Election updates in the four defining characteristics of MAGA: Autocracy, Oligarchy, White Christain Nationalism and Violent Extremism
TGIF TAT readers,
Today, with only 10 days left in the fight to sustain our republic, I will offer something a little different. Today is not so much an essay as it is a briefing regarding updates, in each of the four categories I noted a month ago in the essay, The four horsemen of the MAGA Apocalypse: Autocracy, Oligarchy, Christian Nationalism and Violence. I will include bullet points to news related to each category and links to previous essays that apply, if I feel further explanation is required. No one has a lot of free time as we approach this perilous election, so let’s get right to it.
We’ll begin with autocracy
In this section, first we have the Cambridge dictionary definition of autocracy. After that comes several linked credible news stories and underneath each, are excerpts which are quoted. This makes it quite clear that Trump, supported fully by MAGA both desires unlimited and unchecked power so as to emulate his heroes, from Putin, to KJU, Xi, Hitler etc. There is no good argument to suggest that he would not do all possible to achieve such power, if reelected. Project 2025 and the 2024 GOP Platform, which mirrors much of P25 are oriented to supply him the power to do so. They are in fact, both plans to do so.
Former Trump White House staffers back John Kelly on his warning about Trump - CBS News
“Two days after former Trump White House chief of staff John Kelly said that his ex-boss fits the definition of a fascist and occasionally remarked that Adolf Hitler "did some good things," 13 more members of the Trump administration penned an open letter backing up Kelly's claims. "Donald Trump's disdain for the American military and admiration for dictators like Hitler is rooted in his desire for absolute, unchecked power," wrote the group, which includes former national security, communications and other White House staff. "This is a man who threw his own Vice President – Mike Pence – at a violent mob in a desperate bid to hold on to power."
Trump, again, praises dictators and rails against immigrants -- again sparking backlash - ABC News
“With less than a month until the first votes are cast in the 2024 Republican primary, former President Donald Trump spent his latest rally in New Hampshire praising multiple authoritarian leaders and quoting Russian President Vladimir Putin to try and discredit the criminal indictments against him -- while sparking new backlash from critics that his anti-immigrant sentiment echoes Adolf Hitler.
"They're poisoning the blood of our country. That's what they've done," Trump said Saturday in Durham, New Hampshire. "They're coming into our country, from Africa, from Asia, over the world. They're pouring into our country."
John Kelly: Trump is a 'fascist,' wants to be a dictator
Trump is a ‘fascist,’ wants to be a dictator, his former chief of staff says
What You Need To Know
John Kelly, former President Donald Trump’s longest-serving White House chief of staff, says he believes Trump matches the definition of a “fascist” and would love to be a dictator if he returns to the White House
Kelly made the comments in a series of interviews with The New York Times, which posted an article with audio excerpts Tuesday evening
Kelly also confirmed previously reported stories about controversial comments Trump made privately, including that he called service members who were wounded or killed in combat “losers” and “suckers,” that he did not want to be seen with military amputees, and that he said more than once he thought Adolf Hitler “did some good things, too"
Steven Cheung, a spokesman for the Trump campaign, told The Times in a statement that Kelly had shared “debunked stories” and “beclowned” himself”Trump's vow to only be a dictator on his first day back in office | AP News
“TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — As Donald Trump faces growing scrutiny over his increasingly authoritarian and violent rhetoric, Fox News host Sean Hannity gave his longtime friend a chance to assure the American people that he wouldn’t abuse power or seek retribution if he wins a second term.
But instead of offering a perfunctory answer brushing off the warnings, Trump stoked the fire.
“Except for day one,” the GOP front-runner said Tuesday night before a live audience in Davenport, Iowa. “I want to close the border, and I want to drill, drill, drill.”
And in case anyone missed it, he reenacted the exchange.”
“The former president has said he will make it easier to fire tens of thousands of federal workers, end birthright citizenship and carry out a mass deportation campaign.
At a town hall event in Iowa earlier this month, Hannity asked Trump about some of these pledges and whether he planned "to abuse power as retribution against anybody" if he regains the presidency.
