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the Scribe
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CONSERVATISM Apr 9, 2020 9:57:08 GMT

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Post by the Scribe on Apr 9, 2020 9:57:08 GMT

May 6, 2019 20:26:00 GMT @ronstadtfanaz said:

May 6, 2019 17:47:41 GMT @germancanadian said:

Very true. Liberals care about the good of the country and important issues like the economy, jobs, civil rights, environment, health care, stopping gun violence, while conservatives only care about "owning the libs", abortion, playing with their guns and hating immigrants. Trump voters are like middle school kids voting for the class clown as a joke, except electing fascist morons has serious consequences in real life. You can be sure every Trump supporter will vote for him, while Democrats have too much infighting and need to unite. Canada is becoming the same, rednecks have a real irrational hatred of Trudeau. He's not my favorite, but I'll vote for any liberal to keep conservatives from getting elected.

Last Edit: Apr 9, 2020 9:57:38 GMT by the Scribe

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CONSERVATISM Apr 9, 2020 9:58:14 GMT

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Post by the Scribe on Apr 9, 2020 9:58:14 GMT

May 22, 2019 23:48:06 GMT @ronstadtfanaz said:

Essay:A Day In The Life of Joe Conservative

Joe gets up at 6 a.m. and fills his coffeepot with water to prepare his morning coffee. The water is clean and good because some tree-hugging liberal fought for minimum water-quality standards. With his first swallow of water, he takes his daily medication. His medications are safe to take because some stupid commie liberal fought to ensure their safety and that they work as advertised.

All but $10 of his medications are paid for by his employer's medical plan because some liberal union workers fought their employers for paid medical insurance -- now Joe gets it, too.

He prepares his morning breakfast: bacon and eggs. Joe's bacon is safe to eat because some girly-man liberal fought for laws to regulate the meat packing industry.

In the morning shower, Joe reaches for his shampoo. His bottle is properly labeled with each ingredient and its amount in the total contents because some crybaby liberal fought for his right to know what he was putting on his body and how much it contained.

Joe dresses, walks outside and takes a deep breath. The air he breathes is clean because some environmentalist wacko liberal fought for the laws to stop industries from polluting our air.

He walks on the government-provided sidewalk to the subway station for his government-subsidized ride to work. It saves him considerable money in parking and transportation fees because some fancy-pants liberal fought for affordable public transportation, which gives everyone the opportunity to be a contributor.

Joe begins his work day. He has a good job with excellent pay, medical benefits, retirement, paid holidays and vacation because some lazy liberal union members fought and died for these working standards. Joe's employer pays these standards because Joe's employer doesn't want his employees to call the union.

If Joe is hurt on the job or becomes unemployed, he'll get a worker compensation or unemployment checks because some stupid liberal didn't think he should lose his home because of his temporary misfortune.

It is noontime and Joe needs to make a bank deposit so he can pay some bills. Joe's deposit is federally insured by the FSLIC because some godless liberal wanted to protect Joe's money from unscrupulous bankers who ruined the banking system before the Great Depression.

Joe has to pay his Fannie Mae-underwritten mortgage and his below-market federal student loan because some elitist liberal decided that Joe and the government would be better off if he was educated and earned more money over his lifetime. Joe also forgets that in addition to his federally subsidized student loans, he attended a state funded university.

Joe is home from work. He plans to visit his father this evening at his farm home in the country. He gets in his car for the drive. His car is among the safest in the world because some America-hating liberal fought for car safety standards to go along with the taxpayer funded roads.

He arrives at his boyhood home. His was the third generation to live in the house financed by Farmers' Home Administration because bankers didn't want to make rural loans.

The house didn't have electricity until some big-government liberal stuck his nose where it didn't belong and demanded rural electrification.

He is happy to see his father, who is now retired. His father lives on Social Security and a union pension because some wine-drinking, cheese-eating liberal made sure he could take care of himself so Joe wouldn't have to.

Joe gets back in his car for the ride home, and turns on a radio talk show. The radio host keeps saying that liberals are bad and conservatives are good. He doesn't mention that the beloved conservatives have fought against every protection and benefit Joe enjoys throughout his day. Joe agrees: "We don't need those big-government liberals ruining our lives! After all, I'm a self-made man who believes everyone should take care of themselves, just like I have."

Note: This was originally published (anonymously) under the title A Day in the Life of Joe Republican. But this is a misnomer. In the last 140 years, the Republican and Democratic parties have switched sides several times, with one being conservative and the other being liberal. But labels and party affiliations change. What doesn't change are the underlying political philosophies of liberalism and conservatism, and the fact that the liberals usually turned out to be right and the conservatives turned out to be wrong. And so it goes.

A Day in the Life of a True Conservative

Joe Conservative wakes up in the morning and goes to the bathroom. He flushes his toilet and brushes his teeth, mindful that each flush & brush costs him about 43 cents to his privatized water provider. His wacky, liberal neighbor keeps badgering the company to disclose how clean and safe their water is, but no one ever finds out. Just to be safe, Joe Conservative boils his drinking water.

Joe steps outside and coughs–the pollution is especially bad today, but the smokiest cars are the cheapest ones, so everyone buys ‘em. Joe Conservative checks to make sure he has enough toll money for the 3 different private roads he must drive to work. There is no public transportation, so traffic is backed up and his 10 mile commute takes an hour.

On the way, he drops his 12 year old daughter off at the clothing factory she works at. Paying for kids to go to private school until they’re 18 is a luxury, and Joe needs the extra income coming in. Times are hard and there’re no social safety nets.

