Donald Trump is a dangerous threat to the republic, Only Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio can stop him. But they’re so awful that you have to ask: is the republic worth saving?
Running to the Right of a Fascist
Ted Rall
Ted Rall is a syndicated political cartoonist for Andrews McMeel Syndication and WhoWhatWhy.org and Counterpoint. He is a contributor to Centerclip and co-host of "The Final Countdown" talk show on Radio Sputnik. He is a graphic novelist and author of many books of art and prose, and an occasional war correspondent. He is, recently, the author of the graphic novel "2024: Revisited."
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It’s always darkest just before it gets completely black. It took Hitler to wake up Germany – is that what it’s going to take here? If we didn’t learn our lesson with Bush at the helm, then maybe Trumpkopf is who we need.
Either we learn our lesson, or somebody out there is going to teach us a lesson . . .
Yep, and from what we can see, here in the US, when the going gets tough, the tough abuse and prey on the less-fortunate. They “get going” on repealing the little amount of progress made, taking away more freedoms and rights, reducing or eliminating social welfare programs, and working to enrich themselves further.
Is the Republic worth saving? I used to think the answer to that was a resoundingly patriot “Yes.”
After a lifetime of waiting, I finally have a candidate with political background who has a broad base of support who is saying that single-payer universal healthcare is in every first-world nation on earth, so yes, we can have it here in the U.S. And he is coming second to a career politician who has spent her entire career skimming from the top and doing sweetheart deals with the rich and the powerful. And when caught, and asked to release the transcripts to her mashnote speeches, she says she’ll look into it, and then doesn’t produce a word. AND SHE GETS AWAY WITH IT.
Save a republic where a carpetbagger is winning? Save a system by which such things as Trump, Rubio, Cruz and Clinton emerge? No. If you have a fire on your stove, you fight it. If the whole kitchen’s engulfed in flames, you get to a safe distance and let it go.
Reagan, Clinton, Dubya, each time, as the scandals went on and on, I thought, this time, people will realize they have to do better at electing. But each time, the pickings were slim. But not this time. This is, in many ways, the perfect election. Sanders is not perfect — no candidate is — but he has a platform that makes sense. It isn’t a hodge-podge of “I have to tell this lie to these people and that lie to those people” promises. It’s the sort of thing a rational person comes up with. We can have universal healthcare because all the other first-world nations do. The same with college education. There’s no reason we have to have such a large prison population. Women should be able to have birth control if they want it. None of these are crazy ideas, and they all come from the same sort of mindset. You don’t need a schizoid political apparatus for it.
And he’s coming in second.
In some ways, I hope Hillary wins. It will be four years of gridlock — which EVERYONE knows is coming. The Supreme Court will have three vacancies and Clinton will fill those positions with whomever the Republicans allow her to put in. At best, she’ll get moderates. The entire presidency will be a disaster. And Hillary will keep making $300,000 speeches to private wealthy audiences.
We deserve it. We deserve all of it.
If Europe jumped off a bridge would you do so too?
Seriously, what the rise Trump and Hillary should make obvious is that Americans have rejected socialism. We’ve seen Obamacare and the impositions that imposed and no one who has any sense is going to want to double down on that. Heck, we’ve seen a lot of the big-government schemes in Obama’s first two years fall flat, and sometimes making things worse than before.
Actually, the best you can hope for is a Trump presidency. Usually, Congress pivots to the other party – and may slip leftward a little this year – so any damage can be minimized. One problem is obviously the Dems having to go back on the “The President is an absolute leader and congress the rubber stamp” rhetoric, but most libs might not notice.
Balzac,
Obamacare isn’t socialism. In socialism, money goes from people to the government and back to the people in the form of services.
In Obamacare, the money goes from people to the government — which then hands a great amount of it to businesses — and then the rest goes back to the people in the form of services.
Mere technicalities, Alex. O’Care places a great deal of restrictions and regulations upon both private industry and private citizens.
@FB.
I see, so what you’re saying is that Reagan, Romney, and The Heritage Foundation are all socialists.
Interesting theory.
