There’s no use in regret. You can’t change anything. Your mother died unhappy with the way you turned out. You and your father were not on speaking terms when he died, and you left your wife for no good reason. Well, it’s past. You may as well regret missing out on the conquest of Mexico. That would have been just your kind of thing back when you were eighteen: a bunch of murderous Spaniards, out to destroy a culture and get rich. On the other hand, the Aztecs were no great shakes either. It’s hard to know whom to root for in this situation. The Aztecs thought they had to sacrifice lots of people to keep the sun coming up every day. And it worked. The sun rose every day. But it was backbreaking labor, all that sacrificing. The priests had to call in the royal family to help, and their neighbors, the gardener, the cooks…. You can see how this is going to end. You are going to have your bloody, beating heart ripped out, but you are going to have to stand in line, in the hot sun, for hours, waiting your turn.
Untroubled
One wearies of matters of substance, those weighty matters that one feels should be resolved, the dilemma of life on earth, the existence of extra-terrestrial life, the existence of God. Instead I recommend those moments that, seemingly without reason, stay with you for a lifetime: that red-haired girl on the shore brushing her teeth as we sailed away; the glimpse of a face; a bare shoulder turning in a doorway; moments like music, beauty and truth untroubled by meaning.
Wind in the Trees
You could live on the go like the wind with what seems like a purpose or at least a direction, but no home, reckless, pushy, with an attention deficit disorder, no more than a name, really. People will say, “That guy, you know . . . .” But if you stand still long enough you will be given an identity. You could live like the trees, parochial, rooted and restless, prone to hysteria. You could write letters to the editor. Living in the woods you get a lot of ideas about what God is up to, and what is going on in Washington. You’d have a family. Parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles all close around you until, if you are lucky, they recede, one by one, into the peripheral haze of memory. Finally, some space, a clearing, a place to fall.
This is a series of posts involving Dr. Timothy Snyder’s book On Tyranny. In the book, Snyder, a professor at Yale University who specializes in the history of tyrannical movements, shares twenty lessons on how to address and defeat tyranny.
Each lesson contains a short amount of text as well as a video featuring Snyder expanding on the text. This is lesson #14:
Lesson #14: Establish a Private Life
“Nastier rulers will use what they know about you to push you around. Scrub your computer of malware on a regular basis. Remember that email is skywriting. Consider using alternative forms of the internet, or simply using it less. Have personal exchanges in person. For the same reason, resolve any legal trouble. Tyrants seek the hook on which to hang you. Try not to have hooks.”
This is a series of posts involving Dr. Timothy Snyder’s book On Tyranny. In the book, Snyder, a professor at Yale University who specializes in the history of tyrannical movements, shares twenty lessons on how to address and defeat tyranny.
Each lesson contains a short amount of text as well as a video featuring Snyder expanding on the text. This is lesson #13:
Lesson #13: Practice Corporeal Politics
“Power wants your body softening in your chair and your emotions dissipating on the screen. Get outside. Put your body in unfamiliar places with unfamiliar people. Make new friends and march with them.”
All my life I’ve been lucky. Not that I made money, or had a beautiful house or cars. But lucky to have had good friends, a wife who loves me, and a good son. Lucky that war and famine or disease did not come to my doorstep. Lucky that all the wrong turns I made, even if they did turn out well, at least were not complete disasters. I still have some of my original teeth. All that could change, I know, in the wink of an eye. And what an eye it is, bright blue contrasting with her dark skin and black hair. And oh, what long eyelashes! She turns and with a slight smile gives me a long slow wink, a wink that says, “Come on over here, you lucky boy.”
My Ancestral Home
We came to a beautiful little farm. From photos I’d seen I knew this was the place. The house and barn were painted in the traditional Falu red, trimmed with white. It was nearly mid- summer, the trees and grass, lush green, when we arrived the family was gathered at a table on the lawn for coffee and fresh strawberries. Introductions were made all around, Grandpa Sven, Lars-Olaf and Marie, Eric and Gudren, Cousin Inge and her two children… It made me think of a Carl Larsson painting. But, of course, it was all modern, the Swedes are very up-to- date, Lars-Olaf was an engineer for Volvo, and they all spoke perfect English, except for Grandpa, and there was a great deal of laughter over my attempts at Swedish. We stayed for a long time laughing and talking. It was late in the day, but the sun was still high. I felt a won- derful kinship. It seemed to me that I had known these people all my life, they even looked like family back in the States. But as it turned out, we had come to the wrong farm. Lars-Olaf said, “I think I know your people, they live about three miles from here. If you like I could give them a call.” I said that no, it wasn’t necessary, this was close enough.