He gets to work 5 minutes late and misses the call for Christian prayer, and is immediately docked by his employer. He is not feeling well today, but has no health insurance, since neither his employer nor his government provide it, and paying for it himself is really expensive, since he has a precondition. He just hopes for the best.

Joe’s workday is 12 hours long, because there is no regulation over working hours, and Joe will lose his job if he complains or unionizes. Today is an especially bad day. Joe’s manager demands that he work until midnight, a 16 hour day. Joe does, knowing that he’ll lose his job if he does not.

Finally, after midnight, Joe gets to pick up his daughter and go home. His daughter shows him the deep cut she got on the industrial sewing machine today. Joe is outraged and asks why she doesn’t have metal mesh gloves or other protection. She says the company will not provide it and she’ll have to pay for it out of her own pocket. Joe looks at the wound and decides they’ll use an over the counter disinfectant and bandages until it heals. She’ll have a scar, but getting stitches at the emergency room is expensive.

His daughter also complains that the manager made suggestive overtures towards her. Joe counsels her to be a “good girl” and not rock the boat, or she’ll get fired and they’ll be out the income.

His daughter says she can’t wait until she’s 18 so she can vote for change or go to the Iraq War.

They get home and there’s a message from his elderly father who can’t afford to pay his medical or heating bills. Joe can hear him coughing and shivering.

Joe turns on the radio and the top story is a proposal in Congress to raise the voting age to 25. A rare liberal opinionator states that it’s an attempt to keep power out of the hands of working class Americans. The conservative host immediately quashes him, calling him “a utopian idealist,” and agreeing that people aren’t mature enough to make good choices until they’re at least 25.

Joe chuckles at the wine-swilling, cheese eating liberal egghead and thinks, “Thank God I live in America where I have freedom!”

Note: This reverse on the riff was copied directly from Thom Hartmann's website. The site is marked "(c) Copyright 1996-2007, Mythical Intelligence, Inc. and Thom Hartmann", however, Thom says of the piece in reply to a request for authorship of item/permission to reprint: "It's not original to me...".

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CONSERVATISM Apr 9, 2020 9:58:40 GMT

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Post by the Scribe on Apr 9, 2020 9:58:40 GMT

Jun 1, 2019 12:13:04 GMT @ronstadtfanaz said:

Dark Money and the Rise of Conservative Orthodoxy

LISTEN www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/audio.wnyc.org/otm/otm053119_cms939518_pod.mp3

May 31, 2019

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Chairman of the board of Americans for Prosperity David Koch speaks at the Defending the American Dream summit hosted by Americans for Prosperity at the Greater Columbus Convention Center in Columbus, Associated Press / AP Images

William Happer, the man tapped to head Trump’s new climate review panel, is not a climate scientist. And yet, in recent years, William Happer has made a mission of attacking climate science, including at events hosted by the right-wing Heritage Foundation.

Heritage has long worked to redirect public sentiment and policy-making away from addressing climate change and towards deregulation — which is itself part of an even bigger decades-long goal: the propagation of a conservative ideology that preserves capital for rich people. Jane Mayer, author of Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right, walks Bob through the history of the modern conservative intellectual framework.

This is a segment from On the Media’s May 31st, 2019 program, Climate Obscura.

Hosted by Bob Garfield
WNYC Studios
Produced by WNYC Studios

the Scribe Administrator Posts: 24,136	CONSERVATISM Apr 9, 2020 9:59:02 GMT Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Back to Top Post by the Scribe on Apr 9, 2020 9:59:02 GMT Jun 14, 2019 21:45:19 GMT @ronstadtfanaz said:

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CONSERVATISM Apr 9, 2020 9:59:28 GMT

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Post by the Scribe on Apr 9, 2020 9:59:28 GMT

Jun 30, 2019 5:00:52 GMT @ronstadtfanaz said:

Almost ALL terrorism is committed by Conservatives whether domestic or foreign. Conservatism is a dangerous ideology. Not just me saying that and it should be obvious to anyone with a brain. One more stolen election could change all that however.

'Domestic' terrorists could target July 4 holiday events, but no known plots: Feds
Good Morning America MIKE LEVINE,Good Morning America 10 hours ago
www.yahoo.com/gma/domestic-terrorists-could-target-july-4-holiday-events-180649793--abc-news-topstories.html

'Domestic' terrorists could target July 4 holiday events, but no known plots: Feds originally appeared on abcnews.go.com

Federal authorities are warning that white supremacists and other political radicals could look to attack Independence Day revelers on July 4, noting in a bulletin to law enforcement around the country that domestic terrorists “have attacked perceived oppressors, opponents, or enemies engaged in outdoor First Amendment-protected rallies or protests during past summers.”

The warning came in a joint intelligence bulletin issued by the FBI, Department of Homeland Security and National Counterterrorism Center, urging law enforcement personnel to remain vigilant for suspicious activity.

PHOTO: In this file photo from July 4, 2016, counterterrorism police officers watch over spectators for the Fourth of July fireworks along the East River in New York. (Adam Hunger/AP, FILE)

Such bulletins are routinely distributed in the days before a major national holiday, but previous bulletins have often focused on “homegrown” terrorists inspired by overseas groups like ISIS or al-Qaeda rather than “domestic” terrorists radicalized by domestic issues such as abortion or white supremacy.

(MORE: FBI has 1,000 open investigations into violent white supremacy, domestic terrorism) abcnews.go.com/US/fbi-1000-open-investigations-violent-white-supremacy-domestic/story?id=50127366

The bulletin, which was issued Wednesday, makes prominent mention of both threats inside the U.S. homeland.

