Why is Trump creating all the chaos on so many fronts both domestically and internationally?
This is part of the authoritarian play book to enable him to seize power by creating chaos and protest in the US so he can declare martial law and invoke the insurrection act to imprison and silence critics be them political or journalists.
To do that he is destroying the federal government by having Elon Musk take a chainsaw indiscriminately to all kinds of government departments. This is creating protests across the US against the cuts, but not enough to warrant an executive order of martial law, yet. Now that Elon has identified that Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare are filled with fraud and could be trimmed up to $700 billion per year if these programs are cut. I would suggest that the loss of benefits will spark more protests if people feel threatened.
Trump is wreaking economic havoc on the US through tariff’s against not only Canada but every country they trade with creating consequences to the US public increasing inflation and job loss. Trump is also trying to pass massive tax cuts in the process that benefit the richest 1% the most to the tune of about $4.5 Trillion in tax savings. Meanwhile back at the ranch, Farmers who cannot afford needed fertilizer due to the tariffs on Canadian imports like Potash are seeing foreclosure signs going up on their farms. Economics will draw protest especially given the promises to end inflation starting day one Trump made, but eggs are up since his election not down. This too can draw protest especially if inflation continues to increase while the job market recedes creating stagflation, which is not good.
Still to come is a federal ban on the drug Mifepristone that is used by women for a chemical induced abortion. After the Dobbs decision reversing Roe v. Wade and a woman’s reproductive choice, Judge Mathew Kacsmaryk, who was appointed by Trump to the Federal bench in Texas, tried to ban Mifepristone but the ban was overturned by the Supreme Court on standing. With Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in charge of the FDA he could suspend Mifepristone based on further studies needed, the basis for the Texas case. Nothing can then be done until the FDA decides. Trump owes his evangelical anti-abortion gun toting MAGA supporters and Project 2025 lays out as it’s policy to eliminate abortions nationwide. Taking away freedoms to half the population one would expect would trigger more demonstrations and protests.
Trump has suspended Transgender rights in the military and all DEI programs and references to the contributions of Blacks, Women and minorities across the Federal government and agencies including the military are to be removed. Policies on the support of Israel and its war on Gaza as well as Trump’s pivot to support Putin and Russia in the invasion of Ukraine all contribute to potential protests of Trump and his administrations policies.
Trump is a wrecking ball right now trying to create Chaos and the only reason I can logically think of as to why, is that he will use the protests and the economic situation he is creating to initiate martial law, lock up his opponents and suspend areas of the constitution or just ignore them. Trump sees that the Supreme Court gave him unlimited power allowing him to do what he wants with no accountability or consequences, even if he breaks the law.
Trump could, like Lincoln did, lock up anyone under the insurrection act and ignore the right of habeas corpus, a protection from illegal imprisonment. Lincoln did this during the civil war, and while that violates the constitution, if the chief executive will not follow enforce the law who will? Andrew Jackson defied the court ruling against moving Indigenous People off their lands, challenging the court with “you and what army are going to enforce it.”
Both Lincoln and Jackson got away with violating the constitution and the law and they did not have the protection of the Supreme Court like Trump does. If the chief executive who is charged with enforcing the laws of the United States ignores that responsibility and acts in their own interests, then one of the keys to democracy, the rule of law is sliding towards law of rule.
If Trump were to do as I have outlined, that will cement Trump’s intention to seize power as a dictator, having destroyed the legitimacy of the rule of law, the last guardrail of democracy in the US, unless both the House and Senate move to remove him. I would not count on that as those who support Trump are such emasculated cucks, that they will willingly drive the US off a cliff in fear of Trump.
The re- election of Donald J. Trump to President of the United States would present a clear and present danger to Canada’s security. The clear messaging being echoed by Trump is a desire to change American democracy into a Fascist dictatorship, with him as leader. If Trump wins the election, the US will slide from a small “d” democracy to a small “f” fascist dictatorship. For Canada to have a fascist dictator right next door, who has the largest military in the world and is Canada’s largest trading partner represents a potential threat to Canada’s security.
As recently as January of this year, the Trudeau government met to discuss the uncertainty of another Trump Presidency and potential issues (Fortinsky 2024). This demonstrates that the Canadian Government has started to identify what another Trump Presidency could mean to Canada. Given Trump’s past and current rhetoric, along with his support by Private groups like the Heritage Foundation and MAGA Republicans in Congress, Canada should be very concerned with another Trump Presidency.
Trump has spoken the words and actions of a dictator during interviews on Fox News (Colvin and Barro 2023) calling enemies vermin and that he will seek his retribution. He portrays as himself as the sole person to fix the nation’s problems, at times referring to himself as “the chosen one” (McCarthy 2019). He has aligned with dictators like Putin of Russia and Xi of China heaping praise upon them, while admonishing allies like Canada on everything from trade to NATO.
