Bad Economy Vibes Are a Threat to Democracy. Too many Americans are willing to sacrifice constitutional government for a better-feeling economy MATT JOHNSON JAN 15, 2024 After the GOP’s post-insurrection pivot, no Republican capitulation to authoritarianism and demagoguery is too hypocritical or undignified to come as a surprise anymore. Trump’s automatic support among the majority of Republican voters shouldn’t shock us, either—regardless of his ninety-one felony charges, increasingly deranged and apocalyptic promises to purge civil servants from government and install an army of loyalists, public embrace of insurrectionists, professed desire to terminate the Constitution, and obsession with the idea that the 2020 election was stolen from him. Trump is the Republican party, and he has been for a long time. There are no better angels of the party in tension with Trumpist authoritarianism—voters want him to purge the Deep State and punish his political foes. They want revenge for the “stolen” election in 2020. When Trump says, “I am your retribution,” his supporters know he means it. He has no platform beyond his grievance-fueled plan to gut the government and destroy his political opponents.  All he cares about is vengeance and loyalty, and governing won’t even be an afterthought. He wants the whole country to bend the knee.                                                                                                                              THE MOST ALARMING POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT of the past year isn’t the Republican party’s capture by Trumpism—that’s not news. It’s President Joe Biden’s unpopularity. Biden currently has a dismal 38 percent approval rating—around four points lower than Trump’s was at this point in his presidency. Beyond having justified concerns about Biden’s age, millions of voters (including many who aren’t addicted to Trumpism) don’t think he’s done a good job as president. While they’re understandably critical of him on issues like immigration, they also refuse to acknowledge what he’s done right—on foreign policy, working with a hostile Congress, and especially the economy. This has drastically increased the probability of a second Trump term. Although inflation hit 9.1 percent in the summer of 2022, it’s down to around 3 percent today. What makes this rapid decline particularly remarkable is that the U.S. economy has so far managed to avoid much of the pain that typically accompanies getting inflation under control. The labor market remains strong and the unemployment rate is at just 3.7 percent. The United States has had 36 consecutive months of job growth, while unemployment has remained below 4 percent for almost two years straight. In March 2023, just 30 percent of economists thought the Fed could achieve a historically rare “soft landing” (significantly reducing inflation without a recession), but the proportion jumped to 69 percent by August.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Yet Americans aren’t impressed. A recent Pew survey found that 64 percent of American adults aren’t confident Biden can “make good decisions about economic policy,” including 39 percent who are “not at all confident.” Just 14 percent of Americans say they’re better off financially under Biden, while 70 percent say his policies have either hurt the economy or made no difference. At a time when Americans rank the economy as the most important issue by a vast margin, these are sobering numbers. What makes the widespread economic pessimism and hostility toward Biden even more puzzling is its misalignment with Americans’ behavior. Consumer spending has remained strong on the back of solid employment figures and wage growth, which demonstrates that Americans aren’t behaving as if the economy is as bad as they’re telling pollsters. And it’s strange to place all the blame on the Biden administration in the first place—inflation is a global problem, and many countries haven’t managed it as well as the United States. The intense and widespread dissatisfaction with Biden’s economic performance is an emergency for American democracy. According to a recent New York Times/Siena survey, voters trust Trump over Biden on the economy by a chasm of 59 to 37 percent. Although Democrats relied on anxiety and anger over the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade to galvanize voters in the midterms, the survey found that twice as many say the economy (versus social issues like abortion) would determine whom they vote for in 2024. And among those economy-focused voters, Trump is ahead by a margin of 60 to 32 percent. Even voters under the age of 30 trust Trump over Biden on the economy by a gap of 28 points. This is part of a larger trend—declining enthusiasm for the Democratic party among major demographics. Black, Hispanic, and young voters express significantly less overall support for Biden than they did in 2020. All these factors create a dire picture of the electoral map for Biden—Trump holds substantial leads in five out of six key swing states (Nevada, Georgia, Arizona, Michigan, and Pennsylvania). When Biden remindsvoters that “democracy is on the ballot” in 2024, Trump accuses him of “pathetic fear mongering.” In a typical Trump inversion, he describes Biden as the “destroyer of American democracy” and blames his administration for the indictments. At a recent rally in Nevada, Trump declared that “they’re weaponizing law enforcement for high-level election interference because we’re beating them so badly in the polls.” Biden obviously has nothing to do with the charges against Trump, and he doesn’t talk about them because he wants to avoid creating any impression to the contrary. This is the right strategy, but it allows Trump to control the narrative......read on                 https://plus.thebulwark.com/p/bad-economy-vibes-are-a-threat-to-democracy  ......and.....       