(MORE: Video: What is domestic terrorism?) abcnews.go.com/US/video/domestic-terrorism-63911293

“The FBI, DHS, and NCTC remain concerned that [they] could target upcoming Independence Day celebrations, gatherings, or parades, though we are unaware of any current plots specifically targeting such events,” stated the bulletin, obtained by ABC News. “We note that attacks can occur with little to no warning because of the frequently lower levels of security around civilian targets, challenges in securing large crowds, and calls for attacks against soft targets.”

PHOTO: In this file photo from July 4, 2018, spectators watch a fireworks display as part of Independence Day festivities in New York. (Craig Ruttle/AP, FILE)
Both “domestic” and “homegrown” terrorists “likely would use simplistic tactics and relatively easily obtainable weapons such as firearms, knives, and vehicles—although some violent extremists have historically sought to use explosive devices.”

(MORE: Feds now tracking 850 possible domestic terrorists, as white supremacy cases jump) abcnews.go.com/US/charlottesville-car-rammer-james-alex-fields-learn-sentenced/story?id=64017048

Beyond domestic terrorism threats, the bulletin warns that ISIS has recently renewed calls for sympathizers to launch their own attacks inside the United States.

Last week, the FBI arrested a 21-year-old Pennsylvania man for allegedly plotting to bomb a church in Pittsburgh. He had come to the United States as a refugee from Syria and was allegedly inspired by ISIS.

(MORE: FBI director says bureau is investigating 5,000 terrorism cases across the world) abcnews.go.com/US/fbi-director-bureau-investigating-5000-terrorism-cases-world/story?id=58405019

The FBI is currently tracking about 1,000 suspected “homegrown” terrorists inside the United States who authorities believe have been inspired by ISIS, al Qaeda or other foreign terrorist organizations, a senior FBI official recently testified to Congress.

Meanwhile, the FBI is currently investigating about 850 suspected “domestic” terrorists, the official said. And since late last year, the agency has seen a significant uptick in domestic terrorism investigations involving white supremacists, officials told ABC News.

“In fact, there have been more arrests and deaths in the United States caused by domestic terrorists than international terrorists in recent years,” the head of the FBI's counterterrorism division, Assistant Director Michael McGarrity, recently told a House panel.

PHOTO: This undated file photo provided by the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail shows James Fields. (Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail via AP, FILE)
The bulletin issued Wednesday ahead of the July 4 holiday mentioned the case of James Fields, who in 2017 drove his car into a crowd of counter-protesters at the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, killing a woman and injuring scores of others.

On Friday, Fields was sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of federal hate crimes.

(MORE: Charlottesville car rammer sentenced to life in prison) abcnews.go.com/US/charlottesville-car-rammer-james-alex-fields-learn-sentenced/story?id=64017048

Wednesday’s bulletin emphasized: “The FBI, DHS, and NCTC are not aware of any specific, credible threats surrounding the upcoming Independence Day holiday, but note that previous attacks in the Homeland have happened with little to no warning.”

Asked about the new bulletin, an FBI spokeswoman said in a statement, “The FBI regularly assesses intelligence regarding possible threats to the U.S. and will continue to work closely with our federal, state, and local law enforcement partners should there be any potential threat to public safety. We ask members of the public to maintain awareness of their surroundings and to report any suspicious activity to law enforcement immediately.”

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CONSERVATISM Apr 9, 2020 9:59:52 GMT

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Post by the Scribe on Apr 9, 2020 9:59:52 GMT

Jul 13, 2019 0:44:38 GMT @ronstadtfanaz said:

Today's Conservatives are yesterdays Confederates. There is very little sunshine there when you break through the clouds. Racism, bows to a corporate overclass and does their bidding, anti labor pro elite, etc.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee Honors KKK Grand Wizard With Proclamation
HuffPost Andy Campbell,HuffPost 3 hours ago
www.yahoo.com/news/tennessee-gov-bill-lee-honors-kkk-grand-wizard-proclamation-213013165.html

Despite public outcry, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R) re-signed a proclamation Thursday declaring July 13 as Nathan Bedford Forrest Day in the state, honoring the Ku Klux Klan grand wizard and former Confederate general.

Each year, according to state law, the governor is supposed to sign six such proclamations for days of observation, three of which are in honor of the Confederacy, according to The Tennessean. Though they’re mostly symbolic, the governor says he signs them out of a sense of duty.

“I signed the bill because the law requires that I do that and I haven’t looked at changing that law,” Lee told The Tennessean on Thursday.

His decision was roundly panned by the media. New York Times columnist Jamelle Bouie tweeted: “Very cool that Tennessee has a day honoring a confederate war criminal and founder of America’s oldest and deadliest terrorist group.”

Forrest is known to history as a bloodthirsty slave trader and the KKK’s very first grand wizard. In 1864, he led Confederate soldiers to commit what’s known as the Fort Pillow Massacre, according to The Washington Post. Three hundred Union soldiers, including 200 black soldiers, were murdered there, often at point-blank range.

Residents have been petitioning to remove two statues of Forrest ― including a bust from the state Capitol ― for years. But Lee defends Confederate monuments and the Ku Klux Klan as “part of our history.”

Earlier this year, Lee told The Tennessean that “The Ku Klux Klan is a part of our history that we’re not proud of in Tennessee, and we need to be reminded of that and make certain that we don’t forget it. So I wouldn’t advocate to remove that.”

