MAGA Fascism hits speed ramp...pt 2!

Continuing the previous post on the DeSantis-like rush to fascism, the following is just a partial list that I will add to for a while...a growing list of examples hitting the shit fan daily. 

Imagine if we didn't have Gov. Evers...we'd be here. 

1. John Oliver derails the DeSantis fascist train to authoritarianism, verbally of course. Must see...

The Don’t Say LGBTQ policies are part of a coordinated campaign by the DeSantis Administration. They are the epitome of the administration’s effort to wage culture wars against academic freedom, parental rights, and diversity, equity, and inclusion as part of a broader strategy to challenge the Governor’s former mentor Donald Trump for a presidential nomination. The Desantis Administration’s obsession with far-right Presidential primary voters are why we have seen one of the country’s largest state university systems subjected to a McCarthy-era witch hunt for equity and diversity programs and provision of transgender healthcare, sweeping censorship of books by Black and LGBTQ authors, doctors’ careers threatened for providing transgender Floridians life-saving healthcare, and even a complete far right take over of the New College of Florida. Florida stands in the midst of an unprecedented campaign of censorship and surveillance, targeting anyone who doesn’t share the increasingly extremist ideology of Governor Ron DeSantis.

2. Alaska State Rep. Eastman accidently discloses MAGAs cruel use of Children for Political Control: Like they really care. 

State Rep. David Eastman (R-Wasilla) faced criticism from ... the House Judiciary Committee, which featured a presentation from experts on adverse childhood experiences. In response to a statistic that listed the lifetime cost of fatal child abuse at $1.5 million per victim, Eastman referred to a counterargument that the death of abused children is “actually a benefit to society.”

“It can be argued, periodically, that [fatal child abuse is] actually a cost savings because that child is not going to need any of those government services that they might otherwise be entitled to receive and need based on growing up in this type of environment,” he said.

After his crazy comment featured below, another Representative came up with this doozy as a defense...: 

"One of the arguments for abortion has been that it’s better to terminate that child’s life before they become a burden to society.”

Noooo...not familiar with that one.

_________________________________________________________________________

3. MAGA's Abandon "Academic Freedom" for political takeover of Liberal Arts Colleges: We're all familiar with this...

DeSantis replaced six of the 13 members on the college’s board of trustees with conservative allies, including Christopher Rufo, who has fueled the fight against critical race theory.

...which predictably grew into this lunacy...

A similar plan didn't turn out well in Idaho...

Trustees backed by the Kootenai County GOP took over the governing majority of North Idaho College and denounced alleged liberal "indoctrination" by the faculty and vowed to root out "deep state" corruption in the school administration, but their leadership resulted in lawsuits from two of the past five school presidents and Moody's downgraded their debt over “significant governance and management dysfunction," reported the New York Times. GOP activists set their sights on the college after its diversity council issued a statement of support for social justice demonstrations after the police killing of George Floyd.

Former college president Rick MacLennan said the school was a warning to other institutions facing partisan attacks and hostile takeovers by Gov. Ron DeSantis and other Republican leaders.

NO KIDDING: DeSantis takes over State Education: H.B. 999 is “laden with unconstitutional provisions hostile to freedom of expression and academic freedom.”

4. DeSantis will Control Disney Content? He even bragged about this when he campaigned in California, where the original Disneyland is located. Jonathan Chait wrote:

Last fall, I attended the National Conservatism Conference, where the attendees laid out rather plainly their ambition to turn DeSantis into a model for a ruthless, illiberal party that would use the organs of the state to crush its enemies. Since those pieces appeared, DeSantis’s actions have made me more, not less, concerned.

While the board handles infrastructure and maintenance, DeSantis boasted that it could use its leverage to force Disney to stop “trying to inject woke ideology” on children.

“When you lose your way, you’ve got to have people that are going to tell you the truth,” DeSantis proclaimed. “But I think all of these board members very much would like to see the type of entertainment that all families can appreciate.”

It is worth pausing a moment to grasp the full breadth of what is going on here. First, DeSantis established the principle that he can and will use the power of the state to punish private firms that exercise their First Amendment right to criticize his positions. Now he is promising to continue exerting state power to pressure the firm to produce content that comports with his own ideological agenda.

5. LGBTQ Discrimination now Legal in Alaska: Quietly reversed...

It published new guidelines in 2021 saying Alaska’s LGBTQ protections now extended beyond the workplace to housing, government practices, finance and “public accommodation.” It updated the website ... a “sea change under Alaska law for LGBTQ+ individuals’ rights to be free from discrimination.”

