complete disregard for ethics and morality in business, to working around the law as often as he could, and etc., he is the ideal pawn for Bannon and the proto-21stcentury fascists. And he certainly has exhibited fascist/authoritarian wishes/tendencies since he came into office, from the spewing of executive orders to the idiotic scene of having cabinet members bow down to him in allegiance.

In the United States, the economically dominant wing of the ruling class, which rallied around Trump towards the end of the election campaign, apparently feels that things are getting out of control. Life is getting worse for the majority of the U.S. people and, they think, sooner rather than later, that people is going to begin to rise u, they are going to realize that bourgeois democracy and the bourgeois rule of the ruling class simply aren’t working for them anymore. Obviously, although it may not be obvious to many of us, that is what some significant element of the U.S. ruling class has concluded now. Ergo Trump (and Bannon/Evola). And so, what is to be done, by them?

Unlike many political commentators who use the term, I like to define it. In the past, I have offered lengthy definitions of fascism. Here is a more compact one:

Fascism is:

A system of government in service of a capitalist ruling class, which controls all State Power. In that system, there is no separation of the three fundamental governmental areas of authority: executive, legislative, and judicial.

There is full Executive control of all functions of government.

There no body of law, that is a Constitution, standing above the unitary power of the Executive.

There are no fundamental rights, of speech, media, assembly, due process before the law.

There is a single national ideology, enforced by the use of the criminal law.

There is the massive and regular use of hate, fear, racial and religious prejudice, the

Big Lie technique, mob psychology, mob actions and ultimately individual and

collective violence to achieve political and economic ends.

The end of the separation of powers and the ability to ignore the basic concepts of Constitutional government are primary goals of any fascist regime. Trump is an obvious authoritarian who is well on way to doing that. And so, what does Trump have so far to facilitate the passage? A) a compliant Congress, with no indication that the Repubs. Are going to turn against him any time soon. He is accomplishing too much for their mutual bosses. Not through the legislative route of course, but through the demolition of regulation he is achieving one of the two most recurrent Republican goals since the time of Goldwater, with amazing rapidity too. B) He is well on his way to taking over the Federal judiciary, at all three levels: Gorsuch (described by one left-wing critic as “worse than Scalia,” if you can imagine that), whoever is next for the Supreme Court and about 135 Appeals and District Court Federal judges that Mitch McConnell prevented Pres. Obama from appointing. C) They are going after voting rights with a vengeance. They are getting very significant opposition to the Kobach initiative for massive voter fraud/intimidation, (the voting fraud being created by intimidation by the Kobachers who would go after the non-existent variety), but who knows how long that will last.

And then we come once again to the media. As noted, the two most significant hurdles that Trump/Bannon faced for creating a fascist takeover when they came into office were the courts and the media. The courts they have gotten out of the way very quickly. But then: “Adolf Hitler [had] advocated total control of the press for many years before he was elected Fuhrer. Almost immediately after he assumed power in 1932, Hitler began writing new laws and regulations that totally exorcised all freedoms from the German press.” Hitler had had the “Luegenpresse” (the “lying press” [sound familiar?] for years). This is where they are going folks. They want to so denigrate/discredit the media (not theirmedia of course) that when Congress passes the Emergency Powers Act (after McConnell has done away with the filibuster rule for such “emergency” legislation), that Trump will be proposing down-the-line on some pretext or another (who knows how many US lives will be lost in that one) the Courts will not be there to stop him. Only the media would be left. It is this, not simply endless attacks on the mediafor the sake of attacking, that is the goal of the Trumpites. And indeed, some White House aides already think that they are winningthe War on the Media.

————————————————————————————————————————————–

Postscript:

The media attack has another major function, only slightly less important the one described in detail above. It is Trump’s major Weapon of Mass Distraction (also mentioned briefly above). While the War on the Media is underway, full force, all the other wars that Trump is conducting at the same time, foreign and domestic, receive less and less attention. The fact that his Administration is woefully understaffed receives very little attention. The fact that he is engaging in a variety of provocative actionsagainst foreign powers all around the world receives less attention. The fact that a War on the US Poor at many levels is underway receives less attention. His plan for dealing with climate change — make it worse — receives less attention. His wars on public education, on the remaining, tattered, rights of labor, on the regulation of the nuclear energy industry, on the Federal civil service, starting with the EPA, and here’s one egregious instanceat Justice, and so on and so forth — all receive less attention. For good reason. Trump has his own WMD, and uses them with great effectiveness.

————————————————————————————————————————————-

Steven Jonas, MD, MPH, MS is a Professor Emeritus of Preventive Medicine at StonyBrookMedicine (NY) and author/co-author/editor/co-editor of over 35 books. In addition to his position on OpEdNews as a “Trusted Author,” he is a Senior Editor, Politics, for The Greanville Post; a Contributor for American Politics to The Planetary Movement;a contributor to the “Writing for Godot” section of Reader Supported News; and a contributor to From The G-Man. Furthermore, he is an occasional contributor to BuzzFlash Commentary Headlines and The Harder Stuff. He is also a triathlete (34 seasons, 251 multi-sport races).