In How Fascism Works, author Jason Stanley lays out 8 elements that are foundational to Fascism: The Mythic Past, Propaganda, Anti-Intellectual, Unreality, Hierarchy, Victimhood, Law and Order and Sexual Anxiety. (Stanley, 2018)
The Mythic Past is used to promote that today the times are bad and that we need to get back to a time when things were great. Fascism has used this Mythical Past against liberals to state how corrupt and unsafe the world is. In the world of the MAGA right today, this is personified by the slogan, Make America Great Again. This presupposes that somehow America is no longer great and change needs to occur to once again to find this nostalgic period. Trump and MAGA want to re-establish the mythical past where no one talked of Racism, LGBTQ rights or that Black History even existed. (Millhiser, 2023)
Joseph Goebbels who was the Nazi Propaganda minister, said, (jewishvirtuallibrary.com, (n.d.))
“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.”
Early in the 2020 US Presidential elections, Donald Trump started the Big Lie that if he lost the election that it would have been due to fraud by the Democrats and the Deep State. Trump repeated this throughout the campaign and upon his election loss, he set in motion a violent attack on the Capitol during the January 6 election certification process. To this day he keeps repeating the Big Lie to his supporters, still not having accepted the election results. (Wolf, 2021)
Fascism ideologies are Anti-Intellectual and often attack institutions of Education and Science trying to delegitimize them and then eventually replacing them with those that support their policies. By delegitimizing the institutions debate becomes limited and the narrative becomes reflective of the dominant political policies of the nation. Anti-Intellectual rhetoric was constantly used to attack Science during Covid 19. The US Center for Disease Control (CDC), Food and Drug Administration(FDA), and scientists like Dr. Anthony Fauci were constantly under attack by the MAGA right and Donald Trump himself (Scherer and Dawsey 2020). Often Trump would suggest courses of action that were contrary to what science recommended, for example the use of drugs like Hydroxychloroquine (a malaria drug) to treat Covid. (lovelace Jr, 2020)
Fascism means to replace debate with fear and anger by casting doubt on the institutions that promote debate so the public does not trust them, creating an Unreality. This is done through propaganda to sew conspiracy about why institutions or individuals cannot be trusted. Often these theories are far-fetched with dubious threads connecting them to the person or institution. We need just look at how Trump has reacted to his indictments to see evidence in his attempts to sew an unreality with his constant attacks on Judges, Prosecutors and those who dare challenge him. (Stone, He’s like a mob boss’:legal experts alarmed by Trump’s attacks on judges 2023)
A Hierarchy exists which typifies a fascist regime where equality is not a goal but quite the opposite, where ethnicity and religious beliefs set an order for one’s place in society based on domination of those it sees as less than. At the recent CPAC convention in Florida, Trump during his nearly two hour rambling speech said the following, “in 2016, I declared, ‘I am your voice’, Today, I add: I am your warrior, I am your justice. And for those who have been wronged and betrayed: I am your retribution.” (Bunch, 2023) Trump sets the hierarchy with himself as the savior or dictator.
Fascists believe that those who support the country are naturally lawful by nature (Us), versus those who are lawless and are not lawful by nature (Them). This is how Jason Stanley describes law and order and that the goal in Fascist Politics is to divide people into the two sides of Us and Them. Trump does this at every opportunity he can, and he accuses immigrants of “poisoning the blood of the country” (Layne 2023) or that they are criminals and rapists. (Gabbatt 2015)
Trump repeatedly claims that he is protecting America from the radical left, taking the bullet so to speak and if he is not there to do so they will be coming after all of his followers. Victimhood is a constant theme inside fascist ideology and helps cement the concept of an ‘Us and Them’ inside the nationalist and populist rhetoric that occurs.
Sexual Anxiety in Fascist ideology manifests in its hierarchical structure that men are dominant to women and that both have specific roles to in society, men to provide and women to bear children and raise them for the nation. Anything that would prevent this is seen as a threat and so homosexuality is not considered acceptable in a Fascist state and neither is abortion. Through Trump’s appointed judges, Roe v Wade, which had provided that women had a constitutional right to an abortion in the US, was reversed taking away women’s reproductive rights. (Totenber and McCammon 2022)
Donald Trump has demonstrated time and time again his intentions are that of a fascist dictator. He also espouses one other element found in fascism, violence. In Today’s ISMS, William Ebenstein noted that, ‘The more violent and terroristic fascist movements are, the more popular support they tend to have.’ (Ebenstein 1973) Ebenstein used Germany to support this as fascism was the most popular political movement but also the most violent. Trump has promoted violence in order to portray himself as a strongman for example the using of tear gas and police in riot gear to clear a park for him to have a photo op holding a bible. This the day after Trump retreated into the bunker at the White House due to loud protests outside due to the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police (Levin 2021). Trump asked his head of the Joint Chiefs, Mark Milley, ‘Can’t you just shoot them, just shoot them in the legs or something?’ referring to the protestors outside the white house. (Martin and Ermyas 2022)
During the Presidential debate in 2020, Trump when asked to condemn the far right paramilitary group, the Proud Boys, told them to “Stand down and stand by”. (Frenkel and Karni 2020) Trump has incited violence at rallies the pinnacle being on January 6, 2021 encouraging his supporters to disrupt the counting of the Electoral College votes in the Congress and certification of Joe Biden as President. The militia group, the Proud Boys participated in the January 6 insurrection trying to disrupt the vote for Trump. This strikes of similarity to other fascist leaders and militia support, Hitler’s Brown Shirts and Mussolini’s Blackshirts.
