MAGA Republicans Are A Threat To Our Democracy

[Rick Plant]

'The worst is yet to come': Experts warn MAGA violence is spreading -- and law enforcement should prepare



According to two different experts on the rising tide of domestic terrorists since the election of Donald Trump, things are going to get a lot worse before they get better as long as the former president remains free to incite violence in much the way he did on Jan 6, 2020.

Speaking with the New York Times' Blake Hounshell, authors Luke Mogelson and Andy Campbell, both of whom have new books on right-wing extremists, waved the red flag about what they see coming as Trump continues to egg his followers on -- which is setting the stage for more violence.

As Hounshell summed up their warning: "The worst is yet to come."

Getting right to the point, Campbell, who has a new book out on the Proud Boys, told the Times, "I really do believe that, going forward, it’s not just going to be MAGA rallies. It’s not just going to be political violence at Proud Boys rallies or leftist rallies or B.L.M. events. It’s going to be political violence at any civic event that happens to fall in the cross hairs of Donald Trump and company.”

According to Hounshell, "In the United States, it is not illegal to be a part of a domestic extremist group. To go after specific threats, the government has limited tools, meaning that federal officials often must find links to groups overseas in order to crack down on homegrown extremists or prosecute them under other provisions of law," adding, "Complicating matters, Republican politicians like Trump — who instructed the Proud Boys to 'stand back and stand by' during a presidential debate in 2020 — often provide rhetorical cover."

Mogelson claims the violence he saw on Jan 6, when supporters of the former president stormed the Capitol, reminded him of covering armed conflicts around the world for the past decade.

"He witnessed a mob killing of someone in Iraq, which gave him an understanding of what he called the 'intoxicating' feeling that can whip a crowd of seemingly ordinary people into a frenzy," the Times reports before noting, "he began reporting on anti-lockdown groups that mobilized against the pandemic measures put in place by governors like Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, a Democrat, he immediately saw that the story was much larger."

He told the Times, "I soon realized that these groups and this movement was rapidly mutating.”

Campbell chimed in to add the Republican Party appears unable -- or unwilling -- to rein the far-right extremists in.

“The Republican Party seems to not know what to do,” he claimed before warning, “It seems like their inability to rebut the Proud Boys and other extremists is pushing this machine forward so much faster and really making it hard for law enforcement to keep up.”

Read More Here: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/16/us/politics/domestic-extremism-warnings.html

[Rick Plant]

MAGA political violence

Electrocuted, beaten, abused: Capitol Police recall their own 'vulnerability' on Jan. 6

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[Rick Plant]

Rick Wilson pours cold water on Lauren Boebert's desire to turn America into a 'Christian nation'



Appearing on MSNBC early Sunday morning, former GOP campaign strategist Rick Wilson dropped the hammer on Republicans such as Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) who are campaigning on a promise to turn the US into a "Christian nation."

Reacting to a Politico report on the rise of Christian nationalism among the far-right, Wilson said the Republican Party and far-right evangelicals will rue the day they made this their rallying cry.

According to Politico, "Prominent Republican politicians have made the themes critical to their message to voters in the run-up to the 2022 midterm elections. Doug Mastriano, the Republican nominee for governor in Pennsylvania, has argued that America is a Christian nation and that the separation of church and state is a 'myth.' Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, the Georgia hard-liner, declared: “We need to be the party of nationalism and I’m a Christian, and I say it proudly, we should be Christian Nationalists.” Amid a backlash, she doubled down and announced she would start selling 'Christian Nationalist' shirts. Now Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis seems to be flirting with Christian nationalist rhetoric, as well."

"First off, I need them to stop talking about the founders at this point," he began. "If you stretch back to the Mayflower, this is a country that was founded on fleeing from the religious persecution of an official state religion. And when the constitution was being framed, we had states and we had leaders who all understood that this country was going to have a pluralistic approach to religion, which was to say, the government would neither condone nor suppress any religion."

"This is a fundamental part of American history," he lectured. "This emergence of the desire to be a explicitly Christian nation is something that really thrusts itself into the center in the last 50 years, approximately, but it's blossoming in the last couple years."

"My recommendation to these folks, if they want to live in a country that is governed by the church, that is governed by a religious body, I would recommend that they move to Iran -- that is exactly the kind of government they want," he added.

After citing Boebert, he warned, "I don't like all the Handmaid's Tale clichés, but there are people in that movement, there are people in that subculture who really believe that's how America should be. They have completely divorced themselves from individual liberty. They're completely divorced from religious liberty."

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[Rick Plant]

Republicans want fascism in America!


Lauren Boebert and Marjorie Taylor Greene among US Republicans celebrating fascist victory in Italy



As much of the world watched with alarm as the fascist Fratelli d'Italia party led a far-right coalition to victory in Italy on Sunday, Republican lawmakers in the United States had a much different reaction: Open glee.

Pointing happily to the far-right's recent electoral surge in Sweden, U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) tweeted that "the entire world is beginning to understand that the Woke Left does nothing but destroy."

