Do women have the balls to be president? Trump, Vance "mysogynistic pigs"?

 Our family, fortunately, has the ability to interface with people of many views.  Here is what he got from an associate, absolutely the craziest train of thought and a dangerous one from a dedicated Trump supporter.  A recent conversation hit two Trump/MAGA hot buttons: misogyny and why Dictator Trump should be elected to avoid nuclear war. The misogyny thing got an angry snort from me and reminded me of the time when I was told I had balls. https://mufticforumblog.blogspot.com/2024/09/newest-magalland-craziness-way-to.html

Vance's attack on women who are childless cat women and Huckabee Sanders as women who do not have their own children as not humble enough are echoes of a bygone era where women knew their place, and it was not out in politics. They were slurs meant to appeal to Trump's male heavy support. https://19thnews.org/2024/09/poll-women-driving-harris-lead-over-trump/  

It also got Liz Cheney's dander up, too. Talking about balls, she has 'em. She called Trump and Vance "misogynist pigs".Liz Cheney Rips Into ‘Misogynistic Pigs’ Trump and Vance to Hoots and Hollers (msn.com)

Let us talk about this misogynist twist. One of the strangest results of my attempt to run for mayor was to oust a powerful political boss of a major city so Denver could have a modern future in which people wanted to live, which left me with mixed feelings. I almost did it, coming in second in a nonpartisan field of 13. The big guy still won, but his age and incompetence got him, and Federico Pena won the next election, got us to imagine a great city, and created one, too, in two terms as mayor of Denver, later serving in two presidential cabinet posts.   After my election, the word came around that "boy, did I have balls". Yes, I was fearless, and yes, I had verbal skills. I guess that was the highest compliment I could have gotten in the early 1970s as the first woman to attempt to run for that position (and in modern times, the first to run for any city-wide office).   

So hats off to Harris, who had the balls to take on drug cartels and a four four-year apprenticeship to get to know every foreign leader and threat in this world,  She has the balls and the experience, unlike the amateur elected in 2016 TV star with no comparable government or national security experience and a reputation of a great businessman (that we know now was based on fraud, deceit, and multiple bankruptcies. ) His only management skill was modeled after mob bosses, based up ginning fear , lies, threats, and taking retribution against the opposition, perfectly suited for becoming a dictator (which is a mob boss in national political power).

Do you have no balls, women? I'll pit Indira Gandhi, Angela Merkel, Margaret Thatcher, Queen Elizabeth I, Queen Victoria, Catherine the Great, and Golda Meir against any man, regardless of politics and lifestyle. Some were monarchs, and some did it within democracies. My family member, male, almost 60, white, hopes that Harris comes across more like Iron Lady, still ladylike, Thatcher, and paints Trump as a belly-up appeasing coward who can't understand why anyone would die defending our country.

It also got Lia Cheney's dander up, too.  She called Trump and Vance "misogynist pigs".Liz Cheney Rips Into ‘Misogynistic Pigs’ Trump and Vance to Hoots and Hollers (msn.com)

OK, now for the dictator crap:

Destroying democracy as Trump can do on day one by signing all the already prepared documents submitted by his supporters at the Heritage Foundation's Project 2025,. All can be done with his newly granted immune powers to set a dictatorship in motion.  It would not be like a frog in gradually boiling water. The Heritage Foundation plans to do this in the first 180 days. Turning back civil and women's rights and health care to the 1950s just "might" be resisted, and the internal chaos that would cause would simply make us more vulnerable to those taking aggressive action. Destroying mutual defense treaties would mean we would be on our own, and Western Europe would go its own way regarding Russian aggression, while Trump would just let Putin have Ukraine. So that is just for starters. He's an appeaser and a belly-upper.   

 Ultimate hawk Dick Cheney, former VP, just announced he was voting for Harris in no uncertain terms.Trump responded "he's irrelevant". He can only hope. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/ten-former-top-us-military-officials-back-harris-call-trump-a-danger-2024-09-09

 Business cannot be conducted in that atmosphere, and high tariffs, according to every Nobel prize economist in the world, and businessmen know themselves only lead to high inflation, probably recession, and moving manufacturing out of the US to avoid retaliatory action.  That is why Wall Street, led by Goldman Sachs and others, is beginning to wake up and panic at the thought of Trump implementing his plans.  Good luck to our economy and national security in the next four years of Trump's presidency.   

We also tried America First out once in the1930s; we watched English PM Chamberlain declare peace in our times as he handed the Czechs over to Hitler, and Japan saw us without the political will or ability to defend themselves. Appeasement ended in Dec.7 1941. It was an epic miscalculation that took four years of epic death and destruction to resolve, and that was until we dropped our nuclear bombs on Japan. Now, every big power aggressor has the ability to do the same to us.  

