Trump Election Win.

 

In response to the Trump election win in the US I posted the following entry on my FB page:

With the accession to the US throne of D J Trump it seems we are passing into the era of Godfather rule and the rule of the "unwoke". Given Trump's large evangelical following I'm reminded of 1 Samuel 8:7-18 with its clear warnings about this kind of government. Let's hope & pray that it turns out to be lot less autocratic than it looks

Somebody commented that Trump at least had some policies whereas Kamala Harris didn't have much on offer. My reply was that comparative policies wasn't the issue....

I can't comment on policies, good or bad, Democratic or Republican myself; their evaluation is notoriously difficult. I was swayed by the anti-democracy argument: Trump, the arguably narcistic sociopath isn't in it for policy but for power. Policy for him is just a shop front, or a road to power. The only policy he knows is "Trump"! We've seen this sort of thing in history before where a semblance of democratic constitution gets dismantled by a demagogue...Julius Caesar, Hitler, Putin etc. Even worse who is the would-be dictator who is going to follow showman Trump? Buckle up, we could be in for quite a ride when project 2025 gets into gear! Kamala may (or may not) have been a bad policy maker, but that doesn't figure in my broader thinking. Trump is a cuckoo in the nest of Republicanism, a pied piper of US evangelicals.

The Democrats were quick to accept Trump's resounding win and congratulated him on his victory. It is worth comparing that with Trump's denial of election defeat in 2020. Whatever we think of their policies and goals the Democrats have not (yet) attacked the electoral system unlike Trump and many of his followers. There's something very sinister at the heart of Trumpkinism. Those who make comparison between Trumpkinism and those who oppose Trumpkinism on the basis of a policy comparison should wake-up to the herd of T-Rex's that now crowd the room. 

INTERESTING & RELEVANT LINKS

1. John Bolton: Trump seeks fealty, not merely loyalty!

John Bolton sums up Trump’s ideal cabinet picks in one damning word

I also used "fealty" in this post: Views, News and Pews: Well done Mike Pence! But Michael Brown gets a fail.

2. I hope this is just a scare story

'Blueprint of destruction': Experts outline 'chillingly clear' view of Trump's next term

Donald Trump's political career has closely tracked the trajectories of autocratic leaders Viktor Orban and Vladimir Putin, whose rise to power offer a "chillingly clear" picture of where his second term could lead, according to historians.

The former president and his supporters are tremendously hostile to civic institutions like the judiciary, the media, universities, many nonprofits and even some religious groups, and Trump will likely follow the lead of those autocratic leaders in Hungary and Russia by sidelining experts, regulators and other civil servants, wrote New York Times columnist M. Gessen.

3. The Cuckoo in the Republican nest is growing

United by loyalty but Trump's new team have competing agendas - BBC News

Trump warned his second term would mean ‘retribution’. His alarming cabinet picks show he means it

4. This goes together with Musk's "UK civil war" comment

Elon Musk brands UK a 'police state' after care worker jailed for livestreaming riots

It's worth noting that the article linked to above (see quotes below) is from "GB News" a UK right-wing news organization that, I think, takes a favourable view of Trump's UK mate, Nigel Farage. It's not clear to me whether or not GB News is critical of Musk's gross misrepresentation of the UK situation.  Until they deny it, I'm putting my money on GB News wanting to cozy up to the hyper-far-right that Musk represents. 

Elon Musk has branded Britain "a police state" after a care worker was jailed for livestreaming riots in Tamworth.

The tech billionaire made the comment to his 207 million followers on social media after a nine-month prison sentence was handed to 23-year-old Cameron Bell.

Bell was imprisoned after admitting to violent disorder charges for livestreaming a group of masked men making racist comments online during the summer riots.

The woman had joined a gang of hooded men following riots related to events in Southport, capturing the scenes on social media whilst wearing her work uniform.

This latest criticism has added to Musk's growing string of confrontational comments about Britain.

Previously, the billionaire sparked controversy by claiming civil war in the UK was "inevitable" in a post about the August riots.

These comments have followed Musk strengthening his relationship with President-elect Donald Trump, who has announced the tech billionaire will lead a new Department of Government Efficiency.

The department's goal will be to "dismantle" the $6.5trillion US bureaucracy, marking Musk's official entry into Trump's next administration.

