“Death Cult”: Fascism 101

~SUMMARY~
I used to say MAGA was “like” a cult. Now I say it clearly “is” a cult. Trump is the leader, with the brainwashing skills of Manson, Jones, and the rest of the best. I used to say Donald was “like” a dictator. I used to discount other pundits’ “fascist” characterizations as hyperbolic. Not anymore. MAGA cultists willingly risk their lives for him at superspreader rallies. Trump has allowed the needless deaths of 100,000 Americans for the sole purpose of reelection. The U.S. accounts for 4.2% of Earth’s population, 21% of world COVID-19 deaths. But MAGA members DO NOT CARE about truth or humanity. They worship one or all of three things: 1) a leader who is as openly uncouth, racist, and corrupt as they wish they could be; and/or 2) a leader who hates all the same people they do, i.e., anyone who threatens white majority control; and/or 3) the single issue of stopping abortion, at the expense of all other humankind issues. It’s that simple. There is no clearer indication of a fascist attempting to consolidate power than his willingness to kill his own citizens. Other signs have been there. Trump was investigated by Mueller, then impeached by House Dems for traitorous corruption. He was sprung from accountability by Senate Republicans — a prime autocratic benefit of owning them. Now he won’t commit to a peaceful transfer of power, a U.S. first. But killing. His own citizens. This simply leaves no mistaking what’s going on. Except by members of the cult — the death cult. Some doubt these truths. Some doubt the sun rises in the east. (scroll down for full article)

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COVID-19 Deaths

(COVID-19 Dashboard by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University; approximately 8 a.m. each day)

9/24/2020 — Conservatively Estimated Trump Malfeasance Deaths: 100,960

(Ersin, Tom; “Pandemic Deaths Due to Trump Malfeasance: 68,709 – so Far”; GraniteWord.com; 7/16/2020; as conservatively extrapolated from COVID-19 Dashboard by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University; 9/17/2020.)

The United States accounts for 4.2% of Earth’s population, 21% of world COVID-19 deaths, 22% of world COVID-19 cases.

No More “Likes”

I used to say the MAGA following was like a cult. Now I say it clearly is a cult. Donald Trump is the leader, with all the incredibly effective brainwashing skills of Charles Manson, Jim Jones, and the rest of the best. If The Donald announced at his next superspreader rally that he wanted his people to begin killing reporters and anti-Trump protesters, there is no doubt in my mind that we would begin to see this happen, slowly at first, then in larger numbers as cult members gained confidence.

He already celebrates the injuries of journalists and anti-Trump protesters. MSNBC anchor Ali Velshi getting hit with a police rubber bullet (at an entirely peaceful protest in May) has become a rally applause line: “I remember this guy Velshi. He got hit … and he went down. … It was the most beautiful thing. … It’s called law and order.”

He already long ago promised, “I’ll pay the legal fees” if rally attendees would “knock the crap out of [protesters]” — another raucous applause line.

Heck, he’s essentially said to his supporters, “You know, several hundred of you from each of my rallies will get sick or die from covid, but thanks for ignoring the guidelines and laughing at the masks. You’re my people, taking one for the team!” They willingly risk their lives for him.

He’s got the best of Charles Manson (kill our enemies) and Jim Jones (kill ourselves).

Since the author Bob Woodward’s tapes have come out in recent weeks — containing devastating, self-incriminating statements by the King of Comb-overs, himself — one thing is clear, crystal: MAGA cult members DO NOT CARE what truth is. They DO NOT CARE that their leader literally is killing tens of thousands of Americans with corrupt incompetence — including many of them — simply to be reelected and avoid indictment.

No, they have simple reasons to discard all respect for truth, empathy, and humanity: 1) They worship a leader who is as openly uncouth, racist, and corrupt as they wish they could be; and/or 2) They worship a leader who hates all the same people they do, i.e., civil rights advocates, women’s rights proponents, of course, Democrats, and anyone else who threatens white majority control; and/or 3) They worship the single issue of stopping abortion, at the expense of all other humankind issues. It may be conscious, unconscious, or subconscious. But it’s that simple.

I Said, “No More Likes”

I used to say Donald was like an aspiring autocrat, that he was exhibiting autocratic, dictatorial tendencies. I used to discount other pundits’ characterizations that President Trump was a fascist or at least exhibiting fascist tendencies. I thought that was too harsh, over the top, hyperbolic.

Not anymore.

“fascism: a political philosophy, movement, or regime … that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition”

(“fascism”; Merriam-Webster.com; retrieved 9/23/2020.)

John Heilemann, NBC News political analyst and co-author of Game Change (about the 2008 presidential election) yesterday called Donald Trump’s presidency, “Literally a death cult.” I wish I had said that.

Steve Schmidt, Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) 2008 presidential campaign director, this week called President Trump’s corrupt, incompetent handling of the coronavirus pandemic, “The greatest malfeasance in the history of the United States.” I wish I had said that.

Death Cult

President Trump — literally — has allowed many tens of thousands of Americans to die needlessly from COVID-19 for the sole purpose of supporting his reelection. Once again: for the sole purpose of reelection.

We already knew — and with the Woodward tapes it’s been confirmed beyond any doubt — that Trump knew last January the virus was coming, it was deadly, it was airborne, and that it could kill hundreds of thousands of people. But he made a determination, to which he continues to hold, that any mention of precautions, any role-modeling of prevention guidelines hurts the economy thus hurting his reelection chances. He was determined not to talk precautions, and when others did, he would play them down, ridicule them.

