TWO CARTOONS: The Democrats' Blue MAGA And Rise Of The American Hive Mind

"The party that mocked Republicans for slamming Trump in private while backing him in public is now doing the same with its own leader."

Cartoons by Mark Taylor / DeMOCKracy.ink

We’re not going to vote our way out of either MAGA death cult. Time to break free of the two-party cult and do something radical: Be useful.

By Mark Taylor
DeMOCKracy.ink (7/16/24)

The above cartoon was done four years ago during the last presidential farce and is as fresh today as a tomato in the garden. The difference now is the usual dullard Democratic Party hive mind complacency has hardened into a doctrinaire cult of Blue MAGA that Stalin — or Jim Jones — would admire.

Make a passing statement about Joe Biden’s addled brain or immorality of his ZioNazi devotion to genocidal war crimes and the sneering Blue MAGA apparatchiks polish their long knives while exiling you from their blue-haired Facebook groups.

“Battle box’???!!!

Never mind, they demand, the obviousness of Biden’s cognitive collapse. While reading off a teleprompter this weekend about the Trump assassination attempt, Biden spoke of how violence cannot be part of our politics (never mind his support for genocide) and that we resolve our differences at the “battle box”, instead of the ballot box.

WTF?

As if that wasn’t bad enough, he repeated it. Again, while reading a prepared statement off a teleprompter. And to make it even more grotesque, of the half-dozen news programs I saw it on, only one mentioned it. The HuffPost actually lied and not only inserted “ballot box” but rewrote the comment. But, in fairness, keeping up with the daily dribble of Biden’s boiled brain would take an entire newsroom. Hell, an entire network.

The latest Blue MAGA defense of Biden’s oblivious brain is that to express any doubt about his candidacy, policies or wellbeing of the nation under his befuddled rule is “ageist”, while at the same time Biden makes a whiny crotchety-old-man call to his favorite MSNBC show.

Journalist Chris Hedges has often written of how all collapsing empires fall into militarized demagogic cult thinking as people desperately attach themselves to leaders they hope can lead their country back to safety and sanity. As Hedges notes:

“Since the end of the Second World War, the federal government has spent more than half its tax dollars on past, current and future military operations. It is the largest single sustaining activity of the government.”

As the American collapse accelerates at home and abroad, the rise of demagogic cults is exactly what is happening now with both Blue and Red MAGA.

Brutal truth

Truth is, neither political gang cares a whit for the needs of the American people, economic fairness, justice for the people of Gaza, or — even — a livable planet. Neither give a cat turd for anyone outside the incestuous circle of the 1%. Instead, all we are offered is facile obedience to Blue or Red MAGA “Dear Leader” Joe or Donald. Two products — not leaders — of a culture in crisis and collapse.

We’re not going to vote our way out of either MAGA death cult. Time to break free of the two-party cult and do something radical: Be useful. Support labor organizers; boycott companies profiting off genocide; forge renter unions; join community mutual aid efforts; read up, learn, speak up and step away from the very forces working hard to kill us all.

Caitlin Johnstone’s Monday column gives a needed hard-reality wake-up to what we are facing:

There's An Important Lesson In All These Democrats Wishing Trump A Speedy Recovery

Resist the bastards.

We Need To Talk About The Cultish Turn Of The Democratic Party

Whatever happened to the importance of voicing dissent? Of speaking truth to power? Weren’t liberals supposed to be the folks who value open debate and discussion?

By Mehdi Hasan
The Guardian (7/15/24)

Is the Democratic party, the self-proclaimed party of liberal values and scientific data, morphing into a Maga-like cult in front of our eyes?

Over the past few weeks, the calls for Joe Biden to step aside have been met not with thoughtful critiques or reasoned counter-arguments but with furious accusations of treason, disloyalty, and betrayal.

Whatever happened to the importance of voicing dissent? Of speaking truth to power? Weren’t liberals supposed to be the folks who value open debate and discussion?

Writing for the Guardian, 15 years ago, the cult expert Rick Ross warned us to “watch out for the tell-tale signs” of a cult, including “no tolerance for questions or critical inquiry”, “there is no legitimate reason to leave”, “former followers are always wrong in leaving, negative or even evil”, and “the group/leader is always right”.

“Blue Anon” conspiracy theories

Anyone who has observed the behaviour of the Democratic party base, especially online; of elected Democrats on Capitol Hill; and of the Democratic president himself, since the CNN debate on 28 June, will have spotted some of those “tell-tale signs”.

Let’s start with the Democratic base – those “hyper-partisans” who “act like members of a cult because they treat their political party like a religious identity”, to quote the political strategist Chris Sosa. I have spent the past few weeks watching the Very Online members of the base embracing an endless stream of “Blue Anon” conspiracy theories, pushed on behalf of the Dear Leader.

