You want to know about American polarization? Well, let me tell you, it is a wonderful thing. Polarization builds consensus. It is about finding synthesis and compromise, especially when people from different political parties hate each other so much that they can’t even agree on basic facts or cooperate on anything. Polarization leads to the middle ground between believing anyone who disagrees with you is evil, stupid, or brainwashed and actually being evil, stupid, and brainwashed. Polarization challenges us to find that bargain between listening to news sources that confirm beliefs and the sources that spread misinformation. Polarization is a negotiation between the lies and   fake news to find that truth for policymaking.  

Polarization is like a sport, where winning is everything and the other team is the enemy. No matter how crappy your fellow player or captain, you must maintain loyalty because winning is more important than competence or the good of the nation. Yes, ideology over pragmatism, and identity over policy! 

You might be asking, “How is polarization beneficial?” 

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As Americans we are brought up to believe crazy shit about ourselves. In truth we are NOT special, NOT number one, not freer than people living anywhere else when you look closely at what the word “freedom” means.  

One of our biggest myths is that we “’Mericans” are inventing everything that matters in life and that the world needs us to know what to think and how they should behave.  

Everything we’ve discussed in this book is about our self-delusions and about the worst of our abuses; “Home of the brave” “Proud to be an ‘Merican, cuz at least I know I’m FREE” “Bring home the gold Huck.” The shit just rolls on and on, reassuring us that everything is going well and that all will be well. It is neither. 

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Donald Trump wants to be POTUS, and Jim Jordan dreams of becoming Speaker of the House of Representatives. These clowns are none other than Fascists with a capital 'F'! That word 'fascist,' it just means 'bad,' for most Americans—like communism, socialism, or being a secular humanist. It's not just about those people; it also extends to public assistance recipients unless they're doing the hustle themselves, black folks, immigrants, and women who don't fit into their little box. 

But let's get down to the nitty-gritty of what Fascism truly is, and how these two buffoons embody it. 

FASCISM & AUTHORITARIANISM, ‘MERICAN STYLE 

Fascism and authoritarianism are both systems that restrict individual freedom and rights. However, they have crucial differences. Fascism is characterized by intense nationalism, discrimination, aggressive military postures, and the prioritization of state interests over personal rights. On the other hand, authoritarianism is a more general concept encompassing any regime where power resides solely in the hands of one leader or select group. While fascists aim for total control, influencing beliefs, morals, and societal norms, authoritarians might not seek such extensive control; instead, they maintain the status quo or their own power. Fascist regimes extensively use propaganda, enforce strict censorship, and manipulate public sentiment to divide and demonize perceived adversaries as threats to national well-being. In contrast, authoritarian governments may employ similar tactics but do not necessarily require widespread support. Fascists romanticize a constructed historical narrative that fuels nationalistic fervor, whereas authoritarians might not emphasize such specific narratives; they're more focused on bolstering their authority, which brings us to the million-dollar question. 

WHAT IS IT IN PEOPLE THAT MAKES THEM FOLLOW FASCISTS? 

The answer lies in our cognitive biases and psychological profiles. Fascism thrives on emotions, intuition, and faith rather than facts, reason, and evidence. Here are some common issues that hinder self-recognition of these beliefs: 

Confirmation bias - People seek out, interpret, and remember information that confirms their existing views. This makes them resistant to changing their opinions, even in the face of overwhelming evidence suggesting they're wrong. It also makes people more susceptible to propaganda and misinformation that supports their prejudices and stereotypes. What kind of a pathetic piece of fuck-nut, butt-plug, asshole wants to believe everything they hear, read or simply wanna believe? 

In-group bias - This preference for one's own group over others can lead to discrimination, hostility, and violence against out-groups perceived as threats or enemies. People are more loyal to their leaders, and less likely to question their orders when they feel this way. Yay!!! I belong!!! I do, I do; I’m a member of the group, yay fuckin’ me!!! 

Authoritarian personality - This psychological profile values order, hierarchy, and obedience, displays intolerance for ambiguity and uncertainty, and requires security and stability. It makes individuals more receptive to fascist regimes that promise these things in exchange for submission and conformity. Fuck this up and God, yes God, GOD himself will smack the fuck out of you and you’ll be sad forever in the bowels of smelly hell, or something like that.  

Cognitive dissonance - When actions, beliefs, or attitudes are inconsistent, this results in mental discomfort. People often rationalize their behaviors or beliefs to reduce conflict, maintain a positive self-image, and avoid or deny information that increases cognitive dissonance or challenges their worldview. I’m confused?! Should I like myself or hate myself or both? Please baby Jesus in the manger of the ChristoGOP nursery, PLEASE tell me what to think and feel. 

These issues can prevent people from recognizing fascist tendencies within themselves. But they're not insurmountable; by increasing awareness of personal biases, being open to other perspectives, critically evaluating sources and claims, and admitting mistakes and changing views when warranted by the evidence, we can overcome these barriers. 

BACK TO BASIC PSYCHOLOGY & BASIC LANGUAGE 

“An expression only has meaning within the stream of life.” Wittgenstein was a philosopher centering his ideas in the world of logic and linguistics. He was a titan of 20th-century philosophy, made profound contributions to logic and the philosophy of language. His early work, the "Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus," sought to establish the limits of language and the world, proposing that the structure of language mirrors the structure of reality. Wittgenstein argued that language, when used correctly, could show the logical structure of the world, and that philosophy's role was to clarify thoughts to prevent philosophical confusion. However, his later work, primarily found in "Philosophical Investigations," marked a significant departure from these early ideas. Here, Wittgenstein introduced the concept of 'language games,' suggesting that the meaning of words is derived from their use in various forms of life, rather than being fixed by their relation to specific objects or ideas. He emphasized the importance of ordinary language and how it functions in our daily interactions, thus moving away from the rigid logical structure he once advocated. Wittgenstein's later philosophy suggests that our language is a series of overlapping and interwoven practices, each with its own rules and complexities, which cannot be captured by any single logical system. This shift from a focus on the logical form to the pragmatic use of language in everyday life has had a lasting impact on philosophy, linguistics, and the study of human communication. Wittgenstein's work remains a cornerstone in understanding the intricate relationship between our language, our thoughts, and the world we navigate. His legacy continues to influence and challenge thinkers across various disciplines, inviting us to look closely at the ordinary and find the extraordinary depth and complexity within. 

Ludwig Wittgenstein further believed that psychological concepts are essentially bound up with the language we use to express them. For Wittgenstein, misuse of words often leads to confusion and philosophical puzzles, which he saw as arising from a misunderstanding of the logic of our language. He emphasized the importance of looking at how words are actually used in everyday life to understand their meaning, a method he referred to as 'grammatical investigation.' His approach to psychology was to replace the search for psychological facts with an analysis of psychological concepts, suggesting that the inner experiences we might think of as the basis for our psychological vocabulary are actually given shape by the way we talk about them.  

In essence, Wittgenstein's philosophy suggests that the way we use words in our language games gives life to psychological concepts, and any 'misuse' of these words leads to a distortion of their meaning and, consequently, a misrepresentation of the psychological phenomena they are meant to describe. This perspective has profound implications for both philosophy and psychology, as it shifts the focus from internal mental states to the external, communal activities of language use. 

HYPOCRISY, PARADOX, & IRRATIONALITY ARE ACTUALLY IMPORTANT

Pointing out the ChristoGOP’s hypocrisy carries all the importance to them of observing that they breath air. A rational person sees personal hypocrisy as a problem because it ultimately means they are not living up to what they profess to believe. The fact that you need to explain to them the importance of hypocrisy highlights the depth of ignorance afflicting them. Nothing reflects this point more than not recognizing one’s lack of Christianity when voting for a party that wants to do away with taxes for the rich, make guns more accessible than healthcare, defund healthcare, defund social services, and enforce religious views regardless of the diversity (they know exists) in the American public school system, all the while claiming Christians are selfless, loving people. 

