138 Comments
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Schrodinger’s Cat's avatar

The USA is slip sliding away on banana peels as it falls into the dystopian abyss. From my perspective someone like Trump is the perfect criminal conman to oversee the final days of the USA. Hollywood couldn’t have cast a more perfect character than the self loathing orange monster as president. Truth is indeed stranger than fiction.

Steve Woodward's avatar

You're so right! You can't make this shit up!

Steve Woodward's avatar

Thank you, again, Mr. Hedges, for putting all this madness into perspective.

It seems that there has always been an impulse among "Americans" to have a king. To have a big, strong daddy who will protect them. George Washington, to his credit, resisted the effort to make him one. Donald Dumpster plays to this impulse, and to those of us who buy into it, I would only say, "Be careful what you wish for."

julia eden's avatar

i assume that many people around the globe wish s.o. would solve their problems for them - w./o. causing additional complications in the process - bc solving problems on your own these days is not an easy task and might tempt you more than once to throw in the towel.

in europe, where i'm based, unsettling right-wing tendencies point in the same direction:

the mega-rich are getting richer, dissent is being silenced. we have to go to war against our [supposed] 'eternal enemies' - while the globe might be overheating and millions of people starve along the way. but we don't need to care ...

re. "be careful what you wish for": #47 is already in power. damage is being done NOW!

HAP- Libertarian Socialism's avatar

Europe has been buying SOCIAL GOALS put out by SOCIAL LIBRALS

That goal has turned to integrating NEW PEOPLE into society as part of that SOCIAL GOAL

AGain individual goals are dismissed as greedy or inconsequential - in case of those already integrated

Those new social goals do not apply to you this time . You are GREEDY

HAP- Libertarian Socialism's avatar

they do

But it is not a person

the KING state

Feral Finster's avatar

This has been obvious, long before Trump. The United States is well on its way to being Brasil, albeit a Brasil with less attractive females, worse weather, and a more hyperbelligerent foreign policy. AKA an empire. This suits the oligarchs just dandy.

Trump is simply the empire dropping any remaining pretense of being anything other than an empire.

Ingamarie's avatar

Yes. I've said as much in my comment above.

When imperialism comes home it is shocking. Had Americans read more widely outside of their own entitled borders........they'd be more prepared.

Feral Finster's avatar

Humans are herd animals as easily led as any sheep.

HAP- Libertarian Socialism's avatar

LED by instinct - nor by any choice

Why I call elected people rulers

I decide if they are leaders

Ron's avatar

You are so right. I see jarring examples of this every damn day, and it defies any attempt I can make to understand it. Goddess help the rest of us

Dr Florence Hazrat's avatar

kinda silly and boring to mention the "attractiveness of females"..... Sounds like Mr Collins in Pride and Prejudice. And we know what she thought of HIM... 😂

Feral Finster's avatar

The left will never come to power, in part because they can always be distracted with p.c. issues.

There is a reason that I wrote what I did.

Nancy Beiman's avatar

You are correct. The Left is fragmented and easily distracted. The right wing extremists are extremely focused. They played the long game for fifty years.

julia eden's avatar

whenever i think chris hedges' articles can't get any better, he surprises me by getting even better: visionary, illustrative, courageous and to the point. coupled with excellent pieces of art by mr. fish, a similarly inexhaustible source of accurately scathing criticism and skill, i draw ... strength from their work, knowing that WE MUST RESIST THEM - before they come for us, too.

thank you so much to both of you, chris hedges and mr. fish!

Ingamarie's avatar

What goes around, comes around. And I must say: After following the deaths and disappearances (often following torture) of Latin American young people, from Argentina to Guatemala all through my working life, there's a kind of depressing schadenfreude about it all.

Teaching all day then coming home to read a Canadian press that still in those days reported on Latin America confirmed my socialist up bringing.

Capitalism is a killer. It needs a constant supply of resources, and it goes to where those resources are, and destroys local (inefficient) economies to extract them.

What Americans are likely going to experience in the short term, is the cannibalism Capitalism has to practise....feeding on its own........when those foreign resources run out.

But there is hope. Perhaps imperialism will win and regime change in Venezuela and annexation of Canada will stave off the inevitable for a decade or two. We are an ugly species when pushed to the economic wall.