I’ve been saying this for years. The US is a completely pathological society. It is a totalitarian society. Minor reforms are incredibly difficult to achieve, to say nothing of a revolution. No movement within the US is capable of taking down this great evil without a lot of help from powerful outside forces, primarily state actors. Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan had to be taken down by outside forces. It will take the same for the US Empire.
Yeah, but who’s able to take over who wouldn’t be worse for you? Russia’s a theocratic kleptocracy which no longer cares about social justice (if it ever did), China (much more capitalist than communist anyway) needs us intact and Europe is falling apart economically and militarily so that doesn’t leave anyone else.
FlemingBalzac,
Well, I don’t really want anyone else to “take over.” I hope we can achieve what has been called a multi-polar world where there is not a dominating bully hegemon.
I’m disappointed with some of the signals coming out of Russia, but am still holding out some hope for China. I am most impressed with the track record of countries like North Korea and Cuba, but of course they are weak and not able to take on the US directly. They can have a positive role to play in a larger coalition which must be led, I think, by China.
I’m sorry I must have misread the “lot of help from outside powers” bit.
Obviously, we’re on opposite day because I’m totally in favor of the US not being Earth PD and think the rest of the world start sorting out their ow problems.
> The US is a completely pathological society. It is a totalitarian society.
> I am most impressed with the track record of countries like North Korea
uh-huh, the US is a totalitarian society, while NK is to be emulated. According to Human RIghts Watch:
Under the rule of Kim Jong-Un, North Korea remains among the world’s most repressive countries. All basic freedoms have been severely restricted under the Kim family’s political dynasty. A 2014 UN Commission of Inquiry found that abuses in North Korea were without parallel in the contemporary world. They include extermination, murder, enslavement, torture, imprisonment, rape, forced abortions, and other sexual violence. North Korea operates secretive prison camps where perceived opponents of the government are sent to face torture and abuse, starvation rations, and forced labor. Fear of collective punishment is used to silence dissent. There is no independent media, functioning civil society, or religious freedom.
So… I’m curious, Trolecenter- how do they define “totalitarian” on your planet? And while you’re at it, what color is the sky?
DAMN IT!! Fat fingered the damn link again. My apologies to anyone who actually tries to read it.
By the way, Happy International Women’s Day!
Talk about a teachable moment, this is a great case study in co-optation or soft power. International Women’s Day was originally a socialist holiday and it was first officially recognized as a state holiday by the Soviet Union in 1918, I believe, but you’d never know that unless you really wanted to research it beyond the stupid “Google Doodle” and the “YouTube Spotlight.”
An interesting excerpt from the Wikipedia entry on IWD:
“A popular apocryphal story which surfaced in French Communist circles[85][86] claimed that women from clothing and textile factories had staged a protest on March 8, 1857 in New York City.[87] The story alleged that garment workers were protesting against very poor working conditions and low wages and were attacked and dispersed by police. It was claimed that this event led to a rally in commemoration of its 50th anniversary in 1907. Temma Kaplan[85] explains that “neither event seems to have taken place, but many Europeans think March 8, 1907, inaugurated International Women’s Day.”[85] Speculating about the origins of this 1857 legend, Liliane Kandel and Françoise Picq suggested it was likely that (in recent times) some felt it opportune to detach International Women’s Day from its basis in Soviet history and ascribe to it a more “international” origin which could be painted as more ancient than Bolshevism and more spontaneous than a decision of Congress or the initiative of those women affiliated to the Party.[86]”
Off topic and at the top of a column. quelle surprise
BTW, Sikhs have been proclaiming the equality of the sexes since 1469. Long before the Soviets. even existed.
Except that it is actually International Women’s Day today, at least. Who else is offended by me bringing this up?
Good for the Sikhs. What’s your point? Hunter-gatherer societies in the Stone Age were also, as far as we can tell, pretty egalitarian and equal in every way.
Why can’t you give the Soviets any credit? Did they do anything right, in your opinion?
> Who else is offended?
When did I say I was offended?
> What’s your point?
To start with, your post is less about Women’s rights and struggles than it is about your tired old, “USSR Good, USA Bad.” You want to honor IWD, talk about women. You want to shill for the USSR, at least be honest about it.