But a year later, the commission quietly reversed that position. It deleted language from the state website promising equal protections for transgender and gay Alaskans against most categories of discrimination, and it began refusing to investigate complaints. Only employment-related complaints would now be accepted, and investigators dropped any non-employment LGBTQ civil rights cases they had been working on.

6. And because I think it needs to be said and repeated often:

7. Anyone hurt by Drag Shows? Drag Shows; normal, sometime outrageous, so what's the harm? As I've stated many times, I always go back to the original intent of Republican bills, because it exposes what they're thinking: 

Republican lawmakers are intensifying their ongoing, all-out assault on trans existence. More than 300 anti-LGBTQ+ bills were either passed or introduced in 2022, the majority taking aim at trans youth through health care bans, sports team restrictions, and bathroom bills, and removing Medicaid coverage for trans adults’ health care too. Meanwhile, drag performances, particularly family-friendly drag brunches and drag queen story hours at libraries, have become a focal point of histrionic Republican rhetoric and far-right militia attacks. With obsessive ferocity, the right is attempting to criminalize, harass, and legislate gender nonconformity out of existence. A bill moving at pace through the Arkansas legislature, for example, would constitute a ban on all trans adults using bathrooms in public.

8. Drag Show Legislative Circus: The best argument yet...

MAGA Fascism hits speed ramp...

Gov. Ron DeSantis' fascist movement is enough to depress anyone, especially when you realize there is no press coverage listing the legal challenges, wins, stays, and court actions giving us some thin shred of hope. 

DeSantis' agenda is blatantly racist and overtly bigoted, as it is authoritarian. Think about it, he's banning freedoms we already have with DeSantis' newly defined "real" freedoms. And MAGAs have already been told that liberals are the real fascists, so you can't argue that, says my MAGA friend in Milwaukee.    

Myth of Liberal Indoctrination: So, if there is a nationwide super majority of MAGAs, and Trump is really still president, wouldn't that prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that "liberal indoctrination" isn't real?

For the Kids: And then there's the grotesque political use of "children" to justify their authoritarian agenda. They pathetically use "protecting our children" for everything. Think about it, DeSantis has banned subjects and books that any kid's cell phone can access with a simple search. And kids at drag show brunches are there because their parents brought them. But sure, punish businesses under the iron fist of big government. 

DeSantis' Fascism and replacement Freedoms, let us Count the Ways Nationwide: Ironically, DeSantis has created the new "woke" in Florida. It can't be emphasized enough how fast this is rolling out: 

1. Defamation Lawsuits nationwide Chill Free Speech: 

House Bill 991 would also give Florida residents the right to sue others (both in the state or elsewhere in the U.S.) who describe their actions online as transphobic or homophobic, for sums as high as $35,000, and would not allow the truth to be used in defenses against such lawsuits ... a person suing another over being called out for their bigoted words online would only have to suggest that their commentary was reflective of their personal religious or (purportedly) scientific beliefs in order to be successful in their suit. The bill would allow Florida residents to sue anyone, not just other Floridians ... the bill’s author Republican Rep. Alex Andrade defended it, stating “This is not the government shutting down free speech. This is a private cause of action.” 

2. DeSantis' Academic Thought and Behavior Control:

All state colleges and universities must remove Women’s & Gender Studies from the list of available majors and minors. No major or minor can exist if it is deemed to be “derivative” from the “belief system” of “Critical Race Theory”

3. DeSantis School Book Ban Clears Shelves:

...but DeSantis asks, "Who are you going to believe, me or your lying eyes?"

4. Terminate Dept of Education: Pretty clear...

5. Banned History = Imbecilic Citizens: 

One should keep in mind the ignorance visited upon American students when the historical truth is hidden from them and let history be their guide. In the 1960s, the young white students of the “counter-culture” movement became angry when they learned about the poverty in what author Michael Harrington called, “The Other America.” The students, isolated in the new 1950s “vanilla suburbs” of endless whiteness, became “awoke” to Harrington’s description of poverty on the other side of the proverbial tracks. Coupled with the awokeness resulting from the glaring war in Vietnam and the King-led Civil Rights movement, this awoke generation demanded a relevant education system that would advance their minds.

6. Florida to Legalize Child Kidnapping, for their own good: 

7. Rename Our Nation's Schools: Plus, Trump's New Baby Boom Bonus: 

um..."Honour a Reichsdeutsche German mother for exceptional merit to the German nation. From 1939 until 1945 in three classes: bronze, silver, and gold, to Reichsdeutsche mothers who exhibited probity, exemplary motherhood, and who conceived and raised at least four or more children in the role of a parent.

8. Ban Internet Medical Information for Women: 

9. Death Penalty for Women who got Abortion: And they said they would never write such a law: 

The author of this bill, Rep. Rob Harris of Spartanburg (District 36), said "If we call it life and define it as life, then why should anyone, not just mothers, why should anybody be able to take that life? If it’s life it needs to be protected like any other life," said Harris.

