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~ USA Headed for a 5th Revolution! Why?

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Monthly Archives: February 2021

#405. Republicans Now a Party of Thugs. The Implosion Continues.

18 Thursday Feb 2021

Posted by Jordan Abel in Causes of the Revolution, Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Readers: The entries in this blog are built around the assumption there will be a 5th revolution in the US — the Revenge Revolution. More about the Revenge Revolution, a list of earlier revolutions and the author, Entry #1. 

Periodically I write a “sense check” to assess whether a revolution in the US is possible or whether the entire exercise is based on a statistical aberration — i.e., a roughly 50-year cycle between major upheavals in the US.  Entry #400 was the most recent “sense check.” 

Some of the entries are part of a series.  Several series are available as easy-to-read booklets for download.  See list at end of this entry.  

ENTRY #405 BEGINS: The refusal of no more than seven Republicans to vote for the conviction of Donald Trump for inciting a riot at the capital confirms the transformation of the Republican Party from one sorta, kinda based on principles to one run by thugs with no principles. Trump and his followers have complete control of what is left at the Republican Party.

Anyone with a pea for a brain has to be baffled by the behavior of the likes of Mitch McConnell and Lindsey Graham. McConnell voted to acquit Trump, then excoriated him soon after the final vote, and in essence encouraged Federal and/or state judiciaries to indict him. If Trump is so bad, then why did you vote to acquit? Certainly not for lack of evidence.

Graham, the milk-toast senator from South Carolina, headed to Mar-a-Lago soon after the vote to lick the boots of the wannabe dictator. And Lindsey, you claim John McCain was your role model? And you were in the military reserves for many years as a judge?

Lindsey, ever remember taking an oath to uphold the US Constitution? The Constitution outlines the framework for a democracy, not a dictatorship.

Following Trump’s acquittal, Republican parties at the state level immediately began to censure Federal House and Senate members who voted to uphold the Constitution and impeach Trump. The state parties want to rid themselves of anyone who has moral standards.

Republican legislators in Georgia were furiously trying to change the state constitution by the end of February to prevent county officials from presenting any information to a grand jury about possible crimes associated with elections. Under the proposed revisions, those indictments could only be handled by grand juries at the state level. The proposed change is to protect Trump from the district attorney in Fulton County (Atlanta) from likely indicting Trump for trying to overturn the state election results.

While none of these actions by Republicans is a surprise, the actions do emphasize why the 5th US Revolution is likely to include Civil War-like skirmishes. Actions against the Constitution by spineless Republicans have emboldened the far-right militia. The invasion of the Michigan State Capitol was first, and a bit of a rehearsal. The invasion of the US Capitol was next and could be the beginning of a series of guerilla attacks.

The FBI will continue to arrest and prosecute many of the Capitol invaders. But the FBI knows it faces two major problems in controlling the militia cells. #1, several Federal judges appointed by Senate Republicans under Trump have been extraordinarily lenient on bail requirements for those arrested in invading the Capitol. One judge allowed a defendant to take a vacation in Mexico. #2, far-right cells include many former military and police personnel. These individuals are well trained and can fill leadership roles for any existing members incarcerated. The FBI knows that like the US military experience in Vietnam, controlling gorilla cells is extremely difficult, if not impossible.

During the US Capitol invasion, while no member of Congress or VP Pence was assassinated, with Trump’s acquittal, the militia groups feel free to pursue retribution by attempting to assassinate Trump’s perceived enemies – Democratic leaders – Federal and state – judges who ruled against Trump, and Republicans who voted to impeach Trump. As noted in recent entries, unfortunately some of those assassination attempts likely will be successful.

As for as a credible political voice, the Republican Party has lost it. For anyone even slightly left of the extreme right, nothing the Republican Party can do or say has any credibility.

Compounding the problem for principled Republicans is the Lincoln Project, formed as a home for principled Republicans, seems to be imploding. Several key executives and board members have resigned recently. The cause? Personal behavior and not political principles. What seemed to be a viable start on a new home for principled Republicans has stalled and possibly disintegrating.

What happens in the next few months may be very telling about the survival of the Republican Party. Democrats likely will pass most of the Biden administration’s proposed legislation to address the: (i) economy (ii) healthcare coverage; (iii) need to begin rebuilding infrastructure. Based on the willingness to convict Trump and then the retribution by the state parties, there likely will be a number of Republicans who are so disgusted with Trump and the Republican Party’s lack of principles that they will support the Democratic legislation. For example, what does Senator Richard Burr (R-NC) have to lose? He’s been censured by the NC Republican Party. Plus, he’s not running for reelection.