Robert Dahl described the political institutions that must occur for a large scale democracy to exist: Elected officials, Free, fair and frequent elections, Freedom of expression, Alternative sources of information, Associational autonomy and Inclusive citizenship (Dahl 1998). Fascism attacks these institutions and Trump has done so repeatedly and as a President will put those who will support him in key cabinet and government positions.
Project2025 talks about placing loyal conservatives into positions in the US government in order to implement a conservative agenda by replacing those who are not loyalist to Trump. In essence, this is a screening of loyalty to Trump and not the key US institution, the US Constitution. The goal is to enable the Presidency with an expansion of power so that he can enact policy without congress approval in areas of energy, media, climate, regulations and the Department of Justice (The Heritage Foundation 2023).
Capitalism both created wealth and was key to the expansion of international neoliberalism after the cold war but in doing so also created incredible income inequality and the seeds of discontentment in America which allows fascism to propagate amongst those who feel life has been against them.
In the book Prelude, Rachel Maddox gives a history lesson on how fascism rose in the United States in the late 1920’s and 1930’s ending with the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941. A key point was that the US was going through tough economic times due to the depression and stock market crash. This was a failure of Capitalism and while America suffered, Germany once Hitler took power was rebuilding itself. The American Bund Party came to more prominence and echoed the policies of the Nazi Party and a desire for America to be run by a dictator because of Germany’s economic success and other often racist and bigoted populist ideas.
The threat is that the US under Trump would shift away from being a leader in neoliberalism and democracy and morph towards structural realism based on a belief that power dictates the terms in how states will interact and a desire of the state to achieve maximum power in order to be secure from other states actions.
The importance of power goes back to Thucydides and Realism in International Relations. Human nature was identified as the starting point with self interest and ego triumphing over morality. States exist when they are powerful, then they can survive in the anarchy of international relations. That might makes right and the stronger will dominate the weaker. (Korab-Kaprpowiicz 2023)
Machiavelli also talked of how all means be them moral or immoral are justified to meet a political ends. His ideas on ethics and politics were quite different that those of Plato, Aristotle and Cicero who believed in some degree of morality in politics. This is contrary to Hobbes who saw that individuals would always seek power and only stop seeking power on death. Hobbes saw human nature as egoistic and ugly, and that international anarchy is based on the struggle for power (Korab-Kaprpowiicz 2023).
While many scholars follow the principles in realism many see the state as a unitary actor which makes analysis more readily observable by omitting human nature as a driving force. Waltz in his examination of realism removed the idea of human nature, trying to link the idea that with respect to international relations states works more along the lines of microeconomics comparing states to companies and a need to survive (Korab-Kaprpowiicz 2023).
John Mearsheimer put forth the theory of offensive realism based on five premises (Wagner 2007):
There is no world government
All states are capable of using force against other states
No state can ever be certain that another state will not use force against it
All states seek to maintain their territorial integrity and domestic autonomy
States are rational actors.
Here IR and Economics cross. In Economics it would be: 1. Free markets; 2. Companies compete in the free market; 3. Acquisitions both friendly and hostile can occur; 4. Companies want to maximize profit with limited government interference 5. Markets act rationally. Mearsheimer’s premises and economics occupy much of the same space, and connect to Waltz’s theories on IR.
Waltz’s theory on international relations and realism was that states and domestic companies have an interest in survival. In 1970, Milton Friedman published his famous papers on free markets, The Social Responsibility of Business is to Increase its Profits (Friedman 1970). Friedman says at the end, “there is one and only one social responsibility of business–to use its resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits so long as it stays within the rules of the game, which is to say, engages in open and free competition without deception or fraud.” Think again about what Machiavelli explained that the political end justifies the use of moral or immoral means, while Friedman justifies profit being the sole responsibility of business he is saying the same, you can use moral or immoral means to produce profit, just don’t deceive or fraud people. What about respecting others rights to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness? Anarchy between states in IR is similar to the competitive business practices that companies employ based on self interest and greed.
Freidman’s paper and his theories on the free market were part of a shift in business attitudes towards profits and taxes. Where Waltz talks of IR and business sharing an instinct for survival, for Friedman it is not about a business surviving but maximization of profit is its sole responsibility. This brought about trickledown economics where it was, theorized that by cutting taxes to corporations and the wealthy, a trickle down of wealth would occur to the middle class and spur the economy. That was not the case, in fact it is seen that trickledown has been great for corporations and the owners of production, it has not translated to a benefit to all. In fact Economist often argues if trickle down is actually an economic based policy or politically based (Knowledge at Wharton Staff 2017)?
Like IR, economics tries to pretend the markets will work as rational actors and corporations will act accordingly. After the 2008 financial crisis, former Federal Reserve Chair, Alan Greenspan when asked about the Credit Default Market and how it contributed, Greenspan’s only defense was that he thought the markets would act rationally this time with the instrument, which had been banned after the great depression because of its impact on the financial markets then (Knowlton and Grynbaum 2008). Capitalism is in fact full of greedy actors in search of power and market control for their benefit; the idea of acting responsibly or morally is seen as having no place in business.
