Vichy Democrats
"You might as well question why we breathe. If we stop breathing, we'll die. If we stop fighting our enemies, the world will die."
“How about if I sleep a little longer and forget all this nonsense.”
Franz Kafka
I was today year’s old when I learned that the term Vichy Dems was coined by the amazing Sarah Kendzior almost half a decade ago.
While most of the world was in some way paying attention to the coronation of the Dear Leader err President Trump, I decided to calm my nerves by cooking.
By all accounts my borscht is the best yet.
Apparently, while I was performing wizardry in the half-demolished kitchen lacking most any utensils or tools, a new viral debate on whether it was a Nazi salute has spread far and wide. MAGA explanations of Elon’s “gesture” ranged from it’s an expression of autism to this is a brand new way to demonstrate that your heart goes out to others to Musk is student of archaic Roman military salutes.
It took me less than 5 seconds watching of the very first video to know what I have known for quite a while. Yes, Elon is a Nazi, today was his proverbial coming out of the closet.
Apparently the ADL, the Anti-Defamation League, feels that this is a delicate moment.
There is nothing delicate in this moment. The richest man in the world who ostensibly funded a fascist take over of one country and working on at least two others, who just a few days ago openly promoted an actual Nazi party in Germany, the AfD, is in fact a Nazi. New York University Professor of History, Ruth Ben-Ghiat, an expert in the history of fascism, confirms Musk did a Nazi salute: “Historian of fascism here. It was a Nazi salute and a very belligerent one too.”
The coronation took place in front of a politburo-like line of oligarchs and a slew of foreign leaders, mostly of the autocratic type, of course. It was small and glorious.
This picture from the coronation should have immediately been used by the anti-fascist opposition party to very clearly portray the deep ties between the techno-fascist oligarchy and the Christo-fascist government. Unfortunately, the Democrats, who should be the anti-fascist opposition party, are fighting fascism through a bold new strategy called “appeasement.”
Yeah. If you know history, you know how that strategy works with fascists.
The other day Democratic Minority Leader Schumer challenged Trump to address the cost of living for Americans, saying that if he did so, Democrats would back renaming the Gulf of Mexico. Schumer, I am certain is keenly aware that Trump does not give two shits about the cost of living and even if he did, even if he was willing to somehow address the issue while also cutting trillions in taxes for the wealthy, why give him a bullshit propaganda victory for renaming the Gulf of Mexico?
Schumer is not the only glaring example. Many elected and at times prominent Democrats are normalizing and legitimizing Musk’s sham DOGE. Some go further and praise it! It does not matter whether they think it’s a savvy political move that will give them anti-swamp creed or whether they still think that there is a mystical genius at work. In the end, if Must had any self-respect or any social awareness, he’d capitalize on this.
Instead he is Seig Heiling.
Rep. Jared Golden, Democrat from Maine, says Trump's tariffs may not go far enough — and he's not worried if the price of avocados soars. "“Avocados are nice, right? They have some omegas in them? But do we need to eat avocados? Do we need to eat them year-round?
House Democrats, well roughly 50 of them, have been on a proverbial roll, recently.
45 Democrats in this House joined the fascists to sanction the International Criminal Court for having the audacity to indict and charge Netanyahu with crimes.
A federal transgender sports ban was voted on Tuesday in the House. Sources tell EITM that the vote on a Senate filibuster is expected to be "close," with some Dems capitulating. The ban could apply to dancing, darts, and even chess. 2 Democrats voted for the ban in the House.
I cheekily asked if the the Venn diagram of the 45 Democrats who voted to sanction ICC and the 48 who voted for Laken Riley (we’ll get back to it) act would be a circle.
Well, for a couple of dozen, yes, absolutely. Meet your resistance heroes:
Figures - Alabama
Gray - California
Levin - California
Moskowitz - Florida
McBath - Georgia
Golden - Maine
McClain Delaney - Maryland
Craig - Minnesota
Horsford - Nevada
Lee - Nevada
Davis - NC
Pappas - NH
Gottheimer - NJ
Gillen - NY
Riley - NY
Suozzi - NY
Torres - NY
Landsman - Ohio
Sykes - Ohio
Cuellar - Texas
Gonzalez, V - Texas
Subramanyam - Virginia
Perez - Washington
Schrier - Washington
Wow!
There are dozens of Democrats eagerly ready to cave on blatant discrimination a week into the term?
Perhaps the Senate is better. We’ll see the principled liberals defend well, democracy.
Oh, right, I forgot.
They are just going to lay down and let fascism happen, aren’t they?
The following Democratic Senators are expected to vote for the Laken Riley act:
Cortez Masto, Nevada
Fetterman, Pennsylvania
Gallego, Arizona
Hassan, New Hampshire
Kelly, Arizona
Ossoff, Georgia
Peters, Michigan
Rosen, Nevada
Shaheen, New Hampshire
Slotkin, Michigan
Warner, Virginia
Some of the names on these lists are not surprising at all, like Fetterman, Torres, Moskovitz.
The vast majority of the rest are silent.
Bloody Vichy 2.0.
As horrific as the transgender ban is, as ridiculous as sanctioning of ICC was, the Senators, and the large chunk of House Democrats voting for the Laken Riley act is infinitely worse.
Senator Raphael Warnock deserves real credit here. He represents Georgia, but he voted against cloture despite facing reelection. Unlike other Democrats, Warnock appears to believe that he will be able to stand by his principles and win the reelection.
For context, the bill was believed to do two things:
Strips ICE of discretion to release certain undocumented immigrants who are taken into immigration custody if they've ever been arrested for a theft offense or assaulting the police. If passed by the Senate in its current form and signed into law, the Laken Riley Act would result in detention by ICE of immigrants charged—not convicted—with misdemeanor shoplifting. It would mean open season for law enforcement targeting people even suspected of being undocumented immigrants,
Allows State Attorney Generals to sue to block visas.
While Senator Britt inaccurately says the law makes relatively modest changes, ICE itself is telling Congress that the bill would cost over $25 billion and would be "impossible to execute."
Why do Democrats vote for fascist bullshit like the Laken Riley act?
The kicker?
It turns out the Laken Riley act has another well hidden agenda. Republicans didn't intend this, but it turns out the Laken Riley act gives Steve Bannon, the Real Rock-n-Rolla, a big weapon against Elon Musk and the techno-fascist oligarchs, The provision enables Bannon to leverage MAGA State Attorney Generals to block H1B visas.
The Laken Riley act is a travesty.
Elon and his ilk are literal Nazis.
Yet, the whole Democratic party isn't committed to opposing the fascism.
We are the only ones who can save ourselves.
We are the only one who can oppose fascism.
We are the only one who can still give hope for a better future.
Organize.
Resist.
Never surrender.
“For if there is a sin against life, it consists perhaps not so much in despairing of life as in hoping for another life and in eluding the implacable grandeur of this life.”
Albert Camus