White Supremacists

By Joyce Dalsheim, University of North Carolina – Charlotte; and Gregory Starret, University of North Carolina – Charlotte | – (The Conversation) – When they entered the Senate chamber on Jan. 6, 2021, a group of insurgents stopped and bowed their heads in prayer to consecrate the building and their cause to Jesus. When the […]

Constitution

Hollow Men: The Blowhards of Jan. 6 were Yellow-Bellied Cowards

Juan Cole

Reprinted in commemoration of Brian Sicknick and other victims of the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection. Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The damning Jan. 6 public hearings revealed a plethora of historical detail, but they also shed light on character. Some of these revelations were profiles in pusillanimity. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO), one of the slimiest […]

Christianity

A Pastor Comes to Terms with the Church’s Idols of Trump, Money and Power

Minnesota Reformer

By Rev. Angela Denker | – Book excerpt: A pastor comes to terms with the Church’s idols of Trump, money and power Red State Christians: A Journey into White Christian Nationalism and the Wreckage it leaves behind,” available everywhere books are sold. ( Minnesota Reformer ) – On Sunday, January 10, 2021, I woke up […]

Algeria

Why Algeria’s Coup and Civil War Should Alarm Americans about Trumpism, Whether he is Convicted or Not

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Donald Trump’s attempted coup on Jan. 6, for which he has now been referred to the Department of Justice on sedition and other charges by the January 6 Committee of the House, evoked in me a powerful feeling of déjà vu. It reminded me of Algeria 1991. Algeria had been […]

Donald Trump

Suspected of Sedition, Trump Joins Rogues’ Gallery of Aaron Burr and Jefferson Davis

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Ali Vitali, Kate Santaliz and Haley Talbot at NBC News report that the January 6 Committee of the House of Representatives met Sunday to finalize their recommendation, to be announced today, that they will refer Donald J. Trump to the Department of Justice on three charges: “obstructing an official proceeding, […]

Donald Trump

Forget the Deplorables and Focus on the Persuadables: The Code behind the Far Right’s Success

John Feffer

( Tomdispatch.com) – Arizona is ground zero for the wackiest theories and craziest political candidates. Exhibit A: Kari Lake, the Republican who ran for governor in the recent midterm elections. Though she lost in November, she’s still campaigning — on social media, in the courts, and in her own beclouded imagination. She refuses to accept […]

Far Right

Oath Keepers Convictions shed Light on the Limits of free Speech – and the Threat posed by Militias

The Conversation

By Amy Cooter, Middlebury Institute of International Studies | – The verdicts in a high-profile, monthslong trial of Oath Keepers militia members were, as one defense lawyer acknowledged, “a mixed bag.” Leader Stewart Rhodes was found guilty on Nov. 29, 2022, of the most serious charge – seditious conspiracy – for his role in the […]

Constitution

It isn’t Enough that Oath Keepers were Convicted of Seditious Conspiracy: Trump must be, Too

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Ryan Lucas and Carrie Johnson at NPR report that on Tuesday, a jury convicted five leaders of the fascist Oath Keepers militia of “obstructing an official proceeding” by being involved in the invasion of the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in an attempt to keep Congress from certifying the election […]

Donald Trump

The MAGAfication of America: The White Nationalist Coup isn’t Over

Tomdispatch

By Clarence Lusane | – ( Tomdispatch.com) – Just in case you didn’t notice, authoritarianism was on the ballot in the 2022 midterm elections. An unprecedented majority of candidates from one of the nation’s two major political parties were committed to undemocratic policies and outcomes. You would have to go back to the Democratic Party-dominated […]