Hans Morgenthau asserted that human nature impacts IR, that human nature creates this lust for power and to maximize it. He then inserts the idea of cost-benefit analysis in a hope to incorporate rationality into IR policy, an economic concept to evaluate business alternatives. Morgenthau sees that when a good IR policy fails it is due to the intellectual weakness of policy makers (Korab-Kaprpowiicz 2023). Intellectual weakness could be considered part of human nature and if this weakness is in the form of lacking the ability to critically think, rational options may not be accepted if for example a loss of Power or Status of the nation (or leader) would occur from a rational decision.
Donald Trump epitomizes the image of a Strongman; Ruth Ben-Ghiat identifies this in her book Strongman: From Mussolini to Present. In it she identifies that dictators from Mussolini to Gaddafi all have a particular interest in Power as well as many of these strongmen have vices to women as well as to having great financial motivations, like Putin (Ben-Ghiat 2021). Trump idolizes other Strongmen, like Putin, Xi and Un, all of whom are threatening expansion against their neighbours, Ukraine, Taiwan and South Korea.
Canada faces the issue of a potential leader in the US who wants to be a strongman, who looks and sounds like a dictator. Trump is looking to shift US international relations from what may be considered neoliberalism to a framework resembling neorealism or motivational realism as Charles Glaser points out, motivational realism argues that the state’s greedy motive is what determines their actions and relations with other states. (Glaser 2022)
Canada needs to prepare for the possibility that Trump will turn the US into a dictatorship with the most powerful and sophisticated military at his disposal. Given the anarchy that exists in International relations between states, there is no central authority, institutions or counter balance to the whims of Trump. Motivational Realism takes the concept of self interest into account as to how states behave; this also defines how Donald Trump has approached business. There is no idea of equivalency in business with Trump there always has to be a loser. Michael Cohen noted that Trump ran his businesses more like a mafia organization, with him at the top and untouchable (Cohen 2022).
This puts Canada into a difficult political position with the election of Trump and now having a country with a leader who desires power, adulation and revenge. This will affect a change in how Canada will have to deal with the US, where Canada’s neoliberalism policies on International relations will most likely not be supported by the US as Trump appears to embrace a more isolationist approach as evidenced in his lack of support Ukraine. After his recent visit with Viktor Orban, Trump apparently told Orban that if elected he would not send one penny to help Ukraine (Pengelly 2024). This is particularly concerning given Trumps affinity with Vladimir Putin, who would benefit from Trump’s positions on NATO, Ukraine and Europe.
The US could easily deal with Canada on a military basis if it wanted too. In addition the US has enormous financial leverage on Canada and it could use this as a form of power. While International relations stressed power in terms of military might, it is important to look at the economic power dynamic as well. Agriculture, Energy, Food, Technology amongst other elements of trade and connection, make Canada vulnerable to the whims of how human nature will influence the power and status of the relationship between the two countries. Trump has during the current election cycle announced his plan to institute a 10% import tax on all items entering the US (Goulder 2024). This would impact business in Canada across the country if implemented as the US is Canada’s largest trading partner.
Canada under a Trump presidency will have to take on more of a conciliatory posture to the US, hoping to be able to form alliances with the US. This might become more paramount if Trump does what his former national security adviser John Bolton, predicted from Trumps past actions that he would most certainly want to leave NATO if elected a 2nd term (Suebsaeng and Rawnsley 2023).
Realism teaches that states will work to survive and for their self interest. In most contexts the idea of human nature does not come into play preferring to accept the state as a unitary or rational actor. Hobbes thought of man as horrible due to their own goals of self interest, which is best exemplified by Capitalism itself and the pursuit of profit with limited restrictions.
Greedy states fall towards motivational realism where now human nature comes into being and self interest is seen to influence a state’s actions, with the leader or dominant elites being those who benefit the greatest in terms of power, income and wealth. Trump as President will embrace policies that benefit himself and those around his orbit.
The potential threat of a Trump Presidency is that the US becomes a fascist dictatorship and the rule of law changes as a result allowing him unprecedented powers. The US could use its economic or military dominance to invoke policy to gain power and dominance and in doing so, place Canada in a weaker position. For Canada it should be of great concern to potentially have a Fascist Dictatorship, with greedy motives and power obsessed political and economic structure supported by the largest military in the world right next door.
Works Cited
Ben-Ghiat, Ruth. Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present. New York: W.W. Norton & Company Inc., 2021.
As I said I am getting Angry that so many of our American cousins are being conned by Donald Trump that he is the savior, messiah, the chosen one to fix all of the problems that face America. I am getting Angry that so many of those who should know better support a wannabe dictator who openly plans to upend the constitution and seek retribution on his political rivals. People need to understand that Trumps plan is to install himself as dictator and ruler of the US and is using the Fascist Playbook.
Fascism is a political ideology that is based on 8 foundational elements according to author Jason Stanley. This is where we will start, talking about Fascism and how Trump is using the Authoritarian playbook to subvert US democracy.
These elements for fascism are: A Mythic Past, Propaganda, Anti –intellectual, Hierarchy, Victimhood, Law and Order, and Sexual Anxiety. To that I would add one more element for Fascism to succeed and that is the use of Violence.