Those remaining in the Republican Party will kowtow to Trump for some time. But such efforts are a lost cause, much like clinging to a sinking ship. In the coming months Trump faces a number of civil and criminal indictments. In order to satisfy financial obligations, Trump will be forced to liquidate many properties.

Some hard-core Trumper‘s have already abandoned him, including some of the Proud Boys. And some who have been convicted of invading the US Capitol likely will try to call Trump as a witness in their trials, claiming that all they did was respond to Trump’s orders. To paraphrase a saying from the comedian Flip Wilson popular many years ago, “The Donald made me do it.” (Wilson said, “The Devil made me do it.”)

With lack of media attention, Trump will soon fade away or maybe melt like the wicked witch of the west in the “Wizard of Oz.” Without a new leader, and so far none has emerged, as Trump goes so goes the Republicans Party.

In a bit of irony this week, on the same day the last of Trump’s hotels in Atlantic City, NJ was intentionally demolished, using 3,000+ sticks of dynamite, Republicans experienced another implosion. The far-right entertainer and supporter of Trump, Rush Limbaugh, died of lung cancer. What or who will implode next? Stay tuned. (Comments welcome.)

Booklets you might find interesting: 

  • Coming technology tsunami and the implications for the US, Tech Tsunami Booklet with Supplement
  • Trump Supporters Brainwashed? A series discussing why Republics have abandoned basic principals, Are Trump Republicans Brainwashed 2020Q1  Related article published 10/07/20.  Op-Ed piece in NYT about how people bend their thinking to justify beliefs.  Example is Fox News Information about Covid-19, 20 10 07 Fox News Still in Coronavirus Bubble aka Brainwashed
  • Who took out the Donald?  Who/what groups are most likely to “take out” Trump? The booklet was written early in the Trump administration but still worth a read. Who Took Out the Donald Entries with Update
  • Revenge Revolution — description of what form the revolution might take, 20 01 07 Start of Revolution
  • Working with Lee Iacocca after he left Chrysler, 2019Q3 Iacocca Personal Observations. 
  • GM EV1 — behind-the-scenes events affecting development and introduction of the GM EV1, the first modern electric vehicle. 2020Q1 GM EV-1 Story Behind the Story Booklet  Note: in January 2021, GM announced that by 2035 all light-duty cars and trucks sold by GM worldwide will be electric.

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#404.  Error Message 404: True Republicans Not Found.

10 Wednesday Feb 2021

Posted by Jordan Abel in Causes of the Revolution, Gov't Policy, Societal Issues, Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Readers: The entries in this blog are built around the assumption there will be a 5th revolution in the US — the Revenge Revolution. More about the Revenge Revolution, a list of earlier revolutions and the author, Entry #1.

Periodically I write a “sense check” to assess whether a revolution in the US is possible or whether the entire exercise is based on a statistical aberration — i.e., a roughly 50-year cycle between major upheavals in the US.  Entry #400 was the most recent “sense check.” 

Some of the entries are part of a series.  Several series are available as easy-to-read booklets for download.  See list at end of this entry.

START ENTRY: An occasional error message on the computer reads, “Error #404.  Not Found.”  This being Entry #404, a “404 Error Message” theme seems appropriate. 

But like the error message, who has not been found?  Inside the Beltway, one can find error messages on both sides of the aisle.  Lately, however, Republicans seem to be racing far ahead in making errors of significant consequence for the country.

During the past week or so, Republicans in the House of Representatives refused to strip committee assignments from a member who supported rioters breaking into the Capitol, who stated that someone should put a bullet in the head of Nancy Pelosi and other Democrats, and who continued to spread lies about a host of other issues affecting democracy.  The vote in the House wasn’t to expel or even to censure Representative Greene (R-GA).  The vote was merely to strip committee assignments.  For Republicans in the House, anyone who supported Trump should not be punished, no matter how egregious the behavior.  

What about the fate of Republicans who didn’t support Trump’s attempted takeover of the government?  Different story.  Some of the same members who supported Greene’s behavior forced a vote among Republicans to remove Liz Cheney from the #3 ranking Republican in the House.  Why?  Because Cheney had voted for the impeachment of Donald Trump for inciting an insurrection.  The temerity of Cheney to uphold the Constitution and vote against Trump.  

