From the Ninth Letter once ascribed to Plato:
And when our country itself calls us to public duties, it would surely be improper not to listen to the call; for failure to do so will involve the additional consequence of leaving room to worthless men who engage in public affairs from motives that are by no means the best.
Our Senator Josh Hawley gave a virtuoso performance in demagoguery recently in a speech in which he professed that he is a “Christian Nationalist.” I don’t know what to think of this. If most people made such a declaration, I am inclined to accept their self-description, even though Christian Nationalism is an oxymoron. But Hawley is not most people.
Does he really believe in Christian Nationalism? He might, though if he does he is a hell of a waste of a Stanford-Yale education. But when I recall that Hawley is running for re-election, and is running in the State of Missouri, I think his “Christian Nationalism” is a cynical appeal to the Christian barbarism that is dominant here. Even so, if he walks (runs) like a member of the Ku Klux Klan, if he quacks like a member of the Ku Klux Klan, then maybe he is a member of the Ku Klux Klan.
Trump keeps boasting that he will get back at his critics. But it’s not revenge, he says, it’s “retribution,” which, of course, is the same as “payback.” No longer content to be dictator, Trump is rising up above the rank of King, and wants to be a god. Romans 12:19 “Mihi vindicta: ego retribuam dicit Dominus, that is “Vengeance belongs to me; I will do the payback, says the Lord.”
I saw today a headline “Lindsey Graham: Anybody who could be president should undergo cognitive tests.” I suppose this might be a good idea. Why not? But I think it more important, for the time being, that candidates undergo drug testing. Trump is said to be have Aderall coming out of his ears, and who knows what other psychotropic drugs his physicians and handlers are mixing into his narcotic cocktail. Donald Trump is insane, and is made to appear functional by makeup, lies, and meds.
Again we celebrate the anniversary of our Country’s freeing itself from monarchical tyranny. I wonder if we will celebrate this feast of freedom again. Trump is in the process of claiming dictatorial power, and the forces arrayed behind him are awesome. White supremacists, Christian supremacists, male supremacists, money supremacists are all there, as are all the shifty, shady, and cowardly figures in American politics. The Heritage Foundation, the premier fascist think-tank, is anticipating Trump’s electoral victory by drawing up their Project 2025, a book of instructions for how to get rid of democracy. The hordes of WASPs, evangelicals, right-wing Catholics, anti-intellectuals, et al., who, left behind by the passage of time, feel that they have been somehow disrespected, are flexing their hatreds as they look ahead to Trump’s new monarchy.
The end of the American Republic will lead to the end of the United States, for victory will lead the forces of reaction to turn and rend one another, leading to secessions all around. We celebrate that the founders set aside their regional and political differences, but though set aside, these differences and animosities have not gone away, and a new Trump regime will show how much they are still with us.
Mr. “Diddy” Combs is much in the news, as is his criminal record. Diddy’s record shows five separate lawsuits wherein he has been charged with “a range of sexual misconduct and other illegal activity.” These are itemized in the CNN article by Eric Levenson and Nicki Brown: ” A closer look at the sexual misconduct lawsuits against Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs.” I cannot avoid feeling that Diddy Combs’ and Donald Trump’s situations are parallel. Combs has led a life of crime during which, due to his or his lawyers’ naivete, he has been unable to avoid litigation and prosecution. Mr. Trump is a more refined criminal and has invested in slicker lawyers who have helped him to cover up his wrongdoings by non-disclosure contracts, “catch and destroy” maneuvers, and who knows what else. Were it not for Trump’s criminal savoir faire and deep pockets, his record would be as outrageous as Diddy’s.
I’ve learned from Wikipedia that from 1919 onwards German soldiers swore the army’s standard oath of loyalty to the German state (Reichswehreid):
I swear loyalty to the Reich’s constitution and pledge, that I as a courageous soldier always want to protect the German Reich and its legal institutions, (and) be obedient to the Reich President and to my superiors.
Then, in 1933, when Hitler was appointed Reichskanzler, the soldier’s oath was revised to get rid of the “constitution” and “the German Reich and its legal institutions.”
I swear by God this holy oath, that I want to ever loyally and sincerely serve my people and fatherland, and be prepared as a brave and obedient soldier to risk my life for this oath at any time.
Next, in 1935, when Hitler and his Nazis had gained absolute power, the preceding rather vague oath was replaced by one that was narrowly specific, an oath that, for obvious reasons, came to be known as the “Führer oath”:
I swear by God this holy oath that I shall render unconditional obedience to the Leader of the German Reich and people, Adolf Hitler, supreme commander of the armed forces, and that as a brave soldier I shall at all times be prepared to give my life for this oath.
This Führer oath was used by very many who had sworn it as pretext and camouflage for limitless criminal and savage behavior in the war to come.
These oaths changed from demanding loyalty to country and its institutions, to loyalty to the purposely vague “people” and “fatherland,” to absolute subservience to a dictator. The behavior of Donald Trump’s cultists and of most of the Republican Party seems virtually the same as if they have sworn a Führer oath to Donald Trump. And we have to ask: Can these people truthfully swear to protect and defend the Constitution, when their loyalty to Trump seems to outweigh the demands of truth and morality and true patriotism?
In the Age of Trump, the U.S.A. has grown accustomed to, indeed, has come to expect frauds. The latest AARP Bulletin is devoted to frauds wrought on the elderly, though the giant letters on the cover “FRAUD 2024” made me think, at first, that the entire issue was devoted to Donald Trump.
Another kind of fraud is being perpetrated by people who busy themselves about libraries, about forcing removal of books that they find offensive. They remind me of Prof. Harold Hill’s great sales pitch in The Music Man. With a slight alteration it could be adopted by these bookburners: “You’ve got trouble. It begins with T, and that rhymes with B, and that stands for BOOK.”
Judge Aileen Cannon seems to be as shameless as the man who appointed her.
Israel has become a rogue nation. We must stop funding Israel and stop backing Israel up in the U.N., for we are, and have been for years, the main enabler of Israel’s disgraceful conduct.
From its founding, Israel has been conducting a constant program of ethnic cleansing, driving out Palestinians and denying the rights and impairing the lives of those who have remained. Israeli zealots will not rest until only Jews live in an enlarged Israel.
The world is expressing outrage at the latest murder of aid workers. Israel promises to investigate. That’s like Russia promising to investigate. No, Israel will not stop murdering and starving and dislocating civilians until it has annexed Gaza and the West Bank. The Israeli forces may engage in fewer criminal acts, like rape and torture, than the Nazis, the Russians, and other amoral regimes, but their overall behavior is just the same.
The war on Gaza is ripping off Israel’s mask of righteous victimhood. No longer will Israel and its supporters be able to dismiss criticism of Israel as antisemitic. Israel is being subjected to the same international disgust and disdain as other rogue nations. And it’s time for the U.S. to stop pretending and enabling.