Arise
Defy Defeat
Donald John Trump is a vain and gullible old white man in failing physical and mental health He admires evil. At political rallies in the last decade, his word salad musings more than once have hailed “the late, great Hannibal Lecter.”
He publicly has opined that Adolph Hitler had “some good ideas.”
Adolph Hitler was a real person. Hannibal Lecter is a fictional character. It is not at all certain that our Dear Leader is aware of the distinction. Or assigns any importance to it. These two bad boys have a moxy he finds compelling.
What’s in a Name?
1. Adolph Hitler
Wikipedia provides detail about Hitler that might attract and inform the thinking and conduct of the creature now inhabiting the Oval Office.
a. Hitler ruled the Nazi Party autocratically by asserting the Führerprinzip (leader principle).
b. Rank in the party was not determined by elections—positions were filled through appointment by those of higher rank, who demanded unquestioning obedience to the will of the leader.(emphasis added)[374]
c. Hitler's leadership style was to give contradictory orders to his subordinates and to place them into positions where their duties and responsibilities overlapped with those of others, to have "the stronger one [do] the job".[375] In this way, Hitler fostered distrust, competition, and infighting among his subordinates to consolidate and maximise his own power. (emphasis added)
d. His public speeches, orders to his generals, and the diaries of Nazi officials demonstrate that he conceived and authorised the extermination of European Jewry.[350 At a meeting in July 1941 with leading functionaries of the Eastern territories, Hitler said that the easiest way to quickly pacify the areas would be best achieved by "shooting everyone who even looks odd". (emphasis added)..
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf_Hitler#Leadership_style
2. Dr. Hannibal Lecter
New York society famously has not welcomed the 47th president into its number. This is a disappointment to Mr. Big. He is a boorish and boring jumped-up con man. It is understandable that his diseased mind might admire the style and class of a fictional cannibal with a better pedigree who prefers a more elevated culinary experience than a Big Mac and Diet Coke.
a. Someone intellectually brilliant, cultured and sophisticated with refined tastes in art, music, and cuisine.
b. A member of Baltimore’s social elite and a sitting member on its Philharmonic Orchestra’s Board of Directors.
c. Someone with an eidetic memory who will kill a person with “terminally rude” manners.
d. Someone who celebrates killing offenders of his sensibilities by eating their dead remains.
Lecter has an enviable level of native refinement that escapes purchase and disqualifies those lacking it from the confines of good taste and proper conduct.
A Monster Among and Over Us?
A previous post took note of the opinion of Lori Corbert Mann (Your Time Starts NOW!):
“The real danger is not that Trump might be mentally unfit. It’s that he doesn’t have to be. (Emphasis added.) Because others are already ready to carry out the programme. In fact, others already are.”
Lori may or may not be right about who or what is in charge of a strong effort to send our ship of state onto the nearest rocks of unbridled autocracy. Clearly, America the Beautiful currently is floundering in the shoals.
Congress is willing to fund illegal programs;
and,
The Supreme Court is willing to allow unconstitutional federal operations to ruin lives, customs, and consensus:
Credit. The Week a. On pleas accepted into its Shadow Docket to accomodate the administration’s claim that the adverse rulings of lower courts were blocking timely and effective response to a national emergency;
b. Considered and determined out of public view; and,
c. Justified by tortured legal technicalities issued without attribution or justification.
Well, the shoals ain’t the shore.
Precious time remains to avoid imminent disaster, minimize further damage, and steer to a place of safe repair.
Freedom’s Reflexive Response
Name the problem. ALL of We the People are being manipulated to the advantage of the entitled and empowered few. Think of us as hostages to a wrinkle in time.
Credit. The Week No previous President has engendered the level of resistance and outrage as the Trump 2.0 administration now alternately celebrates and bemoans. The Lawfare account as of 15 July 25 is:
· 303 active cases, including 11 suits by the Trump administration challenging state or local laws;
· 39 dismissed suits or appeals;
· 13 Supreme Court stays or order to vacate lower court orders;
· 1 Supreme Court affirmation of lower court order;
· 18 suits where judges granted summary judgment or a permanent injunction for plaintiffs; and,
· 3 suits where judges ruled for the federal government.
