We have been at war a long time. Those who predict we will have a second civil war miss the mark. We have been in a second civil war awhile already. I hesitate to write these words. It too easily will invite comparison to other wars than the one we are in. Just as references to a holocaust always reminds us of the worst one we can remember, which killed millions of innocents selected by a small group within a larger group of those who considered themselves superior beings, while others stood by and watched. We know the details differ from that Holocaust and others before and after. Just as the details of this Civil War differ from the first. But, the strategy of war is clearly present; and we would see it, if we would start noticing what is truly going on.
Wars start with lies. Propaganda machines must be put in place to name an enemy in derogatory terms so vile we can convince ourselves killing the other is not only justified but ordained. Religious leaders must be brought round, lest they stand in the way of those who would destroy other human beings, or deny them their right to live unmolested. All those who would seek to protect the innocents from attack must be corrupted and rewarded for standing aside while war proceeds. The more people who slide into deception, the easier it is to win a war. Once the state approves the action through legislation and courts, it is nearly impossible to turn the tide away from war.
Newt Gingrich enhanced the lies. Media constraints were removed under President Reagan allowing propaganda networks like FOX News and others to assert lie after lie until truth was no longer a cornerstone of journalism. Even FOX newscasters argue in court they are not journalists but entertainers. Of course. More than a decade ago television news was removed from control of a Vice-President for news and placed under the Vice-president for entertainment. Overseas news bureaus were dismantled. These changes allowed for the consolidation of propaganda as news. The New York Times and the Washington Post journalists, old-school journalism, still require three sources to validate stories. How can they compete with an un-regulated internet of algorithm-base-profitability news releases? The Big Lie is not the first lie. It is the one we noticed. The big lie started a long time ago. And after Trump is gone, and the party of lies disbanded the lies will continue unless we stop them by restoring the regulations which insisted on truth-telling. Our democracy flourished when free speech, like other freedoms, were fairly and reasonably regulated to assure freedom for all of us. Autocrats do not want us to have free minds. They want us to have controlled minds.
Think this Civil War we are in has caused no deaths? Tell that to the 800,000 and still counting Americans who have died from Covid. Tell that to Ahmaud Arbery, and to the Native American women on tribal lands who are America’s “missing”, and to Asian-American women fearful of walking alone, and for all women afraid of walking alone at night, and for those whose sexual identity is under attack. There is a commonality to such attacks…those under attack are not white males who believe themselves superior. The attacks are done by white males who believe themselves superior. The number of attacks are increasing exponentially with the increase in the lies sanctioned by certain media outlets and social networks, including comments by members of Congress. The amount of money funding these congressional leaders, secessionist groups, white supremacist groups and social media influencers is staggering. Yet, we are told we are a nation in economic crisis caused by immigrants and refugees, unions, people of color, women in the workforce etc. There is plenty of money in this country. But as part of the new civil war we have continually enacted legislation to channel money to the already rich through our tax code, and bleed dry the middle class. The big lie continues to blame the poor for our economic failures. How can the poor lose money they never had? How can their inability to purchase goods and stimulate the economy be blamed on them? Big lies make us stupid. Big lies make us illogical.
When did secession become acceptable? Or has it always been so? Was it when Sarah Palin whose husband at the time, a known secessionist, was selected to run as Vice-President by the Republican Party? Those statues and monuments to secessionists are Big Lies, too. We have honored the Big Lie for a very long time. We have enshrined it.
Gingrich did not create it. He did see its value in promoting a Republican Party which continues to push white male supremacy as its core belief. It no longer has any other platform. It has become, quite openly, the secessionist party. Donald trump is merely the poster boy for misogynist, racist, wealthy white supremacy. The rest of America, including poor white men of good will are the victims of this Civil War. There is no culture war because America has no culture separate from its diversity of cultures. The American tapestry has served us well. It created a strong middle-class capable of supporting a democratic republic. But, a democratic and culturally diverse America stands in the way of autocrats and oligarchs seeking to consolidate their wealth and power.