The Afterlife
Older people are exiting this life as if it were a movie… “I didn’t get it,” they are saying. He says, “It didn’t seem to have any plot.” “No.” she says, “it seemed like things just kept coming at me. Most of the time I was confused… and there was way too much sex and violence.” “Violence anyway,” he says. “It was not much for character development either; most of the time people were either shouting or mumbling. Then just when someone started to make sense and I got interested, they died. Then a whole lot of new characters came along and I couldn’t tell who was who.” “The whole thing lacked subtlety.” “Some of the scenery was nice.” “Yes.” They walk on in silence for a while. It is a summer night and they walk slowly, stopping now and then, as if they had no particular place to go. They walk past a streetlamp where some insects are hurling themselves at the light, and then on down the block, fading into the darkness. She says, “I was never happy with the way I looked.” “The lighting was bad and I was no good at dialogue,” he says. “I would have liked to have been a little taller,” she says.
This is a series of posts involving Dr. Timothy Snyder’s book On Tyranny. In the book, Snyder, a professor at Yale University who specializes in the history of tyrannical movements, shares twenty lessons on how to address and defeat tyranny.
Each lessons contains a short amount of text as well as a video featuring Snyder expanding on the text. This is lesson #12:
Lesson #12: Make Eye Contact and Small Talk
“This is not just polite. It is part of being a citizen and a responsible member of society. It is also a way to stay in touch with your surroundings, break down social barriers, and understand whom you should and should not trust. If we enter a culture of denunciation, you will want to know the psychological landscape of your daily life.”
This is a series of posts involving Dr. Timothy Snyder’s book On Tyranny. In the book, Snyder, a professor at Yale University who specializes in the history of tyrannical movements, shares twenty lessons on how to address and defeat tyranny.
Each lessons contains a short amount of text as well as a video featuring Snyder expanding on the text. This is lesson #11:
Lesson #11: Investigate
“Figure things out for yourself. Spend more time with long articles. Subsidize investigative journalism by subscribing to print media. Realize that some of what is on the internet is there to harm you. Learn about sites that investigate propaganda campaigns (some of which come from abroad). Take responsibility for what you communicate to others.”
This is a series of posts involving Dr. Timothy Snyder’s book On Tyranny. In the book, Snyder, a professor at Yale University who specializes in the history of tyrannical movements, shares twenty lessons on how to address and defeat tyranny.
Each lessons contains a short amount of text as well as a video featuring Snyder expanding on the text. This is lesson #10:
Lesson #10: Believe in Truth
“To abandon facts is to abandon freedom. If nothing is true, then no one can criticize power, because there is no basis upon which to do so. If nothing is true, then all is spectacle. The biggest wallet pays for the most blinding lights.”
This is a series of posts involving Dr. Timothy Snyder’s book On Tyranny. In the book, Snyder, a professor at Yale University who specializes in the history of tyrannical movements, shares twenty lessons on how to address and defeat tyranny.
Each lessons contains a short amount of text as well as a video featuring Snyder expanding on the text. This is lesson #9:
Lesson #9: Be Kind to Our Language
“Avoid pronouncing the phrases everyone else does. Think up your own way of speaking, even if only to convey that thing you think everyone is saying. Make an effort to separate yourself from the internet. Read books.”
A week or so ago, Tom Klingenstein posted a video encouraging Republican voters to come together behind the presidential candidacy of Donald Trump. The video would have gone largely unnoticed had Trump himself not proudly posted it on his Truth Social platform.
The video begins by introducing Klingenstein as a writer, playwright, and investor. On other platforms, Klingenstein refers to himself as an academic and a philanthropist. What Tom Klingenstein is is the manager of a hedge fund who has used his considerable wealth to push far-right extremist ideology. He is a large donor to several far-right groups, including the Claremont Institute, the organization that spawned John Eastman, the attorney who concocted the insane and unconstitutional legal theory that the vice-president, when counting the certified votes from the states, can ignore or dismiss votes he doesn’t like.