Ignorance also fuels the inability to recognize the paradoxical thought inherent in all ChristoGOPs. Sometimes called “willful ignorance”, ChristoGOPs believe they are the victims of the liberal fascists and their henchmen, ANTIFA (antifascists) who implement policies designed to destroy America by trying to give away money to the lazy people (poor) and force green policies on everyone to ruin business (save the planet). ChristoGOPs shrug off these paradoxes in the true willful ignorance to believe they must ignore the words of the opposition, no matter how sensible, to remain true to the cause, whether that is hate, conspiracy, Christianity, profit, or all. 

The ability to live in hypocritical and paradoxical thoughts attests to the power of irrationality to make one so pliable they cannot deduce where they are headed. Perhaps nothing exemplifies ChristoGOP thinking more than the Hawk Tuah Girl as reported by Slate,

.........the fact that a viral blow job moment has been immediately codified by the right.......is beyond ironic, as the Trump platform is set to wage an unprecedented war on American sexual freedom. Contraception rights are under siege, abortion access has been curtailed dramatically in many states, state houses are attempting to scrub all pornographic material off the web, and major activists in the party are rallying against what they define as “recreational sex.” And yet, despite the deeply unseemly and massively unpopular puritanical streak hamstringing the Republican Party, a woman like Welch [Hawk Tuah Girl] is almost reflexively ushered into the movement. It doesn’t make sense. 

This is where sensible people like reporters go wrong. The Hawk Tuah Girl makes perfect sense to the ChristoGOP! If willing to believe the implausible story of scripture or just indoctrinated by Christian culture, your thoughts retard into right and wrong, good and bad, black and white thinking.  You can just as easily believe education is bad unless infused with Biblical fiction or distrust the government but have faith in Fox News. You can ignore facts and believe America is Christian, regardless of history. In a capitalist system, where there must always be losers so there can be winners, you can believe all it takes to “make it” is hard work and faith. You absolutely can believe sexuality needs to be governed, especially women’s sexuality, while at the same time idolizing and viralizing a young lady giving blowjob advice.   

This is the ChristoGOP: irrational, contrarian, purposeless. They bend to the whims of sycophants and Power Brokers buried under an ignorance so thick it blocks not just objective knowledge and facts but destroys the ability to understand them. It is this ignorance fueling hypocrisy and paradoxical thoughts that makes any sane, rational person witnessing the millions of ChristoGOPs, question, “Where the hell is all this leading?” 

Santa Claus didn’t really come down your chimney on X-mas eve and leave all that shit for you — The Easter bunny and the eggs — samesies. Virgin births, walking on water, parting of the seas, a big boat (Arc) filled with 364K varieties of beetles: one male and one female each, so they can have beetle sex and keep those numbers up, and every other creature too, piled into that big boat; that big, BIG fuckin’ arc. 

Sorry but... Okay, lemme start over: Jesus was NOT a Republican. The GOP (Republicans) are a political party founded for the election of 1860 to try and find a compromise between Slave states and Free states. (just in case you don’t know how calendars and time is kept, 1860 A.D. is 1,860 years AFTER Jesus was killed.) 

And yeah, since you ask, that’s right, there actually used to be a debate, ending in a big fight that killed 627K ‘Mericans’ believe it or not to try and decide whether slavery was okay or not. 

So, my fellow ‘Mericans, no, Jesus Christ didn’t slide down yer chimney. He didn’t hide those Easter eggs or put a quarter under my pillow for my little baby tooth; and no, he was NOT a card-carrying member of the GOP; I’m almost sure of this. 

Then again, never let anyone ‘mock’ your faith or ‘put down your beliefs’. Remember, if anyone ever tries to quote ‘science’ or ‘facts’ to you, just cover yer ears and scream: “MAGA! MAGA! MAGA! JESUS WAS A REPUBLICAN!!!”  

That oughta settle the matter. 

Just remember, whenever anyone says something “definitely” is true, you needn’t question it anymore at all 

UPON FIRST SETTING FOOT ON AMERICAN SOIL AFTER TWO YEARS AWAY — 1974-1976 

Coming back from Australia was a much longer journey than the 10K mile flight. 

Flags everywhere. A tall building, not pine, not oak, certainly not eucalyptus; perhaps the fire and dream of mud, earth, water, steel that was once America still exists and is out there too, but all I can see are flags. 

Flags everywhere. 

Searching for a word: America is a…America is a… 

Hopeless and helpless. America has become, for me, nothing so simple as a single image of itself; America is the deluxe double cheese-burger, America is the thick thigh, America is alone, unaware that a world is out here now too, something other than a post card of America crumbling, in a bag with pork sandwiches, and that all I once thought I knew of America I now know, I know no more. 

But at least back then the GOP could pretend not to be the ChristoGOP of today.  

GOP FASCISM & THE NEW LOST CAUSE 

The "Old" Lost Cause was fought during the American Civil War (1860-1865), where over 600,000 casualties were recorded. It pitted Unionists against Confederates who sought to either preserve the union or maintain slavery. Despite their best efforts, slave-owning white supremacists and their army of followers ultimately lost this battle.  

A "New" Lost Cause has emerged that shares many traits with its historical predecessor. It is no more moral, sane, or reasonable than the original, but it still holds strong sway over certain factions in society. The parallels between the Old and New Lost Causes provide a stark example of right vs wrong, good vs evil, justice vs criminality in contemporary politics. 

The modern-day GOP has been accused of aligning with fascist tendencies on multiple occasions. Fascism refers to authoritarian political movements that display aggressive nationalism, dictatorial powers for the executive branch, and suppression of opposition through propaganda and violence. While there is debate as to whether the current iteration of the Republican Party fits squarely into this category, elements within it certainly, mirror aspects of fascist ideology. 

The New Lost Cause shares similarities with its historical predecessor in terms of a lack of moral grounding and the presence of insanity. Some Republicans attempt to cling onto what they perceive as an idealized past where the government played less of a role, social justice issues received less attention, and conservatism held greater sway over public discourse.  

The American Civil War divided the nation between those fighting for what they perceived as righteousness and justice and others who advocated for preserving slavery at all costs. Today, this division manifests in debates around social justice, LGBTQ+ rights, climate change, economic inequality, and more. Each side draws starkly different conclusions based on their values and worldview. 

The struggle many Americans face is determining which side of this contemporary moral struggle they align themselves with. This difficulty can stem from historical misunderstandings, personal beliefs that may clash with modern ideals, or the influence of propaganda disseminated by partisan groups attempting to manipulate public opinion.  

The emergence of a New Lost Cause and fascist tendencies in the GOP highlight an apparent parallel between this era's struggles and those faced during the American Civil War. It is up to individuals to carefully consider their values and beliefs as they navigate this moral landscape where lines between right and wrong appear blurred. However, this blur is only difficult for the ChristoGOP, who so willingly believe anything, they become lost in moral ambiguity. Clearly, both lost causes exemplify wrong vs right, evil vs righteousness, justice vs criminality. You need only decide which side you’re on. How disappointing that this is so difficult for so many of you. 

DONALD TRUMP: THE NEW “LOST CAUSE” 

The “Old” Lost Cause was fought, with over 600K casualties, Americans vs Americans 1860–1865, for the preservation of either union or slavery. 

Slave-owning White Supremacists and their armies of idiots LOST! 

The “New” Lost cause, the ChristoGOP dreamscape is no more moral, sane, or reasonable than its predecessor. Both lost causes are perfect examples of wrong vs right, evil vs righteousness, and justice vs criminality. All you need to do is decide which side you’re on. 

If we don’t TEACH The TRUTH OF OUR HISTORY, IF WE REFUSE TO ALLOW ANY VERSION BUT OUR PREFERRED ONE TO STAND ALONE AS “THE TRUTH,” it’s a tiny step to wanting to “Make America Great Again,” just like it never used to be 

FLORIDA’S NEW POLICY OF LYING TO CHILDREN 

Florida decided to ban critical race theory (CRT) in schools, a move that sparked intense debate within educational and political circles. The state's new policy seeks to restrict teaching about historical racial injustices, systemic racism, and white privilege—all central themes of CRT. But the ban raises important questions about how Florida plans on addressing these issues and whether it is indeed lying to its children by concealing a crucial part of their nation's history. 