As for the Sikhs, they’ve been preaching equality for over five hundred years. The difference between 1918 and 1907 is a mere drop in the bucket in comparison.
> Why can’t you give the Soviets any credit? Did they do anything right, in your opinion?
Again with the red herrings. YOU are the one constantly disrespecting the US while steadfastly defending the USSR. Why can’t you give the US any credit? Did they do anything right, in your opinion?
Women got the right to vote in the US in 1920. Help me out here, when did women get the right to vote in the USSR? How about North Korea? China?
Women got the right to vote in Russia in 1917, a few months before the Bolshevik revolution, but women’s suffrage was achieved in very large part because of the Bolshevik movement.
I’m less well-versed on such details when it comes to China and North Korea, but simply because the technicalities of exercising democracy may be somewhat different does not mean that there is not a meaningful democracy in these countries in which the needs and aspirations of the citizenry are being met. When it comes to China, here is an interesting article that seeks to dispel myths and biases against China:
http://en.people.cn/n3/2016/0306/c90000-9025834.html
Here are some very enlightening articles about North Korea. One is a bit of a scholarly treatment regarding the latest (unjust) UN resolution further sanctioning the DPRK and the other is a first-person account of visiting the so-called De-Militarized Zone between North and South Korea from both sides of the border:
https://gowans.wordpress.com/2016/03/06/why-un-sanctions-against-north-korea-are-wrong/
http://www.globalresearch.ca/south-korea-and-the-art-of-collaboration-raw-war-propaganda-against-the-dprk/5512043
I would appreciate honest feedback from those who actually take the time to read these articles. You don’t have to agree with any or all aspects of DPR Korea’s style of internal governance to realize that the US is the undeniable bad guy trying to enforce its will on all nations who will not bend over and grab ankle for it.
Here are some very enlightening articles about North Korea. One is a bit of a scholarly treatment regarding the latest (unjust) UN resolution further sanctioning the DPRK and the other is a first-person account of visiting the so-called De-Militarized Zone between North and South Korea from both sides of the border:
https://gowans.wordpress.com/2016/03/06/why-un-sanctions-against-north-korea-are-wrong/
Here is the other article – the personal, subjective account, if you will, of visiting the DMZ:
http://www.globalresearch.ca/south-korea-and-the-art-of-collaboration-raw-war-propaganda-against-the-dprk/5512043
I would appreciate honest feedback from those who actually take the time to read these articles. You don’t have to agree with any or all aspects of DPR Korea’s style of internal governance to realize that the US is the undeniable bad guy here trying to enforce its will on all nations who will not bend over and grab ankle for it.
I’m not going to waste my time with the moonbats on globalresearch – citing them doesn’t exactly work in your favor.
China is likewise imposing sanctions on NK. I thought they could do no wrong? ‘sup with that?
However, we are in partial agreement. The US is in no position to chastise anyone for having nukes. Two of the most belligerent countries on the planet are the US and Israel – and they’ve got nukes. The US is the only country to actually deploy that kind of weapon, and that was against civilian targets.
(And that, btw, is a partial answer to one of your ongoing concerns. I can recognize the problems in the US. I don’t try to pretend they don’t exist, nor do I go out of my way to insult the USSR. I apply the same criteria to both, unlike yourself. In this manner, I make it apparent that my decisions are based on examination of the facts. By the same token, you make it apparent that your decisions are based on something else entirely.)
CrazyH,
I have seen some weird articles on Global Research before, but I would pay more attention to the reputation of the author and judge the content of each article on its own merits.
I was disappointed to hear about Russia, and China especially, voting for the new round of sanctions against DPRK. However, I think China is trying to placate the US while it will continue to covertly help DPRK get around the sanctions.
As I’ve asked many times before, when have I said that China, or the USSR, or North Korea are/were infallible?
It’s funny, I was just about to accuse you of making decisions, not based on facts, but based on emotion and propaganda messages pounded into your head since birth. I have based my position on analyzing ALL the facts I could gather from every point of view. You have NOT considered your enemy’s point of view. If you had, you might conclude that he is not your enemy after all.