The Battle to Protect American Democracy Is the Most Important Battle of Our Lifetimes, There can be no middle ground in the fight between democracy and authoritarian fascism........  https://www.commondreams.org/views/2022/09/01/battle-protect-american-democracy-most-important-battle-our-lifetimes    

Trump's Mental State Should Be Frontpage News. Biden may appear frail at times, but at least he’s rational. The growing evidence of Trump’s dementia and paranoia, on the other hand, poses a potential danger to the future of America. ROBERT REICH, is the Chancellor's Professor of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley, and a senior fellow at the Blum Center for Developing Economies. He served as secretary of labor in the Clinton administration, for which Time magazine named him one of the 10 most effective cabinet secretaries of the twentieth century. His book include: "Aftershock" (2011), "The Work of Nations" (1992), "Beyond Outrage" (2012) and, "Saving Capitalism" (2016). He is also a founding editor of The American Prospect magazine, former chairman of Common Cause, a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and co-creator of the award-winning documentary, "Inequality For All." Reich's newest book is "The Common Good" (2019). He's co-creator of the Netflix original documentary "Saving Capitalism," which is streaming now Full Bio >  now.  Dec 18, 2023 On Saturday, during a campaign speech in Durham, New Hampshire, Donald Trump invoked Vladimir Putin (of all people) as proof that he’s being persecuted: “Putin says that Biden’s — and this is a quote — politically motivated persecution of his political rival is very good for Russia, because it shows the rottenness of the American political system, which cannot pretend to teach others about democracy.”Some commentators see this and other Trump assertions about being persecuted as calculated efforts to fuel his base. But what if Trump really thinks he’s being persecuted? What if he has a persecution complex? What if he believes his paranoid fantasies? Trump is not facing nearly the same scrutiny for his age as is Joe Biden, yet Trump should be — especially as to increasing signs of dementia. Trump is not facing nearly the same scrutiny for his age as Joe Biden, yet Trump should be — especially as to increasing signs of dementia. Biden is sane. He’s getting major bills passed. He’s negotiating with world leaders. But Trump — who has a family history of dementia — is increasingly incoherent and unhinged. He has confused Biden with Obama so often that he’s had to put out a statement that the slips have been//truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/111482667285702469" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="font-family: Lora, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;" target="_blank" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/111482667285702469&source=gmail&;ust=1703980084688000&usg=AOvVaw2PmN3xTGVpHT33T60kmtzC">intentional.     In September, Trump suggested that the way to prevent wildfires in California’s forest lands is to keep them damp. Here are his exact words: “They say that there’s so much water up north that I want to have the overflow areas go into your forests and dampen your forests, because if you dampen your forests you're not gonna have these forest fires that are burning at levels that nobody’s ever seen.” Hello?  He also said that under his administration, shoplifters would be subject to extrajudicial execution. On Saturday, during a campaign speech in Durham, New Hampshire, Donald Trump invoked Vladimir Putin (of all people) as proof that he’s being persecuted: “Putin says that Biden’s — and this is a quote — politically motivated persecution of his political rival is very good for Russia, because it shows the rottenness of the American political system, which cannot pretend to teach others about democracy.” Some commentators see this and other Trump assertions about being persecuted as calculated efforts to fuel his base. But what if Trump really thinks he’s being persecuted? What if he has a persecution complex? What if he believes his paranoid fantasies? Trump is not facing nearly the same scrutiny for his age as Joe Biden, yet Trump should be — especially as to increasing signs of dementia. Biden is sane. He’s getting major bills passed. He’s negotiating with world leaders. . In October, Trump warned his supporters that Biden will lead America into World War Two.                                                    