Commentary on Trump's Powerful Religious Enablers Pence, Barr, Pompeo: "Have Convinced Themselves That They Are in a Biblical Moment"

Trump officials claim there is no systemic racism in policing as protests sweep US https://t.co/ms1pX6dd9a pic.twitter.com/k3ZnN4Au5G

— The Hill (@thehill) June 8, 2020

As GOP Channels Putin: Commentary on Republican Long Game in Cozying Up to Russia's Strongman Autocrat

Heather Cox Richardson, "Letters from an American, 7 December 2019":

In June 2019, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that democracy is obsolete. He believes that a few oligarchs should run the world while the rest of us do as we are told, and he is doing his best to destroy both American democracy and the international structures, like NATO, that hold it in place. The interests of reactionary American leaders and Russian president Putin run parallel. Astonishingly, that affinity has recently come out into the open. Some of our leaders are publicly echoing Putin’s propaganda, apparently willing to work with him to undermine the principles on which our nation rests so long as it means they can stay in power. 

Will we permit the destruction of American democracy on our watch?

"With Nationalists Topping the Polls in Two of Europe's Three Main Founding Nations, It's Hard to See How Any of This Is Worth Celebrating"

The same politicians who claim they are for life fight living wages, want to cut food stamps & don’t want people to have health insurance. There’s a lie going on somewhere. https://t.co/AHgy1kefOH

— Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II (@RevDrBarber) May 28, 2019

It's very foolish for us to stick our heads in the sand and pretend that what is unfolding around us is not actually happening, and that the recent European elections give us reason to breathe a sigh of relief and say that the hard fascist right is not making inroads in very many places in the world now — when this is simply untrue, and this development should intently concern us:

Why I Continue to Insist That It's About Racism, Misogyny, Xenophobia, and Homophobia: A Footnote to My Recent Response to Responses

It's certainly true that every society or nation is different, and what applies to one won't necessarily apply to another. But I'm pointing out that there's a wave of manufactured right-wing rage across societies today, and asking why that wave is roiling society after society. It's entirely unhelpful to respond to such a sounding by saying, "Ah, but they're all different from each other, and you're not seeing the difference." This is to ask us to see only trees and pretend a forest is not growing there.

Why I Continue to Insist That It's About Racism, Misogyny, Xenophobia, and Homophobia: My Response to Your Responses

Thank you all for your thoughtful and valuable responses to my reflections about the wave of manufactured rage (racist, misogynistic, xenophobic, and homophobic) now driving political movements in many places, in my view. I've read and considered them. My thoughts:

The Wave of Manufactured Rage Sweeping Across Societies Now, and Silliness of the "Economic Alienation" Explanation: It's About Racism, Misogyny, Xenophobia, and Homophobia

Shorn of any ideological hue, this is populism distilled into its purest form: a pared-back rage over an apparently corrupt political establishment's failure to abide by the democratic will of the people. 

~ Paul Lewis, "Rage, rapture and pure populism: on the road with Nigel Farage" 

Farage and Brexiters are now riding a wave in England. Hard-right fascist-leaning movements are gaining strength globally, including across Europe. India's far-right groups just won a major victory in that nation. What Trump and his supporters represent in the American context is cloned again and again across nations now. My reading:

Sri Lanka, the Spiral of Violence, and Global Turn to Strongmen Messianic Solutions: The Temptation of This Moment

I grieve — so very much — the carnage we've just seen enacted in Sri Lanka, on the day many Christians consider the holiest day of the liturgical calendar. I grieve above all the enormous loss of life, the manifestation of gross religious hatred we see on full display in this event, and the way in which it's very clear that this latest act of religious hatred is immediately rooted in the atrocious act of religious (and white supremacist) hatred we saw recently in New Zealand. As Dom Hélder Câmara reminded us over and over, violence spawns more violence in an endless chain of reaction until someone finally has the courage and compassion to break that chain.

