The retribution begins

 The New York Times is covering Donald Trump’s retribution tour fairly well. Tyler Pager’s analysis that Trump is weaponizing the Justice Department to exact revenge against his perceived enemies. At the top of that “enemies list” is James B. Comey, the former FBI director. Trump’s beef with Comey centers on the role of Russia’s infiltration of the 2016 presidential campaign. Comey isn’t the only potential target. He’s pushing the Justice Department to go after Sen. Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif. and Letitia James, New York’s attorney general, George Soros and others.

 The Sept. 27 story prompted me to reflect on my long-term concern that I don’t see a peaceful end to the oligarch take-over of our country. My post, once again, referenced “Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right's Stealth Plan for America,” by award-winning Duke University historian Nancy MacLean. I’ve said for the past five years that this book has markedly changed my frame of reference about our politics but hasn’t gotten much traction in my world. However, in this case, it got some; my comment became one of the “Reader Picks.”

 

I wrote : “Let's face reality and stop debating the trivia. Every legal matter involving Trump will, at Trump's behest, go to SCOTUS. And with the six totally corrupt ‘justices’ on the bench, the court will rule in his favor. The oligarchs have outflanked our system and we are no longer a free people. See “Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical  Right's Stealth Plan for America,” by award-winning Duke University  historian Nancy MacLean. Can anyone tell me how to stop this peacefully? 'Cause I can't see this without violence.”

 

Two other posters responding to my post gratified me. One, with the screen name “Wobbly Biped,” called MacLean’s book “a masterpiece.” As you can expect, I agree. But “Happy Rabbit” posted a scenario that I’ve wanted out in the open for discussion. It’s the proverbial elephant in the room. Here’s Happy Rabbit’s post: “In a post yesterday, one commenter pointed out the following (and I'm paraphrasing): there is only one question left in this entire nightmare - which side will the military take?”

 

The question is timely, isn’t it?

 

National media are reporting that Trump and Defense Secretary spoke to a gathering of the U.S. military’s top brass at Marine Corps Base Quantico on Tuesday, Sept. 30. According to reporters Emily Davies and Matt Viser in their Washington Post story, “President Donald Trump delivered a meandering address to an unprecedented gathering of the country’s top military leaders, railing against his predecessor, celebrating tariffs and floating the idea of using American cities as a training ground for the military as he painted a picture of the U.S. under attack ‘from within.’”

 

The story points out that Trump is trying to weaponize the military against his enemies, which is the modus operandi many of us predicted. Thankfully, the military leadership gathered there seemed not to be amused — or pleased, according to the story. Maybe this telegraphs what side the military will take. We can only hope.

 

Here are the links:

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/26/us/politics/trump-comey-revenge.html

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/26/us/politics/trump-comey-revenge.html#commentsContainer

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/09/30/trump-quantico-military-generals/

Local newspaper looks complicit in supporting the MAGA movement

Now that I have escaped the almost two-week long rabbit hole of rebuilding my computer, I want to prompt discussion with my Victoria friends and journalist colleagues about the current state of local news. I’ve lived in Victoria slightly more than eight years and have seen our local newspaper, The Victoria Advocate, deteriorate to the point that it’s barely readable. The Advocate’s struggles certainly reflect the industry’s financial pain to some degree; but the real problem for this, the second-oldest newspaper in Texas, is its management’s incompetence and ideology.

After having gone through several editors, we now have some of the most pathetic content I’ve ever seen in a commercial product. Most of the staff-produced copy is either fluff or it’s proselytizing for Christianity. It’s the right-wing version of Christianity — the MAGA/Trump version in which the racism, misogyny, hate and cruelty are front and center. It’s clearly not the kind, gentle and loving Christianity of the inclusive denominations such as the United Church of Christ or the Episcopal Church in America.

One might ask what has triggered my need to discuss the Advocate at this juncture. Well, the answer lies in how, Managing Editor Shawn Akers responded to the death of the right-wing provocateur Charlie Kirk. His column, posted September 12, starts with the asinine sentence, “I must admit, I was a fan of Charlie Kirk’s. I admire his high level of intelligence, and I admired his intentions when he visited college campuses to engage students about life and cultural subjects.”

