Where were you when the news hit that right-wing Federalist Society prince of darkness Leonard Leo had been given $1.6 billion by a fellow anti-abortion nutcase nobody had ever heard of named Barry Seid? It was the single largest political donation ever recorded in this country, an unknowably large amount of money. The man Seid picked to launder his money into a network of conservative non-profits is an arch-conservative Catholic (like certain members of the Supreme Court he had a hand in appointing and confirming) and proud Knight of the Sovereign Order of Malta, a Catholic religious order long-considered a sovereign entity in international law, somewhat like the Vatican, with its own ceremonial currency and stamps that are recognized by at least 58 countries for the purpose of mailing letters and packages. But first of all, and last of all when it comes to the political life and current ill-health of the United States of America, Leo is the man who led the right-wing takeover of the Supreme Court and is credited with practically singlehandedly supervising the legal campaign to overturn
Every Democrat needs to hammer on Dobbs all day every day from now until the election. It's a huge winning issue for us. I really believe both Florida and Texas ie Scott and Cruz are in play next year.
Rubio just won re-election over Val Demings last year. Cruz is up for re-election next year, tho. He has a very good opponent against him in Colin Allred.
I have been talking about this Catholic cabal ever since it dawned on me that all these anti-abortion, etc. people in the Drumpf administration turn out to be Catholic - like Bill Barr, Mick Mulvaney, those SCOTUS guys. Thank you for making this apparent and putting it out there!
my knee-jerk reaction to those pray-away-the-gay guys is that they're protesting WAY too much. my theory is borne out by history; gay people in power have always been the ones who try to get the cruelest anti-gay laws passed. and they usually did
one might assume think that in this time and place, that sort of thing wouldn't be the case any longer. one would also be incorrect.
this whole deal is very, very upsetting.
Lucian is right about the increasing unelectability of Repugs. but so much money! and so many filthy tricks still untried!
but as long as the fucking Electoral College exists...
[**** Already enacted in states w/ 195 electoral votes, pending states with 134,
needs at least 270 ****]
The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVIC) is an agreement among a group of U.S. states and the District of Columbia to award all their electoral votes to whichever presidential ticket wins the overall popular vote in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The compact is designed to ensure that the candidate who receives the most votes nationwide is elected president, and it would come into effect only when it would guarantee that outcome.[2][3] As of May 2023, it has been adopted by fifteen states and the District of Columbia. These states have 195 electoral votes, which is 36% of the Electoral College and 72% of the 270 votes needed to give the compact legal force.
Certain legal questions may affect implementation of the compact. Some legal observers believe states have plenary power to appoint electors as prescribed by the compact; others believe that the compact will require congressional consent under the Constitution's Compact Clause or that the presidential election process cannot be altered except by a constitutional amendment.
***** Debate over effects
The project has been supported by editorials in newspapers, including The New York Times,[7] the Chicago Sun-Times, the Los Angeles Times,[15] The Boston Globe,[16] and the Minneapolis Star Tribune,[17] arguing that the existing system discourages voter turnout and leaves emphasis on only a few states and a few issues, while a popular election would equalize voting power. Others have argued against it, including the Honolulu Star-Bulletin.[18] Pete du Pont, a former governor of Delaware, in an opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal, called the project an "urban power grab" that would shift politics entirely to urban issues in high population states and allow lower caliber candidates to run.[19] A collection of readings pro and con has been assembled by the League of Women Voters.[20] Some of the most common points of debate are detailed below:
*****
{Et cetera, there needs to be a focus on the national debate, where is the Democratic leadership leading on this, anyway??????????????????????????}
Wow. I've had my head buried in a trial all day. I do have a subscription to TNR and I donated $100 just to this investigation I feel so strongly about it. Your synopsis here of this is sickening and stunning and bigger even than I suspected though with Leo around so much lately, always sitting in the midst of the power he helped place, the gut feeling is it would be enormous. Thank you so much for this. This is one subscription I cherish and even more so today. Wow.
In December of 2016, when the Trump Administration transition was in full swing, 2 arrests were made in Russia for acts of treason. Mike Flynn is just the kind of guy who would have his grubby hands all over this. As former DIA Director he may have known the identities of these 2 individuals who were clearly agents for US Intelligence. He was trying to ingratiate himself with the Kremlin and may have been worried what sources in Russia would have to say to the CIA about him.
Flynn is a bad man and we know that one of the very few pieces of advice Obama gave Trump was to not hire him. It's hard for me to accept that President Obama really believed that Trump had any concern at all for our country.
Republican Donald Trump, a far-right demagogue who campaigned on a slew of bigoted, xenophobic policies, has won the 2016 presidential election in a shocking victory few people predicted.
What was not often acknowledged in Trump's heated race against Democrat Hillary Clinton, however, was how her campaign fueled his rise to power.
An email recently released by the whistleblowing organization WikiLeaks shows how the Clinton campaign and Democratic Party bear direct responsibility for propelling the bigoted billionaire to the White House.
In its self-described "pied piper" strategy, the Clinton campaign proposed intentionally cultivating extreme right-wing presidential candidates, hoping to turn them into the new "mainstream of the Republican Party" in order to try to increase Clinton's chances of winning.
The Clinton campaign and Democratic National Committee called for using far-right candidates "as a cudgel to move the more established candidates further to the right." Clinton's camp insisted that Trump and other extremists should be "elevated" to "leaders of the pack" and media outlets should be told to "take them seriously."
The strategy backfired — royally.
