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Growing Threats To Election Officials In States, Members Of Congress From Right Wing Trump Supporters!

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The refusal of Donald Trump to concede in the Presidential Election of 2020 one year later and counting has created a poisonous, threatening situation for dozens of election officials in many states, AND members of Congress who have been courageous enough to be critical of Trump, including supporting his impeachment and support the infrastructure legislation that passed by a bipartisan vote.

It has also caused threats and confrontations of election board and school board members in many states, including threatening phone calls and emails, designed to discourage people from participating in promotion of American democracy and educational curriculum and more.

Private security and police support is required for so many public officials and staff who never had to worry before now about dangers to their lives and families.

We are in the midst of a “Reign of Terror”, by domestic terrorists and white supremacists, egged on by the 45th President, and yet, so far, nothing seems to be working to hold him accountable, and deal with the horrific situation the nation faces.

And the next rounds of elections, state and congressional in 2022, and the presidential election of 2024, seem highly likely to be a time of potentially greater crises and threats than even the events of the past year, from the US Capitol Insurrection of January 6, 2021 onward!

There is a growing sense that America may experience the kind of Fascist authoritarian threat presented in the mid 20th century by Fascist Italy and Benito Mussolini, and Nazi Germany and Adolf Hitler, as well as other authoritarian leaders in other nations past and present!

Fox News Channel’s Tucker Carlson “A Clear And Present Danger” To Truth And American Democracy!

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Fox News Channel has been an outlier since its creation by Rupert Murdoch in 1996.

It has the biggest audience of any cable news channel, but it has spewed forth right wing extremist propaganda for the past 25 years, including their persistent promotion of lies, mistruths, racism, nativism, misogyny and Islamophobia!

Its talk show hosts in the evenings–Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, and most significantly, Tucker Carlson–are demagogues who distort and divide for personal and company profit!

Tucker Carlson presents a “clear and present danger” to truth and American democracy, and his decision to create a documentary that denies the reality of what happened on January 6, 2021 is beyond the pale!

All of us who watched on television the Insurrection as it occurred, and all of the tens of thousands of hours of video that shows the destruction and assault on the US Capitol, are a permanent record of what was going on, and yet Tucker Carlson is claiming the events of that horrific day are a “false flag”.

This is propaganda worthy of Nazi Germany, Soviet Russia, and the authoritarian dictatorships spreading around the world in the attack on democracy that is now enveloping not just elsewhere but here!

Donald Trump is the most dangerous and demagogic political leader bar none—including such as Huey Long, Joseph McCarthy, George Wallace—in the past century!

The thought that any honorable media source would peddle such totalitarian propaganda is shocking, and Tucker Carlson is committing the ultimate felony of propaganda promoted by Joseph Goebbels in Nazi Germany, the spreading of lies that led to the massive loss of life in the Holocaust!

Donald Trump And The Republican Party Are “A Clear And Present Danger” To America’s Future!

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The worship and allegiance of most Republican Party officeholders to Donald Trump and the “Big Lie”, that Trump won the Presidential Election Of 2020, makes it clear that Trump and the party are “a clear and present danger” to America’s future.

As the Holocaust Museum in Washington DC makes clear, Trump and the Republican Party have become a Fascist party, with so many similarities to Fascist Italy, Nazi Germany, Fascist Spain, Fascist Argentina, and a multitude of other Fascist dictatorships over the past century and still so now in Brazil, Hungary, Poland, the Philippines, and other dictatorships around the world!

The following characteristics make it clear that Trump and his party represent Fascism!

Powerful and continuing Nationalism
Disdain for Human Rights
Identification of Enemies as a Unifying Cause
Supremacy of the Military
Rampant Sexism
Controlled Mass Media
Obsession with National Security
Religion and Government Intertwined
Corporate Power Protected
Labor Power Suppressed
Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts
Obsession with Crime and Punishment
Rampant Cronyism and Corruption
Fraudulent Elections

Laurence W, Britt came up with this listing at Free Inquiry website on SecularHumanism.0rg in 2003!

Republican Party Survival Only Possible Long Term With Those Who Reject The “Big Lie” Of Donald Trump!

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The Republican Party is at an historic crossroads.

If it continues to back the “Big Lie” of Donald Trump, that he won the Presidential Election of 2020, then it will be destroyed, and go into the dustbin of history, as no party can have its future based on a criminal President who was impeached twice, and lost the popular vote twice by massive margins, and only won the first time due to Russian collusion!

The January 6, 2021 Capitol Insurrection cannot be covered up, and dismissed, as it was an attack on American democracy at its core!

Anyone backing Donald Trump at this point is spoiled goods, and only is inciting division that endangers domestic tranquility, and is a direct threat for civil disorder.

Worship of a man is dangerous, and reminds us of Benito Mussolini and Fascist Italy; Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany; and Joseph Stalin and the Soviet Union.