Back

 

Posted in Donald Trump, government, media, politics, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

The Death Economy

Posted on July 1, 2017 by Arlen Grossman

Posted in Economics, economy, government, health care, inequality, politics, Republican Party | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

THE AMERICAN PEOPLE NEVER WIN–HERE’S WHY

Posted on June 25, 2017 by Arlen Grossman

**Headline and first line changed from prior posting

**Headlined at OpEd News, June 28

By Arlen Grossman

There’s a reason most Americans don’t get what they want.

Billionaires and Large Corporations own this country. Period.

They make the rules and reap the benefits. They control the politicians and thus the laws. What they want, they get.

Which is why even though Republicans number between one-quarter and one-third of the electorate, they control the presidency, both houses of Congress, the Supreme Court, and most state governments.

Which is why polls show that even though most Americans want universal health care, more social security, stricter gun laws, stronger environmental laws, more spending on social services and less on the military, they never get them.

The majority of the American people also want debt-free college education for all students, a higher minimum wage, a massive infrastructure spending program, higher taxes on the wealthy, and fair trade that protects American workers and the environment. Those things don’t happen because it doesn’t matter what the people want.

George Carlin summed it up well: “The real owners are the big wealthy business interests that control things and make all the important decisions. Forget the politicians, they’re an irrelevancy. The politicians are put there to give you the idea that you have freedom of choice. You don’t. You have no choice. You have owners. They own you. They own everything.”

The rich and corporations have always had undue influence in our government. But it was the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision that put the final nail on the coffin of American democracy. That ruling essentially allowed the rich to spend unlimited amounts of money on elections. That made it easy to control politicians and buy elections, thus ensuring they get the laws that benefit them.

Our government is run by legalized bribery, and unless you are wealthy you are out of the game. Republicans especially, but Democrats too, play by these rules.

A 2014 study from Princeton and Northwestern University concluded that the U.S. is dominated by its economic elite. The wealthy dictate national policy, while average Americans are essentially powerless. According to the report: “When a majority of citizens disagrees with economic elites and/or with organized interests, they generally lose. Moreover, because of the strong status quo bias built into the US political system, even when fairly large majorities of Americans favor policy change, they generally do not get it.”

Meanwhile, the rich keep getting richer, and consequently more powerful. According to The New York Times, the “richest 1 percent in the United States now own more wealth than the bottom 90 percent.”  UC Berkeley economist Emmanuel Saez estimates that between 2009 and 2012, the top 1 percent captured 95 percent of total income growth. This country has the highest wealth inequality among industrialized nations, higher than any time since 1928, the year before the Great Stock Market Crash and the beginning of the Great Depression.

How can we change this? It won’t be easy. When conditions get bad enough, and Americans take to the streets in massive numbers, when and if they vote in candidates who believe in grass roots democracy, only then can the system be changed and the views of average Americans matter. That is unlikely to happen anytime soon, because the billionaires and big corporations–who own most of the mass media–like the status quo.

It should be evident to all that America is an oligarchy, a country run by a small group of wealthy individuals. Those who pretend otherwise are not paying attention and deluding themselves. The future of our country, and the world, depends on our finding the path back to democracy. Unfortunately, the obstacles have never been greater.

1acartoon-corporations-constitution

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted in Economics, economy, government, inequality, politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Immoral Decisions

Posted on June 21, 2017 by Arlen Grossman
Posted in Economics, government, inequality, politics, poverty, taxes, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Losing My Religion For Equality

Posted on June 17, 2017 by Arlen Grossman

By Jimmy Carter/The Age/ April 27, 2017

Women and girls have been discriminated against for too long in a twisted interpretation of the word of God.

I HAVE been a practising Christian all my life and a deacon and Bible teacher for many years. My faith is a source of strength and comfort to me, as religious beliefs are to hundreds of millions of people around the world. So my decision to sever my ties with the Southern Baptist Convention, after six decades, was painful and difficult. It was, however, an unavoidable decision when the convention’s leaders, quoting a few carefully selected Bible verses and claiming that Eve was created second to Adam and was responsible for original sin, ordained that women must be “subservient” to their husbands and prohibited from serving as deacons, pastors or chaplains in the military service.

This view that women are somehow inferior to men is not restricted to one religion or belief. Women are prevented from playing a full and equal role in many faiths. Nor, tragically, does its influence stop at the walls of the church, mosque, synagogue or temple. This discrimination, unjustifiably attributed to a Higher Authority, has provided a reason or excuse for the deprivation of women’s equal rights across the world for centuries.

