Eclectic commentary from a progressive voice in the red state

Friday, October 4, 2024

Save our country by knowing the threats

 The United States is fewer than four weeks away from the most consequential election since the 19th Century. Voters will choose between an almost-democratic constitutional democracy or a dystopian fascist future owned and run by the libertarian billionaires. The soul of our country and our freedoms are at stake. Nothing makes this more starkly clear than Project 2025, the Republican-Nazi manifesto of Trump, the Heritage Foundation and Charles Koch.

Within the past two weeks, pro-democracy alliances have hosted virtual meetings/webinars that expose the specific destructive steps in Project 2025. Their aim? To alert as many as possible on the threat Project 2025 poses to our country’s soul.

On Sept. 27, the Center for Media and Democracy, American Constitution Society and Common Cause hosted “Setting the Stacked Court in Stone?” The speakers:

Nancy MacLean (moderator) is the William H. Chafe Distinguished Professor of History and Public Policy, Duke University; author of Democracy in Chains; and a Center for Media and Democracy board member.

David A. Super (panelist) is the Carmack Waterhouse Professor of Law and Economics at Georgetown Law.

Lisa Graves (panelist) is the founder and Executive Director of True North Research, a national investigative watchdog group and Managing Director at Court Accountability. She is the board president of the Center for Media and Democracy.

Stasha Rhodes (panelist) is a veteran strategist and the Executive Director of United for Democracy. She recently rejoined The Center for American Progress as a Senior Fellow.

The hour-long event exposed the origins and tactics of the oligarchs’ takeover of the US judiciary as well as capturing state legislators and Congress. If you believe preserving our real freedoms, especially the progressive improvements of the mid-20th Century, is worth your time, please watch a replay of this webinar at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edqgyJld3kY

On October 3, groups committed to honest history education, including the American Association of University Professors, the Berkshire Conference of Women Historians, the Coalition for Action in Higher Education, the Labor and Working-Class History Association, Massachusetts Peace Action, Scholars for a New Deal for Higher Education, the Zinn Education Project and Convergencemag.com hosted “MAGA and Project 2025.” The panelists were:

Carol Anderson is the Robert W. Woodruff Professor of African American Studies at Emory University.

Nancy MacLean is the William H. Chafe Professor of History and Public Policy at Duke University and a past president of the Labor and Working Class History Association (LAWCHA).

Paul Ortiz is Professor of Labor History at Cornel University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations.

Bill Fletcher, Jr. moderated the “Teach-In.”

A replay of this event is at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPwGWze0G3U

Project 2025 is about 900 pages; and, it’s a long read. Several speakers pointed out that the Nazis behind this document are terrified that the public will see and understand the plan to drag the country back to the 1850s. Thankfully, some pro-democracy and pro-transparency websites have summarized and highlighted this right-wing radical document. Here are the links:

https://accountable.us/expose-project-2025/

https://redwine.blue/project2025/

I’ve been following this clear and present danger to our country since 2015. Yes, almost a decade ago, I saw the threat. Five years later, I read Dr. MacLean’s “Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right's Stealth Plan for America.” You your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to go to:

https://www.thequintessentialcurmudgeon.com/

You will find additional information to help you understand the vast array of forces trying to kill our nation as we know it.

It’s not too late to save our country, but time is short. Please share this with as many voters as possible.

Monday, September 30, 2024

Understanding the stacking of SCOTUS

 

The upcoming national election will be the most consequential since the 1860s. The electorate will choose between keeping our republic or or surrendering to the dark forces as did Germany in the 1930s.

To that end, I have put aside everything else today to focus on urging people to sign up for an event this Thursday. Those of us of a certain vintage will remember the Teach-Ins of the 1960s. We now have a Teach-In to get the word out how dangerous another Trump-Republican election would be for our nation. Please open this link, sign up for the event and spread the word.

https://mailchi.mp/7a5677a03758/livestream-teach-in-featuring-us-historians-on-maga-and-project-2025-this-thursday-5-6-et?e=b8f23b3353

This Teach-In follows a webinar last week hosted by the Center for Media and Democracy, American Constitution Society and Common Cause called Setting the Stacked Court in Stone?. Award winning Duke University historian Nancy MacLean, who, wrote the ground-breaking “Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right's Stealth Plan for America,” moderated the webinar. The one-hour event is now available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edqgyJld3kY.

