Category Archives: Politics

Why September 18 for the far-Right Rally?

Politics, , , , , ,

When I heard about the far-right extremist pro-Trump rally, my first thought was if September 18, 2021 was chosen for a particular reason.

I have my theory about the date, although maybe it’s a coincidence that on September 18, 1850, the U.S. Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Act, which required that people who had escaped from slavery be captured and returned.

Former Donald Trump campaign official Matt Braynard who is spearheading the far-right extremist rally, recently told HuffPost that “protestors would be discouraged from holding election or candidate-related signs or wearing MAGA gear.”

His request sounds unconstitutional to me. And anyway, why not put it all out there? Is Braynard afraid of something?

I suggest you read the entire Fugitive Slave Act because A) I hope it will disgust you, and B) It eerily mirrors the recent Texas abortion law.

Is it possible that Texas lawmakers used the Fugitive Slave Act as a boilerplate for their draconian abortion restrictions? I say yes.

The Fugitive Slave Act essentially gave every American citizen the authority to hunt and roundup fugitive slaves.

Section 6 in the Fugitive Slave Act made it shockingly clear that captured slaves could not testify on their behalf or defense: “In no trial or hearing under this act shall the testimony of such alleged fugitive be admitted in evidence. . .”

Section 7 warned that anyone assisting or harboring slaves would be subject to a fine up to $1,000 (equivalent to $35,000 today) and imprisonment of up to six months.

Ironically, the harsh, brutal, and oppressive measures in the Fugitive Slave Act caused such outrage among abolitionists that its existence served as a vehicle to fight even harder against slavery.

The law also incentivized and spurred the continued operation of the Underground Railroad, a network of over 3,000 secret routes and safe houses used by slaves to escape from the slave-holding southern states to the free northern states and Canada. In 1850 alone, an estimated 100,000 slaves escaped via the network.

Many historians believe that the reversal of the Fugitive Slave Act in June of 1864 (14 years after its enactment), contributed to the country’s growing polarization over slavery and is considered one of the causes of the Civil War, which began in 1865.

Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) has vehemently condemned preparations for the September 18 far-right rally. “We just have to make sure that if they are ready to get violent, that we’re ready again in a better way than on January 6 to defend the Capitol,” Swalwell said.”

With Trump out of office, defending the Capitol should be a breeze.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) also condemned the far-right extremist rally. “And now these people are coming back to praise the people who were out to kill, out to kill members of Congress, successfully causing the deaths — ‘successfully’ is not the word, but that’s the word, because it’s what they set out to do — of our law enforcement, Pelosi said.”

According to a January 29 letter Braynard sent to the Department of Justice and FBI, the mob who stormed the Capitol on January 6 looking to hang Mike Pence, and resulted in the deaths of five people,  were nonviolent and “reasonably believed they had permission” to enter the Capitol.

Permission by Dear Leader Trump?

Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe said Monday evening that “it looks like, from all indications, our law enforcement partners are well prepared for this one. They seem to be taking the intelligence very seriously, which raises a question as to whether or not they did on January 6, but that’s another issue.”

Another issue, indeed.

QAnon vs. Hitler’s Brownshirts

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The world has seen QAnon before. It was called Nazism.

For years, QAnon believers have assured each other that the Democratic cabal of pedophilic, satanic world leaders would be exposed and defeated by Donald Trump in a cataclysmic event called “The Storm.”

The Q cultists promise that when “The Storm” comes, the Democratic cabal will be rounded up and executed.

Last July, the Texas Republican party proudly touted their new slogan: “We Are the Storm.”

Many QAnon theories and violence chillingly mirror the Nazi propaganda and terrorizing activity.

The Brownshirts, the Nazi party military wing, aka Sturmabteilung, or SA, was cofounded on October 5, 1921, by Adolf Hitler and Ernst Rohm.

Sturmabteilung, translated means, Storm Detachment, and the military wing played a significant role in Hitler’s rise to power in the 1920s and 1930s.

The identification as a Brownshirt came from the color of their uniform shirts. According to the Nuremberg Military Tribunal, the SA was “a group composed in large part of ruffians and bullies.”

The Brownshirts provided the Nazi party protection at political rallies and assemblies and riotously disrupted opposing parties’ meetings.

They threatened and terrorized opposing party members and violently intimidated journalists who opposed Hitler, Romani, and trade unionists. The Brownshirts were particularly cruel to the Jews and rabidly carried out unbridled and unchecked street violence against them.

Many SA members believed that their mission was not only a patriotic duty but, more importantly, a struggle to take away power and cleanse Germany from the Communists and the Jews.

Heinrich Himmler’s SS originated as a branch of the SA but eventually superseded them.

The Night of the Long Knives was the purge of Nazi leaders by Hitler on June 30, 1934. Hitler feared that the SA had become too powerful. To consolidate his power, Hitler ordered his elite SS guards to murder the organization’s leaders, including Ernst Rohm and hundreds of other perceived opponents.

The SS overshadowed the Brownshirts from then on, but the SA remained intricately involved in all aspects of the Nazi agenda, including the Holocaust.