Earlier in this election cycle, Klingenstein supported Ron DeSantis. After DeSantis’ campaign imploded, Klingenstein shifted his support (and his money) to Trump. Among other things, the video is an attempt by Klingenstein to get back in Trump’s good graces.
The video itself is disturbing, not only for the content, but for the production quality and apocalyptic tone. If you were to swap out Klingenstein for Joseph Goebbels, and you swapped out “the woke regime” for “Jews and other undesirables,” you would have a video that tracks perfectly with Nazi propaganda. Klingenstein’s awkward look and speech patterns are front and center, with disturbing, often out-of-context images, shown in the background.
The content of Klingenstein’s message is startling and frightening. Klingenstein opens the video by dismissing the notion that voters need to like Trump or that Trump even needs to be a good person or have good character. None of that matters. Republican voters, Klingenstein demands, must get behind Trump because “the woke regime” threatens the American way of life, and won’t stop “until it destroys America.”
“It’s time for Republicans, including those that doubt him (Trump) or even can’t stand him, to get behind him. The times demand it. We are in a war fighting an enemy of revolutionaries that kick and spit on America. I call our enemy the woke regime or the group quota regime.”
Let’s break down Klingenstein’s opening paragraph.
He claims that Republican must come together to support Trump, even if they doubt him or can’t stand him. This is now what is required of members of the Republican Party. Regardless of their own thoughts or beliefs, they must follow in lock step behind the great leader. “Times demand it.”
Klingenstein apparently does not believe in the Republican Party being a “big tent” party. He expects Republicans of all stripes, from institutionalists to chamber of commerce types, from conservatives to libertarians and to the few remaining progressives, to put their own beliefs aside and support a man that he acknowledges, many of them can’t stand. He expects Republicans to sacrifice their beliefs and morals on the alter of Trump.
Klingenstein goes on to describe the enemy. Who are they? They are revolutionaries who “kick and spit on America.” Ignoring the awkward grammar, Klingenstein calls these people “the woke regime” and “the group quota regime.”
In his phrasing, Klingenstein let’s his mask slip a bit. He’s talking about Democrats, particularly progressives. The people he has labeled “enemies” are his fellow citizens. And he claims Republicans are “at war” with these fellow citizens. This language points to what he has referred to elsewhere as a “cold civil war” that far-right extremists believe is currently underway. And if it’s a war, then violence is justified. That’s slip number one: We’re in a war and violence is an acceptable remedy.
Slip number two comes in his preferred name for the enemies he and his fellow Republicans are fighting, “the group quota regime.” Klingenstein let’s Trump supporters and those he is trying to recruit know that there’s a racial, gender, and sexual preference component to this fight. “We’re not just fighting progressives,” he might as well say. “We’re fighting all supporters of blacks, Hispanics, LGBTQ, and anyone else that isn’t straight and white.” If you doubt this analysis, consider that Klingenstein chose to run video of Barack Obama in the background while he made these comments. Obama hasn’t been President for nearly eight years. Not only is he not running for President, he’s Constitutionally forbidden from running. Yet, Klingenstein’s inclusion accentuates the point he is making. The fight is against “those people.”
The video continues and Klingenstein claims that, although we are at war, we do not have a commander-in-chief. This is an odd claim. He shows video of Biden in the background, but doesn’t explain what he means.
He continues:
“We shouldn’t much care whether our commander-in-chief is a real conservative, whether he is a role model for children, or says lots of silly things, or is modest or dignified. What we should care about is whether he knows we are in a war, knows who the enemy is, and knows how to win. Trump does. His policies are important, but not as important as the rest of him. Trump grasps the essential things. He understands that the group quota regime is evil, and will not stop until it destroys America.”
Really? We shouldn’t care about the character of the man we elect to be President? His politics don’t matter and we shouldn’t care if he spouts nonsense? We shouldn’t care if he is dignified or modest in his manner? None of these things matter?
This line of thinking is reminiscent of Hitler’s road to power. He was viewed as a strange little man, who was gruff in his demeanor and full of unearned confidence. But, as his supporter’s argument went, he understood what needed to be done. He understood who the enemies of the state were and how to defeat them. He was a true patriot, the only one who could make Germany great again.
For Klingenstein, he is willing to overlook all of Trump’s worst traits if it means striking a blow against the group quota regime (i.e. liberals). Does that strike anyone else as a bit shortsighted? Klingenstein is willing to turn the country over to an immodest moron (his description, not mine) as long as that moron defeats those he views as enemies. This is exactly how Hitler came to power.
