The biggest threat to our country today is the Republican Party

[applegrove]

I used to work in US intelligence advising presidents on risk. The biggest threat to our country today is the Republican Party

Donald Trump and his coterie of criminals have done more in two years to weaken the United States than the Soviet Union was able to achieve in decades

Paul Nailer at the Independant

https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/trump-gop-climate-change-fbi-russia-racism-us-intelligence-a9009441.html?utm_source=reddit.com

"SNIP.....


Let me say it again: the Republican Party is the biggest threat the United States is facing. And without proper attribution, recognition, and a well-articulated and implemented counter-strategy, it could be terminal.

There is no other reasonable conclusion to be drawn from the facts.

An enemy of the United States might seek to sow discord between ethnic groups, or to wage a disinformation campaign, or to highlight moral inconsistencies that weaken the standing of the United States on the world stage. An enemy of the United States might try and degrade the capacity and public trust within our intelligence apparatus. It might use propaganda and weaponized  information. It might seek to engage in fraud or other criminal acts to sway an election in their favor.

Does any of that sound familiar?

The Republican Party has steadily embraced authoritarianism, suspect electoral tactics, and racism more and more over the past few decades. That process has been turbocharged with Trump at the helm of the party.


......SNIP"

[elleng]

1. Yes

[dalton99a]

2. And a big threat to the planet.

[dlk]

3. No Kidding!

[SamKnause]

4. I have been saying that for years.

Their goal is for the U.S. to become a corporate controlled theocracy.

[2naSalit]

5. He's a threat to every living thing on the planet...nt

[vlyons]

6. and who pulls the strings of the Republican party?

They have been bought and sold, now owned and operated by the 1% greedy monopolistic corporate and Wall St oligarchs.

[KY_EnviroGuy]

10. Agree 100%. It's no longer a political party, it's instead an outlet for...

executing the desires of the international uber-wealthy. Our Rethug politicians are nothing but obedient employees and they are well paid for their efforts for life.

See the UK, Brazil, Russia and others for further evidence.....

[Hermit-The-Prog]

19. will Putin win?

[KY_EnviroGuy]

21. He has won already - here and in Europe, bit by bit.

I'm guessing his internet troops are playing a part in stirring up shit with the border patrol people, ICE, and many of our police and military forces. He'll do anything to increase divisiveness around the globe, then take advantage of the resulting weakness.

He's like a slow growing cancer, yet one that can be fatal......

[KPN]

7. Time to apply some serious sanctions.

GOTV in 2020 ... and then send a strong unmistakable message.

[myohmy2]

8. the biggest threat...

" Let me say it again: the Republican Party is the biggest threat the United States is facing. And without proper attribution, recognition, and a well-articulated and implemented counter-strategy, it could be terminal. "

...where's our depth of concern and our actions commensurate with the tremendous threat at hand?...where's our well-articulated counter-strategy or it's implementation?...where's our sense of urgency?

...the clock is ticking...

...

[BannonsLiver]

9. The second biggest threat?

A Democratic primary that becomes a divisive purity and/or sour grapes fest resulting in a weakened nominee by November 2020 helping Donnie to another 4 years.
Nothing Donnie says or does keeps me up at night, but that thought does.

[Brainfodder]

30. Nah you can quit saying/believing that.

Why?

There is no way in hell DJT has gained any voters since he took office, he's definitely lost them!

So it's a math problem, make sure we have nearly 100% turn out.

We'd all vote for a (D) named Pet Rock at this point?

[BannonsLiver]

34. You mean like in 2016?

Take it for granted if you want. Believe it’s a shoe in Trump loses. I’m not buying it until it happens. So, you do you, and don’t tell me WTF I can and cannot say. Thanks.

Is there a middle finger smiley?

[Brainfodder]

40. That was not AT you that was a generalization.

Apologies.

The whole thing SUCKS, he's lost votes, not gained, so get out the vote is all that matters if he's still in the White House next year!

I agree on the missing smiley too!



This assumes a fair election, which unfortunately...

[YOHABLO]

11. The Republican Party is in its last throes of power. They mean to take us all down with them.

If they can't have it their way, then no one will survive. I say this sincerely.

[Celerity]

17. they are far from being in their last throes, unfortunately.

For the last 50 years they have slowly, grindingly, brutally, gamed the system.

The Senate demographics moving forward aid them. By the 2030's, 70% of the seats will be controlled by just 30% of the population. That 30% is far whiter, more reactionary RW, older, less educated, and more fundie xian than the other 70%.

