The answer to extremists on both the right and the left iis a vigorous pro-democracy movement

The recent success of both MAGA and the Democratic Socialists of America is an alarm bell clanging loudly that extremism in the guise of sheep-bleating appealing messages is wolves in sheep's clothing who lust after the manipulation or outright end of democracy, including replacement by autocracy,  to gain control for their narrow and defined interests. The answer to combatting extremism from both left and right, my friends, is to fight like hell for democracy as we have known it. Reform to strengthen it, cherry-pick some pubic policy ideas from either camp you like or object to, but be glad those of you in the middle can still have the ability to make your voices heard now and in the future.  Democracy is a benefit that includes all of those that are governed ....not just a benefit for one class, or race, or religion, that provides a level field for those aspiring to get their priorities on the table for consideration without fear of retribution and punishment by government.  It is inclusive of all, not just a designated group that is limited to those with shared self-interests.

This opinion is based on a theory that the two-party system requires compromise early in the election cycles and that essentially Americans are not inclined to support extremist platforms hook, line, and sinker. They are mostly looking for problem-solving. There is a significant middle that sloshes back and forth between the two parties, sometimes leaning to the right and sometimes to the left, sometimes retaining party affiliation or registering independent. Ideas from the extremes are cherry-picked and included under a party's umbrella if they narrowly focus on a pragmatic solution to a problem that becomes a voter-pollled demand to fix. https://mufticforumblog.blogspot.com/2026/06/the-big-tent-of-two-party-system-is-not.html

 At this moment, this is becoming more and more evident as progressive candidates hoping for party and independent support have been quick to deny they support the entire Democratic Socialists agenda.,which includes the end of capitalism. However, ;rogressive Democrats do share with the Democratic Socialists concerns about the affordability of health care, gas at the pump, grocery prices, rent, and utilities, and many even embrace universal health care and rail at the stranglehold the ultrarich have on the economy and resulting income inequality,  The impact of the Democratic Socialist will be absorption into progressive wing of the Democratic party of some specific issues and public policies, and a rejection of other specifics in the Democrtic Socialist platform.

The MAGA base is another case, given the hard core cult like loyality to Trump himself and a current purge of those not deemed loyal enough. It is not so much focused on bringing more into their umbrella, but ridding the GOP of non-MAGA and suppressing the opposition with control of media and the process of rules of who can vote and who counts it.  It ridicules the affordability issue at its great peril. Nearly every public policy plank in the MAGA platform is viewed negatively by at least 60  percent of voters polled . Instead, iMAGA is attempting to appeal to social and racial attitudes to consolidate their base and the structure of gerrymandering and hyper-federal control of government power, wielding the weapons of fear and favor..  Their leader is approved by only 39% of voters per current polling. 

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The answer to the emergence of these extremists is to reveal hidden or open agendas and to promote, not just protect, the structure of democracy we have had for 250 years and to strengthen it.   At issue with both extremists is who controls the policies and powers of government: the people of all stripes who have the ability and chance to influence the direction of leaders, or is it the rule in use of power and policies by one ideology, or "strong leader," an autocracy, who issues edicts and orders as laws to be followed?.  

 Both Democratic Socialists and MAGA have it as a strategy to alter the form of representative democracy as we have known it and reshape it to their advantage. If not the form is altered, there are other ways to subvert and reshape it to help accomplish their goals. Their proposals are not equal or alike in the details, but do share some characteristics. Both Democratic Socialists and MAGA are about what kinds of control over the issues of who can and how people vote. Both are essentially anti-democratic because they subtly or openly advocate that one particular economic or social or racial class should rule over the rest of us using the tools of fear and/or favor.  

MAGA's agenda is subtle and often unspoken, but by their deeds, actions, and suppression of opposition's rights, and those they try to suppress are the tell-tales.  To get where they are going is a matter of deduction. On the other hand, the platform of the Democratic Socialists of America is right there for you to read at https://program.dsausa.org/.  Do a Google or ChatGPT search for better bluntness and clarity.   The question becomes what part of this platform does a candidate running as a democratic socialist support. It may vary a great deal, but the exposure is fair game and easy to do.  When it comes to pinning down MAGA candidates, watch for evasion and code words and dog whistles.  That is much more of a challenge, since overt racism is still not politically acceptable, making it hard to get at to what extent it is a factor. Instead, there is more reliance on deduction of observed impacts, practices, and public policy issue stances.

The platform of the Democratic Socialists of America is now under attack by MAGA, and a walk through Google.com  reveals their real goals: restructuring our form of democracy to give power, not to all of the people, but to one economic class, and the elimination of capitalism. There will be plenty of others from the right to decry this platform and call it out.  It is all there in black and white and in print. and easy to do, but in calling it out, the challenge should be truthful and not attach planks onto the backs of every candidate who claims affiliation with Democratic Socialists.  The movement may have a written platform, but adherence is not uniform.    However, there are those in the left who will correctly call out the MAGA movement's portion that empowers white nationalists,, while suppressing those who rightfully object to attempts to control their rights to vote,  or to participate in governance to which they have been entitled by law to do so, and puts an undo burden on large swathes of women and elderly who will find themselves disengranchised by the harshness of the SAVE act to prove citizenship.