So what is meant by a Mythic Past? It takes the idea that in the past things were much better than today. Often we hear talking about times like the 50’s, 60’s as the mythic past to when the US was last great. Really and what about Vietnam, the assassination of two Kennedy’s and Martin Luther King, do they forget that? What of segregationist policies in the South or the rise of the KKK? How about the Cold War, Cuban Missile Crisis. The mythical past often is meant to disguise what the past was about, women not having rights like access to abortion, LGBTQ individuals were in the closet not doing Drag Queen Story Hour, Black History did not exist to them and the Confederacy was about Southern rights, like the right to own other human beings due to the color of their skin, the right to slavery.
While some people might talk about the mythical past with the fondness of a long-running episode of Leave it to Beaver, Fascism wants to focus on burying the rights of women, blacks, minorities and LGBTQ individuals to meet its own agenda of domination of the population as a whole.
Trump uses this idea in order to spread threats about how bad America now is and that only he can fix America and Make it Great Again, a phrase first used by Ronald Reagan. Trump uses the idea of the Mythical Past as a way to demonize groups, be them women, minorities, LGBTQ or his favorite target Immigrants, who Trump has accused immigrants of “poisoning the blood of our country”, even though he married two immigrants. In his opinion immigrants are ruining America as they are bringing crime, drugs and rape into the US. Yet Trump seems to have no problem with White Supremacists marching in Charlottesville chanting racist and anti-Semitic rhetoric, taking America back into a time where bigotry and racism were not talked about.
The second element is Propaganda and few understand this better than Joseph Goebbels who was Hitler’s Propaganda Minister, “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.”
No President has challenged the peaceful transfer of power in the United States until Trump came along claiming that the election was rigged. He along with his myriad of lawyers and sycophants challenged the results in over 60 court actions and failed. Trump claimed to everyone that the election was stolen with massive voter fraud, but so far all the voter fraud that was found has been primarily done by MAGA Republicans, not democrats or immigrants.
This culminated in the events of January 6, 2021 where Trump incited, encouraged, motivated his supported in a speech to fight like hell and to stop the steal with absolutely no evidence of it. Even firms that were hired by the Trump team to find fraud like the CyberNinjas found no fraud and even found more votes for Biden.
This Steal conspiracy still continues and Trump mentions it at every opportunity. He is a master of deflection through chaos and by entertaining every conspiracy theory that comes out; no matter how crazy it appears because his base so badly wants to believe his BS or propaganda.
If you have not read the book 1984 by George Orwell then you should as the words of Goebbels reminds me of the basis of double speak. Like Goebbels, Trump believes that the truth is his mortal enemy and his administration coined the phrase “alternative facts” at the onset to combat the truth. In a second term he plans to take greater control of the media by controlling the licensing of networks through the White House not the Federal Communications Commission which is supposed to be independent and unbiased.
Trump hits these first two or the eight check boxes of a wannabe Fascist dictator and next blog I will discuss Anti-Intellectual and Hierarchy. Anti-intellectual is the attack on science via politics, remember Trump and the experts on Covid and his attacks on science. When I refer to a Hierarchy it is ideology based on a person’s race or religious faith, and that is what determines where a person is in society and Trump is very vocal with his opinion of immigrants who are not white or Christian.
Whether Americans want to admit it or not, the fact is that once again the US is flirting with Fascism. What do I mean by again? Well it happened once before back in the 1930’s. At that time another European leader was building his military forces and annexing lands from his neighbors all in the name of re-establishing their rightful owners and preservation of the white race.
Even with this rhetoric against minorities and certain religions, people flocked to his words, sounding like the Messiah that would resurrect the country from the global cabal against them instituted by a great conspiracy of power brokers and financiers. Those who were not desirable were poisoning the blood of the nation and those opposed the leader’s power were vermin and the cause of all the countries ills.
This leader and his supporter exported his message to America. A country at the time that was still in the throes of the depression and the people suffered from economic stagnation. Some in America saw what was going on in Europe and decided that they too should go down that path. The ideas of protectionism, isolationism and even alliance with the European power were bantered about. The President Franklin Roosevelt was a puppet, a communist, a far left thinker wanting to subvert rights and take over the country to this American group. They needed to oppose the policies that Roosevelt put forward like the new deal as communist in nature. To further it’s own power and dominance in Europe, this European Government actively tried to influence US politics.
If you had not figured it out, I was referring to Hitler and Germany as the European country and it is true they worked very hard to keep America off balance, hoping to insight a fascist regime like in Germany. This was to keep the US out of the war in Europe so Germany would have a free hand to conquer Europe. The Nazi’s even had US congressman and Senators who worked to achieve this end. This group held marches, rallies and mailings often praising anti-Semitism and sounding like the Nazi Party in Germany. Even celebrities like aviation hero Charles Lindbergh supported the American Bund Party and its Fascist policies.
There were trials and investigations into numerous Americans of prominence who were participating in the idea of overthrowing democracy in the US. With the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the US entry into the war, the Bund party was soon out of favor, but not forgotten. Like January 6’s architects of insurrection, no key figure American figure was prosecuted for their attempts to overthrow democracy and just like those who started the civil war who never faced any real consequences.
