AS ACTION ERUPTS AGAINST ICE RAIDS, THE MAGA CULT MOVES ON WITH ITS LEGISLATIVE ONSLAUGHT ~ Louis Further ~ What you see in reporting on protests against arbitrary and sadistic raids on non-White families—first in Los Angeles and increasingly in other cities across the US—is by and large what you get on the ground. Just take away the usual “anarchist agitators bent on violence, which is wrong!” and add the appalling conditions: overcrowding and lack of water, food and light with mandatory inspections denied. A fascist administration is following supremacist dogma to scapegoat guest-workers and their families. Many—but by no means all—have come to the US to escape exploitation of their countries by the US. Immigrants contribute to the US economy. They predominantly avoid crime—despite claims by a convicted felon with three other cases against him, someone who actually did incite an insurrection. Yet Trump and the MAGA cartel continue pushing the line that non-whites are inferior and are ‘invading’ the US—as the ghoulish Goebbels clone, Stephen Miller, posted last weekend: “Deport the invaders”—whether or not they are in the country legally, sick, dying, are children, pregnant, tax-payers. Anyone. They want to see more chaos and uncertainty, want to provoke reaction from overwhelmingly peaceful protesters. Trump’s almost unprecedented, unconstitutional and illegal action in moving National Guard (and perhaps soon Marines) forces onto the streets to confront, harm and possibly even kill protesters is aggression in the service of kidnapping and human trafficking—and perhaps an attempt to distract from the noisy exit from the government of Trump’s biggest campaign donor. To have been optimistic since January is to have awaited opposition to the cult. Maybe the solidarity and bravery amongst protesters in Los Angeles now is the first instance of that. As resistance to ICE shows itself in L.A. and elsewhere, the cult is moving to exercise increased censorship of the media and individuals’ views. Stories like this detailing how disgraced, misogynistic and racist members of Trump’s first term are now active again in his second appear less likely in the future. Opponents of the cult are increasingly being ejected from press conferences. TRUMP’S ‘BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL’ The future of the Trump/MAGA cult’s next, huge piece of legislation may be in doubt because of the split between Trump and Musk and rumblings of dissent within the Republican party. But would-be opponents in these situations usually cave in eventually. Even a cursory read-through of the proposals is spine-chilling. However much H.R.1 may be changed before it becomes law, it looks likely to be catastrophic. Sections 42108–42301 repeal minimal environmental safeguards like clean air acts. Sections 41009 and 80301–80309 remove preservation for places such as national parks, which bring in significant revenue from tourism; climate justice is undermined and the quantity and sums allotted to local communities as block grants decreased or eliminated. As per sections 80307 to 80309, after natural disasters funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA, which is to be abolished later this year anyway) are likely to be insufficient to help; and applied to favour Trumpy states. Meanwhile, (now gutted) Environmental Protection Agency is believed to have plans to remove all limits on greenhouse gas emissions from coal- and gas-fired power plants. The Supreme Court is firmly behind accelerating the ruin. Section 20001 increases the likelihood of greater military involvement—especially in the Asia-Pacific region. Section 70302 introduces a provision requiring anyone seeking court intervention against the administration to post a financial bond, much more likely to impact its opponents than beneficiaries. After the passage last month of another bill—which may deprive up to 14 million poorer-off people of healthcare to give the rich yet more tax breaks—Sections 44141, 44122 and 44131 of H.R.1 significantly restrict access to health care through Medicaid, the agency acting as a safety net for those who do not otherwise have health ‘insurance’. Recipients in states (they administer Medicaid) which did not vote for Trump are expected to be deprived of more funds than those which did. Sections 44110 and 44125 end all care for undocumented guest-workers and ban gender-affirming care. As tariffs come into effect, Sections 10008, 10012 would significantly increase the cost of living. Potentially unparalleled austerity could result from the deregulation envisaged in Sections 50002 and 50003. Chaos and loss of services from the purges in the Civil Service (‘DOGE’ has illegally sacked employees with generations of expertise) are envisaged in Sections 90004 to 90006. Schools and colleges will become vehicles for greater indoctrination in dogma as the paltry efforts to recognise inequality and racism under ‘DEI‘ are eliminated under Section 30061. Federal grants to arts organisations and museums are being cut. Section 44001 prevents states from regulating AI, educational technology and amending privacy standards for 10 years. Meanwhile, in order to advance the MAGA white supremacist agenda—including the absurdity that white South Africans are a persecuted race with special status in the US—the Musk-owned AI system Grok has been ‘adjusted‘ the to answer with the issue of ‘Afrikaner refugees’ whatever question was put to it. Sections 50002, 50003, 80121(h) curtail the powers of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), and court oversight of fossil fuel permits. Corporate