Somehow Cheney survived.  Could it have been because the vote re Cheney was secret and “Only the Shadow Knows” how members voted?  The vote for Representative Greene was on the record.  Apparently, when Republicans must stand up and have their votes counted in public, they act like scared dogs. Who or what are the Republicans in the House – and Senate – afraid of?  

At the beginning of Trump’s second impeachment trial, 44 Republican Senators voted that the trial was unconstitutional.  Why was the trial unconstitutional?  Because Trump was out of office.  Forget precedent from a series of impeachment trials.  Forget that the House impeached Trump while he was still in office.  Forget that the Senate refused to take up the trial while Trump was in office.  Forget all those facts and pretend that once someone leaves, all is forgiven.

What 44 Republican Senators are supporting is that future presidents can be as corrupt as they want with no essentially consequences.  For example, the morning of the inauguration of a new president, an outgoing president can accept as much cash as he or she wants from someone, whatever the quid pro quo.  By noon that day, when the new president is sworn in, if the House doesn’t impeach the outgoing president and the Senate doesn’t convict, then there is no consequence.  And, oh, yes, using the logic of the 44 Senators, the outgoing president can pardon himself and avoid prosecution for any federal crimes.   Error 404: Credible Republicans Missing.  

The infighting within the Republican Party is a problem for the US.  The US needs two functioning parties and now one political party is being taken over by fascists, who are more than willing to throw out the US Constitution and manage by fiat.

While some people point to Trump as the cause of the infighting and the deterioration of the Party, the Republican Party started a downward slide under Ronald Reagan.  Reagan did three things that began to erode the credibility of the Republican Party as a true conservative party and erode the democracy.

#1 was the campaign mantra, “Government is the problem, not the solution.“ Reagan repeated the mantra during his campaign and even repeated it during his eight years in office. When he was president, if he wasn’t the government, then who was?

If “government” was really the problem and not the solution, then how did the US put a man on the moon in less than a decade? How did the US change the course of World War II in Europe and the Far East? How did the government help the US economy recover from the Great Depression?  Reagan lived through all those events, yet still claimed government was the problem, not the solution.

#2, Reagan was anything but a fiscal conservative. Reagan as a fiscal conservative is a myth.  Reagan was a spendthrift. During the Reagan administration, debt as a percent of GDP increased about the same proportion as under FDR’s New Deal Programs prior to World War II.  But was Reagan trying to turn around the economy from the Great Depression?  No, the economy wasn’t in great shape when Reagan took office but nothing as bad as the early 1930’s.

So what was all the deficit spending for? Was spending for infrastructure expansion and improvement like under Eisenhower? No. Was spending for technology advancement like under Kennedy/Johnson with the space program? No.

Reagan spent money on the military.  Why?  Unlike under Trump when the president kowtowed to Russia, Reagan actually believed, or seemed to believe Russia was a threat.  Therefore, the US must outspend the Russians.

The military spending did stimulate the economy.  Republicans, starting with Reagan adopted an unusual economic theory to justify excessive military spending and implement tax cuts.  The unusual theory was a combination of Keynesian economics and trickle-down economics. Keynesian economic theory, which states that deficit government spending will help stimulate the economy, was redefined under Reagan to apply only to military spending and not to any other government spending.

Why the narrow and bizarre definition? Because Republican voters like the idea of a strong military.  Therefore, government spending for the military was OK but deficit spending for non-military spending.  Only spending for the military would stimulate the economy.  As a result, all non-military government spending should be based not on Keynesian economics but on trickle-down economics.

The short version for trickle-down economics starts with the assumption there is an ideal maximum marginal tax rate that will generate the most tax revenue for the government.  The idea was proposed by Arthur Laffer and known as the Laffer Curve.  A marginal rate above the ideal would result in lower government revenue.  What the Laffer Curve also indicates, but Republicans refuse to acknowledge, is a maximum marginal rate less than the ideal rate would lower tax revenue.

Since Reagan, Republicans have insisted that cutting maximum marginal income tax rates will stimulate the economy.  And because the economy then will grow faster, overall tax revenue will more than make up the amount lost by the lower rate.  Why does trickle-down economics work?  According to Republican logic, those who have the most wealth already will use the extra money from the tax cut to invest in new plant and equipment.  The new plants will then hire new workers and everyone will be better off since income will trickle down to all economic levels.

