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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThom Hartmann, In Full, With Permission: Gradually, then suddenly. (My Title)
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January 6 Was a Dress Rehearsal. Now the GOP Readies for 2024
Coups quietly build to an explosive tipping point, then suddenly appear as a fait accompli.
In 1926 Ernest Hemmingway published his novel The Sun Also Rises, which has this extraordinary bit of dialogue about how change happens in most aspects of life — and how governments rise and fall.
“How did you go bankrupt?” Bill asked.
”Two ways,” Mike said. “Gradually and then suddenly.”
”What brought it on?”
“Friends," said Mike. "I had a lot of friends. False friends.”
For some unfathomable reason, Democrats insist on calling their Republican colleagues their “friends.” They are not friends.
With few exceptions, they are systematically destroying American democracy with the clear objective of replacing it with strongman authoritarianism, a new and American version of what Benito Mussolini called fascism.
Right now they’re moving gradually:
* Infiltrating police departments and the enlisted ranks of the military
* Taking over school boards and local boards of elections
* Firing principals and teachers who defend multiracial, multicultural democracy while banning books that contain such “dangerous” ideas
* Demonizing queer people and outlawing drag shows
* Gerrymandering states so regardless of how people vote, Republicans control the levers of power
* Changing election laws so they can both make it harder for city-dwellers to vote and to ignore and then change the outcomes of elections they don’t like
* Building media structures that will support the authoritarian takeover when it happens
* Organizing armed paramilitary militias, with back-channel connections to local police
* Creating legal organizations to sanitize and rationalize ending messy democracy
* Radicalizing average Americans through social media and an ever-growing network of hard-right radio shows and podcasts
* Spreading antisemitic conspiracy theories about Democrats and Jews using the dog whistle of “George Soros”
* Firebombing Texas Democratic Party’s Austin headquarters and threatening them that if they don’t stop trying to get Democrats elected worse will come
We’ve seen this movie before.
It was “the other 9/11.” Everything seemed normal until General Pinochet declared he was taking over the government of Chile on September 11, 1973.
The Chilean government had been run democratically since 1923, the longest in South America, but Pinochet (with help from the Nixon administration) had already infiltrated and gotten the loyalty of both the police, the army, and the civilian paramilitaries he’d spent the previous few years nurturing.
So when he rolled up to the presidential palace and declared he was taking over, nobody came to the defense of the elected president, Salvador Allende. The police were already loyal to Pinochet, including the police who defended that nation’s capitol.
Allende, along with around 30 supporters, held the palace for a few hours, gave a short national radio address, and then put a gun to his head and ended his presidency.
Gradually, then suddenly.
When Chileans poured into the streets, Pinochet swept them up and held them in the national stadium, where tens of thousands were tortured, murdered, or simply disappeared. One of the favorite tactics of his military was to throw “liberals” out of helicopters over the ocean to kill them, a practice celebrated by rightwing militia around the US today.
Pinochet’s democratic political opposition lost all its power and went underground; it would be seventeen years before anything resembling democracy would return to Chile, a process that is still pulling itself together.
If Mike Pence had gone along with Trump’s plan to imitate the election of 1876 and install the guy who lost both the popular and the electoral vote as president, America would be a very, very different country today.
Gradually, then suddenly.
Trump had previously proclaimed his desire to change the nation’s libel and slander laws so he could sue or imprison his political opponents and those in the media who opposed him; if he had succeeded on January 6th, that would have happened by now, and people like me (and maybe you) would be in jail.
Echoing one of Pinochet’s first 1973 laws, a Republican state legislator in Florida just proposed legislation requiring bloggers and writers to register with the state if they intend to criticize any elected official; had Trump succeeded we’d all be living under similar laws today.
Trump had previously promised his violent partisans that he’d pardon them and pick up their legal fees; if he’d held onto the White House, by now hundreds of Kyle Rittenhouse’s would have “defended themselves” against Black people, “Antifa,” and “commie liberals”without consequence.
If Republicans held a large enough majority in Congress, a constitutional convention like rightwing billionaires have been promoting and annually rehearsing in Washington, DC would be underway to rewrite our founding document. The right of all Americans to vote, separation of church and state, civil rights, protections of free speech and assembly, the right to due process and equal protection under the law, even the obscure Emoluments Clause would all be on the chopping block.
