Tag: Far Right

Those Far Right Vigilantes

“There are some good people on both sides”….remember when the president made that proclamation on the racists in streets?

They are not vigilantes that are there to help the police…..they are there to take action against people of color and their supporters.

Trump’s call for the Proud Boys and other armed far-right paramilitaries to “stand by” has finally shed light on the real threat of physical intimidation around the election, to add to the threats of cyberattacks and abuses of the legal system. His call to arms is also a reminder why calling far-right domestic terrorists merely “vigilantes” minimizes and even trivializes the threat, for several reasons.

A vigilante can be defined as “a member of a volunteer committee organized to suppress and punish crime summarily (as when the processes of law are viewed as inadequate),” or more broadly “a self-appointed doer of justice.” This very definition does not cover the threat or use of violence which does not uphold “justice” against “crime,” but actually targets people based on how they were born or what they believe.

The concept of vigilantism evokes a spontaneous community response to the failures of law enforcement, or “taking the law into one’s own hands.” But far-right paramilitary groups in recent years have functioned more as armed wings of fascist social movements, often with sophisticated weapons, training, and online propaganda. Defining them as “vigilantes” overlooks the organized, serious nature of the threat, even if they are so-called “lone wolves” inspired by these far-right

Why Far-Right Paramilitaries are Not Just “Vigilantes”

Donald the Orange has given the shout out to groups like the “Proud Boys” to “stand by”…setting the stage for the day after the election.

Members of the Proud Boys are rejoicing after President Donald Trump gave the far-right organization a shout-out and marching orders during Tuesday night’s nationally televised debate, heightening fears that the president is deliberately rallying extremist groups and stirring up white supremacist violence as part of his frantic effort to remain in power.

The Daily Beast reported Wednesday morning that one Proud Boys leader readily interpreted Trump’s comments as instructions to commit violence against the president’s political opponents. “Trump basically said to go fuck them up!” wrote Joey Biggs after the president told the Proud Boys, a group that openly embraces violence, to “stand back and stand by.”

“This makes me so happy,” Biggs added, a celebratory reaction that was echoed by members of the extremist organization on the social media and messaging apps they commonly use, such as Telegram and Parler. One Proud Boys member claimed Trump’s comments prompted a surge in “new recruits.”

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/30/proud-boys-celebrate-trump-shout-out-warnings-grow-president-inciting-violence

The ingredients are there…..the simmering pot of discontent that could very well erupt.

As it did in Michigan….

“The allegations in this complaint are deeply disturbing,” said the US attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan. Here they are: that six people plotted to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer at her northern Michigan vacation home with the intention of trying her for treason. The Detroit Free Press reports the men’s pledge to “take violent action” against “certain government and law enforcement components” came to the FBI’s attention early this year via social media. Per a sworn affidavit, the group’s ideas ran from “taking” a sitting governor to “storm[ing]” the state’s Capitol Building and leaving with hostages. The FBI said four of the men were scheduled to meet Wednesday to “make a payment on explosives and exchange tactical gear,” per the AP.

Adam Fox, Barry Croft, Ty Garbin, Kaleb Franks, Daniel Harris, and Brandon Caserta have been charged with conspiracy to commit kidnapping; all are Michigan residents except for Croft, who is from Delaware. The Detroit News reports the criminal complaint unsealed Thursday in federal court alleges the men surveilled Whitmer’s vacation home on two occasions and talked about taking her to Wisconsin for the “trial.” At a June meeting in Ohio that an FBI source attended, Fox along with 13 others discussed “creating a society that followed the US Bill of Rights and where they could be self-sufficient,” per the FBI. Says US Attorney Matthew Schneider, “We owe our thanks to the men and women of law enforcement who uncovered this plot and have worked so hard to protect Gov. Whitmer.”

Let’s take a closer look at those indited…..

There are six men named in the federal indictment charging them with planning to kidnap and murder Governor Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan. They face multiple charges that could carry life terms of imprisonment.

https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/10/12/prof-o12.html

That is probably the most detailed look at these criminals that you will see……MSM does not give this much detail…..

Image

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“lego ergo scribo”

QAnon–WTF Is QAnon?

Holy crap in the last couple of years the media has been reporting on QAnon this and QAnon that….mainly because Trump seems to have this love affair going on with this far Right group of idiots.