On April 23, 2015, two weeks after Hillary Clinton officially declared her presidential campaign, her staff sent out a group message with information for a "strategy call." The email included as an attachment a "memo for the DNC discussion."
pied piper dnc email *** You'll have to read this to see that:
How the Hillary Clinton campaign deliberately "elevated" Donald Trump with its "pied piper" strategy
An email released by WikiLeaks shows how the Democratic Party purposefully "elevated" Trump to "leader of the pack"
The memo, which was addressed to the Democratic National Committee, outlined "the strategy and goals a potential Hillary Clinton presidential campaign would have regarding the 2016 Republican presidential field."
The document stated, "Clearly most of what is contained in this memo is work the DNC is already doing. This exercise is intended to put those ideas to paper."
It continued, "Our hope is that the goal of a potential HRC campaign and the DNC would be one-in-the-same: to make whomever the Republicans nominate unpalatable to a majority of the electorate."
The memo articulated a three-point strategy. Point 1 called for forcing "all Republican candidates to lock themselves into extreme conservative positions that will hurt them in a general election."
At the time, there were more than a dozen Republican presidential candidates. The "variety of candidates is a positive here," the Clinton campaign said.
"Many of the lesser known can serve as a cudgel to move the more established candidates further to the right," the memo noted.
"Flynn is a bad man and we know that one of the very few pieces of advice Obama gave Trump was to not hire him. It's hard for me to accept that President Obama really believed that Trump had any concern at all for our country."
Obama learned at Harvard Law School to "make a record, document what went on" etc.
No way he believed Trump was trustworthy, but be on the record that you tried your best to warn him!
An astounding revelation: The fact that Republican lawmakers always toe the party line, whether it's about guns, abortion or anti LGBT community tells me that even if some are capable of reasonable thought they do not voice their opinions for fear of being called a RINO so they must be getting money from somewhere or some other kind of gain. Gov Roy Cooper thought he might get one or two on his side but no, He says they rigged the gerrymandering maps in their favor and got the Rebub. strong State Supreme Court to rule in their favor. Dirty tricks and big bucks is the name of the game. But as Lucian points out they may have shot themselves in the foot by inserting themselves between women and their doctor.
I hope and believe that you're right. I have long thought that the end game of these fanatics is to force women out of public life altogether. They will come for the right to vote. After all, women couldn't vote when the sacred Founders wrote the Constitution. They will come after birth control. They are already coming after no-fault divorce.
Since 60% of college undergrads are women, and more women are getting advanced degrees, I’m hoping that more women will also be running for office and winning. This factor could turn the tide, with more women Congressfolk proposing pro-abortion, pro-equality legislation.
At what point do these fanatical “Order-Of-Malta” groups stop seeing their actions as necessary-evil/One-Offs and accept that in aggregate, in principle, and in practice, they’re grotesque?
There is no clear boundary separating religious and political extremism from psychiatric illness. One man's cherished belief is another man's delusion. More in this commentary.
Every time there is a terrorist act or a mass murder, reporters start calling with questions on the psychiatric diagnosis of the perp. The default position seems to be that every religious extremist or political fanatic or mass murderer must be crazy. How else to account for their weird behavior?
Naming a diagnosis somehow satisfies a deep human need to explain what otherwise seems an unexplainable act. But names can only describe, they do not explain.
Our diagnostic system has chosen not to consider fanaticism a mental disorder. But confusion nonetheless arises because there is no clear boundary separating religious and political extremism from psychiatric illness. One man's cherished belief is another man's delusion.
Take a classic example that occurred at the birth of forensic psychiatry. In 1861, Charles Guiteau successfully assassinated President James Garfield-based on the belief that he was God's messenger sent to the US to protect it from an evil administration. His trial created a sensation. More than a dozen expert witnesses divided down the middle on the question of his sanity. Guiteau's own words expressed the issue best: “I would rather be hung as a man than acquitted as a fool.”
The same scenario of adversarial expert testimony, for and against mental illness, has played out over and over again in trials of political and religious extremists (eg, the Unabomber, Breivik, and some religious terrorists). Sincere fanatics detest the insanity defense because it invalidates their beliefs. They too would rather be punished as criminals.
Experts usually can't agree whether a political or religious criminal has done bad or is simply mad. Their canceling out suggests that the question is not really a medical decision, more a societal one. We must accept that there is inherent uncertainty in distinguishing the merely strange from the clinically insane. If we are to call Guiteau crazy for believing himself to be a messenger of God, how do we distinguish him from the many prophets and saints who have been so revered for making similar claims.
Jumping to a fake mental disorder diagnosis in everyone who is violent has another serious downside. It unfairly stigmatizes the mentally ill, most of whom are not violent. The public and the press must accept that political or religious violence is usually just political or religious, not very often the result of diagnosable mental illness.
This fits the wishes of most defendants. They would, like Guiteau, much prefer to be punished than treated - lest their message be muffled. I would agree with them. Unless there is clear evidence of classic, pre-existing mental disorder, I would withhold diagnosis and give them the dignity of whatever is the suitable punishment.