Trump-friendly corporations would be running political purges reminiscent of the Republican “Red Scare” and “Blacklist” of the 1950s all across the country as social media accounts were examined for evidence of “leftist” leanings; Johnny McEntee began that process when he was “Deputy President” to Trump and was firing people in the executive branch for “liking” postings by “leftwing” entertainers like Taylor Swift.
The process Trump started in Portland and Seattle in the summer of 2020 of unmarked vans and stormtrooper-like federal police with no identifying patches kidnapping people off the streets would have expanded nationwide; tens of thousands would be in custody without charges.
Private prisons would expand to take in the hundreds of thousands of people arrested protesting in the streets or for speaking out on social media. For most Americans who voted Republican or were completely apolitical, though, life would go on as normal (just like in the early years of the takeovers of Chile, Russia, and Hungary — or Italy, Germany and Spain in the 1930s).
A handful of high-profile progressive politicians would have been assassinated or survived assassination attempts; the police and the FBI, however, would have been as clueless about their killers (or complicit) as they were about 10,000 people planning to storm the Capitol and assassinate the Vice President and Speaker of the House on January 6th.
The Democratic Party would have been labeled the aggressors and as subversives by rightwing media; its ranks by now would have melted away as quickly as the union-aligned parties did in Italy and Germany in the 1930s or the Allende Socialists in Chile in 1973.
First abortion would be criminalized nationwide, then birth control, then women in business and politics would find themselves under constant attack in the media and the workplace. White male dominance would by now be close to reattaining the status it had in 1972 when women couldn’t legally get an abortion, sign some contracts, or even get a credit card without the signature of a father or husband.
Newsrooms across the country would be purged by now of liberals and running editorials in support of the “new patriotism” proclaimed by the GOP; the hedge funds headed up by rightwing billionaires — who today own over half of all the nation’s newspapers — would be snapping up the rest of the nation’s media like Viktor Orbán’s oligarch buddies did in Hungary.
Every time these sorts of coups happen, the nation’s people are shocked and surprised. They had no idea how far things had gone. It even happened that way with the American Revolution and the Civil War.
Gradually, then suddenly.
Trump’s supporters are today openly calling for the end of democracy, for book banning, and for public executions of Democratic politicians. The leader of the Republicans in the House of Representatives refused to even reprimand Representative Paul Gosar for openly celebrating his fantasy murder of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
A multimillionaire former head of The Carlyle Group with no political experience, running on a platform of auditing the 2020 election and not much else, won the governorship of Virginia by spreading the naked, racist lie that Democrats in that state were indoctrinating white children to feel ashamed of the color of their skin; not a single elected Republican and only a rare few in the media called him out.
When Franklin D. Roosevelt faced the fascist “America First” movement within the GOP, he went to political war with them and the Supreme Court that backed them.
“They hate me,” he thundered to cheers, “and I welcome their hatred!”
President Biden appears to think he can negotiate with these people who want to remake America in Pinochet’s image (with the same type of Chicago School neoliberal advisors who helped Pinochet turn Chile into an autocratic nightmare).
He’s wrong.
They are building their power and their organizations right now; armed paramilitary groups are expanding across the country as the GOP has become so radicalized that they even proclaim Liz Cheney as their enemy.
Billionaire-owned media properties like Fox “News” and hate-talk radio push naked lies to their viewers and listeners — all to make a buck and consolidate their political power — with no loss of audience.
And they’re packing our courts with young, hardcore rightwing ideologues.
Republicans are openly preparing for a second Civil War, calling for a “national divorce.”
Reuters did a major and shocking report on how police forces, presumably sympathetic to local neofascist elements, refuse to even investigate death threats against elections officials and Democratic politicians.
In Michigan, a militia group nearly kidnapped and killed that state’s governor; they were stopped by an insider who turned states’ evidence. Last week another group was found planning to murder that state’s openly lesbian Attorney General.
Meanwhile, all across social media, the word is spreading: “The storm is upon us.”
January 6th was a rehearsal; they're now planning 2024. Coups build to an explosive tipping point, then suddenly appear as a fait accompli.
Unless we stop them in-process, this may be our last chance.
Gradually, then suddenly.
Link: https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/january-6-dress-rehearsal
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gab13by13
(32,335 posts)when I see that you did. Thom is one of a few people who I go to for news.