Coalition politics? A rare word in American political science could help Harris.

Updated and revised: 9/6/2024 to reflect a day of breaking news

A loose coalition of unified Democrats with anti-Trump, pro-democracy Republican voters may be where Harris has the best chance of finding enough votes to win in November. A pro-democracy coalition is beginning to gel, and the potential is significant.  This is coalition politics American style, but the term "coalition" is not usually on the tip of our tongues. Still, about 18% of voters have not made up their minds, per a New York Times report of polls, and demographically, in critical swing states, they are more male, young, white, and less well-educated than the average voter, which favors Trump. The disaffected registered Republicans are Harris's better potential for a win. They tend to be better educated and moderate and understand and fear Trump's aspiration for a dictatorship, a sentiment shared with Democrats.

 This election is still up for grabs, and Harris has reason to call herself an underdog. The coalitions, as always,  in the US will be resolved intraparty before November 5,   forced by time and structure set state-by-state election-related laws to resolve their issues within the two-party system months before the actual presidential vote. This differs from European parliamentary coalition politics, where coalitions are decided after the national vote between parties, and those in the winning coalition keep their party affiliations and choose their nation's prime minister. 

The orphaned "Haley voters" are estimated to be about 20 to 25% of registered Republicans. They are still sorting themselves about whether to sit this election out, vote for Harris, or revert to party loyalty even though the party is not like old times.  The money and GOP apparatus are clearly in the hands of MAGA, so those Republicans still toying with how they will vote will be a matter of many individuals making the same decisions on their own if they are to be significant in the final outcome. So much will depend on the the debate on September 10. In some polls, about a quarter of Republicans are showing favorable opinions of Harris, but that does not mean they will vote for her. They will have to put country over party and feel comfortable doing it. Harris has a chance to make them feel comfortable in that debate. 

I do not recall anything like that happening in our recent extremely polarized climate and a 50-50 division. One reason for this phenomenon is MAGA's reversing policies and values held by GOP's long-time party loyalists as defined by Ronald Reagan. (strong defense and alliances, free trade, rule of laws and order, while supporting traditional elements of libertarianism, keeping government out of private lives, low taxes favoring big business, trickle-down economics, low debt, and minimum government spending on social aid services). The traditional Republicans holding onto these beliefs have been depowered and roughly identified as the " Haley voters", dissidents to be dissed and Trump has treated them as such. Their numbers are estimated to be around a quarter of registered Republicans. Ironically, Nikki Haley herself tepidly stayed loyal to Trump. However, he never has made use of this fealty, while others, like the Cheneys, put fear of the Trump threat to democracy above party. On the other hand, Harris has moderated some positions to become more centrist and said she will include Republicans in her cabinet. She gets it.

The coalitions, as always,  in the US will be resolved intraparty before November 5,   forced by time and structure set state-by-state election-related laws usually to resolve their issues within the two-party system months before the actual presidential vote. Third parties and RFK Jr have already become non-factors in 2024 or have already aligned themselves with Trump or not. Political parties are not even mentioned in the Constitution. FYI Their institutions are protected by laws and legislation and the First Amendment. 

Liz Cheney's announcement on 9/4/24 that she and her former vice president's father, icons of traditional conservatism,  would vote for Harris because of Trump's threat to democracy is very significant. Later, Dick Cheney issued a confirming statement. Their evolution of thought began with what happened on January 6. Liz Cheney also announced support for Colin Allred (D-TX) running for Senate to unseat GOP Texas senator Ted Cruz. Cheney was giving a permission slip for those feeling like her to get the guts to go public and vote for Harris (and Allred), even if they had planned to vote their feelings in the privacy of the ballot box. The Democrats threw out the welcome mat. VP candidate Tim Walz reclaimed the flag and patriotism for Democrats. At the Democrat National Convention, even mention of John McCain's name got cheers, and speaker reference to Ronald Reagan got sincere respect.   Democrats similarly fear Trump would try to turn us into a dictatorship on behalf of white Christian extreme nationalists. The progressive left tolerated it and pragmatically joined in a unified party. A loose pro-democracy coalition of shared spirit was formed.  Disaffected Republicans and Democrats agree with enough issues and ignore others to make it possible. Whether this is a permanent coalition and/or party re-alignment is yet to be seen, but it is certainly a possible game-changer for November 2024, where margins are slim and every vote counts.   

