The Democratic Party is hoping to thwart an election rout by running against the expected Supreme Court decision on abortion. This is depressingly all that is left of its political capital.
When both halves of the duopoly are fascist, what is the purpose of flagging one side as being worse than the other? No solutions are possible with either party in charge and last I looked, Biden was agitating for war with Russia even harder than Shrub pushed for the great Iraq debacle (which we are still not allowed to investigate).
There is an opportunity to change everything. I'd love to say that all we have to do is stay home and not vote this fall, but both parties have proven that they're willing to govern without our consent.
Instead, stop shopping for nonessentials. Stock up on essentials. Let friends, neighbors and relatives know you've had enough. Stop participating in the system to the fullest extent possible. When the stock market craters...things will change.
Team R are corporate imperialist muppets. Team D are also corporate imperialist muppets, but with different takes on so-called "wedge issues" to get their respective partisans into the voting booths on Election Day.
I wish I could agree with Chris's opinion that we have a "...government that no longer functions on behalf of the citizenry, one that has been seized by a tiny cabal..."; but as I continue to research the history of the United States, I have come to the conclusion that our government has never functioned on behalf of the citizenry, as it was created by and for primary benefit of a tiny cabal. At times, the cabal has pretended to care about the citizenry, but this has been only when they feared rebellion, as when The Great Depression of the 1930's made attractive the option of communism. The socialist programs implemented by Franklin Roosevelt are credited for saving capitalism; and once the communist alternative, as it existed in the USSR, was eliminated, those who comprise the tiny cabal were, once again, free to take off their masks and continue their rampant exploitation of human beings and all else that exists in nature. This cabal of owner-rulers foments and relies on hatred and discord to create the highly profitable police and war machinery upon which they rely and feed. The Christian fascists mesh perfectly with the cabal's goals. The idiot "cancel and censor" mindset that has been embraced by Democrats is exactly the same fascism, just motivated by different values. It also meshes perfectly with the cabal's goals.
As a gay man, this latest revelation regarding the Supreme Court has me on edge more than ever. No doubt Obergefell v Hodges will be next to fall.
It amazes me how quickly things have been spiraling out of control since the beginning of the pandemic. I realize that wasnt the start of our descent but it certainly has been exacerbating our issues.
I've actually begun investigating options for other nations I could immigrate to.
"Mark my word, if and when these preachers get control of the [Republican] party, and they're sure trying to do so, it's going to be a terrible damn problem. Frankly, these people frighten me. Politics and governing demand compromise. But these Christians believe they are acting in the name of God, so they can't and won't compromise. I know, I've tried to deal with them."
Your so far off in your description of Christians. You see the old Christians of your childhood but you couldn't be further from the truth. Today's Christians do not want war as you describe. You pretend to act as if you know Christians Today but your lost as well as most of your analysis.
Try watching a extremely powerful church in Southern California at the following link before you attempt to describe a group of fascist that you have created in your mind.
I'm new to your writings and I even believe in many of your opinions regarding the war but this is not a Christian issue as more a neocon group of politicians leading America.
All I am able to do at this point is nt make any non essential purchases pray meditate and try to not allow the fear take over. I'm 79 retired - dancer until d age took much away but still practice daily. I see no solution surely in my lifetime but whether my grandkids and great grandkids will be still living this horror or living at all
In the reader comment section, I've tried to submit similar comments about Christian fascism on various relevant NY Times stories. The moderator simply does not allow use of the F word.
This is so extremely hard to watch unfold. It has not been hard to forecast. But is is very hard to watch it now in real time as it approaches the crisis point that so many of us have seen coming for so very long. There were so many ways to avoid what is coming, so many things that could have been done. Obama was our last chance to avoid it and he betrayed the country, left us all at the mercy of the right, the christian fascists, the oligarchs. I can't tell who I hate more at this point, Obama or Trump, Clinton or Bush the second. McConnell or Clarence Thomas. It is a toss up. Maybe i hate them all equally. For abandoning us, for betraying their oath to the Constitution, for actively destroying this country I love.