Resistance 2.0 has a vigor and determination that history will note and celebrate, if given the chance to remember, record, and comment.
Let us covenant to “Remember the 2025 Resistance”. To note and honor each plaintiff, lawyer, and judge who answered the call to defend human rights in a context of purposeful and sustained intimidation, terror, and callous disregard for domestic and/or international law.
Regret Is Best Served Sincerely
In March of 1972 a little girl with a big voice named Brenda Lee sang a bittersweet ballad. Ten years later Willie Nelson put out an album memorializing the title of that ballad—a failure of constancy and close attention. With apologies to Wayne Carson, Johnny Christopher, and Mark James-- America the Beautiful, you were always on our mind:
Maybe we didn't love you
Quite as often as we could have
Maybe we didn't treat you
Quite as good as we should have
If we made you feel second-best
Girl, we’re sorry we were blind
You were always on our mind
You were always on our mind
And maybe we didn't hold you
All those lonely, lonely times
And we guess we rarely told you
We’re so happy to be entwined
Little things we should have said and done
We just never took the time
And you were always on our mind
You were always on our mind
Tell us, tell us that your sweet love hasn't died
And give us, give us one more chance
To keep you satisfied
Keep you satisfiedThe price of freedom remains the same—vigilance.
Stand Up and Walk Away from Illness
Name the problem. The context is purposefully dystopian,
Credit. The Spokesman Review ALL of We the People have allowed ourselves to be taken hostage by double think, double talk, and double dealing.
Here is another famous hostage situation worth remembering and considering:
In 1973, Jan-Erik Olsson, a convict on parole, took four employees (three women and one man) hostage during a failed bank robbery of Kreditbanken, one of the largest banks in Stockholm, Sweden. He negotiated the release from prison of his friend Clark Olofsson to assist him. They held the hostages captive for six days (23–28 August) in one of the bank's vaults. When the hostages were released, none of them would testify against either captor in court; instead, they began raising money for their defense.[3]
Olsson later said in an interview that he could have easily killed the hostages in the beginning, but over time it became more difficult, as he developed an emotional bond with them:[9]
“It was the hostages' fault. They did everything I told them to. If they hadn't, I might not be here now. Why didn't any of them attack me? They made it hard to kill. They made us go on living together day after day, like goats, in that filth. There was nothing to do but get to know each other.”
There are four key components that characterize Stockholm syndrome:
· A hostage's development of positive feelings towards the captor.
· No previous relationship between hostage and captor.
· A refusal by hostages to cooperate with police and other government authorities.
· A hostage's belief in the humanity of the captor, ceasing to perceive them as a threat, when the victim holds the same values as the aggressor. (Emphasis added).
This is a case of false imprisonment of attitudes, beliefs, and practices. Resistance 2.0 is dedicated to the proposition of shaking off false chains of political hypochondria. Like George W. Bush (not our best president by a very long shot) accurately observed about the “Carnage” inaugural speech of the 45th president— “That is some weird shit.”
It smells bad. It is bad. Getting some distance from it is a matter of public health.
Stand clear.
Walk away.
Gain strength and advantage from attaining distance from illness.
Manifesto
Tomorrow, on 17 July 25, over 1,200 events are scheduled to protest peacefully Trump 2.0’s implementation of the horrific Project 2025 playbook,
Credit. The Week Let us use our persons and our purses to support and augment that signal effort and moment.
Beyond and after that, let us remember that joy is the poison that kills tyranny.
Joy is the secret sauce of freedom.
Be it.
Neither Adolph Hitler nor Donald John Trump are reputed to enjoy a healthy sense of humor. Neither Dr. Hannibal Lecter nor Donald John Trump are known to accept knees that do not bend.
Screw ‘em.
And the horse they rode in on.
And the post they tied it to.
We all got their tee-shirt.
Let us covenant to take that bad rag home and tie-dye it into a strong and happy headband of many colors.
Let us not be satisfied with making good trouble.
Let us covenant to drive ‘em nuts with a joyful noise.
Protest.
Persist.
Prevail.