Money bought legislative power and blocked political funding laws to stop this corrupting influence on legislators. Money bought candidates and blocked transparency in political ads. Money bought judges and blocked voting rights enforcement. While Democratic candidates, for the most part, rely on single low value donors, Republican candidates raise billions of dollars at home and abroad. Money floats across boundaries through multi-national banks and corporations. Trump, the money-launderer understands this.The great con man has always been a great liar. The republican Party thinks he is perfect for the job of continuing its assault on truth. Because trading truth for power is an acceptable value during war.
annarino writes 
Fearful little men
I cannot capitalize the word “ men” in the title. I do not refer to honorable and secure men; but only to insecure little men who must bully others and prey on the weak to prove they are bigger than they are. What they fear is our seeing the truth of who they are, our recognizing their cowardice. At heart they are frauds, con men. It does not matter, in the end, what condition led them to conclude they must cover up fear. Brave men act honorably despite fear. That is called courage: admitting fear, facing it, overcoming it. Refusing to admit fear, conning others to believe they fear nothing, succumbing to fear is called cowardice.
What we see happening on every front around the world is a fraud by cowardly and fearful bullies, supported by dishonorable men who have found fraud a cover for hanging onto great wealth. Dishonorable men hide behind bullies. Honorable men call them out.
Much of the fear of bullies is fear of being seen. White men( and women) know to fear the knowledge held by people of color who have been denied access to wealth and power by dishonorable white people. People who face the threat of harm pay more attention to those threatening their well-being. abused children and women, for example, have a heightened sense and are poised for defense in a way those privileged to have led safe lives need not.
The world has been awakening to past threats which denied human rights to too many since the Declaration of Human Rights, the creation of the United Nations,; and, the example of human rights leaders such as Ghandi, Mandela, and Rev. Martin Luther King, jr.. the feminist and gay rights movements have also posed a threat to white male bullies and misogynists. The Holocaust awakened western democracies to the dangers of anti-semitism. These waves of awakening threaten the hold of the wealthy and empowered, who may not themselves be bullies. But, those among this group who are dishonorable support the bullies without acknowledging their responsibility to those threatened with harm.
The first group of bullies includes persons such as Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, “ strongmen” on every continent. They are weak and fearful men who cannot accept responsibility for their self-perceived weakness which they hide through braggadocio, fraud and deception. The second group includes persons who push bullies to the front as “ leaders” to hide their own weaknesses and fears, and maintain their hold on wealth and power.
What we are watching in Ukraine is an example of a bully without honor committing a fraud, rewriting history, pretending to be a strong man by preying on others he can subjugate for his and others’ benefit. He is allowed to do this because of that second group, the dishonorable holders of wealth and power: banks, financial institutions, Swift, nations run by strongmen, Right wing media talking heads, heads of state, legislators.
It takes honor and courage to be a democratic republic, the strength to believe in yourself and fellow citizens despite your fears and theirs. Cowards prefer autocracies, undemocratic institutions, and oppressive denial of human rights. It takes honor and courage to speak truth to power as a member of a political party or legislative body. It takes honor and courage to follow and enforce the rule of law. Too often, dishonorable cowards use police forces and judges to guard bullies from legal consequences, and to enforce subjugation of those they fear. We refer to these acts as “ abuse of power.” Those abused by the justice system see more clearly the truth behind the dishonorable seeking only power and wealth.
The same principles driving Putin to subjugate Ukraine are those which drive the Republican Party. This is not new. But, it has been in place for so many years that we who are privileged to avoid the bullies( no one can entirely)for most of our lives have been all too willing to ignore the abuse of others. Racism and sexism are not new. The honorable and courageous among us recognize and admit this despite our fear that we are complicit in the fraud of white supremacy.
I think the reason the invasion of Ukraine is so troubling is not only that Trump,Manafort, Flynn, the Devos family and other American oligarchs, the Republican Party, and FOX TV ( it is not a news station) supported, and continue to support Putin’s agenda in Ukraine. It is far worse. This is a world-wide agenda to undermine democratic institutions and human rights in every city in every country.
Those of us who value honor must oppose this fraud against humanity with courage and persistence. President Biden is right that this will not be easy, that it will take time. My heart aches for the pain, suffering and death being aggressively visited upon Ukraine which will occur in the meantime, the number of African-Americans and other persons of color who will be abused in the meantime, the number of young people who will feed the coffers of oligarchs by the sale of guns and drugs as they die from school shootings and overdoses.
Follow the money. Connect the dots. And for all of us, for every democracy stand together and speak out. Register and vote. Challenge every con and lie. Protect the electoral process. Do not stand silent before the bullies. Have courage! Hold honor dear.
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Tagged as bullies, courage, cowards, democracy, fear, human rights, racism, sexism, UKRAINE, USA, voting rights