A Confederacy Of Hate

A confederacy of hate and white supremacy exists in America and within our most sacred institutions. They hide behind the cloak of religion or patriotism to prey on minorities, the underprivileged and those who dare challenge their superiority. They rely on conspiracy theory, fear and alternative facts to connect with constituents who previously sat on the fringe of society and lacked a mainstream voice.

This caravan of deplorables use tried and true methods of organized dogma, scape goating, propaganda and slogan to radicalize new members. They encourage recruits to arm themselves with military grade arsenals and practically dare them to try out their new toys on the deep state, disenfranchised minorities and radical liberals who seek to prevent their ascension.

The time has come for all Americans to protect their standing in the world. To make clear that this group of radical domestic terrorists do not define this great nation or her people. We are the land of the free and home of the brave. Let’s act it.

We cannot wait for a far off Election Day. The constitutional cris is here. The time has come to reconcile America’s identity crisis. To call out and differentiate the majority of us from those who now seek to define our values. Who wish to hit a pause on the progress button and redefine a once great nation’s dreams and ideals.

A New Hope

The road to perdition is paved in ignorance. They say there are only 7 original stories in the world. If you read enough, and pay attention to life, you can actually begin to see them unfold in realtime. You grow able to predict what the author of that real life story is going to do next. The story they are trying to recreate.

Donald Trump and his caravan of criminal enablers are far from originals. We’re all familiar with this story they’re trying to script. For many of us it’s our favorite movie, book or television show. We’ve seen it unfold countless times, albeit in differing variations.

The agents of fear and oppression rise up, usually in the form of a privileged older pseudo populist whose good fortune depends on preserving the status quo. He uses fear and oppression as his primary tools of communication. His speeches comprised of thinly veiled dog whistles that call upon the deplorables of society to rise up to do their dirty work, to sow discord and chaos in our streets. Intimidate others to get on board with the populist agenda. They bully, threaten and blackmail likeminded peers and relatives. Join the cause or face excommunication from the party. Race or party traitors will be blacklisted.

The narcissist grows in time. He begins to divide traditional alliances through rumor, false promises and chaos. He removes safeguards and checks and balances meant to mitigate risk, to protect the health and safety of his constituents. He discredits and smears opponents with lies, misinformation and alternative facts. As his enablers rise in power their tactics become more brutal. Dissent must be suppressed. Foreign enemies abound! Now is not the time for protest and debate!

Midway through the story a cataclysmic event occurs. Plague, disease, pandemics beget war and destruction. The stuff of nightmares. Our worst fears realized. Freedoms must be restrained to contain the threat. At that point resistance is futile; the takeover complete. That’s the story Trump and his merry bannon of deplorables have written.

There’s another version of that story though. The one written about the protagonist. A story of hope, freedom and perseverance. How love saves the day. A last minute miracle. A heroic act that thwarts catastrophe to expose the naked emperor and unmask the fraud. One in which truth, justice and the “American” way win out. We, the people, can still write that story but to do so requires sacrifice and an organized opposition that coalesces the majority under a single tent.

Either way; the good news is this story always ends the same way. Love, empathy, sacrifice and acceptance win the day. A renewed unity and tolerance emerge. The villain denounced. A cautionary tale in history’s annals.

Progress by definition knows but one direction; #Forward. A new hope will spring. I’ve seen this movie a thousand times. Karma is the ultimate bitch and she always grabs back. The jokes on them. It’s only a matter of when, not if.

The Summer of Discontent

The summer of our discontent is upon us and Deplorable Donald is leading the charge. Our country is being ripped apart at the seams. Torn asunder by a so called President who finds security in the chaos and division he stokes.

To Trump’s credit he’s been quite transparent all along. Review his twitter feed from a different perspective and it almost reads as if it is both a self confession to treason and a whistleblower report (the good kind). In many conversations from “Russia, if you’re listening” right up to his present day cries of “Obamagate!” Trump openly flaunts his treasonous behavior for all to see. It’s what makes his threats to shoot unarmed protestors, shut down social media and cries of a coup, and accusations of deep state treason so dangerous.

When you see the completed puzzle you realize that these are not random pieces, projections or the rants and raves of a lunatic. Trump’s words are more than empty threats, but part of a greater design. They are the culmination of the best laid plans. Years of careful planning and coordinated efforts by those who do not hold America’s best interests at heart.

Enemies both foreign and domestic whose agendas and values do not thrive in a representative republic such as that envisioned by our founding fathers. The consolidation of God before country Raptureheads, Russia enabled military hawks and the racist status quo dependent deplorables all under the GOP big tent. Donald Trump nothing more than a golden calf to shepherd the message; a Trojan horse in which to deliver the troops and a Midas god to deliver the gold to his puppeteers.