So the leadership of the future must be people such as Mitt Romney, Liz Cheney, Adam Kinzinger, and Lisa Murkowski, or else the need for a new conservative mainstream party is an urgency!

Donald Trump’s Continuing War On Truth, And Continued Mission To Divide America!

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Three months since the January Capitol Insurrection, and former President Donald Trump is still continuing the war on truth, and continues his mission to divide America.

Trump still contends he won the Presidential Election of 2020, despite all of the 61 lawsuits that were dismissed, and he still condemns Mike Pence for doing his constitutional duty, and has lashed out at many Republican officeholders, including Mitch McConnell.

Trump has expressed no sorrow over the loss of life and injuries caused by his minions attacking the US Capitol, and is showing total lack of morality, ethics, compassion, and empathy, all attributes he has NEVER had.

Trump is a nightmare for the Republican Party and the nation, and yet he still gets a majority of Republicans in public opinion polls to swear loyalty to him, as he continues to promote the BIG LIE technique used in the 20th century by Adolf Hitler in Nazi Germany!

The threat to the US Capitol remains, but the prosecution and imprisonment of all of the Capitol rioters must move forward, and Donald Trump and those who aided him in his criminal actions surrounding the events of January 6, must be held responsible, and Donald Trump must serve prison time as a disgraced President, before the nation can move on from the nightmare four years of this despicable excuse for a human being!

Foreign Policy Rears Its Ugly Head For Joe Biden

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Every President enters office wishing to deal with domestic policy and change.

But invariably, foreign policy rears its ugly head much too often!

Woodrow Wilson came to office in 1913, not expecting the First World War I to break out in 1914, and bring us into that war in 1917.

Franklin D. Roosevelt came to office in 1933, wishing to deal with the Great Depression, but also had to deal with the growing Fascist threat of Japan, Nazi Germany, and Fascist Italy, and eventually, entrance into World War II!

Harry Truman came to office in 1945 to end World War II, but had to deal with the Cold War with the Soviet Union, and send troops to Korea.

John F. Kennedy came to office in 1961, and had to deal with the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962.

Lyndon B. Johnson came to office in 1963, wanting to promote the Great Society, but also had to deal with the Vietnam War.

Every other President in modern times has had to face similar issues, and now, Joe Biden must deal with China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran as major headaches, as he tries to resolve the COVID 19 Pandemic Crisis!

Crazy Trumpites Call For Martial Law, And “Proud Boys” Terrorists/Hoodlums (Brown Shirt Storm Troopers), Promote Violence!

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With 46 days until the inauguration of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, we are witnessing, including this author personally with some people he knows, the rise of crazy Trumpites who are calling for Martial Law, suspension of the Constitution and Rule of Law, and refusing to accept Joe Biden’s clear cut victory!

These people are totally nuts, off the wall, and being manipulated by religious extremists of the Jewish and Christian faiths, and are endorsing lawlessness, and violation of civil liberties and civil rights!

And the “Proud Boys”, a terrorist/hoodlum group, brown shirt stormtroopers, is growing that is promoting violence and inciting crazy people on the sidelines to support Donald Trump, as they are acting like the bullies and terrorists of Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, and Soviet Russia in the past history of the 20th century!

It seems likely that Trump will try to stage an alternative event on Inauguration Day in Washington, DC, and not attend the inauguration of his successor, which is the norm.

This could lead to violence and bloodshed, endangering the Inauguration crowd, and making the safety of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris more difficult, and threatening their lives!

Donald Trump needs to be made to understand that any inciting of bloodshed and violence, once out of office, could lead to arrest, incarceration with no bail, and conviction on terrorism charges!

And any alternative inauguration event should not be televised live during the Presidential Inauguration, no split screen, or any attention given by news media to distract from the historic event!

The American Character And Reputation Is At Stake On Tuesday: Can We Come Out Of The Darkness?

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With 48 hours to the election, the American character and reputation is at stake on Tuesday, Election Day.

Can America come out of the darkness of the last four years, and restore respect for the Constitution and rule of law, and gain the respect again of the international community?

Will morality and ethics and common decency return, or will America go into the darkness of Fascism, as occurred in Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany?

Will civil rights, civil liberties, women’s rights, gay rights, immigrant rights, labor rights, consumer rights, environmental protections, and restoration of international respect for America be resumed?

Or will we go further into the darkness where Donald Trump will be uncontrollable, and the possibility of mass murder of opponents occur, with the backing of the extreme right wing groups, including the evangelicals and various militia groups, who will want war on open mindedness and tolerance and common decency?

As stated at earlier times, this is the most important election in our lifetimes, or at least since 1940, and could be as significant as 1860 and the Civil War!