Today Americans need to wake up and realize that once again a political party is trying to sew chaos inside the country and destabilize it for the benefit of their idol, Julius of Orange. Today’s MAGA Republicans like the Bund party are accepting the help of another European Dictator, Vladimir Putin of Russia, who like Hitler and Germany in the 1930’s sees Europe as his rightful possession and would benefit from the US keeping out of any conflicts and not supplying aid to Ukraine.
The problem with history is it is often forgotten and thus man keeps making the same mistakes over and over again, not learning the history and thus being doomed to repeat it. For the next several Angry Bob rants I am going to explain what Fascism is and how Donald Trump and MAGA embody this. It really pisses me off that few recognize what is going on and even fewer are willing to call it out. While not all Republicans are MAGA Republicans, All MAGA Republicans are supporters of Fascism with Donald Trump as Dictator.
If America believes that their President is the de’facto leader of the free world, well then as a member of the free world, I implore the American Electorate to vote in someone who is best to lead the free world by standing up to Authoritarians and Dictators, not kissing their ass like some emasculated Dictator-cuck-wannabe.
Think of the countries that autocrats govern over and look at the standard of living that occurs there. The average Russian makes $1,130 US per month, China, most live in squalor earning less that $600 per month. Then there is Kim Jong Un, a communist dictator where people earn a whopping $80 per month and famine is a constant threat. Yet these leaders are who Donald Trump Idolizes? This makes no sense if he truly is for the US working class man or woman. The average monthly Salary in the US is around $5,000 per month, so why would any American want an Authoritarian regime structure where they will earn less? Oh that’s right, for Trump it is not about average Americans realizing the dream, but his own narcissism and greed. If life is so good under these dictatorships, then why does no one immigrate to them? You never hear of an immigration problem at the border with South Koreans wanting to immigrate to the North do you.
America needs to realize that the leader of the Free World needs to be someone who acts as the leader of the Free World and not act like a kiss ass subservient wimp when dealing with leaders who brutalize their populations and constantly threaten their neighbors? A true Leader of the Free World stands up and calls these dictators out for their economic failures, oppression, and threats. The Leader of the Free World does not call them strong, intelligent and powerful, with envious adulation and adornment.
Just look at how Trump never condemned Putin for the political assassination of Alexander Navalny. Instead, Trump tries to equate himself as a political prisoner similar to Navalny. I know WTF? Navalny was in a Siberian Penal Colony, had no due process, but Trump is a victim? A victim who travels freely, has access to McDonalds and gets to play golf. Yes Trump is a true political prisoner approaching that of a martyr or victim for sure.
Electing the Leader of the Free World means not electing someone who is always whining they are a “victim”, and nobody likes them. That is the last thing anyone wants to hear from a leader. True Leaders don’t go on about how they are “victims” whenever things don’t go their way and gaslight blame. True Leaders owe up to mistakes, learn from them and diligently try to ensure they don’t happen again. A true Leader of the Free World worries about their citizens and citizens everywhere. They stand up for injustices; they don’t act like 5 year olds throwing a tantrum.
If a friend of yours was getting involved with some bad people trying to guide him to making poor life choices that will affect them and a lot of other people, would you not step up and say something to them? You would if you are a true friend. So I want to say to all my Americans friends the election of your president impacts not only you, but your international neighbours and friends. You need to realize the enormous responsibility of electing a President and the de’facto Leader of the Free World. Donald Trump, is not in the best interest of Americans and the Free World period. Trump has sided with conspiracy and lies, he wants to be a dictator and destroy American Democracy to empower his masters, Putin, Xi, and Un, and turn his back on decades long allies and trading partners like Canada. An election of Donald Trump would not only result in serious harm to the tenets Americans hold most dear, Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, it would affect democracy throughout Western nations legitimizing the image of Authoritarianism. Once you set down that path, it is not so easy to change. Think of how it worked out for the countries under: Hitler, Mussolini, Gaddafi and Hussein. Not very good so do you want America even flirting with this idea of a dictatorship?
This is a question that many are asking themselves and you have to go back into the late 1800’s to see how Israel was initially conceived and learn about: the Zionist Movement, British Colonial Rule, the Ottoman Empire, World War 1, 1920’s immigration, World War 2, the Holocaust, the United Nations, 1947/1948, Deir Yasin, the six day way, annexation of the West Bank and Gaza, Yon Kippur War are all pertinent background to the subject. Then there is the Balfour declaration, the Pogroms in Europe, the Nikba, violations of Human rights and the ignoring of UN declarations and of course the rise of terrorism all now cultivating in the terrorist attacks by Hamas upon civilians on October 7 and the on-going reprisals by Israel on the populations of not only Gaza but the West Bank as well.
There is no way to talk about all this in one Blog, not even close and in truth the mainstream media is not doing a good job of reporting the history and how the Israeli’s and Palestinians ended up here. The reality is Israeli’s have all the freedoms enjoy “democracy”, while the Palestinians in Israel live a life of checkpoints, restrictions, constant surveillance and no democratic rights. Israeli’s enjoy high employment and benefits, where as the unemployment rate in the occupied West Bank and Gaza is over 50%. In the occupied territories the Israeli government has allowed or built itself, over 200 settlements for Jewish Israeli’s, often displacing the local Palestinians in the process which is a violation of international law (UN Declaration ). Yet it happens and the Israeli’s get away with it as the US has veto power at the UN and uses it to shield Israel at the UN from any sanctions.
