Wednesday, July 17, 2019

THE STAGES OF BIGOTED AUTHORITARIANISM ... AND, YES, IT'S HAPPENED IN AMERICA TOO

Incredible, but not surprising. It appears that the GOP's support for Donald Trump actually rose after he issued "racially charge tweets" that told four members of Congress to go home. Among Republicans, support for Trump rose 5 percentage points, to 72 percent.


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Apart from the pervasive bigotry, if you're wondering why Republicans continue to support Donald Trump and how Hitler's rise to power may be linked togetherclick hereSpoiler alert. The Germans didn't see Hitler as the Hitler we know today. They initially saw him as the Trump of their era; an incompetent buffoon, who would not go far. 

The Germans foolishly believed the responsibility of governing would "tame" Hitler's worst instincts. It didn't. 

Ordinary Germans believed that parliamentary checks and balances would snuff out Hitler's worst tendencies. They didn't. 

Finally, social conservatives believed Hitler would make Germany "great again" and that responsible social conservatives would reign him in. They didn't. 

Naked greed, genuine bigotry and self-serving politicians won the day, as did general ignorance. The feeble-minded and apathetic fell in line, hoping they wouldn't be singled out or that the crumbs of power would fall their way. Cruel authoritarianism would follow as retribution for past political slights, simple bigotry and pure evil were splashed all over Germany.

The slow drip of evil and authoritarianism is there for all of us to see in America today. Last weekend's ICE raids were a trial run. I don't think I have to explain for what.

For those of you who need a history lesson on humanity's comfort with bigotry, and it's taste for authoritarianism, we have this from Stephen King ...
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From history, we have the steps of hate and state-supported genocide ...


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Then we have American history. The original sin of slavery in the colonies and at the birth of our nation ...


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From America's Genocide, we get our nation's indigenous policies, and the Trail of Tears ...

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Following the Civil War, to maintain "their way of life" in the south, we got the Black Codes and the legacies of Jim Crow ...



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From America's not so distant past, we also have the experience of the Japanese internment camps, when U.S.-born citizens were forced to comply with nativism and fear during WWII (which one American mayor still thinks is a good idea) ...




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Children held at the Manzanar, California internment camp.
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Then we have the largest deportation in American history; the repatriation of well over 1 million Mexicans during the Eisenhower administration, including U.S. citizens ...


Illegal immigrants being escorted back across the border to Mexico.  (Photo by Loomis Dean/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)

So, yes, what's happening in America today can get worse. It's happened before. 

For those of you who have undocumented friends, and want to know what to do if ICE arrives on your door, click here.

- Mark

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