My fear is that I won't live long enough to see the GQP and it's owners like Leo buried in that 1.6B mile deep hole. They seem to have cemented themselves in power for now, and people say that they will own the judiciary into the 2060s. This is, of course, in part due to the fact that Democratic leaders refuse to recognize the threat. (Please tell me why Biden didn't have Congress act on the debt ceiling before the MAGA crazies took over???) Given Dobbs, mifepristone, guns and the general hate filled crazy, Democrats have all the tools they need to bury the Republicans in 2024 if they choose to, but will they? Will they put resources into every race in every state? Will they force Republicans to defend seats that should be shoo-ins? Or will they do like they did in 2022 and abandon states like Floriduh letting a loser like Rubio get re-elected and Meatball Puddin Fingers win by a landslide. Or will they fight the crazy and win like Jacksonville and Colorado Springs? Maybe step one is to stop listening to the DC consultant class and start listening to the progressive base that is the heartbeat of the party...and sees the Repukes for who they are, not the party that Biden thinks they are.
katy and Lucian, exactly my thought as I read your fantastic essay. Why do those men want so desperately to control our bodies? Just beyond me....as a lifelong activist on the left since the sixties.
One explanation is that they feel threatened by women at a very deep, pre-rational level. Women have a power that men do not: the power to have children. The only way some men feel safe is if *they* and other men control that power—keep the women reproducing, and also take away their freedom and autonomy, and make them subject to the control of men. All restrictive patriarchies are built on fear. Women frighten men in another way, by being sexually attractive. Every “honor” culture—like Afghanistan—sees women’s sexuality as an evil power they wield over men, that must be strictly contained, restrained, and owned by their male relatives. Women are killed for disgracing the family’s “honor” by being involved in any behavior that trangresses those rules, such as having sex with a man other than the woman or girl’s own husband—even if the sex act happened because the girl’s father or uncle raped her. All sex deviating from the rules is blamed on the woman—even rape— because she “must have tempted” the man. Controlling his libido to obey the rules is not the man’s responsibility, but that of all the women around him. In a strange way, these cultures give men a free pass for sexual assault: it must have been the woman’s fault. It makes perfect sense that many people refer to the far right wing pseudo-christian anti choice extremists as the American Taliban.
Elizabeth—That's what I've believed since a barroom conversation with a NYDN reporter friend years ago about an immersive series he was doing on the Brooklyn Hassidim. Pondering the men's worship/suppression of women I was struck by an insight rather like a cartoon bolt—of course! Being determinate of who is Jewish or not, in that society women have *all* the power. So all the men—with their physical power—can do is narrow women's power until they reach the limits of their control. That's an extreme example, but I do believe that what drives the conflict universally is women's reproductive power vs men's superior physical strength. Primitive, yes.
Not this time. I had dual citizenship. I don't think Mike Santangelo did. We slugged them down together at Costello's, near the old NYDN bldg. After years at the News, he was a '90 strike casualty and ended up writing the witty Fox bldg zipper—unedited. Mike was in a class of his own; I couldn't compare. Checked out at 80 two years ago.
Elizabeth, (I love your name….) I married an Indian man and live in India now. So I am quite familiar with the “honor” culture you describe. It extends to women who become educated or “date” men when they are young, even if no sex is occurring. They can be murdered for the audacity to live as a “modern” woman. Arundhati Roy is one of India’s most important writers and is under threat of assassination for her opinions on caste and women’s place. The violence against outspoken women under the Modi government is quite horrendous. But to get back to the question of men’s pre-rational level. I also observe that the Christian Fascists in America believe women are only an “extension” of themselves, the way slave owners viewed Black people. We, as women, rejected that idea a long time ago. Black people also rejected that view, but look where we are. SO many dark themes in our society. I am ready for anything to push back against this moment in our history.
This was really a humdinger, Lucian! Leonard Leo is the devil incarnate. Master manipulator controlling the Federalist Society’s handpick justices. Seid, another seedy character with a boatload of money to throw around. They are all despicable. I think you’re right though. They underestimated the power of the people and especially youth. Young folks see the hypocrisy of their politicians and of their churches or synagogues. They are moving away from letting religious zealots control their lives. They are not “stuck” like some of us are. They are organized and ready to do battle. I will look at the link you provided. Thx
Leigh, I hope so….they need to be destroyed as a philosophy. I don’t believe in public executions, as some of the Christofascists have recently advocated for.
Yes, unless "Mom" is a religious fanatic --- but otherwise,
Want to Save the Planet? Empower Women
March 06, 2018
By Erin Myers Madeira, Global Program Lead for Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities
SHARE
According to the World Economic Forum’s 2017 Global Gender Gap Report, gender parity—a statistical measure of a particular indicator between women and men, like access to education or income—is still 200 years away based on the current rate of progress. But as interest and global activism around women’s equality grows, there is strong momentum behind the goal of gender parity, which brings with it progress on everything from rural development to economic growth to conservation.
The International Women’s Day campaign theme #PressforProgress examines the growing energy around the movement towards gender parity and the benefits that come with it. For The Nature Conservancy, staff have seen this change first hand in Northern Tanzania, working with communities on land rights issues through the Northern Tanzania Rangelands Initiative (NTRI), a coalition of ten partners. Leah Orwangas from Sukuro village is one such success story of bringing gender parity closer towards equality.
***** And these considerations are only part of a cornucopia of reasons to accelerate the empowerment of women, with the caveat just noted: no Lauren Boberts, no Marjorie Taylor Greenes, no fanatics period full stop.
“They’ll rule against the drug and the case will be appealed to the Supreme Court where Leonard Leo’s Sovereign Order of Malta holds the reigns of power, and I think we all know what will happen there to the safest form of abortion.” And one result will be more motherless children because not having a safer form of abortion means more women will die. More Men will lose their partners. And on and on…. Very Pro-Life. Absolutely short-sighted and despicable.