"Except for Day One. I want to close the border and I want to drill, drill, drill," Trump responded. "He says you're not going to be dictator are you? No, no, no − other than Day One... after that, I'm not a dictator."
He doubled down on the comments a few days later in a speech to the New York Young Republican Club.
Trump has also repeatedly praised authoritarian leaders in other countries, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and North Korean President Kim Jong Un. Trump on Saturday again said Kim was "very nice."
Oligarchy
There has been a great deal of movement in the oligarchy category recently. Both Project 2025 and the GOP Platform are supported by oligarchical America. Let’s take a closer look…
“Yet far-right extremists want to make it easier for corporations to poison people. The Project 2025 playbook proposes replacing tens of thousands of career civil servants, such as scientists at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), with far-right, nonexpert loyalists to usher in a radical agenda that would make it easier for big corporations to dump dangerous toxins into the U.S. water supply and air. This would place corporate profits over the health of the American people and the environment: An April 2024 joint staff report by the Democratic staff of both the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability and the Senate Budget Committee sheds light on how fossil fuel companies have attempted to undermine efforts to curb pollution while they earn record-breaking profits.
These far-right loyalists would seek to erode the fundamental freedom of every American to breathe clean air and drink safe water and, in so doing, would significantly increase the number of Americans suffering from asthma, cancer, heart disease, reproductive health harms, child development delays, and other health conditions.”
Project 2025: Full List of Organizations Behind Proposals - Newsweek
“Project 2025's website says a coalition of over 100 conservative organizations helped "form the project pillars." It adds that the "opinions of Project 2025 and The Heritage Foundation do not necessarily represent the opinions of every one of its advisory board partners."
In addition to attacks on unions, Project 2025 would:
“Create loopholes in OSHA, allowing small businesses to put worker safety at risk;
Eliminate the child labor rules that protect teenagers from working in mines, meatpacking plants and other dangerous workplaces;
Tax workers' health care and benefits;
Allow state and local governments to seek waivers from federal labor laws like the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which establishes national minimum wage and overtime laws, and the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), which protects the rights of private sector workers to join unions;
Change the overtime rules in the FLSA to allow employers, especially those in the South, to avoid paying overtime;
Repeal the requirements for federally-funded projects to have project labor agreements (PLAs) and pay the prevailing wage in the region, leading to lower pay and more safety risks for workers;
Make it harder for workers to access unemployment benefits;
Outsource the administration of unemployment programs to “non-public organizations” (a fancy phrase for private companies), causing government workers to lose their jobs and workers to get poor services; and
Eliminate training and employment services for workers whose jobs are sent overseas due to international trade.”
Why Is Elon Musk Supporting Donald Trump? - Newsweek
“Trump's platform of reducing government oversight appears to align with Musk's vision.
Musk has proposed the creation of a "Department of Government Efficiency," or DOGE (a joking reference to Dogecoin, which Musk supports). Musk suggested such a department would audit federal agencies to identify and eliminate redundant regulations. Musk's potential role in this initiative could provide him with the influence to reshape regulatory frameworks that currently affect SpaceX.
"With Trump in office, Musk may expect a more favorable regulatory environment for his ventures, including Tesla and SpaceX. Like many Silicon Valley billionaires, Musk resists any limitations on what he perceives as his personal freedom," Dr. Michael Breen, associate professor at the School of Law and Government at Dublin City University, Ireland, told Newsweek.”
It is also important to note that yesterday, an exclusive report from the WSJ/ Wall Street Journal, owned by the same person and corporation as FOX News, detailed Musk’s two-year working relationship with Putin.
“An analysis of the 50 richest families in the U.S. highlights tactics used to guard growing “dynastic wealth” in the country, and points to ideas for curbing and effectively taxing consolidated wealth.
The Institute for Policy Studies tracked American families from Forbes’ list across nearly four decades and found that their assets grew by 1007% since 1983, outpacing the average American’s by a factor of 10. The list of American “dynasties” includes household names such as the S.C. Johnson, Rockefeller and Marriott families.”