People who say Don't Worry, be Happy cannot see what is happening to our country. There will be no sites like DU where I can call for the insurrectionists to be held accountable before it is too late. I will never stop calling for the traitors to be held accountable no matter how much criticism is laid upon me. Look around people, the authoritarian movement has been going on for decades so do not be surprised when it hits America suddenly.
Fantastic article by Thom Hartmann, if only he had a spot on cable news, domestic oligarchs will never allow that to happen.
Bernardo de La Paz
(60,320 posts)Earth-shine
(4,044 posts)He had a primetime show on RT. I used to watch it.
Thom was criticized by many for being there and staying too long.
He said he always did what he wanted and RT never interfered with his program.
I felt that the problem was he gave RT legitimacy. Others believed RT gave him illegitimacy.
To me, it was Thom in primetime; not Russian propaganda.
SouthernDem4ever
(6,619 posts)It seems lightning pace to me.
robbob
(3,750 posts)But this movement goes back to at least the 80’s, with the rise of the religious right and Ronald Reagan. Hate radio, RW militia groups and Fox News have been at work for a long time, paving the way. So yes, gradually then suddenly. We are entering the “suddenly” phase…
Bernardo de La Paz
(60,320 posts)
MyMission
(2,010 posts)Whereas murder would imply a corpse as proof.
It is generally assumed if one is disappeared they are dead, but they could be alive, enslaved, imprisoned, conscripted. No one knows, except the ones who made them disappear.
Families grieve in both cases, but a body gives closure whereas someone who simply disappeared causes families to have hope they are alive somewhere.
Bernardo de La Paz
(60,320 posts)GGoss
(1,273 posts)
When you throw someone out of a helicopter at the proper altitude, over the ocean, they are almost never seen again.
Farmer-Rick
(12,667 posts)"Missing Chileans ‘dumped in ocean’"
"At least 400 Chileans who “disappeared” under ex-dictator Augusto Pinochet’s bloody rule were dumped into the ocean strapped to pieces of railroad track to make them sink."
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/2003/11/24/missing-chileans-dumped-in-ocean
And the well known free trade capitalist Milton Friedman loved Pinochet. He visited the bloody dictator and praised the horror visited upon the Chilean people. Don't tell me capitalism supports democracy.
The sad part is that it was a huge overreaction to Allende winning the election. Allende perpetually ran for president in Chile much like Bernie in the US. He never won until 1970 when there was a 3 way tie where he got the highest percentage of votes. The poor man was not going to change Chile hugely. It would still be a political struggle to move away from cut throat capitalism.
I really don't believe he killed himself. I think Pinochet shot him.
Bernardo de La Paz
(60,320 posts)gab13by13
(32,335 posts)My buddies and I got a day off, we were sipping a beer at an outside restaurant when a Chilean came upon us, realizing we were Americans he began screaming at us, I didn't know that much Spanish then, but he said Pinocet many times. It got to the point where the manager of the restaurant had to intervene. I'm sure that his relatives and friends had met the wrath of Pinocet. We smoothed things over, I was probably the only Democrat in our group. The Chileans were very much opposed to the Iraq War, there were signs and paintings all over the city, No War. I knew what to do. I learned a Chilean sign language where you run your hand up your throat to signify puking. I looked at him and said Bush, and then ran my hand up my throat and he hugged me. My co-worker gave him some cigarettes and we walked down the street together.
I will never forget that day, how 30 years after Pinocet rolled his tanks through the streets of Santiago that Chileans remembered it like it happened yesterday, they had lost their democracy, I saw the effects close up.
Women were not allowed to work in the factory where I was working.
There was no OSHA, no safety rules, I worked in dangerous situations many times.
Only the rich could afford to go to good schools.
Only the rich got good health care. One of my Chilean friends was a really good soccer player, he broke his ankle and a quack doctor set it wrong and he now walks with a limp.
Milton Friedman from the Chicago School of economics set up Chile's trickle down economic system. I made more in 3 hours of work than my Chilean friends made in a week, and they were just as skilled workers as I was.
I saw the results of authoritarianism, it was not pretty, that is why I do post after post crying to hold the insurrectionist authoritarians accountable. Time fucking matters.
