This past week the front page of DailyKos has
repeatedly referred to MAGA as a
cult or a
gang. Although those are apt comparisons, neither of those labels fully describe the
phenomenon that is MAGA. Yes they share many of the same characteristics, but the distinction is one of scale and intent...
The Washington Post estimates that 1 in 10 Americans: reject the results of the 2020 election, embrace candidates who likewise reject the results, approve of the Capitol Riot, and consider violence a valid political tool... For our convenience these people currently label themselves MAGA.
President Joe Biden
MAGA Republicans do not respect the Constitution. They do not believe in the rule of law. They do not recognize the will of the people. They refuse to accept the results of a free election.
And they’re working right now, as I speak, in state after state to give power to decide elections in America to partisans and cronies, empowering election deniers to undermine democracy itself.
MAGA forces are determined to take this country backwards — backwards to an America where there is no right to choose, no right to privacy, no right to contraception, no right to marry who you love. They promote authoritarian leaders, and they fan the flames of political violence that are a threat to our personal rights, to the pursuit of justice, to the rule of law, to the very soul of this country.
They look at the mob that stormed the United States Capitol on January 6th — brutally attacking law enforcement — not as insurrectionists who placed a dagger to the throat of our democracy, but they look at them as patriots.
It’s quite possible that 33.19 million potential domestic terrorists live among us, and for reasons only they understand... mistakenly believe they are in the majority. 43% of the people who voted for Trump in 2020, and about a third of the people who support our worlds most famous criminal defendant, profess a willingness to use force in furtherance of their political aims...
RawStory
Nothing is being done to curb Donald Trump from encouraging violence in his name – so it's only going to get worse, an expert wrote Thursday,
Threats against judges and prosecutors are escalating, and members of the grand jury in Georgia have become targets of some Trump supporters with their names, photos and, in some cases, addresses posted online. Judge Tanya Chutkan, in particular, was targeted with racist threats to kill her if Trump is not elected in 2024.
Meanwhile, Republicans – whether they're Trump allies or not – aren't stepping in to lower the temperature.
The MAGA subset we call deplorables constitute an insurgency in my opinion. They continue to support those who attempted insurrection on January 6th 2021, they still worship the criminals who “masterminded” a failed coup, and they purport to be one trigger event away from armed rebellion…
Salon
Law enforcement, terrorism and national security experts continue to warn that far-right fascists and MAGA true believers pose the greatest threat to America's domestic security. Potentially, there could be tens of thousands of people affiliated with the white right who are prepared to engage in acts of political violence in support of Trump and his movement.
(snip)
Violence from the MAGA wing of the GOP is a real threat. Something in excess of three-quarters of all terrorism in the U.S. since 9/11 has come from right-wing sources, and only about 4% from the left. My sources tell me that federal law enforcement is concerned about what will happen after Nov. 7, 2024, regardless of who wins, but much more so if Trump loses. This weekend we saw Matt Gaetz standing on a stage with Trump arguing that the only path to meaningful change is violence. (Brynn Tannehill, author of "American Fascism: How the GOP Is Subverting Democracy)
(snip)
Trump's indictments have been quiet affairs to this point. But we still live in a worsening political environment where many people on the right perceive political violence as a legitimate or at least acceptable tool in obtaining and holding political power. Donald Trump and the other members of his widespread criminal conspiracy against democracy must be brought to justice. But we must all be prepared for the violence and mayhem that may result. How that violence is confronted will tell us a great deal about America's immediate future.
Federal authorities have been quietly protecting us from these miscreants since the insurrection. Every indictment, arrest, conviction, and sentence has sent a strong message to these meatheads. Sadly, that message may likely be, “Come hard, or don’t come at all,” but it’s still cowed them enough that they haven’t attempted a repeat… yet.
In my diary, America Was Founded Of Whites, By Whites, And For Whites; And Those White People Were Racists, I said...
We have always been in the midst of a civil war... It has been ongoing since the end of hostilities in 1865. We’ve long heard their taunt that “The South Shall Rise Again”.
Jim Crow, the KKK, segregation, lynchings, the rise of the Tea Party and militia movements, MAGA, the election of Trump, and the insurrection are all just facets of a war that’s been left on simmer for 150 years.
(...) The Trumpists of today are simply a resurgence of an old faction that has regained control of a major political party. Nevertheless, these people are not their leaders. Their leaders’ only objective is to exploit them for personal and political gain. Our objective today is to prevent what has been a cold war from becoming a hot one.
Unfortunately, our government can’t just declare 33+ million Americans a terrorist organization. It would likely do no good anyway, and might just make things worse. Until they commit some crime they’re just Americans expressing real shitty opinions and spewing violent rhetoric which is their Constitutional right. Some are quickly learning though, that making threats is not protected free speech.
In The Reasons Civil Wars Start, And Why It's So Frigging Tough To Spark One In A Functioning Democracy I wrote...
As America has become increasingly diverse, and the Republican party has become increasingly homogeneous, the chances for civil war have increased. By 2045 white Americans will no longer be a majority in what was once a country that was exclusively theirs. The election of an ethnically diverse black man with a foreign name in 2008 was taken as a wake up call… When their leader went down in 2020 they lost their minds
(snip)
Right wing extremism has been on the rise since the 1990’s and we are currently on the cusp of open insurgency. The 9/11 terrorist attacks and the wars it spawned brought us to where we are now. As sporadic violence becomes more frequent, Americans will feel increasingly unsafe. This in turn may fuel the idea that our government is ineffective, leading more and more Americans to prepare for violence. This is a cycle we must disrupt…
Right now we’re riding a knife edge… If these people snap it’s going to be messy both literally and figuratively. Some of them thirst for it and want to know when to start using their guns... I aspire to the belief that no one here is eagerly anticipating a repeat of our nation’s deadliest conflict. I don’t imagine it’d be prudent to meet them in the public square.
Donald Trump and his ideologues are going down, and if you keep your cool, all you have to do is just sit back and watch. Indicting Trump has always been secondary to preserving the union, but the authorities have done it four fucking times! The divisiveness that currently permeates our politics quite often distracts us from the endgame. Since the 6th of January 2021 our government’s primary objective has been preserving our democracy by preventing this shit from exploding into rebellion again.
So far they have done just that, and I give them my thanks and full support.
UPDATE: Tuesday, Aug 22, 2023 · 11:44:03 PM +00:00 · PvtJarHead
It would appear I need to spell it out. As I said in the comments...
Collectively they are an insurgency… They are beyond being just another political faction and flirting with becoming an outright rebellion.
also…
It's the only word in the diary that is in both bold and italics.
The word I refer to in the title is: insurgency.