Trump, who was described here as a patriot, needs to be

resisted to, for patriotic reasons. I have not much power of thought or words, but feel I still can recognize those, who have.

Chris Hedges tells us again the way "patriotic" despotism advances to sink the ship of democracy, like the Titanic, slowly but surely.

A Last Chance for Resistance
(Please read the story on truthdig. I quote a lot of it here, just because I think it's important and it should be read. But please go and click on their site!)

The crawl toward despotism within a failed democracy is always incremental. No regime planning to utterly extinguish civil liberties advertises its intentions in advance. It pays lip service to liberty and justice while obliterating the institutions and laws that make them possible.

Despots demand absolute loyalty. This is why they place family members in the inner circles. The Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, whose vanity rivaled that of Trump, and Iraqi strongman Saddam Hussein filled their governments with their children, siblings, nephews, nieces and in-laws and rounded out their inner courts with racists, opportunists and thugs of the kind that now populate the White House.

Despots distrust diplomats... Diplomats, often multilingual and conversant with other cultures and societies, deal in nuances and ambiguities that are beyond the grasp of the despot. ...Despots, however, live in a binary universe of their own creation. They rapidly dismantle the diplomatic corps when they take power for the same reason they attack intellectuals and artists....Trump’s proposed State Department budget cuts ... is part of the shift away from diplomacy to an exclusive reliance on violence or the threat of violence. The militarization of the diplomatic corps, with the Central Intelligence Agency and military intelligence operatives often taking over embassies, especially in conflict zones, began long before Trump took office. But Trump will deal the coup de grâce to the diplomatic corps. Despots replace diplomats with sycophants with no diplomatic experience, such as Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who promise to impose the despot’s will on the rest of the world.

There are three institutions tasked in a functioning democracy with protecting the truth and keeping national discourse rooted in verifiable fact—the courts, the press and universities. Despots must control these three to prevent them from exposing their lies and restricting their power. ...
Trump has not only attacked the courts but has also begun purges of the judiciary with his mass firing of U.S. attorneys...By the time Trump’s four-year term is up, Federalist Society judges could be in as many as half of the country’s appellate seats....
Trump has continued to attempt to discredit the press ...
The attacks on universities, which will be accelerated, are on display in the budget proposal. ... A university will of course be able to get corporate funding for research if it casts doubt on the importance of climate change or does research that can be used to swell corporate profits or promote other business interests. Scientific study into our ecocide and the dangers from chemicals, toxins and pollutants released by corporations into the atmosphere will be thwarted. And the withering of humanities programs, already suffering in many universities, will worsen.

Repression will become steadily more overt and severe. Dissent will be equated with terrorism. We must use the space before it is shut. ... The forces of despotism seek to keep us complacent and pacified with the false hope that mechanisms within the system will moderate Trump or remove him through impeachment, or that the looming tyranny will never be actualized. There is an emotional incapacity among any population being herded toward despotism or war to grasp what is happening. The victims cannot believe that the descent into barbarity is real, ... that once rights become privileges, any segment of a society is excluded from the law, rights can instantly be revoked for everyone.

I post that here as a warning to those of you, who get bamboozled. Resist. It all happened before. Don't let it happen again.

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@The Liberal Badger oh good grief.
Nobody denies co2 as the cause of global warming except various and sundry peeps in the USA making money off of Bil Oil.
3rd world knows it, 2nd world knows it...1st world except USA(!) knows it.
Change schools, get new professors asap.
Co2 emissions as the cause of rapid global warming is the starting point EVERYWHERE but here.
Get on a plane, go somewhere. Look at it.

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

A despot has to control who has access to weapons, and a mass population that is armed to the teeth, just cannot subjected to a totalitarian despotic regime. It's just impossible, and if you have ever studied military warfare and special forces strategic warfare, you would never underestimated what even a small group of highly trained armed individuals can do. They could easily seize any of those planes or helicopters and even the odds, rather quickly, and we are talking about a mass population, armed to the teeth. Your argument just doesn't hold water. Sorry.

@Mark from Queens... Hedges' socialist/communist beliefs are rather evident in almost all of his writing and comments. If you feel that the term "communnist" is pejorative, that's on you. I never said that "communist/socialist" is bad or wrong, but it is a bias, that much is clear, and all that I ask is that Hedges be up-front and honest about his bias, which he is not, which is why I find him to be intellectually dishonest. I am aware of the fact that most communists/socialists today revere Hedges, my ex revered him, as I said, however, I find him biased, ignorant, and dishonest, for the aforementioned reasons. I am sorry if you believe it is some sort of blasphemy to express a critical analysis of his arguments, I find him to be a pseudo intellectual with a weak understanding of United States History, United State Government and the U.S. Constitution - Bill of Rights. I am always surprised when I encounter people who hold him in high regard. I have found that Communists/Socialists don't seem to welcome critical thought when it exposes the flaws and bias in their arguments. I thought this site was more open minded than DailyKos and welcoming of opposing viewpoints, if you are telling me that it is not, then maybe my first impressions were mistaken, but attacking me personally for such, is, well, not very welcoming or open-minded. If I am reading too much into your words, I am sorry, I don't mean to be overly sensitive, because I do welcome criticisms of my arguments, but criticisms of me, however, that seems abusive. I did not come here for abuse. Are you telling me that Chris Hedges is above reproach and any all criticisms of his writing is streng verboten?