You see he thinks they like him and that is all it takes for praise…..

President Trump addressed the QAnon conspiracy theory for the first time Wednesday—and he offered what the Hill calls “measured praise” for supporters of a fringe group labeled a potential domestic terrorist threat by the FBI. “I don’t know much about the movement besides that they like me very much, which I appreciate,” Trump said during a White House press briefing, per Politico. He described QAnon followers as “people that don’t like seeing what’s going in places like Portland and Chicago” and added: “I heard these are people that love our country.” Trump has previously ignored questions about the conspiracy theory, Fox reports. Last week, Trump praised Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has expressed support for QAnon, after she won a GOP primary runoff in Georgia.

The Guardian reports that Trump “replied flippantly” when a reporter told him QAnon followers believe he is “secretly saving the world from this Satanic cult of pedophiles and cannibals.” “Is that supposed to be a bad thing or a good thing?” Trump said. “If I can help save the world from problems, I am willing to do it. I’m willing to put myself out there.” Analysts say the president’s remarks are likely to embolden QAnon followers. “Condemning this movement should not be difficult,” Jonathan A. Greenblatt, chief executive of the Anti-Defamation League, tells the New York Times. “It’s downright dangerous when a leader not only refuses to do so, but also wonders whether what they are doing is ‘a good thing.'”

Donald the Orange loves this group…….but what do you know about QAnon?

We hear about them every week or so but what is actually known?  Has any of the media attempted to explain what or who this group of racist extremists are?

Well if not then you may depend on the Old Professor to fill in some blanks….

QAnon is a wide-ranging, unfounded conspiracy theory that says that President Trump is waging a secret war against elite Satan-worshipping paedophiles in government, business and the media.

QAnon believers have speculated that this fight will lead to a day of reckoning where prominent people such as former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton will be arrested and executed.

That’s the basic story, but there are so many offshoots, detours and internal debates that the total list of QAnon claims is enormous – and often contradictory. Adherents draw in news events, historical facts and numerology to develop their own far-fetched conclusions.

https://www.bbc.com/news/53498434

But for this that need visuals then there is a short video…..

“I don’t know much about the movement other than I understand they like me very much, which I appreciate,” Trump said in the White House briefing room.

Is QAnon coming to your church?

It’s a rough time to be a pastor. An election year, national racial unrest and a global pandemic each challenged the usual methods of ministry. Taken together, many church leaders are facing the traditional post-vacation ingathering season with a serious case of burnout.

But there’s another challenge that pastors I spoke with say is on the rise in their flocks. It is taking on the power of a new religion that’s dividing churches and hurting Christian witness.

Mark Fugitt, senior pastor of Round Grove Baptist Church in Miller, Missouri, recently sat down to count the conspiracy theories that people in his church are sharing on Facebook. The list was long. It included claims that 5G radio waves are used for mind control; that George Floyd’s murder is a hoax; that Bill Gates is related to the devil; that masks can kill you; that the germ theory isn’t real; and that there might be something to Pizzagate after all.

“You don’t just see it once,” said Fugitt. “If there’s ever anything posted, you’ll see it five to 10 times. It’s escalating for sure.”

QAnon: The alternative religion that’s coming to your church

Now you have a good grasp at what QAnon is and what it is all about….now time to fight these toads back into the obscurity they deserve.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

It Slowly Goes To Hell

I am watching the country slowly go to Hell……and parts of society does not care because it has gotten so hateful that it will allow the destruction of a Great Society…..

Since the end of the Cold War, it has widely been assumed that U.S. foreign policy would follow one of two courses: Either the United States would continue as primary defender of the international order it created after World War II, or it would pull back from overseas commitments, shed global responsibilities, turn inward and begin transitioning to a post- ­American world. The second approach was where U.S. foreign policy seemed headed under President Barack Obama, and most saw the election of Donald Trump as another step toward withdrawal.