Gail, Just between us….I think women will continue to have abortions, no matter what these lowlife men (and women) believe they are enforcing. My grandmother had several and was born in 1894 in rural Poland. She was one of seventeen single births of her mother Sarah. My great aunts all had abortions, all of them. They told me so! The point being that these terrible men think they “control” the female population, but we will resist underground, above ground and will get our rights and freedoms back from this struggle. Never give up.
Wow, this is very probably one aspect of what happens when any religion, any culture, however "well meaning" (????) enforces extreme controls over women, or anyone else for that matter, who is not directly posing a threat of (any form of) violence, etc. to the community.
"Fanatics, ideologues, and absolutists are humanity’s greatest scourge. Whether they’re the leaders or the followers, fanatics are people who indulge in a heady, intoxicating, and toxic concoction of self-affirming, know-it-all confidence that they have unique access to absolute truths, truths so perfect that they have to impose them on everyone.
The absolute truths that fanatics latch onto might be religious or political, right-wing or left-wing, Christian or Islamic, libertarian or communist, new age spiritual or old-time religious. It’s not what they believe that makes them fanatics but how they believe it — that they have the final word, no need to consider further evidence, and no need to ever wonder or doubt themselves again.
Fanaticism is a drug. Let loose on society it's like crack cocaine or alcohol only worse. Fanatics drive through life like alcoholics driving under the influence. They think they’re perfectly fine driving. They kill innocent bystanders, sometimes by the thousands or millions." *****
Jeremy E. Sherman Ph.D., MPP
Fanaticism Is a Disease Like Alcoholism
Fanatics Anonymous 12 Steps: At core, don’t blame the addict; blame the disease.
Yes, women will still have abortions no matter what the "law" says. The further this option is pushed into darkness, the more opportunity for women to be abused by choosing this. You are so fortunate to have had family that spoke openly about abortion. Truly empowering!
The next time one of these mealy-mouthed conservatives starts off on a rant about 'George Soros', show 'em this article. This is the real deal! All those Jew-haters mouthing the name 'George Soros' and 'globalists' need to see who the real anti-democracy conspirators are; and we are seeing what they are doing to us right now. That billion six appears to be real money, as opposed to the mythic machinations of some mythic Jewish conspiracy. Of course, when you make things up, anything goes.
Arthur, hatred blinds reason. They are incapable of seeing anything. They think they are correct in their warped world view and will beat us to death with their stupidity. Just get out and register voters, or whatever you feel will resist them. I feel like I am part of the Warsaw Ghetto crowd….
One has to ask why it has taken so long for Leonard Leo, the evil man behind the curtain, to be revealed? I will read The New Republic article even though it’s likely to stress me out for days. Will Leo’s power be attenuated now that his cover has been blown? Hardly. Plus he’s accomplished much of what was wanted by the Right Wing. The power of $1.6B is substantial, and we’ll never know exactly how powerful. Except that it will influence our politics for at least the next half century, baring some unpredictable major upheavals. I won’t live to witness into what hell this is all going. Hillary Clinton was absolutely right about a Right-wing conspiracy, and she was ridiculed by many intelligent people for saying it.
Richard, for the same reason none of “us” knew about the chicanery of Clarence Thomas for decades! Fascists like to do things under the radar, so they can come in for the kill in a big way: taking over the Supreme Court, changing laws all over the country that interfere in our lives on a daily basis, etc. This is stealth action on the part of the far right. Who ever heard of Barre Seid? I know all about him now, but never, ever knew he existed. OMG.
One of the most shocking things about the article in The New Republic, is that this was all going in in Chicago and I didn't know about it. I've heard of Barre Seid but I did not know the detail of his involvement. I most often hear about Dan Proft (AM radio) and Richard Uihlein (Uline Office Supply) as huge GOP donors. And Ken Griffin who successfully stopped the Democratic effort to have a progressive tax in Illinois (which would have helped so many people but not Billionaires).
This stuff is beyond fiction, it could be the next book in the Dan Brown Da Vinci Code series, but its too unbelievable. While it seems inherently unfair to start blaming a Catholic consipiracy as increasingly controlling our society, we have to look at the facts. Somehow this Catholic cabal has its tentacles everywhere in our politics and law. Protestants must lack ambition...
If there’s a big pot of money surrounded by Republicans I have to wonder how much is going to be stolen.
Like you say, it’s going to take an awful lot to win the hearts and minds of the generation that is not only having control of their bodies taken from women, but has grown up under terrorist threat in schools because of a party that refuses to address guns. You could also likely throw in the failure by Republicans to address climate change. Poster boy would Imhofe with his snowball.
Every Democrat needs to hammer on Dobbs all day every day from now until the election. It's a huge winning issue for us. I really believe both Florida and Texas ie Scott and Cruz are in play next year.
Rubio just won re-election over Val Demings last year. Cruz is up for re-election next year, tho. He has a very good opponent against him in Colin Allred.
Allred is enormously appealing. Cruz is not. Normal, however, is a tough sell in Texas.
Ted has a year and half to charm them.
then he better pony up that check for the charm school real quick.
Changed to Scott...
Yes and Val disappears. She should be strongly supported still. Repugs trying to defund the police she should be speaking for the dems.
Republicans protect and finance their lest, dems don’t help their best!
She wasn’t the problem it was that Crist looked like they dug him up and plastered on the make up.
He was right about home insurance however.
Dems should not ignore that fact yet I haven’t seen it mentioned by the 24/7 news.
More crazy Catholics! Opus Dei !!
