We're really headed to an extremely dark place, where this is the mainstream GOP view of the Libs.

[Soph0571]

They have been working on project emboldened murderous white supremacist Nazi theocracy for the last 50 years. They sure got a win yesterday, with Trump White Youth being given explicit permission to gun the other side down with impunity. But this will not stand. Not in the long run. There is more progressive young people in the world than the horror that is this youth. Their time is running out and they know it, unfortunately as time tick tocks away their actions will become more violent, desperate and democracy destroying - they are trying to push the nuclear button on the Republic - but their actions will not stand. Not in the end. It is always darkest before the dawn right?

“The one thing that doesn’t abide by majority rule is a person’s conscience.” - Atticus Finch

[JI7]

1. That's where we have always been

[getemjoe]

2. I've been hearing

that since the Clinton’s were in college.

[FarPoint]

4. Well....

Murder was not a feasible option for them back then...They didn't openly carry AR 15's to protesting events...... and now, they have successfully murdered 2 unarmed white men in the street with cops around ....these murdered victims who supported liberal causes and especially supported anyone of color.

Denial is not your friend.

[rainin]

6. Agree completely n/t

[ShazzieB]

5. I was in college when the Clintons were in law school.

I do NOT remember this kind of pernicious evil permeating the country back then.

[Cosmocat]

10. It wss there but not THIS extreme

But it was always headed this direction and uts going to continue to get worse.

[Scrivener7]

22. You may have pointed out the one silver lining in this. Of course there was pernicious evil

penetrating the country back then. But then it was so deep in the fabric of society that some of us did not feel it like others did. It was pointed mostly at people of color and those few brave women like Hillary who were sticking their heads up above the parapets and saying, "I want opportunity."

Could it be that what we are seeing now feels so much larger only because more of us are its targets? And that is only because more of us are competing with the toxic white guys?

Could it be that it feels larger only because we have gained so much ground since those days and they are shriller and more widely violent (because certainly this level of violence was commonplace against people of color in the past) because they have been pushed back farther?

[jaxexpat]

43. Me too. I remember it as a few discounted eccentrics, the butt of jokes.

Their influence was restrained by the good sense of a generally progressive society. They were ashamed of themselves and tried their best to hide away. As society waxed less progressive, it's conscience erased by the erosive factor of 24/7 propaganda, they became more vocal. Recreating themselves as the downtrodden, discounted by the thoughtlessness of a "liberal society" bent on emasculating them. The "out and proud" movement wasn't intended to excuse evil thinking, abetting evil deeds, but the right adapted it's message of enthusiasm by inverting the concept to "liberate" their bad behavior.

This court's ruling, brought about by a ridiculously obvious perversion of "justice", is the right's bright green light, a neon sign visible from space, plainly reading, "We don't care what ANTBODY thinks. We are armed and everything is self defense"

. By this ruling, these misguided people have been given license to conduct their war.

[KS Toronado]

58. Welcome to DU getemjoe

Like your handle, might inspire someone to invent a "gogetemjoe" handle

[FarPoint]

3. I believe we are all targets....

Murder is now on their table....

[Bernardo de La Paz]

7. Kurt Schlichter is extreme even for GOP, not even their mainstream.

He writes rabid columns three times a week at townhall .com, fevered apocalyptic novels, and is much loved at the FReak site.

[FarPoint]

8. Kurt brought out a good point to my attention in this Tweet....

They all believe there is nothing we can do about it.....I know there are things we could do but theses terrorist are active even in every level, branch of government, Congress, schools and media.....

I don't believe in impossible.....but at this moment...I come up with zero options as to how to combat such anarchy.

[Cosmocat]

12. We have been headed down this path my whole life

Incrementally.

But 45 running and being elected broke the dam.

[FarPoint]

13. 45 took full advantage of our Liberal weaknesses....

We have to own our lack of backbone spine when it was essential to set healthy boundaries.... For the last 30-40 years, Progressive went out in the street to try and curb this anarchy in the making....Our Democratic leaders sat on their hands.....lacked the ability to unite and see the big picture, denial was their friend and our demise....We opened the door for them.....years of taking the low road....

So, I believe they feel it now....they are experiencing apnea from the strangulation by the abusive GOP ....

So, who will be our Abraham Lincoln and lead us out of this doom?