If you’re a bit confused by this claim, you’re thinking clearly.  The rationale for trickle-down economics is so absurd that an eight-year old can see the flaws. Who is going to buy all the additional production from these new plants if regular consumers don’t have more money?

Trickle-down economics is more like “Field of Dreams,“ build it and they will come.  Trickle-down was described by George HW Bush as “voodoo economics.“  And he’s been proven correct repeatedly.  There is no empirical evidence from any economy that trickle-down economics works.  None, nada, zero.  Yet to this day, Republican tout voodoo economics as the solution – the 2017 Trump tax cut, the most recent example.  What happened after the 2017 tax cut?  Huge amounts of money were transferred to the wealthy, and oh, yes, the deficit ballooned to record levels rather than shrinking.

#3, Republicans trashing rather than conserving the environment. Republicans need to look up the definition of “conserve,” the root of “conservative.”  I’ll save them the trouble, “protect (something, especially an environmentally or culturally important place or thing) from harm or destruction.”

Republicans appeal to the religious right. I guess fundamentalist Christians have forgotten what it says in the Bible about conservation. There are innumerable references to conservation, beginning in Genesis, about leaving the earth a better place.

Who signed legislation forming the EPA?  A Republican.  Yet Trump and Republicans have made every effort to dismantle the EPA.  According to Republicans, “Why make any effort to clean the air and water when we have mining dollars supporting our campaigns?  Mining means jobs.  You environmental socialists, go back and hug your trees!”

Under Trump, and to extent all Republican presidents back to Reagan, if members of Congress or some of the states wouldn’t support reducing air-quality and water-quality standards, then the president would try to limit any enforcement by EPA.  While Trump was the most extreme in trashing EPA, his behavior fit a pattern of Republicans beginning with Reagan.

What’s happening to the Republican Party now?  The Party is splitting in two. One faction wants to ratchet up the 40 years of anti-government actions started by Reagan and magnified by Trump. The other faction wants to regroup and begin to act like grown-up, principled conservatives.

What does the current bi-furcation of the Republican Party mean for the 5th US Revolution, the Revenge Revolution?  For one, the Trump crazies feel emboldened after the January 6 attack on the Capitol and other than a few participants too stupid to think social media posts couldn’t be viewed by the FBI and other agencies, have suffered no consequences.  And, many Republicans in Congress have aligned with the crazies.

As noted earlier in earlier entries, increased enforcement of laws by Justice under Biden may encourage the crazies to form small cells. The small cells could operate a guerrilla war against high-profile Democrats, judges and Republicans who appear to counter Trump’s wishes.

The part of the Republican Party trying to return to some conservative principles also faces a risk.  To the Trump crazies, the principled Republicans are more like Democrats, which the crazies now view as synonymous with socialists.

The threat of the crazies is not going away.  While Trump already has faded and may end up in prison, the crazies will rally around a new leader.  It may take some time for the leader to emerge.  However, the US must take strong action now to eliminate as many cells of crazies as possible.

The principled Republicans need to form another political party, call it the Lincoln Party.  And Democrats need to work with the “Lincoln Party” to thwart actions by scared-dog, Error-404 Republicans in Congress.

If there is not a new party for principled Republicans that can work with Democrats, what the US faces is not only a cultural revolution but one where democracy is eroded and replaced by the fascist right.  The clock is ticking and not much time is left.

Booklets you might find interesting: 

  • Coming technology tsunami and the implications for the US, Tech Tsunami Booklet with Supplement
  • Trump Supporters Brainwashed? A series discussing why Republics have abandoned basic principals, Are Trump Republicans Brainwashed 2020Q1  Related article published 10/07/20.  Op-Ed piece in NYT about how people bend their thinking to justify beliefs.  Example is Fox News Information about Covid-19, 20 10 07 Fox News Still in Coronavirus Bubble aka Brainwashed
  • Who took out the Donald?  Who/what groups are most likely to “take out” Trump? The booklet was written early in the Trump administration but still worth a read. Who Took Out the Donald Entries with Update
  • Revenge Revolution — description of what form the revolution might take, 20 01 07 Start of Revolution
  • Working with Lee Iacocca after he left Chrysler, 2019Q3 Iacocca Personal Observations. 
  • GM EV1 — behind-the-scenes events affecting development and introduction of the GM EV1, the first modern electric vehicle. 2020Q1 GM EV-1 Story Behind the Story Booklet  Note: in January 2021, GM announced that by 2035 all light-duty cars and trucks sold by GM worldwide will be electric.

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