Finally Friday Reads: We were Warned

“Every time he wears a tuxedo…” John Buss, @repeat1968

Good Day, Sky Dancers!

We’ve gone way past the notion of creeping authoritarianism. We’ve got an executive branch that’s forcing us into a Soviet-style Command and Control Economy.  We’ve also entered a deeper phase of attacks on the U.S. Constitution, which resemble the commands of Dear Leader in Korea to provide adequate adoration and no criticism. Our First Amendment Rights have never experienced such obvious frontal attacks. Meanwhile, the wannabe King was living it up in his usual white trash ways by embarrassing us in a State visit to the UK.  He’s the perfect example of “The Ugly American” as outlined in the book of the same name. It’s going to take years to retrieve our international standing and influence.

This analysis in the PBS article compares our current attacks on Freedom of the press to those of  Orbán’s Hungary and Putin’s Russia. I don’t have a working TV, and I have watched less of it over the years. I think the absurdity of “reality” TV finally did me in. However, it’s still an important source of information in this country as well as entertainment, and to see it be controlled by the current administration and its stupidity is beyond anything I’d ever expect. I grew up on the Smothers Brothers, Laugh-In, and other comedies that continually trolled Richard Nixon. I never thought we’d experience McCarthyism again, which was before my time, but taught repeatedly in American History as one of our darkest nights.

The defunding of PBS is just one nail in the coffin of  truth to “We the People.” This article is a compilation of reporting from the above-mentioned authoritarian governments, mostly from the AP. “Trump’s moves against media outlets mirror authoritarian approaches to silencing dissent.”

Since taking office in January, President Donald Trump has waged an aggressive campaign against the media unlike any in modern U.S. history, making moves similar to those of authoritarian leaders that he has often praised.

On Wednesday, Trump cheered ABC’s suspension of Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show after the comedian made remarks about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk that criticized the president’s MAGA movement: “Congratulations to ABC for finally having the courage to do what had to be done,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

It was the latest in a string of attacks against news outlets and media figures he believes are overly critical of him. Trump has filed lawsuits against outlets whose coverage he dislikes, threatened to revoke TV broadcast licenses and sought to bend news organizations and social media companies to his will.

The tactics are similar to those used by leaders in other countries who have chipped away at speech freedoms and independent media while consolidating political power, including Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, a close Trump ally whose leadership style is revered by many conservatives in the U.S.

“What we’re seeing is an unprecedented attempt to silence disfavored speech by the government,” said Brendan Nyhan, a political scientist at Dartmouth College. “Donald Trump is trying to dictate what Americans can say.”

The first thing that does peeve me about this and related articles is the consistent use of the word “conservatives” in all of the analysis I’ve read. Traditional Conservatives do not support the suppression of the Free Press. It’s generally some kind of Populist Uprising within their ranks that leads to this sort of nonsense. I’m not defending the spineless bunch of Republicans that are enabling this, but we need to recognize what this represents. The Bulwark represents the example of our strange bedfellows these days. I repeatedly provide perspectives by Bill Kristol because I may not agree with him on many things, but he does respect the Constitution and continually warns us about the threat presented by our fascist-loving Executive Branch. Yesterday, he wrote this at The Bulwark.  His analysis was presented along with that of Andrew Egger and Jim Swift under their daily heading. Yesterday it was “Yeah. It’s Fascism.”  Kristol’s analysis was entitled “We’re Gonna Call It What It Is.”

JD Vance is outraged. How dare some people use the term “fascist” to describe the man to whom he has pledged fealty? How dare they apply the term to the movement to which he has hitched his star?

Very few individuals have seen President Donald Trump as close-up as John F. Kelly, the retired Marine Corps general who served for nearly a year and a half as White House chief of staff during Trump’s first term.

Kelly was and is a staunch conservative. In an interview with the New York Times shortly before the 2024 election, he explained that, “In many cases, I would agree with some of his policies.”

In that same interview, Kelly was asked whether he thought Trump was a fascist. Kelly answered by reading aloud a definition of fascism that he’d found online.

Well, looking at the definition of fascism: It’s a far-right authoritarian, ultranationalist political ideology and movement characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hierarchy.

Kelly then commented:

Certainly the former president is in the far-right area, he’s certainly an authoritarian, admires people who are dictators — he has said that. So he certainly falls into the general definition of fascist, for sure. . . . He certainly prefers the dictator approach to government.

Unlike Vance, who saw in Trump a wagon to which to hitch his star, Kelly was at the end of a distinguished career when he joined the Trump administration. He meant to serve his country, not himself. He found that he was working for a fascist.

As for the movement which Vance aspires to lead once Trump leaves the scene, it too has many features of fascism.

In 1995, the Italian novelist and critic Umberto Eco perceived a “ghost stalking Europe (not to speak of other parts of the world).” That ghost was fascism.

Eco explained that “fascism was a fuzzy totalitarianism, a collage of different philosophical and political ideas.” Nonetheless he argued that “in spite of this fuzziness, I think it is possible to outline a list of features that are typical of what I would like to call Ur-Fascism, or Eternal Fascism.”

