The Trump Presidency 13: The (James) Baker's Dozen

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Yes, I think the right-wing context of "common people" is white Christian and native (of what ever country we're talking about). But as many modern day conservatives have said, they break with the past in that they recognize that rhetoric that is explicitly racially or religiously inflammatory is self-defeating. Steve Bannon has talked about this.
William H. Regnery III, who founded the National Policy Institute, which is now headed by the prominent white nationalist Richard Spencer, has also rejected the racist label. "I'm a tribalist. I'm not a racist or white supremacist," Regnery said in an interview with The Atlantic. Spencer himself said he prefers the term "identitarian" and even the League of the South rejects the term racist on its website as "a slur used by anti-Whites." Rather, the group calls itself "pro-South" and "pro-White." Link
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The idea is, basically, "I'm not against other people. But I'm only for me and for people like me."
 
newyorkguy said:
What we're seeing in the U.S. is not unique. Adam Schiff has pointed out this is part of a worldwide trend, the rise of right-wing populism that largely rejects the norms of democracy. That Trump has certainly exacerbated and amplified it but you see the rise many other places. From Brazil to Great Britain to Germany and even in the Netherlands where the far-right party of candidate Geert Wilders "is now the second largest party." Link
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History does not repeat itself, but ...

The First World War was initially regarded as a victory of liberal democracy over absolutism - Britain, France and the US defeated the German Kaiser, the Austrian Emperor, and the Ottoman Caliph, while the Russian Czardom collapsed in on itself. All good for the image, and the future would surely be democratic. Then, in the 20's and 30's, the fruits of victory were seen to go to the economic elite (the 1%) while Joe Shmoe got shafted.

The Second World War was initially regarded as a victory of democracy over absolutism, and the impression continued because Keynesian principles saw the fruits of victory widely distributed. Then came the Chicago School Discontinuity ushered in by Thatcher and Reagan and we're back to the 1920's and '30's.

I still remember hearing Newt Gingrich say, twenty-five years ago, that this is no longer politics as usual, this is war. A war for America's heart and soul.
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"Mein Kampf", of course, means "My War".

So many rhymes ...

I grew up playing on bomb-sites. I hope I don't grow old scavenging on them.
 
Lurch said:
Darned tootin'! This baffles the hell outta me. When the highest court of the land is a battleground of partisanship, it can *only* exacerbate a yawning chasm between "us and them." Just goddamned insane to permit this.
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I fear we won't but we should go back to a sixty vote majority vote for Supreme Court justices. It tempers some of the partisanship by at least requiring a justice to be palatable to the minority party.
 
acbytesla said:
I never understood why they thought Bork would get through. He was thought of as a weasel with no ethics at all. He was the Solicitor General that fired the Watergate Special Prosecutor after AG Elliot Richardson and DAG Willam Ruckleshaus refused and resigned.
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I realize that it was almost 50 years ago, but, looking back, you would think that those people who were neck-deep in Watergate should have been shunned.

Yet, how many of them were resurrected by Reagan? Al Haig has all that great White House experience....and he was never actually charged with anything! So let's bring him on...

****, Pat Buchanan these days STILL defends his involvement with it.
 
Squeegee Beckenheim said:
Adam Schiff has penned an open letter to Republicans

The TL/DR version is "don't let Trump destroy Congress, and start saying in public the things you say in private".
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There are some good lines in there

At last week’s Munich Security Conference, the prevailing sentiment among our closest allies is that the United States can no longer be counted on to champion liberal democracy or defend the world order we built.
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So much for the US being respected, right?

But for reasons that are all too easy to comprehend, you have chosen to keep your misgivings and your rising alarm private.
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"... reasons all too easy to comprehend..."

ouch
 
@Fast Eddie B

I thought it was “My Struggle”.
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"Kampf" can also mean "war" : there's no one correct translation. It's much like "jihad" in that sense. Hitler meant to evoke the actual Great War as a continuing conflict in which the army remained undefeated but betrayed by politicians, so I think "My War" is the better translation.
 
carlvs said:
Well, if we go down the same paths that led to WW 1 & WW 2, you may want to avoid the bomb-sites for a while (at least until the radiation levels drop to tolerable levels...:eek:)
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"There'll be an end to all misery when the world is our rotissery, yes we'll all go together when we go". Tom Lehrer.
 
The Great Zaganza said:
It's being reported that NY prosecutors have put together a case then can bring immediately if Trump pardons Manafort
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I don't see the risk for a Manafort pardon anymore: the way Mueller structured his plea, everything he has learned can be used in any investigation. No prosecutor needs Manafort to make a case against anyone involved in his crimes.
Trump would gain nothing from granting a Pardon, and would possibly lose everything.
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Trump may gain nothing from pardoning Manafort, but that may not be the way HE sees it.

He may see a pardon as a way to signal his minions "If you're loyal to me I'll protect you". He may thing a free Manafort may have value in an election campaign or Trump's business due to his contacts. Or he may simply be too dumb to recognize the risks and thinks a pardon would be harmless to him.
 
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