The question to ask is not whether or not a country is perfect, whether or not they have made mistakes, but rather what is their intent?
My research has led me to understand that America’s “mistakes” are intentional. The US is ruled by a capitalist elite INTENT on exploitation, domination and murder.
The USSR of yesteryear and North Korea and China of today, despite instances of incompetence and even corruption, have been led by a political leadership that is INTENT on ending exploitation and providing for the needs of its citizens.
> As I’ve asked many times before, when have I said that China, or the USSR, or North Korea are/were infallible?
And as I’ve asked many times before, when have you ever said anything negative about any of the above?
> The US is ruled by a capitalist elite INTENT on exploitation, domination and murder.
NK is ruled by a faux-communist elite INTENT on exploitation, domination, and murder.
> The USSR of yesteryear and North Korea and China of today, despite instances of incompetence and even corruption, have been led by a political leadership that is INTENT on ending exploitation and providing for the needs of its citizens.
and statements like that make it quite difficult to believe that your “opinions” are based on anything whatsoever resembling facts.
> based on emotion and propaganda messages pounded into your head since birth.
Fail.
I did, indeed believe the propaganda pounded into my head as a child. Then I grew up. Now I disbelieve both US propaganda AND Soviet propaganda.
You, on the other hand, emit a constant stream of Soviet propaganda.
I like you, you’re silly.
> Women got the right to vote in Russia in 1917
The question was about the USSR, not Russia. The fact is that the elections in the USSR were at least as rigged in the USSR as you purport they are to be in the US today. Yet for some reason, you only talk about the US.
> And as I’ve asked many times before, when have you ever said anything negative about any of the above [USSR, DPRK, PRC]?
I just did!! Here is what I said:
“I was disappointed to hear about Russia, and China especially, voting for the new round of sanctions against DPRK.”
Not to worry, I’m sure we can expect a pithy comeback.
> NK is ruled by a faux-communist elite INTENT on exploitation, domination, and murder.
Are you fucking kidding me? That flies in the face of logic. Who has North Korea invaded lately, or ever? Your own country (Korea) doesn’t count, especially when you’re trying to take it back from Japanese or American invaders and sleazy comprador quisling elites.
If the North Korean leadership wanted to really dominate and exploit its population then they would have bent the knee to the US imperialists long ago. You think they have a better deal now, under constant sanction and threat of total destruction?! You don’t think they could get a lot richer if they sold out their people like most every other country has done?! Use your brain, man!
FIRST!! – what is this, Trolecenter, the sixth time I’ve had to remind you that it’s rude to break up a conversation by posting at the top of the column? For someone who insists he’s not a shill, you sure waste a lot of bandwidth acting like one.
I’ve got this crazy idea that one’s INTENT can be reliably discerned from one’s ACTIONS. NK’s ACTIONS are: Under the rule of Kim Jong-Un, North Korea remains among the world’s most repressive countries. All basic freedoms have been severely restricted under the Kim family’s political dynasty. A 2014 UN Commission of Inquiry found that abuses in North Korea were without parallel in the contemporary world. They include extermination, murder, enslavement, torture, imprisonment, rape, forced abortions, and other sexual violence. North Korea operates secretive prison camps where perceived opponents of the government are sent to face torture and abuse, starvation rations, and forced labor. Fear of collective punishment is used to silence dissent. There is no independent media, functioning civil society, or religious freedom.
re: “I was disappointed to hear about Russia…” my brain says that the topic of that sentence is “I” and it’s about your feelings. It’s hardly the kind of denunciation you routinely spew about the US. Are you man enough to put your money where your mouth is here? You weren’t the last time I called bullshit on you. A hundred bucks says I can easily show that you say far more negative things about the US than you do about China on this site. (both by count and by intensity)
(Failing to answer is an answer in itself, btw. If you *don’t* take me up on it you show you know damned good and well that I’m right.)
FINO is nice, Ted ; when the acronym becomes current, I hope you get the recognition you deserve for, as I presume, coming up with it !Unfortunately applying for a copyright doesn’t seem to be an alternative, as «catchwords, catchphrases, mottoes, slogans, or short advertising expressions» are exempted from protection….
Henri