Darn Those Authoritarian Republicans
By Mitch Berg
Ever wonder why people on the left are so fond, over the past decade, of referring to people who disagree with them as “Fascists”?
Well, of course, it’s because of all the Republican governors who use their power to bulldoze constitutional checks and balances – in the case of this conservative governor, deciding she doesn’t really need the legislature to create or repeal laws, and waterboarding the definition of “public health crisis” into compliance to do it?
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Friday issued an emergency order suspending the right to carry firearms in public across Albuquerque and the surrounding county for at least 30 days in response to a spate of gun violence.
Or maybe it’s this “new right” prime minister, telling the world we need to destroy free speech to save it:
Because we’re “at war”.
Conservative love to turn social disagreements into “wars” to justify their overreach. It of course peaked when the conservative MAGA president gave a speech during which he “othered” half of the nation, in a speech redolent with martial natinalistic imagery…
… that fairly shouted “the time is nigh to do something about it”, part of a campaign of “othering” dissent that started in 2009.
Or maybe it’s the fact that a majority of Republicans favor curbing free speech “for the greater good”
On the issue of free expression, at least, Republicans are not the authoritarian party. That distinction belongs to the Democrats, the party launched by Thomas Jefferson — the Founding Father who famously said that if he were forced to choose between “a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.”
Wait.- wut?
Why, it’s almost as if Berg’s Seventh Law is inviolable and absolute or something.
September 25th, 2023 at 12:44 pm
Wow, look at that bint move up in the world. I wonder if she knew when she resigned as NZ PM that her next position would be hectoring a global audience from the UN?
September 25th, 2023 at 5:08 pm
The #TDS people always claimed that Trump was an authoritarian as a matter of fact, and of course began to get confused when you asked for for the proof of this claim. Then they would usually retreat to “Trump has authoritarian instincts” and claim that that Trump statements about wishing he could silence the press were proof of this (that’s called a “motte and bailey” defense, BTW).
These people are idiots. As in “they do not understand that their fantasies are not reality” idiots.
In the US, and probably any country, you cannot be an authoritarian without support from that country’s institutions. Their is literally no way that Trump could impose an authoritarian vision without the backing of congress, the media, or the judiciary, or the military, or the academy, or the corporations, or the financiers. All of these institutions, in the US, opposed Trump.
Like I said, these people are idiots.
And then along comes ol’ Slow Joe, who imposes, w/o going through congress, a vaccine mandate, imposes a DEI regime throughout the federal government, and who literally sicced the IRS and DHS and the JD on enemies of his regime, after winning a disputed election with around 50% of the vote.
How did Biden impose his authoritarian, anti-freedom vision?
Remember those institutions I listed? Congress, the media, the judiciary, the military, the academy, the corporations, and the financiers?
They all back to one extent or another Biden’s authoritarian policies. They all love them some DEI and control of citizens’ speech.
September 25th, 2023 at 6:35 pm
Canada Is Now So Woke It’s Honoring (Checks Notes) Actual Waffen-SS Nazis
Backstory:
What a roller coaster of a week it’s been for Nazi SS officer Yaroslav Hunka!
For seventy years he has lived a quiet life in small-town Canada, trying not to be noticed by any Mossad Nazi-hunters.
In the twilight of his life, he was surely surprised to be contacted by the Canadian government — not to prosecute him but to celebrate his life and call him a war hero!
He went to Ottawa, brought his friends and family, and received a standing ovation from every MP in the room!
His life was vindicated! He didn’t have to be ashamed of being a Nazi anymore — his own prime minister was cheering for him! Adolf Hitler would be so proud!
But then someone told the truth about him.
Not the regime media, like the newspaper run by Chrystias Freeland’s Nazi grandfather. But independent journalists. Including some Jews.
And now Yaroslav Hunka has become the most famous Nazi in Canada.
I’m glad that, at least for the last months of his life, he will endure some of the shame that is so richly his.
Unlike his victims, who were murdered in the prime of their lives.
September 25th, 2023 at 8:59 pm
Huh. Those who favor the limiting of private party rights tend to be against other rights, too. Who would have thunk it?
September 26th, 2023 at 6:35 am
Ukraine being a hot bed of Nazis, is an argument that I love having with libidiots.
So many of them are ignorant of even fairly recent history when former Ukrainians are caught for serving as guards for the Nazis at SS concentration camps. Many of them meted out brutal punishment for minor offenses.
Regardless of what you think of Putin’s incursion into Ukraine, Russian forces have been rooting out Nazi (the Azov Brigade) units that have been persecuting Christians, U.S. sponsored bio labs and exposing the corruption of the puppet Zelinsky and his wife. Incidentally, Azov unit members were seen among the crowd on January 6, when the DemoCommies were attempting to cover up their election rigging.
September 26th, 2023 at 7:02 am
During WW2 you had the German army, the SS, and Stalin’s commies marching back and forth over Ukraine. You had local Ukrainian warlords (called “partisans”) doing the same. The Ukrainian partisans were the weakest, they didn’t represent a state. When the Nazis occupied an area, they would allow the local warlord to continue his operations, but he had to prove his reliability by rooting out and turning over to the Nazis some Jews. The next week the Soviets might control the region and demand, of the same Ukrainian warlord, that he prove his loyalty by handing over some Nazi collaborators.
You cannot go for a walk in that part of the world without getting blood on your boots.