At the same time, the governor said he regretted going to “Old South” parties at Auburn University as part of the fraternity Kappa Alpha Order, which reportedly sees Confederate Army Gen. Robert E. Lee as a “spiritual founder.”

The governor’s hands aren’t tied in signing such a proclamation. As The Holler points out, plenty of governors have declined to sign them in the past, especially on proclamations they don’t personally agree with. In January, Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts (R) refused to sign a proclamation in honor of the book “This Blessed Earth: A Year in the Life of an American Family Farm,” by journalist Ted Genoways, because it contained criticism of President Donald Trump, according to The Hill.

Reached for comment, Gov. Lee’s spokeswoman released a stock statement reiterating that the governor is required to sign the proclamation:

“Tennessee governors are required by statute to issue a series of proclamations each year, including Nathan Bedford Forrest Day,” said spokeswoman Laine Arnold. “The proclamation that was issued complies with this obligation and is in keeping with prior years.”

Related Coverage

Confederate Statues In Charlottesville Are Legally Protected, Virginia Judge Rules

Robert E. Lee Descendant: Reparations Are Necessary If People 'Want To Fix Racism'

Charlottesville Scraps Thomas Jefferson Holiday For Day Observing End Of Slavery

Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.

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CONSERVATISM Apr 9, 2020 10:00:18 GMT

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Post by the Scribe on Apr 9, 2020 10:00:18 GMT

Jul 31, 2019 18:47:42 GMT @ronstadtfanaz said:

crybullies no like losing side

Amazing that Wis GOP lawmakers had no problem with this during a combined 22 years of Scott Walker and Tommy Thompson as governor. Now that Wisconsin voters have elected a Democrat, it's a crisis. Why not just outlaw Democrats and Republicans take over as our overlords? They want to take the governors powers away, because their Donors aren't done pillaging Wisconsin.

Conservative lawsuit challenges Wisconsin governor's vetoes
Associated Press SCOTT BAUER,Associated Press 1 hour 37 minutes ago
www.yahoo.com/news/gop-lawsuit-challenges-wisconsin-governors-150001286.html

Conservative attorney Rick Esenberg details a new lawsuit asking the Wisconsin Supreme Court to overturn four partial vetoes made by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and limit the ability of future governors to make similar vetoes during a news conference at the Statehouse in Madison, Wis., Wednesday, July 31, 2019. If successful, the move would reverse more than four decades of precedent. (AP Photo/Scott Bauer)

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CONSERVATISM Apr 9, 2020 10:00:41 GMT

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Post by the Scribe on Apr 9, 2020 10:00:41 GMT

Aug 4, 2019 8:16:38 GMT @ronstadtfanaz said:

This website appears to be a course of some type and is full of interesting information:

UNIT IX: RISE OF CONSERVATISM, TERRORISM AND THE MODERN ERA

www.room13.org/apush-unit-ix-conservatism-terrorism-and-the-modern-era-1980-to-present

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CONSERVATISM Apr 9, 2020 10:01:10 GMT

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Post by the Scribe on Apr 9, 2020 10:01:10 GMT

Aug 4, 2019 8:32:18 GMT @ronstadtfanaz said:

another good website pertinent to what is going on that Liberals have little clue or awareness about...excerpts

itsgoingdown.org/college-conservatives-became-modern-day-blackshirts/

June 9, 2017

How College Conservatives Became Modern-Day Blackshirts
Published By Ami Du Radical

American colleges are being turned into battlefields. The faceoff at Berkeley back in April, since overshadowed by even more violent events, was not a freak incident, but rather a resurgence of an ongoing struggle between radical leftism and establishment conservatism on college campuses. Since the 1950s, when anti-communist paranoia was the centerpiece of right-wing politics, some element of the GOP has directly collaborated with college students to counteract leftism in America, under the guise of preventing “liberal totalitarianism” from robbing rightists of their free speech and civil liberties.

The upstarts of Turning Point USA are only the most recent addition to a roster of ostensible “student activists,” who provide a youthful and cheery face for a reactionary political machine which, throughout postwar history, has used controversy and state-sponsored subterfuge to hobble socially progressive movements in universities, always at the direction of GOP insiders and conservative figureheads. The true heavyweights of collegiate right-wing vanguardism, who have maintained that title since the ’60s, are the Young Americans for Freedom. They function as a pathfinder organization, laying the groundwork for Republican recruitment by engaging in inflammatory propaganda campaigns and implanting their chapters across the country.

The result is that while College Republican groups publicly style themselves as grassroots organizers who have unlocked the budding political interests of their fellow students, the truth is incredibly sinister: behind these well-dressed puppets stand conservative strategists and a network of wealthy donors, providing the GOP with a ready source of voters, supporters, volunteers and, when the need arises, spies and propagandists.

By their own ideology, a mixture of traditional conservative authoritarianism and a sickening devotion to capitalism, the so-called New Right was fated from the beginning to mutate into a gang of blackshirts. The trends they see as threatening to their way of life – immigration, PoC liberation movements, feminism, “political correctness,” the growing presence of socialist discourse – cannot be countered without simultaneously drawing the attention of neoreactionaries. And rather than give up ground by calling out those toxic would-be allies, the New Right under Trump has chosen to mix ranks with white nationalists, far-right totalitarians, and brazen neo-Nazis, while feigning ignorance or non-involvement.