Liz  Cheney also upped the ante on branding Trump and Vance when she called them "misogynistic pigs".   It also got Lia Cheney's dander up, too.  She called Trump and Vance "misogynist pigs"

 In another profound switcheroo but less impactive, Trump finally admitted openly that the 2020 election was not stolen. The big lie was indeed a big lie, it appears. That will have a very limited impact on the immediate upcoming November election. The Trump plans to screw up and turn the election into chaos are already in place in swing states. Whether a violent mob can re-enact January 6 is more unlikely to happen if they realize they were just Trump's pawns bought in a store of lies. Nick Fuentes, the insurgent violent mob leader, expressed his anger at Trump for lying to him.   This will not cause violent militiamen to lay down their arms, but it might dampen their participation in a January 6 repeat. MAGA already has their election-denying administrator loyalists in place to gum up the election, and facts and truth never seemed to dampen their support of Trump in the past. The "stolen"  line was more of a code and cover for their anger and frustrations to which Trump appealed.

. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/09/05/trump-admits-lost-2020-enrages-supporters/75086053007/

https://apnews.com/article/harris-cheny-duke-university-liz-dick-55852b4dffc447413616a01b6a38c920

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/former-republican-vice-president-dick-cheney-vote-harris/story?id=113467122

No more pussyfooting around. Time to call Trump a " wannabe fascist dictator?"

The New York Times today made a case for calling Trump a fascist, though they still tagged him with being a wannabe "autocrat. It was front page. While  The Times itself did not call Trump a fascist, it instead presented the evidence of how he fit the definition. Trump’s Dire Words Raise New Fears About His Authoritarian Bent - The New York Times (nytimes.com) Too bad America cannot get the full article because of the paywall. Still, the probability is frightening he could get his hands on the ability to carry out his plans.  This is not bloviating by a crazy, out-of-control megalomaniac. The Heritage Foundation has the money and the pre-vetted lists of loyalists who will replace the executive branch appointees not pledging loyalty or having a history of disloyalty to Trump. They are ready to go the minute Trump takes the oath of office and to get the job done within his term. MUFTIC FORUM BLOG: How the Heritage Foundation plans to turn us into a one party autocracy There is a large mass of Americans who already buy into\, ignore, or even applaud what he promises to do if he gets into the White House again.  They tacitly or consciously approve of his breaking the rule of law to do what he promised.  FromThe Times article:" A survey released last month by the Public Religion Research Institute found that 38 percent of Americans supported having a president willing to break some rules” to “set things right” with the country. Among Republicans surveyed, 48 percent backed that view."  Once Trump is successful in implementing his plans for citizens to take back democracy as they once knew it,  it is too late. Citizens have, by then, lost the power to do it through the ballot because the ballot is also under the control of Trump and his followers. There are plenty wanting to take his place if age overtakes Trump. If you are applauding what Trump is planning, you need to look in the mirror and wonder if you, too, have earned the tag of fascist.

 The Times article includes evidence of how Trump fits the definition. But first, the definition is based upon an analysis of past and current dictators (whatever their rationalization to garner personal power) .  "Fascism is generally understood as an authoritarian, far-right system of government in which hypernationalism is a central component. It also often features a cult of personality around a strongman leader, the justification of violence or retribution against opponents, and the repeated denigration of the rule of law", said Peter Hayes, a historian who has studied the rise of fascism...".   Another export source quoted in the Times article also said such fascist dictators rose to power by catering to those who think they have been victimized. "Past fascist leaders appealed to a sense of victimhood to justify their actions, he said. “The idea is: ‘We’re entitled because we’ve been victimized. We’ve been cheated and robbed."

My comment follows: Getting really close to Trump earning the tag: "wannabe fascist dictator". The pussyfoot term in use in the polite and liberal press has been "autocrat."  Way too kind for someone who now promises to imprison his opponents and is already making his enemies list that he will use for (his) Department of Justice loyalists to indict and jail, which he adds to daily. Maybe just "dictator" will do.  On the other hand, if the bird walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it probably is a duck. Trump is quacking like a fascist, and others are walking and acting like fascists on his behalf.  Today, it is Liz Cheney.  When he threatens to imprison any general who refused to call up the active military to put down demonstrations against him abusing the insurrection act, what does that describe?  If he promises to use the FCC to shut down media news who does not support him, where have you heard that before?,   If he describes those opposing him as "vermin"n" and says that illegal immigrants will contaminate "our blood",  he took a page from the German fascism of Goebbels and Hitler? That is how fascists get citizens to go along with their persecution by making them these targets less than human or lesser than their ruling class. Empathy has no place in that society. Even better, make the lesser than your race or class to blame for your ills and deserving your hatred. and oppression. Examples of that are Jewish bankers and, now, personified by George Soros by contemporary anti-semites. For Trump, the target is the "deep state, who dared during his first term to tell him "no."  That includes Genera Milley who refused to use active military to put down domestic protest. Root it out, he says, and replace it with his loyalists.   And if you tend to excuse this as just demagoguery, bloviating, and entertaining, you are a fool because the plans are already there and being funded to replace every executive decision appointee identified as "disloyal to Trump", including more of the judiciary, and lists of the loyal are being gathered, he can do it within four years.  Won't the Civil Rights Act or the Constitutional amendments protect minorities' access to the ballot? Not if yesterday's federal judges ruled that complaints about such violations can only be brought by the Justice Department, not citizens. That one will eventually make it to the Trump-appointed Supreme Court, which already gutted the rest of the Voting Rights Act.  Violence in support of Trump is approved and justified, not just on January 6.   If there is no ruile of law, there is the rule of Trump, and that one raised alarm bells even among conservatives. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/nov/21/anti-trump-conservative-lawyers

