“Because you need me Springfield. Your guilty conscience may move you to vote Democratic, but deep down you long for a cold-hearted Republican to lower taxes, brutalize criminals, and rule you like a king.” — Sideshow Bob, The Simpsons 1994
The writers of a cartoon (the longest running primetime American scripted sitcom) correctly predicted the obvious; while political elites missed it. They saw a tacky salesman ride down an elevator with his model wife, introduced to the podium by his model daughter, to regurgitate a racist, grotesquely macho, shallow social media/right-wing radio cultivated world view, unapologetically into the cameras, to the entire nation. While they laughed at a bankrupted con-man, riding the line between legal and criminal, others saw the star of a “reality show” about business, who lives in a gold tower right in the center of Manhattan. Meanwhile, the Kardashian-Jenner family has risen to the Hollywood A-list for being rich, beautiful, and giving the masses a window into their extravagant lives.
And so the nation that champions Democracy, diversity, and the liberal World Order democratically elected a right-wing populist; espousing authoritarian promises — law and order over due process, borders shut to the tired, the poor, the huddled masses yearning to breathe free, no more globalization, America First!, nukes and torture are on the table — He promises to “Make America Great Again.™” The slogan resonates with many because it has the leeway to manifest uniquely in the imagination of each individual, but underneath the emotion — it invoked a vote for a leader that will make the declining American Empire great again.
Historians warn of the disturbing parallels between the trajectory of Trump’s rise to power and other brutal authoritarians. It begins with scapegoating minorities, nationalism, tapping-in to the pain of economic hardships and offering promises to return to better times. The initial gains are through a democratic election, and reminiscent of Hitler’s playbook to power. It wasn’t until the burning of the German Parliament building, the Reichstag Fire, that the German Third Reich’s descent into horror actually began. Below is an excerpt of the event from the United States Holocaust Museum’s website:
On February 27, 1933, the German parliament (Reichstag) building burned down due to arson. The government falsely portrayed the fire as part of a Communist effort to overthrow the state.
Using emergency constitutional powers, Adolf Hitler’s cabinet had issued a Decree for the Protection of the German People on February 4, 1933. This decree placed constraints on the press and authorized the police to ban political meetings and marches, effectively hindering electoral campaigning. A temporary measure, it was followed by a more dramatic and permanent suspension of civil rights following the February 27 burning of the parliament building.
Justified on the false premise that the Communists were planning an uprising to overthrow the state, the Reichstag Fire Decree permitted the regime to arrest and incarcerate political opponents without specific charge, dissolve political organizations, and to suppress publications. It also gave the central government the authority to overrule state and local laws and overthrow state and local governments.
We are living in a political atmosphere where the end of American Democracy is possible, and so, we must be on red alert for the “Reichstag Fire.” My generation remembers the days following the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Towers and the Pentagon when the Government sold the American people two costly wars. Wars based on false intelligence and flawed strategy, in addition to stripping civil liberties through the Patriot Act, and the dismissal of international laws, enshrined in the agreement of the Geneva Convention, to employ torture and indefinite detention of prisoners without a charge at Guantanamo Bay Prison. Although the nation is still paying the heavy economic and political costs of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, they are essentially the consequences of American imperialism. Considering the coalition of the (alt) right-wing fringe and corporate oligarchy present in the Trump administration, the world-wide resurgence in Nationalist governments, ambition for global dominance seen in Vladimir Putin’s aggressive pursuit of Russian territorial influence, and China’s pursuit of global economic dominance — the pot is boiling hot for the rising global powers to bait the declining global powers into World War III. Both sides are ready to gamble on the opportunity to forge a New World Order.
The Trump “Reichstag Fire” will be unique to the current social climate in America in that it will not be a single chaos-creating event, but an escalation of events occurring in an atmosphere of chaos due to an inundation of misinformation and repetition of falsehoods until they are true in the minds of the public. Trump’s tweets, “Alternative facts”, Sean Spicer and Kellyanne Conway, are all elements of the smoke. But, the first of what we can anticipate in a series of “Reichstag Fire” events took place last Thursday, April 6th. President Trump ordered the launch of Tomahawk Missiles at a Syrian airbase, in response to a chemical attack on Syrian civilians for which the government blames the Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad. The following day, the Republican Party took the final step to conclude an unprecedented, unconstitutional and undemocratic power-grab, confirming right-wing jurist Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court.