It turns out there was a third option: the United States as rogue superpower, neither isolationist nor internationalist, neither withdrawing nor in decline, but active, powerful and entirely out for itself. In recent months, on trade, Iran, NATO defense spending and perhaps even North Korea, President Trump has shown that a president willing to throw off the moral, ideological and strategic constraints that limited U.S. action in the past can bend this intractable world to his will, at least for a while.

https://www.brookings.edu/blog/order-from-chaos/2018/06/17/trumps-america-does-not-care/

And the hard core Right is itching for a fight…..a possible civil war….does anyone remember how that turned out the last time?

The backlash to the Trump administration caging immigrant children has led to store owners asking White House officials to not eat in their restaurants and to protesters publicly confronting those supporting Trump’s policies. Now, voices on the far-right are increasingly unified in their only solution to the matter: civil war.

While several far-right figures have been speculating about a looming U.S. break-up for some time, recent rhetoric is a marked escalation from even a few months ago, when certain historical illiterates were only calling for an “amicable divorce.”

https://thinkprogress.org/far-right-voices-are-frothing-about-a-looming-civil-war-02208b834538/

A civil war has been predicted since the days of Wallace for president and is it possible that it will finally come to light?

Closing Thought–24Jul17

Will The Hypocrites Protest?

Remember a few months ago when a Repub. Rep. Scalise from LA was shot while at a baseball practice?

Do you remember the outrage from the Right when some idiots on the Left Tweeted about the need for more violence toward Repubs?

Since the idiot Right sees only their side I am NOT looking for any condemnation from the sleez-oids when one the their own, Alex Jones, made is his recent comment on his show…..

High on the list of radical alt-right wackos is conspiracy freak Alex Jones. On his radio broadcasts Jones unleashes a non-stop flurry of malicious rants and dark fantasies. He famously asserts that the Sandy Hook murders were a hoax complete with actors portraying children’s corpses. More recently he has been fixated on what he believes are the nascent ramblings of a new Civil War. Newsweek reports that:

“On June 23, he accused ‘the left’ of starting civil war and offered to personally execute convicted traitors because, he said, ‘I’m not going to sit here and just call for stuff without actually being part of it.’ In the same broadcast he said, ‘I don’t need some coming-of-age deal to kill a bunch of liberals,’ but ‘we have to start getting ready for insurrection and civil war because they’re really pushing it.’”

Jones has crossed a line that may put him in legal jeopardy. It is against the law to threaten government officials. And his advocacy of violence toward anyone with whom he disagrees should earn immediate condemnation and social exile. However, Jones remains a confidant and ally of Donald Trump. He professes his undying loyalty on every show. Jones has claimed to be in frequent contact with the President. As for Trump, he has appeared on Jones’ Infowars program praising his “amazing” reputation. And an Infowars “correspondent” was actually granted a White House press pass.

I do not expect to see or hear any condemnation….for most of his followers cannot see beyond the crap he feeds them.

Please anyone, no matter the aisle Left or Right or Center, that condones violence against another person simply because of their political views is NO better that piece of old crap…….

That is it for me for today….may your evening be good and your sleep even better…..tomorrow is another day…..chuq

Who’s Afraid Of The Big Bad Wolf?

They have always been there….hiding in the shadows and popping up from time to time to throw out their bigoted mindset then slink back into the shadows….that is until 2016….the alt-Right, what they are calling themselves now so not to be confused with the GOP……has gotten the major toe hold they have been searching for for the last 100 years…….they even have their people in key positions within the government of the US.

Many Americans, contrary to popular belief, are worried about the rise of these “people”….to many these “people” are threatening……but why do these people feel so threatened?

Even in today’s acrimonious political landscape, nothing seems to draw as much vitriol as the minuscule “Alt-Right” (shorthand for an alternative to mainstream Conservatism Inc.). Indeed, if America’s political class organized 1984-style two-minute hates, the Alt-Right would be the star of the show with Richard Spencer substituting for Emmanuel Goldstein.

Given this aversion across the ideological spectrum, one might surmise that the Alt-Right embraced doctrines totally antithetical to core American values. Not quite. In at least in one key regard, the Alt-Right is as American as apple pie.

This apparent oddity flows from the movement’s paramount goal: preserving United States as a white ethno state, a nation with shared heritage, a single language and common biological ancestry. Ironically given the accusations of Alt-Right anti-Semitism, Israel with its total commitment to its Jewish identity is often heralded as the model for such a state.