That sentence shows the Akers’ blindness to reality and/or willful ignorance and/or lack of critical thinking skills. Read what Kirk spews: racism, misogyny and hate. It’s further in the article, however, that Akers finally drops his charade and gives lie to his claim that his religion doesn’t affect his role at the newsroom’s helm — a claim he has made since I critiqued his introductory column in September 2024. (I can’t find the column on line any more leading me to wonder if disappearing the content reflects a calculated move or incompetence.) More and more, the Advocate is becoming a propaganda outlet for the brand of fundamental Christianity that, in cherry picking Bible verse, misses all the good things that Jesus said.

To heap praise on a fascist and participate in the the right-wing game plan to turn Kirk into a martyred saint was the last straw; on the Advocate’s Facebook post of this column, I called for Akers to resign. And I sent an email to Justin Wilcox, the Advocate’s regional publisher for the Carpenter Media Group, asking him to tell me why I should spend $15/four weeks of my retiree fixed income to expose myself to such disgraceful journalism. I’ve posted the email to my blog as a supplement to this post. I’ve gotten no direct response from Wilcox, which would have been the professional thing to do. Instead, Akers wrote me to excoriate me for going over his head. That, I thought, was a strange turn of phrase considering I don't work for the Advocate. His email and my response are also on my blog so you can, if you wish, fully understand what, in part, this post is about.

Which leads me to another matter related to Kirk’s death. The Christo-fascists are weaponizing his killing to move us closer to the 19^th Century nation the billionaires crave. The attack on dissent and the media and other institutions not supporting the oligarchs’ agenda, using their Cheetos-colored front man Donald Trump, is a scary start to what comes next. The violence against Kirk is giving the excuse for the Christo-fascists to engage in the violence they so badly crave. This is right out of the German Nazi playbook of the 1930s. Look for language coming soon from the “conservatives” to justify more force than the already deployed ICE version of Hitler’s Brown Shirts offer. Count on it.

Responses to Kirk’s death fall clearly along ideological lines. The authoritarian attack on people like Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert would make Joseph Goebbels proud. But that’s just part of the story. I keep telling people to read “Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right's Stealth Plan for America,” by Duke University historian Nancy MacLean. In this book the reader will find the source of and inspiration for the MAGA movement. MacLean’s work also shows that the blueprint for Project 2025, with a clear plan for violence, began in the 1950s. All the turmoil we’re seeing this week — lionizing Kirk, using the large corporations to stifle dissent, perverting the media landscape to support the MAGA movement — all this is part of the plan to normalize the Christo-fascism being imposed on us.

The MAGA movement will push boundaries and norms. Trump and his minions will ignore court orders and dare people to push back. They will also continue to litigate everything fully knowing that they own the U.S. Supreme Court. And that brings me back to the Advocate’s and Akers’ complicity in pushing content that normalizes the alt-right agenda, openly supports Christo-fascism and ignores information that would reveal what’s really happening.

Kirk’s murder was wrong on every level. And so was the assassination of Minnesota Rep. Melissa Hortman, a Democrat. Hypocrisy from MAGA is now in full view because we heard nothing but crickets about her death as well as the death of her husband and dog.

Violence has no place in the ideal of the United States. MAGA has already trashed that notion. We can have peaceful demonstrations, petitions and elections. But if the Christo-fascists and MAGA ignore the elections (remember January 6?) and the complicit media propagandizes instead of reporting the facts, then where do we go from here?

An email exchange

 The first, from me to Justin Wilcox on Sept. 16: Dear Mr. Wilcox,

I write to ask your help in justifying spending $15 every four weeks for access to the Victoria Advocate’s website. You see, as a retired journalist and an openly progressive Episcopalian, I am aghast that Shawn Akers, the current managing editor, will face no consequences for his column praising Charlie Kirk. That I believe that Kirk and the MAGA movement are a clear and present danger to this country is irrelevant.

What is relevant? Akers’ column is a paean to misogyny, racism and fascism, because those are the things Kirk stood for. Further, the Advocate has become a proselytizing Christian MAGA propaganda sheet. The current news content gives lie to Mr. Akers’ assertions that his personal views, as expressed in his introductory column, would influence what passes for news judgment. But it has. And the effect on credibility can’t be ignored.