10. A Felony for "Divisive Materials" in Schools: Define that...? Hard core porn in schools? Sure...

Sen. Spencer Deery, a Republican representing parts of Tippecanoe County who voted in favor of the bill, said "when I talk to our attorneys who write the law in the legislature, we're talking about hard-core pornography, which would lack literary value to minors. If you don't get that definition, the bill looks frightening."

11. DeSantis and Putin Blogger Registry: Seriously. No, bloggers are not like lobbyist! Nuts:

A Republican state senator in Florida would require bloggers who write about Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.), his Cabinet officers and members of the Florida legislature to register with the state.

Bloggers who receive compensation for a given online post about an elected state officer would have to register with the Florida Office of Legislative Services or the Commission on Ethics ... “the blogger must register with the appropriate office … within 5 days after the first 164 by the blogger which mentions an elected state officer,” reads the bill, introduced by Republican state Sen. Jason Brodeur.

If additional posts about elected state officers were to be posted, the blogger would have to file monthly reports detailing where, when and by whom the post was published, plus the amount of compensation received. Failure to file reports could lead to fines.

12. Gaetz demands Government be on MAGA side, or Defund the Nations Police? 

13. Bring Back Lynchings: You heard him...

WATCH: “You know lynching’s a hate crime now, right? How racist are you exactly, Paul?”

Rep. Paul Sherrell (R-Sparta) — who wants to change part of John Lewis Way to “Trump Blvd.” in Nashville — just said he wants to bring “hanging people from trees” back to Tennessee. pic.twitter.com/1NeU2sGRnW

— The Tennessee Holler (@TheTNHoller) March 1, 2023

14. "Transgenderism must be eradicated from public life entirely." 

Just to be clear: This is not about perhaps complicated questions of parents and schools, or certain medical treatments for minors. Nor is this “mere” bigotry. This is eliminationism. Will any Republican politician or any prominent conservative in good standing denounce this? https://t.co/fO6wGZXBeJ

— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) March 4, 2023

Then there's this insane reaction...

15. Red State's push to Remove "Rogue" DA's they disagree with: 

Rachel #Maddow on Georgia GOP trying to save Trump, "This is dismantling the way the legal system works so it will no longer work against him....This is Republicans voting to give themselves the power to remove a prosecutor that acts in a way they don't like." pic.twitter.com/y8rZCegSDD

— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) March 7, 2023

Trump Fascism!!!

UPDATE-7/16: Well, this makes everything perfectly clear:

When asked if he was concerned that many people saw that tweet as racist and that white nationalist groups were finding common cause with the statement, Trump said Monday he wasn’t because “many people agree with me.”

“[They’re] complaining all the time, very simply, you can leave right now,” added Trump. “Come back if you want, don’t come back, it’s OK too. But if you’re not happy, you can leave.”

I wrote a blog post yesterday about a Trump appeaser who doesn't see him as a threat, and it appears I may have understated my point, and that's not a good thing. The one word I should have included over and over? Fascism. See if anything in the chart reminds you of a common Trump theme:

In my blog post yesterday I wrote...Rick Esenberg, the founder of the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, a conservative-libertarian law firm ... became a willing partner in the Trumpian cultist movement to take down traitorous liberals. For instance, Esenberg's comments in the recent Isthmus ... saying (Trump's) "not a threat to the constitutional order". Seriously? 

1. “I don’t think Donald Trump is that serious about a lot of the things that he says ... And so, he tweets a lot of stupid classless and vulgar things, but it doesn’t really translate to any kind of action.”

Welcome to Trump Fascism: Trump's latest tweet storm posted this morning is probably the most incendiary call to action yet; the total vilification and proposed elimination of America's true enemies; everyone not a Trump cultists:

Heck, parade floats were onto this guy...

Fascist America is here: Explaining fascism is not easy, but the following contemporized look at Trump's reckless version of fascism shows us how real and threatening it is. From Vox, these are the articles main points made by Jason Stanley:    

The targets are leftists, minorities, labor unions, and anyone or any institution that isn’t glorified in the fascist narrative. We’re not on the brink of some fascist takeover. But there are reasons to be concerned, and we should always be on guard — that’s the lesson of history. 

Fascist politics would focus on the dominant cultural group. The goal is to make them feel like victims, to make them feel like they’ve lost something and that the thing they’ve lost has been taken from them by a specific enemy, usually some minority out-group This is why fascism flourishes in moments of great anxiety, because you can connect that anxiety with fake loss.

