I WISH I WAS WRONG - BUT I’M NOT

The shit, as they say, is “getting real.”

The Trump Far Right has reached the tipping point of open, mass sedition against and subversion of the United States of America.

They are not “redeemable.” You cannot reach them with facts. They are The Enemy and you must exclude them from your life for your own safety. It doesn’t matter if they’re family or people who were your lifelong friends. They’re now “pod people.” Not who they were.

We are living in the world of “Invasion of the Body Snatchers.”

I wish to hell I was wrong, but I am not.

Monday’s search of Mar-A-Lago puts us at a perilous moment. NBC News reporter Ben Collins, who tracks pro-Trump online forums, tweeted that the posts on far right social media Monday night were “as violent as I’ve seen them since before January 6th. Maybe even more so.”

In a desperate attempt to remain relevant, Professional Trailer Park Trash Newt Gingrich tweeted that he thought the FBI might have “planted” the evidence they removed from Mar-A-Largo.

It didn’t take long for that to “click.”

This morning, Trump tweeted that the FBI forced his representatives out of the building they were searching at Mar-A-Largo so they could “rummage” without witnesses. “I hope they didn’t plant anything.”

The story on the Right within an hour was that the FBI had planted the evidence they removed from Mar-A-Largo.

Trump attorney Christina Bobb went on Real America’s Voice with host Karyn Turk and stated Trump attorneys were not permitted to see what was going on, and that security didn’t interfere. “No, there is no security that something wasn’t planted. I’m not saying that’s what they did.” She added later that she didn’t think the FBI “would go to the extent of trying to plant information — I think they just make stuff up and come up with whatever they want.”

Within an hour of that, the Republican nominee for Secretary of State in Nevada called for armed supporters of Trump to gather on the Las Vegas strip to protest the FBI “stripping our president of his rights.”

Last night a dozen old people were outside Mar-A-Largo demonstrating support for Trump. Today there is a crowd of several hundred that is growing.

The New York Post was among the first to publish the name of the magistrate judge who purportedly signed off on the warrant. It did so, however, with a very specific spin: not only was the judge, Bruce Reinhart, an Obama donor, but he once represented employees of notorious billionaire pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Politico published a version of the same story, stating the name of the judge had been revealed by Trump lawyer Christina Bobb. Bobb is also the source for the story that Trump’s lawyers and representatives were “forced to leave” during the Mar-A-Largo search.

One thing we have to understand is that all of this demonstrates how terrified Trump is that his time has come, that he’s finally come up against something he can’t weasel out of. That’s why he is forcing the Right to come to his defense like this, because an eruption of violence is the only thing he can think of to deflect from whatever was in those boxes.

That it is all founded on bullshit does not make the threat any less threatening and dangerous.

The threat of armed political violence from far-right extremists has been growing for years, but it has reached a fever pitch in pro-Trump social media.

“When does the shooting start?” “Summertime was made for killing fields.” “Lock and load.” “Tomorrow is war.” “Pick up arms, people.”

At a time of danger and instability, a man who has reveled in his ability to harm society since he first went into business now has his minions in all-out attack mode, pouring gas on the fire with h talk of “war” and “assassination,” an “attack” on the country and Trump supporters, and calls for revenge against a “corrupt” American “KGB.” Rupert Murdoch should be brought up on charges of actively supporting sedition, have his citizenship revoked, and be deported back to Australia, which he long ago Fucked Up Beyond All Recognition.

Egged on by Murdoch, elected Republicans have erupted in cries about the “weaponized politicization” done by a Democratic “Gestapo” and a “tyrannical FBI,” and about the need to “make sure these tyrants pay the price.” They cry: “Destroy the FBI.” “No one is safe.” “You’re next.” “They’re coming for YOU.”

On Saturday night, knowing the investigations that surround him, Trump told the CPAC crowd:

“Together, we are standing up against some of the most menacing forces, entrenched interests and vicious opponents our people and our country has ever seen. A friend of mine recently said that I was the most persecuted person in the history of our country.

“And then I thought about it, because I didn’t have time to think much because I’m always being persecuted, and I felt he may very well be right. What a terrible thing.

