Trump to Klan: Go get ’em, boys! [Photo by Reuters, 2015]The Trump administration wants to revamp and rename a U.S. government program designed to counter all violent ideologies so that it focuses solely on Islamist extremism, five people briefed on the matter told Reuters.The program, “Countering Violent Extremism,” or CVE, would be changed to “Countering Islamic Extremism” or “Countering Radical Islamic Extremism,” the sources said, and would no longer target groups such as white supremacists who have also carried out bombings and shootings in the United States [Julia Edwards Ainsley, Dustin Volz, and Kristina Cooke, “Trump to Focus Counter-Terrorism Program Solely on Islam—Sources,” Reuters, 2017.02.02].
The President apparently has such a low opinion of the strength and skill of the United States that he thinks we cannot deal with multiple proven security threats at once.
Fourteen Defining
Characteristics Of Fascism
By Dr. Lawrence Britt
Source Free Inquiry.co
5-28-3
Dr. Lawrence Britt has examined the fascist regimes of Hitler (Germany), Mussolini (Italy), Franco (Spain), Suharto (Indonesia) and several Latin American regimes. Britt found 14 defining characteristics common to each:
1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism – Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia. Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays.
2. Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights – Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of “need.” The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, long incarcerations of prisoners, etc.
3. Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause – The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial , ethnic or religious minorities; liberals; communists; socialists, terrorists, etc.
4. Supremacy of the Military – Even when there are widespread
domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are glamorized.
5. Rampant Sexism – The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender roles are made more rigid. Divorce, abortion and homosexuality are suppressed and the state is represented as the ultimate guardian of the family institution.
6. Controlled Mass Media – Sometimes to media is directly controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government regulation, or sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Censorship, especially in war time, is very common.
7. Obsession with National Security – Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses.
8. Religion and Government are Intertwined – Governments in fascist nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion. Religious rhetoric and terminology is common from government leaders, even when the major tenets of the religion are diametrically opposed to the government’s policies or actions.
9. Corporate Power is Protected – The industrial and business aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite.
10. Labor Power is Suppressed – Because the organizing power of labor is the only real threat to a fascist government, labor unions are either eliminated entirely, or are severely suppressed.
11. Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts – Fascist nations tend to promote and tolerate open hostility to higher education, and academia. It is not uncommon for professors and other academics to be censored or even arrested. Free expression in the arts and letters is openly attacked.
12. Obsession with Crime and Punishment – Under fascist regimes, the police are given almost limitless power to enforce laws. The people are often willing to overlook police abuses and even forego civil liberties in the name of patriotism. There is often a national police force with virtually unlimited power in fascist nations.
13. Rampant Cronyism and Corruption – Fascist regimes almost always are governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint each other to government positions and use governmental power and authority to protect their friends from accountability. It is not uncommon in fascist regimes for national resources and even treasures to be appropriated or even outright stolen by government leaders.
14. Fraudulent Elections – Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a complete sham. Other times elections are manipulated by smear campaigns against or even assassination of opposition candidates, use of legislation to control voting numbers or political district boundaries, and manipulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries to manipulate or control elections.
From Liberty Forum
happy camper
Come on Cory, about half the country voted for Trump, half the country is not a base of white supremacists. Sure, that group is most attracted to the mainstream political party that appears most accepting to them, no different from Socialists (and formerly gays) voting Democrat, but to demonize a whole group of people is absurd. Nobody exposes this better than Milo Yiannopoulos who carries on as the biggest flaming queer calling Trump Daddy, himself a faggot, and writes for Breitbart. Who knows how much of what he does is just complete show, like Donald, but he is absolute in his belief of free speech. Neither of them are to be taken literally, Trump supporters get that other than those very few actual white supremacists. It’s useful to learn about Trump (Frontline and others), he cares about winning: Winning winning winning. That’s the real concern: To what extent Donald will go just to come out on top. He lacks the barometer of more reasonable people, but don’t alienate Trump supporters they are your neighbors and in the last election many of them voted for Obama. Democrats (and moderate Republicans) need to stay reasonable and voters will swing back. Call em racists and other bad names Donald gets 4 more years.
Rorschach
That group in the photo looks like a line of folks waiting to accept the Darwin Award. Get out of their way.
mike from iowa
Bought time someone concentrated on them damn Muslims. Kellyanne Conway witnessed a Muslim slaughter in Bowling Green, Kentucky 5 years ago and the media kept it covered up until today. What’s wrong with you people?
mike from iowa
Bout time. I am getting so flustered at not hearing about these massacres I can’t spell! Or maybe I am laughing too hard.
Chris S.
Trump supporters get that other than those very few actual white supremacists
You mean aside from the actual white supremacists and Holocaust-deniers in the Cabinet? You’re right! They’re rare as hen’s teeth.
So the Concern Troll argument is basically: “Don’t oppose racism or you’ll make the Trump voters get real mad, I’m talking beet-red Yosemite Sam mad, and totally NOT because they’re racist so SHUT UP, but because they just will, okay, and then you’ll lose again, even more bigly, and then you’ll be real sorry!”
Does that about sum it up? For some reason I don’t find that persuasive. Then again, I was raised to think injustice was a bad thing, not something to be proud of and preen about. Must’ve been that hippie Bible we read at church and Sunday School.
bearcreekbat
happy, research apparently shows that over 90% of terrorist attacks in America are initiated by non-Muslims.
