Where Are We Now?
(Photo-- Austrian Anschluss referendum banner, "The same blood belongs in a common Reich)
On April 10, 1938, the Anschluss plebiscite in Austria occurred under circumstances of Nazi Germany having moved in and militarily occupied Austria a month before. The Final vote count for the referendum was 99.71 in favor of Anschluss. Nazi Goon Squads were present at every polling location, conducting voter intimidation, suppression, and violence. That is the general direction of where we are headed, as an analogous historical reference point. *
Political violence is their main weapon, and legislation their "fig leaf" for making it appear legal. As bad as the GOP/ALEC campaigns for election fraud are, with states passing vote cancelation legislation, most of us are trying to wish away the fact that Trump's current campaign activity is in actuality building a nationwide private Army of violent and heavily armed paramilitaries, who are planning a wave of terror against their opposition.
Trump's speech in Arizona was an open call for race war and civil war. Because the White House Centrist advisers to the President "deprioritized" voting rights to deal with covid, the stimulus and infrastructure, (because he was misadvised to pursue bipartisanship and unity with the fascist party of obstructionism and insurrection) The President was susceptible to this awful advice. He is still nostalgic for his old days in the Senate, the pre-Trump era in which he worked with the GOP leadership like McCain and Dole. There are no such Republicans remaining who have not been purged or broken. He actually believed he could work with McConnell and Manchin, both of whom are corrupt Corporate shills and egomaniacs.
I am in complete support of President Biden in terms of what he wishes to accomplish, but I also believe he was misled by Centrists in his own team. He is the only one who can fix this, using his full Presidential powers. A good start would be cleaning house, and resetting his own team.
*Political enemies (communists, socialists, etc.) and Austrian citizens of Roma or Jewish origin—roughly 360,000 people or 8% of the Austrian population—were not allowed to vote in the plebiscite.[5][6]
The ballots featured a large circle for 'yes' votes and a small one for 'no' votes. This was described as a nudge.[10] Several other claims were made that the vote was rigged.[11] The result was "... the outcome of opportunism, ideological conviction, massive pressure, occasional vote rigging and a propaganda machine that Austria's political culture had never before experienced."[12] The massive pressure to which people were exposed came from the fact that many were marking the ballot paper in front of the campaign workers in order not to be suspected of voting against the Anschluss.[13] The secrecy of the ballot was in practice non-existent.[14]
--Wikipedia