For hundreds of thousands of Germans, the SA was their first introduction to Nazism. Many SA supporters approved of the political violence and intimidation and saw their mission as a patriotic duty to save Germany.

Many SA supporters believed that a secret cabal was taking over the world and that they controlled high positions in government, banks, international finance, the news media, and the church. The SA and their supporters were convinced that the cabal wanted to disarm the police, promote homosexuality and pedophilia, and mongrelize the white race so that it would become the minority and forever lose its power.

Sound familiar?

The history of the SA, pro-Hitler, and SS mobs highlight the terrifying similarities between them and the political violence we all witnessed on January 6 by the MAGA, pro-Trump, and QAnon mob:

Intimidating, racist, violent citizens incited by their leader, swept up in the frenzy of a power-grabbing hate-filled political mission to capture and execute their political opponents in a stormy purge.

Disillusioned Trumpite Blues

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Woody Logan, who wrote this poem/song, reached out to me last Saturday.

I’m not bragging when I say that I get a ton of emails, story ideas, songs, poems—a whole gamut of emotional material.

But I have to say that when I read Woody’s lyrics, they got to me on so many levels.

And the guy is so humble and wants you to know that “Admittedly I sing horribly. Perhaps somebody can do it better.”

His singing ability was of no relevance to me.

His words, his plight, his poetic verse showed me a side of the “other side” I have never understood, or dare I say, embraced before.

Woody has laid his poem down as a blues song in two versions. The Short Sampler (3 minutes) and the Full Epic (21 minutes), both of which I have included at the end of this blog post.

I’ll let Woody’s poem/song speak for itself, except I can’t help but highlight the lyrics that hit me the hardest.

Like:

“Throughout the ages, when the gap between haves and have-nots. Gets intolerable, and the blue collars don’t have a lot. There is a revolution, that puts the privileged on the trot.”

Or:

“I’ve also realized, I was becoming a person of hate. But hate’s not a human condition, it springs from a fearful state. So facing our challenges with courage, can make our Nation great.”

And:

“Our man promised he would even out the quid, yes we knew he’s evil, but that’s how desperate we had slid.”

And this:

“T’was on a Fox news program, that I saw something on his wall. It was a gilded frame, there to see for all. “Kill The Messenger” in big letters, for me it was a wake-up call.”

I ask you to please take the time to read the poem in its entirety by the talented Woody Logan.

Disillusioned Trumpite Blues

When it comes to voting, I really don’t have a plan.
There’s nothing to consider, just go vote Republican.
That’s my obligation, and so I just do what I can.

But now I’m having trouble, thinkin’ ‘bout who I did choose.
I was all for him, didn’t want the man to lose.
What have I done, got the disillusioned Trumpite blues.

First it was funny, not one journalist figured it out.
Why he was elected, what was it all about.
If they had studied history, there was no need for them to pout.

Throughout the ages, when the gap between haves and have-nots.
Gets intolerable, and the blue collars don’t have a lot.
There is a revolution, that puts the privileged on the trot.

This is the main reason, we voted just like we did.
Because our man promised, that he would even out the quid.
Yes we knew he’s evil, but that’s how desperate we had slid.

Like a good Republican, he was the master of the FUD factor.
Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt, he deployed like a skilled transactor.
Journalists and politicians, spent every day trying to decipher.

Even though psychiatrists, predicted it in a big book.
That his narcissism without empathy, was very much like a crook.
He kept them running in circles, just by spouting gobbledygook.

While government in America, was like a three-legged stool.
Executive, Congressional, Judicial, that’s how we did rule.
He made it one leg, two-braces, that’s how he did retool.

He’d disagree with what you said, and your right to say it.
Refitting facts to his words, was something he did quite a bit.
This pleased the Trumpites, who said he had a lot of grit.

Manipulating the media, was keeping his base entertained.
Even though his credibility, was getting very stained.
That’s why we loved him, and why our loyalty remained.

Slowly but surely, the wool has been pulled from my eyes.
I started to see a glimmer, that Trump was not all blue skies.
His promises aren’t being delivered, no matter how hard he tries.

T’was on a Fox news program, that I saw something on his wall.
It was a gilded frame, there to see for all.
“Kill The Messenger” in big letters, for me it was a wake-up call.

As a born-again Christian, conflict crept into my mind.
“What would Jesus do?” was absent, I started to see, where once I was blind.
We Trumpites are good hearted, but our leader he is unkind.

I started paying attention, to what the “others” did say.
Things like the following, filled me with great dismay.
I started to question, had I been led astray?

We Trumpites need to ask ourselves these questions, as time is running out:
+ Is he a national health crisis? Psychotherapy is up 400%.
+ Is he smarter than any general?
+ Did he never mature beyond 14?
+ Does he use circular logic or irrational logic?
+ Will it take decades for America to recover?
+ Are decades of social and civil advances being reversed?
+ Have hate crimes quadrupled since he took office?
+ How is he doing on promised deliverables?
+ Did Mexico pay for a wall?
+ Is the way to defeat the virus to stop testing for it, as he said?
+ How many of his efforts have been reversed, cancelled, or overturned?
+ Is he all talk and no action?
+ Does he belittle everybody who has a different opinion?
+ Why does he claim no responsibility for anything that happens?
+ Is he showing symptoms of mental deterioration?
+ Are we being led by a lunatic?
+ Are all of his problems self-induced?
+ Why do his enablers do it?
+ Does he believe exercise is bad for you?
+ Are we Trumpites just jingoistic flag-waving sheep?
+ Does America really not have room for refugees?
+ Is restricting voter rights a good Republican strategy? Must we cheat to win?
+ Has he earned the right to another four years?
+ Can America move forward while looking backward?
+ Did he make America great?