Trump made his fortune as a CEO and reality show producer. Effective messaging and storytelling are two areas he actually does well. This attempt to divide America is no accident. Trump knows an indictment awaits his return to civilian life. His best hope to avoid prosecution is to hide behind the shield of executive immunity. To use the resources of the 1%, the blind faith of the Raptureheads and the insecurity driven hate filled strength of the deplorables to silence public dissent and suppress any efforts to otherwise remove him from office.

He seeks their approval and blindly advances their agenda with no questions asked. After all what’s a few dog whistles, conspiracy theory shout outs, executive orders and race baiting tweets in exchange for a loyalty oath from the majority of this nation’s gun owners, billionaires and private militias.

Even a domesticated dog’s behavior grows unpredictable when they sense the end is near. This isn’t a political fight, it’s a moral one. Brace yourself for the storms to come

Divider in Chief

Each day the man remains in office brings us closer and closer to the collapse of the American experiment. So, climb aboard. At this point there’s no preventing a bumpy ride but if we all agree to cast politics aside and join together as Americans then at least we may still come out the other side of this tunnel…

If you are registered Republican and concerned about Trump the time to act is now. Please consider officially changing your party affiliation to independent. Republican officials need to understand that their seats are not safe if they continue to go along with our so called President.

Though several members of the GOP have expressed concern about the Divider in Chief’s actions and words. To date no more than a handful have stood up to him in any meaningful way.

Unfortunately too many of our representatives, on both sides of the aisle, are motivated solely by power and survival. To truly drain the swamp this must stop. There is no doubt what the majority of people in this country value. There is no doubt what we want. It is time to put people over party. Only the citizens have the power to force this change. Make your voices heard and take action.

Declare your independence from party loyalty. Break the chains of political bondage and support those who stand up to bullies. Who have the courage of their convictions. Who accept accountability and do the right thing. This isn’t a fight that can wait for an uncertain tomorrow. The time is now and all in the political establishment must be put on notice #HistoryHasItsEyesOnYou

Profits Over People

It’s funny that the same individuals who defend capitalism as the end all be all don’t seem to understand a basic principle of it. The entire model is premised on supply and DEMAND. States may allow all the bowling alleys, massage parlors and hair and nail salons they have to open up but who do you think is going to show up?

Polls show that up to 70% of people favor continued stay at home orders. Sure these businesses may see an initial surge from the other 30% but then what? Each of these consumer driven commodities depend on sustained DEMAND to meet operational costs.

This is all a scam. Without normal demand these businesses will fail in the not to distant future. Employees of these businesses afraid to return to work will now be laid off for cause and removed from unemployment ranks. Those who do report put themselves at heightened risk of contracting Covid and are removed from the current unemployment numbers. Others who currently receive unemployment will be kicked off for failing to seek new opportunity. Small businesses will soon find themselves bankrupt. Forced to permanently shutter their doors with no hope of a Covid related bailout.

There is no logical reason to open up non-essential recreational business at this time. The sustained demand is not yet there. The short terms benefits only serve to advance the agendas of the haves and this administration and their GOP allies. It’s a transparent choice of profits over people and a dereliction of leadership. A clear illustration of how greed, not socialism, is the true enemy of capitalism and will prove its ultimate downfall. This isn’t a political issue, it’s common sense.

Competent Incompetence

We need to stop referring to Trump’s response to the corona pandemic as incompetent. Such is not the case. Incompetence implies failed effort. It suggests an attempt by this administration to fulfill its constitutional responsibility to faithfully defend and protect the health and security of all our citizens against threats both foreign and domestic. The word does not apply to our current situation.

Trump and his caravan of corrupt criminal enablers made no effort, incompetent or otherwise, to faithfully protect all American people from this pandemic known as Covid19. Rather they quite competently treat the threat as an opportunity to tighten their grip on power and further their own agendas. Whether furtherance of the permanent oligarchy being erected under our noses, the elimination of voices of dissent or the assurance of the paper tiger king’s reelection all their efforts and sound bites speak to these goals.

Trump’s actions are premeditated. They are meant to suppress voter turnout through fear, disease or otherwise. Far from incompetent what you see is designed to eradicate political enemies and voter turnout through suppression and fear. Make no mistake. These acts may be described as unpresidential or as a dereliction of constitutional responsibility but they are not the result of inability.