fraud is likely to rise unchecked. MAKE AMERICA CORRUPT AGAIN The sleazy MAGA cult has taken pure graft to dimensions that beggar belief. Some examples from the many being recorded by opponents—ideally with a view to doing something about it—include the way in which cult members are intimidating (the families of) judges who fail to find in Trump’s favour when ruling on the hundreds of lawsuits filed against him. Trump and his family are using their position to increase their wealth through business deals in the Middle East. Insiders are allegedly taking advantage accordingly to trade shares. Hand in hand with corruption goes incompetence. The cult holds itself above the law, and (so) unchallengeable. In a series of events worthy of ‘Yes Minister‘ last month, the Department of Health and Human Services—under unqualified, anti-vaccination quack, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.—produced a ‘report’ titled ‘Make America Healthy Again’ and sprinkled with errors: missing references and misattributions, non-existent studies, broken links, typos and made up ‘sources’). When they amended it in response to media mockery they managed to compound the errors. Remember, this is the health and potential survival of millions of residents in the United States. Here’s another indicator of the absurdity of the MAGA cult. Perhaps they act like this to enhance their sense of belonging. Its members latch onto and fetishise positions, beliefs, dogma that the rest of us would look askance at. MAGA congressperson Tim Burchett explained to a Fox ‘News’ propagandist why he didn’t drink using straws. Environmental impact? No. It’s because “That’s what the women in my house do”, agreeing with Fox that it makes your lips purse and look effeminate. This time last month a far-right federal judge in the Northern District of Texas, Matthew Kacsmaryk, ruled that it is legal to discriminate against people on the basis of their sexual orientation. This contradicts the US Supreme Court’s unambiguous ruling in 2020 (Bostock v. Clayton County) that Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act offers that protection. Another law, H.R.3518 denies funding to institutions which recognise racism and/or which don’t deny an elevated concern for diversity. We can’t end without touching on the unfolding horror in the Middle East. One cultist, unwilling to respond to—let alone rectify—the United States’ promotion of the mass slaughter in Gaza and its reduction to rubble, now publicly advocates its nuclear annihilation. For others, genocide is a joke. It remains to be seen whether the cult will be able to restrain itself following Israel’s attack on Iran—or, instead, seize on the opportunity to propel the world towards Armageddon. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Photos: Portland IWW on Bluesky The post Notes from the US: Reaction and Resistance appeared first on Freedom News.

WE CAN NOW SEE CLEARLY HOW TRUMP/MAGA/MUSK’S IMPLEMENTATION OF PROJECT 2025 CAN LEGITIMATELY BE CALLED FASCIST ~ Louis Further ~ With the usual caveat that the very word ‘fascism’ should not be used loosely (you are invited to look at Notes From the US from November 2021 and almost two years later for discussions of its attributes—especially in the context of the United States), it is not clear that the implementation of Project 2025 can and does fit the description. It’s components are prioritised and pushed through at all cost: centralisation; actions based on selfishness; destruction; racism and supremacism; the lie that only-one-man-can-fix-it; the myth of a racially-‘pure’ golden age; elevation of militarism; anti-science; deception. And more. Prudishness for instance: Lamar school district in Texas has banned display of the state of Virginia’s flag because includes a drawing of the Roman goddess, ‘Virtus’, with her left breast exposed. At under six months in not all of these areas have been given equal prominence so far. New aspects of the platform, though, appear every day. Para-news outlets are being given preference at the White House, for instance, while more creditable and conventional organs (with all their faults) are excluded.  Attacks on education are under way: de-funding of institutions at the tertiary, primary and secondary levels, interference in curriculum and hiring, accreditation and management are all ongoing. The removal of sources which advance alternative views to those of the cult is rife. Imposition of economic chaos (tariffs etc) is widespread; primarily to induce fear; secondarily to redistribute wealth to the already rich. And of course scapegoating non-whites and those with views which diverge from those of Trump/MAGA/Musk with state kidnapping, trafficking and deportation continues. Getting on for a staggering thousand anti-LGBTQ bills have been brought forward across the country so far this year. There is sadism and cruelty—withholding of relief funds, for instance—against those adversely affected by natural disasters. RACISM Two recent events nicely illustrate the mentality of Trump and his MAGA cult followers behind this agenda. At the start of May there was an incident in a public park in Rochester, Minnesota. A young white woman used a racist insult to accuse a five-year-old child (who was also autistic) of taking something belonging to her own son. A bystander who was videoing what happened asked her whether she thought her verbal assault justified use of the N-word. She replied, “If that’s what he’s going to act like…” Instead of mediation, resolution by friends and families, attempts to censure the mother’s behaviour, right wing media outlets and