On the other hand, the MAGA platform is also an attempt to change the democracy of rule, by and for the people, to rule by one party for the benefit of one leader, for the benefit of a specific cultural/racial group and suppression of those who oppose that. What is driving it is mostly not spoken, or in print,  but what, in dulcet tones, it promotes if rule by white Christians by their actions.  There is no written platform other than a carefully phrased blueprint in the documents of Project 2025.  IN that regard, the MAGA movement is more insidious than Democratic Socialists, but what issues and practices MAGA promotes are also just as destructive of democracy.  The old "by their deeds you will know them," like the replacement of those of color in the halls of DC and the Pentagon, and actions of ICE and others trampling civil rights, such actions are the marker of a movement whose focus and purpose is to boost those of a certain race and gender.  Democracy is government by participation of all of the people, not just for a chosen socio/econommic/racial group.

Neither Democratic Socialists nor MAGA represent the views of most Americans, who are either not aware of how their control of who governs them is being taken away or are too absorbed with day-to-day life to pay attention. Effective politicians may make hay by painting a political party as taken over by extremists or name-calling them as fascists or communists, but it is not that simple. Simple memes and slogans are for simple minds.  Take the time to think and demand answers.  Ask individual candidates a question: do you want one party, one person, to tell you what to vote for and to disadvantage you if you speak out, or are afraid to. My guess is, most Americans would want to be in control, and not controlled by  some one-party, one-ideology, with overt or hidden agendas.  Americans as a whole are just not into political science or ideology so long as they can vote and have a say.   The NO Kings marches, anti-ICE demonstrations against concentration camps, outrage against ICE brutality,  and the demonstrators' success in changing the outcome show that the power is still with the people. However,  if either Democratic Socialists or MAGA have their way, that too, the will of the people, can be shifted away in favor of the rule of one economic class or racial/cultural class.   Democracy is a system that allows for all to be heard to convince others to follow without fear of reprisals.. Democracy is not for the benefit of selected groups to lead and control over others they disdain.. Neither Democratic Socialists nor MAGA look to govern in the benefit of all in their jurisdictions with even-handed fairness. Instead, both favor benefitting some groups over others. MAGA even uses or tolerates threats and fear with unevidenced pretenses to enforce loyalty beyond the ballot box. 

The answer to both extremes is for the great American middle to become aware and alarmed by either extreme end and to support candidates who will represent all Americans, not just their ideological kin, and who support the institutions of Democracy that have served us well. None should rule out reforming those parts that need reform, especially those concerning grift, corruption,  and exploitation of the weaker, however.  There are loopholes and ways through and around laws unimagined by our founders.

 In micro terms, when specific planks of the extremists are frightening to many, each candidate must be asked if they approve what their ideology/religion promotes.  Step one is learning what either extremist movement truly sees as their end game and how they strive to empower a narrow interest that suppresses yours.  Step two is to support and elect candidates who, likewise, support democracy as we have known it for 250 years, which, in the long run, keeps all people being governed with fair and equal exercise of democracy. 

The alternative to democracy is rule by one or a few, with rights of the opposition suppressed by various means and degrees.  This past year and a half illustrates what happens when those put their trust in one person, and that person goes off the rails, and there is no good recourse, except the ballot box.  Trump was elexted in 2024 by promoses of no more foreign wars, and a reduction of the cost of lving: He has now done the opposite, and given his rule by fear and favor, there is no way out of this excepy by fair and free elections, not elections with voting and tabulaiton contorlled by his federal loyalists, but by the fragmentation and folliwing the rules laid out in every jurisdiction to ensure that the vote and count are open with many bi-partisan eyes on the process and not under threat by armed representatives of the federal government.

What is MAGA. How do you define it? The British tried to explain it in their recent AI version of their famous encyclopedia, but it was mostly a description and history of its trail of beliefs. https://www.britannica.com/topic/MAGA-movement. 

Merriam-Webster :political movement calling for strict limits on immigration and a return to policies and practices in place before globalization and especially before the era of globalization that began in the late 20th century"

Wikipedia :'Defining elements of MAGA include Republicans who voted for Trump in the 2020 presidential election and deny the results of that election,^[2] cult-like behavior as followers of Trump, ^[3] political radicalisation, white nationalism,^[4] anti-immigrant beliefs (including nativism), an emotionally intense sense of shared identity, resentment of specific groups of people, identity fusion, moral self-righteousness, belief in social dominance orientation, and prejudiced aggressiveness.^[

My own definition and a pretty sure indication you are a MAGA if you wear the red MAGA hat and still claim the 2020 election really elected Trump.  Election denialism is a mantra that those loyal to MAGA and Trump must utter to qualify as a member of the movement.  It is more than just a pledge of allegiance to Trump and a membership ritual in MAGA. It is MAGA's foundation and rationale of the Jan 6th attempted coup, of federal one-party takeover of elections determining who can vote, how they can vote, and who counts and keeps control of the ballots per the SAVE ACT, and the basis for ICE cruelty,use of violence, paramilitarism,  and concentration camp internments. Evidence is not important to MAGA.  Just "believe"  those who are brown and black are the likely culprits.

