Our Constitutional Republic faces a clear and present danger more deadly than that of the Civil War. The danger is the Republican Party, a "political party" that has sold out to white supremacy, autocracy, misogyny, and hatred of everything our Nation stands for. Republicans dismiss any sense of a common American narrative. The "Republican Party" is an outlier in our history – ideologically extreme; contemptuous of social and economic policies that have sustained us for a century; unwilling to compromise; dismissive of evidence, fact, and science; dismissive of the legitimacy of any viewpoint except their own. America needs to face the simple, frightening fact that the Republican Party is a clear and present danger to our Constitutional Republic.
The search of Trump’s home in Florida was aimed at recovering classified documents — some of them VERY HIGHLY CLASSIFIED — that Trump took with him to Mar-A-Largo.
If Trump is convicted, let’s all remember this:
If Trump is tried and found guilty of concealing, mutilating, falsifying, or destroying classified documents, HE CANNOT RUN FOR PRESIDENT IN 2024.
The FBI executed a search warrant Monday at Donald Trump‘s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, as part of an investigation into the handling of presidential documents, including classified documents, that may have been brought there, three people familiar with the situation told CNN.
So — the fact that they got a search warrant means:
We know that the object of the raid was at least 15 boxes of highly classified material that Trump removed from the White House, thereby violating a number of laws.
The Washington Post reports that some of these documents are so highly classified that they cannot even list the titles of the documents in an unclassified document.
This also means that a federal grand jury has been meeting in DC to consider charges against Trump for mishandling of classified material.
You can read more here:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/08/08/trump-mar-a-lago-search-fbi/
https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/08/politics/mar-a-lago-search-warrant-fbi-donald-trump/index.html
According to a report from the Washington Post, a small group of die-hard conservatives and Donald Trump supporters who took part in the the so-called “People’s Convoy” have yet to go home and have been living in their cars or vans for weeks, meeting each day and wondering why their movement didn’t catch on.
The trucker convoy, also known as the “1776 Restoration Movement,” was ostensibly organized to protest vaccine mandates, but gradually changed into a grab-bag protest against the policies of President Joe Biden which mostly dissipated as they were ignored and then was dogged by accusations about where donations were going.
In June, trucking industry website Freightwaves issued a special report stating that $1.8 million in donations had been taken in with no accountability about spending which had organizers pointing fingers at each other.
That report stated, “In the days prior to the convoy’s collapse, participants and supporters say they were asked to ‘pass the hat’ and chip in cash to pay the Hagerstown Speedway for allowing them to camp there and use the site as a staging area to launch its slow rolls and loops around the Washington Beltway.”
On Sunday, the Post’s Joe Heim reported some members have yet to leave.
“They were hoping that thousands or maybe even millions of other Americans would join their cause, Tom Fisher, 70, a retired state park ranger from Arizona said as he stood in the shade on a blistering hot Washington afternoon last week,” he wrote. “Instead, there are about two dozen stalwarts who’ve camped out with American flag-draped cars and trucks since July 6 to demonstrate against what they say is America’s slow but sure abandonment of the Constitution and to call for a peaceful return ‘to a constitutional Republic through the restoration of a moral society.'”
In an interview, Fisher admitted he is perplexed why the 1776 Restoration Movement faltered and collapsed.
“I’m disappointed. I thought once we occupied D.C., people would come out,” he lamented.
As the report notes, “The response, instead, has been mostly indifference. As well as some heckling and trolling. And some criticism that 1776 Restoration Movement is just another group using a narrowly defined patriotism to grift for dollars and social media clout.”
Attempting to put a positive spin on the collapse, Ohio truck driver and evangelical minister David Riddell, 57, who was one of the founders, claimed, “This is family. So far in this movement, I’ve baptized three of them in the Potomac, renewed the vows of another couple, celebrated the 57th wedding anniversary with another one. This is family.”