I have been talking about this Catholic cabal ever since it dawned on me that all these anti-abortion, etc. people in the Drumpf administration turn out to be Catholic - like Bill Barr, Mick Mulvaney, those SCOTUS guys. Thank you for making this apparent and putting it out there!
I remember when I found out that one of Scalia's sons was a Pray Away the Gay Catholic priest...what an infestation!
my knee-jerk reaction to those pray-away-the-gay guys is that they're protesting WAY too much. my theory is borne out by history; gay people in power have always been the ones who try to get the cruelest anti-gay laws passed. and they usually did
one might assume think that in this time and place, that sort of thing wouldn't be the case any longer. one would also be incorrect.
this whole deal is very, very upsetting.
Lucian is right about the increasing unelectability of Repugs. but so much money! and so many filthy tricks still untried!
but as long as the fucking Electoral College exists...
I didn't want to finish the sentence.
Ok, I will offer one provisional finish to that astute summary: "....we need some version of the NPV":
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Popular_Vote_Interstate_Compact
[**** Already enacted in states w/ 195 electoral votes, pending states with 134,
needs at least 270 ****]
The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVIC) is an agreement among a group of U.S. states and the District of Columbia to award all their electoral votes to whichever presidential ticket wins the overall popular vote in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The compact is designed to ensure that the candidate who receives the most votes nationwide is elected president, and it would come into effect only when it would guarantee that outcome.[2][3] As of May 2023, it has been adopted by fifteen states and the District of Columbia. These states have 195 electoral votes, which is 36% of the Electoral College and 72% of the 270 votes needed to give the compact legal force.
Certain legal questions may affect implementation of the compact. Some legal observers believe states have plenary power to appoint electors as prescribed by the compact; others believe that the compact will require congressional consent under the Constitution's Compact Clause or that the presidential election process cannot be altered except by a constitutional amendment.
***** Debate over effects
The project has been supported by editorials in newspapers, including The New York Times,[7] the Chicago Sun-Times, the Los Angeles Times,[15] The Boston Globe,[16] and the Minneapolis Star Tribune,[17] arguing that the existing system discourages voter turnout and leaves emphasis on only a few states and a few issues, while a popular election would equalize voting power. Others have argued against it, including the Honolulu Star-Bulletin.[18] Pete du Pont, a former governor of Delaware, in an opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal, called the project an "urban power grab" that would shift politics entirely to urban issues in high population states and allow lower caliber candidates to run.[19] A collection of readings pro and con has been assembled by the League of Women Voters.[20] Some of the most common points of debate are detailed below:
*****
{Et cetera, there needs to be a focus on the national debate, where is the Democratic leadership leading on this, anyway??????????????????????????}
Wow. I've had my head buried in a trial all day. I do have a subscription to TNR and I donated $100 just to this investigation I feel so strongly about it. Your synopsis here of this is sickening and stunning and bigger even than I suspected though with Leo around so much lately, always sitting in the midst of the power he helped place, the gut feeling is it would be enormous. Thank you so much for this. This is one subscription I cherish and even more so today. Wow.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2017/01/25/russia-kaspersky-treason-arrest/
In December of 2016, when the Trump Administration transition was in full swing, 2 arrests were made in Russia for acts of treason. Mike Flynn is just the kind of guy who would have his grubby hands all over this. As former DIA Director he may have known the identities of these 2 individuals who were clearly agents for US Intelligence. He was trying to ingratiate himself with the Kremlin and may have been worried what sources in Russia would have to say to the CIA about him.
Flynn is a bad man and we know that one of the very few pieces of advice Obama gave Trump was to not hire him. It's hard for me to accept that President Obama really believed that Trump had any concern at all for our country.
Trump was hired to run for 2 critical reasons, no interest in governance and no empathy for others.
Those reasons and others, which backfired big time:
www.salon.com/2016/11/09/the-hillary-clinton-campaign-intentionally-created-donald-trump-with-its-pied-piper-strategy/
Republican Donald Trump, a far-right demagogue who campaigned on a slew of bigoted, xenophobic policies, has won the 2016 presidential election in a shocking victory few people predicted.
What was not often acknowledged in Trump's heated race against Democrat Hillary Clinton, however, was how her campaign fueled his rise to power.
An email recently released by the whistleblowing organization WikiLeaks shows how the Clinton campaign and Democratic Party bear direct responsibility for propelling the bigoted billionaire to the White House.
In its self-described "pied piper" strategy, the Clinton campaign proposed intentionally cultivating extreme right-wing presidential candidates, hoping to turn them into the new "mainstream of the Republican Party" in order to try to increase Clinton's chances of winning.
The Clinton campaign and Democratic National Committee called for using far-right candidates "as a cudgel to move the more established candidates further to the right." Clinton's camp insisted that Trump and other extremists should be "elevated" to "leaders of the pack" and media outlets should be told to "take them seriously."
The strategy backfired — royally.
On April 23, 2015, two weeks after Hillary Clinton officially declared her presidential campaign, her staff sent out a group message with information for a "strategy call." The email included as an attachment a "memo for the DNC discussion."
pied piper dnc email *** You'll have to read this to see that:
How the Hillary Clinton campaign deliberately "elevated" Donald Trump with its "pied piper" strategy
An email released by WikiLeaks shows how the Democratic Party purposefully "elevated" Trump to "leader of the pack"
By BEN NORTON
PUBLISHED NOVEMBER 9, 2016 9:30PM (EST)
www.salon.com/2016/11/09/the-hillary-clinton-campaign-intentionally-created-donald-trump-with-its-pied-piper-strategy/
*****
The memo, which was addressed to the Democratic National Committee, outlined "the strategy and goals a potential Hillary Clinton presidential campaign would have regarding the 2016 Republican presidential field."