Election deniers on the ballot in Colorado:

 https://electiondeniers.org/colorado/#state-candidates-section

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Go home, JD Vance. By my definitiion you are not a real American

 In 2025, JD Vance attempted to make the case that the real Americans were those born before the Civil War, in the most absurd claim that real Americans, as he defined them, were descendants of such settlers. It was one of the most racist and white nationalist concepts one could imagine, but it also was evidence to me that MAGA's core contained many like him. The nation was founded on an idea that people could govern themselves and that "all men were created equal" with the inalienable right to pursue life, liberty, and happiness.  It was not founded solely by white immigrants from England, and even my ancestral immigrants from Yorkshire settling in the colonies had already married a few Germans before the American Revolution, as recent DNA and past research into ancestors by family members and my own at the Library of Congress indicated.  So let us define who is a real American, Vance, and with my own (absurd ) definition, I proclaim I am a real American, and you are not. In fact, Vance, go home.

My (Absurd) Definition of who is a real American: If you cannot trace your ancestry to before 1776, you are not a real American. Only real Americans are those who are members of the DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution) , who take pride in the fact that they were already in the colonies before 1776.  There was a time in my eastern Oklahoma childhood in the Jim Crow 1950's when such ancestry counted in defining social status, and, yes, I even had a small scholarship from the local DAR chapter for college tuition. So take that, Vance. By my definition, just finding your roots in Civil War Appalachia does not count. Go home, Vance. You are not a real American as I (arbitrarily) define it.

https://thereconstructionera.com/j-d-vance-on-the-civil-war-and-citizenship/

White people are poorly treated, claims Trump. His true self is revealed again

 The president just claimed that "white people in this country are poorly treated."Trump's true self is revealed again. I have been trying to find proof, too, that those who are not DEI hurt white people. By eliminating DEI throughout the federal government, the result is not to level a playing field, but to give a green light and to remove a barrier to what nationalists most desire, which is giving their race (and mine), already a heady majority, more of an advantage over others. This is a nation with nearly 40% percent of those not white. This is the white nationalists' dream to increase domination of a majority over a minority, a formula for a past and a future of racial conflict. It is not just divisive, it is dangerous for a future we hope will be peaceful and governed by and for all of the people.

What we now have is a country led by an obvious racist and who includes white nationalists in non-elected, powerful, influential positions in his administration. Now his administration is actively recruiting white nationalists for ICE. The US government seems to have a clear message for white nationalists | CNN Politics Whatever could go wrong?

What is clear is that Trump has built his political base and risen to near absolute power on racism, from birtherism to central park 5 to the golden escalator to constantly documented dog whistles to rally his fellow racists, like calling tiki torch carrying neo nazis fine people. Trump has made it clear that the only migrants he welcomes to the US are Norwegians and White South Africans. How much more blatantly obvious can a racist be?

The real shame is that so many Americans share or tolerate his racism.

The other shame is that his racist whisperer is in his ear daily and given a permission slip to proceed. Stephen Miller on his staff has a long history of white nationalism. If anything, Miller's contribution to the Trump regime is his anti-immigrant stance, including using the cruelty of family separation as a tool and in deporting immigrants without due process. He is viewed as an extremist in these sensitive matters. Given his anti-immigrant reputation, I doubt if the Bill of Rights and the civil rights-related amendments would be high on his required list of curriculum topics. The Southern Poverty Law Center tags him as an extremist.https://www.splcenter.org/resources/extremist-files/stephen-miller/. Miller is in charge of this ICE project aimed at ridding the country of as many brown people as he can under the pretext migrants are criminals when 70 percent of those they grab have no criminal record.. ..but are brown and are both american citizens and who only committed a misdemeanor of being undocumented. Miller's campaign involves eliminating the birthright citizenship of those born in the US and cleansing them from this country.

the-independent.com

Trump says white people being treated ‘very badly’ due to civil rights protections

The Young Republicans spouting racial tropes are descendants of a horrible tradition

 The Young Republicans spouting racial tropes are descendants of a horrible tradition. I have not heard the kind of slurs, the exact words, that these future leaders of a political party spoke since my young days in Jim Crow Oklahoma. The question is, where did this trash speak come from: their parents? Their peer group? Was this the entry ticket for acceptance to a cult...to talk this way? What in the world made them assume that those they consider peers would think this is OK? Whatever it was, it comes from a very awful part of America's past, passed down to generations.. One fall out of being in an isolated ideological silo, listening only to those who fortify hate speech and who they consider as their leaders, is assuming that everyone else thinks the same way and putting this in a chat record, so it is now safe to do it. However, it is a window into the dark soul of these racists who seek to lead a political party. It is a condemnation of those in that party who tolerate such racial attitudes in a country that is so very racially diverse and becoming even more diverse. Fortunately, at least, the current leadership of the GOP put their foot down on these foul-mouthed and said this is not politically correct. It may be too much to ask that those of similar foul hearts and minds change their souls and minds, while powerful elements in the Trump staff, like Russell Vought and Stephen Miller, support and advocate a white nationalist takeover of the governance of this country and are in a position to make it happen. Analysis-Violence, racism, and Nazi praise: The dark side of US political group chats

MUFTIC FORUM BLOG: Racists and white Christian nationalists are laying the groundwork for a future of conflict

For more about the ideology of Russell Vought and Stephen Miller, go to MUFTIC FORUM BLOG: What if it is true: Trump's got dementia as some claim

