Thursday June 25, 2020
129 Days until the election on November 3rd
209 Days until the Inauguration on January 20, 2021
This is a writing different than any I have done. It has a different purpose. It is a warning – plain and simple. We are facing the end of our democracy if we don’t act.
Don’t pooh-pooh it. Don’t say, “It can’t happen here.” It is happening.
I was on a trip to Palenque when I was talking with Martin. His grandparents were German and lived through Hitler’s rise to power. Martin said of his grandparents and their friends, “They all knew he was crazy, but when they decided to act it was too late.”
The parallels to Hitler’s rise to power and what is going on now – in this country – are alarmingly similar. I have written about that before. Not in detail, others have done that. I have mentioned on several occasions how the Roman Republic fell, willingly almost, to become the Roman Empire, mainly because the people didn’t believe it could happen to them, and it was subtle. Augustus Caesar never called himself an emperor, but he was. He referred to himself as a citizen of the people, but he wasn’t.
I often wonder when the indians who sided with Cortes to defeat the Aztecs realized that this wasn’t a good idea. I think about the Incas who were forced to carry silver ore on their backs up a four hundred foot ladder, as the returning crews came down the other side of the ladder with the lead person having a candle on their finger for light and resting every fifty feet. I wonder when they rested if they thought maybe this wasn’t such a good idea to have let the Incas fall.
It came into focus for me, last night. We are no longer in a debate about which side has a better idea or whether you like this or that; we are in a fight to save our democracy from those who would destroy it. Maybe, they don’t realize that is what they are doing, maybe they don’t care. I can’t say, but what I can say is that the seeds to end our experiment have been sown.
What brought this into focus for me was a comment that was made last night on one of the endless talk shows that rehash the day’s events. And the other day was a doozy, we’ll get to all that shortly. The point was made that the people in the American Revolution and the people in the French Revolution and causes at that time realized that they needed to create a system of government that protected themselves from the excesses of the people in power. The idea of checks and balances and the idea of a system of laws was designed to stop the powerful from having their way and letting their friends off easy while subjecting their enemies to harsh penalties.
The reason why our system of governance has been a model around the world is that it has stopped the powerful from subverting the system to their benefit – until now.
I don’t care what political stripe you are, what you believe in, or who you support, realize this – and make no mistake – the people in power are trying to subvert our system of government to help themselves and their friends and allies, not to do the right thing for the people. Left unchecked the American experiment will be over.
Now on to the day’s events. Actually, day before yesterday’s events? Or is it yesterday? Yesterday. Yeah.
Yesterday we reached the highest level of new infections ever in this country. Throughout the southwest the trend is up and up dramatically with no end in sight. The hospitals throughout the region are near capacity. ICU units are reporting 97% full, one bed left kind of stuff. People are dying. The staffs are exhausted. The governors in those areas are now saying, “Hey, it looks bad. Maybe you should think about wearing a mask.”
What did the Federal government do yesterday? Mike Pence as head of the White House response team to the virus told governors at a luncheon that they should stress the positive when it comes to the Corona virus. I didn’t hear what positive points he suggest they stress.
The Federal government is also scheduled to shutdown testing sites at the end of this month.
That is what the Federal government has done in response to this pandemic hitting the highest numbers of cases of infection in this country yesterday.
But that is not the worst. Oh no, it get much much worse. Yesterday, we witnessed some of the most flagrant abuses of power, protocol, and our way of life. To what end? To protect the powerful and their friends. Many have spoken about two systems of justice: one for the rich and powerful, and one for everyone else. Yesterday, it was on full display. There is no doubt what is going on. You can debate whether it is intentional. If “They” know what they were doing all along, etc. etc. etc. But there is no question that it is happening, and that is the end of democracy as we know it.
Yesterday, a three judge panel told the judge presiding over the Michael Flynn case that he had no jurisdiction to review the decision by the Justice Department to withdraw their determination to sentence. That he had to shut up and take it. In the firing of the Southern District of New York there is no cause to get rid of the man other than he is investigating friends and family members of the president. William Barr is now under investigation in Congress, for his conduct. Much of this centers around the Roger Stone case, which there was ample testimony from people within the Justice Department that they were leaned on to go easy on Roger Stone because he was a friend to the president. This is the very thing that the people at the time of the Revolution were concerned about. What did a Republican member of the committee do? Banged on the desk to disrupt the proceedings.
Meanwhile, actions to limit voting continue. Polling places are reduces from several hundred to one. Mail-in voting is trying to be stopped. People are being thrown off of voting roles. All to limit the number of people voting.
This actions and behaviors are so egregious and so obvious that neither our founding fathers, nor those who came after, ever contemplated such a dire conspiracy to defraud the people of their rights and way of life. But here we are.
Act before it is too late.
Here was the interview that created the turning point for me:
And here is my summary if you don’t care to listen to the video”
“It is a disaster politically because it’s a disaster.”
Donald Trump has never governed anything. He ran as a pure outsider. He ran as a pure entertainment politician. He didn’t get that (there was more to it than that) He still doesn’t.
The disaster we face is “the function and product of terrible governance.”
“There simply is no better politics than governing well.”
People are now fearful that they will get sick and die. The president is not defending us against this virus. (That’s his job!)
Six months ago the president could make the economy was pretty good. He was benefitting from the last three years of the Obama administration. People thought, “Yeah, maybe he’s crazy, but he’ll get things done.”
The Corona Virus washed all that away. “We can now see the consequences of ill governance.”
He was acting as a president on TV but he was not running an administration, or setting an agenda.
“The Republican Party has collapsed as a governing institution.” It’s not just Trump, McConnell has not been doing a great job either.” (Nor have any members in the party in Congress.)
“The people can now see what it looks like when the president isn’t doing his job and it is terrifying.” The argument has been taken away that the economy was working well. “How the way he acts and the actual state of the country” is seen. “He’s collapsing in the polls.
… End of partial quotes on the interview.
Let me be clear. What is talked about in that interview is only the beginning of the problem we as a people face.
The real threat is that the president along with the Attorney General, the Leader of the Senate and the Republicans in the Senate and the House, along with judges they have appointed and officials they have put in the heads of agencies are set to destroy our democracy.
We have one shot to stop them.
129 Days until the election on November 3rd
209 Days until the Inauguration on January 20, 2021
PS Monkey Butt
Rick, you are AWESOME!
And you are a TRUE PATRIOT (as opposed to all the IDIOTS who would Sell their own MOTHER down the River, for TRUMP