Rediscovering Tyranny Before We Are Living Under It

Timothy Snyder is the Levin Professor of History at Yale. He's written several books. Up until a month ago I didn't even know he existed.

About a month ago is when Nick suggested I read "On Tyranny" by Timothy Snyder. Nick has just finished his first year of law school. He is the grandson of one of my oldest friends. We talk about once a week via telephone. He has a smartphone. I have a flip phone.

A conversation I had with Nick almost a year ago served as inspiration for one of my blog posts. If you are inclined, I've provided a link.


http://brendanbuschi.blogspot.com/2017/06/what-would-trump-have-to-do-grandpa.html


Nick carries around a pocket sized U.S. Constitution with him. He's wanted to be a lawyer since forever and he could end up being a member of the Supremes someday if our Republic survives.

A month ago I had at least 5 unread books on my night table. Somehow, no matter how much I read, I invariably have at least 5 unread books on my night table.

That's not actually my night table, but it's what I see when I look at my night table. Thing is - I failed to write down the title and decided to rely on my laser sharp memory.

Last week I posted a comment on a Twitter post by Chris Lutolf. He replied and suggested I read "On Tyranny". I was on my computer, so I checked it out on Amazon and ordered it. It was only $6.39. (What a deal.) It arrived 2 days later and it took me about an hour all toll to read. I read it over 2 days.

"On Tyranny" is an excellent book. When I finished it, I immediately called Nick and recommended that he read it. At first he thought I might be setting him up, but then he realized I wasn't. Sometimes I like to mess with him.

In a situation like this, I always plead my age. I'm 72. Ha! Ha! The short story here is that I urged him to carry it (it too is pocket sized) along with his pocket U.S. Constitution and read from it daily - use it for meditation.

I often recommend "Friendly Fascism" by Bertram Gosss to people. It's not a book you can read in a day - at least I couldn't. It was written in 1980, but it's what I would call a foundation book. If you want to understand our Republic it's excellent.

If you've never read "Stick and Rudder" by Wolfgang Langewiesche, I recommend that as well. It has nothing to do with politics. "Stick and Rudder" is about flying. It was written in 1944. It is still relevant. It too is what I would call a foundation book. I was so impressed with "Stick and Rudder", I suggested it be added to every high school student's reading list. I mention this because that is exactly what Chris Lutolf said about "On Tyranny".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNggxMag_HY

The link above will take you to a video of Timothy Snyder talking about the Mueller Investigation. It is excellent and it gives you a feel for Timothy.

The picture above is of Robert Mueller as a young man. He is a Vietnam War veteran. He graduated from Princeton in 1966. In 1968 he enlisted in the U.S. Marines and was sent to Vietnam. After the war he went to UVA and in 1973, he got his JD.

In 2001, Mueller was unanimously confirmed as Director of the FBI by the U.S. Senate. He left the FBI in 2013 and in 2017 he was recruited as Special Counsel to investigate Russian interference in our 2016 election.

It's not an exaggeration to suggest that Robert Mueller is a modern day Atlas. He literally has the fate of our Republic and possibly the world on his shoulders. I doubt he forgets anything. Nothing gets passed him.

Donald Trump attacks Mueller almost daily. He trashes Mueller, the investigation, the FBI, our IC community and the press in a seemingly unending barrage of invective, lies and hate. Several Republican members of Congress and lots of right wing media folks join in those attacks.

Trump's supporters do not care about facts. Their morality seems to be whatever Donald Trump decides and that changes on a regular basis - sometimes from moment to moment. They are a cult.

They have also been a mob at times. That seems to be happening more and more.

We've seen this all before. We know how this story ends. The question is will we allow it to happen here? Will fascism and tyranny be in our future?

We have now begun taking children from their parents. The parents are coming to our border seeking asylum from murder and violence in their countries, so naturally we arrest them. The children are housed in "detention centers". Over 2,000 children have been taken to date. It must stop.

Trump and his criminal co-conspirators must be stopped. We need to protect Mueller and vote in the mid-terms. Until that time we need to put daily pressure on our House and Senate members to protect Mueller, protect the integrity of our elections, and stop the illegal and immoral actions committed by members of this administration and those they control. This is not what the immigrants I descended from had in mind when they came to America.

Meanwhile, Trump is pushing for a parade. Maybe he has earned one. Maybe we should watch as he and his minions are rounded up and paraded off to trial.

Holy Moly!

Controlling Trump By Feeding His Ego - Barf ...

I finished reading "Collusion" by Luke Harding a week or so ago. It's a great book and it clarified a lot for me. Everybody should read this book.

When the Russians first were sizing up Trump they determined that he would be an ideal candidate to recruit because he was very susceptible to flattery.

When Russian ambassador, Yuri Dubinin, met Trump in New York in 1985, he "charmed" him by telling him, "The first thing I saw in the city was your tower."

"Trump melted at once. He is an emotional person, somewhat impulsive. He needs recognition. And, of course when he gets it he likes it. My father's visit worked on him [Trump] like honey to a bee". "Collusion", page 222.

 After the tax bill was finally passed by both the House and Senate, Paul Ryan praised  Trump's "exquisite presidential leadership". Orin Hatch called him "one heck of a leader". Mitch McConnell said this year was "a year of extraordinary accomplishment for the Trump Administration".

 

It was a love fest for sure.

 The praise flowed like syrup. What it lacked was sincerity. Barf ...

Diane Black said, "Thank you, President Trump, for allowing us to have you as our president." Ugh!

