Rebecca Solnit : the coup has already happened
https://lithub.com/rebecca-solnit-the-coup-has-already-happened/Clear, insightful article that uses some particularly memorable biological metaphors to explain the current situation. Worth a careful read of the entire article IMHO, but here are some excerpts:
. . ..
Over and over weve seen Trump contort his administration to serve Russia, whether hes trying to hold back sanctions or to undermine the Paris climate treaty. The question isnt whether were in a zombie horror movie starring an insane clown puppet with some very long and yankable strings, but what were going to do about it. Because what all those little pieces add up to, what the tangle sorts out as if you pay attention is: this is life after the coup.
After the coup, everything seems crazy, the news is overwhelming, and some try to cope by withdrawing or pretending that things are normal. Others are overwhelmed and distraught. Im afflicted by a kind of hypervigilance of the news, a daily obsession to watch whats going on that is partly a quest for sense in what seems so senseless. At least Ive been able to find the patterns and understand who the key players are, but to see the logic behind the chaos brings you face to face with how deep the trouble is.
We still have an enormous capacity to resist the administration, not least by mass civil disobedience and other forms of noncooperation. Sweeping the November elections wouldnt hurt either, if that results in candidates we hold accountable afterward. Or both. I dont know if theres a point at which it will be too late, though every week more regulations, administrators, and norms crash and burnbut we are long past the point at which it is too soon.
tblue37
(65,227 posts)Arkansas Granny
(31,507 posts)This connect a lot of dots.
MBS
(9,688 posts)dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)When Bolton closed down the cybersecurity watch dog agency, the message was unmistakable.
Now some Democrats in Congress are agreeing to the CIA pick.
I'm gonna harp yet again that what we have been and are going thru is identical to how the Germans watched Hitler grab power.
"They thought They Were free" is a crucial read, if only because you won't feel alone in this nightmare.
MBS
(9,688 posts)lunatica
(53,410 posts)So far we have been seeing what appears to be nefarious activity but with no real rhyme or reason. Now we begin to sense the larger picture.
Its getting easier to see what is happening and how. We now know that Trumps attacks on the media arent just him whining. Theres method in his madness. If he can control the media he controls everything. We all know that controlling the media is key to Totalitarian regimes if we know any history. Hes also attacked the Judiciary.
All he has to do is put his people (or Putins people) in the top positions. Hes already done it in the important positions of Devos as the Secretary of Education, Scott Pruitt in the Environmental Protection Agency, Ben Carson as Director of HUD, and the list goes on. All these appointments effectively work to cripple this country from within, especially when it comes to education.
All Dictators have historically found a way to control the media. Sean Hannity is already Trumps minister of Propaganda who he seems to consult with nightly. Once Trump shuts the door to the White House press briefings all we will hear on an official level is what the administration wants us to hear. Digging for the truth will become much harder. Especially if a few journalist writers are suddenly dead.
The thoughts I have terrify me.
dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)But that damn bell curve which measures things always puts us in the minority.
Back when Shrub was first illegally installed in the WH, I remember being furious that so many lemmings could drag us along with them over the cliff.
Now there are even more lemmings. And we are much much closer to the cliff.
MBS
(9,688 posts)The idea that the Orange One still has a 40% (ish) approval rating is just crazy-making.
dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)I am having a living nightmare now of the same feeling.
DemocracyMouse
(2,275 posts)And it's all hands on deck.
Stop business as usual everyone.
Do EVERYTHING you can EVERY DAY to save your country.
MBS
(9,688 posts)PatSeg
(47,282 posts)Trump is a reckless, in-your-face bumbling thug, whereas Putin is disciplined and Machiavellian. It is astounding that such a clown has gone so far. Prior to his run for president, I found Trump to be a bizarre and ridiculous caricature. It never dawned on me that anyone would ever take him seriously. I'm always learning something new.
czarjak
(11,254 posts)PatSeg
(47,282 posts)Of course, if Trump doesn't like the rule of law, he just changes lawyers, until he hears what he likes.
rainin
(3,010 posts)This will get pushed under the rug if trump is allowed to finish out his term. The only way we can restore our standing in the world is to impeach, convict and jail the American traitors. Our allies will forgive a Russian invasion if we treat it like one. Otherwise, we will wear the stain of trump for decades to come. Who will trust us again?
erronis
(15,185 posts)The ending sentence in the excerpt is right on.
We should have moved much earlier, perhaps during the 90's onward when our strength was being tested by the repuglicans and their allies.
We tend to be a group that wants to wait to see if things will get better on their own. I don't think this festering pustule is going to heal without some very strong intervention.
dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)But Gore was smiling on tv and conceding and some of us were thinking well, maybe, we are being too alarmist.
That concern left me that very day they announced TSA program, and came up with "homeland Security" name.
Right then the alarms went off.
But, as the good Germans said, during Hitler's rise.." Well, there's a lot suddenly happening, one thing after another, new announcements and news, it is overwhelming, you just go from one happening to the next.
And besides, when you looked around, most people were not showing any alarm. Maybe some whispers here and there, but they soon disappeared under the events, and we were so busy going to work, family stuff, it was all just too much to take in."
All of that happened long before Hitler invaded his first country.
KY_EnviroGuy
(14,488 posts)They now have much of our public right where they want us - demoralized and delusional. Democrats are not quitting the fight, though....ever.
.... ....... ........
Cary
(11,746 posts)We can wring our hands but that isn't going to do anything for us. In the near term we can win in November by the greatest margin possible. So for once can we just have some discipline? Can we focus on the task at hand?
I am as distressed as anyone about #fakepresident and his crime family. I will never surrender.
Perseus
(4,341 posts)A must recommend...
Uncle Joe
(58,298 posts)Thanks for the thread MBS
MBS
(9,688 posts)Her article really pulled all the threads together for me in a way that none of the other hundreds of articles and Talking Head TV shows have managed to do as effectively. (I mean "hundreds" literally- I've been following this story obsessively, and with ever increasing alarm, for almost 3 years now).