This essay will examine how college conservatives became a front for crypto-fascist organizing, focusing primarily on the Young Americans for Freedom. But this metamorphosis began decades before any current member of the YAF or TPUSA was born. To fully understand the origins of Trump’s young footsoldiers, one must look back to the 1950’s, and to a man named Morton Blackwell, who would engineer the process by which college students could be manipulated by flashy, hyperbolic patriotism and made to serve the interests of the American Empire.

THE LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE & MEGADONORS: THE POWER BEHIND THE THRONE
Though not presently tied to the intelligence community, as former generations were, modern college conservatives nonetheless share a sinister fraternity through the Leadership Institute.

Blackwell’s Leadership Institute bills itself without qualification: it is a training camp for future conservative leaders and activists [37]. It provides dozens of yearly training seminars, boot camps, workshops, and an internship program, all designed to impart Blackwell’s finely-tuned brand of “activism” to a younger demographic. Predictably, the LI has produced many notorious alumni over the years. Karl Rove and Mitch McConnell are two of the most well-known, but another Blackwell acolyte has risen to prominence through the Trump administration: Vice President Mike Pence.

Since its founding, the Leadership Institute has emerged as a primary hub of the conservative machine. Claiming over 1700 affiliated campus groups, it is doubtlessly the single largest non-profit of its kind, a training ground where new conservative activists are inducted, molded, and indoctrinated to become the next generation of fanatics and elected officials. It serves as an interlocutor between the “powers above,” the GOP elite and its cadres of donors, and the “powers below,” the students and officials-in-waiting who eagerly become supplicants to a 60-year old crusade against leftism.

But the Institute has served a secondary function as what amounts to a slush fund for college conservatives. Fueled by high-profile donors throughout the right-wing ecosystem, the LI has funneled millions of dollars through universities to support those 1700 factions over which they have total mastery.

The YAF claim to have a thick checkbook when it comes to delivering their message to college campuses – as of 2015, its annual budget was nearly $18 million. They offer chapter start-up kits, one-on-one advisory sessions with “leadership teams,” prefabricated activism projects, exclusive training, and the “logistical and financial assistance to host a big name conservative speaker,” to quote their sales pitch [38]. Unsurprisingly, so vast a pool of resources is not driven by one-time contributions from the smiling parents of YAF members. In addition to unceasingly hawking their garish merchandise at every opportunity, the YAF’s coffers are kept full by the Leadership Institute’s hand [39]. The names are instantly recognizable: the DeVos Foundation has given $15 million to the YAF, and smaller donations to the LI. The F.M. Kirby Foundation chipped in $2.2 million and $500k to each organization, respectively. The Charles Koch Foundation has donated tens of thousands to both groups. The anonymous Donors Trust and Donors Capital Fund, through which billions are secretly shuttled around every year, also has one tendril firmly implanted in the YAF and LI [40]. Suffice it to say, if a wealthy individual has interest in breeding a new generation of economic libertarianism, they have probably opened their wallet for a College Republican somewhere in the national pecking order.

RECOGNIZING THE THREAT: COLLEGE REPUBLICANS AND THE ALT-RIGHT
And so we arrive at the modern iteration of American blackshirt organizations. It should be obvious, through this analysis, how groups like the College Republicans, Young Americans for Freedom, and Turning Point USA were destined from their very inception to become soulless, conniving institutions of ur-fascist recruitment.

From the suffocation of conservatism in the Truman years and the necessitation of Buckley’s revival, the YAF were infused with a foundation of free market principles, traditional social divisions, and opposition to progressivism, even to the point of renouncing the Civil Rights Movement. From the Goldwater’s “free speech” opposition to civil rights and Thurmond’s “states rights” approach to white supremacy, the YAF rapidly developed an authoritarian ideology; to them, leftism is a scourge which can only be ended by stamping it out completely. This requires a purely rightist, unchallenged, centralized governing body. Reagan infected them with a bad habit of hero-worship and a pseudo-religious patriotism, firmly defining their identity as nationalists. Blackwell and the Leadership Institute institutionalized the YAF through a donor network and standardized their operations. Now, in the New Right’s maturity, Trump has brought them to their zenith of depravity with a rejection of human equality, a thirst for militarism, and unchecked, free market capitalism.

Social conservatism; authoritarianism; nationalism; strong-man leadership; corporatism. We can easily recognize these as the raw, distilled essence of fascism.

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CONSERVATISM Apr 9, 2020 10:01:40 GMT

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Post by the Scribe on Apr 9, 2020 10:01:40 GMT

Aug 17, 2019 4:53:24 GMT @ronstadtfanaz said:

Opinion: Conservatism Kills
By John Scott G - Oct 8, 2014 3:12 PM EDT
enewschannels.com/opinion-conservatism-kills/
enewschannels.com/author/scott-g-the-g-man/

The policies, positions, and practices of Conservatives can be immensely helpful to you — assuming you’re a wealthy person or a corporation. But for the vast majority of people, Conservatism is an evil pestilence that leads to pain, disease, starvation, and the breakdown of everything valuable that should accrue to you from living in a civilized society.
In today’s sermon, we are not going to discuss the myriad ways Conservatism is merely harmful to you. Certainly their policies are injurious to your family and destructive to America — but everyone with an I.Q. above 80 already knows that.

So for the moment we will ignore Conservatives’ attempts to stamp out democracy by suppressing voting rights, civil rights, marriage equality, fair wages, equal pay for equal work, education funding, worker’s rights to organize, fair housing practices, and consumer financial protection.