The video is short on information about electing Trump (or voting at all), instead spending eight-plus minutes laying out justification for fighting and winning the war against wokeism. Journalist, documentarian, and professor at Arizona State University, Steven Beschloss commented on this point:
“Put aside Trump losing the 2020 election and significantly contributing to the GOP losses in 2022. The video never discusses voting or the need for Republicans to win elections; the focus is on fighting and winning a war. It is laced with malice, an unspoken readiness to pursue political violence if that’s what it takes.”
Klingenstein not only admits that Trump is neither dignified nor modest, he turns those negative traits into a positive.
“Trump never apologizes for America, Trump says in effect we have our culture, it’s exceptional and that’s the way we want to keep it. And we won’t keep it if we usher in millions of immigrants with cultures different from our own. Trump knows his job is to protect Americans—and just Americans. Protect them not just from enemies abroad, but from the woke globalists within. He knows America does not need more diversity. It needs more cohesion.”
The idea than Trump wants cohesion is laughable. There has never been a more divisive figure in the White House, according to the American Political Science Association. His entire MO is to divide and conquer. Even in Klingenstein’s one paragraph, he pits immigrants against American citizens, and real “patriotic” Americans against “woke” Americans and non-Americans. Klingenstein’s words betray the fact that Trump is all about dividing people, not bringing them together.
“Trump hates his enemies every bit as much as they hate him. His enemies are America’s enemies,” Klingenstein claims. The video shows images of Gen. Mark Milley and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY).
These are America’s enemies, an elected senator and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff? Does that sound like someone that loves America? It sounds to me like a petulant child who hates anyone that can get in his way or hold him accountable. It also sounds like someone who conflates himself with America. I have bad news for Mr. Klingenstein. No President is synonymous with America. We elect presidents. They work for America. They do not become America or vice versa.
Klingenstein ends his disturbing video by suggesting that Trump was sent by God to save a United States that is under attack and at risk of losing it’s way.
“Trump, the politician, came seemingly out of the blue. An unconventional commander against an unconventional enemy. Almost inconceivable as President at any other time, Trump fits this turbulent moment to a tee. Is it too much to wonder whether the appearance of this most unconventional man is providential? Lincoln spoke of Americans as the ‘almost chosen people.’ Trump gives us hope, that the God that has never forsaken his ‘almost chosen people,’ will not do so now?”
Honestly, I gagged a little bit while writing that previous paragraph. It sickens me that there are people who believe and claim that Trump–a man his own Chief of Staff, Gen. John Kelly, called the most flawed man he had ever met–was sent by God to save us, making Trump into a savior-like figure. It boggles my mind that any Christian could look at Trump, look at the life he has lived, the things he has said and done, and the things he continues to say and do, and conclude that he is God’s choice to lead our nation. It defies explanation.
“Master class in disinformation tactics. Demonizing and scapegoating others, embodying every man yet claiming to be godly in ability, exploiting patriotism, portraying the most extreme parts of the left as equal to the whole, and suggesting that desperate times call for desperate measures.”
I encourage everyone to watch Klingenstein’s video (below). It’s important to see how pundit’s like Klingenstein talk to Trump supporters, and to be able to dissect and understand the tactics being used to convince people that Trump should be back in the White House. It’s also important for people to be able see the way the far-right MAGA movement uses racial dog whistles and justification for violence in their rhetoric. I suspect it will only get worse as we draw closer to the upcoming election.
What would you think if I told you that there are Republican members of the United States Congress who are working on behalf of Vladimir Putin and the Russian government to undermine our democracy and create chaos in our political process? Would you think I was crazy? Would you write off my claims as “lies from the left?” Would you say I’m lying to try to damage Republicans? Would you accuse me of Trump Derangement Syndrome?
I have good news. You don’t have to believe me. In fact, I’m not the one making these charges. The charges are being made by two high-ranking Republican Congressmen, and their accusations are not getting nearly enough attention.
Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX), Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, in an interview with Puck News, charged that Russian propaganda had “infected a good chuck of my party’s base.” He went on to blame conservative media–like Fox News–for spreading Russian talking points.
Rep. Michael Turner (R-OH), Chair of the House Select Committee on Intelligence, echoed McCaul’s concerns. “We see directly coming from Russia attempts to mask communications that are anti-Ukraine and pro-Russia messages — some of which we even hear being uttered on the House floor,” Turner said.