One of the best reviews/summaries of Dr. MacLean’s book can be found at https://www.ineteconomics.org/perspectives/blog/meet-the-economist-behind-the-one-percents-stealth-takeover-of-america

To fully understand this and other fascist culture wars, read these books, preferably in this order:

“Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right's Stealth Plan for America,” by award-winning Duke University historian Nancy MacLean; 

“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; 

“Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation,” by Kristin Kobes Du Mez; and, 

“Hiding in Plain Sight” and “They Knew” by Sarah Kendzior.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and consider my request. Please reach out to me if you want further information.

Thursday, September 26, 2024

The death penalty: A tool of intimidation

 One of America’s killing machines, in this case executions in five mostly southern states, is ramping up. If executions in Alabama and Oklahoma occur as scheduled


on today, it will be the first time since July 2003 that five inmates will have died within a week. That’s according to a Sept. 24 Associated Press story citing information from the Death Penalty Information Center.

And. Sept. 24 was a busy day to focus on America’s death penalty. The Intercept and Bolt Magazine published a story about how some Alabama’s execution team guards are abusive and that such misconduct is hidden from the public, including reporting that Alabama officials claimed the state’s first use of nitrogen hypoxia dispatched inmate Kenneth Smith painlessly and perfectly. These assertions are disputed by Smith’s attorney and, more importantly, Kim Chandler, the AP reporter witnessing the debacle. These stories and the cases presented are further evidence that America’s blood lust is gaining traction in the shadow of the Republican Party embrace of authoritarianism and Nazism. Never mind reports seeing recent dips across the nation in the use of the death penalty. I suspect that’s a political artifact.

Part of my argument for that rests with the another Sept. 24 story, this time Marcellus Williams’ lethal injection in Missouri. Despite pleas from prosecutors, legislators and the family of victim Felicia "Lisha" Gayle, Missouri’s Republican Gov. Mike Parson and the Missouri Supreme Court let the lethal injection occur. So did the six corrupt Republican fascist member of the U.S. Supreme Court, USA Today reported. The right-wing blood lust is a harbinger of the fascism should Republicans gain control of our government this year.

Today, as third-world state Alabama prepares another nitrogen execution, the public will likely get another “white wash” from officials that the process, like the prior one, was “textbook.” Also today, Oklahoma plans to execute Emmanuel Littlejohn despite the state’s Pardon and Parole Board recommendation to spare his life. Oklahoma Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt, at this hour, not indicated he will follow his board’s recommendation, but in the past he has let his death machine work unimpeded.

It is no secret that the U.S. disproportionately executes people of color, specifically Blacks. This has been particularly true for the former Dixie states. What many are willing to overlook, however, is that the use of the death penalty was a form of Jim Crow intimidation. The idea was to keep Black people in their place. If you don’t believe me, research South Carolina’s electrocution of 14-year-old George Stinney. That is sure to continue of former president and convicted felon Donald Trump wins a second term. Remember how Trump triggered federal executions during his first term. Trump and his fascist allies like Texas Fuhrer Greg Abbott will now use this threat against any of those who oppose them.

That is one more reason for citizens to reject the right-wing in November.

Editor’s Note: Rather than embed links, I’ve provided them below for easier navigation and study of this issue.

https://theintercept.com/2024/09/24/alabama-execution-team-misconduct-death-row/

https://apnews.com/article/death-penalty-nitrogen-gas-alabama-kenneth-smith-54848cb06ce32d4b462a77b1bb25e656

https://apnews.com/article/nitrogen-execution-death-penalty-alabama-6d66344d3199f8c58f2408baa3df0738

https://dpic-cdn.org/production/documents/pdf/SecrecyReport-2.f1560295685.pdf?dm=1683576587

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/local/missouri/2024/09/25/marcellus-williams-execution-missouri-lethal-injection/75376315007/

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/local/missouri/2024/09/25/marcellus-williams-execution-missouri-lethal-injection/75376315007/

https://apnews.com/article/executions-oklahoma-alabama-missouri-texas-south-carolina-d77a31bea7a4839424afc8889c7d8755

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/09/24/south-carolina-execution-freddie-owens/?commentID=0c6dc995-3558-4269-bf45-fb74ac6d42eb

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/09/24/south-carolina-execution-freddie-owens/