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@The Liberal Badger is that much of science has taken place without control groups. (Please explain the role of control groups in geology.)

So in addition to being a scientist and a statistician you're also a military historian. I'm sure the US government kept SEAL Team 6 away from the highly trained militia who seized government land last winter in order to preserve the safety of SEAL Team 6.

And no doubt a highly trained group of militia fighters could takeover an air force base with their AR-15s, load and service the F-16s and then fly them against the despot. And think of what they could do when they pirated a ballistic missile submarine. Game, set and match.

JtC, I appreciate the job you do and the freedom you allow. But I've never read anything remotely like this here.

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k9disc's picture

persecuted.

I am talking about the massive systemic fraud they have committed in paying off skeptics and shading the science. I believe that, Exxon, in particular, was found pretty guilty on the fraudulent science as business practice front recently. I don't have a link handy.

They should be prosecuted and persecuted for profiting from the deliberate misleading of the public on AGW.

I don't think that's what you suggested that I said.

The science is solved as far as I'm concerned. Barring a massive swing in scientific thought, there is no reason to suggest that the science is not solved. Self preservation and simple precaution alone should preclude one from inaction on the science at this point. I think your obtuse to the meaning and general purpose of science if you think AGW is not settled science.

This isn't theoretical particle physics. This is fairly established science. Complex models due to the impossible number of variables, but the underlying science is rather established and urbane physical science, I think. I could be wrong about that, but it isn't even the point.

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“Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.” ~ Sun Tzu

No, we cannot have a "control group" so, no, according to the Scientific Method, we cannot ever say that it is "proven." That is just how science works. Can we make compelling persuasive arguments, yes, and they do. And I "believe" them. The operative word, being, "believe." As I said, however, debating Anthropogenic Climate Change, suggesting that it is "decided" is counter-productive, because it can never be 100%, so let's not waste time and money and create an unnecessary divisive polarized environment. Let's spend our time and money on protecting and cleaning the environment, because I think this is something that everyone can agree on. No?

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@The Liberal Badger Here, take a look at Wikipedia's explanation of the scientific method.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_method#Problems_and_issues.

Do you see anything about the need for a control group? Did Joseph Priestly need a control group to discover oxygen? No, he needed an experiment that could be replicated repeatedly with consistent results. Most scientists would agree that the existence of oxygen has been proven scientifically.

Go on as much as you like. I'm finished. I've already tried the patience of JtC whom I respect greatly.

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@FuturePassed
Your point was well taken and duly noted.

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k9disc's picture

Peddling and meddling with Government. Both legal and not.

For fuck's sake the CEO of Exxon is Secretary of State:

Tillerson began his career as an engineer and holds a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. By 1989 he had become general manager of the Exxon USA central production division. In 1995, he became president of Exxon Yemen Inc. and Esso Exploration and Production Khorat Inc. In 2006, Tillerson was elected chairman and chief executive officer of Exxon, the world's 6th largest company by revenue.[3][4] Tillerson retired from Exxon effective January 1, 2017, and was succeeded by Darren Woods.[5] He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering.[3]

Their responsibility for our presence in the Middle East should be brought to light and discussed openly. The trillions of dollars and rivers of blood that underlie their business should be brought to light. They are a big baddie and the world would be better off without them.

Their hands are ALL OVER our foreign policy over the last FIFTY years, man. From Exxon CEO to Head of Secretary of State. Even the Robber Barons of the Gilded Age were not so bold.

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“Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.” ~ Sun Tzu

mimi's picture

I think he got all his comments canned in some files, ready to spits them out for fun and trolling.

Ignore him, please. It's not what I like to see in this diary.

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@mimi
has differing points of view doesn't necessarily make him a troll. Surely c99p will survive a civil discourse with him, right?

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@JtC thanks JtC. Honestly, I am sick and tired of defending the right to say stuff that appalls me, but I still do it. Keep going.

Respect for the U.S. Constitution is a thing, lots of regular people have it, with different focus on the different amendments, we have a Bill of Rights. It's the oligarchy that treats it like toilet paper if you ask me. Thanks.