Critical race theory originated as an academic discipline in the late 1970s, seeking to understand the role that racism plays in society and in law. It goes beyond analyzing explicit racial discrimination to explore how social structures perpetuate and even reinforce racist ideologies and practices. The theory has become increasingly popular among educators due to its emphasis on promoting greater equity within school systems by exposing the historical and contemporary effects of systemic racism. 

Florida's move to ban CRT from its schools, however, is not without consequence. By prohibiting an honest discussion about America's history of racial inequality, the state runs the risk of creating a generation that lacks the knowledge to effectively combat present-day prejudice. Moreover, by ignoring and concealing past wrongdoings and systemic injustices, Florida's educational policy aligns with a desire to romanticize the nation's past rather than confronting it truthfully. 

This is not an isolated incident; similar efforts are being made across the United States to restrict CRT from education systems. But these attempts to sanitize history have their roots in the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement, which seeks to recapture a mythologized past when racism and discrimination were more overtly tolerated. This nostalgic yearning for an idealized version of America can only be perpetuated by refusing to acknowledge or address the country's historical shortcomings. 

Banning CRT from Florida classrooms not only deprives students of essential knowledge but also perpetuates a dangerous falsehood about American society. A nation that refuses to confront and learn from its history is destined to repeat it. By silencing discussions on racism, prejudice, and the realities of systemic discrimination, Florida's new policy risks creating a generation that will be unable to navigate the challenges of today or work towards creating a more just society for future generations. 

Choosing to ban CRT, Florida is effectively attempting to rewrite history—one that ignores the pain and struggles of millions of its citizens due to racism and discrimination. This decision undermines efforts to foster critical thinking and empathy in students while encouraging a revisionist narrative of America's past. Ultimately, it is not only misleading but disingenuous for Florida to deprive its children of an honest education about history.  

PALM BEACH SHOPS ON WORTH AVENUE AFTER CRUISING THE NEW TRUMP HOUSE ON THE BEACH — CIRCA 1983 

Let’s be perfectly clear here, okay. Haven’t you always known who Trump and the ChristoGOP were and are and will always be? I mean, I just found this piece I wrote on Trumpian garish vulgarity from 40 years ago. Nothing has changed. When Trump came down that escalator in 2015 and talked about “Mexicans being rapists and murderers” I was reminded of his long history in south Florida and my brief visit there in the very early 1980's. America at its absolute worst can be seen by simply glancing at Florida. 

My fantasy back then during my more actively revolutionary anti-capitalist period, in reaction to simply walking through that world of ostentatious, conspicuous, and shallow emptiness — was one of violence… 

I was a tough guy, an armed robber, probably wearing a black beret. 

“Gimme yer $,” I said. 

The ladies wore pink or cool light blue, their hair, yellow/blond/yellow as a flower, as a flower. 

My Uzi cocked, I said, “Gimme it,” 

And the ladies’ husbands, older retired guys with white hair, styled, or balding and flat pants, flat shirts, polyester but vibrant with pastel pinks sky-blues, white belts/white shoes (of course) or brown socks and brown shoes or sandals worn with white socks, sitting quietly, talking sports and business and retirement. 

And I swear the Uzi I imagined in my hands felt like another flower, A BLACK flower cocked, COCKED. 

And I said it again, “Gimme all yer $… Gimme it, Gimme, Gimme all of it!” 

And the ladies sucked long and hard on skinny, “You’ve-come-a-Long-way-baby” cigarettes. 

And their men, sitting outside boutiques, waiting under still palm trees Discussed the concrete business, Floyd’s melanoma, Diesel Mercedes and their women shopping, “Spending all the money, Ha ha ha…” 

And my flat black Uzi, oh, melted into nothing. 

No black steel, no black flower, And my commands turned to muted whispers, “Gimme somethin’ anythin’ Jus you know, a lil somethin’” 

Of course I didn’t get a penny, not a nickel, not anything at all there so close to Don Trump’s big joint. How could I know back then, I can barely know it now, while living through it, that these horrifying Trumpian values of greed and selfishness and pure narcissistic loops of madness would, a few decades later, be on display for the whole world to see? 

DO THE RIGHT THING?

Vaccinations are not just about saving you and your kids, but about saving all of us! 

Our cold civil war seemed to have reached its hot apex with the Jan. 6th riot, insurrection, peaceful protest, effort to “stop the steal” or “topple the government,” depending on where you go to get your information (and misinformation). We all saw it on video. We all formed opinions that reinforced what we wanted to believe. I thought, well this is pretty clear and obvious, but no, not so much.  

The gestalt concept in psychology of figure/ground requires a basic agreement on reality. The inability to agree on simple, observable facts as to what is happening when we observe makes the most preventable deaths a million of our fellow citizens by a raging plague, horrifyingly understandable. This pandemic could have had its killing capacity eliminated by now through vaccinations and proper thoughtful, proven protective measures. But it raged and rages on killing and is merely the latest example of calling a 100-foot-tall tsunami a “big wave” and an insurrection a “peaceful protest.”  

Vaccinations and mask-wearing vs. Individual Freedoms is not, and has never been, the real issue, the figure in that figure/ground paradigm. The ground is a backdrop of makeshift morgues and overrun hospitals. The figure is people recognizing the need for a social contract vs self-aggrandizing, mad selfishness in a rush towards keeping this disease alive and spreading. 

Our cold civil war gets hotter and hotter being fought with choices we make to act responsibly or selfishly. Some of us ignore the hundreds of thousands of dead and explain it away as simply god’s will. We cannot agree on the most basic, obvious truth and reality. Well, in case you hadn’t guessed by now I’ve pretty much made up my mind: For fuck sake get your vaccination and do the right thing. 

OBSERVING THE CHRISTOGOPS FIRSTHAND 

1. 

We are very clearly three tribes now. We probably always have been but in America today we have red, blue and colorless, which is also right, left and disengaged. There is almost no reason or ability to talk to members of tribes outside our own. How can anybody NOT see this? How can anyone fail to recognize this glaring reality? 

2. 

I read a headline about a Hispanic family kicked out of its pool for playing Spanish music. I am the proud father of a Hispanic son. His life has become more difficult thanks to the racism and white supremacy encouraged by the Tangerine Imbecile and his army of MAGA idiots and bullies. 

So, when I tell you I’m Antifa, and you don’t seem capable of understanding that this means; “anti-fascist,” do NOT expect to be invited to my home or for me to speak to you if by some misfortune we happen to see one another.  

Is. That. Fuckin’. Clear? 

3. 

Trump followers, are they Dupes or Dopes?
Let’s not quibble; Why not both? 
“Traitor” works just fine too, every fuckin’ time. 

4. 

GOP Shit Show Madness. Regarding GOP efforts to whitewash the Jan 6th Insurrectionists. For anyone who’s been paying any attention this can’t have been much of a surprise; The mockery of First Responders recently by GOP ass-hats, by making fun of the way firemen are dressed while they are still pulling bodies out of the flames, might not be the best way to go. Clowns are only funny if nobody on the high wire has just fallen to their death.  

And yeah, I’m talking to you Jim Jordan. 

5. 

I Never Want to Talk Politics Again. Nor do I wish to be cheered-up or encouraged to “get back in the game.” Fuck that. I want to move into other parts of my life and never talk about or listen to anyone else talk about politics ever again -- EVER. 

6. 

If someone is bad enough, but LOVES the limelight and craves attention and will say anything, do anything, to get attention, mightn’t the best punishment imaginable be to never speak that person’s name again? To move beyond ghosting & to disintegrate his being by retroactively making him disappear forever? Who am I talking about? Exactly. Yeah, just like that. 

Perfect. 

7. 