Via gerrymandering and systemic voter suppression, they control so much of the key inflection points on the national congressional (and at state assemblies as well) electoral map. They skew the map to favour RW candidates, or make swing districts that are so split that the only way to get a Democratic candidate in is to run a a centrist who oft-times will vote on big economic and war/surveillance/security state issues in a similar manner that a Rethug would. For examples, see the partial tearing down of Dodd-Frank last year and also the passing of defence budgets that were actually MORE than even Trump asked for.

They have already tipped the SCOTUS (and the overall Federal judiciary system) to a RW stance, and another Rump term would possible yield a 7-2 or even 8-1 hard RW SCOTUS for a couple decades (especially if Thomas also retires.) as well as dozens of new hard RW lower court judges.

If we do not take back a tonne of state houses in 2020, the new (and likely skewed to favour the RW) census will be used to gerrymander even more in their favour, and the RW federal courts will aid in further voter suppression and RW practises (including the long-wave project of tearing down most all civil rights gained post Brown v Board) across a myriad number of fronts.

Much of the massive demographic changes are happening in the already Blue states. The main ones that the Rethugs ARE at risk in losing would be Texas (will take a long time, due to size, unfortunately) Georgia (our best hope as the Atlanta area continues to surge in growth via non-Southern influx), and hopefully Arizona and North Carolina. Florida is a toss-up as so many RW scum also move there, and their Latinx population is not monolithic as a LW group at all.

So, no, I absolutely do not see them as being on their last legs at all.

[myohmy2]

18. +1

...

[YOHABLO]

22. Well you have a lot of ''IF's'' up there. How about what ''IF'' people wake up and vote?

I still have hope we can turn this around. This is not Nazi Germany 1930s. Dems and others have to get up and out there.

[Celerity]

23. Actually, not that many 'ifs'. The main one is Rump being re-elected.

If he somehow is, that bodes very ill for our chances of taking back the Senate. The rest is not so much if but when. I highly doubt we would make it to 2025 without at least one of RGB, Breyer, and/or Sotomayor leaving the Court, whether via passing on or retiring.

The best, if Rump wins in 2020, that we can probably hope for is to win the Senate back in 2022 and block him for 2 years. Downside of that is that the SCOTUS still stays majority RW.

If Rump loses and we do not take back the Senate, McTurtle will do the same. Pure block, for 4 years if he has control. I do not see a Rethug Senate ever confirming a Democratic-nominated SCOTUS justice for a long time, unless it was a RWer like a Rethug would nominate.

[ck4829]

25. True

[Hortensis]

12. Yes. Their choice, faced with a nation that increasingly

refuses to vote for a white man's party, is to eliminate representative government.

To that seditious end, the Republicans in power have have abandoned all principles and replaced them with the ruthlessness of extremists. They've adopted fascistic political tactics, become intensely corrupt themselves, implanted massive corruption in government and the courts, cooperated with foreign enemies who seek to destroy our nation, and allied with extremists among the billionaire classes, Christian right, and white supremacists and nationalists against the people.

And in their extremism and corruption, they both create new giant threats to the wellbeing of the people and oppose solutions to all of the other problems that can only be addressed by government. The first step to addressing any big issue, including the climate crisis, therefore has to be getting them out of power.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

29. a most excellent summary!

[VOX]

32. Outstanding concise analysis.

And you’re 100% correct on all counts. Nicely done.

[ChildOfTheFort]

41. I have been reading all of your remarks.

You have succeeded in depressing me to the bone and all of you have forgotten one thing that would make a HUGE difference as soon as a year from now. get rid of the electoral college ASAP. The GOP has destroyed us with it twice and put their stooges in office right under our noses and the prices we paid have been steep, The THREE largest problems we have to overcome are: Trump, who is a tool but a useful tool for the GOP. McConnell and the electoral college which is also a useful tool they use frequently.

[Cosmocat]

13. Been saying/posting this for decades

Until this country accepts this fact and stops relentlessly indulging their lunacy we are fucked.

[jcmaine72]

14. They are little more than an unofficially declared terrorist organization at this point.

They ceased being a legitimate political party decades ago. They are the modern ideological heirs to both Nazi Germany and the CSA. Their supporters countenance white supremacy and concentration camps. By the same definition that we apply to Middle Eastern terrorism, that makes ALL registered republicans terrorists as well because they are enabling these atrocities.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

15. "existential"

From early in the article:

Shocking as that may seem — and your level of shock may vary widely depending on how closely you’ve been tracking the actions both center stage and behind the scenes of the rapidly toxifying Grand Ole Party — the real problem with this revelation is that we cannot actually do much about this threat in the classic manner.

The threat from the right is the first national-level “insider threat” the United States has faced since the Civil War. It is insidious, asymmetric, powerful – and existential.

[moondust]

16. Agree.

Their actions indicate Dump and Barr would really like to completely ignore Congress and the courts and rule by decree. Someone in their party may already have an Enabling Act drawn up that they'd like to ram through should they manage to get control of the federal government again in 2020.