Nor will we go into any detail about the GOP obscenity of supporting income inequality and allowing money to distort the electoral process. We will also overlook their refusal to support legislation to end tax breaks for corporations that ship jobs overseas. And their refusal to support a bill to allow students to refinance their student loans. And their rejection of a bill to require that millionaires pay at least 30% minimum tax rate regardless of tax loopholes and accounting gimmicks.

Or their opposition to a bill to raise the minimum wage above today’s poverty-rate of $7.25. And the bill to repeal subsidies and tax giveaways for Big Oil. Or the bill to require shadowy groups to disclose donors who give in excess of $10,000 as political contributions. And the bill to allow new Americans brought here as minors to avoid deportation to their now-foreign countries of origin.

No, we will set all that to one side in order to consider a few things they do that are even more dangerous to your health. Today we will concentrate on some of the ways Conservatism kills. Herewith a brief list:

1) CONS vs. Social Security: Attacking Your Future

Conservatives have railed against the idea of protecting Americans in their senior years ever since the idea was first proposed. One of the finest examples of how socialism dovetails with the goals of democracy, Social Security has helped ensure a safer retirement for every generation. In the GOP attempts to curtail it, constrain it, pervert it, or cancel it, the republican hordes reveal themselves to be true haters of America and Americans. They want to create havoc by attacking the finest social program in the history of our nation. Their pernicious goals would cause pain, suffering, and death — but that matters little to Conservatives. By attempting to destroy or sabotage Social Security, they seek to hurt your grandparents today, your parents tomorrow, and you upon your retirement.

2) CONS vs. Healthcare: Don’t Get Sick

One day someone will total up the human misery Conservatives caused by refusing healthcare to millions of people in states controlled by republicans. Among the litany of suffering will be a death toll, all of it resulting from republican troglodytes withholding the Medicaid expansion for poor citizens and refusing to set-up health insurance exchanges under the Affordable Care Act. Their unconscionable cruelty dealt a double blow to many communities where small hospitals and clinics were forced to close because their existence depended on Medicaid payments.

3) CONS vs. Vets: No Support for Wounded Warriors

It took a nationwide scandal blaring across broadcast news to shame republican thugs into voting for appropriations to the woefully underfunded Veteran’s Administration healthcare program (underfunded because of the influx of wounded warriors from the two unnecessary wars conducted by the Bush/Cheney presidency). Decent people can disagree on the extent of our commitment to necessary wars but only Conservatives are evil enough to withhold funding to treat our returning wounded. And the GOP is still on record as opposing a bill to expand veterans’ access to health care, education and job training.

4) CONS vs. Necessities of Life: Don’t Eat or Drink!

From the moment you wake up until the moment you fall asleep at the end of the day, you are at the mercy of mountebanks, charlatans, and criminals who want you to breathe polluted air, drink befouled water, and consume tainted food. Or you would be were it not for regulatory agencies working hard to prevent any number of fast or slow painful deaths from contamination. In their constant battles against regulation of air, water, agriculture, meat, dairy products and everything that affects them, Conservatives show no concern for human life. Profit is their god. Greed is their credo. Ask the residents of townships where unregulated industry has tainted the groundwater if they like the results of drinking poison or bathing in it and you get an idea of what life under Conservatism is like.

5) CONS vs. Medication: How Dangerous is Your Medicine?

By continually resisting sane regulatory policies in all industries, Conservatives are misguided at best and evil at worst. They think your medications should become a form of Russian roulette. “Is this pain pill tainted?” you may wonder. “Don’t worry about it,” CONS tell you, “the marketplace will decide the value of all products.” What about medication for your heart? Your cholesterol? Your blood pressure? Your thyroid? What about drugs for diabetes, asthma, heartburn? Next time you take any medication, ask yourself how confident you’d be that the drug was made properly if Conservatives had been successful in removing regulatory oversight.

6) CONS vs. Common Sense: Guns, Guns, Guns

Conservatives blocked a bill that would have ensured background checks on all gun purchases. Every normal American favors such a bill. All responsible gun owners favor such a bill. Only politicians in the grip of the gun manufacturing cartel (read: NRA) oppose such common sense legislation. Carnage continues as a result of their perfidy.

7) CONS vs. Earth: They’re Working Hard to Kill the Planet.

Fossil fuel companies deny the harmful effects of climate change (and often deny the fact of climate change itself) and so the Conservative cabal takes their bribes (oops, I mean campaign contributions) and parrots those same idiotic positions. It would be one thing if this was a debate but as 350.org clearly demonstrates (to name just one source), there is no debate on the subject: we are inexorably destroying the atmosphere that supports human life. Progressives recognize the facts and wish to act to save humanity; Conservatives ignore the facts and don’t give a damn if future generations wither and die.

8) CONS vs. Facts: Beware the Rightwing Misinformation Machine.

True, this is not literally a killer but it supports all their other odious activities so we’re going to append it to the end of this list. With a constant spewing of false statements, wacko conspiracy theories, distortions, and just plain made-up crap, the conservative cabal is atrophying the mind of anyone who is exposed to high levels of their filth.

It’s not just the non-stop propaganda of the Fox FakeNews channel. Phony “think tanks” such as Cato Institute, Heritage Foundation, Manhattan Institute, American Enterprise Institute, FreedomWorks, Focus on the Family, Center for the National Interest, and the National Center for Policy Analysis (any many, many others) regularly churn out tons of bogus reports, falsified studies, skewed research, and prevaricating papers.