“How can I be so cruel and uncaring about the right to life?” Someone recently asked me, but I didn’t agree with the starting assumption. I’m not cruel and uncaring, not much anyway. I’m honest, which can sometimes sound the same. I’m kind and I care deeply. 

Although I must confess, that if any person out there decided to murder the rightwing SCOTUS judges, I’d laugh and not be sad about this b/c they are lunatic assholes, democracy-destroyers. And the reincarnation of a modern-day John Brown at Harper’s Ferry is a model to me of Antifa action at its best, albeit seemingly futile at first glance. 

Now, to be clear, I’m NOT offering a $3 reward for every dead SCOTUS judge who voted to treat the women of this country as, at best, second-class citizens — no, I’m not offering any reward at all. I’m just saying the news of their deaths will be greeted by me with joy. 

I’m acknowledging that for me the death of awful people, fascists and the like, is not an occasion for sadness, but rather for celebration. 

If I’d been alive when Hitler’s burnt corpse was found in the ruins of his bunker in Berlin in 1945, I’d have been overjoyed. When Richard Ramirez died of cancer while on death row after a total dedication to evil, I wasn’t sad. The death of evil people and the death of innocent people is NOT the same thing. Any sense of right and wrong begins with this issue of death.  

Our souls are simply the memories of us, hated or beloved that we earned during our brief time of being alive. Lincoln=good guy. Limbaugh=piece of shit. This isn’t complicated 

So, yeah, I’m not cruel and uncaring — I’m just clear on right and wrong, on fairness and justice and the opposite of it. 

I’m not gonna spend my entire day thinking about this shit, but I know that an informed and detached concern for life itself, including concern for the lives of women, who should have their rights to own their own bodies recognized, is the REAL right to life. The one that I care about most. 

8. 

Friends and family who claim “the shots ain’t tested good enough yet and Covid is all bullshit or from outer space intent on destroying America for its own libtard demonic reasons” And also that Biden is radical and insane and that with the help of storm-trooper FEMA robots they’re going to take away our guns and our second amendment rights and have all men castrated and turn our country into a giant abortion factory?  

What to say to people we like and love who are listening day in and day out to hate-talk radio and watching Fox News as it spews utter nonsense, flat-out lies and half-truths as ‘facts’. 

Okay, here it is, we’re going to first try to simply change the subject and when that doesn’t work we’re going to take a breath, pause, and as soon as the chance arises, we’ll say: “I don’t agree with you, but far more to the point, I have my own views that I don’t want changed just as you have your views that you don’t want changed, so why are we ‘discussing’ this? And by the way that is a rhetorical question but the answer to it is, we’re NOT going to discuss this shit, at least I’M not.” 

And if the person to whom you’re speaking insists on continuing to push crazy views/ideas and radical extremist rants, you will say, “That’s it. I’m done talking to you. Goodbye.” And you’ll walk away. The German people in 1932 didn’t have a plan to counter what was happening to them. 

It’s 2024, and thankfully, we do. 

9. 

Where did Trump get the idea that he’ll be ‘reinstated’ as president? Turns out that it was the guy from the “My Pillow” infomercials telling the Tangerine Idiot that he’ll be “back in power in August.”  

Probably… 
Almost for sure… 
Sometime around then… 
Great news for all the fascists, so now, I guess we wait. 

10. 

Is it Foxmania? 

The sickness that comes from being stupid and ignorant enough to watch/listen to Fox News and believe it — appears to be both incurable and contagious. 

Presently posited as a defense in Jan 6th Insurrection cases, “I was fuckin’ dumb enough to believe what Fox News told me, therefore please don’t send my ass to prison.” 

Stay tuned for more. 

11. 

It’s not like I’m saying I could be the guy calling himself the Q-anon Shaman, but you can bet yer ass that unlike Prufrock, that mo-fo would dare to eat a peach. Say whatever else you must about him and it’s not like I’m suggesting I could BE him, but by God, sometimes I wish I could be. 

Or, for that matter, you love it when yer mama dresses-up like a slut monkey -- Life is too short for moderation. 

12. 

Jan 6 was just the beginning. Jesus and the tangerine imbecile. Not to be redundant, but okay, sure being redundant if necessary; if you proclaim to worship Jesus Christ and you support that fuckin’ orange lunatic who inspired the deadly insurrection on Jan 6th. I want nothing to do with you. If you’re offended by this, fine, just so long as it keeps you the fuck away from me. 

13. 

Hmm…Critical Race Theory vs Indentured servitude seems to me to be a very short history lesson with the obvious point that the laws justifying and separating slavery from indentured servitude, were based on race and established the basis for American slavery through the courts that would become the same legislative bodies and powers that today curtail CRT by imposing regulations on its teaching, following the tradition of systemic racism that created American slavery. Pretty simple stuff if you ask me. 

14. 

A guy named Robert Chapman, Insurrectionist Hero, NBC news reported his posting on the dating site “Bumble” (Whatever-the-fuck- that is), that he had been at the capital Jan 6th., “stopping the steal,” and that the object of his affection, there on Bumble (potential never quite actualized affection, mind you), said, “Not a match.” But the FBI said, “Perfect match!!” and arrested him.  

Try Tinder next time, if and when they ever let your ass out. 

15. 

Again, it was the guy from the “My Pillow” infomercials telling the Tangerine Idiot he’ll be “back in power in August.” That was in 2020 and despite the great news for all the fascists, not coming true. The MAGAs are not deterred, and we now wait with anxiety in 2024. It is difficult to believe that “My Pillow Guy” is a key figure in the MAGA political machine, but this is the ChristoGOPs who don’t care about wrong or right information much less wrong or right. As long as you’re a billionaire with Jesus on the lips (or pillow) you must be a good guy. 

16. 

Alan is this old guy, wearing a red MAGA hat 24/7, (and by old, I mean about my, and Donald Trump’s, age), who lives kitty-corner from our townhouse here in Tucson. He walks his standard poodle Angie numerous times every day, always on the lookout for someone with whom to talk. According to sources who know Alan better than I do, his wife, Angela, nags him constantly and is hyper-critical, and etc. 

Yesterday, on my way to my car Alan must have seen me pass the front of his place because as I got around the corner where I was parked, he came out the back and engaged me in an attempt at conversation. 

The deal is his mind is going. I think he understands most of what is happening, but he can no longer find the words to express what he feels/thinks/wants to say. He mumbled something to me that I couldn’t quite make out, which is par for the course with him, and I spoke back, saying something general and simple. 

Then I told him that I’d be heading back north in about a week. I tried to explain, saying how much I loved it here, but that we needed to get back to our other home, my wife’s sister/spring coming/a long drive…Blahblahblah… 

He interrupted, “I wish I could kill all the people around here.”  

I’m pretty sure Alan wouldn’t have homed in on mass murder as the best answer to the growing pressures on his brain and heart that clearly Alzheimer’s or Dementia are creating prior to his lover affair with Trump, Maga and the ChristoGOP madness. 

17. 

Fox News calls out OAN for using ‘unproven’ election lies to push for ‘execution’ of ‘traitors.’ So, this is really happening, and it takes Fox “fuckin’ bullshit” News to tell us about it: “executions” of “traitors,” meaning people who counted votes in the 2020 election, that found more votes for Biden. This media outlet suggests these poll workers are proper candidates for executions. How about bringing back public executions to guarantee that in the future we think twice before counting votes in a manner that suggests an outcome with which we disapprove? 

18. 

Fox News attacked a ‘Montana Man’ Who Called Out Tucker Carlson. You gotta love their chutzpah. It’s hard to imagine a worse offender of incivility, untruth, and evil intentions than Fox News and their talking heads. Yet, they pretend outrage when there is a real-life consequence to one of their big $$ earning hypocrites. (Small digression, “Hey Tucker, when you gonna answer the question. Have you had YOUR vaccines? What about yer family?”). Fox was such a big fan of the Tangerine Imbecile and all his sins, misogyny, racism, bullying, divisiveness, being a fucking traitor, lying any time his lips are moving, and Tucker is one of the biggest cheerleaders for white supremacy, slander and cowardice. So to see a regular western guy in Montana, where men are men and bad guys get their asses kicked pretty regularly outside every country western bar in the state most any Friday or Saturday night, stand up and tell the truth to sniveling, chicken-shit power, made my day, hell, made my week and my whole month! 