At its most repugnant, the belief that women must be subjugated to the wishes of men excuses slavery, violence, forced prostitution, genital mutilation and national laws that omit rape as a crime. But it also costs many millions of girls and women control over their own bodies and lives, and continues to deny them fair access to education, health, employment and influence within their own communities.

The impact of these religious beliefs touches every aspect of our lives. They help explain why in many countries boys are educated before girls; why girls are told when and whom they must marry; and why many face enormous and unacceptable risks in pregnancy and childbirth because their basic health needs are not met.

religion 
 

In some Islamic nations, women are restricted in their movements, punished for permitting the exposure of an arm or ankle, deprived of education, prohibited from driving a car or competing with men for a job. If a woman is raped, she is often most severely punished as the guilty party in the crime.

The same discriminatory thinking lies behind the continuing gender gap in pay and why there are still so few women in office in the West. The root of this prejudice lies deep in our histories, but its impact is felt every day. It is not women and girls alone who suffer. It damages all of us. The evidence shows that investing in women and girls delivers major benefits for society. An educated woman has healthier children. She is more likely to send them to school. She earns more and invests what she earns in her family.

It is simply self-defeating for any community to discriminate against half its population. We need to challenge these self-serving and outdated attitudes and practices – as we are seeing in Iran where women are at the forefront of the battle for democracy and freedom.

 

I understand, however, why many political leaders can be reluctant about stepping into this minefield. Religion, and tradition, are powerful and sensitive areas to challenge. But my fellow Elders and I, who come from many faiths and backgrounds, no longer need to worry about winning votes or avoiding controversy – and we are deeply committed to challenging injustice wherever we see it.

The Elders are an independent group of eminent global leaders, brought together by former South African president Nelson Mandela, who offer their influence and experience to support peace building, help address major causes of human suffering and promote the shared interests of humanity. We have decided to draw particular attention to the responsibility of religious and traditional leaders in ensuring equality and human rights and have recently published a statement that declares: “The justification of discrimination against women and girls on grounds of religion or tradition, as if it were prescribed by a Higher Authority, is unacceptable.”

We are calling on all leaders to challenge and change the harmful teachings and practices, no matter how ingrained, which justify discrimination against women. We ask, in particular, that leaders of all religions have the courage to acknowledge and emphasise the positive messages of dignity and equality that all the world’s major faiths share.

The carefully selected verses found in the Holy Scriptures to justify the superiority of men owe more to time and place – and the determination of male leaders to hold onto their influence – than eternal truths. Similar biblical excerpts could be found to support the approval of slavery and the timid acquiescence to oppressive rulers.

I am also familiar with vivid descriptions in the same Scriptures in which women are revered as pre-eminent leaders. During the years of the early Christian church women served as deacons, priests, bishops, apostles, teachers and prophets. It wasn’t until the fourth century that dominant Christian leaders, all men, twisted and distorted Holy Scriptures to perpetuate their ascendant positions within the religious hierarchy.

The truth is that male religious leaders have had – and still have – an option to interpret holy teachings either to exalt or subjugate women. They have, for their own selfish ends, overwhelmingly chosen the latter. Their continuing choice provides the foundation or justification for much of the pervasive persecution and abuse of women throughout the world. This is in clear violation not just of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights but also the teachings of Jesus Christ, the Apostle Paul, Moses and the prophets, Muhammad, and founders of other great religions – all of whom have called for proper and equitable treatment of all the children of God. It is time we had the courage to challenge these views.

OBSERVER

Jimmy Carter was president of the United States from 1977 to 1981.

 
Posted in gender, inequality, religion | Tagged , , | 8 Comments

ELECTION DO-OVER

Posted on June 14, 2017 by Arlen Grossman

Letter to Editor, Monterey Herald, June14

If collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia is proven, wouldn’t that mean the 2016 presidential election was essentially stolen? If so, a new election would be warranted. A fraudulent election should not stand. We need an independent commission figuring out how to implement a new presidential election if the last one is shown to be rigged. Otherwise, there will be a lot of Americans, perhaps a majority, who rightfully would not accept Donald Trump (or Mike Pence) as their legitimate president.

Arlen Grossman

putin2

Posted in elections, government, political cartoon, politics, Russia | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Resisting Trump’s Shock Doctrine

Posted on June 13, 2017 by Arlen Grossman

 

Posted in government, politics, protests, War on Terror | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Trump’s Tape Collection

Posted on June 11, 2017 by Arlen Grossman

Trump

Posted in Donald Trump, humor, political humor, politics | Tagged | Leave a comment

Make Your Own Trump Tweet

Posted on June 5, 2017 by Arlen Grossman

tweet

Posted in Donald Trump, humor, political humor | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Democratic Party Woes

Posted on June 4, 2017 by Arlen Grossman

What Do the Democrats Want? No One Knows

By Ted Rall/ Counterpunch/ May 30,2017

 

In the 1970s, when I was a kid, I asked my mother to explain the difference between the two major parties. “Democrats,” she explained, “are the party of the working man. Republicans represent big business.”