To dismiss poor behavior or sloppy work product as mere incompetence is the easy way out. It prevents a deeper analysis of motive and ill intent and suggests that by simply replacing the person we will improve the result. No larger lessons learned or systemic change need result when the cause of failure is mere incompetence. The quicker we as a nation realize what ails our nation goes beyond mere incompetence the sooner we may be able to heal from this cancerous mass.

The “Yes We Caine” Mutiny

The GOP no longer functions as a political party. Weak on national security, big deficit spenders, they stand for nothing but guns, God and money. The consolidation of racist status quo dependent deplorables and self avowed “God before country” Raptureheads hellbent on a new world order under a single tent. The entire Republican Party little more than a caravan of criminals and corrupt enablers. The American Taliban rises.

Our traditional checks and balances are no match for the unconventional threat we face. Our Democratic leadership ill prepared to hold to an account an Executive that has no care for tradition, precedent or the rule of law. As a nation we need to accept a basic premise. The fight to save our Republic must not wait until November 2020. The constitutional crisis is here. The battle begins now.

It is time to call all hands to deck and seize back control of America’s future. To preserve the American dream requires we, the people return to our patriotic roots. Take to the harbors and throw the tea overboard. Throw on your life vests and refuse to take a backseat in our political future. Prepare not just to march on Washington, but to sit and sleep there too. Take matters into our hands and start a “Yes We Caine” mutiny to rid our Republic of an unhinged captain.

A peaceful resistance requires sacrifice. To move forward the dreams of our ancestors we must demand answers. We must recapture the audacity of hope and hold those who wish to trample on our ideals to account. The spirit of the American people has been a beacon of hope and freedom throughout the world for over two centuries. Our diversity our greatest strength, the backbone of our success. Take comfort in our history, trust in the experiment in individual freedoms.

Progress knows but one direction and never includes a return to the past. It’s time we move forward.

The “Yes We Can” Mutiny

Can’t stop a Nazi with a law book” – Herman Wouk, The Caine Mutiny

Traditional checks and balances do not work when up against unprecedented threats. History and science teach this lesson repeatedly. Denial and time is no way to cure a cancer. To sit and wait on the outcome of an impeachment inquiry or a national election to remove this caravan of criminals and corrupt enablers as foolish a plan.

It’s not America’s immigrations laws that place our nation at risk. It’s this administrations callous and wanton ignorance of history that poses a clear and present danger to our national security. It’s the lack of empathy in our foreign policy the open betrayal of a loyal ally that breeds hostility, births sleeper cells and lone wolf fanatics desperate for revenge. It’s the fickleness and swiftness in which we ripped up the Iran deal, pull out of trade deals and abandon the military fields that erodes trust in our America exceptionalism and extinguishes Lady Liberty’s torch.

The damage this administration is doing to this country cannot be overstated. It’s more than Kurdish blood that will spill as the result of Demonic Donald’s latest betrayal. More than the reconstitution of ISIS that threatens national security. If American loyalties can be swayed so easily and years of diplomacy be overturned with each change of administration then why would any nation dare align with us in the future? Why would any tribe or ethnic group make a strategic partnership in our fight against the next terror group. Combine this with our eagerness to pull out of other hard negotiated treaties and truces and it will take decades for America to regain the trust of the international community.

There are 40,000 Kurds who live in America, 15,000 in Nashville alone. Many of whom were refugees of prior battles. Immigrants to our nation under kinder, wiser administrations who sought to flee the ravages of war and poverty for a better life. Imagine as they now stare at their screens and scroll their social media timelines in search of relatives and survivors. The anger they too must feel. The thirst for vengeance that leads to irrational behavior.

We as a nation may no longer afford to be passive. We cannot continue to ignore the damage being done to our reputation and pretend it does not define us all. We, the people, are responsible for the actions and behaviors we observe each day and fail to condone.

The impeachment inquiry and prospective 2020 Blue Wave are nice but ineffective in the larger constitutional battle upon us. They fail to neutralize the immediate damage and risk of catastrophe that awaits our republic. They may be palliative measures to soothe the masses, but they also bide time for the ruling Executive. Affords the opportunity to spread disease and harden defense. To produce a manufactured counter narrative and use his past television experience to craft a set of alternative facts that will marginalize, belittle, conflate, de-legitimize and, if necessary, squash any threat.

America must learn from the ongoing Hong Kong and Indonesia protests and the recent successes in South Korea, Ecuador and Puerto Rico. Understand that to force change you must commit to it. One off protests and elections are not enough. If we believe our will is not being followed and the government is no longer acting for the people then we must drive that narrative in ways that are impossible to ignore. We must take to the streets daily.