19. 

What everyone seems to be forgetting is the complete lack of any negative consequences for the GOP representing the prejudices and idiocy of their constituents’ which ALWAYS center on worshiping the Tangerine Imbecile and castigating liberals or anyone they see as opponents. 

20. 

What Makes a stupid person stupid or a smart person smart? Genetics, of course, and education. Maybe life experiences. Really, for all our Forrest Gump’ian fantasies of equality and other gentle, softening lies we tell ourselves, stupid people do stupid shit and smart people try to fix it. Everyone knows this except for the stupid people, but they’re stupid so what’d you expect? 

21. 

You know psychopaths when you see them and you see them often — on the roads, in grocery stores, glaring at you for no reason other than because you have somehow inadvertently, gotten in their way. 

Healthy people have greater compassion for any living thing; bugs, plants, invertebrates, than psychopaths have for anyone, including human beings. 

You know psychopaths and if you lived in America 2016–2020, you were being led by one. 

22. 

ATTENTION!! WALMART SHOPPERS LUNATIC IDIOT THREATENING LITTLE 

OLD LADY ON AISLE 6…LIVE FREE OR DIE!!!!!!! 

A white supremacist was arrested for tampering with witness at Walmart while facing gun charges.  

I can hear his defense now, “I just wanted to buy some maple syrup.” 

23.  

We have certain standards here  

I’m not sure where I saw this headline—it may have been Pornhub but the fact that it may NOT have been there, tells you all you need to know about ChristoGOP morality and decency.  

When I read the headline “QB’s Girlfriend Gang-banged for his birthday” I must confess I was a bit concerned but the subtitle said 

“And she LOVES it.”  

(The all caps on “LOVE” was very reassuring) 

Whew! Plus, you know, QB stands for “Quarterback,” a very important position on the team — so, like I said nothing to fear here on the upper landings of our culture’s propriety and good taste. 

Who else remembers recent history? 

“Stormy and Michael,” There may come a day when someone will have to ask, Who? What? And when even adding “Daniels” and “Cohen” will draw blank looks & confusion. 

But today, thank God this is NOT that day. 

24.

ChristoGOPs are willing to die to spite Biden. Excellent. May we please get on with accommodating them? Seems like an equal plan to their other fav. “Kill the kids to own the libs.” 

Good talk! 

25.  

Trump wanting to label Antifa as terrorists proves the idiocy of the ChristoGOPs. All my life I’ve hated fascists, and now I live in an empire recently ruled by an orange clown who either has no idea what fascism is or is actually as evil as he appears. I’m betting on the latter.  

And so I say Fight on Antifa, Fight on and never surrender. 

26.

SCOTUS Horseshit: So, we’re gonna let people state by state vote on whether others in their state should have equal rights or not? 

I’m a little confused?  

I thought that we sorted this shit out between 1860 and 1865 to the tune of 627K American casualties and decided that the Bill of Rights in the U.S. Constitution trumped any given dumbass, morally imbecilic State’s Right to deprive citizens in that state of certain inalienable rights? 

I guess fuckin’ not. 

Huh Texas? Idaho? And some of you other ass-hat outposts of stupidity, cruelty, and general fucked-up-ness. You are the same people willing to discard democracy with all its challenges, faults and difficulties in favor of your preferred form of governance, a lifetime appointment of an authoritarian tangerine imbecile to lead us — power uber alles. 

“‘Merica!!! ‘Merica!!! We’re number one!” 

Just so long as yer runnin’ shit in the ways that make ME fuckin’ happy!!! I thought we had this all sorted out.  

I musta been mistaken. 

27. 

Patience with MAGA Rioter? Nah. A judge in one of the Jan 6th insurrection cases said that he could no longer give the defendant the benefit of the doubt, then sentenced the ChristoGOP clown to a nice long prison term — and said, not hello/goodbye Beatles version: The adios convict grocery clerk from Schenectady one… 

28. 

GOP Shit Show, cluster-fuck madness defines their efforts to whitewash the Jan 6th Insurrectionists. For anyone who’s been paying any attention, this couldn’t have been much of a surprise. The mockery of First Responders recently by GOP asshats who made fun of the way firemen dressed while they are still pulling bodies out of the flames, might not be the best way to go. Clowns are only funny if nobody on the high wire has just fallen to their death.  

Yeah, I’m talking to you Jim Jordan. 

29.  

Happy Memorial/Veterans/July 4th and every other flag-waving bullshit Day in honor of all ANTIFA, but especially those who died FIGHTING FUCKIN’ GERMAN/ITALIAN CHRISTO-FASCISTS, 1941–1945. 

2024 Election: ChristoGOP Madness

As we go to press with this book, the 2024 election just took a huge turn. President Biden dropped out, and Vice President Harris (the living embodiment of diversity, equality, and identity/inclusion) is about to become the nominee of the anti-ChristoGOP party.

We ask you to consider the full range of harm done by Christian Nationalism (ChristoGOPs). This can only be done by understanding its origins, operating methods, and the idiocy of its adherents.  

For you to reject a lifetime of propaganda that drove you into a fundamentally stupid and insane belief system is a big ask on our part. One way, maybe the only way, to really get it is to consider each part of what we present and to accept or reject our ideas through an honest examination of your conscience, reason, beliefs, and what you know in your bones to be true. 

We are all some degree of ChristoGOP: deranged and deluded since childhood into believing “truths” about reality that are NOT true, accepting absurd “facts” that are actually magical thinking — utterly unsupported by any reality or common-sense grasp of reality. We’ve been lied to and propagandized and fed nonsense all our lives.  

We are all on a journey out of and away from our deplorable state of being.  

We are all deplorable, but we don’t have to stay that way.  

WHO WANTS TO BE A CHRISTOGOP? 

Who wouldn’t want to be a ChristoGOP? The best of the Grand Old Party, clinging to the southern myths of white Christian supremacy. Who wouldn’t want to be a ChrisoGOP? The best of the Christians gathered at churches discussing the “welfare problem” or “by the year 2050, white people will be the minority in their own country!” Who wouldn’t want to be a ChristoGOP? A proud man, with the opportunity (real or not) to be rich, to be free, to have guns to fend off “those people”, or just to live life the way Jesus intended. 

ChristoGOPs stand for more than just ‘Christianity. They stand for strength in business, having divined success through conservative policies that make average people pull themselves up by their bootstraps while giving profit to the super-wealthy when times get tough. The ChristoGOP is success or hope of success defined by dollars. 

ChristoGOPs stand for law and order. They believe in strict laws, like executing murderers but temper that justice with pardons for businesspeople convicted of fraud and white-collar crimes or to commute sentences for Rod Blagojevich, former Illinois governor who tried to sell Barack Obama’s Senate seat. 

Who wouldn’t want to be a ChristoGOP? When they have all the answers that make so much sense. 

MAKING OF CHRISTOGOPS

The ChristoGOP origin holds no real complexity. This Frankenstein of religion and politics required only time to fully animate. One needs only the perfect religion and the perfect political party to breed a population of ChristoGOPs. More important are the orchestrators of this taboo relation. Of course, that would be the Power Brokers. Those who guide the ChristoGOPs to the polls, those who voice the words these followers need to hear (truth or lies), and those who benefit the most from the ChristoGOP compliance. 

THE POWER BROKERS 

Old money or new money defines the Power Broker. They are the multimillionaires or billionaires who actualized the American Dream, having ‘made it’. At least that is what they say. They are the entertainers, the entrepreneurs, the CEOs, and the executives; often, all wrapped in one. In a system that enforces scarcity, winners, and losers, these folks set the bar for success. Because they have ‘made it’, and as the winners, they perfectly prove the American Dream is a plausible reality dependent solely on one’s effort and self-efficacy — not some fantasy dependent on luck. 

