Americans tuning into the television news on January 8th eyed a disturbingly recognizable scene. In an “eerily familiar” moment of “déjà vu,” just two years and two days after the January 6th Capitol insurrection in Washington, D.C., a mob of thousands stormed government buildings in the capital city of another country — Brazil. In Brasilia, what New York Times columnist Ross Douthat ominously[Read More…]
Like so many other days, January 6th has always been just another day of no particular note. But in 2021 that day was transformed into one of our country’s least proud moments as insurrectionists stormed the Capitol at Trump’s beckoning to overthrow the government because of his unwillingness to accept that he had lost the 2020 election. That day is[Read More…]
Well before the House select committee’s January 6th investigation began, trust in the classic American system of checks and balances as reliable protection against executive (or, more recently, Supreme Court) abuses of power had already fallen into a state of disgrace. A domestically shackled Biden presidency, a Congress unable to act, and a Supreme Court that seems ever more like[Read More…]
How the FBI Ignored White Radicals While Spying 24/7 on Muslim Americans Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson excused one of the leaders of the extremist Oath Keepers organization implicated in the January 6th insurrection by describing him as “a devout Christian.” It’s safe to surmise that he wouldn’t have offered a similar defense for a Muslim American. Since September 11th, and even[Read More…]
Yesterday, Joe Biden delivered a speech from the U.S. Capitol in which he told the population there had been an attempt to overthrow the Constitution and establish a dictatorship in America. Biden warned that the danger had not passed and that the conspirators were actively planning to overturn upcoming elections. January 6 was “an inflection point in history,” he said.[Read More…]
By 2025, American democracy could collapse, causing extreme domestic political instability, including widespread civil violence. By 2030, if not sooner, the country could be governed by a right-wing dictatorship. We mustn’t dismiss these possibilities just because they seem ludicrous or too horrible to imagine. In 2014, the suggestion that Donald Trump would become president would also have struck nearly everyone[Read More…]
A must see, especially during these times, is John Frankenheimer’s 1964 film Seven Days in May. In the movie, with a screenplay by genius Rod Serling ( of Twilight Zone fame- his creation by the way) a right wing conspiracy by generals and Fat Cats plot to overthrow our government. As a parallel to this film the January 6th Commission[Read More…]
Three retired U.S. army generals warned of an insurrection or even civil war if the results of the 2024 presidential election were not accepted by some in the military. Former Major Gen. Paul Eaton, former Major Gen. Antonio Taguba, and former Brig. Gen. Steven Anderson made the warnings in an op-ed in The Washington Post on Friday. They wrote that they were[Read More…]
As an eyewitness, I can recall the events of January 6th in Washington as if they were yesterday. The crowds of angry loyalists storming the building while overwhelmed security guards gave way. The slavishly loyal vice-president who would, the president hoped, restore him to power. The crush of media that seemed confused, almost overwhelmed, by the crowd’s fury. The waiter[Read More…]
The Myriad Drama at the US Congressional Committee Hearings Nancy Pelosi, the US House Speaker wanted an independent and non-partisan congressional investigation into the January 6, 2021 Trump planned mobbed invasion of the US Congressional complex in Washington, D.C. Its aim was to undo the peaceful transfer of power to Joe Biden- the President Elect according to the US Constitution.[Read More…]
It was around noon and I was texting a friend about who-knows-what when I added, almost as an afterthought: “tho they seem to be invading the Capitol at the mo.” I wasn’t faintly as blasé as that may sound on January 6th, especially when it became ever clearer who “they” were and what they were doing. Five people would die[Read More…]
Just about everyone was shocked by what happened at the Capitol building on January 6th. But as a former soldier in America’s forever wars, horrifying as the scenes were, I also found what happened strangely familiar, almost inevitable. I thought that, if only we had taken our country’s imperial history seriously, none of us would have found that day either[Read More…]
History is being written in the United States today. Even the most pessimistic about the prospects of American democracy have rarely ventured out this far while offering a bleak analysis of America’s future, whether in terms of political polarization at home or global standing abroad. As shocking and, certainly, telling as the images of thousands of American protesters taking over[Read More…]
When brainwashed to commit violence, your conscience doesn’t prick when you kill. The barbaric actions at the Capitol on January 6, 2021 were taken by Americans convinced by Donald Trump and others that violence—even war—is essential to secure the nation, democracy, and freedom. Consequently, when rioters killed one police officer, savagely beat another, tried to gouge out the eye of[Read More…]
Under no circumstances will white supremacy, authoritarian fascism, and rollbacks of global human rights be tolerated “When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” – Sinclair Lewis* “…another generation of American antifascists has been called to duty.” – Dr. Glen Barry * quote disputed yet salient The American Capitol defiled by traitorous[Read More…]
In an interview with the British newspaper, The Times, in 2015, former US Defense Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, vehemently denied that exporting democracy to Iraq was the main motive behind the US invasion of that Arab country 12 years earlier. Rumsfeld further alleged that “the idea that we could fashion a democracy in Iraq seemed to me unrealistic.” But the US’[Read More…]
“Something is happening here, But you don’t know what it is, Do you, Mr. Jones?” — Bob Dylan, Ballad of A Thin Man It’s hard. Life today seems like a dream, doesn’t it? Surreal to the point where everything seems haunted and betwixt and between, or this against that, or that and this against us. Something. Or a Luis Buñuel film. [Read More…]