The most telling evidence of Trump’s growing dementia is found in his paranoid thirst for revenge, on which he is now centering his entire campaign. On November 11, he pledged to a crowd of supporters in Claremont, New Hampshire, that: “We will root out the communists, Marxists, fascists and the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country, that lie and steal and cheat on elections and will do anything possible — they’ll do anything, whether legally or illegally, to destroy America and to destroy the American dream.” Are these the words of a sane person? Or of an aging paranoid megalomaniac? Even if it’s unclear to which category Trump belongs, shouldn’t this question be central to the coverage of his campaign for reelection? When I’ve asked members of the media why they’re not covering the increasing signs of Trump’s dementia, they say it’s “old news.” After all, back in 2017, 27 psychiatrists, psychologists, and other mental health professionals concluded in The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump that Trump’s mental health posed a “clear and present danger” to the nation- read on....... https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/donald-trump-mental-state?utm_source=Common+Dreams&utm_campaign=88c81e9d7b-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2023_12_22_09_28&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-88c81e9d7b-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D

Trump Pledges to Be a Dictator on 'Day One' The former president's remarks came as his allies are reportedly preparing specific plans to wield the federal government to target political enemies, including journalists.JAKE JOHNSON Dec 06, 2023 Amid mounting alarm over his authoritarian ambitions for a second term, former President Donald Trump said during a Fox News town hall on Tuesday that he would be a dictator only on "day one," pledging to unilaterally close the U.S.-Mexico border and accelerate fossil fuel drilling. Trump's remarks came in response to a question from host Sean Hannity, who asked the former president if he would promise to never "abuse power as retribution against anybody." "Except for day one," Trump replied. "I want to close the border and I want to drill, drill, drill... We're closing the border and we're drilling, drilling, drilling. After that, I'm not a dictator."President Joe Biden's 2024 campaign immediately highlighted Trump's comments, posting a clip on social media and saying in a statement that the former president "has been telling us exactly what he will do if he's reelected." "Tonight he said he will be a dictator on day one," said Biden campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez. "Americans should believe him." Trump's remarks Tuesday were just the latest evidence that the former president is preparing to aggressively wield executive power and arms of the federal government to pursue a far-right agenda and target his political enemies if he wins another White House term next year. The Washington Post reported last month that Trump and his allies "have begun mapping out specific plans for using the federal government to punish critics and opponents... with the former president naming individuals he wants to investigate or prosecute and his associates drafting plans to potentially invoke the Insurrection Act on his first day in office to allow him to deploy the military against civil demonstrations." "Much of the planning for a second term has been unofficially outsourced to a partnership of right-wing think tanks in Washington," the Post noted. "Dubbed 'Project 2025,' the group is developing a plan, to include draft executive orders, that would deploy the military domestically under the Insurrection Act." During a speech in New Hampshire last month, Trump promised to "root out" those he dubbed "radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country," a threat that critics likened to Nazi rhetoric. The former president, who is currently facing more than 90 felony charges, also pledged that his administration would carry out "the largest domestic deportation operation in American history," revive the Muslim ban, slash taxes for the wealthiest even further, and accelerate pipeline approvals. The New York Times reported Tuesday that a Trump confidant who is "likely to serve in a senior national security role in any new Trump administration" threatened to "target journalists for prosecution if the former president regains the White House."              https://www.commondreams.org/news/trump-dictator-day-one?utm_source=Common+Dreams&utm_campaign=b7feb1a2b0-EMAIL_

