If American democracy ceases to move forward as a living force, seeking day and night by peaceful means to better the lot of our citizens, fascism will grow in strength in our land. Franklin Roosevelt Umberto Eco (1932 – 2016) was an Italian philosopher, cultural critic, novelist, and political and social commentator. He grew up … Read more
The American public generally doesn’t really know what goes on at a Trump rally. Progressives dismiss them as circuses for lunatics. The mainstream media tend to report only on crowd size and the one most outrageous soundbite of the day. Old-style conservatives excuse the rallies as “just Trump being Trump.” Most people actually pay almost … Read more
An important way to understand Trump and Trumpism is as an assault on reality. At issue is the attempt to control, to own, immediate truth along with any part of history that feeds such truth. Robert J. Lifton The desire to control reality is typical of authoritarianism, religious zealotry, and cultism. If you control a … Read more
I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose any voters. Donald Trump, Iowa, January 23, 2016 Donald Trump’s approval rating among Americans has always been between 37 and 45 percent. Just over a third of our citizens seem to support him no matter what he says or … Read more
Charges of conspiracy (“fake news,” “rigged elections,” “deep state”) flow from the Trump White House constantly. They are disseminated by fast, broad-ranging, technologies, facilitated by media co-conspirators, and assented to by elected representatives who know better but remain silent. Today, conspiracism is not, as we might expect, the last resort of permanent political losers but … Read more
I used to think that Donald J. Trump was simply incompetent. That the problem was that the presidency was far beyond his abilities. That he was flailing because he was in way over his head. It very quickly became obvious to me that he is an extreme narcissist. Everything around him has to be about … Read more
It has become clear to me recently that the reason rampant wickedness causes great civilizations to fall is because wicked societies allow selfish incompetents to take over the government. Then, when a crisis comes along, it gets mishandled and turns into a disaster. (Yes, the coronavirus pandemic is what helped me see this). In the … Read more
It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his not understanding it. Upton Sinclair How could every Republican member of the Senate, save one, have voted to acquit Donald J. Trump of abuse of power in the January 2020 impeachment trial despite the clear evidence of his guilt? … Read more