It turns out, I know why the right thinks the left incites violence. At least, I know their story. They know it’s really the right that incites most of the violence but they have to keep the lie going, so they do. Their story is, the left incites violence by saying Trump will usher in Fascism, comparing Trump to Hitler, and insisting he’s an existential threat to democracy.

It’s weird, isn’t it? When the right says all Democrats are existential threats to democracy, that, somehow, is NOT an inciting threat. But when the left says Trump is an existential threat to democracy, suddenly, that’s an unforgivable incitement to violence? If you’re curious about which side actually represents an existential threat to democracy, I’d look at the team that has a 900+ page plan to dismantle democracy.

Okay, technically, Trump won’t be ushering in Fascism. The United States has been a fascist state since the Kangaroos egregious Citizens United ruling which silenced average people’s voices and allowed rich people – and ONLY rich people – to own and operate their government. Trump is just going to consolidate that power and sprinkle in the authoritarianism – all while gutting the treasury and stuffing his pockets.

Is it fair to compare Trump to Hitler? That depends. If the subject is language spoken or which country was corrupted by evil, sure, there’s no comparison. Hitler spoke German. Trump speaks gibberish. Hitler corrupted Germany. Trump corrupted the United States. No comparison. But…

If one looks at the “playbook” the two men used in order to rise to power? Trump’s plan is VERY “Mein Kampf.”
Pick a group to “blame” and lay all of the nation’s problems at their feet. It was the Jews for Hitler. It’s brown people for Trump.
Make SURE the base knows the “threat” the “scary” people represent.
Attack journalism as “fake news.”
Lie so much people start losing the ability to discern truth from fiction.
Keep your supporters angry and scared, no matter what.
Tell your base they’re special and everyone else is out to get them.
Tell your team YOU are the only one “strong enough” to fix the problem.
Promise to fix ALL the problems with easy, simplistic answers but never offer details.
Lie, lie, and lie again. Then lie some more.

If someone exposes some of the…let’s say, darker portions of your intentions, deny it. (Project 2025, anyone?) Lie about it. Downplay it. Sure, trump will SAY he’s pro-America and wants to make America great. But what he DOES and what he says are generally NOT the same. Only time will prove the deception. History now has a clue on offer with Germany’s experience with Hitler, but one has to know history for that to matter.

So, for clarity, the comments that Trump will formally bring us Fascism, is like Hitler, and intends to dismantle our Republic are NOT “inciting calls for violence.” They are simple recitations of things the left understands from the evidence. In other words, facts. Cons hate facts. I’ve just explained why we think the things we think. They’re not conspiracy theories or scare stories. They’re factually accurate. Project 2025 is a fact. I can hold the plan in my hands.

But, the cons insist the comments are incitements to violence. Okay, so here’s the thing. Projection much? It’s just simple human nature that people have a tendency to project their own perceptions to a situation where space exists for it. I mean, let’s agree, shall we, that each of those comments has a spoken part and an unspoken part. Let us further agree that the unspoken part is a call to action of some kind.

When a lefty hears “Trump is an existential threat to democracy,” the spoken part, they fill in the unspoken part with their understanding of what it should be: “…so don’t vote for him.” That’s it. Don’t vote for him. That doesn’t seem violent at all. Cons do the same thing. They fill in the blank, too, but they use their own perception. Cons hear, “…so kill him.” Of course they see those comments as calls to violence. It’s how they see the world.

I’ll tell you this: The very fact that cons hear violence in left-leaning summations of our current situation betrays their allegiance to the very violence they pretend to abhor…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

All Musk’s X’s are moving to Texas. He says he’s taking his Space-X program and his dwindling web site and moving them to Texas. Well, their headquarters, anyway. Thanks, in large part, to subsidies he received from California, he has billions in infrastructure invested in Southern California. Is he going to just walk away from all of that because he’s having a tantrum? (He doesn’t like a law Newsom signed.)

If he moves everything, lock, stock, and barrel, it would harm California, I suspect. But if it’s just the headquarters? That will open up a few parking spaces in San Francisco and Los Angeles. Generally speaking, there aren’t enough people working in a headquarters to generate much impact.

Then again, maybe he moves nothing at all. It’s one thing to announce a move. It’s another to actually do it. It’s expensive. When he’s done, they have to live in Texas. (They don’t. Moving the technical location doesn’t mean they have to physically move at all but then, what’s the point?) I’ve lived in Texas. It doesn’t suck. There are a lot of things I like about Texas but the weather isn’t one of them. It’s miserably humid there.

Meanwhile, Musk says he’s giving $45 million to the Trump campaign every month until the election. To me, that’s stupid money. Because the Dems prefer to lose, the election is already over. We all know it. That’s why the country has fallen into the miasma we have. So why donate to a campaign that has only to show up on election day? (Oh, yeah, more of that ‘rich guy getting into the good graces of the dictator’ stuff…)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I just want to say this: American pseudo-Christians are running around saying God saved Trump’s life in the shooting. Here’s the rule: if you believe in the Christian God, you must also accept the Christian God’s counterpart, Satan, who, apparently, sports a few metaphysical powers of his own. Quick question, why would God save the physical manifestation of the Seven Deadly Sins? More importantly, why would Satan NOT save him?

No, if there was some theological intervention on Trump’s behalf, it came from Satan, not God…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hey, speaking of Satan, one of the Deceivers died! Lou Dobbs has gone on to his reward. Or, in his case, his eternal punishment. One reaps as they sow. The world is better off without him…

A person the world is decidedly NOT better off without is Bob Newhart, who also passed this last week. He was a funny man. He did one of the best TV shows on the air in the 1970’s and then had another hit show in the 80’s. The finale of the second show had Bob waking up in bed next to his sit-com wife from his FIRST show. It was a brilliant callback to a device they had used regularly in the first series, an in-joke for his long-term fans. A joke at least ten years in the making. I laughed for several days. Really, genius. I’m sorry he’s gone.