America is the Pusher.

julia eden's avatar

jean ziegler, a formidable swiss sociologist, author and former UN special rapporteur on the right to food, called our world order "cannibalistic!" decades ago.

[in his younger years he was fidel castro's chauffeur for some time, by the way.]

Ingamarie's avatar

It takes a lot of propaganda, and a lot of dark money........to turn the teachings of Jesus into a right wing cult. But your rural poor in America.......and their obscenely wealthy 'handlers' have managed it.

Our Tommy Douglas, father of medical care, was a Babtist minister. In those days, Christians subscribed to something called the social gospel. Wish a few mega church BSers would read up on it.

Anthony James Hall's avatar

I remember talking with David Orchard about the fact that Socialist Tommy Douglas did't face assassination attempts from the US government. I believe the Saskatchewan Premier and CCF Leader, Tommy Douglas, was much beloved by Eleanor Roosevelt which might have preserved him.

Ingamarie's avatar

We learned late in the game how American border folks were told to scrutinize us CCF'ers at the border. And I've never voted Liberal because I knew who it was in Saskatchewan that worked with the American Medical Association to try and kibosh our single payer medicare, when the CCF were putting it in place.

Most progressives lite still don't quite understand social democracy.....and continue to fear the hand that would feed them....but I'm not surprised the Eleanor liked Tommy. He was one of the most authentic, and funny politicians we've produced.

My fav story is how when a Liberal said in our House of Parliament that he could swallow the diminuative Tommy in one bite.......Tommy replied:

"That might be true. But one thing is for certain, the honourable member would then have more brains in his stomach than he's got in his head'.

He nailed it with that comment. Real intelligence is rarely pompous, self satisfied, or abusive to others.

Nancy Beiman's avatar

that is a great story. Tommy Douglas was a great man, and Eleanor Roosevelt was a great woman.

Nancy Beiman's avatar

They subscribe to the 'Prosperity Gospel'. They have money because they deserve it, and should have even more. The poor 'deserve' it.

Ingamarie's avatar

They missed the part where Jesus whipped the money changers from the temple. But for sure, the Calvinist idea that there's nothing you can do to be saved, you're saved by Grace......has always been accompanied by the idea if you're prosperous.....you must be among the 'elect'.

The selfish beliefs multiply easily. Likely because they are excuses for cold hearts. They also missed the part about the good Samaritan but hold on to fairy tales about the golden goose.

Nancy Beiman's avatar

I must learn more about Mr. Ziegler. That is quite a resume.

julia eden's avatar

he has written a number of fascinating books in french. not all of them have been translated into english, alas. 'betting on famine: why the world still goes hungry' is one of them. one of his best-known books is 'the swiss, the gold and the dead'.

Nancy Beiman's avatar

I hope that the last paragraph was intended to be ironic. I'm so burnt out that it's hard to tell any more.

Ingamarie's avatar

I'm speaking ironically I guess......for sure I'm not for either option.

But I lived in America while doing my Masters in Literature.....in the late 60's, early 70's....and while there are many wonderful people there........they are mostly ignorant of the 'good works' their military does abroad.........and even in the Viet Nam era.......prone to telling me kaka like: "there was wrong on both sides".

I didnt' have the phrase 'both sidism" to lob at them then..........but at 21 I was gobsmacked by how easily they could march into other people's land....and then chastise the natives for 'not playing fair'.

They are inheritors of a capitalist imperialism that replaced British imperialism. I think the British still feel pretty good about themselves as well......pretty impressed if their monarch says "SORRY" for centuries of IMPERIALIST THEFT. I capitalize that, not to shout at anyone, but to ask that we PAY ATTENTION.

Western powers were seldom the good guys when they marched into other countries.....or sent their secret police like the CIA to stir things up for the benefit of the corporations.

HOW ANYONE CAN JUSTIFY/SUPPORT GLOBAL CAPITALISM ONCE THEY KNOW THE WHOLE STORY HAS TO DEPEND ON RACISM...you know, that old 'white man's burden'?

Trump is just the latest in that bullshit...........I've read about Hugo Chavez. He was a good man and his people knew it. BUT ITS AMERICA'S OIL, DON'T THEY KNOW???