[wnylib]

14. Lincoln was good, but politically,

I prefer to ask who will be our next FDR.

[empedocles]

41. 'Public sentiment is everything' - imagine where that sentiment ws

in the 1860's and for many decades after.

[wnylib]

45. Lincoln brought us through a civil war.

FDR brought us through the Great Depression AND a world war while fighting both fascism and communism within the nation to preserve democracy.

I have great admiration and respect for Lincoln. But for today's world an FDR would be more effective.

[Scrivener7]

20. All of these "grass roots" movements are planned and funded by conservative money.

They have given us the road map of what we need to do and how to do it. We don't have to follow them in their violence, but we can learn from them in the ways they use social media, the ways they manipulate the news cycle, the way they organize their messages, the way they go about public relations.

It is just a public relations game. And they have shown us how to play it. We only have to acknowledge that we need to play it. That is all that is missing.

Someone will say, "But they have hate radio." Hate radio is listened to by a tiny percentage of them. The rest is social media infiltration, shaping the message. It requires overt and covert efforts and yes, some trolling. But most of all, it requires that we open our eyes to the necessity to do it.

[Evolve Dammit]

24. It's not a "tiny percentage." Limbaugh and others have over a thousand outlets, including many

universities and Armed Forces Radio. 45 years of hate has taken a toll. He set the model and hundreds have their own programs. Hannity, Ingraham, reach a lot of folks as well. Over 70 million believe this shit, and that's the ones that vote. The actual numbers are much higher.

[Scrivener7]

32. The fact that you believe that is just another one of their PR victories.

VERY interesting article that will make you feel much better:

https://www.mediamatters.org/rush-limbaugh/why-dont-we-just-pretend-rush-limbaugh-has-50-million-listeners

The number of Limbaugh's listeners is likely more like 2 million (in the article) but no one really knows what it is. What everyone agrees, though, is that it is a tiny fraction of the numbers that are routinely thrown around.

And it is likely that Hannity's and Ingraham's listeners are those same 2 million, or whatever number.

Be all that as it may, though, hate radio is a fact and it is one we need to deal with. A good PR firm could probably come up with a way to do that. We have simply never tried. (And don't tell me Air America. That was a great thing, but it failed because it did not have the kind of money and expertise behind its marketing that right wing communications have.)

[oldsoftie]

54. You are correct. Even Hannity doesnt get the ratings the big 3 get every night.

Not even close

[Evolve Dammit]

60. We have never countered any of it. I have lived in rural areas much of my life and I can tell you it

dominates the airwaves and info they digest. The 74 that voted for 45, where do they get their info, besides Faux News. Facebook, internet, NRA, etc. Much of the internet dis-information/ mis-information is launched by Russian bots since 2015. Quite the conundrum.

[Scrivener7]

63. Not a conundrum at all. The misinformation campaigns that have been being

waged on social media are a road map for us. They tell us how to do it. We would of course do it with another message, but we can't say we don't know how to do it.

And this has been going on for a generation. We have ceded this territory to them, for no reason at all, for at least 20 years. It's time we entered that territory.

The right wing does not have a monopoly on facebook, the internet, etc. We simply haven't used our influence there. But they have taught us how to do it effectively. We just need to do it now.

There is nothing Russian bots can do that we can't do. And we know how the Russian bots did it. So we know how to do it.

I read somewhere that 80% of anti-vax mis-information on twitter originated in 78 twitter accounts.

We could put together 78 twitter accounts that spread our message.

[Evolve Dammit]

68. But will "we" do it, and "who" will do it? Will require lots of cash. Bannon knows how. Where

are "we?"

[Scrivener7]

72. Yes, exactly. Where are we?

[BComplex]

61. You nailed it. Fox and rush, and right wing radio, may they all feel unrest in hell

have destroyed the fabric of our country.

[TheRickles]

11. The headline of this post is more Raw Story's style, not DU's.

Though the content is valid, for sure.

[Celerity]

18. The OP only copied the tweet.

[TheRickles]

31. Maybe some quotation marks, then, to establish a little distance between DU and RS.

[muriel_volestrangler]

66. He rose to the rank of Colonel in the Army

which is worrying. And he has a mainstream publisher - Simon and Schuster:

Conservative Insurgency takes the form of an oral history of a successful struggle against progressive dominance from the perspective of the year 2041. It is not a novel; instead, it is a rallying cry and a battle plan for constitutional conservatives who feel outnumbered and outgunned by a liberal establishment that wants to make them extinct and Republican moderates who are more than happy to lose if it means they keep getting invitations to all the right parties.