The story is typically that a once-great society has been destroyed by liberalism or feminism or cultural Marxism or whatever, and you make the dominant group feel angry and resentful about the loss of their status and power. Almost every manifestation of fascism mirrors this general narrative.

Truth is required to act freely. Freedom requires knowledge, you need to know what the world is and know what you’re doing. So, freedom requires truth, and so to smash freedom you must smash truth.

Philosopher Hannah Arendt … she says that fascists are never content to merely lie; they must transform their lie into a new reality, and they must persuade people to believe in the unreality they’ve created. And if you get people to do that, you can convince them to do anything. 

Part of what fascist politics does is get people to disassociate from reality. You get them to sign on to this fantasy version of reality, usually a nationalist narrative about the decline of the country and the need for a strong leader to return it to greatness, and from then on their anchor isn’t the world around them — it’s the leader. 

The thing is, people willingly adopt the mythical past. Fascists are always telling a story about a glorious past that’s been lost, and they tap into this nostalgia. So when you fight back against fascism, you’ve got one hand tied behind your back, because the truth is messy and complex and the mythical story is always clear and compelling and entertaining. It’s hard to undercut that with facts.

My son provided me with the video below that didn't just explain fascism, but ANTIFA, the supposed freedom of expression movement on college campuses, and more: 

Trump requests campaign help from Foreign Government Hackers.

Fascism is coming to America, and the news media won't even bring it up. But there's a real possibility fearful angry voters will choose a fascist, blunt, tell-it-like-it-is "leader" to make our country great again.

Eye Rolling Declarations of Fascism: Just this morning I heard radio host Mich Henck downplay Trump's obvious fascism. Henck thought it was over the top to supposedly compare Trump to Hitler and Mussolini. But Henck could have just as easily, and more realistically, used the plain old definition of fascism as the template, pushing aside the historical references.

As bad as Trump is, Scott Walker could have been much worse. During his presidential bid, he essentially promised to dissolve the federal government and declare independence to the states. With Homeland Security and the military under his control, you can bet "law and order" would still be maintained by Walker, a rightwing authoritarian father figure. Walker tipped his hand early on as governor. He began using the names of his opponents from his recall petitions as a political black list to attack and quash them.

The New National Black List:  Now it appears Wikileaks has posted the Democratic Party's donors names and addresses. With the possibility of one party rule under Trump, that sets up a number of scary possibilities. ABC: 

More significant, said Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta, is that trusted donors saw their personal information exposed to the world.

“What was disclosed is the personal information of our donors and it’s always worrisome when personal information is stolen,” Podesta told ABC News. “And that's true whether it’s Target or Sony or, or the DNC."

A review of the documents by ABC News found the material includes detailed personal information about many of the party’s wealthy supporters. One file, titled “Big Spreadsheet of All Things,” appears to list every single donation made to the party...

 And Trump has asked foreign governments for hacking help:

Which prompted this reaction from Clinton:

The conservative columnist at the Weekly Standard and Fox News, Stephen Hayes, tweeted the following:

This is hhhuggge. While it's obvious money has to purged from influencing our political system once and for all, something our activist conservative supreme court justices just don't seem to get, we're still left in this dangerous place. As pointed out by Wired.com:

WikiLeaks Has Officially Lost the Moral High Ground: WHAT THE HECK is going on at WikiLeaks? In the last two weeks, the font of digital secrets has doxed millions of Turkish women, leaked Democratic National Committee emails that made Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign look bad but also suggested the site was colluding with the Russian government, and fired off some seriously anti-Semitic tweets.

Remember the near Turkish coup?

(Release of) the so-called Erdogan Emails was particularly egregious. The organization said that the infodump would expose the machinations of Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan immediately after the attempted coup against him, but instead turned out to be mostly correspondence and personal information from everyday Turkish citizens. Worse, it included the home addresses, phone numbers, party affiliations, and political activity levels of millions of female Turkish voters. That’s irresponsible any time, and disastrous in the week of a coup.

This Democratic convention moment still stands out:

The Rise of Fascism in the U.S.!

Rachel Maddow again brings up the word "fascism" in what is becoming a dangerous moment in U.S. history. The rise of the radicalized right wing is now shifting what we once thought was bizarre, into the mainstream. Fascism isn't just an odd term to bring up nowadays, it's unfolding in front of us. And conservatives who have committed their identities to their party's leaders will not admit they failed.

This frightening look at fascism proves we're getting close to the edge (12/8/15):

Local News Exposes ALEC's secret Corporate control over GOP, while conservative voters yawn in the face of creeping fascism.

The lack of critical thinking on the right is giving ALEC an open invitation to reinterpret everything from the Constitution, to capitalism, and to good old American values. They poke fun at liberal references to ALEC, and snicker at warnings about the hydra-like Koch brothers organizations influence.