How America’s oligarchy has paved the road to fascism (Why American capitalism is so rotten, Part 7)
“1. The New American Oligarchy
A HALF-CENTURY AGO, when America had a large and growing middle class, people on the “left” wanted stronger social safety nets and more public investment in schools, roads, and research. Those on the “right” sought greater reliance on the so-called free market.
But as power and wealth have moved to the top, the real divide is no longer between left and right as we used to define them. It’s between democracy and fascistic oligarchy.
In the 2020 presidential election cycle, more than $14 billion went to federal candidates, party committees, and super PACs — double the $7 billion doled out in the 2016 cycle. Total giving in 2024 is going to be much higher.
That money is not supporting American democracy. It is contributing to Trumpist neofascism.”
Project 2025 and Unions | It's Better in a Union
“Trump’s Project 2025 is the 920-page document, written by at least 140 Trump advisers and former (and likely future) leaders in the Trump administration, that spells out what they plan to do during a Trump second term.
We broke it down for you: How would this agenda affect union members and working families?
We are deeply concerned about pro-corporate policies that would drive up costs, put people out of work, endanger people’s lives and make it harder for working people to get ahead. For unions, this agenda would make it tougher for members to win gains in our next contracts and stack the deck in favor of CEOs.”
White Christian Nationalism
Christian Nationalism is the specific ideology of the MAGA movement. Professionally speaking, religious ideology is among the most difficult to sell but once established, nearly impossible to alter. Via a global campaign centered on Putin’s Russia, the far-right wave that swamped the globe for the past decade or so, shows no sign of returning to traditional Christianity. =Ideologically speaking, there is little difference between the Islamic extremism I faced in the Middle East and Afghanistan, Hindutva in India and the Christian Nationalism of the MAGA movement.
That Evangelicals support one of the most immoral men in public life in American history, is a head-scratcher. Being raised in the Midwest, that now is predominantly Trumpland, common-sense has become an endangered species. Until the far right (MAGA) and Russian propaganda barrages from late 2014 on, even conservative Midwesterners would have laughed at supporting anyone absent a moral backbone, let alone one who doesn’t have a moral bone in his body anywhere.
Having just visited my Ohio hometown, I see some cracks in the Trump wall, but many are still under the spell of MAGA propaganda. Yes, it is still partially created by and amplified by Russian Influence operations. One of my assignments before retiring was to work on the threat of Russian Influence Operations, as part of a small team whose leader was none other than the LTC (R) Alexander Vindman that we all came to know during one of Trump’s impeachment trials. He was then and as he was throughout his military career, an exemplary and ethical Army officer.
Russia is behind viral disinformation targeting Walz, intelligence official says | AP News
To drive Americans apart, Russia helped spread hurricane disinformation | PBS News
Last year I put together a very long essay detailing Christian Nationalism and rather than dictating my opinions, I copied and pasted directly from the leadership of several of America’s leading Christian churches. I even included a policy warning from America’s largest and most respected Christian council, the NCC or National Council of Churches. Every single listed church listed Christian Nationalism, as a threat to democracy.
It is precisely these Christian Nationalists, that bring the most fervent support to Trump and his MAGA crew.
This is how the National Council of Churches defines Christian Nationalism:
"Christian nationalism is characterized by the following religious affirmations: - that the United States was founded as a Christian nation - that America is exceptional. - That is, God has given the United States particular blessings and privileges not available to people in other countries, and the nation must remain Christian in order for those blessings to continue - that only Christians are the proper custodians of this nation’s heritage; that Christianity (or a particular form of Christianity) should have privileged status in the United States, particularly in matters of law and political policy - that, even when their presence is tolerated, people who practice other religions or none cannot be fully American — they are not welcomed, their voices are discounted, and they are not to be trusted with political and cultural leadership - that Christians in general and some Christians in particular should enjoy a level of legal protection not granted to those who practice other religions - that Christians have been made to suffer unjustly, leaving them no alternative but to respond with revolutionary zeal to preserve the United States as a great Christian nation." - The Dangers of Christian Nationalism in the United States: A Policy Statement of the National Council of Churches - Adopted by the Governing Board April 20, 2021 (Corrected 4.22.21)
“LIVONIA, Mich. -- Standing before hundreds of people in a suburban Detroit chapel, at an event organized by Donald Trump's campaign, Marlin J. Reed declared that God had called on them to vote for the former president.
