They don’t play well together

 Autocrats.  They are domineering authoritarian threatening violent bullies.  And they have put their autocratic leader, the orange blob, into the White House come January 20, 2025. But, how is it going for them?

Well, it turns out there seem to be three brands of authoritarian autocrats who put their autocratic leader blob on the top of the heap - oligarchs, theocrats, and nativists. And they are not built to play well together. 

Oligarch autocrat Elon Musk wants smart technocratic immigrants to come to America so he, and the techno oligarchs, can pay them below what they would have to pay American techno geeks. Plus the imports would be trapped in the company they work for or be deported if they leave, as I understand it. 

Oops!  The nativist autocrats are murderously furious. These extremists want NO immigrants, especially immigrants that replace White American workers. So, war…

When do the theocratic autocrats go to war with another autocratic extremist wing?  What will be the trigger?

What is the orange king to do?  Pick sides? Waffle?  Punish?  One thing we know he is incapable of is diplomacy, negotiation, compromise.  

Could be amusing to watch. Or the fallout could be terrible for the rest of us? Violence is part of the air they breathe. 

Well, this is what Americans voted for, but I think many will be surprised at the results. 

Musk proudly declares his white supremacy

 Elon Musk, America’s richest man, raised in racist Apartheid South Africa, has just proudly declared his Nazi self:

“Elon Musk claims ‘only AfD can save Germany’…

AfD is Germany’s neo-Nazi party. The world does not need a rise of German Nazis. Nor the rise of American Nazis. 

What else does white supremacist Musk want? He is giving England’s right wing extremist xenophobic Nigel Farage… $100 million!  

His takeover of Twitter has clearly been for the purpose of spreading extremist right wing lies and anti-Semitic attacks, designed to have him take over the MAGA autocracy. 

MAGA just keeps going lower and lower. 

The shakedowns begin

 Welcome to Mob Boss America.  Trump just shook down ABC News for $15 million.  He will claim this to be a proof of his innocence.  No, it is a proof of his corruption. 
 
From the article:
 
“Stephanopoulos said in the interview that Trump "has been found liable for rape by a jury." Trump, however, was found liable in a civil case for sexually abusing Carroll, not liable for alleged rape”

Interpretation - he raped her with his fingers, not his penis, so technically the statement was slightly misleading. The presiding judge had earlier clarified
 
 “…Mr. Trump ‘raped’ her as many people commonly understand the word ‘rape,’ ” Kaplan wrote.
 
ABC could easily have simply defended their journalist with the claim that the distinction between finger rape and penis rape was no real distinction at all, that she had been forcibly penetrated against her will which is commonly understood to be a violent sexual rape.  And they could have negotiated some settlement like paying for Trump’s legal fees.
 
But ABC did something very different, they Obeyed in Advance, which is to say they submitted to the autocrat ahead of time.  Was it to preclude long legal fees?  Was it to get the difficulty behind them and move forward?  These will be the public rationales, I suppose, but that is not what it really is, it seems to me.
What it really is the victim of a shakedown making a payoff to the Mob Boss – the Mob Boss says, you know it would really be a shame if you had to go through a bunch of pain and suffering that I would inflict upon you when you don’t have to…just give me $15,000,000 and we’ll call it even – OK little bitty subservient victim?  And the little bitty subservient victim says OK Boss, whatever you say boss, is this enough boss?
 
Let the shakedowns continue.
 
And we see the real purpose of the orange one’s “presidency” -$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
 
And, of course, the purpose is vengeance.  Make them all grovel. Make them all sorry.  I just saw the brilliant portrayal of “The Penguin” string Collin Farrell - a good example of a tiny man who makes himself feel big by hurting others and making them grovel.  Sick…

Run for your stinking life, Assad…

 Anne Applebaum is always a mandatory read, for me. Is Syria a precursor of other authoritarian tyrannies being overthrown? Is there an actual reason for hope? Even a fall of Putin? From her article:

“Then, after a well-organized, highly motivated set of armed opponents took the city of Aleppo on November 29, many of the regime’s defenders abruptly stopped fighting. Assad vanished. The scenes that followed today in Damascus—the toppling of statues, the people taking selfies at the dictator’s palace—are the same ones that will unfold in Caracas, Tehran, or Moscow on the day the soldiers of those regimes lose their faith in the leadership, and the public loses their fear of those soldiers too”. … 

Russia has deliberately backed or created regimes that have not merely sought to repress opponents but have also gone out of their way to demonstrate flagrant disregard for human rights and the rule of law, ideas that Putin claims belong to the past. When Putin talks about a new world order or a “multipolar world,” as he did again last month, this is what he means: He wants to build a world in which his cruelty cannot be limited, in which he and his fellow dictators enjoy impunity, and in which no universal values exist, not even as aspirations. …. 

Nevertheless, the end of the Assad regime creates something new, and not only in Syria. There is nothing worse than hopelessness, nothing more soul-destroying than pessimism, grief, and despair. The fall of a Russian- and Iranian-backed regime offers, suddenly, the possibility of change. The future might be different. And that possibility will inspire hope all around the world”

Autocracy is violence, force, domination, fear. But once the tyrant no longer looks invincible, once the enforcers discover that they themselves are being harmed by the brute on top, bye bye tyrant…run for your stinking life. 

He thinks he’s King Henry VIII

 Once again, Trump threatens prison for Liz Cheney, unconstitutional and a lie. Liz responds with the truth....

"This morning, President-elect Trump again lied about the January 6th Select Committee, and said members of the Committee 'should go to jail' for carrying out our constitutional responsibilities. Here is the truth: Donald Trump attempted to overturn the 2020 presidential election and seize power. He mobilized an angry mob and sent them to the United States Capitol, where they attacked police officers, invaded the building, and halted the official counting of electoral votes. Trump watched on television as police officers were brutally beaten and the Capitol was assaulted, refusing for hours to tell the mob to leave. This was the worst breach of our Constitution by any president in our nation’s history. Donald Trump’s suggestion that members of Congress who later investigated his illegal and unconstitutional actions should be jailed is a continuation of his assault on the rule of law and the foundations of our republic.

"Donald Trump knows his claims about the select committee are ridiculous and false, as has been detailed extensively, including by Chairman Thompson in this July 2023 letter.

“There is no conceivably appropriate factual or constitutional basis for what Donald Trump is suggesting – a Justice Department investigation of the work of a congressional committee – and any lawyer who attempts to pursue that course would quickly find themselves engaged in sanctionable conduct.

“What the public now deserves to see is the evidence and grand jury material assembled by Special Counsel Smith, including the grand jury testimony of Vice President Pence and members of Donald Trump’s former White House and campaign staff.

“The Justice Department should ensure that all that material is preserved and cannot be destroyed. As much of that information as possible should be disclosed in the Special Counsel’s upcoming report. Ultimately, Congress should require that all that material be publicly released so all Americans can see Donald Trump for who he genuinely is and fully understand his role in this terrible period in our nation’s history.'... 

Trump thinks he has been made king and can just "chop the heads off" whoever displeases him, like King Henry VIII. He can't, even though his MAGA thugs will try.  Screw this nitwit. 

Autocratic playbook

Just shining a light on what Trump and MAGA are planning, the standard autocratic playbook:

Get rid of an independent press. 

Get rid of an independent legal system. 

Get rid of an independent constitution. 

Get rid of an independent military. 

Get rid of independent political parties. 

Make billions and billions and billions of dollars. For you and for the oligarchy.

Did I mention make BILLION$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$?

But… I don’t expect America to just roll over and obey these thugs.  I am hoping the Trump election is the beginning of the end of right wing theocratic and oligarchic autocracy, not the beginning of autocratic rule.  I think a great American awakening is about to happen.  We said no to the slavery oligarchs.  We said no to the Jim Crow savagery.  We said no to the Joe McCarthy attempted extremist takeover.  It is taking time, but I trust America is going to say no to this band of extremist thugs as well .