A first woman president?
TAT readers,
Welcome back and I’m hoping that there was plenty of goodness in your weekend. Another unprecedented event took place over the weekend, the withdrawal of President Biden as a presidential candidate for a second term. Ever since the beginning of the Trump era, it would seem that “unprecedented” is a word that has become as common as; and, if, the, or and even WOW. Still, few words fit better in our currently misnamed “political landscape.” As I have written about often, “we are not involved in politics, but a civil war, 2.0.
What we are truly experiencing is a civil war, not between North and south, but between all honorable Americans and the MAGA controlled GOP, that is best defined as fascist, oligarchical and powering themselves on White Christian Nationalism. This simply means that we are experiencing a national security threat that has pushed our constitutional republic, to the brink.
This has nothing to do with principled conservatism or its other half, principled liberalism, but defending our nation against a powerful movement not fully unlike Nazism, the Confederacy or the opposition to the Civil Rights era. In my professional opinion, as one who knows a thing or two about extremism, national security and violent extremism, I rate the upcoming November election, as a severe threat. The primary threats take two forms, a Trump victory that via Project 2025 would undue and destroy our constitutional republic and the threat of violence. Today, let’s look a bit closer at both of these threats, in order to formulate our defenses.
First, the basics
Time is of the essence, with only 105 days until the election, so let’s look first at the physical threats. The left is just figuring out how to replace President Joe Biden but seems to be closing ranks around VP, Kamala Harris. Besides being bi-racial, she is married to a Jewish husband. This represents four of the most discriminated against groups in America; a woman, Black, Asian (south) and Jewish. All four groups have been significant targets of the MAGA hordes in the Trump era, and to a large extent, prior. VP Harris’ gender is of particular concern as that MAGA has an entire war room, dedicated to assaulting women and every other issue regarding gender. The pervasive tongue-in-cheek accusations against the GOP regarding, The Handmaid’s tale is not far from the truth.
Overview The Handmaid’s Tale by Canadian author Margaret Atwood, published in 1985, is a compelling dystopian narrative set in the Republic of Gilead, a theocratic society born out of the ruins of the United States. Atwood’s novel introduces readers to Offred, a Handmaid whose existence is defined by the oppressive social order dictating her role in procreation. Against the backdrop of religious extremism and a totalitarian regime, Atwood weaves a chilling tale that explores themes of power, control, and the profound consequences of the subjugation of women. The novel’s unsettling portrayal of a society where individual freedoms are systematically stripped away serves as a stark warning about the dangers of unchecked authority and the erosion of fundamental human rights. - The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood - Sparknotes.com
Add to this the higher incidence of political violence by the right against all others than the opposite, and you can see that the threats are already slowly burning. The FBI Director’s last couple years of warnings regarding domestic political extremism, again much higher on the right is simply high-octane fuel added to the fire. Like tinder-dry forests, high winds and multiple fire risks, the November election is quite literally, a catastrophic fire ready to burn. VP Harris is now symbolic of all non-whites, moderate and left-leaning Americans, especially women, as targets of political violence.
Should things go as they appear now, that VP Harris becomes the DNC’s official candidate, her gender, ethnicities and spouse’s religion will become cannon fodder for the conspiracy theory laden, MAGA GOP. These attacks are not political, but societal. Such societal wounds have not only been laid bare by the only thing that I can say is good about the Trump era, is that those who were secretly discriminatory in their beliefs, are now visible due to Trump and the party, empowering people to join in willfully, with their racism, dishonesty and mob mentality.
The truth is, even where there were no such rifts prior, the form of influence operations run by FOX, the GOP and both in official and unofficial cooperation with Russian intelligence services have quite literally, taken control of the identities of Republican voters. Thirty years of slow, incremental conditioning by FOX especially has reframed the identity of GOP voters to believe in the fake patriotism of God, Guns and Trump. With their identity so carefully shaped, and as discussed in a long post last week, there is no quick recovery for those “brainwashed” or “conditioned like Pavlov’s famous dog.
As every honest American watched in horror on January 6th, 2021, these brainwashed insurrectionists mounted an armed assault on the Capital Building with Congress in session, to validate the 2020 election as required by our constitution. They threatened hanging the VP and viciously attacked law enforcement. There were pre-staged weapons caches across the Potomac in their hotel rooms and an operational commander in Mike Flynn, the disgraced former three-star general who had once been the senior intel officer in my command. Now he leads his band of dangerous fake patriots and hordes of White Christian Nationalists in attempting to replace American democracy with a violent, authoritarian theocracy.
To assume to this type of violence is not possible with the coming election, is to deny reality, just like MAGA followers are already brainwashed to do. All relevant US intelligence services have warned for years that the far-right, which is now synonymous with the GOP, is the primary threat for domestic terrorism. There is an old saying in my old Army community; “that when an ostrich puts their proverbial head in the sand, they leave the entire rest of their body exposed to the threat.” I have cleaned up this Army saying a bit, but I’m certain that you get the point.