We counted up the number of terrorist attacks carried out by Muslims. We excluded attacks by groups which are obviously not Muslims, such as the Ku Klux Klan, Medellin Drug Cartel, Irish Republican Army, Anti-Castro Group, Mormon extremists, Vietnamese Organization to Exterminate Communists and Restore the Nation, Jewish Defense League, May 19 Communist Order, Chicano Liberation Front, Jewish Armed Resistance, American Indian Movement, Gay Liberation Front, Aryan Nation, Jewish Action Movement, National Front for the Liberation of Cuba, or Fourth Reich Skinheads.
We counted attacks by Al Qaeda, the Taliban, Black American Moslems, or anyone who even remotely sounded Muslim … for example anyone from Palestine, Lebanon or any other Arab or Muslim country, or any name including anything sounding remotely Arabic or Indonesian (like “Al” anything or “Jamaat” anything).
If we weren’t sure what the person’s affiliation was, we looked up the name of the group to determine whether it could in any way be connected to Muslims.
Based on our review of the approximately 2,400 terrorist attacks on U.S. soil contained within the START database, we determined that approximately 60 were carried out by Muslims.
In other words, approximately 2.5% of all terrorist attacks on U.S. soil between 1970 and 2012 were carried out by Muslims.* This is a tiny proportion of all attacks.
Given these facts, do you agree with the Trump policy proposal that Cory has described whereby Trump changes our terrorism policies to focus only on domestic Islamic terrorist acts, while excluding the various groups of non-Islamic terrorists? I think that was the point of Cory’s story; I did not read it as lumping all Trump voters into any particular category or religion.
Roger Elgersma
typical trump, his lies do not matter but do not vote for lying Ted or lying Hillary because they lie. If he or his buddies do it it is ok.
happy camper
BCB you know that statistics are easily manipulated or falsely presented our country has very few Muslims, but it is telling today it was announced the Florida shooter’s wife is being charged because she knew about it ahead of time. Muslims often don’t integrate. As far as changing the focus of this agency I can’t really say without further information although it looks like pandering on its face. Cory could have stopped there to make that point but he called them Trump’s base which refers to large numbers when in fact the numbers are very low. Trump knows how to play people’s fears, legitimate or not as do those on the regressive left (including Cory) which is what I’ve been referring to for a couple years: the PC Police, the illiberal, those who in fact are not liberal. Fascism on the left like the behavior at Berkely reflects that. Milo is actually quite funny, he considers himself a comedian who drops bombs as a provocative way to start a conversation. He ridicules third wave feminism, safe spaces, etc and makes some very good points. Education means opening your eyes and being exposed.
Roger Cornelius
Look for Milo to have a meeting, if he hasn’t already, with Bannon and Trump in the White House in the very near future.
Spike
I don’t buy it Happy. Gerrymandering and voter suppression of minorities exists. Half the voters you speak of doesn’t represent the majority people of this country. It is obvious to me the non racists that voted for Trump expect Big Government to save their dying towns. Whereas the ‘Blue elitists” have got with the program and moved on. the local 5 and dime… local movie theatre… factory…family farm…etc, ain’t gonna happen unless those people make it happen themselves. Sometimes hard work and my perception of ‘good morals’ doesn’t mean success. Those 7 white males surrounding Trump when he signed his first executive order made things very clear to many of us that its payback time. They hate the fact that they are becoming a minority in this country and will go down fighting. Bannon is dangerous, Trump is dysfunctional and Brietbart staffers are in the White House. Its not time to hug my neighbors. Not me and not many others. Sorry. I don’t care if that means he wins again in 4 years.
jerry
When will the Black Panthers, American Indian Movement and for good measure, the Students for a Democratic Society come back on line. What the hell, what is good for the goose. Man, they looked good out there in Berkley, mighty proud of the way they handled that. Reminds me of the old days.
happy camper
Oh gosh Jerry, Berkely was a disgrace. Young minds especially should be open to at least consider different ideas. Listen to Milo there’s no justification for rioting. Below link is one of his campus talks. My guess most people have never even listened to him. Not saying you will like the guy, but there’s no reason to smash windows and start fires. You might even agree with him at times.
Jerry,
Many people are wondering the same thing. And what the supporters of would-be dictators refuse to acknowledge is that freedom of speech also implies a freedom to choose who to listen to. When you have vile, lying, insulting people like Trump and Milo verbally abusing and trying to deceive people with each word they utter, it is no longer a matter of exchanging ideas or participating in a dialogue.
As for violence, it is never the preferred way to make changes, but unfortunately in some instances it is the only way. I read on another blog recently where some people who had been involved in peaceful movements admitted that they weren’t taken seriously until some protestors got violent. When people start sacking their own neighborhoods, it means they feel that they can achieve change only by destroying everything. Lyndon Johnson understood this when he decided to withdraw his candidacy.
mike from iowa
Milo Yippyjippyskippypimpy is a right wing provacateur. He foments riots. That is what he does. Protesters have a right to be heard. If it takes riots and arson to get their point across, I am all for it. Wingnuts aren’t the only ones who get to revel in violence.
happy camper
“College students need safe spaces to deal with Trump winning the election and they not only deny safe spaces for people to say things with which they disagree but also become violent rioters. The irony is rich.” Troy Jones
People love provocative (free) speech as long as it’s what they want to hear. Further irony Berkely is home of the free speech movement.