Canada has TAR....bitumen also. So for sure, one way out of America's present dilemma, is more wars abroad....and we've tied ourselves so closely to them, Trump believes he might engineer a PEACEFUL TAKEOVER. I suspect Carney fears that is entirely possible so is trying to prevent it by APPEASEMENT.

Look at the present budget......it's trying to do what the Americans demand of us. Period. And sorry for the long exposition...

Lisa Savage's avatar

"The Treasury Department has released draft designs for a commemorative one dollar coin — featuring Trump’s face on both sides"

Heads I win, tales you lose?

Ingamarie's avatar

Everything ugly.....everywhere ugly. And for the kids in the street, they get to just be happy if they can acquire a couple of the coins....who's mug is on it won't matter.

Nancy Beiman's avatar

Two-faced. Sounds right.

HAP- Libertarian Socialism's avatar

that was short lived for those NOTES needed as a RESERVE

They became normalized

Vin LoPresti's avatar

O tempora , O mores.

Opera buffa e la vita assurda sono i retaggi non solo di Trump, ma anche d'un paese che non sa niente della giustizia.

Sharley Azen fisher's avatar

Assolutamente. The history of the country is filled with injustice. Trump supporters think he is for the common man because he said he is. They are desperate for someone high up to care about them and despite all the evidence to the contrary, cling to this belief.

John Ressler's avatar

On the other hand - Democratic supporters think their party is for the common man because they said so. Lying to us works both ways.

Sharley Azen fisher's avatar

I totally agree. The two parties are supported by the same moneyed interests and the government does not represent its citizens.

Vin LoPresti's avatar

In America, nessuno si sveglia.

Sharley Azen fisher's avatar

Penso che altri sono .....Not everyone is asleep.

Vin LoPresti's avatar

Well, apparently, you and I aren't, but by my standards of truly awakening, it would require some genuine education -- or re-education, such as Zinn's history (among other sources) as required reading and substitution for the crap they teach in HS. A genuine understanding of the roots that have led this society to the illnesses from which it suffers is necessary I think. Perhaps I've lived too long and am too demanding of my fellow citizens.

Nancy Beiman's avatar

Howard Zinn's book has been banned in many libraries.

Vin LoPresti's avatar

Really? Where? I bought a copy for a friend just 2 months ago.

Sharley Azen fisher's avatar

Yes, we definitely are a very small minority. I also have delved into the history deeply and am not surprised by how things are at this time.

HAP- Libertarian Socialism's avatar

It is a (federal) state that has tried MANDATE its way to political ends

The founders new enough about this, IMHO, to try to produce a limited government/state

But even that required believing in necessary evils which many libertarians reject

Sera's avatar

Thus is a good time to remember the words of Stanley Millgram, he of the famous cruelty experiments:

“We like to think that we’re above this kind of behavior, but I assure you that I could staff a Concentration Camp from any small town in America.”

Shahid Buttar's avatar

I really appreciated this reference to all of the President’s many enablers:

“Institutions, from the press to the universities, kneel down before the idiocy of El Presidente. Legislatures are obsequious echo chambers for El Presidente’s whims and self-delusions. It is a world of magical realism, where fantasy replaces reality, mythology replaces history, the immoral is moral, tyranny is democracy and lies are true.”

The support of complicit business leaders, universities, and law firms has been critical to cementing the president’s arbitrary power.

All of them have ultimately subverted their own independence, reducing themselves to tools of a tyrant’s frail ego. https://shahidbuttar.substack.com/p/the-rise-of-the-fragile-tough-guy?triedRedirect=true

Ingamarie's avatar

Sounds like a lot of people are really scared down there.

Anthony James Hall's avatar

I agree with you, Chris Hedges, that the Katie Johnson case presents an especially damning example of Trump's apparent reoccurring child rape syndrome. I cover it in detail in the outcome of my investigation cited below.