Then there is JD Vance noting most people do not like people living next to them who do not speak the same language.   With GOP leaders like him, racists and anti migrants will always feel at home. Vance lets his segregationist views slip in new podcast | Opinion

From my August 1, 2025 Facebook post:

For some time I have suspected that the Trump regime's mass deportation policies and executive orders were motivated by racism and discrimination against those with roots from south of our border. or brown people from elsewhere, I have also suspected that after you peel back all of the reasons MAGA supporters use to justify their support of Trump, economy, business interests, religious beliefs, and in spite of Trump and friends' immorality and greed, there is left a large element with the issue that is migrant deportation. Everything else, except mass deportation, seems irrelevant to them. A district court judge just called out Trump's attempt to end all temporary protective visas for migrant refugees fleeing violence, persecution, or natural disasters, racist and discriminatory, and put a temporary hold on the execution of the removal of those holding such visas . The purpose of the special visas was to give refugee status until the conditions in their home from which they fled had improved. The judge found that the condition of their home countries of the plaintiffs had not improved. The evidence of racial discrimination was the words of the Trump regime's administrators themselves. No doubt this will go through the appeal process to end up in the lap of "his" Supreme Court, but the damning language from the judge needs to be cited. For those who protest this ruling, first look in your own mirror.

From: Judge halts Trump's termination of TPS for Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua https://www.msn.com/.../judge-halts-trumps.../ar-AA1JHjR7...

"By stereotyping the TPS program and immigrants as invaders that are criminal, and by highlighting the need for migration management, Secretary Noem's statements perpetuate the discriminatory belief that certain immigrant populations will replace the white population."

Thompson also mentioned comments from Trump and other White House officials about migrants that show racial animus."

"Slavery was not that bad" is Trump's newest propaganda line.

 As part of the White Nationalist influence in the GOP, as personified by Project 2025's anti-DEI purpose, now the Trump regime is trying to rewrite official history (revisionism like the Chinese and Russian communists undertook to justify their policies) by pressuring the Smithsonian to stop portraying slavery as so terrible. Trump says the Smithsonian focuses too much on 'how bad slavery was'   Even now, reference to Trump's impeachments is removed from the Smithsonian because of his objections. Trump’s impeachments have been removed from a Smithsonian exhibit, for now : NPR If the Smithsonian complies, it will become the Trump Propaganda History Museum.  Its lies will be revealed by the preservation of the real history of newspaper report archives and of slavery in America by many institutions not dependent on federal funding. This recent outrage, coupled with recruitment appeals to racists to join ICE "to defend your culture", is the newest example of Trump's racist appeal to some of his core supporters.

To bring this up to date, the persistence of these racist attitudes in my native Oklahoma is that the anti-woke attitudes will be taught to their children in school, as all teachers hired from blue states will have to be screened to get teaching jobs for compliance with anti-wokism..Exclusive: Oklahoma to begin controversial test to weed out ‘woke’ teacher applicants today | CNN Politics  Oklahoma by any measure ranks lowest in education, near the bottom of the 50 states. Oklahoma schools ranked nearly the worst in the nation in new study  Whatever education their children get will now be MAGA's view.  Oklahoma has already banned  DEI on higher education campuses.  DEI ban on Oklahoma college campuses signed into law • Oklahoma Voice.   Nearly 8% of Oklahoma's population in African-American per Google AI, and Tulsa was the site of the most famous racial massacre of blacks  by whites,( Greenwood, 1921), in US history per Wikipedia..

 What is so horrible about this newest example of the racism element in Trump's MAGA movement to paint slavery as not that bad is that slavery has been a part of human history forever, and usually those enslaved were bounty and victims of a lost war, regardless of race or religion, but the uniqueness of American slavery is that those enslaved were of a particular race and color, enslaved because they were considered inferior, less intelligent, less competent, for one reason, because they were black.

. I remember my days growing up as a little white girl in a Jim Crow-like culture in Oklahoma, where I was sat down, not my parents, but by my music teacher,  and told  Negroes were descended from monkeys and were just not equal to white people. I was 12 or so in the early 1950s.  I had been told by my parents, who were from the north, that black people were every bit as smart and intelligent as white people.  They were human beings like us and deserved to be treated likewise.

 There were two attitudes I heard expressed by other adults then, too. It was either that they deserved being cared for because they were inferior to us whites, a paternalistic holiness; after all they got free food, clothing, and housing, and medical care. Say what? Here is what I know. This was in return for work with no pay, rape, beatings of the slackers, and death to those who revolted. Slaves were property.  Starving and sick and unable to work were of no value. Rebellious slaves were to be feared.  Negroes were to be controlled by violence, lynching,  and brute force to keep them in their place. (I am using the word "Negroes"; that was the term used in "polite" white people's conversation then; the "n" word was in more common and open usage.).  Whether Trump himself is like that, he is careful with his words, is a matter of deduction and surmise, but with such statements, he reflects some of those same racist attitudes held in the ruby red south that  I remember from growing up in that culture.  Cudos to  Joe Scarborough on MSNBC today, that those who deny the awfulness of human slavery in the US are like the holocaust deniers.  He is right: both deniers are ...trying to erase the guilt of their participating or approving in acts that are the worst examples of an awful side of human nature.