Still, the Power Brokers face challengers, those who wish to take their billions — namely, everyone as represented by the IRS. How will they hold the forces of the IRS at bay so they can continue making even more billions? They need to lower taxes at all costs, but how? They need to deregulate anything that stands in the way of moneymaking, but how?  

Frustrating, yes! 

Don’t the average, working Joes realize the only way to ‘make it’ is to stand on the Machiavellian principle that dictates the dollar justifies the means?  Clearly, they do not. Clearly, they do not understand that everything is secondary to the goal of profit because if they understood this principle they would have ‘made it’. More so, they need to believe that an earner of $400,000 per year paying $140,000 in taxes, not counting deductions, will never ‘make it’ by only bringing home $260,000 per year? 

Average Joes also need to believe that corporations can’t make billions when they are being taxed because they cannot expand, creating more jobs. They need to believe this despite the fact that companies, like Facebook, layoff 10,000 people in the same year the company earned $39 billion in profits. Obviously, those 10,000 people had to go to make way for the billions in profit. 

That’s making it! 

The Power Brokers will need the right people for the job of protecting their billions. Where will they find the people willing to believe that protecting the billionaire's billions ensures them the extremely plausible opportunity to be the billionaire? Who will have a mind malleable enough for the Power Brokers to inspire to protect their billions? 

THE AMERICAN CHRISTIANS

If you need someone to believe rewarding a billionaire or corporation more money somehow makes life better for everyone, look no further than the American Christians. As if Jesus himself, handed the Power Brokers their answer, the Christians stand ready to fight the great fight for billions. In fact, they already did much of the work by attacking education, desiring to make their religion law, and simply exalting faith over reason. 

The Christians proudly attacked education and science from the beginning of their religion with leaders or organizations intentionally spreading misinformation about their faith's history, practices, or teachings to maintain control over their followers. Examples abound historically, like the well-known suppression of Galileo's heliocentric theory because it contradicted the Bible's creation narrative. Forget ancient history, let’s focus on current issues: 

• Religious Education Curriculum: Many Christian groups push for religious curriculum to be integrated into public school systems. This not only violates church-state separation but also undermines evidence-based education by teaching religious ideologies as facts, sowing doubt in students' minds about scientific theories and historical events. 

• Book Banning: Some Christians attempt to censor books they deem 'immoral,' 'obscene,' or 'unsuitable for children.' This hinders free thought, exposes young people to limited perspectives, and suppresses critical thinking skills. 

• Textbook Alterations: Christian groups have lobbied successfully to change the content of textbooks in schools and universities. They've sought to remove or alter material they consider at odds with their beliefs, such as the theory of evolution, historical events that contradict Biblical narratives, and the inclusion of LGBTQ+ issues. 

• Anti-Science Legislation: Christian groups have pushed for laws against teaching controversial topics like climate change or evolution. This impedes students' understanding of essential scientific concepts, as well as their ability to critically analyze evidence. 

• Creationism in Science Classrooms: The belief that the world was created by God in six days contradicts scientific evidence. Nevertheless, Christian groups continue to lobby for creation science to be taught alongside evolution in schools. This not only confuses students about how the natural world works but also undermines trust in the scientific community. 

• Fundamentalist Charter Schools: Some Christians have established charter schools with curriculums based on their religious beliefs. These institutions often receive public funding while ignoring science education and critical thinking skills, instead focusing on religious indoctrination. 

• Homeschooling: Many Christian parents choose to homeschool their children in order to protect them from what they consider 'immoral' or 'obscene' information present in mainstream schools. This may result in students receiving limited and biased education, hindering their understanding of different perspectives and cultures. 

• Censoring Speakers: Christian groups have attempted to prevent the appearance of speakers and lecturers they deem unsuitable for schools or universities. These actions often arise from an effort to suppress ideas deemed 'anti-Christian,' such as atheism, LGBTQ+ rights, and women's reproductive health. 

• University Controversies: Christian groups have sought to influence university policies and curriculum. They have successfully pushed for prayer rooms on campus, censored research findings they deem 'offensive,' and restricted access to birth control or abortion services. This can result in a lack of inclusivity and freedom of thought among students. 

• Political Pressure: Christian groups often use their political influence to promote religious views in education policy, swaying public opinion through fear-based tactics like the promotion of 'family values' or 'moral decay.' This hinders the establishment of objective, evidence-based curriculums and policies in schools. 

If resistance to education and critical thinking were not enough, Christians are blessed with faith to make them truly compliant since they will believe anything. Why will they believe anything? Because literally, they believe anything! 

Christian beliefs can encompass anything because the only requirement to be a Christian is to have some form of belief in Jesus Christ and one of the many translations of the Bible. This is absolutely a fact of Christianity because every Christian will tell you, regardless of their sect, they are the true Christians, not those other Christians. To say Christians are fallacious is to vastly understate their nonsensical nature as a mere quirk when they indeed personify the No True Scotsmen fallacy. Christian groups range in belief from gun hoarding child molesters like David Koresh, to the staunch Catholic at the Knights of Columbus quietly fundraising to stop gay marriage. 

Christians will argue this point all day, but they have no argument because people like David Koresh and the Catholic have equal right to call themselves Christians, and they will defend that right together regardless of their rejection of each other as Christians.   

Replacing critical thinking and education with possibilities seen as facts due to the need to have faith in their bizarre religion makes Christians perfect followers. Willingness to believe a god made the earth and sent his son via an immaculate conception to be nailed to a cross to somehow save everyone from sin smacks of stupidity for the nonChristian, but for the American Christian, this is just a fact of life! Claiming Christians conflate plausibility with possibility understates the danger of believing running headlong into a brick wall will somehow allow you to pass through unscathed if performed fast enough.  

A true miracle for the Power Brokers! 

Christianity demands followers take this irrational, blind leap into life by replacing critical thought with pseudo-philosophy or junk-science — and they are wowed by Intelligent Design and scripture quoting. Knowing no better, the Christian nods in agreement as if these arguments proved anything.  

Who could ask for a better group of followers, ready to run off a cliff like a lemming? No one, and if the Christian was not the answer to the prayers of the Power Brokers, most certainly it was the Republicans.  

THE REPUBLICANS 

Self-serving, seeking profit at all costs, these Power Broker wannabees are all about the business of business. To hell with the environment, the poor, and the sick. Profit takes a willingness to break some eggs whether it is spilling the yolk of the unfortunate or the planet — who cares! “Making it” takes dedication and hard work! Republicans get it! Even if most don’t know the impossibility of what they get. Best of all, and this point cannot be stressed enough, they see the Christians as dupes needed to get them the lower taxes needed to ‘make it’ and don’t care what the Christians do. Their thinking goes: When I’m successful, my billions will buy whatever I need and want. That includes bodily autonomy, religious freedom, a new car — it's all the same. Abortion, freedom, and commodities are for those who can afford them — those who made it!   

THE BIRTH OF THE CHRISTOGOPS 

The millions of ChristoGOPs took decades to breed into what we know to be half of America. It took a lynch pin cause of abortion to marry the Christians and Republicans but years of misinformation and lies finally paid off. Now, the Power Brokers look on with pride at their beast capable of believing anything, ignoring the behavior of leaders, and defending the very things causing the most self-harm. This is the ChristoGOP, a couple raising two kids on $50,000 a year, who believes the person making $400,000 a year with two kids needs more money. This is the ChristoGOP, the Right to Life protester hoarding guns in his basement, believing school mass-shootings are caused by lack of Bibles in public education, not arms dealers being given freedom to market their wares to anyone with a buck. This is the ChristoGOP, a couple raising four kids on $40,000 believing that lowering taxes on corporations and doing away with Obamacare is going to help them. This is the ChristoGOP, the manager slaving away, hoping for the promotion that will bring big success, even as the CEO brings his son onboard to be the next corporate leader. This is the ChristoGOP, who doesn’t look for the better answer but instead believes the propaganda that confirms their unshakable faith in Jesus or in ‘making it’ or both: 

1. God is the only true source of morality and values, so without Christianity, society would collapse. 

2. It's not rich people or corporations not paying their fair share of taxes, but the millions of illegal immigrants who come to America and steal social security. 