Katie Johnson is not the only example of Trump's rape sprees involving girls, boys and women. There is much on the topic on the open internet outside the boundaries of the"Epstein Files." The largest part of the "Epstein files" should be the documentation that still has not coalesced into tangible form. The missing part of the files so far are those that should be devoted to the many criminal prosecution that have yet to take place. What is the role of Benjamin Netanyahu in negotiating the blackmail with Trump and others who have clearly been subjected to the Epstein/Maxwwell/Wexner/Dershowitz operation.

https://ahmedeldin.substack.com/p/epstein-mossads-blackmail-mastermind

Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell are certainly not the only predators in this matter which should be still is still in its investigation infancy. I big starting point yet to be properly addressed in the actual investigation is how Jeffrey Epstein actually died in prison. As has been widely reported, Jeffrey's brother says he cannot rule out the possibility that Trump is behind the killing. It definitely was not suicide as has been reported by the those no doubt implicated in the one of the most high-profile criminal cover ups in US history. The pathetic Cash Patel has made a real fool of himself on this topic. See

https://anthonyjhall.substack.com/p/trump-and-epstein-as-pedo-brothers

Julio Santos  "Nobody"'s avatar

Thank you, Anthony, for those interesting links

Anthony James Hall's avatar

I thought when I started to write the essay I that I basically understood the main outlines of what I wanted to say. Then when I starting to jot it down I'd check this and that, with the result that I kept falling into rabbit hole after rabbit hole. I discovered an amazing and startling vista of US presidential history that continues by and large to remain well covered up. So far I'm still waiting for some engaging correspondence with a conscientious reader.

Mo Mast's avatar

comparing the u.s. to banana republics is an insult to banana republics. that said there are some inaccuracies in this essay. first trump never suggested injecting bleach to cure COVID.https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/trump-inject-bleach-covid-19/. second he did not say Tylenol causes autism. he said there might be a link between pregnant women taking Tylenol and autism. he did suggest using ultraviolet light to kill the stars 2 virus which it actually does but he suggested it for hard surfaces. many people used ultraviolet to disinfect counters, packages, etc. as for the court cases against Brennan and Bolton , they richly deserve to be dragged into court. there is more than enough to label trump a wannabe dictator w/o stretching the facts.

Nancy Beiman's avatar

“We’re an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you’re studying that reality — judiciously, as you will — we’ll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that’s how things will sort out. We’re history’s actors . . . and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do.” --Karl Rove to journalist Ron Suskind, 2004

Rafi Simonton's avatar

When the Ds went neolib, they dumped the New Deal in support of the same econopathy as the Rs. Now globally dominant is the Chicago School of Economics founded by Milton Friedman. Who advised Chile's brutal dictator Pinochet because "democracy interferes with Market efficiency."

Add to that Biden's Dept. of State was run by neocons trained by Dick Cheney. The fantasy of neocons is a U.S. dominated unipolar world enforced by the military. Right wingers are horrified by talk of One World if it's in any way equitable, but fine with this form of empire.

The D party elite says nothing against any of this. Given their economic beliefs, no wonder. There isn't much remaining to trickle up from the rapidly fading middle class or to extract from devastated ecosystems. But there's sure profit in forever wars--at least in the short run. And in the long run, it won't be their problem.

The 20%er upper middle class administrators and professionals whom the D party really represents will be okay no matter what happens. They're the ones who run the business and bureaucracy of dictatorships, too. A modern version of the entitled who serve a king.

MenopausalMadame's avatar

The problem I have with these kinds of descriptions is that men are positioned as the norm. Not one of these examples is a woman, and even at their worst autocratic women have not been defined by their sadism or sexual violence. Men are not the norm, they are should not get to own nouns like dictator or autocrat without qualification of their own particular firms defined by the toxicity and violence of patriarchal dominance and control, shielding the most fragile of egos. Please define these toxic patriarchs appropriately. Women are 52% of the population, 0000.nothing percent of the sexually violent, avaricious despots in history. Please stop sweeping the patriarchy under the carpet as if it's a given, or a norm. It's a violent, repressive system that produces violent repressive tyrants, whose worst damage is done to women and girls. They do not represent us, they are not found in our population, it's not good enough to assume this is an unwritten yet understood disclaimer.

Bushrod Lake's avatar

The book is in on Trump. The disgusting, criminal vulgarity is sufficiently exposed to enough people to remove him from office. The only way to it is to jail him.

I don't believe we will accept "banana republic" much longer.

Ron's avatar

I agree, and I hope that, with particular reference to jailing Trump, that you are spot-on. He deserves nothing less than to rot in a jail the rest of his earthly existence

Anthony Small's avatar

So what’s to be done? I still have hope that the majority of the American people have integrity, and will not stand for this…