The document stated, "Clearly most of what is contained in this memo is work the DNC is already doing. This exercise is intended to put those ideas to paper."
It continued, "Our hope is that the goal of a potential HRC campaign and the DNC would be one-in-the-same: to make whomever the Republicans nominate unpalatable to a majority of the electorate."
The memo articulated a three-point strategy. Point 1 called for forcing "all Republican candidates to lock themselves into extreme conservative positions that will hurt them in a general election."
At the time, there were more than a dozen Republican presidential candidates. The "variety of candidates is a positive here," the Clinton campaign said.
"Many of the lesser known can serve as a cudgel to move the more established candidates further to the right," the memo noted.
"Flynn is a bad man and we know that one of the very few pieces of advice Obama gave Trump was to not hire him. It's hard for me to accept that President Obama really believed that Trump had any concern at all for our country."
Obama learned at Harvard Law School to "make a record, document what went on" etc.
No way he believed Trump was trustworthy, but be on the record that you tried your best to warn him!
Lucien, we're lucky to have you. Please forgive me, but I must share this -
An astounding revelation: The fact that Republican lawmakers always toe the party line, whether it's about guns, abortion or anti LGBT community tells me that even if some are capable of reasonable thought they do not voice their opinions for fear of being called a RINO so they must be getting money from somewhere or some other kind of gain. Gov Roy Cooper thought he might get one or two on his side but no, He says they rigged the gerrymandering maps in their favor and got the Rebub. strong State Supreme Court to rule in their favor. Dirty tricks and big bucks is the name of the game. But as Lucian points out they may have shot themselves in the foot by inserting themselves between women and their doctor.
I hope and believe that you're right. I have long thought that the end game of these fanatics is to force women out of public life altogether. They will come for the right to vote. After all, women couldn't vote when the sacred Founders wrote the Constitution. They will come after birth control. They are already coming after no-fault divorce.
Since 60% of college undergrads are women, and more women are getting advanced degrees, I’m hoping that more women will also be running for office and winning. This factor could turn the tide, with more women Congressfolk proposing pro-abortion, pro-equality legislation.
At what point do these fanatical “Order-Of-Malta” groups stop seeing their actions as necessary-evil/One-Offs and accept that in aggregate, in principle, and in practice, they’re grotesque?
And threaten our democracy itself.
Ask and ye shall receive, maybe:
Are Religious and Political Extremists Crazy?
Oct 24, 2014
Allen Frances, MD
There is no clear boundary separating religious and political extremism from psychiatric illness. One man's cherished belief is another man's delusion. More in this commentary.
Every time there is a terrorist act or a mass murder, reporters start calling with questions on the psychiatric diagnosis of the perp. The default position seems to be that every religious extremist or political fanatic or mass murderer must be crazy. How else to account for their weird behavior?
Naming a diagnosis somehow satisfies a deep human need to explain what otherwise seems an unexplainable act. But names can only describe, they do not explain.
Our diagnostic system has chosen not to consider fanaticism a mental disorder. But confusion nonetheless arises because there is no clear boundary separating religious and political extremism from psychiatric illness. One man's cherished belief is another man's delusion.
Take a classic example that occurred at the birth of forensic psychiatry. In 1861, Charles Guiteau successfully assassinated President James Garfield-based on the belief that he was God's messenger sent to the US to protect it from an evil administration. His trial created a sensation. More than a dozen expert witnesses divided down the middle on the question of his sanity. Guiteau's own words expressed the issue best: “I would rather be hung as a man than acquitted as a fool.”
The same scenario of adversarial expert testimony, for and against mental illness, has played out over and over again in trials of political and religious extremists (eg, the Unabomber, Breivik, and some religious terrorists). Sincere fanatics detest the insanity defense because it invalidates their beliefs. They too would rather be punished as criminals.
Experts usually can't agree whether a political or religious criminal has done bad or is simply mad. Their canceling out suggests that the question is not really a medical decision, more a societal one. We must accept that there is inherent uncertainty in distinguishing the merely strange from the clinically insane. If we are to call Guiteau crazy for believing himself to be a messenger of God, how do we distinguish him from the many prophets and saints who have been so revered for making similar claims.
Jumping to a fake mental disorder diagnosis in everyone who is violent has another serious downside. It unfairly stigmatizes the mentally ill, most of whom are not violent. The public and the press must accept that political or religious violence is usually just political or religious, not very often the result of diagnosable mental illness.
This fits the wishes of most defendants. They would, like Guiteau, much prefer to be punished than treated - lest their message be muffled. I would agree with them. Unless there is clear evidence of classic, pre-existing mental disorder, I would withhold diagnosis and give them the dignity of whatever is the suitable punishment.
www.psychiatrictimes.com/view/are-religious-and-political-extremists-crazy
My fear is that I won't live long enough to see the GQP and it's owners like Leo buried in that 1.6B mile deep hole. They seem to have cemented themselves in power for now, and people say that they will own the judiciary into the 2060s. This is, of course, in part due to the fact that Democratic leaders refuse to recognize the threat. (Please tell me why Biden didn't have Congress act on the debt ceiling before the MAGA crazies took over???) Given Dobbs, mifepristone, guns and the general hate filled crazy, Democrats have all the tools they need to bury the Republicans in 2024 if they choose to, but will they? Will they put resources into every race in every state? Will they force Republicans to defend seats that should be shoo-ins? Or will they do like they did in 2022 and abandon states like Floriduh letting a loser like Rubio get re-elected and Meatball Puddin Fingers win by a landslide. Or will they fight the crazy and win like Jacksonville and Colorado Springs? Maybe step one is to stop listening to the DC consultant class and start listening to the progressive base that is the heartbeat of the party...and sees the Repukes for who they are, not the party that Biden thinks they are.