“Even if the cancellation was justified by concerns about public safety after an outbreak of violence and property destruction, the fact that Yiannopoulos was prevented from speaking to a willing audience of campus Republicans should make supporters of free speech shiver.”
happy, isn’t the argument that “statistics are easily manipulated” just another way of rejecting measurable factual evidence that does not comport with one’s pre-existing viewpoint or bias?
jerry
The Netherlands, et tu? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELD2AwFN9Nc Republican bashing around the world. They even know about Daugaard and his gang of nit wits here in South Dakota. Proud days to be alt-republicans like most of us are on this blog. Make America Great Again. Take us back to the good old days of 1917 for the real deal. Soon we will be making our own Model A’s again as the or as it was first noted, Volkswagenwerk, or “The People’s Car Company” because that is how we roll now. I think that we should paint the People’s car, black, just like the olden days.
jerry
I have a proposal for the war guys. Draft and enlist only white Christian’s to battle the ISIS and the rest. Let the rest of the population go about our business with the business of being conscientious objectors to this nonsense.
mike from iowa
No Happy, The wingnuts should be embarrassed and humiliated and keep its mouth shut and just listen for awhile.”
“The wingnuts has zero integrity, zero intelligence, and no hard work.”
“You’re the opposition party. Not the Democratic Party. You’re the opposition party. The wingnut’s the opposition party.”
I fixed Bannon’s comment.
happy camper
No BCB, it’s the acknowledgment of how numbers can be twisted to show what you want to believe or disbelieve. A long time ago I met a guy in the HR field who was a paid trial witness, and he told me, you can’t lie about the numbers, but you can vastly change their meaning by how you present them, and in your example, of course you can say Mulsim terrorism is low by how you define terrorists, by how far you go back. You may remember I gave “facts” about how 95% of some Muslim countries believe in female genetical mutilation and that polling showed a high percentage of Muslims from certain countries believed gay people should be put to death. I don’t remember exactly, but other commenters found ways to completely throw my credible information out which I always provided with linky linky. At some point you must ask about this mystery. It’s the big big mystery of why people continue to believe what they want: I’ve concluded people with an ideology have a running narrative which they have highly invested, and so they accept as facts things that reinforce but reject everything else. That’s what separates logical people from ideologues and why I call some of you Libbie Preachers cause you’re so sure of your theories, of your book learning, of the way you want to view the world oftentimes not based on experience. The thing is BCB, you seem decent, but highly biased in ways you don’t see. You’ll act like you’re arguing fairly, but you set up the board ahead of time in a way you’ll win and never have to change your mind.
jerry
There ya go bcb, happy just psychoanalyzed your problem in his last sentence. “You’ll act like you’re arguing fairly, but you set up the board ahead of time in a way you’ll win and never have to change your mind.” I think that you have befuddled the little mind of happy and for that sir, I applaud your talent.
jerry
The genital mutilation that wants to be practiced by American right wing is called a coat hanger happy. All of this is not in the best interests of women, but seems to be the acceptable practice of the men who seem to choose one over the other regarding their religious zeal. The Christian right already has you back in the cross hairs with their Religious Freedom bulls#i+ . Pick a lane dude.
Darin Larson
happy, you continually paint 1.6 billion people in the same light as if all Muslims are of one mind. That is the definition of discrimination. Have you learned nothing from people like Martin Luther King, Jr.? Can’t we agree that people should be judged by the content of their own character and not by their race or religion?
Heck, we have had a Muslim President for the last 8 years and he didn’t institute Sharia Law here in the US! ;-)
Billy Baroo
mmfa:::: If it takes riots and arson to get their point across, I am all for it
Bring your riot and arson to me, little man. Will see how much you like it then.
jerry
Be beerrry beerry afwaid, billy is wookin for wabbitts. About as worrisome as a cloudy day.
Guy sez we need another Kent State to stop student protests. Of course he’s a freaking right wing nut job.
happy camper
A thousand times I’ve said judge people individually but set policy based on what we know about that group. That’s not discrimination but Darin will always say I prejudge. I’ve tried to learn from the blog since it turned to politics only is why are so many people regardless of intelligence so stuck in one gear. It seems to be proven now it is not a logical part of our brain, that’s been exposed through brain scans and through social scientists like Michael Shermer. We should honor these educators who have remained dedicated to the truth in the face of the PC culture (like Jerry Coyne). To his credit, BCB would watch a long video link of Gad Saad, but in the end find a way to discount it. That should be right up his alley, and Cory should eat up somebody like Sam Harris, but no, cause it’s contradictory. So IQ and tunnel vision can go hand in hand or maybe even assist in that matter, but the flabbergasting part being a non-believer does not turn off the religious part of the brain, something else is gonna fill that vacuum, a childhood platitude maybe like we are all the same, along with a complete lack of skepticism, throw science out the window cause it don’t fit. Sorry, not acceptable. If you’re an atheist you should be willing to examine and question your own thought processes or you’re just a prisoner and not a logical person, or worse an idealogue.
Thanks for sharing the characteristics of a fascist state. Neoliberal Democrats certainly contributed to moving our nation closer to being classified as a fascist nation. Look for Trump to focus on 1, 3, 5, 8, and 11. Within four years he might be able to finish off our experiment with republicanism.
mike from iowa
Billy Baroo- is that short for Stace Nelson redux? Gonna threaten to beat me up and everything? Oh, I am thrilled to the marrow.
bearcreekbat
happy, there have been recent studies analyzing why people might accept “alternative facts” that are so easily shown to be false. I have read arguments that it is an involuntary physiological reaction in human brains to information that threatens our comfort zones and notions. These arguments seem consistent with the anti-free will thinkers like Sam Harris.