Behind the scenes, my own conservative trolls offer up an insightful look at how easily compliant they are to party edicts. It's a world of "I know you are but what am I's," false analogies, name calling and a frightening lack of self awareness.

I've found that facts, research and easily clickable story links don't matter to them, because any weakness or falsehood is very personal.

Anything that raises questions about the prevailing "truth" pushed by their party, or the failures of their chosen leaders, frightens and insults their politically invested self image. What they call individualism and freedom is really a right wing socialist agenda demanding big government control over religion, morality, adherence to restrictive age old traditions and a monthly offering of scapegoats for party failures.

Sorry for the rant. My point is, local television stations have done their own investigations into the controlling force behind elected Republican lawmakers, ALEC, and as shocking as the coverage is Republican voters don't seem to care. Media Matters:



There are consequences for not stopping this dark influential group. Coming to a local city county government near you...:

Now the council is looking to take its blueprint for influence over statewide lawmaking and drill it down to the local level. It has already quietly set up, and is making plans for the public launch of, an offshoot called the American City County Exchange (ACCE) that will target policymakers from "villages, towns, cities and counties".

The new organization will offer corporate America a direct conduit into the policy making process of city councils and municipalities. Lobbyists acting on behalf of major businesses will be able to propose resolutions and argue for new profit-enhancing legislation in front of elected city officials, who will then return to their council chambers and seek to implement the proposals. [The Guardian,3/6/14]

Walker's crony capitalism ushers in frightening leap into fascism.

Scott Walker made a few brave and bold appointments this week, that prove unqualified donors, lobbyists and purely partisan backers are truly in charge of Wisconsin. It's unapologetic fascism. It's also something a leader like Walker can get away with, as he continues to defeat the liberal-socialist-commie-union-neighborhood organizer-intellectual elites trying bring this country down.  

Big Energy Takes Over #1: Incredibly, the guy who rewrote environmental law in Wisconsin for a mining company that had to put its operations on hold, will now help guide the states fossil fuel utilities. WPR:

Bob Seitz, a contract lobbyist who represented mining company Gogebic Taconite and helped lead the push for a rewrite of Wisconsin's mining laws … will be an executive assistant on the Public Service Commission, an agency tasked with regulating Wisconsin utilities.

Big Energy takes over # 2: Just as jaw dropping, a former executive of Madison Gas and Electric will take over for Mike Huebsch as Secretary of the Department of Administration, "the top job in most governors' cabinets."

We Don't Need No Qualifications: Like Walker's proposal to recruit school teachers on just life experience alone, the most unqualified big talker of them all, Vicki McKenna sidekick and vice WISGOP chair Brian Schimmingwill take his life experience of partisan politics and head up the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority. What could go wrong?

For “stand with Walker” voters, the spread of fascism and the instillation of a lobbyists throughout government means whatever the eventual outcome, their principled conservative positions means everyone else can go to hell. Check out Jake's Economic TA Funhouse for more.

American Fascists hold congress and the courts.

For the last few days, radio host Thom Hartmann has been saying that basically, U.S. fascism is upon us. He's passed along a number of amazing quotes from Vice President Henry Wallace and Pres. Roosevelt. Wallace was asked by the NY Times to a explain fascism, how many fascist are there, and how dangerous are they.

It's very clear the Republican Party and the Roberts court have embraced creeping fascism:

Fascism Coming to a Court Near You: Corporate Personhood and the Roberts' Court By Thom Hartmann

Vice President Wallace's answers to those questions were published in The New York Times on April 9, 1944.

"The really dangerous American fascists," Wallace wrote, "are not those who are hooked up directly or indirectly with the Axis. The FBI has its finger on those... With a fascist the problem is never how best to present the truth to the public but how best to use the news to deceive the public into giving the fascist and his group more money or more power."

"American fascism will not be really dangerous," he added in the next paragraph, "until there is a purposeful coalition among the cartelists, the deliberate poisoners of public information..."

Noting that, "Fascism is a worldwide disease," Wallace further suggested that fascism's "greatest threat to the United States will come after the war" and will manifest "within the United States itself. They claim to be super-patriots, but they would destroy every liberty guaranteed by the Constitution. They demand free enterprise, but are the spokesmen for monopoly and vested interest. Their final objective toward which all their deceit is directed is to capture political power so that, using the power of the state and the power of the market simultaneously, they may keep the common man in eternal subjection."

"The myth of fascist efficiency has deluded many people. ... Democracy, to crush fascism internally, must...develop the ability to keep people fully employed and at the same time balance the budget. It must put human beings first and dollars second. It must appeal to reason and decency and not to violence and deceit. We must not tolerate oppressive government or industrial oligarchy in the form of monopolies and cartels."