Source: Why is the Alt-Right So Threatening? – The Unz Review

Yes Irene there are those that see creeping authoritarianism as a problem that needs to be stopped…..and there are those that say this situation could not happen here in the good old US of A…..

Donald Trump’s candidacy and now, presidency, have resurrected a public discourse not heard in this country since the Great Depression — an anxious discourse about the possible triumph in America of a fascist-tinged authoritarian regime over liberal democracy. It’s a fear Sinclair Lewis turned into a 1935 bestselling novel, It Can’t Happen Here — although, as Lewis told it, it sure as hell could happen here.

It did not happen, however. Not then, at least. Electing Franklin Roosevelt as president and taking up the labors of the New Deal, our parents and grandparents not only rejected the sirens of authoritarianism, they actually extended and deepened American freedom, equality and democracy. They subjected big business to public account and regulation; expanded the nation’s public infrastructure and improved the environment; empowered the federal government to address the needs of working people and the poor; mobilized farmers’ organizations, labor unions, consumer campaigns and civil rights groups and fought for their rights, broadening the “We” in “We the People.”

Source: Who Says It Can’t Happen Here? | By Harvey Kaye | Common Dreams

It is all part of a plot by the Ignorati.

Okay here is a good place for some replies from my readers….I feel that they are aware of the situation and have some amazing opinions….please share…..

The Rise Of Evil

I know that there are many in this world that are concerned with the rise of the refugee population in their countries…..the horrifying stories get lots more press than any heart warming one…….and in most countries in Europe there is a rise in the far right political parties…..

An Argentinian man has purchased more than 50 items of Nazi memorabilia from a controversial auction in Munich. The single purchase, said to have totaled more than $683, 000 (£462,000), included a jacket owned by Adolf Hitler and silk underwear that once belonged to Nazi military leader Hermann Goering.

Though the event was closed to press following public outcry, the items under the hammer were sold under the theme,“Hitler and the Nazi Grandees — a look into the abyss of evil,” and hailed from the private collection of John K. Latimer, the physician at the Nuremberg trials.

According to Bild, 50 people attended the auction of more than 169 Nazi relics. An undercover journalist from the German newspaper reported the room was filled with young couples, elderly men, and muscular men with shaved heads and tribal tattoos. The buyer reportedly used the number 888 — the neo-Nazi code for “Heil Hitler” — to make his purchases. One of the items he bought was a brass container Goering used to kill himself with hydrogen cyanide.

Source: Surging Far-Right Movements Across Europe Are Making Hitler Popular Again

It is sad….but at least we here in the good old USA do not have to worry about this sort of thing…….

A Polk County, Tenn., restaurant owner running for a congressional seat is outraging neighbors and the internet with an exceptionally racist campaign billboard, WTVC reports. “I am so enraged I can barely express myself without copious amounts of profanity,” Amy Hines Woody captioned her photo of the billboard on Facebook in a post that has apparently since been taken down. The billboard, which reads “Make America White Again,” was erected near her home by Rick Tyler. Tyler, who says he’s inspired by Donald Trump, is running a “campaign of explicit white nationalism,” according to Gawker. On his campaign website (which is also down; cached version here), Tyler says Trump has “loosened up the overall spectrum of political discourse.” He goes on to claim the “white American super majority,” needed to fight tyranny, is being destroyed.

While the “Make America White Again” billboard was removed Tuesday, Tyler is asking for donations to fund his other billboard ideas, including ones that read “Stop the Muslim invasion” and “Mamas, don’t let your babies grow up to be miscegenators.” Tyler, who is running as an Independent and got a whopping 0.4% of the vote when he previously ran in 2014, has no realistic shot at winning. Therefore, Gawker states that “his candidacy is probably best read as an example of that which Donald Trump hath wrought.” Meanwhile, calls for a boycott of Tyler’s business, the Whitewater Grille, are coming from former customers and the Kiwanis of Ocoee, which calls his billboard “repugnant.”

The Theory of Recurring Cycles…….

Historic recurrence is the repetition of similar events in history.  The concept of historic recurrence has variously been applied to the overall history of the world (e.g., to the rises and falls of empires), to repetitive patterns in the history of a given polity, and to any two specific events which bear a striking similarity.  (Wikipedia)

Here we go yet again……

Thoughts?