I am an existentialist influenced by French philosophers, especially Jean Paul Sartre, so I have a hard time accepting the idea that any state of consciousness can be involuntary. Whether involuntary or voluntary, however, we know that our bias and worldviews are resistant to information that contradicts our beliefs.
When you identify one of my bias, you do me a favor by helping me recognize and understand that others see its presence. And if I am correct about my control of my own “will,” I will be able to overcome any physical or emotional urge to reject or re-purpose new information on an issue.
On your position that we should
“judge people individually but set policy based on what we know about that group,”
the problem I see is identifying sufficient accurate information about the “group.” There is a huge problem in determining whether there is an actual basis for “what we know.”
Studies might show that more than half of serial killers were nursed by their moms, but what does that actually show? Some could argue it shows there is a group of people (nursing babies) that will be more dangerous than bottle fed babies, but we can recognize that this characteristic of the group of nursing babies is not a cause of serial killers behavior – correlation does not equal causation.
Why isn’t the same analysis applicable to Muslims? How can we paint with such a broad brush when we know that our questionable conclusions can hurt so many innocent folks?
Hey, Hap, I made no claim that everyone who voted for Trump is a racist (although there is some guilt by association that Trump voters have to accept). I said Trump’s order allows white-supremacist extremists to plan violent action with less federal attention. I also said white supremacists are Trump’s base, by which statement I contend that white supremacists are largely his most loyal voters, the ones who would stick with him to the bitter end rather than recognizing that having an arrogant, racist, and (possibly worst of all) incompetent President is really bad for the United States.
They’ll stick with him in part because an arrogant, racist, and incompetent President will dismantle vital public institutions and create chaos in which fear, resentment, racism, and violence can catch fire and help the white supremacists gain power, if not everywhere, then in white states’ rights enclaves where there will be no effective check on cross-burnings and lynchings.
happy camper
Why do I harangue the PC culture. It’s like I got in an elevator with some bright and very intelligent atheists. Good ride, but half way up they push stop, get out, and start yelling we are all the same. What? Yeah, race is just a social construct. Oh, ok, that kinda makes sense, yeah. But if you stay in the elevator evolutionary biologists on a much higher floor see the danger of how PC shuts down inquiry, in a way similar to the religious right.
So previously when I would try to point out concerns on Islam, I would get shut down from this bias. Why do you keep concentrating on how we are different? Stop that. We have all this in common we are essentially the same. Really.
But shouldn’t we want to know the truth, in its entirety. Socially yes we can look for the commonalities so we can connect, get along etc. Fine, but what if we need to understand some fundamental differences between some of these groups. Then we are all the same has shut that down, not acceptable.
Jerry Coyne explains how biologically there are different races, but even while applying for grants he would be asked his race, but then in a box down low it would say, these are just social constructs, when he understands the science so this PC culture has put research in jeopardy, not so different from stem cell for example.
That’s why I think there’s a real danger. Coyne’s book Faith Versus Fact Why Science and Religion are Incompatible, I think he could add Politics. I never thought I would criticize Cory as being anti-intellectual. And the danger there, the push back against Political Correctness helped get Trump in office. I still want to believe that what brings us together is the truth but it ain’t always nice. Science is not always nice, nature and survival can be cruel.
A bias of the PC crowd is they want to pretend many elements of being human don’t exist. To the point they even want to say sexual identity is a social construct. Beyond the point of absurdness. I want to rattle the cage and say no more. We’re not kids, we’re not all gonna become racists just cause there is such a thing. Coyne calls these PC people Accommodationists. If you can’t say the truth then a whole bias develops around it.
In this link Coyne and Harris obviously can explain it better than I can, they’ve had to suffer through it in their professional lives while trying to keep true to their calling.
Political correctness and politically correct are terms embraced by vacant Republicans in an attempt to shield themselves from valid criticism and social embarrassment. Correct is correct, no matter what qualifier you preface it with.
Oh, yeah. I almost forgot, HappyC…. 馬鹿野郎!!!
mike from iowa
Happy- meet James 2 Smart (a supposed geneticist with numerous degrees and no sense of humor) and James Bold , an anal retentive nut job that troll over at Field Negro website. You remind me of them and their might be an interesting romance bud between the three of you. 2 Smart writes nearly every racist comment in doctoral dissertation verbiage and length. Bold is just about exactly like him. Check them out. You’d prolly connect with someone.
mike from iowa
But shouldn’t we want to know the truth, in its entirety.
I am not the PC culture. It didn’t use to be considered PC to consider the Klan scum and white-supremacist extremists as worthy of attention from law enforcement as Muslim extremists.
For the record, Muslims have never surrounded me, cursed me, and threatened my with physical violence. White Christian racists have.
happy camper
Yeah, but Cory, you went there and injected yourself into that situation. They went there for a specific reason, not to see you acting like a rabble-rouser. So my sympathies to those present are they were fearful, lacked complete understanding, but you just had to rattle their cage. I really think you would have learned more if you had just sat and listened to try and figure out why they feel this way instead of shoving yourself down their throat. It’s hard to watch because you intentionally caused a public disturbance. You need to learn to be a better listener. Those people are South Dakota people, your people, that you’re supposed to try and understand.
