There is a social/political storm brewing on the horizon….one that could have long ranging consequences for a generation maybe longer…….
This is my series trying to make sense and help explain why this storm is approaching.
I have written many times about the direction of this country….that it is slipping into complete chaos o rival some third world countries.
But when our political system devolves into this silliness there seems to be no hope remaining…..
Missouri GOP Senate candidate Eric Greitens on Tuesday published a video encouraging voters to get “RINO-hunting permits.” The 38-second spot shows him on the front porch of a home holding a tactical shotgun and “surrounded by men in US armed forces camouflage uniforms,” per the Hill.As though narrating a wildlife documentary, Greitens whispers, “the RINO feeds off corruption and is marked by the stripes of cowardice.” The armed men then batter down the door and toss a flash grenade into the residence. Greitens enters and urges viewers to “join the MAGA crew” and get the permit, adding, “there’s no bagging limit … and it doesn’t expire until we save our country.” The caption in the accompanying tweet says, “We are sick and tired of Republicans in Name Only surrendering to Joe Biden & the radical Left.”
Backlash came quickly from all sides. Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego said the video “encourages political violence,””and Rep. Juan Castro, another Democrat, called it “sociopathic.” Per the Kansas City Star, Greitens’ GOP primary opponents also condemned the message. Rep. Vicky Hartzler called Greitens “an abuser” and “a blackmailer.” Rep. Billy Long said the ad was “very distasteful,” but he also called his other primary opponents RINOs and said, “The only way to beat RINOs … is at the ballot box.” In response to the Hill, Greitens’ campaign said, “If anyone doesn’t get the metaphor, they are either lying or dumb.”
Rolling Stonesays, “the ad is not subtle. It isn’t even metaphorical.” It is, however, in keeping with past themes in Greitens’ career, including a 2016 campaign video of himself “unleashing hell” with a heavy machinegun. Greitens is former governor of Missouri but was forced to resign in 2018 amid allegations of sexual assault and campaign finance violations. His then-wife also accused him of physical abuse. He and others are running to fill the seat of retiring GOP Sen. Roy Blunt. Per Real Clear Politics, Greitens leads the Republican field in recent polls. The Missouri primary is in August.
This guy is the perfect candidate of the GOP….corrupt, abuser and sexual assault….makes near and dear to Trump.
Has the GOP opened up a ‘paramilitary wing’?
Pennsylvania Capital-Star, columnist J. Patrick Coolican warned that far-right Republican lawmakers are effectively building up their branch of the party into a “paramilitary wing” — driven in part by their voting base’s own fetishization of political violence.
“J.R. Majewski, a Republican candidate for Congress in Ohio, ran an ad (since taken down for copyright issues) in which images of President Joe Biden, Minnesota U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar and Colin Kaepernick (?!) are flashed on the screen, and then Majewski casually walks around with a rifle and says he’ll ‘do whatever it takes to return this country back to its former glory,'” wrote Coolican. “Blake Masters, the Trump-endorsed U.S. Senate candidate in Arizona, builds his own guns and recently showed one off on social media with the caption: ‘I will remind everyone in Congress what ‘shall not be infringed’ means.’ It’s an especially sinister message, given that Masters’ potential opponent is U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly, whose wife former Rep. Gabby Giffords was badly injured in a 2011 mall shooting.”
As Coolican wrote, people should not dismiss these as idle threats — because in the past, long before former President Donald Trump was even born, elected lawmakers and large blocs of their constituents endorsed and carried out acts of violence in similar ways, with horrible consequences.
“America has a long history of political violence, often — though not always — rooted in white supremacy,” wrote Coolican. “As Jelani Cobb recounted in 2020, the American Party, aka the ‘Know Nothings,’ were infamous for their bludgeoning mobs, particularly against immigrant voters. The brutal caning of abolitionist U.S. Sen. Charles Sumner by U.S. Rep. Preston Brooks on the floor of the Senate in 1856 was just the most infamous attack during a time when physical combat in the U.S. Congress was shockingly common, as historian Joanne Freeman records in ‘The Fields of Blood.’ Between 1830 and 1860, there were more than 70 violent incidents in House and Senate chambers, on nearby streets and — yes, this is real — ‘dueling grounds.'”
https://www.rawstory.com/republican-paramilitary/
Many Americans of both parties think the government is corrupt and needs to be dealt with on some level….
A new poll from the University of Chicago’s Institute of Politics finds a majority of Americans think the government is corrupt and stacked against them.
To probably no one’s surprise, 73 percent of poll respondents who identify as “strong Republican” respondents agreed with the statement that the government is “corrupt and rigged against everyday people like me.” But Republicans are far from alone in this sentiment. Fifty-one percent of “very liberal” voters agreed with the same statement.
Overall, 56 percent of survey respondents said that the government is corrupt. This included 66 percent of all Republican respondents, 63 percent of independents, and 46 percent of Democrats.
The survey of 1,000 registered voters found that a significant number of people expect that extreme measures may be necessary to protect against government overreach. 28 percent of respondents agreed with the statement that “it may be necessary at some point soon for citizens to take up arms against the government.” Thirty-six percent of Republicans, 35 percent of independents, and 20 percent of Democrats agreed.
Most Americans Think Government Is Corrupt, a Third Say Armed Revolution ‘May Be Necessary’ Soon
I ask the question again….how did it come to this?
Any thoughts will be appreciated.
I Read, I Write, You Know
“lego ergo scribo”