How the White male backlash to DEI motivates Trumpist policies

 

One of the real quandaries facing American culture and politics today is the White male backlash against the past 60-plus years of the Black civil rights and women's equality movements.  Anti DEI measures are now  official government policy as the Trump regime attempts to force down the throat of education institutions, corporate America, and all of the executive branch of the federal government with their anti-DEI edicts and requirements. Trump and some of his advisors imply, if not openly in words, but in their political actions and policy goals, that White men are by their nature superior to any women and men of color. Publicly, this is not stated public policy, but by their deeds, we can deduct. 

Case in point: remember how quick Trump and his minions were to condemn the crash at the airport at the Potomic on diversity in the control towers? Trump rails against DEI after DC plane crash, but it doesn't apply to air traffic controllers - ABC News

 The anti-DEI movement has its roots in claiming that what we once called "affirmative action" discriminates against white men and therefore does not get us the best quality we need to run the government and the military... Hiring by "merit" standards is preferable to the DEI they now tout. It is a standard that Trump's appointees do not exemplify, but give their support to, anyway.

Whatever you think of their ideological purity, incompetence was never the main thrust of criticism of any Democratic or Republican appointees to important cabinet posts in my memory, and it was particularly diverse in the Obama and Biden years.  If Trump was out to prove the superiority of his race over others, he just illustrated the opposite with some of his very unqualified cabinet appointees, most of whom got his attention as FOX commentators or outspoken MAGA boosters in other positions of power or campaign contributors.   

Touting meritorious hiring as the better standard supported by those so opposed to anti-DEI is, in reality, a deceptive cover for racial and sexist attitudes, as the practices of the Trump administration and appointments in the first 100 days exemplify. Merit was not the characteristic of excellence for these appointments to positions of great power. 

Watching the very white across-the-board appointees to positions of power, cabinet and staff appointees of the Trump executive branch, is visual evidence of Trumpist inclinations. Women are included if they meet a certain standard of being ready for FOX TV types.  Other than that deviation from the white male supremacist attitude, women are still not the preferred hire throughout today's US society. Per a very balanced and down the middle discussion by USA Today of the anti-DEI ideology of Trumpist rule, and not necessarily the rule of law. "Today, white men still dominate the corridors of power.Even with recent gains, Black Americans are outnumbered 12 to 1 by white people in executive roles."  https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2025/03/04/trump-dei-backlash-explained/81170427007/.Still, white males feel discriminated against, having to compete for power with women and men of color.

Given the constant reports of ignorance of laws and the agencies Cabinet members were appointed to lead,(looking more like they were chosen for a TV reality show), the first 100 days do not prove the point that White people were superior just because of their White race. ( Being a billionaire was also a criterion for appointment approval, as well.) Incompetence was right there to observe on TVespecially exemplified by  Homeland Security Secretary Kristi  Noem's feigned or real lack of understanding of the, fith and 14th amendments of the Constituion regarding due process and deportations, and stumble bumble Defense Secretary  Pete Hegseth's abuse of his cell phone for reporting very sensitive military operations in real time. Anti-science Robert F Kennedy Jr, as head of the Department of Health and Human Services, is a frightening example of quacks determining what citizens should believe about immunizations and other issues. Heaven help America if we are faced again with a COVID-like crisis because RFK, Jr. will not be trusted to help. Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s FDA Commissioner Marty Makarty Wants Diabetics to Get Cooking Classes Over Insulin is his newest quackery.

  Topping the charts was Elon Musk's total lack of understanding of the mission of government agencies when he took his chainsaw to them without any regard to what services they provided people needed.  If there was a pattern, those that got the brunt of his DOGE act were those right wing conservatives had been trying to axe for years that provided "socialist" safety nets to the least of those able to care for themselves or protections against corporation practices that screw consumers and the environment.  Musk's incompetence was his lack of knowledge of the wheels of government. This was coupled with self-serving motivation of subversion of agencies of which he disapproved, or harmed his businesses, with the protection of consumers from bad business practices. While he never found large quantities of abuse, feeding kids who are hungry any place in the world, those who are too sick or too old, who need health care, were a de facto waste of money, worthy of his chainsaw.

Above, all uppity women of any color or white need not apply for a job in the Trump administration. They should be especially targeted for retribution by using or abusing the power of the executive branch, calling for their impeachment and jail, particularly if they are judges ruling against Trumpist edicts. Especially singled out for revenge by using abuse of power are educational institution that permits the expression of divergent views on racism and DEI.  Only one view is to be taught: anti-DEI.  

Using Harvard as an example of their revenge against a powerful center daring to stand up for their rights on teaching DEI and anti-DEI both (academia has a way of permitting debate and a variety of views ), has fortunately been temporarily restrained by a federal judge. At stake are First Amendment rights and due process requirements of contract law, research rights and funding of disease causes and cures,  and the denial of foreign student visas. It is as if every foreign student were a Hamas supporter, as anti-Semitism was used as a pretext for their crackdown on Harvard.  This over-the-top abuse of power will probably not stand in courts, but it will serve to put every other institution on notice that they, too, could be Harvard. From the Trump administration's view, public opinion will be on their supporters' side. Anti-pointy heads have been a streak of the political right as long as I can remember, dating back to the Adlai Stevenson campaign loss in the 1950s. Yes, I am that old.