The Klan has been at an all-time low. The thing is, horrible Brietbart loves gay Milo, black Ben Carson, much of this is not the way the left wants to portray.
To link to those crazy RIGHT WINGERS at the Huffington Post: Liberals Should Be Deeply Disturbed by Political Correctness Craze Sweeping College Campuses
I wasn’t trying to rouse the rabble, Hap. That was Ron Branstner’s goal. I was trying to calm the rabble by reminding them of simple fact. I will not take the blame for violent actions provoked my moral action.
Please don’t try minimizing the danger of white supremacist groups. ISIS has only been able to take credit for a handful of isolated crimes. White supremacists were able to infiltrate the White House and take control of thousands of nuclear weapons.
Fourteen Defining
Characteristics Of Fascism
By Dr. Lawrence Britt
Source Free Inquiry.co
5-28-3
Dr. Lawrence Britt has examined the fascist regimes of Hitler (Germany), Mussolini (Italy), Franco (Spain), Suharto (Indonesia) and several Latin American regimes. Britt found 14 defining characteristics common to each:
1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism – Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia. Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays.
2. Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights – Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of “need.” The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, long incarcerations of prisoners, etc.
3. Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause – The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial , ethnic or religious minorities; liberals; communists; socialists, terrorists, etc.
4. Supremacy of the Military – Even when there are widespread
domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are glamorized.
5. Rampant Sexism – The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender roles are made more rigid. Divorce, abortion and homosexuality are suppressed and the state is represented as the ultimate guardian of the family institution.
6. Controlled Mass Media – Sometimes to media is directly controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government regulation, or sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Censorship, especially in war time, is very common.
7. Obsession with National Security – Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses.
8. Religion and Government are Intertwined – Governments in fascist nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion. Religious rhetoric and terminology is common from government leaders, even when the major tenets of the religion are diametrically opposed to the government’s policies or actions.
9. Corporate Power is Protected – The industrial and business aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite.
10. Labor Power is Suppressed – Because the organizing power of labor is the only real threat to a fascist government, labor unions are either eliminated entirely, or are severely suppressed.
11. Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts – Fascist nations tend to promote and tolerate open hostility to higher education, and academia. It is not uncommon for professors and other academics to be censored or even arrested. Free expression in the arts and letters is openly attacked.
12. Obsession with Crime and Punishment – Under fascist regimes, the police are given almost limitless power to enforce laws. The people are often willing to overlook police abuses and even forego civil liberties in the name of patriotism. There is often a national police force with virtually unlimited power in fascist nations.
13. Rampant Cronyism and Corruption – Fascist regimes almost always are governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint each other to government positions and use governmental power and authority to protect their friends from accountability. It is not uncommon in fascist regimes for national resources and even treasures to be appropriated or even outright stolen by government leaders.
14. Fraudulent Elections – Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a complete sham. Other times elections are manipulated by smear campaigns against or even assassination of opposition candidates, use of legislation to control voting numbers or political district boundaries, and manipulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries to manipulate or control elections.
From Liberty Forum
Come on Cory, about half the country voted for Trump, half the country is not a base of white supremacists. Sure, that group is most attracted to the mainstream political party that appears most accepting to them, no different from Socialists (and formerly gays) voting Democrat, but to demonize a whole group of people is absurd. Nobody exposes this better than Milo Yiannopoulos who carries on as the biggest flaming queer calling Trump Daddy, himself a faggot, and writes for Breitbart. Who knows how much of what he does is just complete show, like Donald, but he is absolute in his belief of free speech. Neither of them are to be taken literally, Trump supporters get that other than those very few actual white supremacists. It’s useful to learn about Trump (Frontline and others), he cares about winning: Winning winning winning. That’s the real concern: To what extent Donald will go just to come out on top. He lacks the barometer of more reasonable people, but don’t alienate Trump supporters they are your neighbors and in the last election many of them voted for Obama. Democrats (and moderate Republicans) need to stay reasonable and voters will swing back. Call em racists and other bad names Donald gets 4 more years.
That group in the photo looks like a line of folks waiting to accept the Darwin Award. Get out of their way.
Bought time someone concentrated on them damn Muslims. Kellyanne Conway witnessed a Muslim slaughter in Bowling Green, Kentucky 5 years ago and the media kept it covered up until today. What’s wrong with you people?
Bout time. I am getting so flustered at not hearing about these massacres I can’t spell! Or maybe I am laughing too hard.
You mean aside from the actual white supremacists and Holocaust-deniers in the Cabinet? You’re right! They’re rare as hen’s teeth.
So the Concern Troll argument is basically: “Don’t oppose racism or you’ll make the Trump voters get real mad, I’m talking beet-red Yosemite Sam mad, and totally NOT because they’re racist so SHUT UP, but because they just will, okay, and then you’ll lose again, even more bigly, and then you’ll be real sorry!”