Preventing the assault on America’s capitol was not exclusively a policing failure; the twisted behavior culminated from inadequate response to Trump and his supporters’ unsubstantiated attacks on the validity of the 2020 election. A simple analysis could have uncovered the illogical thinking and convinced many that the charges of election fraud were fallacious. Media and public servants allowed deranged accusations[Read More…]
The guys and gals at work always called him ‘ Mr. MAGA’ for several reasons. One, he always wore that red hat wherever he went. Two, he was ‘ In ‘ with Trump from 2015 when the guy first entered the presidential race. When he had a day off, or decided to take one, he always showed up at any[Read More…]
In Europe we are not accustomed to seeing images on the television of thousands of Americans—right-wingers to boot—breaking the law, overrunning government buildings and violently attacking the police. By rushing the Capitol, the heart of American democracy, President Trump’s supporters demonstrated that they are ready for a fight. Many of these fanatics would love to use their weapons beyond the[Read More…]
Dear Congresspersons and Senators, This letter is about that nauseating, trembling fear you felt when that hate exploded at you on January 6. Please don’t forget it. Journal about it before it fades. Tolerate the nightmares. Keep pen and paper on your nightstand to record what woke you from screaming fits. Don’t block it out. Don’t let it go. If[Read More…]
Why it was so important to impeach President Trump this time than it was ever before. The American democracy is the result of years of struggle, resistance and sacrifice – a system for which people laid down their lives during the American War of Independence and again for preserving it during American Civil War. Many countries around the world have[Read More…]
People all over the globe were shocked and shaken by the event that unfolded at the Capitol Hill in the United States of America in the morning of 7th January, 2021. Some of the politicians used this as an opportunity to hit at the US using this an opportunity to revel on the incidence. Russian lawmakers were quick to jump[Read More…]
Since the assault on the US Capitol on January 6 by right-wing Trump supporters, the fallout has been rapid. The Democrats, both elected officials and voters, were quick to jump on the impeachment train. Some elected officials are calling for Members of Congress who supported the events to resign and to refuse to seat them in the new Congress. Employers[Read More…]
This was Twitter Safety’s January 8 post, full of noble concern: “After close review of recent Tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account and the context around them – specifically how they are being received and interpreted off Twitter – we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence.” Is it ever wise for a social[Read More…]
Anyone who believes locking President Donald Trump out of his social media accounts will serve as the first step on the path to healing the political divide in the United States is likely to be in for a bitter disappointment. The flaws in this reasoning need to be peeled away, like the layers of an onion. Twitter’s decision to permanently[Read More…]
Before I go on with my thoughts on the use of persuasion by demagogues like Donald Trump, we need to understand how powerful a system of obedience can be. There are two past studies that this writer recommends which get to the heart of the use of obedience to shape an individual’s behavior. The earliest one is the Milgram Experiment[Read More…]
The United States election process requires the congress to validate the election of the President. Congress is a bicameral legislature, the senate being the upper house and the House of Representatives the lower house. A raucous mob raided the capitol building displaying pro-Trump slogans and managed to enter the senate chamber at the time when the election results were being[Read More…]
The Unthinkable Insurrection on America Powerhouse America and its politics find itself at the tyranny of reason of which it appears to be unconscious either by design or by choice. The living thought of American political harmony does not seem to exhibit an ideal scenario of democracy as acclaimed by its political proponents. The perplexities and despotic character are rooted[Read More…]
The coverage of groups of people, described as mobs, rioters, or protestors depending on one’s prejudice or adherence to accurate reporting, who “stormed” the Capitol in Washington and the Legislative Council in Hong Kong is revealing for how media and politicians react. The American media ran headlines such as: “Trump supporters storm Capitol,” Washington Post “Inside the mob that swarmed[Read More…]
How strange it must have seemed for US lawmakers to be suddenly facing what was described as a “mob”, not so much storming as striding into the Capitol with angry purpose. A terrified security force proved understaffed and overwhelmed. Members of Congress hid. Five people lost their lives. With the US imperium responsible for fostering numerous revolutions and coups across[Read More…]
A popular joke among leftists in the eighties was to ask why there had never been a military coup in Washington D.C. The answer: Because it doesn’t have a US embassy. This was an allusion to the nefarious US role in toppling legitimate governments around the globe, many of them violently. The storming of the US Capitol Hill on 6[Read More…]
January 5th, 2021, was another Day of Infamy in US History that bookmarked an unsavory, unseemly, disgraceful, yet fitting close to the ruthlessness of the Trump Era in American and World politics. It seemingly couldn’t have happened any other way, given the kind of self-centered myopic government that Trump, as a man, as a white supremacist and as a president,[Read More…]
Hundreds of protesters breached the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, forcing lockdowns as the US Congress was convening a joint session to count the certified 2020 Electoral College votes. The entire episode, although with a few gaps, was in the mainstream media. Death number, arrests, etc. accompanied. There’re some more things. What came out was an exhibition of bourgeois politics. A[Read More…]
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My Amma (Malayalam word for Mother) passed away on August 22, 2023 at 3.10 AM. It is always difficult to deal with the passing of a parent, that too one’s mother. I thought the grief would go away. No it didn’t. All those bitter sweet memories won’t go away. At night I lie awake for hours. My friend, guide and[Read More…]