If we are to insist that we are a nation in which all men, regardless of race, gender, religion or national origin are free and equal. If we believe in the Bill of Rights that put the great American experiment in motion, that guaranteed certain freedoms for all Americans and bestowed inalienable rights on all mankind. Then we must act to defend it when we see it being trampled upon by a despot.

We must take to the harbor and throw the tea overboard. Refuse to take a backseat in our politics. Not just march on Washington, but sit and sleep there too.

The Big Picture

Trump continues to act with the knowledge that he is not only Commander in Chief of the most powerful military in world history, but he may also have half the military might of the world behind him as a fail safe. He knowingly uses whatever means necessary and proactively uses all the powers of his office, regardless of optics, to squash any attempt to legally remove him from office. He ignores subpoenas, responds to document requests with sharpied graphs and selective memory transcribed non-transcripts of taped phone calls, and otherwise obstructs and avoids any actual attempt to hold him to account for his heinous acts.

It’s clear from his tweets, words and behavior that the Don truly believes himself above the law. He does not behave as one bound by tradition, precedent or rule of law. In fact from the time he took the public stage he has acted and behaved as one who knows the fix is in. Remember despite being double digits down in the polls he made clear that he would contest the results of the election if he was not the winner.

To Trump’s credit he’s been quite transparent all along. Review his twitter feed from a different perspective and it almost reads as if it is both a self confession to treason and a whistle blower report (the good kind). In many conversations from “Russia, if you’re listening” right up to his present day public echo of “China if you’re listening,” Trump openly flaunts his treasonous behavior for all to see. It’s what makes his threats of Civil War and cries of a coup, and accusations of treason so dangerous.

When you see the completed puzzle you realize that these are not random pieces, projections or the rants and raves of a lunatic. Trump’s words are more than empty threats and part of a greater design. They are the culmination of the best laid plans. Years of careful planning and coordinated efforts by those who do not hold America’s best interests at heart. Enemies both foreign and domestic whose agendas and values do not thrive in a representative republic such as that envisioned by our founding fathers. The consolidation of God before country Raptureheads, Russia enabled military hawks and the racist status quo dependent deplorables all under the GOP big tent. Donald Trump nothing more than a golden calf to shepherd the message; a Trojan horse in which to deliver the troops and a Midas god to deliver the gold to his puppeteers.

Continue to play the scenarios out and they only grow more horrifying. It’s not hard to see how a new world order emerges. A global oligarchy controlled by a fascist few. An international caste system of haves and have nots in which the world’s most valuable natural resources are controlled by the world’s most powerful nations led by white supremacists, missionaries and colonists. The many working for the few. A permanent military state in which any remaining illusion of individual freedoms would be just that.

When viewed through this prism almost all of Trump’s forreign policy decisions suddenly make sense. The wag the dog drama, escalated rhetoric, and ensuing peace agreements with traditional hostile nations a fait accompli. Russia (Iran) and China (N Korea) in control of their rogue pawns as they formalize their growing international influence through negotiations. Traditional allies pushed aside to make room at the table.

All roads lead to Jerusalem.

In Jesus’ name.

Amen

The Case of the Ukrainian Whistleblowers

There’s no real mystery to this Ukraine story. It has all the nuance of a classic Scooby Doo episode. Right down to the unmasked bumbling villain.

Donald Trump is a transactional leader. He has no real agenda beyond his own self interests and approaches each situation as if there is a winner and loser. He cares not for the collective well being or long term impacts on our country or citizenry. For him it is all about being on the winning side and immediate gratification. Past alliances, traditions, procedures, laws, or precedent be damned! Whatever chips necessary to close the transaction and come out on top is what the art of the deal demands he include.

Trump does not think or act like a public servant. Traditional checks and balances are ineffective against an unconventional threat such as he. The only way to hold him to account is to starve him of the attention he seeks and take him out of the game. To change the rules of the game and draw a playing field that effectively neuters him.

To defeat Trump you must place him in a defensive position and cut off his access to the two things that sustain him and keeps him afloat, unlimited resources and a devoted audience. The necessity of an impeachment inquiry is to do just this. Regardless of what the Senate may do, House Democrats must seize the daily narrative away from this merry bannon of criminals and corrupt enablers and force them to spend all resources and efforts in defense of their freedom.

Make no mistake, it’s not impeachment that scares the bejeezus out of Deranged Donald. It’s the loss of his freedom and the knowledge that the Trump family brand will be permanently and irreparably destroyed that makes him so desperate to stay in power. He’ll do anything to ensure that remains the case. Cling to the shield of the presidency like a an orange moth to a cocoon.

If not for that meddling whistleblower, he may have gotten away with it too