Now New Zealand: Murderer's Manifesto Proclaims Trump as "Symbol of Renewed White Identity and Common Purpose"

#BREAKING: In manifesto, Christchurch, New Zealand mosque shooting suspect said he supported U.S. President Donald Trump "as a symbol of renewed white identity and common purpose," but not as a policymaker. pic.twitter.com/RHW2SwzjXs

— Matthew Keys (@MatthewKeysLive) March 15, 2019

Things I've read this dark morning that are illuminating, and which I want to pass on to you:

"Only the Good Has Depth That Can Be Radical": Hannah Arendt on Banality of Evil — Critically Important Role of Thought and Imagination as Fascist Tide Rises

A key point of Hannah Arendt's analysis of the banality of evil is that evil is essentially stupid, as it manifests itself in the social arena. Evil lacks imagination. It does the same (misogynistic, racist, xenophobic, homophobic, elitist, fascist) thing over and over, expecting always the same results — since doing the same  (misogynistic, racist, xenophobic, homophobic, elitist, fascist) thing last time worked. So surely it will work again….

The Sole — Crucial — Lesson the GOP Takes from Orwell: Boot Stamping on a Human Face — Forever

The sole — crucial — lesson the GOP takes from Orwell:

"If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face — forever."

For Orwell, this was a cautionary tale about fascist abuse of power. For the GOP, it's a blueprint for the party's triumph.

— 𝚆𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚊𝚖 𝙳. 𝙻𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚜𝚎𝚢 (@wdlindsy) October 5, 2018

My new pinned tweet on Twitter….

Kathryn Brightbill on U.S. White Evangelicalism in Era of Trump: "A Deeply Immoral Enterprise That Must Be Condemned and Resisted at Every Point"

As people compile lists of events and articles that impressed them in 2017 to share on social media, I happened to notice someone I follow on Twitter (and respect very much) tweeting a link yesterday to Kathryn Brightbill's essay this past August entitled "The Nashville Statement and the Moral Bankruptcy of Evangelicalism." I clicked and read the essay, and am very glad I did so.

"No Shoes Left to Drop," "Dark and Perilous Moment": Commentary on Trump's Firing of James Comey

Commentary worth reading (so it seems to me) about Trump's firing of James Comey:

"First They Came for . . .": Despite Denials, Trump's Nationwide Immigration Raids Begin

Lisa Rein, Abigail Hauslohner, and Sandhya Somashekhar for Washington Post: 

Quote for Day: Chris Hedges on Working-Class White Americans' Embrace of Fascism with Trump

Chris Hedges writes,

New Normal in U.S. Politics As Trump Rises: "Little Führers" and White Supremacists Foment Race Hatred, Evangelicals Applaud, Establishment Pretends

Out of curiosity, I found the first NYT reference to Adolf Hitler. Nov. 21, 1922. Amazing last three paragraphs. pic.twitter.com/VhBnlSsfNm

— Jon Ostrower (@jonostrower) March 2, 2016

Steve has had the flu all week long, and he's had the misfortune to have to rely on me, who am the world's least patient nurse, as his caregiver. He's now getting better, and I find myself more than a little exhausted — so may not post much of any substance here for a day or so. Meanwhile, some tidbits from noteworthy things I've been reading as I brew herbal tea, take Steve's temperature, make soup, fluff pillows, administer medicine, and worry.

Reading Signs of Times: Race-Baiting and Gay-Bashing in America, Ruthless Repression of LGBT Citizens in Russia

Suicide of Dominique Venner in Notre Dame Cathedral: Spotlight on Fascist Roots of Anti-Marriage Equality Movement in France

I haven't said anything about the suicide of Dominique Venner in Notre Dame cathedral in Paris several days ago, because there's not a great deal to say, to my way of thinking. Venner himself provided all the commentary we may need about why he killed himself when he posted a statement on his blog prior to the suicide indicating that he was taking his life to protest the enactment of marriage equality in France, as well as the purported collapse of France to Islamists.

Marriage Equality Battle in France: Catholicism Embracing Hard Right

Pictures tell stories. I wonder what story this picture is telling. 

Europe's Resurgent Far-Right: "Same Politics of Scapegoating" (with a Catholic Footnote)

At Salon, Steve Weissman and Frank Browning report (as many other commentators in the U.S. and abroad are also reporting) that the far right is marching strong in Europe these days.  As the Anders Breivik trial unfolds in Norway, the media are paying renewed attention to the resurgence of a right energized by economic stress across Europe now.

Andrew Sullivan on Sarah Palin's Reponse to Tucson Events: "Something Menacing"

Andrew Sullivan's conclusion, as he assesses Sarah Palin's gigantic failure to be a leader (or even a decent human being) in response to the Tucson events, is chilling.  And absolutely correct.  

Sullivan writes,