Conservative Insurgency lays out the history of this struggle from the point of view of various participants as America inaugurates a new president and fully re-commits to the conservative vision of the Founders. The testimonies of the characters – politicians, academics, activist, soldiers and even a gender-indefinite performance artist who finds that liberalism is more constraining than conservatism ever could be – describe a multi-front, long-term political, social, and cultural war designed to seize society’s high ground in order to restore the Founders’ vision.

https://www.simonandschuster.co.uk/books/Conservative-Insurgency/Kurt-Schlichter/9781618689771

The thing is, "writes rabid columns three times a week at townhall .com, fevered apocalyptic novels, and is much loved at the FReak site" is the resume of a successful Republican Congressional candidate, these days.

[czarjak]

9. Praise Jesus! Huh, Kurt?

[Scrivener7]

15. And it all goes back to toxic masculinity. None of this has anything to do with policy or even

politics, really. It has nothing to do with anything other than a need to dominate. And that need is becoming more shrill and desperate.

They love TFG because he is the poster child for toxic masculinity, power with absolutely no substance or responsibility. He convinced them that their infantile behavior is just fine.

Inevitably someone will say, "What about the women?" We all need to understand that there is a subset of women who are as tied up with toxic masculinity as their men. They are generally the women who are financially or emotionally dependent on the men who practice toxic masculinity.

Those men and women are the ones who feel existential terror when men have to compete with other parts of society without the benefit of societally protected inherent advantages. Without the "man advantage" thumb on the scale.

This all goes back to that fear.

[Locrian]

27. well said

And toxic masculinity has always had to have the deck stacked for them in order for them to feel justified and to buttress their inherent weakness. Except of course when the want to play the victim then everything is stacked against them, etc

This decision gives them both approval and the satisfaction that they get to "own the libs" - which is the sacred goal for them.

[Scrivener7]

36. I always thought "owning" was an interesting choice of word. Literally owning us is their wish.

They used to literally own us. Us being women and people of color. They are sad because they no longer do. They are the ones whose feelings of manhood came from that ownership rather from the integrity and accountability and moral strength that real manhood is made of. And they feel emasculated when one of us is promoted over them or makes more money or is considered smarter or more valuable in some arena.

And that is what this is all about.

[Locrian]

49. own is indeed literl

I didn't think of it when I said "own the libs" but it really is the intent isnt it ?!

[gab13by13]

16. There have always been Nazis

in law enforcement, in the courts, in politics. The difference today is there are more of them in law enforcement and they feel emboldened, there are more of them in the courts, including the Supreme Court, and they feel emboldened, there are more of them in politics, in positions of power, and they feel emboldened. They are now running for places of power in the state, in the county, in the city, in the borough, in the school district.

The thing is that they aren't the majority but that doesn't matter because they are in places of power where they can change the rules, change the laws to maintain minority rule for generations.

Honestly, I don't know if we can stop this from within our country. We can elect a monster governor from Florida president and he can shape the United States into Florida's image. Florida depends on tourism, much of it from other countries. Will people from other countries stop coming to America? Will people from other countries start sanctioning the United States start condemning the United States? If they do, will that make a difference, will that even matter?

Yes, my Buddhist friend, this too will pass, but not in the foreseeable future. Nice quote by Atticus Finch, but they will ban books like "To Kill a Mockingbird."

[Maraya1969]

17. That guy's account was suspended. Good

https://twitter.com/KirtSchlichter

[muriel_volestrangler]

67. No, that was a parody or troll, spelled 'Kirt', not 'Kurt'

The one in the OP is still up.

[malaise]

19. Coups only work after you demonize the opposition

Last edited Sat Nov 20, 2021, 09:16 AM - Edit history (1)

First they start by changing the Party's Name. Now they're even changing the President's name - and that's just the simple optics part. Everything you do is communist, socialist, any fucking thing they make up. There is the real violence and the threat of violence, then they spread fear - then look for economic and political sabotage.
And sadly it can work if folks don't wake up and fast.