One thing I do want to talk about is Zionism. Zionism came about with Robert Herzgel in or around 1891, he determined it was time for the Jewish people to have their own homeland, because no matter where they would live at one time or another they would be persecuted (not exactly untrue). He envisioned it should be in the holiest spots for Jews, and that we see today as Israel. So essentially the call went out and Jewish immigration started to happen to the holy lands. Zionism brought about 4 basic tenets:
The Jewish People exist as a distinct people
Assimilation has not been proven viable
Jews have a historical right to the Promised Land (Palestine)
A Jewish Homeland must have an overwhelming Jewish Majority(ie: little or no indigenous population)
Herzgel and the Zionist movement had determined these tenets were necessary to create a Jewish State. With regards to the tenet of Assimilation, Herzel saw that European Society would never change its attitude and prejudices against Jews. Essentially they had tried to get along with everyone but it was to no avail as Jews were facing persecution throughout Europe. Pogroms or Government sanctioned attacks, against Jews across parts of Europe were common.
The tenet that the Jewish People are a distinct society has been written into Israeli law. The laws of Israel recognize it as a Jewish state and any Jew from anywhere is welcome to move there and live. Jews who immigrate will immediately get all the benefits of all Jews in Israel and citizenship. No one who is not Jewish receives those benefits. Christians, Muslims, Atheist none can move to Israel and become a citizen so easily.
Now the Tenet I love the most is that the Jews have a historical right to the Promised Lands……because it says so in the…..Bible. Genesis 15 and I paraphrase .. ”and from the Waddafi’s of Egypt to the Euphrates river, God gave the lands as far as Abraham sees and promised to build him a great nation and he would spite anyone who spite Abraham and his descendants….yadda yadda yaddah
I read the whole of Genesis as it pertains to Abraham and nowhere does it say …’oh and by the way, you can kick out the Arab population (Palestinians), kill them if you want’, nowhere! What it does say is this land would be for all his descendants. So could it not be reasonable to assume that the Palestinians would also be considered his descendants as they were part of the lands.
No legitimate land claim can start by referencing a book that is based on a belief and not in fact, period! To accept this interpretation as real, means all other religions are wrong but also tramples the rights of individuals like Atheists by expecting them to accept the existence of God and religion as a justification. As an Atheist and not afraid to burn in Hell, I can honestly say, I don’t fucking think so!! People can believe what they want. The faith or beliefs of one should not subordinate the individual rights of another with different beliefs.
Finally, the Zionist Tenet of a need for a majority of Jews in Israel and little or no indigenous population (Palestinians). Even prior to the formation of Israel, the Zionist movement went on two campaigns. The first campaign was to acquire lands from absentee owners, most of whom were Arab elite in the region ( they often lived in other kingdoms like Jordan or Syria) whose families held the properties for generations and allowed the local Arab population to live and work on the lands. After the First World War, as lands were purchased the local Arabs were displaced and this created a difficult situation and violence erupted in the region as Arabs rose up against the land sales and displacement. The British along with Zionist crushed the uprising of Arabs, but the British also suspended any more Jewish Immigrants for a time.
The second front the Zionists were fighting was the political one, where they were actively lobbying in Britain for a Jewish state. They were much more organized and familiar with the Western political system than were the Arabs and this helped in manipulating the British to support the Zionist militia’s in Palestine. After the first World War, the Ottoman Empire was divided into many of the countries seen today like Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon by the British and French. Palestine was the name for the area that we see as Israel, with the West Bank and Gaza and this was under British control.
Lots of fighting and assassinations by the Zionists continued over this period until the end of the Second World War. By 1947 Britain was finished with Palestine and essentially handed it over to the UN to handle, which proposed a two state division of the area. Now at this time there were only around 150,000 Jews and over 1.2million Arabs, so what did the UN do? That’s right they gave the majority of the lands to the Zionists in this plan, 55% of the lands. So it came as no surprise that the Arab population rejected this proposal. With that war broke out between the Arabs and the forces of the Zionist like the Irgun and Stern Militia’s who were much better armed and trained than the Arabs capturing 72% of Palestinian lands by the time in 1948 Israel was officially formed and joined the UN a greater percentage of the lands initially proposed. It is estimated that over 700,000 Arabs were displaced from their homes and villages and placed into small enclaves in Gaza and the West Bank. This is referred to by Arab Palestinians as the Nakba.
Now in 1948 Gaza was under Egyptian control and the West Bank was under Jordanian control. In 1967 that all changed with the Six Day war. Egypt held military exercises in the Sinai dessert at a time where relations were strained. Israel took this as an opportunity claiming to perform a preemptive strike and attacked the Egyptians, Jordanians and Syrians over 6 days. Israel had been planning their offensive for a number of years and the Egyptian exercises gave the excuse to launch the attack with the purpose of expanding Israel’s territory. At the end, Israel had control of the Golan Heights, the West Bank and Gaza. They had wiped out the Egyptian Air force and easily handled the unprepared and poorly armed Arab countries.