Peace & Love

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mimi's picture

@JtC
Badger, but I would not have survived a further discourse civilly. And what he said about Hedges (pure cold war style communist bashing - being one part of it) was imo not very civil. But that is in the eyes of the beholder. You can go on based on your free speech rights. I have the right to remain silent and point out that the discourse was on the edge of slipping into something I didn't want to be part of. I also was not capable content-wise to counter the arguments and felt it was time to quit the game. I am no blogger, no news junkie, no political pundit, I don't sit 24/7 over the news, but i too have the right to be the fool I am to even post anything from Hedges here. Next time I will leave that to others here, who can handle folks like The Liberal Badger civilly.

I take back calling him a troll. Though I always wonder how some folks can post detailed comments of considerable length within minutes. Miracles seem to happen. Halleluhjah! /s

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Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

Nobody seems to give a shit that we were just forced into the worst choice of our lives, and that both candidates were, and still are, horrendously unpopular. Why the hell is it so hard to understand that there is no republic here, and therefore we don't GET to have choices that are meaningful? All we get are shit choices. People do the best they can under the circumstances, or give up entirely.

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"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

Alligator Ed's picture

@Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal applicable to the majority of this community. We are quite well aware of the wonderful choices we were given in 2016: feces or shit. One sounds more polite but both stink equally. As far as having a truly republican (small r) government, I doubt you will find many here who would endorse the existence of same.

Now, as to the great American unwashed, the comment may likely be correct.

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Thank you.

As I have stated in another comment, I did not say that "communist" is a pejorative, only that a bias that one is not up-front about is intellectually dishonest. Now, do I have criticisms of communism, yes, and I actually wrote a paper on this about 2 years ago, it's probably not that great (only got a "B"), but given the "anti-capitalist meet-up" article I saw here several days, and the responses that I got yesterday, I have to wonder if I posted excerpts would I be attacked? Is a well reasoned "anti-communist" article not welcome, but "anti-capitalist" is welcome? Someone suggested in one of the comments that I had cut&pasted some of my comments, which I did, and I stated that I did, up-front, because I written them in 2 comments I had posted DailyKos several days ago (this was in response to the climate change discussion). Look, the Antifa thugs self-identify as "Anarcho-Communists" and they wear the badge proudly. How come no one here even mentioned that part of comment? The Antifa kids also brag about bashing people's heads in too, so there's that. If I were to replace the "communist" word with "anti-capitalist" would people have reacted the same way? For the record, personally, I find zero difference between "socialist" and "communist" and "anti-capitalist" ... and further, I find a very nominal difference between "fascist" and "communist"... given the Nazi Party is -- "National Socialist German Workers'Party" ... i.e., "socialist." Yes, I understand the distinction, but I consider that to be a distinction that doesn't make a difference. In both cases, they use militant centralized control of industry. Okay, so that was basically my thesis statement from my paper from 2 years ago, and if I hunt up my paper, I could post my arguments and analysis. But will I be attacked for that?

I find it abusive that when I posted a respectful argument, I attacked no one here, yet I have been called a "RW TROLL" and told that I should go back to DailyKos... and then my being a mathematician / scientist background was questioned. Hell, my terrible run-on sentences and run-on paragraphs should be proof enough that I am a mathemetician, lol, or so I've been told by my ex. One thing I do know, is that Ad hominem attacks are logical fallacies, and anyone who resorts to them has only done so because they lost the argument and had nothing intelligent to say. I cited the Scientific Method, and the need for a control group, and the response I got was that "a test must be repeatable" but that is the point, we cannot repeat this earth's past 300 years, and we don't have two earths, so, no, we cannot prove 100% Anthropogenic Climate Change. This is an inconvenient fact, as my Science stressed to me. Trust me, I wish we could prove it 100%. Now, I also stated that I PERSONALLY do “believe” the Scientific Theory, and for the record, I could even ARGUE and DEFEND the theory, and I have, trust me, and the argument is compelling, I assure you, but as a Scientist and Mathematician, I would be lying if I did not acknowledge that 95% confidence (or whatever degree a given model is), is not 100%, the only way in Science to make the claim of “proven” requires a control group and repeatability. So .... WHY ARGUE? I am serious, why argue? I honestly believe it is stupid, foolish, pointless, and counter-productive to do so. Hell, as I pointed out, Tucker Carlson made Bill Nye look like an idiot when Bill Nye foolishly made the claim. Seriously, Why create division, when none is needed? I am an environmentalist, so let’s stop wasting our time, money, and energy on a divisive argument that serves zero purpose. We can ALL agree that we need to protect and clean up our environment. Agreed? Let’s be on the same side so that we can all work together. I honestly don’t understand why this logic is not applauded, but rather, in response, my own personal reputation is attacked, and I am called a RW Troll? Is “RW” a pejorative on this site? Are conservatives not welcome on this site? I never considered myself a conservative, but I do go to school with and I do work with conservatives, so I have tried to find a common ground with them, and I girl was sort of seeing is a conservative, and in that process, I do express some of their view points, because I found them valid. At least, I could not refute them. But trust me, if someone gives me valid responses, I will be using them. I stopped talking politics with my parents over a year ago, which is sort of why I started to read and comment on DailyKos (and here.) My mom was not happy that Hillary lost, as I am sure you can imagine, and she will not listen to any criticisms of her, so yeah, discussions with her are not happening any time soon.