She was a Democrat, obviously. Still, I’m sure Republican families had their version of my mom’s binary, perhaps something along the lines of: “Republicans believe in less government and more hard work. Democrats want high taxes and welfare.”

The two-party system was easy to understand.

Now it’s a muddled mess — especially if you’re a Democrat.

parties

Today’s Democratic Party relies on big corporations, especially big Wall Street investment banks, for campaign donations. The old alliance between the party and labor unions is dead. Democrats support trade deals that hurt American workers. When the economy tanked at the end of the last decade, President Obama left laid-off workers and foreclosed-upon homeowners twisting in the wind; he bailed out the banks instead. Hillary Clinton, who supported the TPP trade deal before she was against it, promised bankers she’d their friend if she won. Whatever the Democrats are now, they’re not the party of working Americans.

So what is the Democratic Party now? What does it stand for and against?

I honestly don’t know. I’m obsessed with politics. So if I don’t know what Democrats want, it’s a safe bet no one else does, either.

“It’s all well and good — and really very satisfying — to harp constantly about the terribleness of Donald Trump,” observes New York Times columnist Gail Collins. “But people need to see the Democratic line on the ballot and think of something more than Not as Dreadful.”

Yes they do.

Failure to articulate an affirmative vision of what she was for, not just against, was largely to blame for Hillary Clinton’s devastating defeat. Trump Is Evil and Dangerous wasn’t enough to win in 2016. It probably won’t be enough for 2018 either. Yet party leaders still haven’t begin to say how they would address the problems voters care about.

Like healthcare. The Clintonistas, still in charge of the Democrats despite their incompetent stewardship, believe that Obamacare will survive because the Republicans’ Trumpcare alternative is unpopular even with Republicans. But they’re wrong. In one out of three counties, there is only one insurance company in the local healthcare “exchange.” Zero competition guarantees skyrocketing premiums and shrinking benefits. The collapse of Obamacare makes healthcare the #1 concern for American voters.

What would Democrats do about healthcare if they were in charge?

As far as I can tell, nada.

House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi’s website brags about Obamacare and its achievements. “House Democrats,” it says, “continually work to implement and improve health care reform to ensure that the best healthcare system in the world only gets better.” Newsflash to Ms. Pelosi: Actually, the U.S. has the worst healthcare system in the developed world.

When it comes to healthcare, Democrats are just like the Republicans on global warming. They won’t admit there’s a problem. So how can they offer a solution?

They don’t. Even though 58% of American voters want a European-style taxpayer-subsidized single-payer system, the Democratic Party platform does not propose significant reforms to Obamacare.

The wreckage of deindustrialization in the nation’s heartland is widely viewed as key to Trump’s surprise win. So what is the Democrats’ plan to create jobs, increase wages and help victims of the opioid epidemic?

Aside from “Trump sucks,” Democrats don’t much to say.

“We will create jobs that stay in America and restore opportunity for all Americans, starting with raising the minimum wage, expanding Pell grants and making college tuition tax deductible,” the party said in a statement a few days before Election Day 2016. Sounds great! But details are hard to come by.

Last year when it mattered, $225,000-a-speech Hillary asked workers to settle for a $12/hour minimum wage. Now, finally, Democrats are officially endorsing Bernie Sanders’ $15/hour. But it really should be at least $22/hour. And anyway, how would a minimum wage increase, or Pell grants, or tax-deductible tuition, “create jobs”? They wouldn’t. We need a big WPA-style federal hiring program. A law mandating that evil outsourcing companies like Facebook start hiring Americans wouldn’t hurt. But the Dems won’t get behind either.

When Democrats do have something to say, it’s trivial and small-bore, like making college tuition tax deductible. Why not go big? Did you know that the U.S. could make four-year college tuition free for the price of the ongoing war against Iraq?

Why are the Dems so lame? Suspect #1 is the lingering rift between the Sanders and Clinton wings of the party. “There is this grassroots movement voters’ arm of the party, and the more corporate, institutional part of the party. And the movement arm is tired of the institutional part telling us the only place for us is in the streets,” saysNebraska Democratic Party Chairwoman Jane Kleeb, a Sanders supporter. A party split by a civil war between a populist left and a corporatist right can’t articulate an inspiring platform of exciting solutions to American’s big problems. A purge, or a schism, would fix this.

Trump is already one of the most unpopular presidents in history. Going against him ought to be easy. But Democrats are about to find out — again — that people won’t vote for you unless you give them a good reason to get off their couches and drive to the polls.

Posted in Democratic Party, government, politics | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment