The Rule and Ruin of the G.O.P.

Eleven years ago in the first summer of this blog, I featured numerous posts about the book I was reading then, called Theologians Under Hitler.  I fondly remember reading it in a front-yard swing at my parents' summer home.  Memories of intellectual stimulation and enlightenment through that book are still with me.

It appears that this summer's book is becoming Rule and Ruin by Geoffrey Kabaservice.  The somewhat long subtitle is, "The Downfall of Moderation and the Destruction of the Republican Party, from Eisenhower to the Tea Party."

Only a short way into the book, I am enormously impressed with both the focus and execution of the tome.  It tells a forgotten history of an ideologically mixed party, which in fact was essentially a fairly moderate party, conservative on fiscal matters, progressive on Civil Rights.  Always there was within the party, of course, a right-wing.  But not until the 1950's and Senator Joseph McCarthy paving the way did so-called movement conservatism gain traction.

The full story is amply and well-told in this volume by Kabaservice.  His warning is extremely valuable as we now find ourselves in the position of so many other countries with two parties, almost exclusive of each other ideologically, and locked in something akin to mortal combat.

Yet this has not been America's history until quite recently.  It is this division which directors of America's intelligence services are warning about.  The United States, they advise us, is now threatened not only from without but within.  This is a problem of the gravest national urgency and must be addressed with thoughtful and concrete actions -- and without delay.   

N.B. for photo and graphic aficionados:  the shadowing and fading of the above picture of the book cover is part of the original design of the cover.  Actual print on the book cover is essentially quite clear.   

An Indirect Reference to the Stolen Election of 2016

Although not direct evidence, of course, the fact that a majority of Wisconsin voters now disapprove of Our Military Leader (OML) is an indication that something is amiss in Wisconsin.

Americans are indeed disturbed by Our Military Leader.  Yet where is the press when it comes to reporting on the nine methods of voter suppression used by Republicans and their henchmen last year?

Nevertheless, truth keeps seeping through.  The referenced article shows this.  


Majority of Wisconsin Voters Disapprove of OML Performance

Bankers Said to Be Behind Puerto Rico Crisis

 The commonwealth’s financial woes didn’t happen by accident—they were the result of decades of public immiseration and private gain.

It is clear from the article at the link below that Puerto Rico's current misery didn't happen by accident.   As usual with situations of this kind, the profit motive has been alive and well in our island "nation" to the south.   

We must remember that the profit system is of real flesh and blood people.  These people make decisions to benefit themselves, often regardless of the needs of other people.   All too often the result is suffering and even tragedy.  

It doesn't have to be.

Bankers Behind Puerto Rico Crisis

On This Date In History -- New Feature

On This Date in History...

President Lyndon Johnson met with Soviet Premier Aleksei Kosygin at Glassboro, New Jersey, in an effort to diffuse tensions in the Cold War.  Results were less than satisfactory, however, as Viet Nam and other issues continued to divide the two great nations.  

Certainly the hope was that one day Russia, or the Soviet Union, would be partners in peace around the world.  Fifty years later, the Soviet Union is no more, but a former member of the KGB, and now leader of a resurgent Russia, seeks to create a network of alliances and influence to counter perceived threats from the West.

Whatever the ills of Russia, and there are many, the world must find a means to mutual respect so the people of the world can be safe.   

A recurring feature of The Musical Patriot


Source:   History Channel

Left to right:  Aleksei Kosygin, Lyndon Johnson
courtesy Wikimedia

Georgia Sixth District Election Post Mortem

New Video Link for Today

The link below should take you to a video excerpt from MSNBC's "Morning Joy" program with investigative reporter, Greg Palast.  This report documents the throwing of legal voters off the voting rolls in Georgia.  

To be fair, I do not hear the numbers in this report which of themselves would have swung this election to the Republican.  On the other hand, the investigation of dirty deeds in Georgia has really only just begun.  And, by the way, the person who initiated the purge efforts in Georgia just won the latest election for U.S. Representative from Georgia. 

May truth win out, and in a near time.  

http://www.gregpalast.com/palast-msnbc-joy-voter-suppression-accusations-gop-persist/

Will the Georgia Sixth Congressional District Be Stolen Today?

Rush Link --

via Democracy Now


Greg Palast on Voter Suppression in Georgia


Thanks to Democracy Now for this excellent report  

A Panoply of Subjects

Still Here

Nature watches and waits.

If reading is an adventure, I have been on something of a trip these last weeks.  Subjects have run the gamut from the rise of medical consumerism to the loss of Internet privacy, and back to a rare disorder called something like Canavan disease.

Particularly interesting was the work of a futurist who around 2000 predicted the decline and fall of the American "empire."  I'll have more on this subject soon.

For now, June is busting out all over, as they say, with unusually high temperatures accompanied by cheerily warbling birds (and a desultory standing crane).

With June has come the 45th anniversary of the Watergate break-in with new and stunning revelations of a Nixon administration attempt to do physical harm to Daniel Ellsberg.

This has lead to inevitable comparisons with today's scene in Washington.  Which, actually, leads me back to the futurist, who, it seems, predicted a Trumpian figure many years ago.

It is a multifarious world, but as I am seeing more clearly, a good world at base.  I look forward to being able to present evidence for all this in the future.

The Washington Post (Dana Milbank) has offered the following information to let us know what we have been missing while distracted by the Comey/Sessions testimonies.  Certainly, let us not minimize the importance of these hearings.  But let us be aware of the far-rightist agenda of this Republican Congress (with some brave, notable exceptions).

Here is the opening of this recent article from The Post:

Monday was the first anniversary of the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando that left 49 dead. Saturday will be the second anniversary of the church shooting in Charleston, S.C., where nine were murdered at Bible study.

In between these two somber remembrances, House Republicans will be commemorating the occasion in their own way: They will begin work relaxing restrictions on firearm silencers — thereby making it easier for shooters to shoot without being noticed.
Classy.

To this injury, the legislators add insult with the bill’s name: a provision of the “Sportsmen’s Heritage and Recreational Enhancement Act” called the “Hearing Protection Act” — as if it were subsidizing earplugs. That’s like calling legislation that expands the availability of machine guns the “Carpal Tunnel Protection Act” because it spares would-be shooters the repetitive motion of trigger pulling.

N. B  The Musical Patriot accepts no advertising.  However, it is felt that The Washington Post and The New York Times and certainly Newsweek all deserve a certain kind of support just now.   

Today's Blog Post Is...

A Photo.

This New York Times photo of former FBI Director Comey's appearance before the Senate Intelligence Committee yesterday went viral.  The photographer is right to be proud.  I give him his due.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/09/insider/a-photo-of-james-comey-takes-the-internet-by-storm.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=timesinsider&region=c-column-bottom-span-region&_r=0

The Proper Perspective

Sitting in the coffee shop on a warm day, drinking iced green tea, gives time for reflection.  Also, having a few days away from newspapers and news media has brought a respite from horror and alleged terror.  Banner headlines of murder and mayhem make it challenging to keep a healthy perspective on a life lived well.

Knowing of the high level of corruption in U.S. elections makes for an interesting perspective, however.  It is a perspective which does contribute to sanity, if one can keep the perspective.  First, it allows one to be confident that the majority of Americans would never have voted for the person who went into the Oval Office in January.  Second, no matter how necessary and useful ever so many left-leaning groups are, we don't need to rely on a construct which has these groups -- splintered and divided as they are -- carrying the water by themselves.

This is to say the truth is bigger and deeper than a multitude of specific issues such as e-mail hacking by foreign governments, or the latest intrigue at the White House.  What a dither and waste of time all this is for a great nation.  It is a circumstance created by the greed system, otherwise known as the profit system.  For the marionettes of mendacity and avarice did conspire to ruin an election.  This can be shown.

Under these circumstances a certain detachment from the rush of news is inevitable -- and welcome.  The battle must be joined, then, at the point of veracity -- the stolen election of 2016.  It is at this nexus that we can meet and figure out how to set things aright.