Category Archives: Domestic Terrorists

It Is No Longer Accurate To Call White Nationalists Extremists.

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While those who espouse white nationalism may seem extreme to Democrats and to many independents, it has become clear that they now represent the mainstream of the Republican Party.

Don’t believe me?

Perhaps you will trust Miles Taylor, the former Chief of Staff of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) during the Goerge W. Bush and Donald J. Trump administrations. A former Republican himself, he says that fully 50 percent of today’s GOP voters believe in Replacement Theory, the racist theory that Democrats are encouraging the illegal immigration of people of color in order to reduce white Christian Americans to minority status.

Once a theory propagated by only the most twisted racists on the very fringes of society – the KKK and neo-Nazis – it has been elevated from the sewers by Trump and mainstreamed by Fox News along with rightwing radio pundits, social media, and various Internet celebrities. The violent results of their hateful rhetoric have accelerated throughout the last 5 years, beginning with the “Alt Right’ March in Charlottesville and culminating in last week’s racist shootings at a Buffalo grocery store.

Of course, those who have incited such hatred refuse to claim any responsibility. And, though they may well briefly tone down their rhetoric, they will soon return to full-throated racism.

To underscore the ties between the GOP and racial terrorism, CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference) will hold its annual conference in Budapest, Hungary. Why? Because Hungary’s dictator, Viktor Orban, espouses the same racist replacement theory as much of the GOP. Indeed, so does Russia’s resident dictator and Trump supporter, Vladimir Putin. Which may explain why 25 percent of the Republican congressional caucus voted against more military aid to help Ukraine defend itself against Putin’s invasion.

Moreover, according to Taylor, 50 percent of GOP voters believe in the cult-like conspiracies espoused by QAnon, including the preposterous belief that Democrats are pedophiles and that Democratic leaders and A-list Hollywood celebrities are running a child sex trafficking ring.

Finally, Taylor notes that 70 percent of the GOP think the 2020 election was stolen despite all evidence to the contrary. Not even Trump’s hand-picked Attorney General nor the Trump-appointed judges and justices believed in the claims of widespread voter fraud. Of course, there were a few notable cases of individual voter fraud. But they were Trump supporters who returned ballots for dead family members. And, of course, there’s the case of Trump’s Chief of Staff who illegally registered to vote in two states.

Nevertheless, the GOP and many of its candidates continue to espouse the “Big Lie.” At the same time, GOP governors and legislatures are working overtime to ensure they control upcoming elections. By that, they don’t simply mean they want to win the elections. They are taking steps to rig them by any means necessary.

Taylor says the DHS determined the biggest national security threat is domestic terrorism. I would amend the threat to include the GOP.

The Undeniable Racism Of US Immigration Policy.

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We currently have the lowest unemployment numbers in more than 50 years. At the same time, we may have more unfilled job openings than ever before. Employers big and small are struggling to find workers. As a result, many salaries are rising, especially those for unskilled and entry level jobs. All of that would seem to be good news, right?

Not according to the GOP and its rightwing propaganda media.

They are howling about inflation – inflation created by their hero’s failed response to the pandemic and his ill-conceived tariffs. Inflation that almost certainly would have occurred no matter who won the 2020 election. Inflation that has been caused by interrupted supply chains, by a lack of truck drivers and other essential workers willing to risk dying from Covid, by increased oil prices and food shortages stemming from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and, most of all, by the extreme profiteering of oil companies, food processing companies and others.

At the same time, these hyper-partisan propagandists are decrying Biden’s “open border” policies – policies that, except for the unconscionable cruelty of child separation, are largely unchanged from those of the Trump administration.

Now, it’s hardly news that the GOP and its propagandists are making up lies and fomenting hate in the lead-up to an election. But these lies have exposed the undeniable truth about their views on immigration: They are inherently racist. Nothing has made that fact more obvious than the right wing’s demands that the administration deny formula to brown migrant babies in order to stock the shelves for white Americans. In other words, they are more than willing to starve the innocent babies of those leaving unimaginable horrors in their home countries to seek refuge in the US.

Yet most of these same people proudly call themselves “pro-life.”

If a few of these “pro-life patriots” would take off their dunce caps, combine their IQs, and set aside their desire to bully others, they might realize that the US has always been built on the backs of immigrants. And we need immigrants now as never before.

In addition to the worker shortage created by the booming Biden economy, we are at the beginning of the greatest wave of retirees in our nation’s history. If we continue to build walls, refuse immigrants (even refugees), and deport undocumented workers, where are the workers going to come from? The children created by the GOP’s abortion ban and forced birth policies won’t be ready for employment for another 18 years or so. (Unless, of course, the GOP wants to reinstitute child labor policies.)

“But you don’t want ‘those’ people to replace us,” you say? Then what’s your plan? Who’s going to take the low-end jobs that are traditionally filled by new immigrants? Do you expect them to all be filled by white Ukrainians refugees? NEWSFLASH: Many of them are probably more highly educated and skilled than you are. And they probably don’t want to do traditional migrant jobs like hand-picking fruits and vegetables in blazing hot fields any more than you do.

Here’s a thought: Set aside those disgusting racist views that were brought out in the open by the former president and today’s GOP. There are thousands of people waiting at our southern border, many of whom have risked their lives to enter our country. Good people who want nothing more than the opportunity to work and take care of their families.

It’s time to set aside your hateful and racist views of migrants – your belief that America is only for white Christians. It’s time to ignore the divisive tactics of the GOP. It’s time to get over it!