Fascism Is On The Horizon If Donald Trump Is Reelected: Warning Of Author Sinclair Lewis In His Work “It Can’t Happen Here” In 1935

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In 1935, Novelist Sinclair Lewis wrote a prophetic novel, “It Can’t Happen Here”, stating that what was happening in Fascist Italy under Benito Mussolini and Nazi Germany under Adolf Hitler, could happen in the United States. Lewis wrote that it would be “clothed in a flag and carrying a Bible!”

This was way before the horrors of Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany reached their peaks over the next decade, but already enough evidence of the dangers of the manipulation of minds with emotional rhetoric dividing groups in a society, based upon race, ethnicity, religion, and national origins.

Lewis was warning about the potential dangers represented by Huey Long of Louisiana, who was assassinated months later in 1935, with the story of his assassination covered in my book “Assassinations, Threats, and the American Presidency: From Andrew Jackson to Barack Obama” (Rowman Littlefield Publishers 2015, Paperback Edition 2017).

It could also be applied later, in the 1950s, to Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin; to third party Presidential candidate George Wallace of Alabama in 1968; and to President Donald Trump.

Only Trump, with his Fascist appeal, backed up by military, police and evangelical support, and rallies to appeal to those who are racist oriented, and also nativists, white supremacists at Charlottesville, antisemitic, Islamophobic, and misogynistic, is a clear and present danger, as he is the President of the United States.

He has stoked Fascist appeals as a manipulative method for the past five years since he announced his candidacy in 2015, and has set out to destroy all traditions and norms!

A lot of intelligent people, including those I know or knew, and also a lot of not so bright people who have emotional attachment to Donald Trump, since they are ignorant and share his horrific beliefs, have rallied around him.

And yet, many conservatives and Republicans who really care about our Constitution and rule of law, and the perpetuation of our democracy, are alarmed by Trump’s constant attack on “Fake Media”.

Trump calls everyone and everything which opposes his authoritarian bent as unAmerican. He waves the American flag as if he owns patriotism, when it is his critics who are truly patriotic, and care about human rights and freedom.

Donald Trump incites in a crazy manner on Twitter daily, and in the midst of the greatest crises since the Great Depression and World War II, he ignores and refuses to take responsibility for the Second Great Depression and the CoronaVirus Pandemic!

He stokes bloodshed and violence in attacking those who are promoting the need for racial healing, and encourages right wing hoodlums in the streets of Portland, Seattle, Kenosha and elsewhere,

This presents the danger of greater violence in the two months left to the Presidential Election of 2020, and the interim to the next inauguration, and his stated refusal to accept defeat if the election goes against him, an absolutely terrifying scenario!

It would seem that his opponents, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, face constant threats of assassination, and this author of a book on assassinations is truly alarmed that someone who is a Trumpite will attempt to do that!

If Trump is reelected, this nation will be threatened in its basic values in a way never having come to power with Huey Long, Joseph McCarthy, or George Wallace, despite these earlier threats in the 1930s, 1950s, and 1960s. It will be an authoritarian dictatorship without any control, a nightmare that will mirror the horrors of Fascist Italy and even Nazi Germany!

As Sinclair Lewis wrote in “It Can’t Happen Here”, it actually “Can Happen Here”!

Barack Obama And Kamala Harris Speeches Will Stand Out As Models In The Long Run Of American History!

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When one feels despair at the horrific situation America is in during this crucial year of 2020, and when we look back in the future at this year, the Democratic National Convention speeches last night, on the third day of the convention, will stand out as among the greatest public oratory moments in the long run of American history!

Both the first African American President (Barack Obama), and the first African American and Indian American soon to be Vice President (Kamala Harris), demonstrated full command of the issues of this election for the nation in 2020, and for the long term survival of American democracy!

The fact that both Obama and Harris could rise to the pinnacle of power and leadership is testimonial to how far we have come in the journey for a “more perfect Union”, but also a reminder that there is is much work still to be accomplished!

The fight against Fascist authoritarianism and tyranny that Donald Trump and his ilk represent is the greatest crisis for the nation since 1940, when Franklin D. Roosevelt campaigned for a third term in office, in order to deal with the Fascist threat of Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany.

This was a time when the misnamed “America First Committee” was out to avoid the need for the ultimate confrontation with totalitarianism to keep American democracy alive and thriving.

A third of the nation was willing to accept Fascism’s takeover, and even had a charismatic leader who praised Hitler, the famous aviator Charles Lindbergh. So FDR, despite the strain of eight years in the Presidency, felt committed to steer the nation to the proper course in a time of danger.

The same now falls upon Joe Biden, who has devoted a half century of his life to the advancement of American democracy, and he has been called upon to lead the nation in the fight against the threat of the modern hero of the extreme right, Donald Trump!

Just as FDR prevailed, Joe Biden, with Kamala Harris by his side, and with Barack and Michelle Obama backing him up, will succeed in dealing with the most serious set of crises, both domestic and foreign, since the time of FDR!