But more than anything, I, like so many others now, am afraid. Afraid for what is coming, for the complete fascism we face as the christian right takes over, for the bloodbaths to come, for the meltdown of our country. I know now what it was like in Weimar Germany. And I look around and see my crazy liberal tribe being good Germans one and all. They did not stand up when they could have. Instead they will now learn just how stupid their pronoun focus and trigger warnings and "words are violence" are. I see no way out of where we are except for war out there and war in here inside our own country. I am afraid and i grieve.
Much more concerned about unchristian fascism in current world. Fascism is fascism no matter who supports it and the modern Corporatocracy fascists have an endless list of ideologue rationalization for their kleptocratic, tyrannical methods. I think it may be safe to say we may move on from Trump who is a symptom of what is wrong , not the cause. If the USA ever has elections again the American people are far more likely to elect a younger, more practical set of DC administrator politicians who have proven they can and do support the will of the people. No Democrat stands a chance.
Every time I read something you've written, the depth of my being screams 'and the truth will set you free'. And yet, I just feel a quiet sadness. So much potential in our diverse country, wasted. Thank you Chris, truly. Without your wisdom and voice, we would be totally lost.
"These people believe this stuff, as they believe in QAnon or the election fraud that supposedly put Biden in office."
Chris Hedges.
I can usually agree with nearly all of Chris Hedge's enlightened perspectives. But not this one. Voting fraud as always been prevelant in the U.S.--just as it is in any other so called "democracy" around the globe. The manufactured Covid State of Emergency in the U.S. that allowed the executive branches of state governments to manipulate legislative branch established voting regulation was obscene and uncalled for. This basterdization of our established voting laws (while quentionable to begin with) brought voting fraud and manipulation to greater heights. It was evidenced in polling station video after polling station video. It was evidenced in polling worker affidavit after affidavit. None of these claims of polling fraud and corruption ever made the light of day in court. That fact is beyond coincidence to me. Given how close the voting was in the 2020 election, any rational human being should conclude that fraud could have very well thrown the election. And I am not talking about anything that happened after the electoral college process. Bear in mind that this post comes from someone that did not vote for Trump in 2020...and does not identify with the Christian Fascists Mr. Hedges characterizes. More the point, I was very nearly prohibited from entering my own polling station for lack of wearing a mask. If I did not have a copy of my State Law allowing me to legally enter my polling station without a mask on my face I would have prohibited to vote. Since I had the wherewithal to prevent this illegal tactic from coming to fruition, a crime was not committed. However, I am virtually positive that I was an exception to the rule in terms of not being bullied (illegal in itself)... and I have very good reason to believe others were illegally denied access to vote as a result of a an illegal polling practice I experienced first hand.
Chris, I challenge you to devote an episode of your blog to changing my position on 2020 election fraud to align with yours. In doing do, I urge you to use fact over empty rhetoric.
ps - I know what Hedges meant when we wrote of "revoking" due process, but many readers won't and will use that as an attack on his credibility. Perhaps a different term, like "erosion" or "gutting" or "hollowing out" or "neutering" might serve better. "Revoke" has a strong legal denotation and connotation. Legally, Due process has not been "revoked".
"The Democratic Party’s hypocrisy and duplicity is the fertilizer for Christian fascism. Its exclusive focus on the culture wars and identity politics at the expense of economic, political, and social justice fueled a right-wing backlash and stoked the bigotry, racism, and sexism it sought to curtail. Its opting for image over substance, including its repeated failure to secure the right to abortion, left the Democrats distrusted and reviled."
IMHO both these dual-party Vichy-facades of faux-democracy are being played and manipulated by UHNWIs, 0.003%ers, and arrogantly self-appointed "Masters of the Universe" with dirty abandon, in order to ping-pong all elections all the time.
While Bernie was torpedoed twice in '16 & '20 --- and all the way back to the 1944 coup by DNC and OSS by blocking FDR's VP, brilliant socialist democrat, Henry Wallace --- it appears that the most recent device for manipulation of Bernie's '20 blocked run along with future torpedoing has outsized finger-prints of the DMFI PAC and other such organs going forward.
When both halves of the duopoly are fascist, what is the purpose of flagging one side as being worse than the other? No solutions are possible with either party in charge and last I looked, Biden was agitating for war with Russia even harder than Shrub pushed for the great Iraq debacle (which we are still not allowed to investigate).