Then I heard the report, from his wives all three.
Their marriages were never consummated, on wedding nights you see.
He’d just sit on the edge of the bed, and tell them how good it would be.

“He’s a blithering idiot”, said my friend who is no chump.
What does that mean I thought, I really was in a stump.
When I looked it up in a dictionary, all it said was “See Trump”.

Then did I finally notice, reoccurring before our eyes.
With each and every issue, regarding Trump that did arise.
A 3D plan of action: Deny then Distract then Decriminalize.

What’s wrong with me I wondered, with conflict in my mind.
Look up “Cognitive Dissonance”, said a caring friend of mine.
And that human condition, pretty much explains it fine.

It’s said he never reads a book, nor listens to anybody around.
So when he marched to a church, and held the bible upside down.
I had to wonder, is he the biggest hypocrite in town.

We Republicans for years, have claimed the moral high ground.
But Trump preaches intolerance, not the love we consider sound.
What are the consequences, are we no longer heaven bound?

I’ve also realized, I was becoming a person of hate.
But hate’s not a human condition, it springs from a fearful state.
So facing our challenges with courage, can make our Nation great.

I’m not saying that I’m well now. Mixed emotions carry on.
But I’ve switched to Independent, and to you I call upon.
Be a free thinking person. Be smarter from now on.

Stop being narrow minded. Pull your head out from the sand.
Deploy your Christian values. History helps you understand.
Apply the golden rule, like Jesus did command.

If you are having trouble, thinkin’ ‘bout who you did choose.
We’re all in this together, what more can we really lose?
We can rise above the fray and stop those disillusioned Trumpite blues.

Short Sampler (3 mins) …… https://youtu.be/7g78vibyEe8

Full Epic (21 mins) …………… https://youtu.be/knYBFEENG4c

Turkish Soldiers Drove My Grandparents out of Syria in 1920

Politics

Turkey recently launched a ground and air assault against a Syrian militia that has been a crucial American ally in the fight against ISIS, days after President Trump agreed to let the operation proceed.

My maternal French grandmother would often say:

“Plus ca change, plus c’est la même chose.”

Translation: The more it changes, the more it’s the same thing.

I heard heartbreaking stories about my Syrian grandparents from my paternal aunts and uncle.

All three spoke chillingly of ethnic cleansing.

From approximately 1914 to 1923, terrified Syrian Christians, Syrian Jews, and Armenians were forced by the Turks into hard labor, murdered, raped, robbed, starved, and if they were lucky, deported.

They were called Ottoman soldiers from the Republic of Turkey back then.

My uncle once described the horrific experiences his parents went through as the “Turkification” of Syrian border towns and villages.

Turkification gave the bad guys the license to expel, kill, and destroy anything or anyone non-Turkish.

Christians and Jews were seen as a danger to the integrity of the Ottoman Empire.

An inconvenience.

The Ottoman soldiers were systematic, and the killings were well organized and state-sponsored.

They needed to clear out their border, and so they did. The Turkish government denies that they slaughtered innocent men, women, and children, but they lie.

Hearing Trump’s words: “They had terrorists, they had a lot of people in there they couldn’t have …. and they had to have it cleaned out” gave me the chills.

The president of the United States called for northern Kurdish Syria to be “cleaned out.”

They’re at it again, I thought to myself, but this time with the assistance and blessing of my president.

When is enough enough? Have we as a country no shame? Where is the outrage? Why are we not taking to the streets?        

These were my thoughts as Trump spewed his hateful words.

According to my uncle, my Syrian grandmother was either Christian or Jewish.  She had sisters who were raped and slaughtered, although he doesn’t know how many sisters she had. She hid and somehow escaped to France as did one brother.

I still have so many questions.

Did my grandmother have more than one brother? How many sisters did she have? What happened to her parents?

My grandfather was a Syrian Christian who saw the writing on the wall.

The Turks wanted to clear Turkish soil of Christians, including the Syrian border, and he was on the run.

My grandparents were from an area called Suedeyeh in the Hatay Province, although I’m not sure of the spelling.

But what I am sure of is that Turkey eventually annexed the Hatay province and after the area was cleaned out, Suedeyeh was no longer part of Syria and renamed Samandag.

Were it not for my grandmother and grandfather’s escape to France and then to the United States; I wouldn’t exist.

I recently read that there were a lot of German officers in Turkey during the massacres of the Syrian Jews, Syrian Christians, and the Armenians, who in WWI went back to Germany.

What happened in Turkey left an indelible impression on the German officers and many of them ended up in the Nazi party.

And we all know how that ended.