3. God blesses those who trust in Him and follow His commandments with prosperity and abundance in their finances. 

4. Through prayer, faith, and wise management of resources, Christians can achieve great financial success while still following biblical teachings on charity and stewardship. 

5. Abortion is murder because life begins at conception. 

6. Tithing (giving 10% of your income to the church) opens the gates for God's blessing, leading to wealth and financial stability. 

7. Homosexuality is a sin and goes against God's plan for humanity. 

8. Only through Jesus Christ can we achieve eternal salvation and everlasting life in heaven. 

9. By supporting Christian businesses, you are helping further the Gospel message and receiving divine blessings from God in return. 

10. The Bible holds all the answers to life, and its teachings provide guidance for every human being. 

11. God's Word promises that if you serve Him with a generous heart, He will give you the desires of your heart, including wealth and prosperity for yourself and your family. 

12. Evolution is a myth created by atheists to discredit God's existence. 

13. It’s the immigrants taking the Black jobs, not racism. 

14. Christianity brings peace and unity within communities, as followers learn to love one another unconditionally. 

15. America is the greatest country in the world! 

16. Satan is real, and he uses science and atheism to deceive people into doubting their faith. 

17. Florida is the land where woke comes to die! 

18. Public schools should allow prayers and Bible studies to strengthen children's faith from an early age. 

19. Muslims shouldn’t be allowed in government. 

20. The Christmas season honors Jesus Christ and should be celebrated by all Americans regardless of religion, as it brings joy and love to the world. 

21. White people are being replaced by minorities. 

22. It’s the liberal fascists who are destroying the country by enslaving everyone with their green policies. 

2024 Election ChristoGOP Madness

The Grand Old Party worked hard and long to become a party of self-identifying ignorant, corrupt, greed-driven Christians and industrialists both seeking to make the other half of America submit to their will – at whatever the cost. Despite the entire Republican National Party’s domination by Christians, who desire to enact laws based on Christianity and have done so already by overturning Roe v Wade, they still pretend they are a diverse party rather than a front for the many different sects of Christians and their lay groups such as the Proud Boys and KKK. This theater, rich with players from different Christian churches, seems so obviously a Christian Nationalist party, it boggles the mind as to how any person or media outlet concludes Republicans are a diverse party of conservative voters. Yet, they are a malformed descendant propagated from the union of traditional Republican and Christian, so disfigured as to be almost unrecognizable to the party and religion who sold their souls to one another. These ChristoGOPs now comprise approximately half the population in the United States, united by their shared religious beliefs and political ideology, both as ambiguous and contradictory as their values. These ChristoGOPs seek only their own interests whether that be discrimination or tax breaks.

They are greed and ignorance unbound!  

Differentiating the old, dead Republican and Christian from the ChristoGOP is vital to understanding why our government continues to spiral into a fascist, elitist theocracy, but more importantly, so we may recognize and break the religious and ignorance chains binding us all.

The Rising Threat of Christian Nationalism on American Democracy 

The United States has long been considered a bastion of democracy in the world, perhaps more ideally than realistically. However, recent years have seen a resurgence in the political force of Christian nationalism, an ideology that posits the supremacy of Christianity within society and its direct influence on governmental affairs. While there is no denying the historic role religion has played in American politics, the prospect of Christian nationalists gaining control over Congress and the presidency raises serious concerns about how this could adversely impact democratic norms and practices.  

Christianity & Democracy: A Turbulent History 

The relationship between Christianity and democracy has been complex and nuanced throughout history. While some religious leaders and movements championed democratic principles like freedom of speech, religion, assembly, and the right to vote, others have used their influence to undermine these values. Some argue the United States was founded on ideals influenced by Christianity, such as the belief in human equality before God and the necessity for a moral society, but the fact that separation of church and state has been a core concept, negates the fiction of the United States as a Christian Nation. While Christianity historically played an important role in the country's public life, arguably not a beneficial one in most instances, the constitutional principle of separation of church and state was established to ensure no one religion would have undue influence over governmental affairs or policymaking processes. This separation ended with a large body of voters (half of America) voting for a narcissistic, authoritarian leader (Donald Trump) who installed the current conservative Supreme Court. A new page of history turns now to the ChristianGOPs bearing the flag of ignorance, waving guns, believing anything that remotely sounds Christian – even if selfish, violent, misinformed, and just downright wrong. 

Christian Nationalism: A New Threat? 

Christianity is not a new threat. Since the earliest days of the United States, Christianity, over and over again, tried to embed itself in the public square, enforce its morality, and undermine democratic ideals. For many it is difficult to fathom what appears to be a beneficial, benevolent, and loving religion as a threat to freedom. Yet, the danger posed by a Christian nationalist takeover of Congress and the presidency lies in their potential to undermine democratic principles through religious-based governance. To accomplish this goal, the separation of church and state had to be severely compromised, so that the government could begin to favor Christian interests over those of other religious groups or nonbelievers. Erosion of the founding principle of religious freedom in the United States provides the discriminatory environment needed to undermine citizens who do not subscribe to Christian beliefs. 

Christian Nationalism is not a new threat, but this current movement combined with Republicanism produced a new threat of recreating the US as a Christian Nation. The ChristoGOP is a beast born of ignorance, hypocrisy, and greed. The ChristoGOP, sometimes called a MAGA, screams the mantras of liberty while uncaringly crushing democratic values like the press and women's rights. What becomes heresy and forbidden by law derives from the whim of the ChristoGOP leaders, answering only to the monetary, corporate, industrialists, and other Power Brokers who finance them. They may seek to limit freedom of the press by restricting coverage that challenges or criticizes their religious beliefs or policies, or more realistically, what hurts their bottom line, like reporting the truth about climate change. They might even attempt to roll back women's reproductive rights, which most Christian groups limit in some way by declaring men spiritual leaders of women, that coincidentally, forms the perfect means to control half the population by having them answer to and depend on men who already control most resources and wealth.  

The Need For Action 

Christian nationalism gaining control over Congress and the presidency is not merely hypothetical. In recent years, a growing number of elected officials, at the local and national levels, are ChristoGOPs espousing an insane ideology that even some Christians find repugnant. These politicians are not merely interested in spreading a religious view, they are intent on taking power at all costs by infiltrating all branches of government. Christian nationalism has gained a significant influence over American political affairs, but more so the ChristoGOP, who intends to continue destroying the foundations of democracy in the US to achieve what it desires. Behind the guise of Christianity and Making America Great Again, lies a cabal of greedy, racist, religious fascists who want to undo civil rights and progressive advancements made in education to healthcare. Just beyond them stands the Power Brokers, seeking nothing but profit and control by any means necessary. The threat is real and these ChristoGOPs, their leaders, and the Power Brokers will be the first to downplay the severity of the situation. 

SOME BASIC PSYCHOLOGY & LANGUAGE 

There are aspects of human psychology and the limitations of language one must understand to grasp how people became ChristoGOPs. We’re going to throw out and ignore the age-old great debate of nature vs nurture, genes, and experience, traumatic or otherwise, when considering the most critically important elements that converted Republicans into a cluster-fuck of fascist madmen.  

Several important characteristics explain this phenomenon, most notably the Dunning-Kruger effect, which is believing they possess more intelligence, skill, or capability than they do. Sometimes, this effect refers to the intelligent, skilled, or capable persons underestimating themselves, but smart people thinking they are less smart does not present the same magnitude of problems as stupid people overestimating their intellect and knowledge. 

Associated with Dunning-Kruger is Agnotology, which is the study of culturally induced ignorance that often forms as a willful, and intentional belief in things one can and should know as untrue or inaccurate but choosing to believe them anyway. This nescience guiding the Dunning-Kruger should not be considered reductively, such as resulting merely from lack of facts or stubbornness because culturally induced ignorance creates psychological issues that further exacerbate the problem. 