Dear God, I hope you are right. The alternative is unthinkable for women. Why, why do they hate us? Maybe you have an explanation, Lucian.
katy and Lucian, exactly my thought as I read your fantastic essay. Why do those men want so desperately to control our bodies? Just beyond me....as a lifelong activist on the left since the sixties.
One explanation is that they feel threatened by women at a very deep, pre-rational level. Women have a power that men do not: the power to have children. The only way some men feel safe is if *they* and other men control that power—keep the women reproducing, and also take away their freedom and autonomy, and make them subject to the control of men. All restrictive patriarchies are built on fear. Women frighten men in another way, by being sexually attractive. Every “honor” culture—like Afghanistan—sees women’s sexuality as an evil power they wield over men, that must be strictly contained, restrained, and owned by their male relatives. Women are killed for disgracing the family’s “honor” by being involved in any behavior that trangresses those rules, such as having sex with a man other than the woman or girl’s own husband—even if the sex act happened because the girl’s father or uncle raped her. All sex deviating from the rules is blamed on the woman—even rape— because she “must have tempted” the man. Controlling his libido to obey the rules is not the man’s responsibility, but that of all the women around him. In a strange way, these cultures give men a free pass for sexual assault: it must have been the woman’s fault. It makes perfect sense that many people refer to the far right wing pseudo-christian anti choice extremists as the American Taliban.
Agree completely, and oddly, so did Norman Mailer in The Prisoner of Sex.
Elizabeth—That's what I've believed since a barroom conversation with a NYDN reporter friend years ago about an immersive series he was doing on the Brooklyn Hassidim. Pondering the men's worship/suppression of women I was struck by an insight rather like a cartoon bolt—of course! Being determinate of who is Jewish or not, in that society women have *all* the power. So all the men—with their physical power—can do is narrow women's power until they reach the limits of their control. That's an extreme example, but I do believe that what drives the conflict universally is women's reproductive power vs men's superior physical strength. Primitive, yes.
One smart Lion's Head person talking to another, although I'm sure your analysis eclipsed his or hers.
Not this time. I had dual citizenship. I don't think Mike Santangelo did. We slugged them down together at Costello's, near the old NYDN bldg. After years at the News, he was a '90 strike casualty and ended up writing the witty Fox bldg zipper—unedited. Mike was in a class of his own; I couldn't compare. Checked out at 80 two years ago.
I love that. Too bad about him.
Elizabeth, (I love your name….) I married an Indian man and live in India now. So I am quite familiar with the “honor” culture you describe. It extends to women who become educated or “date” men when they are young, even if no sex is occurring. They can be murdered for the audacity to live as a “modern” woman. Arundhati Roy is one of India’s most important writers and is under threat of assassination for her opinions on caste and women’s place. The violence against outspoken women under the Modi government is quite horrendous. But to get back to the question of men’s pre-rational level. I also observe that the Christian Fascists in America believe women are only an “extension” of themselves, the way slave owners viewed Black people. We, as women, rejected that idea a long time ago. Black people also rejected that view, but look where we are. SO many dark themes in our society. I am ready for anything to push back against this moment in our history.
This was really a humdinger, Lucian! Leonard Leo is the devil incarnate. Master manipulator controlling the Federalist Society’s handpick justices. Seid, another seedy character with a boatload of money to throw around. They are all despicable. I think you’re right though. They underestimated the power of the people and especially youth. Young folks see the hypocrisy of their politicians and of their churches or synagogues. They are moving away from letting religious zealots control their lives. They are not “stuck” like some of us are. They are organized and ready to do battle. I will look at the link you provided. Thx
By controlling our bodies, they control us.
I believe their hate for women will be their destruction.
Leigh, I hope so….they need to be destroyed as a philosophy. I don’t believe in public executions, as some of the Christofascists have recently advocated for.
Your lips to God’s ears...as long as she’s listening!
Unfortunately liberals and progressives aren't all that fond of us either, unless we're straight, of course, and don't step too far out of line.
Based on international results for decades, my mantra:
Put Mom in charge...everywhere!!!
Yes, unless "Mom" is a religious fanatic --- but otherwise,
Want to Save the Planet? Empower Women
March 06, 2018
By Erin Myers Madeira, Global Program Lead for Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities
SHARE
According to the World Economic Forum’s 2017 Global Gender Gap Report, gender parity—a statistical measure of a particular indicator between women and men, like access to education or income—is still 200 years away based on the current rate of progress. But as interest and global activism around women’s equality grows, there is strong momentum behind the goal of gender parity, which brings with it progress on everything from rural development to economic growth to conservation.
The International Women’s Day campaign theme #PressforProgress examines the growing energy around the movement towards gender parity and the benefits that come with it. For The Nature Conservancy, staff have seen this change first hand in Northern Tanzania, working with communities on land rights issues through the Northern Tanzania Rangelands Initiative (NTRI), a coalition of ten partners. Leah Orwangas from Sukuro village is one such success story of bringing gender parity closer towards equality.
www.nature.org/en-us/what-we-do/our-insights/perspectives/want-to-save-the-planet-empower-women/
***** And these considerations are only part of a cornucopia of reasons to accelerate the empowerment of women, with the caveat just noted: no Lauren Boberts, no Marjorie Taylor Greenes, no fanatics period full stop.