Such a charge, particularly coming from a Republican talking about his own party, is huge news. When he was pressed about the charges he leveled, Turner doubled down, saying that it was “absolutely true” that some members of the Republican Party were repeating Russian propaganda on the floor of the House, as well as in comments they’ve made on TV, in interviews, and on social media.
Neither McCaul nor Turner pointed the finger at any single member of the Republican Party, but it isn’t too hard to figure out who they are likely talking about. Members of the House Freedom Caucus, including Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA), have often repeated Russian propaganda. In the Senate, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH), and Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY)* have also been known to parrot Russian talking points.
But no one has spread more Russian propaganda in recent months that Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green (R-GA). In the past, MTG has blamed the United States for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. More recently, she posted the following message on X (formerly Twitter):
“Why doesn’t anyone in Washington talk about a peace treaty with Russia?? A deal with Putin promising he will not continue any further invasions. Answer: Washington wants war, not peace.”
She followed up that message with an accusation that Ukraine has been attacking Christians and Christian churches, while the Russians have been protecting both. This was a lie. In fact, according to Christianity Today magazine, since they first invaded Ukraine, Russia has destroyed more than 500 religious sites inside Ukraine, one-third of them Christian. In addition, within their own borders, Russia routinely persecutes members of non-Christian religions, as well as Christian denominations other than the Russian Orthodox Church.
MTG has also led the charge to deny funding to Ukraine. Last week, she indicated that she would file a motion to vacate to unseat Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) if Johnson allows a vote on Ukraine funding to take place. She seems to be getting increasingly desperate to stand in the way of funding for Ukraine, and her efforts have earned her the nickname, “Moscow Marjorie” from another Republican, former Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO).
In an article published in The New Republic, former CIA officer Alex Finley had this to say about MTG and her seeming constant verbal attacks on Ukraine:
“It is naïve to think the same pattern does not exist in the United States, given the ample evidence of coordinated pro-Russian talking points from several Republican politicians. Just this week, Marjorie Taylor Greene spoke to Steve Bannon about Ukraine’s persecution of Christians, which is a Kremlin talking point aimed at boosting the pro-Moscow wing of Ukraine’s Orthodox Church. The U.S. should be spending money on the border with Mexico, not on Ukraine aid? That’s a Kremlin talking point. Russia invaded Ukraine to defend itself against an expanding NATO? That’s a Kremlin talking point. Call for a cease-fire, and give Russia Crimea and eastern Ukraine? That’s a Kremlin talking point.”
Sen. Joe McCarthy (R-WI) made a career out of accusing people of being communists. But even he never claimed that members of Congress had been infected by Russian propaganda. McCarthyism and the Red Scare was a huge deal in the 1950s, and it received a tremendous amount of coverage on TV and radio, as well as in newspapers and magazines. By contrast, the more serious charges being leveled by Reps. McCaul and Turner against members of their own party have gotten relatively little attention.
To my mind, this is a travesty. How can we trust our Representatives in Congress to look out for the best interests of the nation if they are credibly accused of working on behalf of other nations, particularly nations we view as enemies? Is there a more important issue taking place in the United States today? Shouldn’t this be a much bigger story?
I hope some in the media will latch onto this story and determine who in Congress has been infected by Russian propaganda and what those members spouting Russian talking points are getting in return, if anything, for their efforts on behalf of Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin. U.S. citizens deserve to know where the loyalty of their elected representatives truly lie.
This is a series of posts involving Dr. Timothy Snyder’s book 
This is a series of posts involving Dr. Timothy Snyder’s book 
This is a series of posts involving Dr. Timothy Snyder’s book 
This is a series of posts involving Dr. Timothy Snyder’s book 
This is a series of posts involving Dr. Timothy Snyder’s book 
A week or so ago, Tom Klingenstein posted a video encouraging Republican voters to come together behind the presidential candidacy of Donald Trump. The video would have gone largely unnoticed had Trump himself not proudly posted it on his Truth Social platform.
What would you think if I told you that there are Republican members of the United States Congress who are working on behalf of Vladimir Putin and the Russian government to undermine our democracy and create chaos in our political process? Would you think I was crazy? Would you write off my claims as “lies from the left?” Would you say I’m lying to try to damage Republicans? Would you accuse me of Trump Derangement Syndrome?