Does that about sum it up? For some reason I don’t find that persuasive. Then again, I was raised to think injustice was a bad thing, not something to be proud of and preen about. Must’ve been that hippie Bible we read at church and Sunday School.
happy, research apparently shows that over 90% of terrorist attacks in America are initiated by non-Muslims.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/non-muslims-carried-out-more-than-90-of-all-terrorist-attacks-in-america/5333619
Given these facts, do you agree with the Trump policy proposal that Cory has described whereby Trump changes our terrorism policies to focus only on domestic Islamic terrorist acts, while excluding the various groups of non-Islamic terrorists? I think that was the point of Cory’s story; I did not read it as lumping all Trump voters into any particular category or religion.
typical trump, his lies do not matter but do not vote for lying Ted or lying Hillary because they lie. If he or his buddies do it it is ok.
BCB you know that statistics are easily manipulated or falsely presented our country has very few Muslims, but it is telling today it was announced the Florida shooter’s wife is being charged because she knew about it ahead of time. Muslims often don’t integrate. As far as changing the focus of this agency I can’t really say without further information although it looks like pandering on its face. Cory could have stopped there to make that point but he called them Trump’s base which refers to large numbers when in fact the numbers are very low. Trump knows how to play people’s fears, legitimate or not as do those on the regressive left (including Cory) which is what I’ve been referring to for a couple years: the PC Police, the illiberal, those who in fact are not liberal. Fascism on the left like the behavior at Berkely reflects that. Milo is actually quite funny, he considers himself a comedian who drops bombs as a provocative way to start a conversation. He ridicules third wave feminism, safe spaces, etc and makes some very good points. Education means opening your eyes and being exposed.
Look for Milo to have a meeting, if he hasn’t already, with Bannon and Trump in the White House in the very near future.
I don’t buy it Happy. Gerrymandering and voter suppression of minorities exists. Half the voters you speak of doesn’t represent the majority people of this country. It is obvious to me the non racists that voted for Trump expect Big Government to save their dying towns. Whereas the ‘Blue elitists” have got with the program and moved on. the local 5 and dime… local movie theatre… factory…family farm…etc, ain’t gonna happen unless those people make it happen themselves. Sometimes hard work and my perception of ‘good morals’ doesn’t mean success. Those 7 white males surrounding Trump when he signed his first executive order made things very clear to many of us that its payback time. They hate the fact that they are becoming a minority in this country and will go down fighting. Bannon is dangerous, Trump is dysfunctional and Brietbart staffers are in the White House. Its not time to hug my neighbors. Not me and not many others. Sorry. I don’t care if that means he wins again in 4 years.
When will the Black Panthers, American Indian Movement and for good measure, the Students for a Democratic Society come back on line. What the hell, what is good for the goose. Man, they looked good out there in Berkley, mighty proud of the way they handled that. Reminds me of the old days.
Oh gosh Jerry, Berkely was a disgrace. Young minds especially should be open to at least consider different ideas. Listen to Milo there’s no justification for rioting. Below link is one of his campus talks. My guess most people have never even listened to him. Not saying you will like the guy, but there’s no reason to smash windows and start fires. You might even agree with him at times.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HOIoU4_Jxo
Jerry,
Many people are wondering the same thing. And what the supporters of would-be dictators refuse to acknowledge is that freedom of speech also implies a freedom to choose who to listen to. When you have vile, lying, insulting people like Trump and Milo verbally abusing and trying to deceive people with each word they utter, it is no longer a matter of exchanging ideas or participating in a dialogue.
As for violence, it is never the preferred way to make changes, but unfortunately in some instances it is the only way. I read on another blog recently where some people who had been involved in peaceful movements admitted that they weren’t taken seriously until some protestors got violent. When people start sacking their own neighborhoods, it means they feel that they can achieve change only by destroying everything. Lyndon Johnson understood this when he decided to withdraw his candidacy.
Milo Yippyjippyskippypimpy is a right wing provacateur. He foments riots. That is what he does. Protesters have a right to be heard. If it takes riots and arson to get their point across, I am all for it. Wingnuts aren’t the only ones who get to revel in violence.
“College students need safe spaces to deal with Trump winning the election and they not only deny safe spaces for people to say things with which they disagree but also become violent rioters. The irony is rich.” Troy Jones
People love provocative (free) speech as long as it’s what they want to hear. Further irony Berkely is home of the free speech movement.
“Even if the cancellation was justified by concerns about public safety after an outbreak of violence and property destruction, the fact that Yiannopoulos was prevented from speaking to a willing audience of campus Republicans should make supporters of free speech shiver.”
That’s the very liberal LA editorial board: http://www.latimes.com/opinion/editorials/la-ed-milo-berkeley-20170203-story.html
It did not take long for Europe to whiz on the trump parade. When the draft comes, young Americans will have a place to go and watch the crap storm. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/tv-satire-europe-donald-trump_us_5894791ee4b0c1284f25556f?p1jk57hzdfvtpgb9&
happy, isn’t the argument that “statistics are easily manipulated” just another way of rejecting measurable factual evidence that does not comport with one’s pre-existing viewpoint or bias?
The Netherlands, et tu? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELD2AwFN9Nc Republican bashing around the world. They even know about Daugaard and his gang of nit wits here in South Dakota. Proud days to be alt-republicans like most of us are on this blog. Make America Great Again. Take us back to the good old days of 1917 for the real deal. Soon we will be making our own Model A’s again as the or as it was first noted, Volkswagenwerk, or “The People’s Car Company” because that is how we roll now. I think that we should paint the People’s car, black, just like the olden days.
I have a proposal for the war guys. Draft and enlist only white Christian’s to battle the ISIS and the rest. Let the rest of the population go about our business with the business of being conscientious objectors to this nonsense.
