Roy Moore, The NFL And Vladimir Putin

The resounding victory earlier this week by the lawless bigot, former Alabama supreme court justice, Roy Moore, once again highlights the fundamental reality of today’s America. Alabama has nominated a theofascist who brazenly defies the rule of law, couched in a deep disdain for the separation of church and state and a profound hatred of everyone who is not a white male Christian as radical as himself. He hasn’t won the general election yet, and may actually not, but if he does he should be shunned by the Senate. Normalizing him in the clubby Senate would be a slap in the face of 80% of the population, and considering that nations have invalidated elections that elevated to power people whose primary goal was undermining democratic government, we should consider doing the same for the rogue Confederate state of Alabama.

In a sign of Mr. Moore’s vulnerability, a memo described him as off-putting to “business-oriented Republicans ,” who “recoil at Moore’s grandstanding.”

Let me be blunt - the rise of Roy Moore is simply the consequence of the party’s courting of racists in the late 60s and 70s, and religious fundamentalists in the 70s and 80s. With the retirement and passing of the moderate and liberal Republicans of the postwar era, all that’s left other than theocrats and federal anarchists are Wall Street types for whom greed is the sole motivating factor.

Libertarians and fiscal conservatives, as well as hawkish neocons, who’ve joined in because they’ve grown to despise “librals,” are enablers, and now are cast adrift as “nevertrumpers” whose last redoubt is standing on principle and making common cause with Democrats . There is a massive political realignment occurring - I can only hope we manage to rescue the constitutional republic before the bottom falls out.

There’s much evidence that Putin is behind the secessionist movements in Europe and the US - Catalonia and California , for example. One secession effort he’s not supporting is that of the Confederacy, because it has always been the toxin preventing the development of a thriving United States based on freedom and equality, rather than bigotry. Even a poisoned United States was able to stand up against the Soviet Union, but imagine what a united, diverse country which lived its principles could do for world peace and prosperity. Disunion - the removal of the red states of the Confederacy would disenfranchise the Sessions and Moores of the country, and allow them to govern themselves in their own state while the rest of us would finally be freed from their anti-American values and contemporary, as well as 19th century, treason.

One of the few positive consequences of the Russian coup last November was the growing recognition by many previously apathetic Americans of the deep hold racism has on them as well as on many of this society’s institutions. The failure of the Liar-in-Chief’s latest attempt last weekend to divide the nation on racial lines with his continuous attacks on the NFL (and supported by Russian bots ) are evidence of the fundamental nature of his campaign and rule – to foment chaos and division in this country, most likely under orders from President Putin.

In private, the president and his top aides freely admit that he is engaged in a culture war on behalf of his white, working-class base, a New York billionaire waging war against “politically correct” coastal elites on behalf of his supporters in the South and in the Midwest. He believes the war was foisted upon him by former President Barack Obama and other Democrats — and he is determined to win, current and former aides said .

The analyst, David Corn, said :

Time to consider this proposition: GOP base voters are a danger to the nation. They are electing erratic extremists.

We see a growing chorus of athletes, celebrities, commentators and ordinary people willing to call the New York organized crime boss a racist, a liar and a traitor. Some have said that if he can call football players “sons of bitches,” then they can return the compliment. Yes, it degrades the national discourse, but the inability of this country to honestly and candidly discuss racism and the legacy of slavery has held us back. Part of that was allowing Alabama and its sister Confederate states to be readmitted to the Union without profoundly changing their culture. For the past 150 years the United States has been gravely limited by the reactionary behavior of those Confederate states, and the promotion of their culture of the “Lost Cause.”

We are at grave risk, with Republican leadership committed to allowing hundreds of thousands to die for lack of medical care, and finding themselves unable to condemn their illegitimate president because of their own ties to Russian oligarchs. This is the goal of Vladimir Putin, and trump is following the agenda very clearly. Always divide, never unite. Lie repeatedly, to the point people get completely fatigued and no longer care.

Fortunately, there are Republicans who recognize the threat. Rick Wilson, who coined the phrase, “Everything trump touches dies.” Or Steven Schmidt, former McCain campaign manager, who recently said on MSNBC on September 27th:

100% of the people around Trump lie about Russia 100% of the time. Not 90% of the time. Not 99% of the time. 100% of the time. And I believe this will turn out to be one of the biggest scandals in American history.

Senator Bob Corker, a so-called moderate Republican (it doesn’t take much to be called a moderate in the reactionary caucus these days), announced his retirement on Tuesday, hinting that his most important work will be during the final 15 months of his tenure. My sources tell me that he was referring to taking a leading role in impeachment, perhaps becoming the first Republican to call for the impeachment and conviction of the illegitimate president. Considering that former DNI James Clapper last week called this an illegitimate presidency, it’s not surprising that those in the know in Congress are becoming more aware of the counterespionage and criminal investigations as news of the Mueller team’s actions becomes increasingly public.

Let’s hope the denouement comes soon.