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1/Here are excerpts from Bill Moyers Commentary of June 2020. "Hitler was a master of manipulation, using propaganda, violence, intimidation, showmanship, & spectacle — and above all, fear. By demonizing “the other” – Jews, social democrats & communists – Hitler won the hearts>
2/& minds of the masses, consolidating his power, & turning Germany into a one-party Nazi state. Bill's friend Bernie watching on television the events following the killing of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis. He wrote, “All this open talk by Trump of dominance is>
3/pretty undisguised fascism. He’s inciting chaos to set the stage for the strong man to ‘rescue’ the nation.” "There was no doubt who would be Superman riding to America’s rescue. When Trump promised to end what he called “American carnage” – a crisis of “poverty in our inner>
4/cities, rusted-out factories scattered like tombstones across the landscape of our nation, crime and gangs and drugs” — he did not ask for our help. He did not ask that we put our faith in each other or in our democratic values or even in God. Donald J. Trump would be>
5/our savior, the new Messiah — because “I alone can fix it.”
“The normal concern of people of all sorts with their daily lives, family, work, leisure, and so on indicates that only those in certain areas of work and life could possibly notice the slow but relentless advance>
“The normal concern of people of all sorts with their daily lives, family, work, leisure, and so on indicates that only those in certain areas of work and life could possibly notice the slow but relentless advance>
6/ of authoritarian and totalitarian policies by the government. The Nazis knew how to appeal to people who did not have the ideological concerns but only normal human concerns. They knew how to conceal their real goals and how to make passive individuals active supporters.”>
7/Trump has learned the same. He understands that most Americans are concerned with little more than the economy, health care and jobs. They respond positively to politicians who promise action on these priorities, whether or not they know if those promises>
8/will ever be fulfilled. Like Hitler and like Mussolini, Trump knows how to appeal to a variety of concerns with promises that can be both attractive & contradictory. Because no population is educated enough, sensitive enough, or ethical enough to see through the deception,>
9/ “the danger is very great indeed. It may in fact be one of the chief weaknesses of democracy that democracy can lead to tyranny just as well or perhaps even more than other political systems.”
Trump has doubled down. This president is no friend of democracy.>
Trump has doubled down. This president is no friend of democracy.>
10/He has declared himself above the law, preached insurrection by encouraging armed supporters to “liberate” states from the governance of duly elected officials, told police not to be “too nice” while doing their job, and gloated over the ability of the Secret Service to turn>
11/“vicious dogs” and “ominous weapons” loose on demonstrators — to “come down on them hard” if they get too “frisky.
He has politicized the Department of Justice while remaking the judiciary in his image.
He has stifled investigations into his administration’s corruption,>
He has politicized the Department of Justice while remaking the judiciary in his image.
He has stifled investigations into his administration’s corruption,>
12/fired officials charged with holding federal agencies accountable to the public, and rewarded his donors and cronies with government contracts, subsidies, deregulations, and tax breaks.
He has maligned and mocked the disadvantaged, the disabled, and people of color. He has>
He has maligned and mocked the disadvantaged, the disabled, and people of color. He has>
13/sought to politicize the military, including in his entourage the secretary of defense & the chairman of the Joint Chiefs (dressed in combat fatigues), as his orderlies unleashed chemical fumes on peaceful protesters – all so that the president could use them as stage props>
14/in a photo op, holding up a Bible in front of a historic church, just to make a dandy ad for his re-election campaign. He has purged his own party of independent thinkers & turned it into a spineless, mindless cult while demonizing the opposition.
He has purloined religion>
He has purloined religion>
15/for state and political ends. He has desecrated the most revered symbols of Christian faith by converting them to partisan brands. He has recruited religious zealots for jobs in his administration, rewarding with government favors the electoral loyalty of their followers.>
16/He has relentlessly attacked mainstream media as purveyors of “fake news” and “enemies of the people” while collaborating with a sycophantic right- wing media – including the Murdoch family’s Fox News — to flood the country with lies and propaganda.>
17/He has maneuvered the morally hollow founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, into compromising the integrity of the most powerful media giant in the country by infusing it with partisan bias. And because truth is the foe he most fears, he has banned it from his administration>
18/and his lips. (As prescribed by the Joseph Goebbels Playbook)
The man installed in our White House has taken all the necessary steps toward achieving the despot’s dream of dominance.
Can it happen here?
It is happening here.>
The man installed in our White House has taken all the necessary steps toward achieving the despot’s dream of dominance.
Can it happen here?
It is happening here.>
19/Democracy in America has been a series of narrow escapes. We may be running out of luck, & no one is coming to save us. For that, we have only ourselves." VOTE for decency and the salvation of our democracy and way of life this election. VOTE on Tuesday if you haven't already>
20/and check to make sure your ballot got counted. Thank you Bill Moyers for this insightful commentary. Full Commentary here... https://www.rawstory.com/2020/06/can-it-happen-here-bill-moyers-says-its-happening-right-before-our-very-eyes/