There is an opportunity to change everything. I'd love to say that all we have to do is stay home and not vote this fall, but both parties have proven that they're willing to govern without our consent.
Instead, stop shopping for nonessentials. Stock up on essentials. Let friends, neighbors and relatives know you've had enough. Stop participating in the system to the fullest extent possible. When the stock market craters...things will change.
Team R are corporate imperialist muppets. Team D are also corporate imperialist muppets, but with different takes on so-called "wedge issues" to get their respective partisans into the voting booths on Election Day.
I wish I could agree with Chris's opinion that we have a "...government that no longer functions on behalf of the citizenry, one that has been seized by a tiny cabal..."; but as I continue to research the history of the United States, I have come to the conclusion that our government has never functioned on behalf of the citizenry, as it was created by and for primary benefit of a tiny cabal. At times, the cabal has pretended to care about the citizenry, but this has been only when they feared rebellion, as when The Great Depression of the 1930's made attractive the option of communism. The socialist programs implemented by Franklin Roosevelt are credited for saving capitalism; and once the communist alternative, as it existed in the USSR, was eliminated, those who comprise the tiny cabal were, once again, free to take off their masks and continue their rampant exploitation of human beings and all else that exists in nature. This cabal of owner-rulers foments and relies on hatred and discord to create the highly profitable police and war machinery upon which they rely and feed. The Christian fascists mesh perfectly with the cabal's goals. The idiot "cancel and censor" mindset that has been embraced by Democrats is exactly the same fascism, just motivated by different values. It also meshes perfectly with the cabal's goals.
As a gay man, this latest revelation regarding the Supreme Court has me on edge more than ever. No doubt Obergefell v Hodges will be next to fall.
It amazes me how quickly things have been spiraling out of control since the beginning of the pandemic. I realize that wasnt the start of our descent but it certainly has been exacerbating our issues.
I've actually begun investigating options for other nations I could immigrate to.
"Mark my word, if and when these preachers get control of the [Republican] party, and they're sure trying to do so, it's going to be a terrible damn problem. Frankly, these people frighten me. Politics and governing demand compromise. But these Christians believe they are acting in the name of God, so they can't and won't compromise. I know, I've tried to deal with them."
-Barry Goldwater
Your so far off in your description of Christians. You see the old Christians of your childhood but you couldn't be further from the truth. Today's Christians do not want war as you describe. You pretend to act as if you know Christians Today but your lost as well as most of your analysis.
Try watching a extremely powerful church in Southern California at the following link before you attempt to describe a group of fascist that you have created in your mind.
I'm new to your writings and I even believe in many of your opinions regarding the war but this is not a Christian issue as more a neocon group of politicians leading America.
https://live.calvarycch.tv/
All I am able to do at this point is nt make any non essential purchases pray meditate and try to not allow the fear take over. I'm 79 retired - dancer until d age took much away but still practice daily. I see no solution surely in my lifetime but whether my grandkids and great grandkids will be still living this horror or living at all
In the reader comment section, I've tried to submit similar comments about Christian fascism on various relevant NY Times stories. The moderator simply does not allow use of the F word.
This is so extremely hard to watch unfold. It has not been hard to forecast. But is is very hard to watch it now in real time as it approaches the crisis point that so many of us have seen coming for so very long. There were so many ways to avoid what is coming, so many things that could have been done. Obama was our last chance to avoid it and he betrayed the country, left us all at the mercy of the right, the christian fascists, the oligarchs. I can't tell who I hate more at this point, Obama or Trump, Clinton or Bush the second. McConnell or Clarence Thomas. It is a toss up. Maybe i hate them all equally. For abandoning us, for betraying their oath to the Constitution, for actively destroying this country I love.
But more than anything, I, like so many others now, am afraid. Afraid for what is coming, for the complete fascism we face as the christian right takes over, for the bloodbaths to come, for the meltdown of our country. I know now what it was like in Weimar Germany. And I look around and see my crazy liberal tribe being good Germans one and all. They did not stand up when they could have. Instead they will now learn just how stupid their pronoun focus and trigger warnings and "words are violence" are. I see no way out of where we are except for war out there and war in here inside our own country. I am afraid and i grieve.