(Note: I am a white  Christian woman who has lived long enough, born in one of the reddest states in the union, served in public office, to be sensitive to certain smells emitted by certain public administrators and elective officials.)

How much of this anti-DEI stuff is Trump himself just being a racist? It was he himself ranting against brown migrants on one hand and welcoming white migrants from South Africa and Norway on the other.  In campaigning in New England and Iowa in the presidential campaign of 2024, it was Trump himself who condemned immigrants at the border for "adultering our blood," straight out of Mein Kampf.  At Iowa rally, Trump doubles down on comments about immigrants poisoning the nation’s blood | PBS News

MUFTIC FORUM BLOG: What Trump's actions reveal about him    Is Trump himself a white nationalist?  A white supremacist?

At Iowa rally, Trump doubles down on comments about immigrants poisoning the nation’s blood | PBS News

Civil rights leaders warn DEI rollbacks could erase hard-fought gains in the workplace.

Without DEI, "we risk reverting to environments where homogeneity is the norm, bias and discrimination go more unchecked and the status quo remains unchallenged, where our nation will increasingly default to the belief that competence and privilege lie first and foremost with white men," said Rev. Adam Russell Taylor, president of the Christian nonprofit Sojourners.

Attacking educators: GOP's newest strategy: keep our voters ignorant

 Attacking educators is GOP's newest strategy: keep our voters ignorant. The comments by Mike Pompeo, former secretary of state, calling the head of the teachers' union, Randi Weingarten, the most dangerous person in America, was not only an over-the-top jaw-dropper but it also signifies a dramatic shift in party affiliation demographics. No, Pompeo, the greatest danger to America is ignorance unfiltered by reason, respect, and knowledge of facts and history. There is no "been there done that" wisdom to temper irrational behavior and blind devotion to conspiracy theories.

Pompeo's reasoning appears to be fed by the political opportunism of one who is a highly educated person when he knows better, appealing to the least educated person: attacking teaching "wokeness" (i.e. history based on fact and not white nationalist racism) as dangerous to the country. This is verbal manipulation that caters to the change in the demographics of his political party. Pompeo is not the only one. Texas Senator Ted Cruz is another highly educated political leader who knows better but has made a successful political career of taking advantage of those less educated. It is sheer intellectual dishonesty. and demagoguery.

Since the beginning of this century, the affiliation of the GOP by education level shifted from those with higher education levels to the lower, less educated. The GOP is now the party of the more ignorant of history and a perspective of looking at facts and evidence without critical thinking

What is "critical thinking"? Here is my definition: taking a thought, looking at various sources of facts evidence, considering pros and cons, how something like that resulted before, and then drawing conclusions. That is deductive That takes literacy and education and consideration of proof and facts. .

There is another "critical thinking" process that starts with a theory Sometimes treating as fact conspiracy theories that sound right and plausible results in their eventually being debunked. Their advocates are believing the theory is correct first and and then theysearch for evidence to prove it., Even then they just disregad facts and evidence to the contrary, developing more theories to explain away emerging facts. (best example: Arizona Cyber Ninja Audits of the 2020 vote that found no fraud and gained Biden 360 votes) In spite of that, those still say the 2020 election was stolen. Inconvenient truth is sometimes too bitter a pill to swallow.

Pompeo says head of teacher’s union is the ‘most dangerous person in the world’ | The Hill

Opinion | Never Forget What Ted Cruz Did - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

CPAC Cheers a white nationalist dictator: is that what the GOP base has become?

 

Is this what the GOP  base has become? It looks like it if the Conservative Political Action Committee attendees in Texas are typical of the extremists who have taken over the GOP. 

 https://www.newsweek.com/viktor-orban-cpac-standing-ovation-globalists-go-hell-texas-1731042

Viktor Orban of Hungary spoke to CPAC to cheer for opposing mixing of races, anti-same-sex marriage, anti-immigrants, and the kind of democracy as we in America have known it for 250 years. He rose to power on racism, anti-immigrant and touting pure Magyar (Hungarian ethnic) Christianity,  and anti-Semitism.  took over all media and the reigns of power in Hungary.   He has virtually assured his presidency for life by changing the country's constitution. He is a full-throated dictator, politely referred to as an autocrat. This is the member-approved preferred vision of CPAC now.  It is not conservatism; it is revisionist, a throwback, to the 1930s.   He is isolated in Europe so he is looking for allies in the US to justify his takeover of a country that is already 97% ethnic pure. One of his chief advisors just resigned, calling a recent racial purity speech as Nazi. 

 https://www.politico.com/news/2022/08/04/viktor-orban-cpac-00049935

https://mufticforumblog.blogspot.com/2022/07/christian-nationalist-dont-forget-white.html  This recent blog posting brings the issue of white Christian nationalism to current US politics

 From my posting in May 2022:

