#trumpism

janet_logan@diasp.org
dredmorbius@joindiaspora.com

The American polity is cracked, and might collapse. Canada must prepare

What seems to have pushed the United States to the brink of losing its democracy today is a multiplication effect between its underlying flaws and recent shifts in the society’s “material” characteristics. These shifts include stagnating middle-class incomes, chronic economic insecurity, and rising inequality as the country’s economy – transformed by technological change and globalization – has transitioned from muscle power, heavy industry, and manufacturing as the main sources of its wealth to idea power, information technology, symbolic production and finance. As returns to labour have stagnated and returns to capital have soared, much of the U.S. population has fallen behind... Economic insecurity is widespread in broad swaths of the country’s interior, while growth is increasingly concentrated in a dozen or so metropolitan centres.

Two other material factors are key. The first is demographic: as immigration, aging, intermarriage and a decline in church-going have reduced the percentage of non-Hispanic white Christians in America, right-wing ideologues have inflamed fears that traditional U.S. culture is being erased and whites are being “replaced.” The second is pervasive elite selfishness: The wealthy and powerful in America are broadly unwilling to pay the taxes, invest in the public services, or create the avenues for vertical mobility that would lessen their country’s economic, educational, racial and geographic gaps. The more an under-resourced government can’t solve everyday problems, the more people give up on it, and the more they turn to their own resources and their narrow identity groups for safety.

Thomas Homer-Dixon, whom I strongly recommend reading, at the Globe and Mail.

Dixon's website with more publications: https://homerdixon.com/

HN discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29778363

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-the-american-polity-is-cracked-and-might-collapse-canada-must-prepare/

#ThomasHomerDixon #Collapse #Fascism #UnitedStates #Politics #Trumpism #Risk #Institutions #LiberalDemocracy

dredmorbius@joindiaspora.com

‘A Total Failure’: The Proud Boys Now Mock Trump

After the presidential election last year, the Proud Boys, a far-right group, declared its undying loyalty to President Trump.

In a Nov. 8 post in a private channel of the messaging app Telegram, the group urged its followers to attend protests against an election that it said had been fraudulently stolen from Mr. Trump. “Hail Emperor Trump,” the Proud Boys wrote.

But by this week, the group’s attitude toward Mr. Trump had changed. “Trump will go down as a total failure,” the Proud Boys said in the same Telegram channel on Monday.

As Mr. Trump departed the White House on Wednesday, the Proud Boys, once among his staunchest supporters, have also started leaving his side. In dozens of conversations on social media sites like Gab and Telegram, members of the group have begun calling Mr. Trump a “shill” and “extraordinarily weak,” according to messages reviewed by The New York Times. They have also urged supporters to stop attending rallies and protests held for Mr. Trump or the Republican Party.

The comments are a startling turn for the Proud Boys, which for years had backed Mr. Trump and promoted political violence. Led by Enrique Tarrio, many of its thousands of members were such die-hard fans of Mr. Trump that they offered to serve as his private militia and celebrated after he told them in a presidential debate last year to “stand back and stand by.” On Jan. 6, some Proud Boys members stormed the U.S. Capitol.

But since then, discontent with Mr. Trump, who later condemned the violence, has boiled over. On social media, Proud Boys participants have complained about his willingness to leave office and said his disavowal of the Capitol rampage was an act of betrayal. And Mr. Trump, cut off on Facebook and Twitter, has been unable to talk directly to them to soothe their concerns or issue new rallying cries.

The Proud Boys’ anger toward Mr. Trump has heightened after he did nothing to help those in the group who face legal action for the Capitol violence. On Wednesday, a Proud Boy leader, Joseph Biggs, 37, was arrested in Florida and charged with unlawful entry and corruptly obstructing an official proceeding in the riot. At least four other members of the group also face charges stemming from the attack. ...

Eating their own.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/20/technology/proud-boys-trump.html

#spent #trumpism #repudiation #JoeBiden #politics #EatingTheirOwn

dredmorbius@joindiaspora.com

Sheldon Adelson, casino mogul who made big bets on Trump and Netanyahu, dies at 87

(Reuters) - Combative self-made billionaire Sheldon Adelson, who assembled the world’s largest casino empire and used his fortune to nurture conservative politicians and policies in the United States and Israel, has died at age 87.

The American casino mogul, raised in a poor Jewish immigrant family in Boston as the son of a cab driver, established lavish hotels and casinos in Las Vegas, Macau and Singapore, and headed the world’s largest casino company, Las Vegas Sands Corp.

Adelson’s wealth made him a formidable figure in American and Israel politics and in the news media. He was a vigorous supporter of U.S. President Donald Trump, former U.S. President George W. Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as well as a prolific donor to U.S. Republican politicians and foe of Democrats, including former U.S. President Barack Obama.

...