One such problem is projection, which refers to a basic defense mechanism in which a person believes or acts as if they believe a fault in their conduct is present in someone else. This trait is commonly scene in the ChristoGOP leadership, most notably Donald Trump, who has consistently claimed anyone who disagrees with him is a criminal, a liar, and a reprobate, all truths about himself that he projects onto others.  

These psychological issues are further worsened by the limitation of language centered in the ChristoGOP belief that the simplest definition of a word is adequate to full comprehension of the word’s meaning. This cogent feature manifests commonly in the ChristoGOP claiming, fascists are “bad” and since I’m “good” I can’t be a fascist. Racism is “bad” and since I am “good” I can’t be racist. This limited understanding allows the ChristoGOP to live quite comfortably, never feeling cognitive dissonance. 

Wittgenstein said, “An expression only has meaning within the stream of life.”ⁱ Similarly, the value of language is limited by the user’s ability to understand the words and recognize how their own psychology influences their choice and use of those words. 

BUT THERE’S JEWISH, BLACK, HISPANIC, & atheist REPUBLICANS! 

ChristoGOPs love boasting how Blacks and Hispanics reveal a diverse party. ChristoGOPs pointing to these people declares their bigotry with the same culturally induced ignorance as those who say things like, “I don’t hate Black people; I hate N.....s!” They claim “all lives matter” from the dominant position of having never known their life to not matter. With all the self-righteousness and pompousness they can muster, just as Donald Trump did in the 2024 Debate, they lie, “It’s the illegal immigrants taking the Black Jobs!”  

It is difficult to understand how any Jewish, Black, or Hispanic person votes for a party that actively works to undermine them at every turn. Their leader, Donald Trump, has made quite clear, on many occasions, exactly what he thinks of these voters.  

Sycophants like Marjorie Taylor Green are often more outspoken than their leader. POLITICO reported hours of social media video, in which,  

Marjorie Taylor Greene, suggested that Muslims do not belong in government; thinks black people “are held slaves to the Democratic Party”; called George Soros, a Jewish Democratic megadonor, a Nazi; and said she would feel “proud” to see a Confederate monument if she were black because it symbolizes progress made since the Civil War.     

These followers are not just more outspoken but willing to enact their white Christian beliefs, exemplified by Governor Ron DeSantis who has declared war on the ‘woke’ by targeting three-quarters of a million undocumented immigrants in Florida, attacking LGBTQ rights, expanding ignorance by limiting education concerning systemic racism.  

Most disturbing are the people aligned with these political viewpoints who should not be. According to Pew Research, the Jewish majority, with good reason, identify or lean Democratic. Even less surprising is the fact that half of them self-describe as liberal. Yet there are Jews that vote Republican despite the fact that the Anti-defamation League, reported to Congress in 2022, 

The conspiracy theories that radicalize and mobilize white supremacists, as well as other right-wing extremists, are laced with antisemitism and other forms of hatred and are closely associated with support for anti-democratic political violence and insurrectionism. And their adherents are no longer limited to a fringe group of extremists, but have become mainstreamed… 

In 2021, ADL tabulated 2,717 antisemitic incidents throughout the United States. This is a 34% increase from the 2,026 incidents tabulated in 2020 and the highest number on record since ADL began tracking antisemitic incidents in 1979. 

The ADL states that “white supremacist ideology, these extremists embrace a wide range of hatreds, espousing xenophobia, Islamophobia, misogyny, and anti-LGBTQ+ bigotry” but fails to state the shared underpinning of Christianity that loosely unifies these groups. What other cause could there be than Christianity mixed with lack of education to make someone as influential and talented as Kanye West, say, “I like Hitler [he had] a lot of redeeming qualities" knowing he would be one of the first people with his back to the wall to be shot if subjected to Nazism. How could sports idol Herschel Walker believe in Republicanism, knowing leaders of this party openly express racist intentions? Perhaps it is because they are both Christian. 

Hispanics may reflect this danger more than other groups. People, liberals included, make the mistake of seeing Hispanic voters as representative of immigration issues: a bias that precludes the diversity of interests, issues, and goals of these voters, many of whom reside legally in the US and might have less concern for immigration. This diversity of interests beyond immigration and the fact that Hispanics, 43% of adults identify as Catholic explains perfectly their increased numbers in  the Republican party. Though this number is declining rapidly, (from 67% in 2010), this population is at-risk for becoming ChristoGOPs, despite the party’s open embracement of theories like The Great Replacement, which claim that whites are being replaced by minorities such as Blacks and Hispanics. 

Sadly, it doesn’t matter whether you are Jewish, Black, or Hispanic because regardless of race or ethnicity, sharing an Abrahamic brand seems to make one capable of holding many values that can make a person fascist, including elitism, racism, greed, and the willful ignorance to believe they are none of these things while voting for an obviously Christian party that espouses and codifies these ideals. Perhaps lower taxes, banning abortion, or purity culture garners their vote – who knows? Clearly though, convincing themselves of sharing the same goals and believing these ChristoGOPs are not so bad – lacks difficulty. If you are willing to believe a three-thousand-year-old book that claims an entity made the world in days and put men in charge of women because they have penises, well, you will believe anything. Hell, if just raised in this Christian worldview, you cannot help but succumb to the broader norms and mores that infect everyone with this irrational thinking. Nothing proves that point more than the atheist ChristoGOP.  

The atheist ChristoGOPs somehow warp perspective around the Christian fervor and nonsense, perhaps thinking these Republicans have some great trickle-down economics that either benefits them or provides the long shot hope of one day receiving dollars overflowing the Elon Musks and Donald Trumps’ cups – because they received tax breaks. If anything, these atheists prove that lack of belief in God does nothing to cleanse a person of the Christian Pollution that environs everyone in the US with uncontrolled capitalism, poor judgement, and lack of empathy – even for themselves. 

Race, ethnicity, and even lack of religion or deity does not protect one from joining an openly racist, corrupt, and authoritarian party. That alone proves them ChristoGOPs and says everything about them as people.  

THE HITLER DILEMMA: IS ASSASSINATION RIGHT FOR YOU? 

TO ASSASSINATE OR NOT TO, THAT IS THE QUESTION 

As a child, I grew-up imagining myself as a possible savior of the world, or at least of the 70 million lives lost in WW2 thanks to that evil Hitler guy. My fantasy centered on shooting Adolf Hitler in the head. By the time I was 7 or 8, I knew enough about Adolf to consider that if I’d had a chance to shoot him in the head early enough, like before he found his way to power, it would have been a good thing to do. You know, like being kind to strangers in need and shit like that.

I was born in 1947, just a couple years after Hitler had killed himself. I grew-up in an era where Life Magazine had large, illustrated coffee table books filled with lots of action shots including ones of naked Jewish women being herded into gas chamber “showers” by smiling Nazi SS psychopaths, then shuffled quickly into crematorium ovens that looked like the ones used for pizza cooking. Those books also had lots of pics of battlefield dead and bombs blowing-up and body parts of the war dead lying around.

The assassination of Adolf Hitler seemed completely reasonable given that we missed the chance to abort him before he was even born, like an unwanted pregnancy in Texas these days. If you think about it, killing someone responsible for 70 million deaths, (6 million of those simply being exterminated because they were members of an ethnic or religious or supposed racial group) seemed then, and still seems now to me, a pretty reasonable proposition.

A percentage of the Jan 6th insurrectionists felt this way about V.P. Mike Pence for his “crime” of not supporting Trump’s lies about the 2020 election. There is little doubt in my mind that the Proud Boys and 3 percenter types at the insurrection of Jan 6th, would have strung-up Pence if they’d been able to get their hands on him. The only difference between me and them is that I’m right about who is evil and deserves to die, that they are wrong about it. 

Striping away subtlety and nuance and getting down to the nitty-gritty of all of this; I propose that we are a violet species, capable of terrible atrocities and of stopping such atrocities only by committing them ourselves.