Such wide acceptance of replacement theory is becoming a threat to democracy itself.  This embrace of Viktor Orban of similar racist policies of anti-immigration and Hungarian ethnic domination also brings with it an association with autocracy as a preferred method of governance instead of democracy. FOX's Tucker Carlson's enthusiasm for the autocratic ruler of Hungary inspired the US conservative pac,  CPAC to hold a conference in Hungary and plans more.  Hungary's Orban opens CPAC by telling conservatives "we need to coordinate the movement" of allies - CBS News    Tread lightly, CPAC.  You, too, will find yourself with not only the racist, anti-semitic white nationalism that is Orban's but saddled with his method of governing, which means no press freedom ( or press only permitted that is approved by Orban) and what we would consider in the US, a corrupt alliance between big business and government with rewards going to friends of Orban. An independent judiciary no longer exists.  Hungary is not like the US. Orban could be as racist and nationalist as he liked since 97% of the country is Magyar (Hungarian) and speaks Hungarian.  There are no large groups of minorities. That is not the US now and in the future. Takeover by someone like Orban appealing to white nationalists has not been. would not be, and will not be a peaceful process.  For US white nationalists, Hungary is a fantasyland.  The late Madeleine Albright, our beloved former secretary of state, tagged Orban as a fascist in her best-selling book, Fascism: A Warning "in 2018  mostly because of his racism and his opposition to "liberal democracy".  ( Fascism: a warning)

Hungary: where editors tell reporters to disregard facts before their eyes | Hungary | The Guardian

Living With Corruption: An Examination of Viktor Orbán’s Hungary — COLUMBIA POLITICAL REVIEW (cpreview.org)

 

 

 

Replacement theory is a danger to more than just African Americans ; it is a danger to democracy itself

 Replacement theory is a danger to more than just African  Americans. Victims in the past several years have included Jews, Hispanics,  and others.  It is also a danger to democracy and is a fuel that ignites the afterburners of autocracy. Yearning for autocracy and white domination are wedded and even promoted by influential elements in US media, like Tucker Carlson and FOX, and major conservative organizations. The embrace of Viktor Orban of similar racist policies also brings with it association with autocracy as a preferred method of governance instead of democracy.

 A recent Associated Press story began with a white older woman from Trinidad, Colorado, for over 400 years a corner of my state dominated by Hispanics.  She was held out as an example of a FOX Carlson fan who embraced the "replacement theory", a theory that Democrats were trying to replace white people with too many Hispanic immigrants and Jewish interests like George Soros were behind the effort. This theory, per a recent poll, is a belief that is held by one out of three Americans that those supporting more relaxed immigration policies on our southern border were promoting immigration because the goal was to replace white voters with brown ones at the polls. EXPLAINER: White 'replacement theory' fuels racist attacks | AP News

 The demographic shifts are due to a decline in white population growth, especially among the emerging new generations, and an increase in birth rates of those not white. . Theory or not, replacement theory is fueled by fear of loss of power by white people, who see demographics changing and it has become the tool of entertainers like Carlson and political movements like MAGA  dating to Tea Partiers to either gain advertisers or votes and or power from the like-minded.  I have long believed that such anger, fear, and hate supporting theories were embraced as the truth because the holders of fear, the angry, and the hateful, want to believe in them. This willfulness is fueled by dislike or fear of people who are not like them and exploited and enhanced by the power craven.   I have noticed there are times it has become more public, and other times it has diminished from the "breaking news" and media opinionists.It is raising its public voice again in the past few years.  President Biden said it best: about white nationalism  "It is a stain on the soul of America", in comments about those who have been victims of  a racist/replacement theorist mass killer in Buffalo,  It is wrongheaded thinking to think that victims are only African Americans, but Muslims, Jews, and Hispanics (of any Latin descent )The Decade's Top 10 Incidents of Hate (adl.org) 

 In the American past dating to the 1940s, the object of actions of hate has been directed to include Italians, Irish, and Catholics. Even in the midst of World War II, it existed, yet the rest of the nation saw the evil of tyrants who also exploited hate to rise to power and rationalize the aggression. This is one of those periods in American history that this undercurrent has risen to the surface from a fringe political movement to greater public acceptance and a degree of respectability. Nowhere is mainstream acceptance more evident that the outright embrace of those from CPAC of Vickor Orban, prime minister of Hungary.      https://www.vox.com/2022/5/19/23123050/hungary-cpac-2022-replacement-theory  

This update is also moved to a separate post Hungary: CPAC's fantasyland.:Such wide acceptance of replacement theory is becoming a threat to democracy itself.  This embrace of Viktor Orban of similar racist policies of anti-immigration and Hungarian ethnic domination also brings with it association with autocracy as a preferred method of governance instead of democracy. Hungary's Orban opens CPAC by telling conservatives "we need to coordinate the movement" of allies - CBS News    Tread lightly, CPAC.  You, too, will find yourself with not only the racist, anti-semitic white nationalism that is Orban's but saddled with his method of governing, which means no press freem ( or press only permitted that is approved by Orban) and what we would consider in the US, a corrupt alliance between big business and government with rewards going to friends of Orban.  Hungary is not like the US. Orban could be as racist and nationalist as he liked since 97% of the country is Magyar (HUngarian) and speaks Hungarian.  There are no large groups of minorities. That is not the US now and in the future. Takeover by someone like Orban appealing to white nationalists has not bee would not be and will be not be a peaceful process.  For US white naitonalists, Hungary is fantasyland.  The late Madeleine Albright, our beloved former secretary of state, tagged him as a fascist in the making in  2019. mostly because of his racism. 