As Wallace's President, Franklin D. Roosevelt, said when he accepted his party's renomination in 1936 in Philadelphia: "...Out of this modern civilization, economic royalists [have] carved new dynasties.... It was natural and perhaps human that the privileged princes of these new economic dynasties, thirsting for power, reached out for control over government itself. They created a new despotism and wrapped it in the robes of legal sanction.... And as a result the average man once more confronts the problem that faced the Minute Man...."

Speaking indirectly of the fascists that Wallace would directly name almost a decade later, Roosevelt brought the issue to its core: "These economic royalists complain that we seek to overthrow the institutions of America. What they really complain of is that we seek to take away their power."

But, he thundered in that speech: "Our allegiance to American institutions requires the overthrow of this kind of power!"

In just a few months, we may again stand at the same crossroad Roosevelt and Wallace confronted during the Great Depression and World War II. Fascism is rising in America, this time calling itself "compassionate conservatism," and "the free market" in a "flat" world.  The point of its spear is "corporate personhood" and "corporate free speech rights."

The Roberts' Court's behavior - if this prediction of their goal for this fall is accurate (and it's hard to draw any other conclusion) - now eerily parallels the day in 1936 when Roosevelt said: "In vain they seek to hide behind the flag and the Constitution. In their blindness they forget what the flag and the Constitution stand for."

Schimel's Department of Business Justice!

The biggest story, completely ignored during the attorney generals race, was Brad Schimel’s open admission he would be a rubber stamp for the Republican legislature.

Schimel’s rubber stamp has new and bigger implications, now that's he's our next attorney general, after seeing who Schimel put in as his top aide. There’s no hiding what appears to be a big business takeover of our legal system. jsonline: 

A lobbyist for Walmart, the state's biggest business group and more than a dozen other businesses and organizations will serve as the top aide to incoming Attorney General Brad Schimel … appointed Andrew Cook to serve as his deputy secretary.

Besides being the president of the Madison chapter of the Federalist Society, a right wing group of activist conservative lawyers, what legislation has Cook’s stamp of approval?

Cook represented the Wisconsin Civil Justice Council, a group that successfully pushed legislation making it harder to bring civil lawsuits.

The corporate takeover of Wisconsin is complete with this astonishing list of clients:

Walmart; Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, the state's largest business lobbying group; 3M; Aggregate Producers of Wisconsin; Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers; American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity; Association of Wisconsin Surgery Centers; the holding company for Enterprise Rent-A-Car; Lockridge Grindal Nauen, a law firm with offices in Minnesota and Washington, D.C.; Manitoba Hydro; Marathon Petroleum Company; Xcel Energy; Wisconsin Civil Justice Council, a group that successfully pushed legislation making it harder to bring civil lawsuits; Wisconsin Defense Counsel; and the Wisconsin Sheriffs and Deputy Sheriffs Association.

Here’s a sample of reader comments:

-There is not one citizen in 100 who approves of the influence of lobbyists. So what does Brad Schimel do immediately after getting elected? He appoints a full time lobbyist to serve as his deputy secretary!!

-Will the Federalist Society be moving it's headquarters to Wisconsin, too, as did the John Birch Society?

-Doesn't the attorney general also handle consumer protection issues in Wisconsin? If so, this appointment is a total disaster.

-Watch for Cook to bend empathetic ear to mining interests in the very near future. Through his work with the Great Lakes Legal Foundation, he has been a a go-to source for interests looking to "streamline" the process. BTW, Cook is seasoned ALEC adviser, and his firm is the WI lobbyist for Koch Industries. If the right wants us to quit bringing these groups up, quit making it so easy. Open For Business still sound like a good slogan?

The Walker fascist movement is upon us, supported by the sycophants willing to replace "government" with anything, even something they don't understand:

Fascism is capitalism in decay. - Vladimir Lenin

Fascism is capitalism plus murder. - Upton Sinclair

Fascism is very much a mob movement. - P. J. O'Rourke

Republican Leadership Committee's push for more Activist Conservative Judges and Justices.

In something you’d expect to read from some third world dictatorship, here’s the Republican State Leadership Committee’s idea of “judicial fairness,” where only conservative judges can determine if our laws are constitutional. Plus, these judges and justices are also there to shield everyone else from the liberal agenda, whose backers make up about HALF of the U.S. population. Ah, there’s not a rightwing authoritarian problem here, is there?