“You are being called upon to stand up and face down this darkness and face down these lies and refuse to stop speaking, but to speak up and to stand up and make it known that we are not going to take this," said Reed, the pastor of New Wine Glory Ministries in Livonia, Michigan. “We are not going to lie down, we are not going to allow you to take our country and take our rights and our freedoms.”
“Even if it means war, we are not going to allow you to take it,” Reid said to cheers.
Trump's campaign has directly nourished a fusion of hard-right politics and theology to energize evangelical Christians in swing states. The campaign has launched a “Believers for Trump” program and conducted several calls with conservative faith leaders, overwhelmingly evangelical pastors, on how to mobilize their congregations for Trump. The Republican nominee plans an event Monday near Charlotte, North Carolina, with allied pastors.”
Christian Voters 'Don't Care' About Donald Trump's Religious Beliefs: Poll - Newsweek
“As the 2024 presidential race intensifies, recent polls reveal surprising trends among Christian voters, suggesting that religious beliefs may play a complex and sometimes counterintuitive role in shaping political preferences.
A survey conducted from September 12-16 by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs found that only 14 percent of U.S. adults say the word "Christian" describes former President Donald Trump "extremely" or "very" well. This figure is particularly striking given Trump's strong support among white evangelical Protestants, a key demographic in his political base.
The poll of 2,028 adults was conducted September 12-16, 2024, using a sample drawn from NORC's probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.
Despite Trump's Presbyterian upbringing and later identification as a nondenominational Christian, his religious credentials appear to hold little sway over his most ardent supporters. About 7 in 10 white evangelical Protestants view Trump favorably, yet only about half say he best represents their beliefs. Even more telling, only around 2 in 10 within this group strongly associate the term "Christian" with the former president. “
Last but not least, Violent Extremism
From well before Trump took office in January of 2017, he was dedicated to both overt and implied violent threats against anyone standing between him and his desires. In fact, during the Trump era, far-right violence has spiked and exceeds all other extremist US violence, combined. In these past few weeks, his violent rhetoric has taken on more vitriol, is unleashed more often and targets specific groups and individuals.
His followers act on his “suggestions” too. Oddly, at least two of the three alleged assassination attempts were from Republicans and one who had actually voted for Trump. January 6th was a long-planned violent extremist coup attempt, complete with an operational commander, Mike Flynn, weapons caches pre-staged in hotel rooms, bombs at both the RNC and DNC HQ and left 140 law enforcement officers wounded. Oh… and yes, 7 dead. Those in the crowd carried a variety of weapons and were charged and convicted for doing so.
Intimidation and threats against poll workers and official election staff is common. Just yesterday here in San Antonio, a poll worker was attacked at the polls. This local example is but one tiny drop in the bucket in the Trump era. In a recent poll, a full 38% of election workers said that they have safety concerns and have been threatened in one form or another. In addition to this, 54% said that they were concerned for their co-workers.
A survey of local election officials across the U.S. found that 38% report experiencing “threats, harassment or abuse” and 54% are concerned about the safety of their colleagues, according to a report released Wednesday by the Brennan Center for Justice. - Almost 40% of local election officials surveyed report threats or abuse, says a new report - NBC News - By Julia Ainsley - May, 2024
Election threats are growing more violent. What do they look like?
“Threats against election workers and other public officials have moved beyond calls and texts to shootings and a bombing in this incendiary political season.
Threats that resulted in charges this week include a Philadelphia man vowing to "skin" and kill a state party official for recruiting poll watchers and an Alabama man threatening to execute election officials in Arizona.
An Arizona man was charged with shootings at a Democratic Party campaign office. And a California man was charged with bombing a courthouse.
“As we approach Election Day, the Justice Department’s warning remains clear: anyone who illegally threatens an election worker, official, or volunteer will face the consequences,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in announcing action in four cases this week. “For our democracy to function, Americans who serve the public must be able to do their jobs without fearing for their lives.”