"Nov. 8 is coming soon and the USA will fix our House and Senate!" added Boebert, a loyalist to former U.S. President Donald Trump. "Let freedom reign!"

U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), a far-right ally of Boebert's in the U.S. House, also applauded Sunday's results, which position Fratelli d'Italia leader Giorgia Meloni to become Italy's next prime minister even though her party won just around 25% of the vote in a low-turnout contest.

"Congratulations to Giorgio Meloni and to the people of Italy," Greene wrote on Twitter, misspelling the right-wing leader's first name.

In her post, Greene linked to a 2019 speech in which Meloni—who was a youth member of the fascist Italian Social Movement—railed against supposed attacks on "national identity" and "religious identity" and vowed to "defend God, country, and family."

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Rank-and-file House Republicans were hardly alone in applauding what's likely to be the most right-wing government in Italy since the death of fascist dictator Benito Mussolini.

U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.), the House minority whip, said in a Fox News appearance Sunday that "it's interesting to see that Europe is leading the way by throwing out socialists with conservatives—and great bold conservative women like Meloni and [U.K. Prime Minister Liz] Truss."

"We need to bring that kind of conservatism to the United States," Scalise added.

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas.), for his part, hailed as "spectacular" Meloni's 2019 address to the World Congress of Families, a far-right Christian fundamentalist organization that campaigns against LGBTQ+ rights globally.

Meloni is well-known to the right wing in the U.S., having spoken at the Conservative Political Action Conference and met with former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon, a far-right provocateur who has correctly described Meloni's party—also known as Brothers of Italy—as "one of the old fascist parties."

"You put a reasonable face on right-wing populism, you get elected," Bannon said of Meloni in an interview in 2018, a year in which Brothers of Italy garnered just 4% of the vote.

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Italy's election of Meloni, who is also president of the European Conservatives and Reformists party, marks a continuation of the worrying trend of rising far-right, xenophobic, and anti-democratic parties across Europe. In Hungary and Poland, far-right parties are already in power, a situation that has proven to be a nightmare for migrants and other vulnerable populations that have seen basic rights stripped away.

Meloni has voiced admiration for the U.S. GOP and right-wing parties in the United Kingdom and Israel, noting in a recent speech that she "shares values and experiences" with them.

"Hungary has a fascist leader. Sweden's far-right party just won. And Italy has now elected a fascist leader," Qasim Rashid, a human rights attorney, wrote on social media late Sunday. "Eighty years after WW2, fascism is rising across Europe. And if Americans aren't careful, the MAGA GOP will usher in that same fascism here. We cannot let that happen."

Read More Here: https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2022/country-chapters/hungary

[Rick Plant]

'Mastriano's motives are frightening because they are pure' Ex GOP veteran sends a warning

In Pennsylvania, the gubernatorial campaign of Republican nominee Doug Mastriano has been a major source of anxiety to Democrats as well as Never Trump conservatives. State Sen. Mastriano, a Christian nationalist and conspiracy theorist who believes the 2020 election was stolen from former President Donald Trump, is even to the right of Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas or Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — and he believes that Pennsylvania Republicans should be able to simply throw out any election results they don’t like.

One of Mastriano’s critics on the right is veteran conservative columnist George Will, an ex-Republican who has no use for former President Donald Trump and the MAGA movement. In a September 25 column for the Washington Post, Will lays out some reasons why Mastriano is not only dangerous for Pennsylvania, but also, for the United States on the whole. According to Will, Pennsylvania’s gubernatorial race is “the 2022 election that poses the most risk to the nation.”

“Suppose voters pick the Republican candidate, Doug Mastriano,” the 81-year-old Will warns. “And suppose that late in the evening of November 5, 2024, Gov. Mastriano thinks Pennsylvanians picked the wrong person to receive the state’s presidential electoral votes. Today, candidate Mastriano promises that, as governor, he will have the executive power, and a mandate, to intervene, thus plunging the nation into chaos.”

One thing that separates Pennsylvania from other states is the fact that its governors, not voters, pick the secretary of state — or as it’s called in the Keystone State, “secretary of the commonwealth.” The Democrat who currently holds that position in Pennsylvania is Leigh M. Chapman, who was chosen by Democratic two-term Gov. Tom Wolf.

“A member of the House of Representatives is 1/435th of one half of one of the federal government’s three branches,” Will explains. “A senator is 1 percent of the other half. There are limits to how much actual, as opposed to aesthetic, damage a rogue legislator can do to the nation. A governor, however, can do important things on his own, especially if, as in Pennsylvania, he appoints the secretary of state, who administers elections…. Mastriano has raised money on a social media network frequented by anti-Semites, including the one who is accused of murdering 11 at a Pittsburgh synagogue in 2018, but what makes Mastriano more than an especially exotic political exhibit is his vow to appoint a secretary of state ‘who’s delegated from me the power to make the corrections to elections, the voting logs and everything. And I can decertify every (voting) machine in the state.’”