Suicide By Stupid

I’m back!  Do not pay the ransom….I escaped!

Speaking of uber-nationalists…………I read an article yesterday that made me chuckle….

The death of a Ukrainian far-right activist in a shoot-out last week came at his own hands, the country’s interior ministry says: Sashko Bily, as he is known, accidentally shot himself twice while police tried to arrest him. The first shot just grazed him, but the second was fatal, officials say following an investigation. Police had been trying to push Bily, whose real name is Oleksandr Muzychko, to the ground as they attempted to handcuff him. They acted according to the law, the investigation found. Members of his group, the Right Sector, previously warned they’d get revenge for his death; they haven’t commented on the official findings, the BBC notes.

Okay let me see if I have it right….during a fire fight with cops this tool accidentally shot himself….not once but twice, right?

Kinda reminds me of a famous suicide or accidental death of a guy in New York who was standing on a street corner peeling an apple with a knife and he slipped and fell onto his knife…..32 times…..in the back.

Far Right Comes Of Age

Inkwell Institute

Subject:  Europe

The news coming out of Europe points to the rise in far right politics….extreme politics….

Let us step into the “Way Back Machine”……..whoosh bang pop!…….As we step out of the machine we find ourselves in post WW1 Europe….the continent has been totally devastated by years of war…..the economy sucks…..and the rise of far right politicians ………first in Italy….the Kingdom of Italy was forced to give up all claims to the territories it had help for 100 years…and then there was labor unrest….then a far right politician steps up and promises calm, good business atmosphere and strength….next stop is Germany……..the country has hit hard by the war and was forced to pay reparations this made the country even more unstable and then came the Depression and things went to Hell in a hurry…….and then a far right politician steps up…….with a program of xenophobia and jobs and a return to glory…..and that is a quick tour of the only two successes that the extreme right has had…….

But wait!  There is a new day dawning!

The is a rising tide of anti-immigrants and anti-EU on the continent……..at least 9 countries have a rise in far right extremism…….

France

Front National (FN)

Central Figure: Marine Le Pen

Ideology: The FN opposes immigration, the welfare state, and the European Union. They previously advocated sending non-European immigrants back to their countries of origin, but now they reserve such treatment for foreign-born criminals.

Netherlands

Netherlands

Party of Freedom (Partij voor de Vrijheid, PVV)

Central Figure: Geert Wilders

Ideology: The Party of Freedom advocates closing the border to Muslim immigrants, banning the Koran, instituting a “head rag tax,” and taking citizenship away from Dutch Muslims. They also want to place restrictions on immigrants from within Europe. Wilders and his party are Eurosceptics, wishing for greater national identity and less involvement from Brussels. They opposed Dutch participation in the Greek bailouts. Wilders staged a publicity stunt at the time, bringing a huge ‘drachma’ note to the Greek embassy in The Hague.

Finland

Finland

AP

True Finns (Perussuomalaiset)

Central Figure: Timo Soini

Ideology: The True Finns have called Brussels “the heart of darkness.” Central to their ideology is that Finns should not participate in bailing out “wasteful countries” such as Greece and Portugal.

Given the name of their party, it is no surprise that they run on a xenophobic platform. They want to make it more difficult to acquire Finnish nationality or claim asylum in Finland. Their solution to declining birthrates is to encourage young women to study less so that they can give birth to more Finnish children. They oppose abortion and homosexuality.

Italy

Italy

“They suffered immigration, now they live on reservations!”/Umberto Bossi

lorenzinhos on Flickr

Northern League (Lega Nord)

Central Figure: Umberto Bossi

Ideology: The Lega Nord seeks greater autonomy for Northern Italy, which it calls “Padania.” They sometimes even call for secession from Italy. Fiscal federalism is in the interest of North, which is richer than the South. Broadly, they support smaller-government and lower taxes.

The League opposes immigration from outside of Europe and from Romany (Gypsy) peoples within. They openly antagonize Muslims. One member once threw a pig’s head into the future site of a mosque, thus making it unclean.

They are generally socially conservative on issues such as abortion.