Among the elements of Ur-Fascism:

• “The first feature of Ur-Fascism is the cult of tradition,” he writes, which implies “the rejection of the modern world.”

• “Ur-Fascism can be defined as irrationalism.”

• “For Ur-Fascism, disagreement is treason.”

• “Ur-Fascism grows up and seeks for consensus by exploiting and exacerbating the natural fear of difference. The first appeal of a fascist or prematurely fascist movement is an appeal against the intruders.”

• “Ur-Fascism derives from individual or social frustration.”

• “At the root of the Ur-Fascist psychology there is the obsession with a plot, possibly an international one. The followers must feel besieged. The easiest way to solve the plot is the appeal to xenophobia.”

• “The Ur-Fascist transfers his will to power to sexual matters. This is the origin of machismo. . . . Since even sex is a difficult game to play, the Ur-Fascist hero tends to play with weapons—doing so becomes an ersatz phallic exercise.”

• “Fascist schoolbooks made use of an impoverished vocabulary, and an elementary syntax, in order to limit the instruments for complex and critical reasoning.”

Sound familiar?

I still have the old family habit of watching NBC News. I stream it now on my small laptop, and it’s about the only old-school TV thing I do watch besides The Weather Channel during Hurricane Season. It’s the source of this article. “Trump suggests FCC could revoke licenses of TV broadcasters that give him too much ‘bad publicity’. Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr told Fox News on Thursday afternoon that ABC’s decision to suspend Jimmy Kimmel’s show indefinitely may not be “the last shoe to drop.”

President Donald Trump on Thursday floated the possibility that TV broadcasters could lose their federal licenses over what he perceives as negative coverage of him, a day after Disney’s ABC yanked “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” off the air.

Speaking to reporters, Trump suggested that the Federal Communications Commission should revoke broadcasters’ licenses, arguing that many late-night hosts appearing on those networks are “against me” and that “they give me only bad publicity, press.”

“I mean, they’re getting a license. I would think maybe their license should be taken away. It will be up to Brendan Carr,” Trump said on Air Force One, referring to the FCC chairman. “I think Brendan Carr is outstanding. He’s a patriot. He loves our country, and he’s a tough guy, so we’ll have to see.”

Trump also said of evening shows on network TV: “All they do is hit Trump. They’re licensed. They’re not allowed to do that. They’re an arm of the Democrat Party.”

A day earlier, Trump praised ABC for indefinitely pulling “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” after on-air comments its host made about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. “Congratulations to ABC for finally having the courage to do what had to be done,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

For shits and giggles, here’s Nixon on Laugh-In with his Sock It to Me moment. I need some levity.

There’s more fascism afoot than just suppression of the press. The New York Times has this headline today. “Draft Bill Would Authorize Trump to Kill People He Deems Narco-Terrorists. Potential legislation circulating in the executive branch and Congress would grant President Trump sweeping military powers.” Only Congress has the power to declare war.

Article I, Section 8, Clause 11:

[The Congress shall have Power . . . ] To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water; . . .

I can only imagine what’s in Yam Tit’s dotard mind about Venezuela and their tossed-out piece of trash dictator. We can learn a lot from his petty attacks on Venezuela.

Draft legislation is circulating at the White House and on Capitol Hill that would hand President Trump sweeping power to wage war against drug cartels he deems to be “terrorists,” as well as against any nation he says has harbored or aided them, according to people familiar with the matter.

A wide range of legal specialists have said that U.S. military attacks this month on two boats suspected of smuggling drugs in the Caribbean Sea were illegal. But Mr. Trump has claimed that the Constitution gave him the power he needed to authorize them.

It was not clear who wrote the draft congressional authorization or whether it could pass the Republican-led Congress, but the White House has been passing it around the executive branch.

The broadly worded proposal, which would legally authorize the president to kill people he deems narco-terrorists and attack countries he says helped them, has set off alarm bells in some quarters of the executive branch and on Capitol Hill, according to people who spoke on the condition of anonymity about sensitive internal deliberations.

Three people familiar with the matter said that Representative Cory Mills, a Florida Republican and combat veteran who sits on the Armed Services Committee, was involved in developing the draft. Mr. Mills, a staunch Trump ally, declined to comment on the potential legislation or his role. Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, declined to comment, citing a policy against discussing “drafts that may or may not be circulating.”

An administration official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal matters, said the draft originated with a member of Congress who had asked for technical assistance in improving it. The official portrayed its circulation for input by executive branch agencies as a routine courtesy that should not be interpreted as support for the idea.

The measure has emerged amid an escalating debate in Washington over the president’s war-making power and Congress’s role in authorizing the use of American military force, after the Trump administration opened a deadly campaign against the boaters.

The two boat attacks — killing what Mr. Trump has said were 14 people he accused of smuggling drugs toward the United States — were the latest in a series of military operations the president has taken without congressional authorization, raising constitutional concerns among some lawmakers in both parties, who say their branch should play a greater role in such decisions.