“And it continues to this day. These are evil people. These are sick people. Think of them. Who has been through anything like this? Certainly no politician and definitely no president. All of this while I was doing so much as president.

“But you say, where does it stop? Where does it end? It probably doesn’t stop, because despite great outside dangers, our biggest threat remains the sick, sinister and evil people from within our own country. Never forget everything this corrupt establishment is doing to me is all about preserving their power and control over the American people. They want to damage me in any form so that I can no longer represent the hardworking citizens of our country, so that I will no longer get a 99% approval rating from CPAC.

“If I renounced my beliefs, if I agreed to stay silent, if I stayed home or if I stayed in my basement, the persecution of Donald Trump would stop immediately. That’s what they want me to do, but I can’t do that. And I will not do that because I love our country and I love the people of our country so much. I’m not doing this for me because I had a very good and luxurious life. I had a very luxurious life. What the hell did I do? I got a racist attorney general in New York that’s been after me for years. She campaigned on the fact, “I will get Donald Trump.” She doesn’t know anything about me. “I will get him.” Terrible people. These are terrible people.

“But no matter how big or powerful the corrupt radicals we are fighting against may be, no matter how menacing they appear, we must never forget that this nation does not belong to them. This nation belongs to you. This is your home. This is your heritage. This is your country that your American ancestors won with their own courage, defended with their own blood and built with their own hands.”

Yes, I know it’s hard to read those words, let alone be forced to listen to them. But 74 million of your fellow Americans listened to four years of that bullshit and said “let’s have some more!”

Now Trump is playing the victim card he has used for the past 50 years whenever his criminal behavior has landed him in trouble, the card that’s always been his “Get Out Of Jail Free” card, and he is now willing to call forth the darkest forces to further his story of himself as the Great Victim.

Donald Trump is willing to burn down the country if that is what it takes for him to get out of hail free this time. And a good portion of those 74 million who wanted him to stay in office in 2020 and complete his campaign of chaos and destruction are willing to do whatever he calls them to do in furtherance of that. And a not-insignificant number of them are willing to take action. Most of the posts on right wing social media is coming from people who were at the January 6 insurrection. They’ve already passed through the doorway into Looney World.

What has now become completely clear with no doubt whatsoever is that the Republican party, which seemed to be flirting with post-Trumpism just a few weeks ago, has now transformed itself as an authoritarian cult. Trump has not changed. But he has changed Republicans.

The results of the primaries last week and last night clearly demonstrate that the Republican Party is now, 100 percent, The Trump Party. There is no “resistance” inside the party. They are all onboard.

Back during the Clinton administration in the mid-1990s, far-right militia groups proliferated over anger at the federal government’s clumsy moves against extremists at the Branch Davidian cult’s compound in Waco and in an earlier standoff in Ruby Ridge, Idaho. Conservatism Inc. and Republican lawmakers stoked the rage, warning “patriots” to resist a supposed attempt by the government to confiscate guns and impose a global government. They warned of “black helicopters” and a “paramilitary style attack against Americans,” and they called for people to rise up against the “abuse of power.”

The result came in April 1995, on the second anniversary of Waco, when a white nationalist detonated a truck bomb outside the federal building in Oklahoma City, killing 168, many of them children.

In 2010, during the Obama administration, these groups again proliferated. Sarah Palin, the former vice-presidential nominee, issued her “Don’t Retreat, Instead — RELOAD!” edict, while prominent Republicans touted guns to fight “a tyrannical government” and told activists to be “armed and dangerous.” They warned that the country was under “attack” from a “gangster government.”

The result came in Phoenix, Arizona, when a madman killed six and seriously wounded Rep. Gabby Giffords at a community event.

Now, right-wing, anti-government paramilitaries are ascendant.

Now it is easier for a group, or even a single person, to unleash mass carnage, as we have seen. There are a half-million AR-15s and other semi-automatic assault guns in the general population.

Explosives are lighter and more able to escape detection.

Inexpensive switches made on 3D printers can turn Glock pistols into fully automatic weapons capable of firing more than 15 rounds per second.

The internet and encrypted communications facilitate widespread radicalization and coordination.

