Hartmann Report

America has a serious fascism problem, but it goes way beyond the kinds of authoritarianism displayed by people like Donald Trump. It goes deep, now, into the very structure of corporate America. There's been a lot of talk lately about fascism, generally in the context of Republicans denying people their right to vote or Donald Trump sending an armed mob to murder five people at the US Capitol to try to install him as America's first strongman dictator.

Nobody is asking the bigger question: "Why would a professional, lifelong politician and master tactician like Mitch McConnell make such a huge mistake?" Nobody's asking, "Why?" Just like he did with the Covid rescue bill a few months ago, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell just said that there will not be one single Republican vote in support of President Joe Biden's infrastructure plan.

Forty years of Reaganism and trickle-down economics have left America pockmarked with refugee camps and people hanging onto life by their fingernails. The award-winning movie Nomadland is every bit as brilliant as the reviews, but it's also, for this era, a hell of a wake-up call.

Right-wing "Redcoat/Redhat" terrorists have openly proclaimed their goal of Americans fighting Americans in an ideological and racist war against democracy itself. Former Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney being booed in his own home state raises an urgent question: Are the Redcoats back?

Factions have been America's biggest battle for 240 years, and if we don't fight hard now, we could lose the whole thing. This week, President Joe Biden proposed plans to put America back to work, get Americans back to health, and rebuild our nation in a way befitting the greatness of our ideals. He's also officially announced his support for voting rights and DC statehood. The right-wingers and two Democrats who oppose him claim that he's not representing the best interests of America, but instead is working for "Special Interests," something the Founders of this country referred to as "factions."

You'd have to be abnormal not to have Trump Derangement Syndrome right now Rudy Giuliani and his lawyers are suggesting that the reason a search warrant was issued for his premises and computers is "Trump Derangement Syndrome." Yeah. A lot of us are suffering from that. It's normal and predictable. Arguably, it's a sign of good mental health. It means your psychological alert and defense systems are actually working.

We can't solve our very real & serious issues if we don't confront them, and it's tragic that the GOP would use this national platform to once again deny America's most tragic reality. President Joe Biden, last night, gave one of the best presidential speeches and policy proposals of my lifetime. It rivals Jack Kennedy in 1961, and, if passed, will undo much of the damage of the Reagan Revolution of the past 40 years. In the Republican Party's rebuttal, without seriously addressing even one single specific proposal of President Biden, Senator Tim Scott, the sole Black Republican in that body, instead went out of his way to promote the GOP idea that, in his words, "America is not a racist nation."

Is Tucker Carlson Inciting Racist Police & “Karens” to Harm Minorities? Thom plus logo This latest stunt by Fox News and Tucker Carlson goes way beyond bad taste or a cruel prank. Its intention appears to be to terrify & harm the most powerless in our society. Bill O'Reilly spent months working to get Dr. George Tiller, calling him "Tiller the Baby Killer" 24 times on the air. His efforts finally succeeded when the abortion doctor was assassinated by a zealot in May of 2009. In terms of creating chaos, pain and human misery, Tucker Carlson appears to be following in O'Reilly's footsteps.

Republicans are channeling Joseph Stalin who once suggested, "It doesn't matter who votes; what matters is who counts the votes." Lore has it that Joe Stalin once said, "It doesn't matter who votes; what matters is who counts the votes." Republicans in Arizona are today engaged in an act of political treachery worthy of Stalin's quote. There's history here.

Republicans in state after state are loading cannons as you're reading this, and the very concept of democracy is the target. Will their scheme be completed by 2024? Americans thought January 6 was the peak of the effort to end democracy in America and replace it with strongman authoritarian rule. But January 6 was merely the tip of the iceberg. And it's not just about Donald Trump. This "iceberg" monster that threatens to sink the United States is about ending democracy altogether here and replacing it with a wealthy, white aristocratic oligarchy.