5. CRees-SMogg's opinion aired on GB News

Jacob Rees-Mogg takes swipe at ‘godless’ Democrats after abject US election failure: ‘Greatest evil of modern society’

I might not agree with all Democratic policies (e.g., abortion) but they are not Godless. Joe Biden was a catholic of course. Kamala made an appearance at a church during campaigning. But much rather the current "woke" crowd than the brutalities of the unshamedly authoritarian "unwoke" tribe who are out to rule us all and in the darkness bind us. Current unwokness is as much a danger if not more a danger than wokeness. Games theory talks about pragmatic alliances. 

See also: Quantum Non-Linearity: Marx vs. Smith

6. If you want an example of unwoke verbal intimidation, see this.

Ken Ham, Trump supporting representative of the evangelical far-right let's out all the stops in his attempt at verbal intimidation of Christians he doesn't agree with. 

Views, News and Pews: Calling down Hell and Hamnation on Heretics!

7. Very Interesting: Straight out of games theory!

RFK Jr caught on audio comparing Trump to Adolf Hitler and calling supporters 'bootlickers'

8. Something else for Trump to lie about and call "Fake News"

Just how big was Donald Trump’s election victory? - BBC News

Landslide? My foot!

9. Is this a fascist writing for GB News?

Why I believe Elon Musk and a viral petition will force a General Election before long - Kelvin MacKenzie

Is MacKenize a fascist?....

Were I Starmer, or any other Labour politician, I would stop the lip curling about the petition calling for a new General Election which has now hit an astonishing 2.6million.

It reflects an anger on the streets that this government lied its way to power. Lied to the pensioners over energy, lied to ‘’working people’’ over their taxes and lied to business that Labour was pro-growth when in fact it was pro-deceit.

A lot of famous people signed this petition and turbo-charged to where it is today. The most famous of these, by a long way is Elon Musk. He simply said: "The people of Britain have had enough of a tyrannical police state."

Who could argue with that. The Allison Pearson scandal involving Essex police is enough to confirm that. Let’s be honest if she hadn’t had much of the media behind her she could well have ended up in the same prison as those two ladies with their Facebook posts.

Musk’s increasing hostility to what Starmer is doing to the UK is a worry. Although I almost agree with every sentiment I can see Trump is using him as a mouthpiece and that he intends to be tough on us both politically and economically when he moves into the White House in January.

That must be a worry, especially for those who lean to the Right in the UK. We would be in favour of Trump’s policies but against the pain they are causing us personally. It would also give Starmer a platform.

Plutocrat Musk was responding to the thuggish/fascist riots in August whose damage was repaired by a communal effort of peaceful citizens. That, of course is ignored. 

Religious Popularism vs Academia

The insecurity of the popularist fundamentalist mind shows up
 in this cartoon: In their view if you slip an inch you'll soon be
 slipping a mile! So, in order to anchor themselves in certainty
the fundamentalist resorts to authoritarian group think and
the community pressures of cultism.

The academic establishment has become increasingly disconnected from the religious and mystical yearnings of a large section of the human race and their need for noetic security. There was a time when academia and religious authorities were intertwined and together they provided guidance (and security) on the meaning, purpose and shape of life. There was a price though; this security was bought at the cost of authoritarianism and the persecution of dissenters. ....we only need think of both Catholic and Protestant executions of "heretics".  For example, even in the 18th century a Norwich man was executed for publicly claiming the stories of the Bible to be fables.

In contrast what we are getting from the academic community today is at best non-committal noises about the questions of meaning and at worst contempt, cancellation and even persecution of those who presume to offer challenges to a purely secular world view.  Given the great changes in the cosmic perspective that have occurred since the enlightenment it is really no surprise that most academics either don't have the confidence or don't regard it as their duty to help fill in the "God shaped hole" in the heart of humankind. Western societies have lost their convictions and are inclined to believe that exosecular world views cannot be anything more than mythical.  

The withdrawal of the academic community from thinking itself as a supplier of spiritual guidance and even in some cases treating with contempt popularist & folk expressions of exosecular beliefs has led to a self-reinforcing polarization. As folk religion seeks some kind of firm anchorage for its beliefs by resorting to the vehement certainties and group pressures of fundamentalism, its increasing extremism seems to be a kind of reactionary punk contrarianism, a protest movement against modernity. These reactionary communities have reciprocated the contempt they have received from academia. They will even ferociously attack Christians who they classify as outsiders because they regard them as being on the slippery slope (or the slippery staircase) of unbelief. But who started this vicious circle of mutual antagonism, contempt & increasing extremism? That's sounds like a chicken-and-egg question to me!