“They’ll rule against the drug and the case will be appealed to the Supreme Court where Leonard Leo’s Sovereign Order of Malta holds the reigns of power, and I think we all know what will happen there to the safest form of abortion.” And one result will be more motherless children because not having a safer form of abortion means more women will die. More Men will lose their partners. And on and on…. Very Pro-Life. Absolutely short-sighted and despicable.
Gail, Just between us….I think women will continue to have abortions, no matter what these lowlife men (and women) believe they are enforcing. My grandmother had several and was born in 1894 in rural Poland. She was one of seventeen single births of her mother Sarah. My great aunts all had abortions, all of them. They told me so! The point being that these terrible men think they “control” the female population, but we will resist underground, above ground and will get our rights and freedoms back from this struggle. Never give up.
Wow, this is very probably one aspect of what happens when any religion, any culture, however "well meaning" (????) enforces extreme controls over women, or anyone else for that matter, who is not directly posing a threat of (any form of) violence, etc. to the community.
www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/ambigamy/201411/fanaticism-is-disease-alcoholism EXCERPT:
"Fanatics, ideologues, and absolutists are humanity’s greatest scourge. Whether they’re the leaders or the followers, fanatics are people who indulge in a heady, intoxicating, and toxic concoction of self-affirming, know-it-all confidence that they have unique access to absolute truths, truths so perfect that they have to impose them on everyone.
The absolute truths that fanatics latch onto might be religious or political, right-wing or left-wing, Christian or Islamic, libertarian or communist, new age spiritual or old-time religious. It’s not what they believe that makes them fanatics but how they believe it — that they have the final word, no need to consider further evidence, and no need to ever wonder or doubt themselves again.
Fanaticism is a drug. Let loose on society it's like crack cocaine or alcohol only worse. Fanatics drive through life like alcoholics driving under the influence. They think they’re perfectly fine driving. They kill innocent bystanders, sometimes by the thousands or millions." *****
Jeremy E. Sherman Ph.D., MPP
Fanaticism Is a Disease Like Alcoholism
Fanatics Anonymous 12 Steps: At core, don’t blame the addict; blame the disease.
Posted November 4, 2014 | Reviewed by Ekua Hagan
Yes, women will still have abortions no matter what the "law" says. The further this option is pushed into darkness, the more opportunity for women to be abused by choosing this. You are so fortunate to have had family that spoke openly about abortion. Truly empowering!
The next time one of these mealy-mouthed conservatives starts off on a rant about 'George Soros', show 'em this article. This is the real deal! All those Jew-haters mouthing the name 'George Soros' and 'globalists' need to see who the real anti-democracy conspirators are; and we are seeing what they are doing to us right now. That billion six appears to be real money, as opposed to the mythic machinations of some mythic Jewish conspiracy. Of course, when you make things up, anything goes.
Arthur, hatred blinds reason. They are incapable of seeing anything. They think they are correct in their warped world view and will beat us to death with their stupidity. Just get out and register voters, or whatever you feel will resist them. I feel like I am part of the Warsaw Ghetto crowd….
One has to ask why it has taken so long for Leonard Leo, the evil man behind the curtain, to be revealed? I will read The New Republic article even though it’s likely to stress me out for days. Will Leo’s power be attenuated now that his cover has been blown? Hardly. Plus he’s accomplished much of what was wanted by the Right Wing. The power of $1.6B is substantial, and we’ll never know exactly how powerful. Except that it will influence our politics for at least the next half century, baring some unpredictable major upheavals. I won’t live to witness into what hell this is all going. Hillary Clinton was absolutely right about a Right-wing conspiracy, and she was ridiculed by many intelligent people for saying it.
Richard, for the same reason none of “us” knew about the chicanery of Clarence Thomas for decades! Fascists like to do things under the radar, so they can come in for the kill in a big way: taking over the Supreme Court, changing laws all over the country that interfere in our lives on a daily basis, etc. This is stealth action on the part of the far right. Who ever heard of Barre Seid? I know all about him now, but never, ever knew he existed. OMG.
One of the most shocking things about the article in The New Republic, is that this was all going in in Chicago and I didn't know about it. I've heard of Barre Seid but I did not know the detail of his involvement. I most often hear about Dan Proft (AM radio) and Richard Uihlein (Uline Office Supply) as huge GOP donors. And Ken Griffin who successfully stopped the Democratic effort to have a progressive tax in Illinois (which would have helped so many people but not Billionaires).
Well that blew my day
Me too, William….🥵
This stuff is beyond fiction, it could be the next book in the Dan Brown Da Vinci Code series, but its too unbelievable. While it seems inherently unfair to start blaming a Catholic consipiracy as increasingly controlling our society, we have to look at the facts. Somehow this Catholic cabal has its tentacles everywhere in our politics and law. Protestants must lack ambition...
If there’s a big pot of money surrounded by Republicans I have to wonder how much is going to be stolen.
Like you say, it’s going to take an awful lot to win the hearts and minds of the generation that is not only having control of their bodies taken from women, but has grown up under terrorist threat in schools because of a party that refuses to address guns. You could also likely throw in the failure by Republicans to address climate change. Poster boy would Imhofe with his snowball.
There’s no amount of money can overcome all that.