Will continues, “In the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections, Pennsylvania was decided by 0.7 and 1.2 percentage points, respectively. In 2024, the state probably will again be closely contested, and its electoral votes could determine the national winner. So, imagine Mastriano, who has neither evidence nor doubts that Trump won the 2020 election, decreeing ‘corrections’ to the election. His motives are frightening because they are pure: He has the scary sincerity of the unhinged whose delusions armor them against evidence.”

The conservative columnist writes that “fortunately,” the Democrat Mastriano is up against is “two-term” Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro. Some of the polls released in September have shown Mastriano trailing Shapiro by 11 percent, including a Muhlenberg College/Morning Call poll released on September 16 and a CBS News/YouGov poll that came out several days earlier.

“From the first census, 1790, until that of 1940, Pennsylvania was the second-most populous state,” Will observes. “In 1960, it had as many electoral votes, 32, as California, which today, has 54 to Pennsylvania’s 19. This fall, however, the state will matter more than any other, as its voters’ choice of governor will either imperil or reassure the nation that began here.”

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[Rick Plant]

Kari Lake’s Dangerous Campaign: Fueled By Vitriol and Conspiracy Theories
https://www.americanbridgepac.org/kari-lake-campaign/

[Rick Plant]

Republican extremism threatens American democracy

Political extremism in America is not new, but it has taken a dangerous hold of the Republican party. It was not long ago when you would hear the complaint that “it doesn’t matter who you vote for, Republican or Democrat — humpty dumpty or dumpty humpty.” The choice was immaterial to any consequence. Not so anymore, is it? Republican extremism in America has reached the stage of threatening our very lifestyles and our democracy. Oh, you say: “Just leave me alone; our democracy is rock bed solid. More than 200 years of history demonstrates its resilience.” How so very much I wish this rosy view to be true, but it’s not.

Let’s take a close look at Republican extremism, starting with congressional Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.). She is unabashedly anti-Muslim; claims Democrats are the party of pedophiles; speaks favorably of white supremacy; proudly claims to be a Christian nationalist who believes the church is supposed to direct the government; is an adherent of the Q Anon ideology, and threatens colleagues with aggressive remarks. On a Facebook post, her campaign showed Greene posing with a military-style rifle juxtaposed with photos of three liberal Democratic congresswomen and the caption “The Squad’s Worst Nightmare.” Her behavior resulted in her removal from her two-House committee assignments with 11 House Republicans voting with all Democrats to remove her.

Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert is another Republican extremist that garners much media attention. Her extreme right wing stances range from absolute opposition to gun control to questioning the effectiveness of vaccines and the outcome of the 2020 presidential elections. She speaks loudly about the evils of immigration, critical race theory and gender transitions; and often makes demeaning comments about Joe Biden’s mental capacity. Among other Republican House members, she was proud of her attempt to block the certification of President Biden’s election. She frequently attacks Ilhan Omar, a Minnesota colleague who is Muslim. In one of her more bombastic remarks, she tells a story: “One of my staffers, on his first day with me, got into an elevator in the Capitol, and in that elevator we were joined by Ilhan Omar. It was just us three in there and I looked over and I said, ‘Well, looky there, it’s the Jihad Squad.’ She doesn’t have a backpack, she wasn’t dropping it and running so we’re good.”

Another extremist colleague is Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) who has ties to Oath Keepers, Proud Boys, and America First. He has been seen with far-right fringe figures and the white supremacist Nick Fuentes. He promotes conspiracy theories and was censured by the House of Representatives for an anime cartoon that depicts a character killing a character meant to be Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

Not to be outdone by his extremists Republicans is Doug Mastriano, the gubernatorial candidate for Pennsylvania governor in 2022. Mr. Mastriano promotes election 2020 fraud theories, embraces QAnon, and supports the idea that America should be a “Christian nation.” He bused supporters to Washington for the “Stop the Steal” rally that precipitated the Jan. 6 insurrection. He tried to overturn Biden’s victory in the Pennsylvania State Legislature. As a Pennsylvania state senator, he supported legislation to mandate teaching the Bible in public schools and allowing adoption agencies to discriminate against same-sex couples.

There is not space here to identify an endless list of Republican extremists’ intent on disrupting life in America and threatening to trash our democracy. But we are at an unusual historical turning point in which a major political party in the U.S. has been captured by extremists. Alarm bells should be ringing loudly — but are they? President Biden called out the MAGA extremists in his speech in Philadelphia. “MAGA Republicans do not respect the Constitution. They do not believe in the rule of law. They do not recognize the will of the people. They refuse to accept the results of a free election.” Perhaps it is time for every Republican and Democrat to take Republican Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney’s admonishment to heart: “I love my party. I love its history. I love its principles, but I love my country more.” Republican extremism must be rooted out of the Grand Old Party.

https://www.reporterherald.com/2022/09/19/donald-menzel-republican-extremism-threatens-american-democracy/