I lived through this. (not loved - thank you TheRickles)

[TheRickles]

39. I'm pretty sure your last sentence is a typo, but it expresses a deep truth.

If we can continue to love through this time of rising fear, then we can win. Remembering love - that is how we keep the greater good in our minds and hearts, so that we don't automatically see every situation as a battle between Us vs. Them. As you say, that mindset and those threats are everywhere, but it's a doomed path.

So a big "Thank you!" to your subconscious mind, Malaise, for that profound Freudian slip.

[malaise]

40. LOL - thanks

and we'd better love through these times - cometogether and fight the fascists.

[wnylib]

21. So if vigilantism is legal now, does that mean

that people on the left are now also free to open carry and shoot in "self-defense" at rallies?

Instead of rallies and protests, we are now more likely to have battle skirmishes.

Instead of signs and posters, we now need helmets, kevlar vests, gas masks, and our own armed guards for protection?

Damned RW fools don't know what they are pushing for. Civil wars are ugly and the damned fascists are not guaranteed to win.

[3825-87867]

29. Yep!

Was talking about this yesterday.

It seems we can now drive across country to Proud Boys Rallies or Republicans Rallies or Nazi Rallies like Va. that we feel WE don't like and gun down anyone we feel is a potential threat to us. Right Judge? Right Police? And the police can't do anything about it, either without violating OUR rights to murder and maim.

And as to their idea that THEY are so powerful, I imagine when a few of THEM lose a couple of loved ones they MAY decide to rethink their "superman" status!

Welcome to Putin's financial support for Right Wing Conservative Corps America. And if ANYONE thinks Putin is not behind the increased hatred ion America and the world since 1992, they need re-educated.

BTW, playing soldier in your pretty camo gear with your car to take you home to eat and sleep comfortably in your bed when the "game" is over, isn't the same as the experience or won't be the same outcome some of us had doing the real thing when OUR lives were at stake! Just sayin'!

[Icanthinkformyself]

38. Who?

My question is, "who will these rightwing nutz fight? The US military? The National Guard? Local law enforcement? The Democratic Party?"
The dependency on people's stupidity to gain followers is the flaw of fascism. The only intelligent ones are at the top.

[wnylib]

42. There are people among the police,

National Guard, and military who belong to fascist militia groups and would join them against the general population.

But so far they are not the majority in those organizations - yet.

[OneGrassRoot]

23. Trump White Youth. Yep. n/t

[bdamomma]

26. tomorrow

does not belong to them.

[bdamomma]

25. They

"the base" which they like to be called are like the Taliban, domestic terrorists. Rittenhouse will be watching over his shoulder everyday.

[Bluethroughu]

28. One thing that could help you feel better...

This happened in Greece a few years back. Their Nazis party had control of the majority, they did bad things so they were not re-elected and then they were prosecuted by their all woman High court and sentenced to prison.


One can hope we could be as expedient.

[The Jungle 1]

30. White racists fear demographics like nothing else.

They know their majority is collapsing in just a few years.
Also their message of hate is getting harder to sell.

[bucolic_frolic]

33. Apocalypse Watch

Robert Ludlum. I really have to get a copy and read it again. Ludlum was a genius who saw authoritarian and terrorist groups of all types aligning against government. Terrorists love fear and anarchy because it gives them room to maneuver. I don't know if anyone knows where he developed his ideas. I read his bio once. Parents British, raised in CT I think, former marine, was a stage manager in NJ for decades. And all of a sudden he was writing one best seller after another. I suspect his parents knew a lot of war time Britain.

[OneGrassRoot]

34. My hope is that they will keep saying the silent parts...

out loud. They are certainly more emboldened by the day, for a variety of reasons that disgust all (most) of us. In being so emboldened, I hope they increasingly get the attention of more moderate, apathetic voters who become as repulsed by them as we are and do not want them in positions of power, locally or otherwise.

[Icanthinkformyself]

35. The point of no return.

As with climate change, with regard to the rise of fascism in America, I believe we've blown past that point. How did those two things happen? How did we get to the point that both problems have become intractable and disaster unavoidable? Slowly at first, then very quickly. We are past the slowly part and have entered the quickly part, in both cases. Fascism is here. The degree to which it infects the country is yet to be determined. Liberals and progressives defeated the fascists in 1789, 1865 and 1941. We can do it again, this time, permanently.
We have the brains, they have the stupid.
Are the rightwing nut militias going to engage the US military or the National Guard in their 'Insurrection II, The New Civil War'? Do they really think they can beat tanks and missiles? When they get their a**es creamed let's not give them the pen this time, like we did in 1865. No whitewashing the white supremist.