Riddell added, “Do I agree with what went on January 6? No, absolutely not. That’s not how we do things. Do we have a Second Amendment right to throw off a tyrannical government? Yes. That’s what the Constitution says. But do we have a moral right to do that at this time? The answer to that is a resounding no. You do not, because you don’t use violence until it is the absolute last resort.”
The Post report adds, “On Monday, the group’s protest permit expires. By then, the last of the 1776 Restoration Movement protesters will have packed up their signs and flags and camp chairs and coolers and retreated to Bunker Hill, where they plan to regroup, reorganize, reread the Constitution and prepare to return in early September to redress their grievances once more.”
Former President Donald Trump spoke for nearly two hours in his closing address at the CPAC summit in Dallas.
In Trump’s view, America has been destroyed in the 18 months since he left office, with out-of-control crime, inflation, and oddly enough unemployment, which Trump estimates to be three times the official number.
Trump took the stage to the song “God Bless the USA” and began by thanking the “proud patriots” in attendance.
Trump said he was proud to be joined by Rep. Ronnie Jackson (R-TX), who was his White House surgeon.
“He was an admiral, a doctor, and now he’s a congressman,” Trump noted, saying he asked him which was the best.
“And he sort of indicated doctor, because he loved to look at my body. It was so strong and powerful,” Trump said.
Trump then introduced Reps. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), Lauren Boebert (R-CO), and Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA).
“This is no time for complacency,” Trump warned. “We have to seize this opportunity to deal with the radical left socialist lunatic fascists. We have to hit them very, very hard. It has to be a crippling defeat.”
He went on to complain about Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) for supporting the Inflation Reduction Act, which passed a procedural vote after Vice President Kamala Harris cast the tie-breaking vote while Trump was speaking, resulting in harsh words for GOP Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY).
“But McConnell is the most unpopular politician in the country, even more so than crazy Nancy Pelosi, and something has to be done,” Trump urged.
Trump said Biden “surrendered our strength and our everything [in Afghanistan], they surrendered our dignity.”
Michael Hardy, senior editor at the Texas Monthly, was one of the local journalists covering the speech. He said that line had “echoes of the Nazi ‘stab in the back theory’ of losing WW1.”
He then described crime in “Democrat-run (sic) cities” in very dark terms.
“The streets of our Democrat-run cities are drenched in the blood of innocent victims,” Trump claimed. “Bullets are killing little beautiful little children who never had a chance. Car jackers lay in wait like predators.”
Hardy described that as “some literal blood-and-soil rhetoric.”
And Trump went on saying “we need to courage to say what needs to be said and do what needs to be done,” which Hardy said “is a rallying cry for street violence and worse.”
Trump went on to call for a military takeover of San Francisco, New York, Chicago, and Portland.
“Trump’s rhetoric is significantly more extreme than even a few years ago,” Hardy said. “This might be most frightening speech I’ve ever heard. Full-on, unapologetic fascism. Trump has either been reading Mein Kampf or having someone read it to him.”
Trump repeatedly his lies about election fraud and teased a 2024 presidential comeback.
Former RNC official Tim Miller said, “I know everyone in the DC GOP is just hoping Trump will die but it’s impossible to watch this CPAC speech and not come to the conclusion that he’s going to run and be very hard to beat in a primary. Sorry to be the bearer of bad weekend news.”
After his speech, Trump danced on stage to the song “Hold On I’m Coming” by Sam and Dave.
“Don’t you ever feel sad; lean on me when times are bad,” Sam and Dave sang. “Then the day comes and you’re down; in a river of trouble and about to drown. Just hold on, I’m coming. Hold on, I’m coming.”
U.S. Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) gave a lengthy speech at CPAC on Friday in Dallas, telling far-right conservatives that Democratic policies are “evil,” the “militant left” is the “enemy” and “the greatest danger” America has ever faced while claiming Democrats are “wacky” socialists, and socialism is responsible for the deaths of 100 million people.
After calling U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) “one of the most principled individuals I know” who “will always stand up for what he believes,” Scott told attendees at the Conservative Political Action Conference that the “militant left-wing in our country has become the enemy within” and is “the greatest danger we’ve ever faced.”