GGoss
(1,273 posts)
Lonestarblue
(13,480 posts)Republicans cut safety programs and passed tax cut after tax cut to transfer the wealth of the nation to the already rich. And now we have an aggrieved populace so ignorant that they continue voting for the Republicans who create the conditions they claim to suffer from.
I totally agree with you on holding the insurrectionists accountable. Too much time has gone by with no one at the top of the coup pyramid being indicted and tried.
ancianita
(43,307 posts)Time does matter. Rule of law enforcers can't wait until everything's perfect before acting to enforce it. Even at scale.
gab13by13
(32,335 posts)It is often said that a prosecutor can indict a ham sandwich, the bar is lower to indict someone. If Trump were indicted today his trial will never happen for 2 or 3 or 4 years, that's 2 or 3 or 4 years that DOJ will have to get its ducks all in a row.
The problem is making the call to indict a former president. I do not diminish the importance of that decision, it will be a momentous one. I do not believe that Merrick Garland has made his mind up yet. Hiring Jack Smith leads me to believe he will indict Trump, but I wouldn't bet my house on it.
ancianita
(43,307 posts)Going with the imperfect right now is reading and knowing the groundswell of storm ahead. Better now, imperfectly, than later.
When we all get the same sets of facts, negative or positive interpretation is a choice.
Right now my choice is to read the DOJ facts in the spirit I've come to see from its work — which is to stay positive that investigations at scale and pace are going well.
I'm sure Garland has made up his mind. He wouldn't put a Hague person into SC position only to shut him down.
Democrats either trust their nation's rule of law process or they don't.
And the 7 million Democrats who turned out in 2020 did and still do.
IMO, we here need to represent their voice, not become faint of heart or discourage.
Bernardo de La Paz
(60,320 posts)
FoxNewsSucks
(11,704 posts)The fascists are relentless, and won't fail to try every single dirty trick possible.
Yet some people here still call for fucking "patience" because it'll all be OK. One should really wonder about their true motive.
Bernardo de La Paz
(60,320 posts)
ananda
(35,152 posts)Do not negotiate with terrorists.
Just A Box Of Rain
(5,104 posts)Major fail on Thom Hartmann's part.
gab13by13
(32,335 posts)ever advance terrorists propaganda aims? Major fail my ass.
Why don't you respond to the article he just wrote? Do you disagree with it, do you agree with it? What is your opinion of this article before you?
Just A Box Of Rain
(5,104 posts)FoxNewsSucks
(11,704 posts)FoxNewsSucks
(11,704 posts)
Just A Box Of Rain
(5,104 posts)
ananda
(35,152 posts)...
Diamond_Dog
(40,579 posts)I subscribe to Hartmann’s newsletter and I encourage everyone here to subscribe to it, as well. It’s free.
I wish he was on TV every night saying this stuff.
multigraincracker
(37,651 posts)In the 30s, German farmers were big supporters of Hitler. Not long after that, they were sent to the Russian front.
gab13by13
(32,335 posts)which shut down the J6 committee, still wishing and waiting for the Senate to pick up the slack. Hey, Chuck Schumer get Dick Durbin to fire up his committee. This is something that Democrats could do to fight harder.
ancianita
(43,307 posts)To start up another version of the Jan 6 Comte from the last session would just confuse folks who now have to truly focus on moving forward to enforcement this year. Not next year.
FoxNewsSucks
(11,704 posts)passes no meaningful or helpful legislation. Wouldn't get out of the House either.
So the Senate may as well spend its time confirming Biden's judicial appointments as fast as possible, and continuing the J6 committee's work in some form. Either further investigation or better yet, work that would expedite convictions and jailings.
ancianita
(43,307 posts)from a sizable minority of local sheriffs across 4,000+ counties, to so-called lone wolf mass shootings, to AG associations to sue any and all Democrats, to legislatures whose laws disguise their hit lists, to a SCOTUS that sets up the unconstitutional oppressions of over half the population through states.
Can these actions actually thin the herd of the 7,000,000 who voted Biden and Democrats in, first gradually, then suddenly? First through red states, then nationally? Shutting down their participation, driving them out by labeling them 'terrorists' when they protest, then ending the lives of enough -- say, a couple of million -- to keep the others around as "loyal opposition," such that 'rule of men' ends 'rule of law'?
niyad
(132,446 posts)Alexander Of Assyria
(7,839 posts)Declaring a national emergency and calling up the military to occupy Congress and enforce a military backed regime?…would not have happened…General Miley wrote a clear memo to the American Citizens about that.
gab13by13
(32,335 posts)High ranking people.