It's true that many fundamentalist communities now glory in the anti-establishment mire of cranky anti-science flat-earth-like beliefs, conspiracy theorism, authoritarian leadership regimes, and quasi-racist Christian nationalism, thus inviting ridicule and contempt. Worst of all in the US they have formed a pact with quasi-criminal Trumpism and even in some cases Putinism. Sections of the US evangelical culture have fallen into such outrageous belief and practice that it provides the perfect extenuating circumstances for unbelief. But we can't just blame polarization on fundamentalists. Evangelical atheists like PZ Myers and Richard Carrier are part of the regenerative coupled system of tit-for--tat animosity that borders on mutual hatred. In this connection I was amused to see that Ken Ham's organization wasn't slow in taking PZ Myers to task for publishing false accusations about Ken's AiG organization. I don't think for one moment that PZ knowingly published false information, it's just that given his probable view that AiG are an organization of lying grifters he joined the data dots with the worst possible interpretation, hinting at a story of nefarious goings on behind the scenes. In his original blog post the implication was that AiG are using a private jet to occasionally visit the Cayman Island tax haven to stash away cash, tax free.  AiG picked up on this innuendo as false and defamatory: Read the story from Myers side here: I’m in trouble with AiG and its lawyers

And here's the first part of AiG's letter to Myers: 

RE: False and Defamatory Statements 

Dear Dr. Myers:

We represent Answers in Genesis, Inc. (“AiG”). We are writing to demand you and your blog, FreeThoughtBlogs, cease and desist further publication of your article Why are creationists so pasty pale at Answers in Genesis? posted at https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/ 2024/10/17/why-are-creationists-so-pasty-pale-at-answers-in-genesis/ with a October 17, 2024 publication date (the “Article”). The Article contains several false statements and distortions of fact intended to defame our client.

The Article begins with the following statement: “AiG owns a private jet,” which is false. AiG has a lease for the fractional use of a private jet. In other words, AiG does not own a jet. It owns a percentage of an aircraft’s flight hours each year, approximately 25% of the allocated usage. The ministry has no oversight or involvement regarding the other 75% of use. The reasoning for the fractional use of a private plane is not about luxury but practicality, allowing the ministry to reach more people over a shorter period of time.

With that being said, it could very well be true that this jet “frequently darts down to the Cayman Islands for one-day visits.” However, that does not mean that those trips are taken by AiG. In fact, they are not. No AiG personnel have used the jet (or any other aircraft) for trips to the Cayman Islands.

The letter goes on to consolidate the case against Myers.

Obviously, there is no love lost here: PZ Myers genuinely believes that AiG are a gang of lying grifters and on their part AiG are likely to see Myers as a slave to the wickedness of unrighteousness as described by Romans 1:29-32. After all, if Ken Ham can be so spiritually vicious in his attacks on those Christians whose views undermine the rationale for his AiG business interests, he's clearly going to also pull out all the stops with atheists like Myers. 

This highly polarized context is the milieu in which we see US evangelicals (Ken Ham, Michael Brown, Franklin Graham etc) siding with secular leaders who are arguably of a fascist persuasion and prepared to gain and hold onto power by resorting to Machiavellian means. These quasi-criminal Godfathers have made a pact with US evangelicals by promising to defend their values at the price of taking the West back to simpler more cognitively anchored, more authoritarian and but more violent times. If they gain ascendancy in the West, what do you think might happen at the next anti-government protest given the presence of those AR15 armed Trumpite militias?  And what do you think might happen to dissenters in view of D J Trump's firing-squad comments about Liz Cheney?  Was he just joking or was it just an insensitive metaphor? I hope the US doesn't take the risk in order to find out. 

RELEVANT LINKS

1. My Links

Quantum Non-Linearity: Anti-Science or Anti Academic Establishment?

Quantum Non-Linearity: Christian Fundamentalists Embrace Flat Earth.

Quantum Non-Linearity: New Agers and Fundamentalists

Quantum Non-Linearity: The Trump Victory Part 2: Anti-Establishmentarianism

Quantum Non-Linearity: The Trump Victory. Part 1: Folksy Levellers.

Quantum Non-Linearity: Cloistered Academics vs. Christian Punks

Quantum Non-Linearity: The Anti Gravity Road Show.

2. Harrison Ford's Warning

Harrison Ford issues revenge warning as Hollywood legend reveals presidential endorsement

Ford continued: “The truth is this, Kamala Harris will protect your right to disagree with her about policies or ideas.

“The other guy, he demands unquestioning loyalty, says he wants revenge.”

3. George W Bush

Bill Clinton defends George W Bush over his endorsement decision

3. US Democracy's demise?

Trump has vowed to shake some of democracy's pillars