In any case, my comments about “Patriot” and being “loyal to the U.S. Constitution (and 2nd and 10th Amendments)” was made to me by several conservative friends, so no, I was not even the author of that argument, but I found it valid and worth sharing. Now, I realize that some people don’t support the 2nd Amendment, which is also entirely valid, if that is their belief (and my mom also doesn't support the 2nd Amendment.) However, if someone is posing the question, “What is Trump loyal to?” or “What does ‘Patriotic’ mean to Trump supporters?” Then they should ask some conservative Trump supporters, which I have, and that was their answer. Theirs, not mine, but I could not disagree. So I guess it is now my argument, but I have never had much experience with guns. And no, I am not a military expert, as someone also attacked me about, but I do have relatives (on my dad's side) who are Special Forces, and I have had lengthy conversations with them on this subject, (and they do support Trump) so the arguments I expressed on that came from them, and I have no doubt that they know what they are talking about. But again, attacking me, personally, in response to a rational argument sharing ideas, is abuse. So I am not sure how I feel about this site, today, but I don’t actually have that much time to blog, given school and work and life, so I don’t know how much I will participate, it’s usually sporadic for me, and I had several days off from work, (getting over a flu), but I try to read political blogs every day, because I want to be informed, and my parents have been big fans of DailyKos for several years, but I don’t share all of their opinions on politics (my mom loves Hillary) and I honestly have mixed feelings about DailyKos, and then several weeks ago someone on Facebook mention c99, which is why I started to read here. Okay, as I said, I have a bad habit of run on sentences, sorry, but thanks for reading, if you did.

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Alligator Ed's picture

@The Liberal Badger I regret the name-calling you may have (did) receive. That is an improper way to pose a logical argument. By the way I studied logic in college, so I think I know a bit about the subject. Stand your ground. If you do, such as your reply to me, with reasoned argument, I for one will welcome your comments.

The "earth sciences" such as ecology, geology, anthropology do not lend themselves to "control conditions". Yet deductions can legitimately be made and supported in those fields. Although I believe in the anthropogenic cause of climate change, very reasonable arguments can be made for climate change due to such as solar activity including sunspots. Convection via ocean currents may be affected by many things and also alter climatic patterns. This response isn't aimed at that topic.

My main points are these:

1. Used reasoned arguments, as for the most part you have
2. Avoid name calling to support opinions, which both your critics and yourself have engaged in.
3. It is perfectly acceptable to use name calling to express emotion
4. It takes time for people to get to know us, so we all benefit from essays and commentaries that express points of view different from our own. This website is NON partisan. Conservatives are welcome, not saying that you are one--but even if you were, welcome.
5. Stand your ground.

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travelerxxx's picture

@The Liberal Badger

I can understand where you're coming from when you state that "... I do go to school with and I do work with conservatives, so I have tried to find a common ground with them..."

I find myself in the midst of conservatives constantly. Some would have to be considered rabid right-wingers. Nevertheless, a number of these folks are beyond co-workers; I would have to consider them friends. They understand that I am coming from the left politically, yet some of them would step in front of a bus to save me from getting hit. I am not kidding one iota.

So, there is respect there. I listen to what they say, consider it, and they do likewise - at least for the most part. We don't argue, rather we discuss. They have moved my position on several topics and caused me to moderate my views on others more than once. I hope I have done the same with some of them. Probably the most important result of being with these folks is learning that they are not the basket of deplorables described by Clinton.

Some are deeply religious, many have not read or heard any other than extreme conservative viewpoints in their entire lives, some are afraid. All of the ones I am close to are very considerate, polite, and concerned with the nation. Interestingly enough, when I question them issue-by-issue, they actually respond as a liberally minded person might. Most want to keep the banks out of Social Security, feel as though the nation is easily wealthy enough to take care of the health needs of the entire population, etc. Of course, they have been told they're conservatives, so they respond that way. In general, they'll repeat the conservative company line, but in the details, often not.

So, I understand where you're coming from. Perhaps you should actually write more here. If you choose to do so, please add more paragraph breaks to make it easier for us to follow you. Wink

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