Adelson and his Israeli-born physician wife Miriam gave more than $218 million to Republican and conservative causes in the 2020 U.S. election cycle, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks political spending, more than anyone else.

They were prolific backers of Trump’s 2016 presidential bid and remained supportive throughout his turbulent presidency. The casino magnate was in regular contact with Trump after he took office and saw some of his cherished goals relating to Israel come to fruition including the moving of the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem in a break with decades of American policy. Adelson attended the embassy dedication ceremony in May 2018. ...

NPR Obit: "Sheldon Adelson, Conservative Donor And Casino Titan, Dies At 87"

Adelson made his fortune — a net worth of around $35 billion according to an estimate by Forbes — in the casino hotel industry. He spent much of it backing conservative politicians in the U.S. and Israel, shaping the political debate of both countries.

He was in the first wave of superwealthy Americans to take advantage of the Supreme Court's controversial Citizens United ruling, which opened the doors to eight- and nine-figure political donations so long as the money goes to independent superPACs and not candidates or party committees.

...

The fortune Adelson made in the casino business was spent generously on donations to Jewish causes, medical research and the Republican Party. He and his wife, Miriam, gave around $500 million over the past eight years to Republican and conservative campaigns.

The couple's prolific political giving led to what was sometimes called the "Adelson primary," in which GOP presidential hopefuls would flock to Las Vegas to court Adelson and the Republican Jewish Coalition.

...

[A]fter early reservations, the Adelsons backed Trump's 2016 election effort; they gave $5 million to his inaugural committee and then donated about $500,000 to the legal defense fund for his White House aides. During the 2018 midterms, the Adelsons donated more than $100 million to Republicans. ...

https://www.npr.org/2021/01/12/693679109/sheldon-adelson-conservative-donor-and-casino-titan-dies-at-87

That's one seditionist puppetmaster off the prosecution list, though the estate should be seized and associates pursed.

Thoughts and prayers. Answered.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-adelson-obituary/sheldon-adelson-casino-mogul-who-made-big-bets-on-trump-and-netanyahu-dies-at-87-idUSKBN29H1SM

#obituary #SheldonAdelson #seditionist #fascists #trumpism #trumpist #LasVegas #Jan6Coup

dredmorbius@joindiaspora.com

Following the January 6 Coup incited by the President, my most immediate concern is that the US is effectively leaderless

This at a time leadership is desperately needed.

Cabinet and other Administration officials are resigning or acting independently. Numerous agencies are operating under acting heads and other senior positions, many installed since the election, including DoJ and DoD.

The Vice President ordered deployment of the National Guard, and the Military complied, despite the office being entirely outside military command. The order and response, though the right ones, were entirely outside legal authority.

Military allegiances appear in at least part divided, though generally alligned with Nation and Constitution, rather than the Person of the President.

Law enforcement allegiances are much more dubious, and general uncertainty widespread.

Numerous members of the Legislature, though not leadership, remain seditiously alligned with the Person, rather than Office, of the President.

Integrity of the Secret Service is openly questioned.

Trust and integrity of the Executive branch are in question.

The current President of the United States is the country's greatest national security risk, a fact openly acknowledged.

Should further external or internal threats emerge the nation is in immediate peril. Capability to assess and act in the Nation's are disrupted.

A 25th amendment removal, even if followed by a post-term impeachment, would address that lack. Failure to remove a clear and present danger, or obstruction of same, are themselves abdication of responsibility aiding the insurrection, itself impeachable.

#Jan6Coup #sedition #fascism #trumpism #trumpists #25thAmendment #impeachment #NationalSecurity #MikePence

dredmorbius@joindiaspora.com

January 6 Coup: Fascinatingly, the Defense Department is referring to Wednesday’s pro-Trump riot as “the January 6, 2021 1st Amendment Protests.”

To be precise, and as others have pointed out, this is a memo issued by the office of the acting Defense Secretary, the fifth person appointed by President Trump to lead the Department of Defense.

https://nitter.net/navybook/status/1347908922292768771

Christopher C. Miller specifically.

The 1A language comes from a letter by DC Mayor written on December 31 requesting aid, on account that:

[T]hese demonstrations will follow similar events on November 4, 2020 and December 12, 2020, which resulted in a large influx of participants, violence and criminal activity.
Second image, above.

https://media.defense.gov/2021/Jan/08/2002562063/-1/-1/1/PLANNING-AND-EXECUTION-TIMELINE-FOR-THE-NATIONAL-GUARDS-INVOLVEMENT-IN-THE-JANUARY-6-2021-FIRST-AMENDMENT-PROTESTS-IN-WASHINGTON-DC.pdf?

Remember: History is written by the winners.

DO. NOT. LET. THESE. LOSERS. WIN.

#Jan6Coup #ChristopherCMiller #insurrection #sedition #trumpism #trumpists