Alexander Of Assyria
(7,839 posts)Pence agrees, chaos reigns, National Emergency declared by Mussolini..Military ordered by Mussolini to takeover and arrest all protestors and politicians in opposition…and keep electorally defeated government in power indefinitely? Scary thought, but vacuous.
The last part about General Staff suddenly being all in MAGA?…never would have happened.
Bernardo de La Paz
(60,320 posts)... accepted so they and the rump could pervert the Electoral College and subvert the will of the voting public.
It wasn't planned to be an ordinary military coup.
Prairie_Seagull
(4,690 posts)Been a fan of Thom Hartmann for many years.
There may very well come a day (I would argue that that day is here) when we will all need the courage of our convictions. Right now we are in the drip, drip, drip phase as your post indicates. When and yes if the flood hits, well that will be an interesting and potentially dangerous time.
In France there is talk of raising the retirement age 2 years yes I said that right just 2 years from 62 to 64 and the people have taken to the streets in droves for over a week now. We will need something of that nature or even bigger in order to get some to slither back under their rocks. We need to get organized and loud in order to stop the flood from ever happening. My only question would be under what banner? Stop creeping fascism, Stop creeping authoritarianism....
There is plenty of hope yet IMO we just need the courage of our convictions.
Tic, Toc or better, drip, drip drip.
littlemissmartypants
(33,620 posts)Beastly Boy
(13,283 posts)- Biden does not negotiate with people who want fascism in America.
There are people who are willing to listen to reason and those who are impervious to reason. Painting them all with the same broad brush is intellectually dishonest. Biden is only open to negotiating with the former, and he is resisting the latter. And this is the only viable solution to maintaining democracy without plunging the country into chaos and violence. Convince enough reasonable people to resist the fascists.
-Jan 6 was not a rehearsal. It was a failure. Trump's intention was to overturn the will of the people, and he failed. He tested the peaceful transition of power to the limit, he got this close to succeeding, but he failed. The insurrectionists are not the only ones who have learned from the experience. Everybody did. The next time, if it comes (and I doubt it will), the insurrectionists will face a much better prepared country and its democratic institutions who have already taken lessons from the experience.
Insisting that either one of these points Hartmann is making are legitimate is fear mongering, and it doesn't contribute anything to the preservation of the democratic institutions of this country.
ancianita
(43,307 posts)Yet the summary of events does contribute by mapping the bigger picture of momentum. Knowing the gradual can work to prevent the suddenly. That alone makes this worth the read, imo.
GGoss
(1,273 posts)"Oh shit, didn't see that coming." will be OUR FAILURE.
ancianita
(43,307 posts)"Our failure" is never absolute. We can look "out," but we can also remember that we are only ever down, we are not out. All is in attitude.
GGoss
(1,273 posts)That may be one of the "good" things that came out of January 6th.
For a time, it seemed like every discussion of encroaching fascism was shut down by shouts of Godwin's Law.
And it's difficult to lead a "Never Again" life, when our supposed allies keep shoving Godwin in your face.
ancianita
(43,307 posts)Women on International Women's Day have a "half the sky" stake in all this.
The small, violent enforcements of patriarchal hierarchies don't surround us, but are all around us.
FoxNewsSucks
(11,704 posts)Waiting for everything to be OK also contributes nothing to preserve democracy. It helps the fascists, in fact. They're counting on us sitting idly by, being patient.
Also to clarify Hartmann's point about J6 - He's discussed it on the radio many times, in far more depth than the article. January 6 was an attempt. It became a rehearsal only because it failed. Same with the Michigan incidents cited. That's what you call a failed coup, "practice".
The fascists learn from their mistakes, and Hartmann's point is valid. They won't give up, and they intend to do better next time. May do so, as they've been relentlessly working on it.
