Travis Gettys at Raw Story writes—‘This is not a drill’: Foreign politics expert warns US is slipping into fascism. That expert is Brian Klaas, the author of “The Despot’s Accomplice: How the West is Aiding & Abetting the Decline of Democracy.” He said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” Thursday that every American should be worried about how willing Donald Trump is to attack democratic institutions. And he was chilled by what the White House press secretary said in response to reporters’ questions about a British fascist’s anti-Muslim videos that Trump retweeted:
“I’m worried about it,” Klaas said. “Retweeting a Britain First account linked to neo-Nazis and provoke a spat with our allies. You have demonization of the press and also attacking CNN, saying we should boycott them. There (are) constant ethics violations, violations of the Hatch Act.”
“Sarah Huckabee Sanders says it doesn’t matter if it’s true, what’s true is what the president says,” Klaas said.
He said what’s happening now in the United States lines up with the early stages of authoritarian regimes he’s studied in other countries.
“These things are happening on a daily basis,” Klaas said. “What I’ve been trying to say for a long time is, this is not a drill. This is not the thing where we move on to the next story tomorrow. This is a threat to our democracy and to the core values we stand for. “
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QUOTATION
“When Fascism came into power, most people were unprepared, both theoretically and practically. They were unable to believe that man could exhibit such propensities for evil, such lust for power, such disregard for the rights of the weak, or such yearning for submission. Only a few had been aware of the rumbling of the volcano preceding the outbreak.”
~Erich Fromm, Escape from Freedom (1941)
TWEET OF THE DAY
BLAST FROM THE PAST
On this date at Daily Kos in 2009—The Last Person Who Should Be Opening His Mouth:
Whatever differences we as Democrats have regarding President Obama's policy choices in Afghanistan, the one thing we can all agree on is that we're sick of hearing arsonists hanging around the fire they started telling us the best way put it out. Certain media, however, eagerly add kerosene to the flames by endlessly quoting them.
Thus, today, we've got torturer-in chief Richard Bruce Cheney - who lied us into war and further enriched himself and his wealthy cronies in the process - explaining to Politico how Obama has botched his decision because he actually spent time thinking about it. Therefore, the President is projecting "weakness."
Weakness is added to weakness, Cheney says, by trying some Gitmo prisoners in New York in civilian courts. Uh-huh. By hauling self-described holy warriors into American criminal courts to be tried with thieves and murderers means the terrorists have already won.
It takes no special effort or reading between the lines to see the main theme behind Cheney's remarks: Obama is giving aid and comfort to the enemy.
On
today’s Kagro in the Morning show: Guess what? Drudge & Hannity were puppets, disguising straight-up Russian troll droppings as regular, American scumbaggery for their audiences. “Trump Friends & Family” tax bill lumbers on, thanks to Republican reconciliation rigging. Flynn pleads guilty!