Did Biden deliver a car-crash debate performance live on CNN or … did CNN’s “carefully considered FRAMING & LIGHTING design” make Biden look older and paler than he was, as one viral tweet (bizarrely) claimed? Did the president struggle to make sense in his ABC News interview with George Stephanopolous or … was it a result of ABC “destroying the sound quality in Biden’s interview to make him sound bad”, as another viral tweet (ridiculously) put it? Did the presumptive Democratic nominee take a clear hit in almost every post-debate poll or … was it actually the case that “President Biden’s poll numbers skyrocketed in swing states and CNN’s ratings plummeted”, as yet another viral tweet (falsely) declared?

Conspiracy theories aside, these “hyper-partisans” have loudly railed against members of the press, with op-ed writers who question Biden dubbed “seditionists”; with demands to keep journalists who are deemed to be even vaguely anti-Biden “off air”; with campaigns to cancel media subscriptions in response to criticisms of Biden. (My own media company Zeteo has lost a bunch of paid subscribers since I wrote my last column for the Guardian: one demanded a “refund” because I asked Biden to step aside for Kamala Harris, while another told me to “support Biden or GTFO”.)

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“I wish I was more brave,” NBC News quoted one anonymous Democratic state party chair as saying. “I would be crucified by them if I spoke out of line.” This person spoke on the condition of anonymity, according to NBC, “because they fear retaliation from the president’s camp”.

Again, sound familiar?

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Last week, my former MSNBC colleague Jen Psaki hosted a discussion with the Pod Save America co-host Jon Favreau, on Biden’s travails, and her show’s Twitter account advertised the interview in advance. The response? A torrent of anger, abuse, and attacks in the replies: “weak propagandist”, “JFC she is one of them”, “hard pass + unfollow”, “hell no”, “Eewwwwwwww”.

If neither Psaki nor Favreau – respectively, President Biden’s former White House press secretary and President Obama’s former speechwriter – is now considered a kosher Democrat, then who is? If attacking them for disloyalty isn’t evidence of cult-like behavior, then what is?

Then there are the party’s elected representatives, who are busy marching in lockstep with the White House in public, while losing their shit in private. “On Capitol Hill, Democrats panic about Biden but do nothing,” read the headline in the New York Times.

Sound familiar?

Quiet cowardice

The party that mocked Republicans for slamming Trump in private while backing him in public is now doing the same with its own leader. At the time of writing, only about 20 congressional Democrats have called for Biden to step aside and yet reporting from the New York Times, the Washington Post, CNN, MSNBC and more, suggest dozens more are saying the same behind closed doors. Most elected Democrats believe Biden will struggle to win against Trump in November, noted Politico’s Rachael Bade last week, “even if they don’t say it on record”.

And what’s one of the main reasons why they won’t say it on the record? Because they’re afraid. That’s not my opinion – it’s theirs. “I wish I was more brave,” NBC News quoted one anonymous Democratic state party chair as saying. “I would be crucified by them if I spoke out of line.” This person spoke on the condition of anonymity, according to NBC, “because they fear retaliation from the president’s camp”.

Again, sound familiar?

So let’s talk about the Democratic president in the White House, who is fast becoming an unlikely and unexpected cult leader. And yet, do you remember Trump’s infamous declaration that “I alone can fix it”? Here’s Biden, in his interview with Stephanopolous:

“And who’s gonna be able to hold Nato together like me? Who’s gonna be able to be in a position where I’m able to keep the Pacific Basin in a position where we’re – we’re at least checkmating China now? Who’s gonna – who’s gonna do that?”

Do you remember how Trump obsessed over the size of his crowds, both at campaign rallies and at his inauguration? Here’s Biden, responding to a question from Stephanopolous on how he plans to “turn the campaign around”:

“You saw it today. How many – how many people draw crowds like I did today? Find me more enthusiastic than today? Huh?”

Blue MAGA

I could go on and on. When Biden pretends the polls are all wrong; attacks members of the press at a campaign rally; and calls into a morning show to mock the “elites”… who does he sound like? When members of the Biden campaign decide to accuse their critics of “bed-wetting”, deride a group of “self-important” liberal podcasters, and pick a fight with a Hollywood star … which campaign do they sound like?

Consider this paragraph from the New York Times on Friday, referring to a Biden campaign event in Detroit which had the “flavor of a Trump rally at times”:

“When Mr Biden referred to his political opponent, there were chants of ‘Lock him up’ – which the president did not discourage. When he criticized news media coverage, big cheers followed, with his supporters turning to boo and point fingers at reporters.”

How does this not sound like “Blue Maga”? …

Read the rest

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Democrats Throwing In The Towel?

The Young Turks (7/14/24)

15-minute video