From the beginning, he’s refused to nationalize health guidelines, testing, treatment supply production, and the supply chain: The Big 4 that virtually all honest scientists agree were/are integral to fighting the pandemic. He’s demanding all school districts reopen without limitations at the height of a pandemic, without any guidance, threatening their funding if they don’t. He’s risking the lives of thousands more children across the country for political gain. He continues to push for the elimination of health care for millions of Americans — at the height of a pandemic. He’s crushed CDC and FDA independence, bastardized their public guidelines, and destroyed their reputations here and around the world.

On Monday, the U.S. passed the devastating milestone of 200,000 pandemic deaths with nary a condolence for victims from the president. In recent weeks, President Trump has claimed COVID-19 prevention guidelines (masks, social distancing) are a Democratic plot to abolish church attendance. He’s called the pandemic a “Democrat hoax.” He’s now pushing a dangerous, fraudulent “herd immunity” policy, i.e., allowing healthy people to contract the disease (which could produce 200 million cases, 2-3 million deaths). And he’s saying at rallies that the virus affects “virtually nobody,” especially not the young.

Say Its Name

There is no clearer indication of an autocrat, a dictator — a fascist — attempting to consolidate power than his willingness to kill his own citizens to do it. The other signs have been there all along: breaking governmental norms and traditions; blatantly interfering with DOJ cases and deliberations; destroying the independence of Cabinet members and their departments; threatening political allies with career destruction for any dissention, no matter how slight; blatant, corrupt nepotism and self-dealing; consistently buddying up to autocrats and favoring world dictators over allies.

And running the government like a crime boss. In what could be his most politically heinous act, days after successfully covering up his crimes exposed in the Mueller report, President Trump said in a call to newly elected Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky: “We have been very, very good to Ukraine. … I would like you to do us a favor, though.” And thus, Donald put into motion his traitorous, illegal extortion of Ukraine to get dirt on a political rival (Joe Biden) in exchange for releasing $400 million in already congressionally authorized military aid.

There were nearly a dozen aides on the call, and several of them were terrified at what they heard. One told the CIA, “The president had clearly committed a criminal act.”

“He was a president entirely unrestrained, free from the shackles of seasoned advisers who sought to teach him to put duty to country above self and to follow protocols. He had concluded he was above the law, after dodging accountability for flouting rules and withstanding the Mueller investigation. He had grown so confident of his own power, and cocksure that Republicans in Congress would never dare break with him, that he thought he could do almost anything.”

(Rucker, Philip & Leonnig, Carol; A Very Stable Genius: Donald J. Trump’s Testing of America; Penguin Press, NY; 2020.)

Of course we know that when the Ukrainian extortion plot was exposed by several brave patriots in government, President Trump was impeached by Democrats in Congress. Ultimately he was sprung from accountability by Senate Republicans — a prime benefit of owning them.

“Trump was the kind of president [Alexander Hamilton in The Federalist] had in mind — a populist demagogue who would foment frenzy, pander to prejudices, feed off chaos, and secretly betray the American people in the accumulation of power.”

(Ibid.: Rucker & Leonnig; 2020.)

But killing. His own citizens. This simply leaves no doubt, no mistaking what’s going on. Except by members of the cult — the death cult.

This Just In

[REPORTER]: “People are rioting. Do you commit to making sure that there’s a peaceful transferal of power [after the election]?”

[DONALD TRUMP]: “We’re going to have to see what happens. … Get rid of the ballots, and you’ll have a very — we’ll have a very peaceful — there won’t be a transfer, frankly. There’ll be a continuation. The ballots are out of control. … I think this will end up in the Supreme Court. And I think it’s very important that we have nine justices. … This [mail-in ballot] scam that the Democrats are pulling — it’s a scam — the scam will be before the United States Supreme Court. And I think having a 4-4 situation is not a good situation.”

(White House press conference; 9/23/2020.)

TRANSLATION: The president will not commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he loses the election.

This is an absolute first in American history. Trump is telling us that 1) he expects to lose the vote, 2) he will ram through a SCOTUS justice before the election because he plans to use the Supreme Court to overrule the popular vote and Electoral College to retain power, and 3) he plans not to leave the White House either way on Jan. 20, 2020, Inauguration Day.

Schiff’s Prescience

“He has betrayed our national security and he will do so again. He has compromised our elections and he will do so again. You will not change him. You cannot constrain him. … He is who he is. Truth matters little to him. What is right matters even less, and decency matters not at all. …

“Can we be confident that he will not continue to try to cheat in [this] very election? Can we be confident that Americans and not foreign powers will get to decide? … The short, plain, sad, incontestable answer is no, you can’t. You can’t trust this president to do the right thing. Not for one minute, not for one election, not for the sake of our country. You just can’t. He will not change and you know it.”

(Schiff, Adam, D-Calif., U.S. representative, House Intelligence Committee chair, lead impeachment manager; closing impeachment arguments; Senate floor; 2/3/2020.)

Dénouement

“Do you believe in the peaceful transfer of power? Or do you believe that this is a country that is no longer a democracy?”

(Nyhan, Brendan, Dartmouth College professor of government; MSNBC’s Morning Joe; 9/24/2020.)

Some doubt these truths. Some doubt the sun rises in the east. ■

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Trump Corruption Chronicles — We Must Never Forget

Trump-Ukraine Impeachment Inquiry Report — House Intelligence Committee

Trump-Ukraine Call, July 25, 2019 — Rough Transcript

Whistleblower Complaint — Regarding Trump-Ukraine

Mueller Report — Intros and Executive Summaries

Mueller Report — Complete

Trump-Russia Timeline (Bill Moyers)