Mike Pence called them "historic tax cuts" and described it as a "middle-class miracle". Yeah, it's a friggin miracle.

What everybody was really praising is Donald Trump's signature. Donald Trump has no idea what's in this legislation. He had nothing to do with it's drafting. The sole thing he will contribute to it is his grandiose scrawl.

Trump offered up his own humble assessment, "I promised the American people a big, beautiful tax cut for Christmas. With final passage of this legislation, that is exactly what they are getting … By cutting taxes and reforming the broken system, we are now pouring rocket fuel into the engine of our economy. America is back to winning again, and we’re growing like never before."

Who then is responsible for this abomination? Who was it who orchestrated this over one and a half trillion dollar giveaway to the ultra rich? Who got caught with their pants down?

The Trump fiasco is really extraordinary. The head of the Russian Kleptocracy initially compromised Trump and groomed him for the American Presidency. Putin owns Trump. Putin kills reporters and political opponents. Putin is the real deal.

However Putin was no match for these shameless hucksters. They've been buying local, state and federal politicians for decades. They control Trump now and when they are done with him they will discard him like the trash he is.

In the meantime, Trump will sign what they tell him to sign, when they tell him to sign it. That's the deal. As long as Trump is useful to those who will remain pants-less, he can parade around and tweet and praise himself ad nauseam.

Putin can have the rest of the world. He can take satisfaction from creating the largest security breach in our country's history. He got his man in the White House.

This drama's final act has yet to come. Things could spin out in all directions. Our country will suffer irreparable harm. Hell, the whole world will be negatively impacted, but it ain't over yet. It ain't over till the fat lady sings and when that happens we'll hear it no matter where we are.

Holy Moly!

The Trump Producers - A Criminal Smorgasbord

"The Producers" has to be one of the best and funniest movies ever made. Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder delivered perfect performances.

The movie could have been titled "The Best Made Plans Of Mice And Men". First there is the corruption of Leo Bloom, a naive accountant, at the hands of Max Bialystock, an aging Broadway producer who has resorted to sexually preying on old ladies to sustain himself.

Max corrupts Leo with a mixture of flattery and dreams of wealth. It's a simple scheme that relies on producing a Broadway flop. That's it, oversell the play to investors. When the play is a total flop, there will be no accounting. The investors will just report their losses and never know they had been conned.

The only thing they required was a script that was doomed from the start and actors who were total hams. They chose a play that was written by an aging Nazi. The play, "Springtime For Hitler", was a tribute to Adolph Hitler.

Max turned it into a musical. The audience was initially stunned. After all, this was Manhattan.

Just as the audience is about to leave the leading man takes the stage. The audience pauses. Then one person laughs. Then another. Then the audience returns to their seats and howls with laughter.

Yes, "Springtime For Hitler" is a smash Broadway hit. A farce that opens to rave reviews. Bialystock and Bloom are doomed. The investors realize the production was oversold and it's off to prison for the producers.

In 2016, American voters turned a second rate, fascist roadshow into a smash hit in real life. Donald J. Trump won the election.

Vladimir Putin produced this debacle. Russian oligarchs along with the Russian mafia invested heavily in this drama. Wealthy Americans, along with American white supremacists, also invested in the Trump campaign.

After the election a new calculus was done by the Republican leadership and their backers. In our system, Congress, the Legislative Branch, is tasked with bringing a criminal president to justice.

The House can impeach based upon "Treason, Bribery, or other High crimes and Misdemeanors" and the Senate tries the case. Our founding fathers put this in our Constitution to prevent a criminal from taking over and perverting the Executive Branch and jeopardizing the country.

The evidence against Trump is massive. The House has a virtual smorgasbord of offenses to charge Trump with. Trump has literally covered the entire spectrum of offenses and everything he did is well documented and corroborated by multiple sources.

So why hasn't the House impeached Trump? Why isn't there a trial in the Senate? How do you spell puppet?

Okay, here goes. Trump is saved from financial ruin by Russians. They bail him out and prop him up and cultivate him. Russia then invades our election process with an army of cyber warriors working to support Trump. Trump, the Russian puppet wins the election.

Ah, but then there are Trump's American backers and they want their share. They have their own preferred Trump puppeteer.

All this is interesting, but in the end the real power rests in the hands of the Republican controlled Congress. They can get rid of Trump or they can use him. They can make him an offer he can't refuse.

They've all seen "The Godfather". They can let him stay in office and say whatever he wants, whenever he wants. It doesn't really matter. What matters is that he signs whatever legislation they put on his desk. What matters is that he reads whatever script they give him when the need arises. For instance, they need a Republican Senator elected in Alabama and Trump endorses Moore. Simple, right?

If they can manage to get legislation past the objections of members of their own party, Trump will sign it. No questions asked. They are the closest they have been to doing just that right now.

This is all so simple. Trump is a puppet with multiple masters. No wonder his speech is slurred at times. No wonder people go crazy trying to makes sense of what he says from one moment to the next. Too bad our free press doesn't get it. They are either blind or distracted.

The fate of our Republic truly rests in the hands of one man right now. That's why the Republicans in Congress are trying so hard to get rid of him. Say a prayer for Robert Muller. If he goes, so goes the nation.

I don't think this is a reasonable situation for either Mueller or the nation to be in. Trump is not the problem. There are multiple competing producers behind this. They are multinational. They are multi ideological. They are all wealthy. They are all using money to corrupt us. A corrupted electorate is the problem.

Holy Moly!