And if that it isn’t enough, the Advocate carries a regular column by Jim Graff of Faith Family Church, where Mr. Akers makes his spiritual home. It looks unseemly to me but maybe I’m influenced by my 22 years as a journalist. I don’t suppose it’s worth mentioning that Graff’s columns suffer from a lack of fact checking. Add to that, regular columns by Andrew Schroer and from Mark Ward Sr. are more of the overkill. By the way, take note that Mr. Akers’ byline is on Mr. Ward’s Sept. 6 piece, a reflection of sloppiness or incompetence. Take your pick.

Which, of course, leads me to ask: Does anyone edit the locally produced copy? Is there a current copy of The Associated Press Stylebook in the newsroom? Lack of consistent AP style, mistakes in grammar, poorly crafted stories and, sometimes, outright incomprehensibility rule the day. This critique also holds for content from the PR offices of Victoria College, Texas A&M-Victoria and others whose copy is published as though the submitters were a staff member. Now, I admit, we can let some errors slide in the puff pieces that now populate the Advocate’s pages, but what about that rare article where an error is material? Consider the consequences.

I know that reading books is largely out of favor. However, some in-depth knowledge of the MAGA movement would go a long way to shaping people’s understanding of what’s going on now. Making Kirk into a martyr and then excoriating those who don’t agree is right out of the Joseph Goebbels playbook. And, it’s happening right before our very eyes. If you have any desire to understand where we are in the grand scheme of things, read “Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right's Stealth Plan for America,” by Duke University historian Nancy MacLean. It’s a start and if you want more, let me know. I have a list of books that bring this Christo-fascism movement into proper focus.

The journalism mission statement for the Carpenter Media Group is high-sounding. But, where is this mission operatoinalized? How is it deployed in Victoria? Inquiring minds want to know. And, again, please tell what value I’m getting from my $15 per four weeks.

  From Shawn Akers, with the Subject line "I thought we were going to friends" (sic): But apparently you see fit to go over my head instead of talking to me about it. That's your prerogative for sure. I appreciate you reading the paper, and thanks for your comments.

Finally, from me to Akers and Wilcox: Shawn,

I assume your email is the result of Justin Wilcox forwarding my email to him to you. That said, first, I don’t know why you thought we were going to be friends. Our worldviews don’t differ over petty issues. We are judged by the company we keep and the values we articulate or endorse. Those are so far apart that a friendship is impossible. The closest word to label what existed before your piece on Kirk would be détente.

But your treating Kirk like a hero or distinguished citizen was too much. Like many on alt-right, your article tried to walk a fine line between how Kirk delivered his message and what his message actually was. And the statements accurately attributed to him show him to be a racist, misogynistic unchristian provocateur. The media labeling him as a conservative activist is akin to calling a hurricane a breeze. Further, and I hope you see the irony, those who have pointed out Kirk’s real positions are now being systematically attacked by those on the far right and those with the power to do so are supporting arrests, job loses and doxxing. Just look at Greg Abbott’s reactions to the Texas Tech situation. And, I might remind you that several years ago, Abbott condoned shooting journalists. No, you do agree with him and saying the issue is no more that style rather than substance — well, that dog don’t hunt.

As for going over your head, you do know I don’t work for you? Right? And you tell me what talking to you about it would accomplish.

You know, I recommended “Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right's Stealth Plan for America,” by award-winning Duke University historian Nancy MacLean to Mr. Wilcox. If you really want to understand what this divisiveness is about and why the leaders of this movement want it as a divide and conquer technique, MacLean’s work explains it. “Democracy in Chains” also makes clear that the violence is part of the plan. That’s being deployed by ICE’s sweeps and Homeland Security’s open attacks on journalists.

Then, read: “Dark Money” by Jane Mayer;  “Shadow Network: Media, Money, and the Secret Hub of the Radical Right” by Anne Nelson;  “The Power Worshippers: Inside the Dangerous Rise of Religious Nationalism” by Katherine Stewart;  and, “Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation,” by Kristin Kobes Du Mez.

If you read these books, you might open your mind to that fact that the billionaire class behind this has this country right where it wants it: on the ropes in a cold civil war, at least for now.. The endgame is a Convention of the States under Article V of the United States Constitution and rolling back our foundational document to the 1850s. It will leave only two functions for government — militarized law enforcement and national defense. And a preview of the reason for those two functions is now demonstrated as Trump violates posse comitatus in deploying troops as he has in Washington, Memphis  and, as a new test bed, Chicago.

As for my critique of the content of the Advocate, I stand behind it.