And the whores in their employ regularly bloviate their lies in speeches and over the public airwaves. Anytime you see one of their be-suited dweebs vomiting their bile you know that somewhere a lot of Fascist-worshipping billionaires are cackling with perverted glee. When you do not speak out against this outrage, you serve to support it. Which means you’re supporting the right of the rightwing to harm your fellow Americans. Which means you are helping Conservatives continue to kill.

the Scribe Administrator Posts: 24,136	CONSERVATISM Apr 9, 2020 10:02:03 GMT Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Back to Top Post by the Scribe on Apr 9, 2020 10:02:03 GMT Aug 17, 2019 4:57:22 GMT @ronstadtfanaz said: enewschannels.com/author/scott-g-the-g-man/

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CONSERVATISM Apr 9, 2020 10:02:30 GMT

Quote

Post by the Scribe on Apr 9, 2020 10:02:30 GMT

Aug 17, 2019 8:03:23 GMT @ronstadtfanaz said:

Why Liberal Hearts Bleed and Conservatives Don't
Why politicians have trouble listening to each other
Posted Oct 08, 2012
www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-human-beast/201210/why-liberal-hearts-bleed-and-conservatives-dont

Political liberals are “bleeding hearts” because they empathize so strongly with the sufferings of others. As Bill Clinton so succinctly phrased it, “I feel your pain.” When Republicans wanted to compete in the empathy department, they had to invent a new terminology to identify this strange bird. They called it a “compassionate conservative.”

One might ask why conservatives have, or are perceived as having, too little empathy. Why do liberals have too much? A widely-credited explanation is in terms of competing world views.

The conservative world view

Conservatives see the world as a challenging place in which there is always someone else who is ready to steal your lunch. Confronted by a potentially hostile environment, the best course is to take precautions and to ensure your own well-being and that of your family.

This precautionary stance helps to explain many of the distinctive traits of conservative Americans as well as right-wing politicians the world over. These traits may reflect either a proactive element, such as fighting to be winners in a competitive world. Or they can be defensive, involving measures to neutralize specific threats.

The threatening world view illuminates the conservative take on specific political issues in fairly obvious ways.

Conservatives are pro-gun because they want to be able to defend themselves against criminal threats of any type.
They are mostly religious because religious rituals foster feelings of safety in a dangerous world such that the most dangerous countries in the world are also the most religious (1).
They tend to be more hostile to immigrants, foreigners, and racial or ethnic minorities and to view them as more of a threat.
They fear attacks by other nations and therefore support a strong military and a bellicose foreign policy on the theory that a good attack is the best defense.
Apart from military defense, where government is an asset, conservatives fear government intrusions into their lives and particularly fear having their wealth eroded by taxation.
They are pro-family because being surrounded by close relatives is the best defense against threats that surround them.
They oppose welfare for the poor because this encourages dependence so that the failures of a society are parasites on the successes thereby inverting the proper incentive structure.
They admire wealth because successful people are seen as having worked hard in pursuing a moral obligation to provide for themselves and their families in a difficult and uncertain world.

The liberal world view

The liberal world view is mostly the opposite. Liberals take a more optimistic view of the world as being somewhat more benign. Government is a vehicle through which the citizens of a democracy can solve problems and improve the well-being and happiness of most people.

Liberals feel that protection of citizens against crime is better left to police and that armed citizens are a threat to those around them.
They are less religious than conservatives because they perceive the world around them as less threatening. Moreover, they rely more on science, and education, as a means to solve problems.
Liberals are more welcoming to immigrants. They are less likely to view foreigners, and racial or ethnic minorities as a threat.
They favor negotiation and consensus-building over warfare in foreign policy and do not believe in excessive military buildups that drain social spending.
Liberals are happy to pay their taxes if they believe that the money is being used to improve the quality of life of others whether they are poor or rich. Instead of being a threat, the government reflects the will of the people.
Liberals are less interested in family ties as a protective bubble.
They support welfare programs for the poor because these may reduce child poverty, as well as reducing crime and social problems.
Liberals are suspicious of wealth feeling that much of it is inherited or obtained through sharp business practices or outright corruption. They also feel that concentrating resources in the hands of the one percent impoverishes everyone else thereby undermining social trust (1).
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Conservatives see the world as a more threatening place because their brains predispose them to being fearful (2). They are also predisposed by brain biology to hating complexity and compromise. That would help to explain why politics can be so polarized, particularly in a rather conservative era like the present.

It also explains many of the quirky differences between Democrats and Republicans. My favorite is the mind-blowing fact that four times as many Republicans as Democrats have mud rooms in their homes (3). Got to protect your home from that contaminating mud.

1. Barber, N. (2012). Why atheism will replace religion: The triumph of earthly pleasures over pie in the sky. E-book, available at:

www.amazon.com/Atheism-Will-Replace-Religion-ebook/dp/B00886ZSJ6/

2. Barber, N. (2011, April 19). Conservatives big on fear, brain study finds. Blog post accessed at:

www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-human-beast/201104/conservatives-big-fear-brain-study-finds

3. Garchick, L. (2000, November 5). Remodelers split along party lines. San Francisco Chronicle, accessed at:

www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2000-11-05-0011050380-story.html

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CONSERVATISM Apr 9, 2020 10:02:56 GMT

Quote

Post by the Scribe on Apr 9, 2020 10:02:56 GMT

Aug 17, 2019 8:21:24 GMT @ronstadtfanaz said:

This is what we are up against. Well produced propaganda hit pieces against Liberals, Progressives and the Left in general. Almost all of the information is freely available on FOX and right wing media noise on a daily basis. Someone needs to tell the Left we are in a War. No doubt Trump is getting much of his insanity from sites like this as well. He has said as much.