Switzerland (not an EU Member State)

Switzerland (not an EU Member State)

“To Create Security– My Home, Our Switzerland”

qtea on Flickr

Swiss People’s Party (Schweizerische Volkspartei – SVP)

Central Figure: Christoph Blocher

Ideology: The Swiss People’s Party is thoroughly against Switzerland joining the European Union. They want low taxes, a strong army, and very limited immigration. The party sent a strong message in 2009 when they sponsored a referendum against the construction of new minarets. 57% of Swiss voters approved the referendum. The four existing minarets will not be affected by the law. The SVP’s next initiative would expel foreign-born criminals from the country.

Denmark

Denmark People’s Party (Dansk Folkeparti, DF)

Central Figure: Pia Kjaersgaard

Ideology: Their platform does not reject the norms of social democracy, supporting programs such as healthcare. What mainly sets them apart from the Liberals and Social Democrats is their obsession with border security and their feelings towards immigrants.

According to the party program, “Denmark is not an immigrant-country and never has been. Thus we will not accept transformation to a multi-ethnic society. Denmark belongs to the Danes and its citizens must be able to live in a secure community founded on the rule of law, which develops along the lines of Danish culture.”

The Danish People’s Party helped make Denmark’s immigration laws the toughest in Europe. The party opposed Denmark’s entry in to the European Union to begin with, and won a crucial victory this month when Denmark (controversially) reinstated border controls. This, of course, flies in the face of the Schengen Agreement that allows for easy inter-European border-crossing.

Austria

Austria

Heinz-Christian Strache on the campaign trail.

commons.wikimedia.org

Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) and Alliance for the Future of Austria (BZÖ)

Central Figures: Heinz-Christian Strache and Josef Bucher

Ideology: Both the FPÖ and BZÖ have been led by Jörg Haider, an extreme rightist widely known as a neo-Nazi and anti-Semite. Both parties campaign chiefly on an anti-immigration platform, but their party programs appeal to populists and libertarians was well. They both support low taxes, limited business regulation, and direct-democracy in the form of referenda. The FPÖ was once a pan-Germanist pro-European party. They are now increasingly nationalist and Eurosceptic. They oppose Turkish membership to the EU. Neither party endorsed the Lisbon Treaty.

The BZÖ was formed in 2005 when Haider left the Freedom Party. Their platform is similar to that of the FPÖ.

Barbara Rosencranz, the FPÖ’s candidate for president in 2010 made waves when she suggested that Austria’s banning of pro-Nazi speech should be repealed.

Norway (not a member of the EU)

Norway (not a member of the EU)

Siv Jensen at a Progress Party Rally

upload.wikimedia.org

Progress Party (Framstegspartiet, FrP)

Central Figure: Siv Jensen

Ideology: The Progress party was founded as an anti-tax libertarian party, but today they are a mainstream populist anti-immigration party. They argue that immigration is the root cause of crime and strain on the very welfare state that they want to pare down. The Progress Party wants to tighten immigration policy down to only accepting a limited number of refugees.

They do not explicitly oppose EU membership for Norway. They would prefer to join the EU if a referendum on membership succeeds. The ruling Norwegian Labor Party favors joining the EU with or without a referendum.

Sweden Democrats

(Sverigedemokraterna, SD)

Central Figure: Jimmie Åkesson, Björn Söder

Ideology: The Sweden Democrats’ slogan is “Keep Sweden Swedish” and their platform does not disappoint. Like most of the right-wing populist parties in Europe, the Sweden Democrats are mostly known for anti-immigrant nationalism. They call for a 90% reduction in immigration into Sweden. Unlike other right-wing parties such as the Progress Party in Norway, the Sweden Democrats are not interested in dismantling Sweden’s generous welfare state. But like the Danish People’s Party, they wish to roll back the Schengen agreement and re-introduce border controls.

Now that there is a growing far right ideology….I look for an organization to pop up so that they will have a common goal and a common plan…..it depends on the people of each country….but this is a movement that is growing…..will it get hijacked and morph into the days of the 1920’s and 30’s?

Thoughts?

News Update:  Since I pout this draft together there has been a few developments in this situation…….First, In his attempt to hold office, French Prez Sarkozy moved Right and in doing so gave the right extreme party National Front and in road into the Parliament…..second Greece with all its problems has just voted and the outcome was a bit of a surprise…..