Trump Vows to appoint special prosecutor to ‘go after’ Biden if former president wins in 2024 | The Hill

Federal court threatens to deal a death blow to the Voting Rights Act (nbcnews.com)

MAGA Calls for Liz Cheney to Be Jailed: 'Guilty of Treason' (newsweek.com)

Trump suggests Mark Milley should be executed in possible breach of pre-trial release

 conditions (yahoo.com)

Trump Attacks 'Gutless Pig' Bill Barr for Calling Indictment 'Damning' (rollingstone.com)

MUFTIC FORUM BLOG: Trump fans the flames of violence, yet calls himself the law and order president updated

Trump’s Dire Words Raise New Fears About His Authoritarian Bent - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

After Calling Foes ‘Vermin,’ Trump Campaign Warns Its Critics Will Be ‘Crushed’ - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

MUFTIC FORUM BLOG: What Trump plans for his second term and how he will do it

 

A note to those on the left: Bravo, Liz and here is why

On this 4th of July weekend, a note to those on the left: Bravo, Liz, and here is why...

 I know there is a lot of chatter from the left that Liz Cheney does not deserve great praise because on public policy issues she is a hard-core conservative, but here is why I am with her:.In the pyramid of my political concerns, the continuation of democracy is at the very top. Everything else in public policy is secondary because, without democracy, people themselves can not shape public policy. In one way, her conservative credentials give her even more credibility than anyone else on the committee because she has that singular agenda not tied to public policy issues and political ambitions. What she has done is shine her brilliant light like a laser with her clear thinking and plain talk on how America almost lost democracy on January 6. Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Bravo, Liz

Liz Cheney and the Emperor's New Clothes

What I wrote on May 5. May 11, Liz Cheney delivered her parting shot and said it more eloquently yet clearly stated.. http://www.cnn.com/2021/05/11/politics/liz-cheney-floor-speech-full-remarks/index.html    

 May 5: Democracy dies when a wannabe Emperor demands you lie about his nakedness. The attacks against Liz Cheney for standing up against the rest of her party is an example of what happens when party discipline and loyalty to a person leads to the end of democracy.  She was like the little boy in the crowd who in his innocence shouted out the "Emperor has no clothes".  In this case, the emperor was cloaked in a big lie that he really won the election because of nonexistent fraud.  Here is where the folk tale and the actual crowd reaction part company.   In the tale the crowd erupts into laughter and the Emperor is shamed.  In 2021, the GOP crowd cheers him on and shames Liz Cheney. 

  It would be the end of the story if such a litmus test of having to perpetuate a lie to keep power is no fairy tale parade.  It destroys faith in the fundamental characteristic of a functioning democracy, the vote of the people. When most of the GOP loyalists refuse to look at the evidence, grasp at every fantasy straw to justify their blindness, that is the danger to democracy.  When they do not believe their eyes and continue to opine that the leadership of the January 6 mob was just having a wild time, that is a fundamental danger to democracy.  When they contend that those violent rioters were just kidding about frightening Congresspeople into overturning the election,  it is themselves they are kidding.   When the naked Emperor has become so powerful, when he continues to flaunt his nakedness and continues the royal march unshamed, it threatens democracy by forcing even those who know a lie when they see one to bow down to him.  They must think and speak as he demands to show loyalty to him the person, or be banned from his kingdom.  This democracy that depends on the loyalty to process and the rule of law and the trusted vote of the people is in grave danger.

I wrote the following May 5; May 11, Liz Cheney delivered her parting shot and said it more eloquently. http://www.cnn.com/2021/05/11/politics/liz-cheney-floor-speech-full-remarks/index.html      While on many. public policy issues, I would differ with her, she ended her remarks that the conservative principle was devotion to the rule of law count me as a conservative, too

Facebook continues its ban on Trump but will re-examine in 6 months. The reason: the threat of violence is still real. I see what this means. This is a implication that Trump's posts incite violence and that "stop the steal" is still the slogan Trump continues to exhort. https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2021/05/05/facebook-trump-ban-permanent-oversight-board-ruling/4377852001/