www.youtube.com/channel/UCNqxhIYa4fm8N1luObicd8w

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CONSERVATISM Apr 9, 2020 10:18:22 GMT

Quote

Post by the Scribe on Apr 9, 2020 10:18:22 GMT

Aug 25, 2019 6:59:31 GMT @ronstadtfanaz said:

The Proud Boys were founded in the midst of the 2016 presidential campaign and have made a name for themselves with their violent brand of neo-fascism, which is characterized by explicitly anti-feminist, anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim, anti-transgender, and anti-liberal ideology. The group is also explicitly pro-Trump, and members can often be seen wearing red MAGA hats as part of their unofficial uniform. As the Southern Poverty Law Center explains, "There is an obvious overlap between their views and those of President Donald Trump, whose election in 2016 played a clear role in increasing Proud Boys' membership."

GOP silent as FBI designates Trump-loving Proud Boys as extremist gang
By Caroline Orr - November 20, 20184 Comments6356
shareblue.com/gop-silent-as-fbi-designates-trump-loving-proud-boys-as-extremist-gang/

The extremist group has close ties to the Trump White House, the Republican Party, and high-profile right-wing media figures.

The FBI now classifies the violent pro-Trump Proud Boys gang as an extremist group, according to a new document from the Clark County Sheriff's Office in Washington state.

The law enforcement document, which was obtained by the Guardian via the government transparency group Property of the People, represents the first reported instance of the FBI officially referring to the gang as an "extremist" organization.

"The FBI categorizes the Proud Boys to be an extremist group with ties to white nationalism," wrote Commander Michael McCabe, who authored the report on Aug. 10.

The document — an internal affairs report describing an investigation into a sheriff's deputy's membership in the Proud Boys — states that the "Proud Boys were publically [sic] categorized as an extremist group by the FBI in 2018."

In an interview with the Guardian, McCabe confirmed the authenticity of the document and said the designation of the Proud Boys as an extremist group was revealed to him in an Aug. 2 briefing by the FBI.

The FBI said they "have been warning [local law enforcement] for a while" about the Proud Boys, not just in Washington but around the nation, McCabe told the Guardian.

"The FBI has warned local law enforcement agencies that the Proud Boys are actively recruiting in the Pacific Northwest," he wrote in the document.

"Proud Boys members have contributed to the recent escalation of violence at political rallies held on college campuses, and in cities like Charlottesville, Virginia, Portland, Oregon, and Seattle, Washington," the document added.

The Proud Boys were founded in the midst of the 2016 presidential campaign and have made a name for themselves with their violent brand of neo-fascism, which is characterized by explicitly anti-feminist, anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim, anti-transgender, and anti-liberal ideology.

The group is also explicitly pro-Trump, and members can often be seen wearing red MAGA hats as part of their unofficial uniform. As the Southern Poverty Law Center explains, "There is an obvious overlap between their views and those of President Donald Trump, whose election in 2016 played a clear role in increasing Proud Boys' membership."

Members of the Proud Boys have often aligned and worked alongside members of other hate groups, and they've made frequent appearances at white supremacist rallies and other extremist events like the deadly "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.

The organizer of "Unite the Right," Jason Kessler, is a former member of the Proud Boys.

The group's founder, Gavin McInnes, has repeatedly called for members of his gang to carry out acts of political violence, and even established a "militant division" devoted to street fighting. Those calls have been heeded.

For over a year and a half, the gang has unleashed violent attacks from coast to coast — and they've done it all while cultivating close relationships with Republican Party officials and lawmakers, Trump associates, and high-profile right-wing media figures.

Trump and the GOP have thus far refused to condemn the Proud Boys, even in the aftermath of violent incidents like a recent mob-style attack following an appearance at a mainstream Republican institution in New York City. Meanwhile, right-wing media outlets like Fox News have alternated between completely ignoring the group's violence at times, or blaming it on Democrats at other times.

The FBI's designation of the Proud Boys as an extremist group comes amid a series of moves by Trump to shutter government programs aimed at countering violent extremism and far-right domestic terrorism. This is despite recent reports documenting a rise in hate crimes and white supremacist violence.

Moves like this help to explain why violent extremists have become so emboldened under Trump's leadership.

The Proud Boys are one of many extremist groups that sprouted up during or right after Trump's presidential campaign, and their close alliance with the GOP reflects the mutually beneficial relationship that has developed between the Republican establishment and the most extreme elements of the far-right.

According to the SPLC, extremist groups have thrived under the Trump presidency, with the number of neo-Nazi groups growing from 99 to 121 in 2017, and anti-Muslim organizations increasing from 101 chapters to 114. But the surge in extremist groups has been most intense among white supremacist groups closely aligned with Trump.

"Groups that latched onto Trump flourished," SPLC reports.

It remains to be seen whether Trump, the Republican Party, and the right-wing media figures who helped mainstream the Proud Boys will change their tune now that the FBI has officially classified the group as an extremist organization. However, all available evidence suggests they won't.

After all, if the GOP and its media allies suddenly decide to reject far-right extremism, they'll also be rejecting some of their most fervent supporters.

Published with permission of The American Independent.

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CONSERVATISM Apr 9, 2020 10:18:44 GMT

Quote

Post by the Scribe on Apr 9, 2020 10:18:44 GMT

Sept 4, 2019 18:32:12 GMT @ronstadtfanaz said:

This is fairly typical of conservatives who have been so propagandized they have lost any common sense they might have had.

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