The following reports from one of the nation’s best think tanks, CSIS/ Center for Strategic and International Studies, should give every honest citizen pause. For a nation that once reported daily and sometimes hourly regarding our post-9-11 attacks from Islamic violent extremists, we rarely hear anything now about the by far, most serious violent extremism in the nation, the far-right.
Pushed to Extremes: Domestic Terrorism amid Polarization and Protest
The Rise of Far-Right Extremism in the United States
The Escalating Terrorism Problem in the United States
The Rising Threat of Anti-Government Domestic Terrorism: What the Data Tells Us
The Military, Police, and the Rise of Terrorism in the United States
"Washington — A joint intelligence bulletin issued by the Department of Homeland Security and FBI warned of the potential for domestic violent extremists "with election-related grievances" to target political candidates and elected officials in the coming weeks. The bulletin is dated Oct. 3 and says domestic extremists "pose a threat of violence to a range of targets directly and indirectly associated with elections through at least the presidential inauguration" on Jan. 20, 2025. Election workers, judicial personnel involved in election-related court cases, members of the media, political party representatives and perceived political opponents are also potential targets. Publicly accessible venues, including voting locations and campaign events, also make "attractive targets," the bulletin says, noting the attempted assassination against former President Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13." - Domestic extremists with "election-related grievances" could turn to violence, intel bulletin warns - CBS - By Nicole Sganga, Caitlin Yilek - Updated on: October 4, 2024 / 4:27 PM EDT / CBS News
So, let’s wrap up this dizzying array of bad news. What matters between now and the inauguration of the next POTUS, is that our elections are safe, accurate and legal. The last two items I have a great deal of faith in. It is the steady drumbeat of violence and civil war from Trump and MAGA that worries me. If I were I still in a combat zone in some less than hospitable corner of the globe, this much threat intelligence would spur an “all-hands-on-deck” threat posture. In most respects, DHS and the FBI are handling this. The one critical vulnerability is in managing the massive, ever-active bombardment of mis and disinformation from the Trump/ GOP campaign HQ and with support from Russia. There are still some deeply concerning “dirty tricks” still in their bag.
It is precisely the “propaganda” that both informs MAGA of their beliefs and communicates recommended actions to them. The recommendations are sometimes overt but much of it, is subtle propaganda that has been programmed into MAGA audiences for up to thirty years. We all remember Trump’s January 6th speech: “We fight like hell and if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore.”
This election will very likely, not see fewer Trump voters. In 2020, and after a chaotic and disastrous four years, four million more voters voted for him than in 2016. Once a movement has succumbed to professionally created and sustained propaganda, it takes years, maybe even a generation to shake the hold, if ever at all.
In the next ten days, we must all be committed to turning out voters who will oppose the fascism of the Trump/ MAGA mob nationally and in down-ballot races. Radical ideology does not die, it just sneaks under a rock until it is needed again, by some immoral, power-hungry person or movement. Don’t forget that MAGA is just Civil War, Confederate ideology with a facelift, new names and modern persuasive propaganda. We survived that war but not before a tragic conflict that claimed more than 600,000 American lives. An all-out push against MAGA at the ballot box, is the answer to not suffering more intra-American violence and irreconcilable damage to our constitutional republic.
I’ve never been a fearmonger or given to hyperbole. It’s just not my style. MAGA behind a charismatic leader, supported by professional domestic and foreign adversarial influence operations though, is justifiably an acute threat. Please, let’s all heed the warning and take the appropriate steps to remove this threat on and before November 5th, via the most democratic of actions, voting.
Cheers for the weekend,
Paul
Hi Paul,
You will be happy to know that this column succeeded in affirming my earlier decision to go out and vote early this week. Standing in line for an hour on Wednesday morning made the privilege of voting all the more precious. Plus it was even more rewarding to be able to give the electoral fiddle minger to all the neo-Bolshevik Progressives on the ballot. And all your columns like this one helped to strengthen my resolve to vote. So consider it "Mission Accomplished." my friend. Ya done good.