Beastly Boy
(13,283 posts)Based on your previously acquired knowledge on Hartman's position, something that is not referred to in the article cited in the OP, I understand that Hartmann concluded that the very fact the coup has failed makes it a rehearsal rather than an outright failure. It is difficult for me to accept this kind of logic. By definition, a rehearsal is a trial of an event prior to its execution. By Hartmann's logic, then, a premiere of a theater production that ended in failure prior to its conclusion of the second act would be considered a rehearsal rather than a very public embarrassment for its producers. The principals who were responsible for the production may have learned from their failure, but they failed. Likewise, a premiere has never been considered a trial event, or a practice. The rioters came to stop the peaceful transition of power, not merely try to stop it, nor practice to stop it. They failed. Whatever they learned from it doesn't erase this fact.
I never suggested that inaction contributes to the preservation of democracy. On the contrary, what I said was that it would be ridiculous to assume that the insurrectionists are the only ones who have learned their lesson, and the rest of us are sitting idly by and waiting for everything to be OK. I said that the next time, if a similar event comes to pass, the insurrectionists will face a much better prepared country and reinforced democratic institutions who have already taken lessons from the experience.
Scaring us with preposterous propositions of everybody sitting idly by and waiting for everything to be OK, as if it is a real thing, is, indeed, fearmongering.
FoxNewsSucks
(11,704 posts)I took the discussion as a way to get across to the audience, or at least the non-regulars who already know, that Jan 6 was unsuccessful, but they would not be giving up.
I'm not the one scaring with preposterous propositions, others here seem to be encouraging that. I don't understand their motive, but the posts are fairly frequent any time this or the DoJ's action/inaction is brought up.
Buckeyeblue
(6,352 posts)Radical conservatives, the cristofacists we discuss on here, have always been louder than common sense leftist. Mainly because they are more ideologically bound than we are. Their responses are more procedure based than analytically based. Conservative ideology attempts to remove individual thought from the process. That's why they hate education, especially liberal arts education. The liberal arts and science majors learn to think.
If I were to embrace the article, I feel like I would need to prepare for a civil war. But this same sort of extreme rhetoric that is being used by cristofacist. They flip the script to show their followers how liberals are coming for them.
I've stated this before, but what keeps 99% of white male conservatives from doing anything other than bitch about how unfair things are is that they like their lives. The like their houses, their trucks, their boats, their four-runners, their snow mobiles. They also love their families. They love to complain and blame others for their woes. But they like their situation. And a civil war would take all that away. Somehow, deep in their minds they know this.
A civil war would tank the economy immediately. Power grids would fail. Their would be fuel shortages. Food shortages. Forget about finding toilet paper.
2024 will be interesting. I think there will be a lot that happens that will surprise us. And I can't even begin to predict what that is.
ymetca
(1,182 posts)And it will be a very bright comet in the sky in 2024, brighter than most of the stars, astronomers are telling us.
What effect this will have on the indoctrinated minds of the "imminent rapture" crowd, only time will tell.
Mr. Evil
(3,457 posts)In some ways it was but, the real dress rehearsals was what happened in Chile and Nicaragua and other Central and South American countries in the 70's and 80's. Republicans have always been using those countries as guinea pigs for their fevered dreams.
They really have no plan for the aftermath if such should become true. They don't realize that infrastructure would crumble. Supply chains would fail. Here's a big one that most anyone can understand: The NFL would basically cease operations. No more football. And most likely no more NBA. College sports would also pretty much be in the shitter too. Forget about any good movies to watch either.
The people that espouse and desire such a dystopian hellscape as a 'better way' are nothing more than power-mad junkies not unlike those addicted to heroin or meth. Once they get a taste, they crave more and more. The oligarchs spend every hour scheming on how to acquire more wealth. They pay politicians (almost exclusively republicans) to maintain their personal status quo.
Working class people in this country that vote republican (even if they own their own business) have never understood the old saying, "be careful what you wish for." Because if the republicans and insurrectionists ultimately have their way, they, along with the rest of us will then be subject to the 'Luca Brasi' treatment. They take your business and hand it over to some super-wealthy benefactor and give you a job... say, driving a truck for 10 hours per day for $10. You say, "absolutely not!" The next day a small group will pay you a visit and tell you again that you will now drive a truck for $10 for 10 hours while an associate (the Luca Brasi type) holds a gun to your head. The job or the bullet. "You see how nice and respectable we are. We're giving you a choice."
Martin Eden
(15,629 posts)Not sure how much of that Mango Mussolini could have achieved 26 months into a 2nd term or if the worst violations of our Constution would be approved by the 6-3 majority rightwing court, but there's no denying that's where so-called "conservatives" want to take us.