No Happy, The wingnuts should be embarrassed and humiliated and keep its mouth shut and just listen for awhile.”
“The wingnuts has zero integrity, zero intelligence, and no hard work.”
“You’re the opposition party. Not the Democratic Party. You’re the opposition party. The wingnut’s the opposition party.”
I fixed Bannon’s comment.
No BCB, it’s the acknowledgment of how numbers can be twisted to show what you want to believe or disbelieve. A long time ago I met a guy in the HR field who was a paid trial witness, and he told me, you can’t lie about the numbers, but you can vastly change their meaning by how you present them, and in your example, of course you can say Mulsim terrorism is low by how you define terrorists, by how far you go back. You may remember I gave “facts” about how 95% of some Muslim countries believe in female genetical mutilation and that polling showed a high percentage of Muslims from certain countries believed gay people should be put to death. I don’t remember exactly, but other commenters found ways to completely throw my credible information out which I always provided with linky linky. At some point you must ask about this mystery. It’s the big big mystery of why people continue to believe what they want: I’ve concluded people with an ideology have a running narrative which they have highly invested, and so they accept as facts things that reinforce but reject everything else. That’s what separates logical people from ideologues and why I call some of you Libbie Preachers cause you’re so sure of your theories, of your book learning, of the way you want to view the world oftentimes not based on experience. The thing is BCB, you seem decent, but highly biased in ways you don’t see. You’ll act like you’re arguing fairly, but you set up the board ahead of time in a way you’ll win and never have to change your mind.
There ya go bcb, happy just psychoanalyzed your problem in his last sentence. “You’ll act like you’re arguing fairly, but you set up the board ahead of time in a way you’ll win and never have to change your mind.” I think that you have befuddled the little mind of happy and for that sir, I applaud your talent.
The genital mutilation that wants to be practiced by American right wing is called a coat hanger happy. All of this is not in the best interests of women, but seems to be the acceptable practice of the men who seem to choose one over the other regarding their religious zeal. The Christian right already has you back in the cross hairs with their Religious Freedom bulls#i+ . Pick a lane dude.
happy, you continually paint 1.6 billion people in the same light as if all Muslims are of one mind. That is the definition of discrimination. Have you learned nothing from people like Martin Luther King, Jr.? Can’t we agree that people should be judged by the content of their own character and not by their race or religion?
Heck, we have had a Muslim President for the last 8 years and he didn’t institute Sharia Law here in the US! ;-)
mmfa:::: If it takes riots and arson to get their point across, I am all for it
Bring your riot and arson to me, little man. Will see how much you like it then.
Be beerrry beerry afwaid, billy is wookin for wabbitts. About as worrisome as a cloudy day.
Looks like trump is speaking to you billy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJPg1Fivmqg
http://crooksandliars.com/2017/02/michigan-official-and-trumpster-calls
Guy sez we need another Kent State to stop student protests. Of course he’s a freaking right wing nut job.
A thousand times I’ve said judge people individually but set policy based on what we know about that group. That’s not discrimination but Darin will always say I prejudge. I’ve tried to learn from the blog since it turned to politics only is why are so many people regardless of intelligence so stuck in one gear. It seems to be proven now it is not a logical part of our brain, that’s been exposed through brain scans and through social scientists like Michael Shermer. We should honor these educators who have remained dedicated to the truth in the face of the PC culture (like Jerry Coyne). To his credit, BCB would watch a long video link of Gad Saad, but in the end find a way to discount it. That should be right up his alley, and Cory should eat up somebody like Sam Harris, but no, cause it’s contradictory. So IQ and tunnel vision can go hand in hand or maybe even assist in that matter, but the flabbergasting part being a non-believer does not turn off the religious part of the brain, something else is gonna fill that vacuum, a childhood platitude maybe like we are all the same, along with a complete lack of skepticism, throw science out the window cause it don’t fit. Sorry, not acceptable. If you’re an atheist you should be willing to examine and question your own thought processes or you’re just a prisoner and not a logical person, or worse an idealogue.
The fascinating evolutionist Jerry Coyne: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Me1TxOC0XLo&t=35s
Ray:
Thanks for sharing the characteristics of a fascist state. Neoliberal Democrats certainly contributed to moving our nation closer to being classified as a fascist nation. Look for Trump to focus on 1, 3, 5, 8, and 11. Within four years he might be able to finish off our experiment with republicanism.
Billy Baroo- is that short for Stace Nelson redux? Gonna threaten to beat me up and everything? Oh, I am thrilled to the marrow.
happy, there have been recent studies analyzing why people might accept “alternative facts” that are so easily shown to be false. I have read arguments that it is an involuntary physiological reaction in human brains to information that threatens our comfort zones and notions. These arguments seem consistent with the anti-free will thinkers like Sam Harris.
I am an existentialist influenced by French philosophers, especially Jean Paul Sartre, so I have a hard time accepting the idea that any state of consciousness can be involuntary. Whether involuntary or voluntary, however, we know that our bias and worldviews are resistant to information that contradicts our beliefs.
When you identify one of my bias, you do me a favor by helping me recognize and understand that others see its presence. And if I am correct about my control of my own “will,” I will be able to overcome any physical or emotional urge to reject or re-purpose new information on an issue.
On your position that we should
the problem I see is identifying sufficient accurate information about the “group.” There is a huge problem in determining whether there is an actual basis for “what we know.”