September 26th, 2023 at 8:31 am
MP, your use of the word “partisan” is very, VERY wrong and very, VERY offensive to REAL partisans. “Partisan” in russian, NOT english, means an underground resistance force. Partisans were hiding out in the woods, moving from place to place, wreaking havoc behind the enemy lines. It exclusively refers to underground fighters against the Nazis and Nazi sympathisers and collaborators. For you to conflate Uke Nazi droogs with partisans is akin to walking on the graves of my relatives – literally.
You are correct about the Uke Nazi sympathisers and collaborators, they would be given a temporary pass by Nazis as long they did their bidding, which they did gladly and overzealously. Dimwits did not comprehend that Nazi genocide was against not just Jews but also entire Slavic race, of which, according to Ukes themselves, they are the ONLY representative. Partisans, REAL partisans, would kill any collaborator or sympathizer on sight, they would never bring them in unless they saw use for them, like translator for example (I have firsthand account from a person who ended up crossing the line more than once, it was a miracle he survived and would make for a great movie).
September 26th, 2023 at 9:05 am
JPA, I took one semester of Russian, meaning I can pronounce written words in Russian and little else. In American English “partisan” usually refers to an independent group of fighters whose true motives are unknown. I think that this goes back to WW2 when American soldiers would work with partisans who were fighting the Germans but whose true allegiance was murky.
But even as ignorant as I am, I know that if a 98 year old eastern European claims to have been a fierce Nazi fighter, you better take a close at his history before you pin a badge of honor on his chest.
No offense JPA, But I think that the part of the world, east of a line drawn from the Adriatic to the Baltic, is terrible part of the world simmering with resentments that are as old as they are difficult for strangers to comprehend. Americans would do well to steer away from conflicts in eastern Europe.
September 26th, 2023 at 9:16 am
Those stinking Nazi Uke’s objected to the wholesome genocide being offered by the Red Army.
Guess they figured it’s better to be standing 20 paces from the wall than facing it. And they’d know, too. Because they ended up facing it anyway.
September 26th, 2023 at 10:17 am
work with partisans who were fighting the Germans but whose true allegiance was murky
MP. this is where you go wrong. Your definition is “You had local Ukrainian warlords (called “partisans”). Partisan’s allegiance was very well known. If they were not on the side of the Soviets, they were not partisans. Just call them something else and we are in violent agreement. I know I am picking nits but this distinction is very real for my relatives who were with partisans and were fighting both Nazis and Uke sympathisers and collaborators.
September 26th, 2023 at 10:46 am
I don’t think that there is an English word that means what you mean by “partisan,” JPA. You can’t even call them “patriots” without modifying the noun to indicate what nation they felt that they were fighting for.
Were Polish partisans fighting for Stalin or for a free Poland?
September 26th, 2023 at 11:01 am
Whatever side a Ukrainian fighting in WWII was on, the ethics are murky in my view. Either way, they were fighting for a genocidal regime and murdering their neighbors, no? You’re either working on behalf of the Holocaust or the Holodomor.
Today, however, it’s worth noting that antisemitism and authoritarianism are stronger in Russia than in Ukraine, and by a large margin, and I’m pretty sure that all those attacks on apartment buildings in Lviv and Kyiv were not hitting the portion of the Azov Batallion that actually did/do have antisemitic tendencies in Mariupol. Combine that with the nation voting 73% for a Jewish President, and it’s clear that the Russian claim of “de-nazification” is bollocks, to be polite about it. There is a nation in the region that needs to be de-Nazified, and its capital is Moscow.
September 26th, 2023 at 1:10 pm
MP, Polish partisans were fighting against the Nazis. The way you originally defined the word denotes something completely different, as if partisans played both sides, which they did not. Even by definition, in english, “part”isan means support for one part or party, not two.
September 26th, 2023 at 5:26 pm
“Polish partisans were fighting against the Nazis.”
Yeah well, Poland loved them some Nazis when they annexed Czechoslovakia and cut the off a nice slice for Poland….unfortunately for the Poles, Hitler pulled a Darth Vader and altered the deal.
England and France were OK with the Czech annexation and Polish land grab too…
September 26th, 2023 at 5:30 pm
“There is a nation in the region that needs to be de-Nazified, and its capital is Moscow.”
JFC…the stupid; it hurts!
September 26th, 2023 at 8:35 pm
Yes, Kremlin Tom, I feel for you. As they say in German (and Yiddish probably too), “Tom bleibt Tom, da helfen keine Pillen.” Reality is that far-right, fascistic groups can be found in Ukraine….predominantly among the Russian minority in Donbas. As the rabbi prayed for the Tsar, “Lord, bless and keep the Tsar….far away from us!”
Oopsie. Like I said, “Dumm bleibt dumm, da helfen keine Pillen.” (Dumb remains dumb/Tom, no pills will help.)
September 26th, 2023 at 10:18 pm
[…] Franklin Introduces Resolution To Keep USDA From Cutting Off School Lunch Money Shot In The Dark: Darn Those Authoritarian Republicans, also, Some Questions Are Impossible To Answer The Political Hat: Nevada GOP Establishment (GOPe) […]
September 27th, 2023 at 8:07 am
Timothy Snyder wrote about groups of partisans who worked for both sides in his book Bloodlands. TBH I cannot remember if he was writing about Ukraine, Belarus, or both.
September 27th, 2023 at 8:30 am
Well, if Timothy Snyder wrote it, it must be true. There is no chance he would misuse the word. Even late great Paul Johnson messed up once in a while. Whatever…