The dishonesty and the use of fear of "others" of the Tucker Carlsons of this era, is the claim that Democrats want open borders to get more voters. This is illogical if you give it a minute of thought.  The demographic shifts we are seeing fueling this hate-filled racism are not because of some conspiracy to cause the demographic shift for political gain, It is the birth rate of those already here projected forward.. Immigration only speeds up the timeline  It takes years for even legal immigrants to achieve citizenship and vote. This is a long-term proposition at best and it does not mean such immigrants a decade from now will vote like Democrats.,  Democrats look at alarm now that Hispanics are leaving their camp today, though they are not becoming Republicans, either. More Hispanic Democrats in new poll considering leaving party than Hispanic Republicans | The Hill. The trend is like other immigrant waves that those assimilated into the existing population look to other concerns, including the economy, taxation,   religious, cultural,  and kitchen table issues to inspire their voting. Mass shooters do not stop first to ask if you are here for  400 years, voted for Trump in 2020, or if you arrived yesterday before firing away,  as those in El Paso learned. If you look Hispanic, you are their fair game.  Ginning up fear and loathing of Hispanics and others,, as the right-wing is doing, is no way to win new friends and gain supporters in the future.  It also makes the coming years of these demographic shifts bloody and full of friction with a population searching for a dictator/autocratic strong man to lead them out of such misery.  It has happened before and it is happening now.

Fascism: a warning from Madeleine Albright - Vox   Madeleine Albright on Viktor Orban : fascism is not an ideology; it’s a process for taking and holding power. A fascist is somebody who identifies with one group — usually an aggrieved majority — in opposition to a smaller group. It’s about majority rule without any minority rights. Which is why fascists tend to single out the smaller group as being responsible for or the cause of their grievances.

The important thing is that fascists aren’t actually trying to solve problems; they’re invested in exacerbating problems and deepening the divisions that result from them. They reject the free press and denounce the institutional structures within a society — like Congress or the judiciary.

I’d also add that violence is a crucial element of fascism. Whatever else it is, fascism involves the endorsement and use of violence to achieve political goals and stay in power. It’s a bully with an army, really.  (Her book was written before the violence of Jan.6)

Hungary: where editors tell reporters to disregard facts before their eyes | Hungary | The Guardian

Living With Corruption: An Examination of Viktor Orbán’s Hungary — COLUMBIA POLITICAL REVIEW (cpreview.org)

What the 2020 census will reveal about America: Stagnating growth, an aging population, and youthful diversity (brookings.edu)One reason for this is that the white population declines discussed above are more pronounced among the young. Since 2000, the under-18 white population registered absolute population losses. Meanwhile, millennials and their juniors were born during years of higher immigration. In many ways, from the 1980s through the early 2000s, immigrants and their children have contributed to both the growth and diversity of the nation’s younger population—however, more recently, natural increase rather than immigration is the primary source of Latino or Hispanic population growth. This has led to stark generational differences in diversity. About 60% of the U.S. population identifies as white alone; that figure reaches more than 70% for baby boomers and their elders, but only about half for the combined Gen Z and younger populations, with nearly two-fifths of those groups identifying as “Black or brown.”

The mass shooting in Buffalo is hitting home for some people in El Paso, Texas : NPR

Population: demographic situation, languages and religions | Eurydice (europa.eu)

How Viktor Orban Degraded Hungary’s Weak Democracy (thewire.in)

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The force among us that can eventually destroy our nation: white nationalism

These are my worst fears. Those of us who care about a peaceful and prosperous  United States in the future, free of violent coups and hate, and governments that count the votes of everyone to set their policy course, take a look at this article. We have met the enemy, and they reside among us, living in fear that those who are not white will become the minority in the future.  The march of demographics cannot be stopped by the likes of Tucker Carlson, but the end of democratic governance can be stopped by the conflicts which Carlson and Fox News hype.  Carlson's minute-by-minute stoking of hate and fear show that the more he dwells on the aggrievement of those who share the fears of loss of white domination, the higher his ratings soar.  Those ratings are what fuel advertising income for FOX News and Carlson himself. per this published analysis. https://www.businessinsider.com/tucker-carlson-ratings-support-white-nationalism-talking-points-nyt-2022-4 

  For a future for our children and grandchildren that is peaceful and prosperous, instead of beating the drums of hatred, it is time that these keepers of white nationalism be defeated at the ballot box while the majority today has the ability to do so, and free and fair elections still exist. The future we want will only happen if we start acting now.  Imagine what would have happened if Carlson's predecessor in the 1930s, Father  Coughlin, had become the dominant viewpoint as Hitler had begun the annexation by force and violence pieces of Europe and all of Great Britain.  That is where we are today in 2022 and 2024.   In the words of Rodney King,  " why can't we all just get along?" .  It is that "getting along" that gives us the future we want for generations that follow us. It is in the best interest of white people like me to understand that throughout history, countries devoured by hate among themselves will neither be peaceful nor prosperous. and it is a rot within that eventually destroys the nation itself.   Even in recent times, we need to look no further than the Balkans and the wars of ethnic cleansing in the 1990s to understand what future awaits us if we continue on this course that Carlson channels.     

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/30/us/tucker-carlson-gop-republican-p

Charles E. Coughlin | Holocaust Encyclopedia (ushmm.org)

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