Studies might show that more than half of serial killers were nursed by their moms, but what does that actually show? Some could argue it shows there is a group of people (nursing babies) that will be more dangerous than bottle fed babies, but we can recognize that this characteristic of the group of nursing babies is not a cause of serial killers behavior – correlation does not equal causation.
Why isn’t the same analysis applicable to Muslims? How can we paint with such a broad brush when we know that our questionable conclusions can hurt so many innocent folks?
Hey, Hap, I made no claim that everyone who voted for Trump is a racist (although there is some guilt by association that Trump voters have to accept). I said Trump’s order allows white-supremacist extremists to plan violent action with less federal attention. I also said white supremacists are Trump’s base, by which statement I contend that white supremacists are largely his most loyal voters, the ones who would stick with him to the bitter end rather than recognizing that having an arrogant, racist, and (possibly worst of all) incompetent President is really bad for the United States.
They’ll stick with him in part because an arrogant, racist, and incompetent President will dismantle vital public institutions and create chaos in which fear, resentment, racism, and violence can catch fire and help the white supremacists gain power, if not everywhere, then in white states’ rights enclaves where there will be no effective check on cross-burnings and lynchings.
Why do I harangue the PC culture. It’s like I got in an elevator with some bright and very intelligent atheists. Good ride, but half way up they push stop, get out, and start yelling we are all the same. What? Yeah, race is just a social construct. Oh, ok, that kinda makes sense, yeah. But if you stay in the elevator evolutionary biologists on a much higher floor see the danger of how PC shuts down inquiry, in a way similar to the religious right.
So previously when I would try to point out concerns on Islam, I would get shut down from this bias. Why do you keep concentrating on how we are different? Stop that. We have all this in common we are essentially the same. Really.
But shouldn’t we want to know the truth, in its entirety. Socially yes we can look for the commonalities so we can connect, get along etc. Fine, but what if we need to understand some fundamental differences between some of these groups. Then we are all the same has shut that down, not acceptable.
Jerry Coyne explains how biologically there are different races, but even while applying for grants he would be asked his race, but then in a box down low it would say, these are just social constructs, when he understands the science so this PC culture has put research in jeopardy, not so different from stem cell for example.
That’s why I think there’s a real danger. Coyne’s book Faith Versus Fact Why Science and Religion are Incompatible, I think he could add Politics. I never thought I would criticize Cory as being anti-intellectual. And the danger there, the push back against Political Correctness helped get Trump in office. I still want to believe that what brings us together is the truth but it ain’t always nice. Science is not always nice, nature and survival can be cruel.
A bias of the PC crowd is they want to pretend many elements of being human don’t exist. To the point they even want to say sexual identity is a social construct. Beyond the point of absurdness. I want to rattle the cage and say no more. We’re not kids, we’re not all gonna become racists just cause there is such a thing. Coyne calls these PC people Accommodationists. If you can’t say the truth then a whole bias develops around it.
In this link Coyne and Harris obviously can explain it better than I can, they’ve had to suffer through it in their professional lives while trying to keep true to their calling.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7mBCvwOgOY
Political correctness and politically correct are terms embraced by vacant Republicans in an attempt to shield themselves from valid criticism and social embarrassment. Correct is correct, no matter what qualifier you preface it with.
Oh, yeah. I almost forgot, HappyC…. 馬鹿野郎!!!
Happy- meet James 2 Smart (a supposed geneticist with numerous degrees and no sense of humor) and James Bold , an anal retentive nut job that troll over at Field Negro website. You remind me of them and their might be an interesting romance bud between the three of you. 2 Smart writes nearly every racist comment in doctoral dissertation verbiage and length. Bold is just about exactly like him. Check them out. You’d prolly connect with someone.
But shouldn’t we want to know the truth, in its entirety.
You ommitted a ?
My bad-it is Josh 2 Smart. Not James. Sue me.
I am not the PC culture. It didn’t use to be considered PC to consider the Klan scum and white-supremacist extremists as worthy of attention from law enforcement as Muslim extremists.
For the record, Muslims have never surrounded me, cursed me, and threatened my with physical violence. White Christian racists have.
Yeah, but Cory, you went there and injected yourself into that situation. They went there for a specific reason, not to see you acting like a rabble-rouser. So my sympathies to those present are they were fearful, lacked complete understanding, but you just had to rattle their cage. I really think you would have learned more if you had just sat and listened to try and figure out why they feel this way instead of shoving yourself down their throat. It’s hard to watch because you intentionally caused a public disturbance. You need to learn to be a better listener. Those people are South Dakota people, your people, that you’re supposed to try and understand.
The Klan has been at an all-time low. The thing is, horrible Brietbart loves gay Milo, black Ben Carson, much of this is not the way the left wants to portray.
To link to those crazy RIGHT WINGERS at the Huffington Post: Liberals Should Be Deeply Disturbed by Political Correctness Craze Sweeping College Campuses
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/good-men-project/liberals-deeply-disturbed-political-correctness_b_8537946.html
I wasn’t trying to rouse the rabble, Hap. That was Ron Branstner’s goal. I was trying to calm the rabble by reminding them of simple fact. I will not take the blame for violent actions provoked my moral action.
Please don’t try minimizing the danger of white supremacist groups. ISIS has only been able to take credit for a handful of isolated crimes. White supremacists were able to infiltrate the White House and take control of thousands of nuclear weapons.