Can’t sleep, not after that bizarre exhibition of public talk therapy at the White House. This is truly terrifying in that there appears to be a method to the madness. A grand plan to technique the American people out of their democracy.
Tyrants, seeking to conquer any people, will almost always first try and silence the press. If they can shut down or otherwise control the public’s sources of information they can more easily control the public. Control what people think, and you control the people. This is nothing new. Read up on how the use of propaganda and outright lies helped to bring about the death of the Weimar Republic.
This is precisely what #45 appears to be trying to do. Using deflection, he accuses the media of lying to the public, while in truth, he is the liar in chief. Seeking to deflect what appears to be a real threat to the Republic, the degree to which the Kremlin, or those with a fascist agenda have the ability to influence this current administration and the politics of the nation, #45 insists that leaks to the press are the real issue and that the press is evil for doing its job and reporting the facts.
That’s a lie. The ties of this administration to Russian leadership and the degree to which Russian leadership is influencing this current administration are the real issues.
#45 is also attempting to limit the ability of the nation’s intelligence agencies to do their job of gathering intelligence. He has announced the appointment of one of his billionaire friends to head a commission of some sort to investigate whether the country really needs its intelligence apparatus as it currently stands, or whether the U.S. might not be better off with something else. Something less, presumably. Something that would be more easily controlled by the executive branch. Possibly some form of intelligence gathering that would be less curious with regard to Russian influence peddling.
Many of us are troubled, fearing both for our safety and the security of American democracy. The denial of Republicans who control the House and Senate, and their near treasonous position of support for this current President, only make matters worse as they hide in the shadows, refusing to admit that if #45 can thoroughly discredit the press and reign in the intelligence community, effectively shutting down the nation’s illuminati, he will be that much closer to his apparent goal of establishing fascist control of America, with democracy buried beneath a pile of lies, half-truths and doubletalk.
We can only hope that the intelligence community and the Fourth Estate will have the steel to push back against this madness, and that hopefully, John McCain and Lindsey Graham aren’t the only Republicans left with the courage to put the long-term good of the nation ahead of the temporary political needs of their party.
This President must show us his tax records. He must commit to putting all his businesses in a blind trust. This Congress must open a joint investigation into Russian influence peddling, the influence it had on the election and continues to have on the White House. This needs to be done within a matter of weeks, not months or years, while we wait for Republicans in the House and Senate to act more like patriots than party wonks. They need to act now to save both their party and possibly the nation.
We cannot go on acting as though this is somehow going to work itself out and everything will eventually be all right.
Following a life in Journalism, I can’t believe I’m sitting here at four in the morning writing this. With each day we’re farther down the rabbit hole. God willing, we’ll be able to fight our way through the layers of lies and half-truths, and make it back to the surface.
Support the press. Support those in the House and Senate with the courage to push back. Support America. It’s time to decide who we are.
Hey Ron, great to see you’re back, and back at it! Keep swinging!