USA-  Wannabe Führer Donald J. Trump Must Be Stopped. Preventing the former president from being reelected should be the primary goal of all progressive forces from this point on. During Trump’s tumultuous four-year reign (2017-2021), democratic norms in the U.S. experienced a huge shock. Almost overnight, the U.S. became a different country as Trump’s policies and racist rhetoric tore the social fabric of inclusive democracy and inflicted a body blow to the concept of a decent society. In the end, abnormal became the new normal. Indeed, Trump’s 2016 campaign was unlike anything seen in U.S. presidential elections in decades. It was solely driven by racism, sexism, and xenophobia. And it had a dramatic impact. For example, hate crimes surged by more than 220% in counties that hosted Trump’s campaign rallies in 2016 and reached an all-time high in 2021, according to the FBI. White nationalist hate groups, an integral component of the far-right movement in the U.S. targeting immigrants and refugees, LGBTQ people, Blacks, Muslims, and other groups, increased 55% throughout the Trump era. Trump’s inflammatory rhetoric and posturing himself as the only leader able to save the country led many to wonder whether Trump was more than a racist and a populist with an unmistakably authoritarian streak. Scholars and pundits alike began wondering whether it was time to use the “F”word about Trump, and some started doing just that. I happen to be one of the people who objected to the idea of using fascism as a catch-all term to describe leaders and movement with authoritarian tendencies, while acknowledging that the movement that Trump had created and still leads has a proto-fascist lineage.Trump’s revenge politics and desire to cleanse U.S. society of undesirable elements like migrants, refugees, LGBTQ people, and radical leftists may very well find us with a dictator in charge in 2025. Fascism represents the most extreme form of the “exceptional capitalist state,” and should not be confused with all forms of authoritarian rule, as the late Marxist theoretician Nicos Poulantzas argued in Fascism and Dictatorship, a work that is essential reading for anyone interested in a serious study of fascism. Fascism worships the state, promotes militarism, and establishes absolute state power over private enterprise. Trump’s nationalist, racist, sexist, homophobic, cult-like movement embraces none of these fascist characteristics and beliefs. Most experts agree with this assessment. The Trumpist movement is an extreme populist movement and, as such, poses a clear threat to open society. When granted the opportunity, it will destroy liberal democracy by imposing censorship and even arresting political opponents. If the institutions have not become as weak as the prevailing norms, and if the democratic forces are significantly divided to the point that they muster little resistance to the dismantling of government institutions and their transformation into some sort of proto-fascist state. These are indeed the critical questions that all democratically minded citizens should be concerned with as the 2024 election gets close. The U.S. is on a very dangerous political trajectory.....Trump is the most likely GOP nominee to run for the White House and, apart from Chris Christie, all other Republican presidential candidates will back Trump even if convicted. Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel also said that she will support Trump even if he’s convicted. More worrisome is the fact that a recent poll found that Trump leads Biden by 4 percentage points among registered voters and that most Americans are unhappy with the state of the economy under Biden. The U.S. is on a very dangerous political trajectory. If Trump succeeds in returning to the White House, not only will he unleash state power to exact revenge on those who he feels wronged him but may try to turn the U.S. into a Christofascist state. As he pledged to his supporters in a speech in New Hampshire on Veteran’s Day, by copying Hitler’s rhetoric from “Mein Kampf,” he will “root out the Communists, Marxists… and Radical Left Thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country…” Clearly, the wannabe führer felt the need to double down on Nazi propaganda after he had said in a recent interview that immigrants and asylum seekers are “poising the blood of our country.” This brings to mind Martin Niemoller’s famous quote “First they came for the socialists.. then they came for the trade unionists…then they came for the Jews…....”   https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/stopping-fascist-donald-trump-2024?utm_source=Common+Dreams&utm_campaign=da6d754a5e-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2023_11_14_09_15_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-9f3559e3f8-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D    And Remember This......HITLER COMES TO POWER.By 1933, Adolf Hitler was a well-known figure with widespread support. He did not seize power in Germany. Rather, a series of political and economic crises helped him rise to power legally. There are some misconceptions about how Hitler came to power. It is important to understand that......Hitler did not seize power in a coup, and Hitler was not directly elected to power. Hitler and the Nazi Party came to power through Germany’s legal political processes.......read a detailedhistorywith many links to events in that tragic period. And is amazingly similar to events now current in the United States.  https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/hitler-comes-to-power