THE Greek neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party will enter parliament for the first time in nearly 40 years, exit polls showed as ballots closed in an early election that could derail the country’s reforms.

The party is calculated to win between six and eight percent of the vote on rising immigration and crime concerns, comfortably above the three-percent threshold required for to enter parliament.

The group reacted jubilantly and claimed the result would translate into more than 25 deputies in the 300-seat parliament, a stunning blow to mainstream parties.

Greece was plunged into fresh political chaos today after no party emerged with enough votes to form a government following yesterday’s election.

If a government committed to continuing the austerity measures cannot be formed, then the future of Greece’s euro membership, and the fate of the currency itself, could once again be at stake.

The country faces days of political uncertainty as the two current coalition partners – conservative New Democracy party and Socialist Pasok – scramble to form a coalition.

The Greek election process is in chaos just like the rest of the country.  The far right is making in-roads into politics….but how will it play out?

Say It Ain’t So!

First of all, the title is sarcasm!  We can only hope that somewhere a microbe of intelligence is sneaking back into the American political psyche….

For years I have been one of those who does NOT see any use for Glenn Beck….his delusional conspiracies and a search for a boogey man behind anything that is not radically right….has lowered the IQ of the American voter by 100 points…..he has NO political use other then dumbing down the electorate….

But there is a minor glimmer of hope for a return to political sanity on the horizon…..as reported by the UK’s Guardian:

what sounds like a dream come true: Fox News is considering parting company with Glenn Beck, the rococo conspiracy theorist who inspires those on the swivel-eyed right and infuriates anyone to their left.According to the New York Times’s media correspondent David Carr, unnamed Fox News executives are said to be “contemplating life without Mr Beck” when the conservative shock jock’s contract ends in December.

There may be a simpler reason, or two in fact, behind Fox News’s apparent case of cold feet. One is that Beck’s dense conspiracy theorising makes for terrible television. While it had a novelty value at first – Beck’s act has only been on Fox News for two years – it is far more intellectually demanding than anything similar on cable news. He rarely has guests and often appears before a blackboard covered in charts and arrows. In many respects Beck’s hectoring resembles not much more than a tedious Open University lecture from the 1970s, but without the kipper ties. Another word for the format: dull. Hence the inevitable loss of viewers.

The other simple explanation is that Fox News can afford to play hardball because it has a ready-made replacement on hand: former CNN anchor Lou Dobbs, a host with a similar appeal to Beck but with none of the downsides. Dobbs is conveniently parked on the Fox Business channel, and can easily switch places.

Will FOX and Beck really split the sheets?  But Dobbs as a possible replacement….well we would go from terrorist causing all the problems to Hispanics being the boogey man in the closet…..so either way dullards would still have their boogey men……

Fascist To The Right

Inkwell Institute

International Group

European Desk

Since the death of the Soviet union and the birth of democracy in the counties that were controlled politically by the USSR, the  far right has been making in roads into the system……the most notable is Hungary…..but there is a saving grace there….the democratic process, elections if you will……..

Hungary’s Jews are worried following the stunning electoral success over the weekend of the far-right Jobbik party, which ran on an openly anti-Semitic and anti-Roma platform and accuses Jews of driving Hungary into a steep economic downturn.

“Today is a very dark time for modern Hungary,” Peter Feldmajer, president of the Hungarian Jewish community, told The Jerusalem Post on Monday. “It is a very dangerous direction not just for Hungarian Jews, but for Hungarian democracy.”

Jobbik, which has ties to a nationalist, uniformed militia called the Hungarian Guard, took third place in the Sunday elections, winning 16.6 percent of the national vote, just short of the incumbent Socialists, who collapsed to 20% of the vote after eight years in power.
It said Jobbik’s electoral success proved “that acceptable anti-Semitism, xenophobia and racism are still alive and well in parts of Europe,”

This is a growing problem in European politics……the far right has made in-roads in Switzerland and Holland and even some of the more progressive democracies….and now with the economic crisis still looming, I look for it to continue to grow as people’s frustrations grow……Nationalism is on the rise and not just in Europe….the longer the economy sucks the more popular it will become……

I realize that most Americans could care less what happens in Hungary because it has NOTHING to do with the States…..think about that……..sounds kinda like the thinking in the 1930’s and that lead to a large international problem……