Scott took his audience on a long tour of 20th Century history, but along the way equated “the militant left” with “the woke left” who he says has now “seized…control of our economy, our culture and our country.”
He then equated “the woke left” with the entire Democratic Party, suggesting Democrats are socialists, and socialists are communists before declaring: “Socialism leads to two things, poverty and depression. Socialism is not a new idea. It’s one of the dumbest, oldest, most despised ideas of the 20th century that resulted in the deaths of 100 million people.”
“They are destroying everything they touch, and they’ve got their hands on everything. Here’s the thing about what they’re trying to destroy: American patriotism. Border security. American history. Gender. Traditional morality. Capitalism. Fiscal responsibility. Opportunity. Rugged individualism. Judeo-Christian values. Free speech. Law enforcement. Religious liberty. Parental involvement in schools. And even private ownership of firearms.”
“They want to replace freedom with their control. The elites in the government are telling us what we can and cannot believe what we can think and what we can do. They want to completely control our lives. Woke government schools. Woke government-run health care. Woke government-run media. Woke government-run everything. In their new socialist order, everyone will obey and no one will be allowed to complain. You do speak up, boom, you’re going to be canceled. Your views if you don’t conform with big tech, Fauci, or Neil Young, you’re gonna be taken off Spotify, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter.”
Let us not forget that Rick Scott and the company he led were found guilty of the largest Medicare fraud ever.
Click on the arrowhead to play the music.
This article appeared in the Washington Post, August 4,2022. It is the meat of Dana Milbank’s new book “The Destructionists: The Twenty-Five Year Crack-Up of the Republican Party” .
It began where it ended, on the West Front of the United States Capitol.
On Jan. 6, 2021, an armed mob invited and incited by President Donald Trump smashed barriers, overpowered police and stormed the Capitol. The insurrectionists scaled the scaffolding erected for President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration and proceeded to sack the seat of government for the first time since the War of 1812.
Called to Washington by Trump, who promised a “wild” time, and sent to the Capitol with instructions to “fight like hell,” the mob halted Congress’s certification of Biden’s victory, sending lawmakers and staff fleeing for their lives. At least seven people died in the riot or its aftermath, and more than 140 police officers were hurt. Some 845 insurrectionists, several with ties to white-supremacist or violent extremist groups, have faced charges including seditious conspiracy.
Many Americans were shocked that Trump, after first considering a plan to seize voting machines, had orchestrated an attempted coup, knowingly dispatching armed attackers to Capitol Hill and then refusing for 187 minutes to call off the assault. And many Americans have been shocked anew to see elected Republicans, after initially condemning Trump’s attack on democracy, excuse his actions and rationalize the violent insurrection itself as “legitimate political discourse.”
But a sober look at history might have lessened the shock, for the seeds of sedition had been planted earlier — a quarter-century earlier — in that same spot on the West Front of the Capitol.
Far-right Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has been drawing vehement criticism around the world for a July 23 speech in Romania, where he declared that a “mixed-race world” is harmful to western countries and promoted the racist Great Replacement theory. The speech was so racist that even long-time Orbán adviser Zsuzsa Hegedüs resigned in protest, calling it “a purely Nazi diatribe worthy of Joseph Goebbels.” But despite that controversy, the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) plans to go ahead and feature Orbán at the start of its Dallas gathering. Orbán, in fact, is scheduled to give one of the keynote speeches when the event opens on Thursday, August 4.
The four-day Dallas event, which continues through Sunday, August 7, has a far-right lineup of MAGA culture warriors. In addition to Orbán, CPAC Texas 2022 will feature former President Donald Trump, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, “War Room” host and former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon, Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. (COMMENT: The average IQ of this group will be somewhere in the mid 80’s.)
Meanwhile, this is the best way to respond to Nazis:
Trump tried to sing along with the national anthem at his Bedminster NJ golf course — forgot the words. He’s just another old fat man riding in a golf cart.
The last time I saw a face like that, it was riding the short school bus and licking the windows