[SunSeeker]

20. K & R

[ck4829]

24. K&R

[democratisphere]

26. Yep. Who's afraid of terrorists when we have drumpf and rethuglicons to worry about.

[Guilded Lilly]

27. Destruction from within, like an insidious disease gone untreated is a far...

more lethal threat to America.
Epidemic now.

[KentuckyWoman]

28. I actually disagree.

I think the bigger problem is lack of accountability at all levels of government. Despite 24/7 news, internet and every other thing, the citizens of the US are ill informed.

When it gets to the point Redacted can stand up there and say "lock her up" let alone "send her home" it isn't just Republicans holding the blame. There's plenty to go around.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

31. how many Democrats chanted "lock her up" and "send her back"?

How many Democrats can you name who have lost somewhere around 2000 children after separating them from their parents?

How many Democrats colluded with Putin's Russia to influence our elections?

I suggest you re-examine your assertion that "it isn't just Republicans holding the blame".

[KentuckyWoman]

35. I am not blaming the Democratic Party.

You don't get to this point unless the bad actors weren't stopped early on. Now poor reporting is the norm - bumper sticker politics is the norm. Every time Redacted pukes up another tweet it gets blasted everywhere. Including all over DU.

This isn't about party affiliation. This is about what Americans are willing to accept.

We can agree the bad actors have found a haven within the Republican party. They've been left to operation hate radio, consolidate media power and misinform for about 40 years. Who is stopping them? No one.

You can't say most cops are good cops and then have 10 cops beat someone to death out on the street for stealing cigarettes with no charges to any of them. Where's the "good cops". Same thing.

I'm asking... where's the good cops in media and politics?
I'm willing to re-examine but you have to give me more to look at than you have. Again, my statement is not about party. It's about us all.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

36. you said, "it isn't just Republicans holding the blame"

If that's not blaming the Democratic party, I don't know what is.

Where are the Republicans who sacrificed their seats in order to get health care for millions?

Which Democrats praise murderous dictators while threatening our allies?

Show me how the Democratic party is as big a "threat to our country today" as the Republican party.

Bothsiderism has been debunked repeatedly.

[KentuckyWoman]

38. I told you you misunderstood and explained why.

If you want to stay all outraged I can't stop you. Enjoy it.

[Hortensis]

33. Wow. I'm seeing a serious perspective problem, Ken.

A schoolteacher who occasionally steals someone's yogurt from the break room is not just a lighter version of an embezzler who decides to hurry things up by turning to armed robbery.

You might want to read up on the increasing threat of fascist talkeover in America and the increasingly fascistic tactics the right is using, including institution of massive corruption into government and the atrocities Hermit points out.

Liberals who vote, and who strongly dominate the Democratic Party, are humanity's anti-fascists and do NOT share the blame.

However, people who listened to the Republicans promise to be what they are and didn't vote to stop them are both entirely to blame and are now in just as much danger as everyone else.

Understanding that this threat exists is critical to protecting yourself, Kentucky. Before you find yourself badly mugged and unable to get up. Ever.

[KentuckyWoman]

37. We agree more than we disagree.

I don't disagree with you. I simply think the society that let this foolishness go on for this long, to get us to this point is the bigger problem.

Every society has bad actors. We do too. We have to keep them in check. The fascists aren't taking over America in a vacuum. Liberals who vote try, but it obviously isn't enough. There is a large group in America that is neither Republican or Liberal Democrat. Where have they been all this time?

And to your last line and the general tone of your post. Threaten away. Fear monger away. Make fun of me like I'm some little blind twit. It doesn't faze me. Someday you will be right where I am now and you'll be grateful for someplace like DU to connect with the outside world and interact. Hopefully you aren't treated that way by someone when it comes.

[Hortensis]

39. Yes, I do agree everything always involves "society."

Imo, that's no more analytical and productive of insight, though, than responding to problems by saying all people live on the same planet. Yes, we do.

Equating Democrats with Republicans as both manifestations of imperfect "society" is only a variation on Trump's "there were very fine people on both sides" about the imperfections of "society" in Charlotte.

A genuine huge problem with many in our societies is disrespect for truth, and that very much includes accepting the pernicious false equivalence of those who aren't to blame with those who are to confuse and give cover to those doing wrong. There're huge differences between those who internalize these messages and those who know them for what they are. What are they? Is self knowledge one? I have no difficulty differentiating between myself and virtually any Trump voter merely because we are all "society." The difference is very real.

We need to commit to seeking and understanding what is true so we can do better. Not "society," but each of us.

[Cyberologist]

42. Yep

and they are upfront about it. They don't even hide it.