Now, with the Federal courts, especially SCOTUS, backing the ringleader of the insurrection and Mike Flynn, Roger Stone and others still walking around free, preaching insurrection and fake patriotism, fake Christianity and constitutional nonsense, with the full support of the oligarchs that profited wildly from a Trump presidency, we are more at threat than ever. The bottom line… I hope to be wrong but I, like so many others with deep experience in national security threats and extremism, believe that we will see increasing political violence. My only question is to what degree and how often. Sadly, we have watched the significant uptick since the Trump era began and so many, in conjunction with media dishonesty, have become relatively conditioned to accepting it. Yes, just like gun violence.
Now let’s look at the threat to our constitutional republic.
Onward
Here’s where we can go really wrong with the 2024 election cycle and especially if Trump is reelected: The potential and without any hyperbole, a degradation of our constitutional republic to the point that it really no longer exists, except in name only.
Let’s first by understanding a bit about constitutions in general. In the quote below, it clearly shows that ours and the Russian constitution are quite similar in writing. This is where the similarities end. Like all words spoken, the words are immaterial if the actions do not coincide.
The American and Russian constitutions have several important similarities. Both establish a federal government for a group of constituent states or regions that are acknowledged to be sovereign in their own right. Both constitutions structure the federal government in three branches—the executive, the legislative, and the judicial - A Comparison of the American and Russian Constitutions - Alaska Justice Forum - David Mannheimer - 2008
The salient point is that Putin’s Russia is no democracy even though there is a written constitution, and under the Project 2025 crowd and Trump, US democracy would end up looking and behaving much like Putin’s Russia. For example, the GOP did not write a presidential platform after the 2016 election and until now for the 2024 election. They stood back and said, whatever “Trump says is our policy.” A weaponized DOJ under disgraced AB William Barr, looked little like the prestigious DOJ of earlier years. Dishonesty, entitlement and corruption were the watchwords in the Barr DOJ, when he could get away with it. Courageous DOJ professionals held the line the best that they could, to prevent a police state under Trump and Barr.
In the intended Project 2025 GOP fantasy, as discussed in-depth, two weeks ago, the Trump/ GOP intention is to consolidate power into the executive branch to the degree that only the president has power. Yes, courts and congress become perfunctory sycophants, just as the Politburo votes were in the now extinct Soviet Union. Xi’s CCP is now the best example of sycophant voting. They are formality only because only the dictator has real power.
The one thing that saved much of the Federal government during Trump’s first administration is that Civil Service workers for the most part, held the line of managing their roles and responsibly and ethically, in accordance to the law. The primary fail under Project 2025 is that any Civil Service worker could be fired without cause. Such a purge and significant degradation of Civil Service benefits would only put Trump loyalists into positions, solely for the purpose of supporting MAGA agendas.
A careful review of both Project 2025 and the 2024 GOP Platform show themselves to be clear-cut contradictions to our constitution. Adjusting the intended “checks and balances” written specifically into our constitution by James Madison, the preeminent scholar of representative government and our fourth president. He is also called the father of our constitution. Dictating a state religion based on White Christian Nationalism is another direct assault on all of our constitutional rights, as enumerated in the First Amendment/ Bill of Rights and also termed, “The Establishment Clause.”
Any sane reader of Project 2025 and who has earned a passing grade during their secondary education, will easily see multiple and serious deviations from our constitution. Support for the Project is in fact, support for overthrowing our republic. It is precisely that simple. This assessment has no relationship to party politics. Although I, like a personal hero, George Washington, abhor political parties. They are an unpleasant fact of life with far too much say in a constitutional republic. Still, regardless of which party you may wish to belong to or vote with, the constitution is not partisan. We must all follow it. It is the actual law and basis for all supporting law.
As that I have written deeply on Project 2025, historical essays pointing out the rhetorical similarities between the Civil War Confederate/ Southern ideology and the principles that our nation is founded on, I will wrap up today’s essay, with a short summary and leave you to carefully follow, this historic week. How this history ends, is up to every voter.
The final note is that you have only two choices in the November election. You can either back violence, fascism, White Christian Nationalism and oligarchy, or you can vote with the constitution which guarantees our constitutional rights, regardless of which party that you are registered in. If you believe that your friends, family and colleagues are too far gone down the path of influence operations spurred brainwashing, find a way to reach out and slowly walk them back from the edge. Find workable solutions through community or religious leaders but most of all, do the hardest thing of all, speak out with purpose.
This election and quite literally our republic hangs, in the balance. The choices are simple. If you’re my age, ask yourself the hard question; “what do I want for my grandchildren?” Do I want an immoral dictatorship or a nation that embraces and protects those precious words, “our inalienable rights.”
Best for your week,
Paul