History repeats itself?

 This was first published on this blog back in 2020 and is unfortunately even more relevant today with the news coming out of the U.S this week, Hang on to your hats folks!

“Earlier in his career the world had watched him with amusement, that people refused to take him seriously, and as one action after another met with amazing success, this amusement was transformed into incredulousness. It was inconceivable that such a thing could actually happen in our modern civilization. A madman had become the leader. Having classified him in this way you might think that all we need to do is to eliminate the madman from the scene of activities, replace him with a sane individual, and the world will again return to a normal and peaceful state of affairs. ….......

Focusing on the individual’s madness begs the question as to the sanity of society that created him as its spokesman and leader, that a reciprocal relationship exists between the leader and the people who spawned him. Removing such a leader is simply removing the overt manifestation of the disease. Focusing on the madman does not take us very far in understanding those who support him. “

The above is not a Psychological Analysis of Donald Trump but from a World War II report, “A Psychological Analysis of Adolf Hitler,” for the Office of Strategic Services of the United States Government as brought to my attention by a long dissection of the American mindset by blogger Canadian Dimension

I will not pretend to be a great scholar or for that matter consumed with our southern neighbors current cluster fk but one cannot help but be concerned with where the country just south of us is headed given our close proximity both physical and economically. I can only say that from what news reports that highlight Trumps past and present unrestrained verbiage the above clip from an article about a former dictator who started in an elected official and in a short time took over government and eliminated any who opposed him that the parallels are scary..

Given the constant removal of qualified individuals from influential government positions to be replaced with Trump supporters the parallels are so obvious and troubling that the American electorate had best be praying that this smooth talking self promoting liar is removed from power in short order. I wish the American people the best of luck getting him to actually hand over the reigns of power and not further destroy what little democracy left in their country by fighting the results in the courts for months and possibly years to come.

Enough said......

 

 

America, what have you done?
You chose fascism over democracy.
You chose hate over hope, oligarchs over experts, patriarchy over equality.
You chose repression, theocracy, violence.
You chose anger, lies, insults, threats.
You chose a felon over a prosecutor.
You chose a dictator over the rule of law.
You chose Putin and his puppet.
Why?

 https://ianchadwick.com/blog/america-what-have-you-done/

 

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Genocide by starvation?

Having just heard that Netanyahu has just outlawed UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency) the very last viable organization able to supply food the the thousands of displaced Palestinians already starving from the severe restrictions imposed by Israeli troops by destroying their homes and then blocking the daily convoys of trucks bringing food across the border.

I find it hard to believe that the Israeli citizens or indeed anyone world wide can support this genocide by starvation on top of the slaughter of thousands of innocent Gazan's, many of them women and children. There is little doubt that more than 70 years ago those of the Jewish faith were the subject of a far worse ethnic slaughter which makes it even more appalling that they should inflict an increasingly similar situation on others.

I despair for the peoples on both side of this conflict and indeed for the entire world as I watch the few in power in various nations across the world lead the rest of us into what could easily be the final conflict.

Born at the end of the last world war I am so glad that I near my final years and may not be around for the highly probable upcoming world wide conflict but fear for my children and indeed the future of all peoples of all ages and nations.

 

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Whats wrong with this picture...?

 State of Palestine Area
• Total
    6,020[9] km2 (2,320 sq mi)
• West Bank
    5,655 km2
• Gaza Strip
    365 km2
Population
• 2023 estimate 5,483,450

Gaza Strip/Area
Area: 141 sq mi (365 sq km). Population: (2024 est.) 2,229,000.
about 14,000 people per square mile (5,500 per square kilometer).

Israel Area
Area: 22,072 or 20,770 km2 (8,522 or 8,019 sq mi)
Population: 2024 estimate 9,900,000
The population density in Israel is 434 per Km2 (1,123 people per mi2).
It is unclear whats is and is not included in the above figures as per area and population.

As per Wikipedia
The sovereign territory of Israel excluding all territories captured by Israel during the 1967 Six-Day War is approximately 20,770 square kilometers (8,019 sq mi). The total area under Israeli law, including East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights, is 22,072 square kilometers (8,522 sq mi). The total area under Israeli control, including the military-controlled and partially Palestinian-governed territory of the West Bank, is 27,799 square kilometers (10,733 sq mi).

The Gaza–Israel conflict is a localized part of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict beginning in 1948, when 200,000 Palestinians fled or were expelled from their homes, settling in the Gaza Strip as refugees. Since then, Israel has been involved in about 15 wars involving organizations in the Gaza Strip. The number of Gazans reportedly killed in the ongoing 2023–2024 war (37,000) is higher than the death toll of all other wars of the Arab–Israeli conflict.

As of 23 September 2024, over 43,000 people (41,431 Palestinian and 1,706 Israeli) have been reported as killed in the Israel–Hamas war, including 116-134 journalists and media workers according to various sources including over 224 humanitarian aid workers.

Whats wrong with this picture, I wont get into the current escalation …...just asking!

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Political Lies and Fantasies

Trump is selling his followers a fantasy in which the only truth is what Trump says is the truth.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has a theory about this blizzard of lies. The Trump show, Sanders suggests, has shifted from mocking liberals and getting laughs with belittling nicknames for GOP rivals. The new Trump show features a magical guarantee of a Trump victory in November.  And Trump is warning his followers to ignore anyone who says he is losing.

“Clearly, and dangerously, what Trump is doing is laying the groundwork for rejecting the election results if he loses,” Sanders explains.

“If you can convince your supporters that thousands of people who attended a televised rally do not exist, it will not be hard to convince them that the election returns in Pennsylvania, Michigan, and elsewhere are ‘fake’ and ‘fraudulent'............

I recently celebrated my 70th birthday with my family on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. If in this column, I declared that tens of thousands of people were at my birthday party and that rainbow-colored dolphins joined the festivities, my editor would no longer let me write this column.

Why is a 78-year-old presidential candidate held to a different and lower standard than a 70-year-old ink-stained newspaperman?

Juan Williams is an author and a political analyst for Fox News Channel.

https://thehill.com/opinion/columnists/juan-williams/4831657-trump-lies-dangerous-political-show/

Beware of this affliction spreading north of the border, it appears to be spreading rapidly in certain political circles both here on Ontario and across Canada.

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