So now you are up to how Israel got control of Gaza and the West Bank. They have controlled these areas since and both areas are little more than refugee camps. If a Palestinian wants to travel abroad they have to go to either an airport in Egypt or in Jordan, they are not allowed to do so in Israel. In fact because Israel controls all entry in and out of Israel and occupied territories if a Palestinian leaves and wants to return that may be denied. Today there are nearly 8 million Palestinians between the two areas, 2.3 in Gaza and 5.7 in the West Bank. Israel controls all trade commerce, power, water, roads and infrastructure in these regions.
If people have no hope, no job, no freedom and democracy does not exist, you create the conditions for an act like what happened on October 7 to come to life. There is a tremendous amount of history to describe how they got to this point and that is going to make any peace very difficult if not impossible.
I do not support what Hama has done or agree on their tactics anymore than I agree with how Israel has treated the Palestinians for the past 75 years. I certainly do not approve of the loss of 1300 Israeli’s but the fact that Israel in response has gone on an unadultered killing spree of over 30,000 Palestinians, with over 10,000 being children is an over the top response and a violation of the rules of war.
Unfortunately Israel seems to have no interest in stopping the slaughter and humanitarian crisis, even though the leaders of Hamas are in places like Qatar and Lebanon for example and not in Gaza, Israel is taking its revenge on innocent civilians and I for one want to Canada to demand a ceasefire. Personally I believe and support that if Israel does not, then cut off all financial and military aid from all sources. However, I am expecting PM Photo Op to actually stand up and do something…..ha ha must be April Fools?
Now some might read this and say….AngryBob is an anti-Semite! Well I am, because I am an anti-Zionist meaning I don’t support the tenets or fable of Abraham, therefore I am an anti-Semite. Ok fine with me, and cancel culture ….well I welcome the attacks if it means getting people to realize that this history goes way beyond Oct 7 and time for people to acknowledge that.
If America believes that their President is the de’facto leader of the free world, well then as a member of the free world, I implore the American Electorate to vote in someone who is best to lead the free world by standing up to Authoritarians and Dictators, not kissing their ass like some emasculated Dictator wannabe.
Think of the countries that Autocrats govern over and look at the standard of living that occurs there. The average Russian makes less per month than someone living in India (another authoritarian country). In China, Xi has at times used extreme measures to control the population and most live in squalor earning less that $600 per month. Then there is Kim Jong Un, a communist dictator where people earn a whopping $80 per month and famine is a constant threat. Yet these regimes are that Donald Trump Idolizes, which makes no sense given he claims to be a Capitalist. The average monthly Salary in the US is around $5,000 per month, so why would any American want an Authoritarian regime to run the country given the economic train wreck that has occurred in these other countries?
America needs to realize that the leader of the Free World need to be someone who acts as the leader of the Free World and not act like kiss ass subservient wimp towards leaders who brutalize their populations and constantly threaten all their neighbors? A true Leader of the Free World stands up and call these dictators out for their economic failures, oppression and terrorist cyber attacks on Western infrastructure. The Leader of the Free World does not call them strong, intelligent and powerful, with envious adulation.
Look at how Trump has had on condemnation of Putin for the recent political assassination of Alexander Navalny. Instead of acknowledging Putin as a ruthless tyrant, Trump tries to equate himself as a political victim similar to Navalny. Yes, Navalny was in a Siberian Penal Colony, had no due process, but Trump is a victim, who travels freely, has access to food and medical care, and gets to play golf. A true politicial prisoner…..
Electing the Leader of the Free World also means not electing someone who is always whining they are a “victim”, and everyone is against him. That is the last thing anyone wants to hear from their leader. True Leaders don’t go on about how they are “victims”, whenever things don’t go their way. True Leaders owe up to mistakes, learn from them and diligently try to ensure they don’t happen again. True Leaders of the Free World worry about citizens everywhere and standup for injustices, they don’t act like 5 year olds throwing a tantrum because no one likes him.
Sometimes it is hard to look at things when you are so close to the issue. It is hard to be constructive in one’s analysis of what is the true situation going on when one is emotionally involved. Americans have been pulled by two polar opposite parties and narratives, to the point where trust of one another is difficult at best and so the undeniable truth often gets lost.
If a friend of yours was getting involved with people guiding him to making poor life choices that will affect a lot of people close to them, would you not step up and say something to them? You would if you are a true friend. I have watched what is going on and reported by not only US news, but other North American and European News agencies with regards to the US political system. I have read books by authors of both sides as I believe in looking at things from all sides.
So I want to say to all my Americans friends as a person who cannot vote in your elections but has to hope that Americans realize the enormous responsibility of electing a President and defacto Leader of the Free World, electing Donald Trump, is not in the best interest of Americans and the Free World period. Trump has sided with conspiracy and lies, he wants to be a dictator and destroy American Democracy to empower his masters, Putin, Xi, and Un, and turn his back on decades long allies and trading partners.
An election of Donald Trump would not only result in serious harm to the tenets Americans hold most dear, Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, it would affect democracy throughout Western nations legitimizing the image of Authoritarianism.
www.AngryBob.ca 