Much more concerned about unchristian fascism in current world. Fascism is fascism no matter who supports it and the modern Corporatocracy fascists have an endless list of ideologue rationalization for their kleptocratic, tyrannical methods. I think it may be safe to say we may move on from Trump who is a symptom of what is wrong , not the cause. If the USA ever has elections again the American people are far more likely to elect a younger, more practical set of DC administrator politicians who have proven they can and do support the will of the people. No Democrat stands a chance.
Every time I read something you've written, the depth of my being screams 'and the truth will set you free'. And yet, I just feel a quiet sadness. So much potential in our diverse country, wasted. Thank you Chris, truly. Without your wisdom and voice, we would be totally lost.
If it comes down to being ruled by Christian fascists or by the Woke fascists, I will take the Christian fascists all day long and twice on Sunday.
"These people believe this stuff, as they believe in QAnon or the election fraud that supposedly put Biden in office."
Chris Hedges.
I can usually agree with nearly all of Chris Hedge's enlightened perspectives. But not this one. Voting fraud as always been prevelant in the U.S.--just as it is in any other so called "democracy" around the globe. The manufactured Covid State of Emergency in the U.S. that allowed the executive branches of state governments to manipulate legislative branch established voting regulation was obscene and uncalled for. This basterdization of our established voting laws (while quentionable to begin with) brought voting fraud and manipulation to greater heights. It was evidenced in polling station video after polling station video. It was evidenced in polling worker affidavit after affidavit. None of these claims of polling fraud and corruption ever made the light of day in court. That fact is beyond coincidence to me. Given how close the voting was in the 2020 election, any rational human being should conclude that fraud could have very well thrown the election. And I am not talking about anything that happened after the electoral college process. Bear in mind that this post comes from someone that did not vote for Trump in 2020...and does not identify with the Christian Fascists Mr. Hedges characterizes. More the point, I was very nearly prohibited from entering my own polling station for lack of wearing a mask. If I did not have a copy of my State Law allowing me to legally enter my polling station without a mask on my face I would have prohibited to vote. Since I had the wherewithal to prevent this illegal tactic from coming to fruition, a crime was not committed. However, I am virtually positive that I was an exception to the rule in terms of not being bullied (illegal in itself)... and I have very good reason to believe others were illegally denied access to vote as a result of a an illegal polling practice I experienced first hand.
Chris, I challenge you to devote an episode of your blog to changing my position on 2020 election fraud to align with yours. In doing do, I urge you to use fact over empty rhetoric.
"War is the chief occupation of the state."
Yes, as Randolph Bourne wrote:
War is the health of the State
https://www.panarchy.org/bourne/state.1918.html
ps - I know what Hedges meant when we wrote of "revoking" due process, but many readers won't and will use that as an attack on his credibility. Perhaps a different term, like "erosion" or "gutting" or "hollowing out" or "neutering" might serve better. "Revoke" has a strong legal denotation and connotation. Legally, Due process has not been "revoked".
As you correctly say, Chris:
"The Democratic Party’s hypocrisy and duplicity is the fertilizer for Christian fascism. Its exclusive focus on the culture wars and identity politics at the expense of economic, political, and social justice fueled a right-wing backlash and stoked the bigotry, racism, and sexism it sought to curtail. Its opting for image over substance, including its repeated failure to secure the right to abortion, left the Democrats distrusted and reviled."
IMHO both these dual-party Vichy-facades of faux-democracy are being played and manipulated by UHNWIs, 0.003%ers, and arrogantly self-appointed "Masters of the Universe" with dirty abandon, in order to ping-pong all elections all the time.
While Bernie was torpedoed twice in '16 & '20 --- and all the way back to the 1944 coup by DNC and OSS by blocking FDR's VP, brilliant socialist democrat, Henry Wallace --- it appears that the most recent device for manipulation of Bernie's '20 blocked run along with future torpedoing has outsized finger-prints of the DMFI PAC and other such organs going forward.
You write it better than anyone else. Thank You!