As the countdown continues with the transfer of power from President Trump to President-elect Joe Biden, the world is on edge.
Rumours continue to circulate that President Trump will launch an attack on Iran during the dying days of his presidency. Even worse is the unthinkable but very real risk he will push the nuclear button. In this regard, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has recently been in discussions with those at the very top of the US military to ensure this won’t happen.
Even if we make it to January 20, when President-elect Biden will be sworn in, without an attack on Iran or Trump using nuclear weapons, there remains the very real threat of extreme Trump-inspired violence within the US itself.
We all watched in horror last Wednesday, January 6. Before the all-out attack, a terrifying collection of up to 30,000 far-right extremists, neo-Nazis, white supremacists and other deluded and dangerous elements of American society gathered for the so-called “Save America” rally a mile and a half away from where members of Congress were ensconced in the Capitol Building.
Sprinkled amongst them were also supporters of QAnon, the bizarre extremist group that believes a cabal of cannibalistic Satan worshippers is trafficking children for sex worldwide and plotting against Trump. (I’m not making up this stuff.) Then there were the confused, ordinary people who genuinely believe that the election was stolen from Trump after listening to all his lies.
At the rally Trump did his best to incite this angry mob. While he was insidiously careful never to direct them explicitly to engage in violence, his words left no doubt whatsoever as to what he was urging them to do. We all know the result — the most serious, violent attack on the real and symbolic foundations of American democracy since the War of 1812.
Make no mistake. This was no one-off.
It follows the recent plot by 13 extremists to kidnap and execute Michigan’s governor, Gretchen Whitmer, because of her response to the coronavirus, as well as the invasion of US state legislatures by armed militants. And the extremist conversation is just getting louder. The Intercept reports that terrorism experts are actively tracking the militant boogaloo movement as it pushes for civil war in America.
Those who fail to see a pattern here do so at their great peril.
Perhaps I’m being overly cautious, but we must not forget how both Adolph Hitler and Benito Mussolini came to power. Initially, both of these fascists were democratically elected but, once in office, they went on to subvert the safeguards in their democratic societies and do away with elections so they could remain totalitarian leaders. From my perspective, this is clearly the objective of these numerous far-right, white-power extremists with Trump as their leader.
After the inauguration January 20 the people who were part of this mob, including the domestic terrorists, won’t just disappear. And don’t think for a minute we are immune here in Canada.
Just the other day disturbing posters celebrating the white supremacist shooter who shot and killed demonstrators at a Black Lives Matter protest in Wisconsin were found and removed from Vancouver’s seawall.
Let’s also not forget that the founder of the extremist hate group Proud Boys — now being considered by federal authorities for addition to the list of terrorist groups — is Canadian. This despicable misogynistic, racist group has a strong presence in Canada, too, with chapters across the country, including Toronto, Montreal, Edmonton and Calgary.
I hope I’m wrong but I foresee things getting much worse than what we saw last Wednesday. The FBI has issued a statement warning of the potential of real violence in all 50 state capitals aimed at government institutions, buildings and monuments representing democracy — courthouses, capitol buildings and more.
Against this backdrop, here in Vancouver the venerable NPA has been invaded by people of the same ilk as those now attempting to thwart democracy in the US. These people have managed to secure numerous seats on the NPA board of directors, and they are on the verge of capturing the party. (See my two previous blogs here and here that outline this dangerous new NPA direction.)
Historians are unanimous in their conclusion that both Hitler and Mussolini were only able to destroy democracy and fulfill their horrendous objectives because of the apathy and inaction of the people living in their respective nations — ordinary, everyday citizens who did not realize where it was all heading until it was too late.
Let’s not make the same mistake.
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Daily atmospheric CO2 [Courtesy of CO2.Earth]
Latest daily total (Jan. 12, 2021): 414.81 ppm
One year ago (Jan. 12, 2020): 413.07 ppm
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