[ancianita]

37. Nah, we're not that weak. We are millions of points of light.

Or we would've lost all the gerrymandered states below in 2020, but we didn't. But we could.

Because the real reasons to be nervous are in the statehouses.
And for the next ten years, unless we pass the For The People Act.




We will need to turn out like it's 2020 for the next three elections, at least.
This guy's dead, but the damage is done, and he was among the many people who are are still bringing Americans unfreedom and minority rule.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/30/us/census-citizenship-question-hofeller.html

[wnylib]

44. We need a massive 'action" of people

mailing copies of the film "Judgment at Nuremberg" to Judge Bruce Shroeder. He really needs to view it.

[NEOBuckeye]

46. To the Republican Supremacists: Be Careful What You Wish For

You might very well get what you want.


Don't start something that you are incapable of finishing.

[Lonestarblue]

51. We've been in a dark place before.

The sixties were a turbulent decade with the Vietnam War protests, civil rights protests and violence, and the assassinations of President Kennedy, Bobby Kennedy, Martin Luther King, and Malcolm X—all politically motivated. I think the shock of the assassinations, the end of the Vietnam War, and the passage of civil rights legislation all helped return us to sanity.

As with today, it was the right wing trying to prevent progress. And, of course, J. Edgar Hoover controlled the FBI and we’re just seen this week that they may have been complicit in the death of Malcolm X or at least the prosecution and jailing of people they knew did not kill Malcolm.

The difference today is that the right wing is now heavily armed and eager to kill. Political violence became acceptable with the January 6 insurrection and acceptance of the election lie, which gives the right wing license to commit violence. They have a cause, and that cause is protecting white privilege.

I believe it will take truly heinous actions by the right wing vigilantes to wake the country from this nightmare. I shudder to think what those might be.

[yardwork]

52. For those here claiming that "this has nothing to do with race" note the words.

"Rittenhouse killed two leftist catspaws..."

[ananda]

55. The corporations and the rich need them and use them.

Now they can kill with impunity because the corporations
and the rich need them to stay rich and powerful,
controlling the levers of government.

[NEOBuckeye]

56. Kurt Schlicthter is a bully and a coward

Easy to talk tough online behind a computer screen.

[OldkySoul]

57. And to think

My twitter account was suspended for just telling a vile disgusting racist trump loving shitbag to go get fucked with a chainsaw. Glad I no longer use twitter. They are as bad as facebook.

[Buckeyeblue]

59. The divide is real

I think poorly of righ-wing and even right-wing leaners that I know. They are low IQ information processors who generally prefer conspiracy theory or rumor over facts. When their leaders die, I am not sad.

At some point we may have to resist them in a violent way. We need to get our heads around that. We don't want to get caught in a position where it's too late.

I'm not advocating violence. I'm just saying we have to be prepared. We also have to be diligent about getting out the vote. We have to hold corporations accountable for their contributions. And most of all, we can't back down.

[Hotler]

62. They are so proud of their nastiness and hate. But hey, they throw a buck into the plate on Sunday

and call themselves Christian they rest of the week.

[traitorsgalore]

64. It's been that way for years, especially since "with us or against us" in the Bush crime era

Torture became an American value then, along with perma-war, propaganda and hate speech.

[Progressive Jones]

65. Who the fuck is "Kurt Schlichter"? nt

[milestogo]

71. hater who isn't afraid to use his real name on social media

Not very bright.

[IcyPeas]

69. "Your pain delights me"

this is what trolls like don jr. and mtg and matt gaetz and gosar think. it's all about owning the libs to them. that is all they do. then trump praises them. They laugh at us. It's more than disgusting. I don't know another word. deplorable revolting lowlifes.

[milestogo]

70. Save the fetus, kill the Libs.

The 6 week old is more human than liberal adults, in their eyes.

(Until the fetus grows up to be a liberal, at which time you can kill with impunity.)

[ismnotwasm]

73. Oh fuck that idiot

Who cares what “mainstream GOP” thinks? They are unreachable at the moment.

We still have half the population that doesn’t vote at all. Let concentrate on them, not some unknown asshole who probably posts Joker memes as a method of self soothing