The chemical attack itself leads to many questions — The US has known Assad to use chemical weapons throughout the Syrian Civil War, so why did a Republican Congress deny President Obama’s request to strike Assad earlier in the war? Why would Assad carry out a chemical attack now that he has nearly won the war? Are we certain Assad orchestrated the attack and the video is current? Could other agents in the region be responsible; such as ISIS, other rebel groups, Iran, or Russia? Or, was the footage of the attack propaganda, such as discredited accounts of Iraqi atrocities used to justify the first Gulf War, and false intelligence claims alleging the development of “Weapons of Mass Destruction” used to justify George W. Bush’s Iraq War? And, if footage of “beautiful babies” suffering from a chemical attack compelled Trump to launch an airstrike into Syria, shouldn’t the image of a dead Syrian boy washing up on the shores of Turkey have persuaded Trump to ask the American people to assist with the Refugee crisis, as opposed to denying asylum?
The attack of the Syrian airbase opens another can of worms. Trump’s opposition to US military intervention in the Syrian civil war to oust Assad is well documented in his Twitter feed and campaign platform; presenting a shift from the US foreign policy of regime-change interventions to defeating ISIS and other Islamic extremist groups. Assad first crossed President Obama’s “red line” by using chemical weapons in the civil war. Yet, the President’s request to Congress to grant an authorization to use military force (AUMF) against Assad was denied by the Republican Congress and criticized by Trump. This blatant 180-degree flip suggests the Trump administration is not telling the American public the truth.
Democrats point out that the airbase was operational the next day. This isolated attack aimed at Vladimir Putin’s ally is merely a stunt to deflect from the FBI and congressional investigations into collusion with the Russian regime. Fringe right-wing spokespeople such as Alex Jones and Mike Cernovich allege Trump has succumbed to the interests of the “US deep state” and establishment interests. It’s possible the Trump administration is just desperately grasping for moral authority abroad and at home, and the missile strike on Assad was simply low hanging fruit. Earlier that day, before the missile strike, Trump greeted the Chinese President Xi Jinping for the first face-to-face summit between the heads of state of the two largest World economies. Trump’s rhetoric towards China on the campaign trail was aggressive, yet his actions while in office have fallen short. The coincidental timing of the missile strike could serve a dual purpose: 1st — a show of strength to bump weakness in dealing with China from the news cycle; 2nd — a stunt to leverage Chinese cooperation in deterring North Korea’s Nuclear program by displaying Trump’s willingness to attack rogue states. Regardless, Xinhua, Chinese state media dismissed the attack as a weakened leader flexing his muscle in an attempt to distance himself from pro-Russia allegations.
The following day, Senate Republicans went through with the “nuclear option” to confirm Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court, securing a conservative, pro-corporate-leaning court. Under the rules of the US Senate, they did not have the votes, so they changed the rules; as authoritarian regimes do when they seize power. The Court appointment occurred in the shadow of the missile strike, as the media debated the premise and legality of Trump’s action. In unison, both supporters and critics of the Trump administration condemned Assad and praised Trump for showing force.
The seeds for a new regime change war without the authorization of Congress have been planted. This is the first in a series of events intended to culminate in a collective mind-hack of a public critical mass. Instead of gambling on one event, the Trump administration will steadily roll out an escalation of events to achieve the administration’s ends. While many of Trump’s critics are breathing a sigh of relief from his low approval ratings, failed healthcare bill, and wheels in motion for impeachment, we should all remember Trump’s ability to overcome scandal and negativity surrounding his own persona by staying in-tune with the electorate’s fears and anxieties. Make no mistake, a dangerous man is in power and Democracy is at stake. In the absence of fierce opposition challenging Trump and his party, the administration will continue an incremental progression of “Reichstag Fire” events until there is no turning back.
UPDATE: 4/13/17
Airstrikes in Syria led by the American-led coalition fighting the Islamic State kill 18 Syrian fighters allied with the United States.
US military has dropped the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast Bomb (MOAB) on ISIS targets in Afghanistan. It is the first time the military’s largest non-nuclear bomb has been used, according to US officials. The bomb drop signifies a shift from the Obama administration’s approach to minimize civilian casualties.
President Donald Trump praises the US military and asserted his authorization of the MOAB dropping in Afghanistan. When asked by the press if the bomb was dropped to send a message to North Korea, Trump doesn’t confirm, however states “ North Korea is a problem, the problem will be taken care of,” and alludes to China’s role is resolving the issue, with confidence in Chinese President Xi Jingping to try hard to assist the US with North Korea. Donald Trump posted a bold tweet about North Korea just 2 days earlier.