Republican officials have encouraged this hysteria. Kevin McCarthy accused the Justice Department of “an intolerable state of weaponized politicization.”

Ron DeSantis claimed the “weaponization of federal agencies against the Regime’s political opponents.”

Others referenced “3rd world Marxist dictatorships,” Democrats “abusing power with no recourse,” and an FBI trying “to take political enemies out.”

Newsmax hosted former New York police commissioner and convicted felon Bernard Kerik, who claimed to be “deathly afraid” that Trump will face “assassination.”

Fox News radio host Mark Levin: “This is the worst attack on this Republic in modern history, period.”

Steve Bannon, baselessly claiming White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain approved the search: “We’re at war. We need to choke down the FBI and choke down the Justice Department.”

Fox News’s Dan Bongino: “You do not live in a constitutional republic anymore.”

Former Trump administration official Michael Caputo: “The FBI is the KGB” after the “military-style raid.”

Trump daughter-in-law Lara Trump: “This should shake you to your core.”

Laura Ingraham threatened: “When we get power back, it’s time to hold everyone accountable.”

These are open invitations to the violent and the unstable to take matters into their own hands. And we know they are out there.

Consider 2018 again. When the FBI searched Michael Cohen’s office, Trump was Trump. He raged like a banshee. He declared that it was “an attack on our country” and a “disgraceful situation.” He implied he might fire Robert Mueller.

Some Fox News bobbleheads treated the event as evidence of a conspiracy to hurt the Dear Leader, but in general Fox downplayed the event, devoting less air time to it than either CNN or MSNBC.

Some Trump flunkies on in Congress echoed his complaints, but most kept silent while prominent Republicans sent strong signals firing Mueller would be out of bounds. The prevailing tone in Republican ranks was that the investigations, including Mueller’s, must be permitted to proceed according to the rules. Any interference would be unconscionable. Chuck Grassley told the Washington Post it would be “suicide for the president to . . . talk about firing Mueller.”

Senators Thom Tillis and Lindsey Graham teamed up with Chris Coons and Cory Booker to propose the Special Counsel Independence and Integrity Act.

That was then.

Now, the FBI has executed another warrant, and the Trump troops have leaped into battle mode.

Betsy McCaughey, former New York lieutenant governor and New York Post columnist, tweeted, “The FBI is established by federal law. Its powers were increased under the Patriot act. What Congress creates Congress can destroy. When Republicans take back Congress, they should abolish the FBI, shut every field office, fire all staff, and start anew. #Trump #FBI #Newsmax.”

Rep. Paul Gosar : “I will support a complete dismantling and elimination of the democrat brown shirts known as the FBI. This is too much for our republic to withstand @charliekirk11 @JackPosobiec @kelliwardaz @KariLake @andybiggs4az @GOPLeader @DonaldJTrumpJr.”

Sen. Josh Hawley: “At a minimum, Garland must resign or be impeached. The search warrant must be published. Christoper Wray must be removed. And the FBI reformed top to bottom.”

Marjorie Taylor Greene: “Defund the FBI!”

And Newt Gingrich channels Johnnie Cochran to suggest the FBI might have planted evidence at Mar-A-Lago.

The party that “backed the blue” and opposed “defund-the-police” now flips. On the orders of Donald Trump.

Kevin McCarthy’s threat to investigate Merrick Garland is bullshit. He displays zero interest in whether Trump actually committed a crime. The clear message is “You’ve gone after our leader so we’re coming for you.”

The facts are irrelevant. It’s war. The Republican Party is demonstrating just how fast this experiment in constitutional, republican democracy can disappear.

Donald Trump has managed in 48 hours to turn all his potential 2024 opponents or competitors inside the party into his supporters.

If he takes power on January 20, 2025, the democracy we have had for almost 250 years will be gone before my birthday on July 13 that year.

These people are not merely “dangerous.” They are America’s Enemy.

As Richard Hofstadter stated 68 years ago:

“The pseudo conservative is a man who, in the name of upholding traditional American values and institutions and defending them against more or less fictitious dangers, consciously or unconsciously aims at their abolition.”

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