Critics have also said that Mr. Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have given illegal orders, causing Special Operations troops to target civilians — even if they are suspected of crimes — in apparent violation of laws against murder.

Meanwhile, RFK Jr. is trying to kill us all.  I have a 3-week-old grandson and 2 four-year-old granddaughters. The granddaughters are fortunate to have two doctors for parents. My conversations with my youngest these days are unusual. I just keep asking, can Aiden get all the vaccines he needs? Are you keeping up with them? That’s the milestone these days. Are we vaccinating our children, and will they have to go to school with unvaccinated kids?  This article actually comes under the title of “Good Grief”.  It’s from Arstechnica.com. It’s written by Beth Mole. RFK Jr.’s anti-vaccine panel realizes it has no idea what it’s doing, skips vote. With a lack of data and confusing language, the panel tabled the vote indefinitely.”

The second day of a two-day meeting of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices—a panel currently made up of federal vaccine advisors hand-selected by anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.—is off to a dramatic start, with the advisors seemingly realizing they have no idea what they’re doing.

The inexperienced, questionably qualified group that has espoused anti-vaccine rhetoric started its second day of deliberations by reversing a vote taken the previous day on federal coverage for the measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella (MMRV) vaccine. Yesterday, the group voted to restrict access to MMRV, stripping recommendations for its use in children under age 4. While that decision was based on no new data, it passed with majority support of 8–3 (with one abstention). (For an explanation of that, see our coverage of yesterday’s part of the meeting here.)

But puzzlingly, they then voted to uphold access and coverage of MMRV vaccines for children under age 4 if they receive free vaccines through the federal Vaccines for Children program, which covers about half of American children, mostly low-income. The discrepancy projected the idea that the alleged safety concerns that led the panel to rescind the recommendation for MMRV generally, somehow did not apply to low-income, vulnerable children. The vote also created significant confusion for VFC coverage, which typically aligns with recommendations made by the panel.

Today, Kennedy’s ACIP retook the vote, deciding 9-0 (with three abstentions) to align VFC coverage with their vote yesterday to strip the recommendation for MMRV in young children.

That’s the deal in the executive branch today. Nobody knows what they’re doing, but they sure have a lot of conspiracy theories and paranoia to act on. I had those diseases up there listed under MMRV. I wouldn’t wish the cases I got on anyone, and I survived them. The Wall Street Journal‘s headline was even more disturbing.  “RFK Jr.-Backed Panel Advises Against MMRV Combo Vaccine for Young Children. New members of key committee tweak routine childhood vaccine guidance as some states and insurers go their own way.” Thank goodness my kids live in Denver and Seattle!’

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s handpicked slate of vaccine advisers voted to no longer recommend a combined shot for measles, mumps, rubella and varicella for children under age 4.

The move came as some states, insurers, public health leaders and a U.S. senator called into question whether Americans should rely on the committee’s decisions.

Here’s what to know:

The details

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, a key panel under the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, voted 8-3, with one abstention, to no longer recommend MMRV, a combined shot immunizing against measles, mumps, rubella and varicella, also known as chickenpox, for children under 4. Parents would instead be recommended to get their young children one vaccine for varicella and a second known as the MMR vaccine that inoculates against the other three diseases, under the committee’s new guidance.

Here’s some craziness from Mint. The mainstream media hasn’t decided what to do with it yet, even though it’s almost a day old.  I can probably list at least one million historical figures more in need of a holiday than the prince of hate speech.  “Charlie Kirk Day: US Senate passes resolution to create National Day of Remembrance for slain far-right activist. The US Senate has unanimously backed a resolution to establish a National Day of Remembrance for Charlie Kirk on October 14. The measure now heads to the House for a crucial vote.”  I have him slated for the dance and piss on his grave kind of tribute. No one should be shot and killed, but we do not have to make saints of political extremists.

One last one from ABC News. I guess one of his appointments refused to take bogus, trumped-up charges to court. “Trump poised to fire US attorney for resisting effort to charge NY AG Letitia James: Sources. Trump officials had pushed Erik Siebert to bring criminal charges against James.” 

President Donald Trump is expected to fire the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia after investigators were unable to find incriminating evidence of mortgage fraud against New York Attorney General Letitia James, according to sources.

Federal prosecutors in Virginia had uncovered no clear evidence to prove that James had knowingly committed mortgage fraud when she purchased a home in the state in 2023, ABC News first reported earlier this week, but Trump officials pushed U.S. Attorney Erik Siebert to nevertheless bring criminal charges against her, according to sources.

While sources caution that plans could still change, Siebert was notified on Thursday of Trump’s intention to fire him, sources told ABC News, and was told that Friday would be his final day on the job.

Since this is my day off, I’m going to pick up one of my guitars and play some David Gilmour licks.  Take care of yourselves!

What’s on your Action, Reading, and Blogging list today?