The following is not only unsettling, but an escalation of liberal vilification that I fear won’t end well. The tea party has set free the dark paranoid underpinnings of conservatism. From the Walker Authority:

Jill Bader: Backed by the union bosses and old corrupt centers of bureaucratic power, the enemies of the reforms sought to use the court system to thwart Walker’s legislation. They lost. However, yesterday the Wisconsin Supreme Court could have just as easily overturned Walker’s signature legislation. What was the difference in outcomes? Five rule of law conservative judges stood against two activist Democrats on the court … the activist Democrats’ opinions pronounced in today’s ruling betray their true intentions. The liberal Democrat judges use an ends justify the means test- whatever it takes to give the liberal Democrat Party back their centers of power, with no regard for the cost to hard working families.

The constitution protects your pocketbook, and tries to keep the price of freedom down for hard working families? Also, the last line is all projection.

The inner "rightwing authoritarian" isn't shy about politicizing and poisoning the judicial branch of government. They've actually made it sound kind of normal:

Theirs is emphatically not a rule of law test- the proper test followed by the five rule of law Republicans on the court which found Walker’s reforms constitutional. 

Yesterday highlights the crucial necessity of the Judicial Fairness Initiative. Voters should be given the information necessary to distinguish between rule of law Republican judges and liberal activist Democrat judges. Voters should be provided this information, or the reform legislation their elected representatives pass could be another innovative law struck down by activist courts, as happens every year all across the country. 

JFI is here to stay. It’s here to educate. It’s here to make a permanent impact in our courts. It’s here to protect conservative innovative reforms from liberal judges attempting to act as super legislatures. 

Conservative "innovative reforms?" Republican State Leadership Committee ironically, is bashing liberal activism based on actual conservative activism. See it HERE!

Americans missing Republicans/Scott Walker message: “Reclaim our Country” promises Political Purification!!! A One Party Authority.

There’s something unsettling about a Midwest governor promising to win what is essentially a replay of the civil war, where the south wins this time. 

Promises to “reclaim our country” beg the question, from what exactly? Any reporters want to take that on? "Reclaim our country" from those troublesome "other" parties? Cleanse the system of the Democrats, independents, Green, Libertarian.

Why does a one party system appeal to Republicans so much? Could it have anything to do with their conservative authoritarianism. Why do we hear supposedly angry independent freedom loving conservatives crave strong leaders? Could it be their “leaders” send out confusing mixed messages, structured in a way that creates a need for order?

     

It was this reported comment from our wondering Governor, Scott Walker, that struck a nerve. jsonline:

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker brought his fiery brand of Republican politics to Seattle on Thursday night, describing at a think-tank fundraiser how he believes conservatives can "reclaim our country."

Did Democrats take the country from them, and if they did, why didn't I get my share of the takings?

"I'm optimistic about the future of this great country," said Walker.

If it’s so great, why does it need to be “reclaimed?”

And then there’s the Republican favorite, the FALSE PREMISE:

Johns Hopkins University neurosurgeon Ben Carson, who gained a national profile after a video of his speech at this year's National Prayer Breakfast went viral, warned of the "secular progressive movement trying to erase all traces of God from our society" and called for Americans to come together. "We the people are the boss," he said.

Without the false premise, Ben Carson would have had nothing to offer. So liberal Democratic Catholics, Lutherans, whatever, are trying to “erase” their own religious beliefs from society?

Walker shrugged off the protests, and what does he care, he’s in charge:

Still, the cross-country invitation of Walker enraged local unions and liberal activists … protesters gathered on Sixth Avenue two hours before the dinner's start carrying signs that read, "Stop The Attack On Worker Rights" and "Washington Respects Working Families." Pat Miller of the Pacific Northwest Regional Council of Carpenters said he had a simpler message for the governor: "Go away."

"Like Gov. Walker, I took office during tough times," King County Executive Dow Constantine said. "But I partnered with our workers."

Protesters aren’t really taken seriously anymore, because again, they’re in charge, or will be when they “reclaim our country.”

Former U.S. Sen. Slade Gorton, in introducing Walker, told the crowd that "picketing you ran into on the way in tonight, is the reaction of losers."

Protesting governments policies is for losers. Nice message.

Walker's speech focused on his successes in office. Walker said that during his tenure as governor, Wisconsin's unemployment has fallen dramatically, its budget deficit has turned into a surplus and many more of its employers feel the state is moving in the right direction...

The reality is more mixed, as Wisconsin's unemployment rate hasn't fallen as fast as the rest of the country and recent news reports have shown that it is unlikely Walker will fulfill his promise to deliver 250,000 jobs in his first term.

Republicans have now created a replacement for the nonexistent ObamaCare death panel myth: Forced Visits!!!

Well, they’re not actually "forced" visits, but voluntary visits made to high risk families that really need the help in states that already have a home visit program. The key word, visits, means nothing forced. And it’s nothing new, but an expansion of grants to existing programs to reach out to more needy families. Does that sounds like government officials slamming down doors and taking our kids? To Republicans it does.

Republicans are now working feverishly to stop the “forced visits” they've only “heard about,” as stated in the following clip. You should also take note how they’re openly planning to limit "activist" local liberal areas of the state, a preemptive action they think will foil the spread of Democratic socialism.

Kent Brown and Rep. Rick Quinn discuss “forced” home inspections under Obamacare in the video below.

The militant conservative site Freedomoutpost.com mistakenly claims: “There is no reference to Medicaid being the determinant for a family to be ‘eligible.’” But, the rule starts with this:

"The purpose of the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) Competitive Grant program is to award Development Grants to States that currently have modest home visiting programs..."

The rule applies to the above program through the Affordable Care Act. Is that not clear?

Freedomoutpost even quotes a right wing attorney who sounds absolutely out-of-his-mind:

Constitutional attorney and author Kent Masterson Brown states, 

“This is not a “voluntary” program. Although the Obama administration would claim the provision applies only to Medicaid families, the new statute, by its own definition, has no such limitation. Intervention may be with any family for any reason. It may also result in the child or children being required to go to certain schools or taking certain medications and vaccines and even having more limited – or no – interaction with parents. The federal government will now set the standards for raising children and will enforce them by home visits.”

Yes, he actually said that. Could such an Obama overreach be true? Will we force children from their parents, give them medications, and raise them? Here’s the governments explanation as it appears in statute:

“…grants to States that currently have modest home visiting programs and want to build on existing efforts. The funding provided will build on the formula funding already provided to States and territories to support the quality implementation of home visiting programs. Priority for Serving High-Risk Populations and Programmatic Areas of Emphasis As directed in the legislation, successful applicants will give priority to providing services to the following populations…”

See, it’s right there somewhere…it’s implied, right? Freedom Out Post even found this outrageous:

A manual called Child Neglect: A Guide for Prevention, Assessment, and Intervention includes firearms as potential safety hazard.

How ridiculous to think guns would be unsafe for kids?    

Conservative Pundit Kevin Hermening labels Capitol Protesters Fascists...dissent will not be tolerated.

WPT's morning radio show showcased a classic example of authoritarian behavior by a conservative political activist, former Iran Hostage and never quite realized 2010 senate candidate Kevin Hermening, now a certified financial planner in Wausau. He lost to teabilly Pam Galloway.

Hermening was quick to project his own "fascist" leanings in the direction of every protester at the state Capitol:

"Listen, this behavior is something that has gone on way too long, and tolerated way too long, by a group of people who are the most disrespectful, intolerant citizens and people who aren't citizens of Wisconsin...they would describe the governor and his administration as fascist. Um, but he technical term, definition of the term...fascist ideology...consistently invoke the primacy of the state. Now these protesters oppose this state government, but I'm pretty sure that they would very much raise up their primacy of their state as they would seek to decide and define it...!"  

Hermening doesn't just project, but he defines the conservative position: dissent will not be "tolerated." Protesters are showing "disrespect" to the party leaders. We're treading in dangerous waters here. He even justified the arrests at the Capitol over an already disproved story about forcing a wedding out of the Capitol.

Former state supreme court candidate Ed Fallone, a Associate Professor of Law at Marquette University, made Hermening look like a third world dictator, which wouldn't be to far off:

Hermening: "I'm surprised that there hasn't been true violence by people who are getting sick and tired and fed up with the behavior of the protesters..."

Announcer: "Democratic state representative...

Fallone: "Hold on, hold on, I mean, I'm still trying to get my head around what Kevin just said.

Hermening: "Don't be a bully Ed, don't join the bullies, you're part of the bully group if you support their behavior."

Fallone: "Yeah, well aside from your characterizing the protests in one fell swoop as a bunch of fascists. Let's remember Kevin, that the birth of the tea party movement, so beloved of the current Republican establishment in this state and nationwide, was a bunch of people disrupting townhall forums on health care policy, and taking over and disrupting the forum screaming and yelling. And a lot of people weren't happy about that Kevin, but that's democracy. And they supported the right of those individuals to speak out. And I think that for you, to be selective, and who has the right to speak out and protest and who doesn't, is unfortunately reflective of a real blind spot on your part. The constitution guarantees that right for everyone Kevin, not just for the groups..."

Great stuff. Check out the rest of this jaw dropping lunacy from Hermening in the audio clip:

Hermening's insistence on permits, and getting the target of the protest to okay dissent, leaves out one important point: What happens when the administration decides, like Hermening did here, that they're "sick and tired and fed up with the behavior of the protesters" and refuse the permit?