social media rushed to the woman’s aid. Within a few days nearly three quarters of a million dollars (£500,000) was raised to endorse her behaviour and justify her verbal abuse and attack on a black child by supporting her financially and crowing approval of her ‘right’ to supremacy. Being ‘woke’ and respecting others—especially black children with disabilities—is truly outrageous for them. But consistent with Trump/MAGA/Musk’s priorities. Then—because Trump/MAGA/Musk cannot, or will not, accept that our only planet needs preserving—plans were announced to abolish one small effort for wise stewardship of energy resources. In itself doing away with The Energy Star programme will save little money. It’s a token, though, of just how deplorable to the cult are efforts merely acknowledge environmental crisis by saving energy: a provocative gesture based on ignorance and the cult’s fervent embrace of anti-science dogma. Because the cult is based on selfishness, its members are incapable of believing that environmentalists are not acting from self-interest – as they are doing with their latest meme coin scheme. To the cultists “pinko treehuggers” must have invented a hoax to serve themselves financially. As threatened in Project 2025 the cult is now attempting to shut down or curtail the reach of any media body that presents informed views different from their own. This extends to orders intended to de-fund or financially throttle the two relatively ‘neutral’ and ‘impartial’ organs of television, PBS and radio, NPR. Understandably, though with little or no shame, the élite is trying to hide and/or obfuscate its many errors. Though court rulings are being ignored. Trump himself is now technically immune as president; he can literally do now wrong by law. The concept of contempt of court and legal systems (with the bias of which we are aware as anarchists) is now at best ‘equivocal’, optional. But just to be on the safe side Trump/MAGA/Musk is trying to limit the power of the judiciary. The second half of the twentieth century saw the nominal removal of official racial segregation in the United States. Laws, statutes, precedents and plain decency saw integration of black and white into many aspects of daily life. Racial inequality, of course, has never gone away. The Trump/MAGA/Musk assault on DEI aims to reverse changes broadly seen as for the better in a civilised society. Earlier this month they took a more direct step backwards: a legal agreement dating from 1966 mandates that schools in Plaquemines Parish (Louisiana) not discriminate between black and white pupils, and offer members of both communities equal educational opportunities. Trump’s ‘Justice’ Department lifted that order so as to “get… America refocused on our bright future…” The man in charge of carrying out Trump’s racist scapegoating of non-whites at borders with the United States, Tom Homan, threatened that officials in Wisconsin – including the state’s governor, Tony Evers – could be arrested if they push back over Trump’s illegal mass deportation plan. This came barely a fortnight after FBI agents arrested Hannah Dugan, a County Judge in Milwaukee, when she allowed an immigrant appearing before her in her court to exit into a hallway, where agents from the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) were waiting for him, but failed to recognise him. Shortly afterwards the mayor of Newark (New Jersey), Ras Baraka, was arrested at a federal immigration detention centre. He was peacefully protesting several irregularities in its construction, safety hazards and building violations—over and above the racist intent to build more ‘holding’ sites for non-whites. It was later suggested that government officials at best escalated the confrontation, and may have engineered it. ENVIRONMENT You may remember Trump suggesting during Covid that people drink bleach as a cure. It seems he still hasn’t let go of the idea. Last month one of the guests at an event he called ‘Truth Seekers Conference’ was Andreas Kalcker. He sells bleach, and erroneously claims that it is good for several illnesses – including Covid. Environmental destruction will increase dramatically if this bill passes—which is likely. In common with most areas of government work research in many areas of climate science is being drastically cut; while top research specialists like Kevin Hall at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have begun to resign, citing censorship by R. F. Kennedy Jr., the anti-vaccine, unqualified quack heading the Health and Human Services Department (equivalent to the Department of Health & Social Care in the UK). That’s the same conspiracy theorist who is planning to compile a national database of people classed as autistic. The post Notes from the US: Fervent embrace of dogma appeared first on Freedom News.

WITH THE ELECTIONS LESS THAN A MONTH AWAY, CAMPAIGNING IS DOMINATED BY FILTHY RACISM AND CLIMATE DENIAL ~ Louis Further ~ As ‘Notes from the US’ went live last month (September), attempts were just beginning by Trump, Vance and the MAGA crew to terrorise the town of Springfield, Ohio, by falsely claiming that Haitian immigrants were slaying residents’ pets in order to consume them for food. Bomb threats, school closures and forced evacuations quickly followed. Nor was it long before gangs of fascists carrying swastikas and other far right flags, insignia, emblems and uniforms began regularly to show up in Springfield to bring terror to the guest workers there and to add to the hatred generated by the MAGA mob. The two Republican nominees (Trump for president and Vance for vice president) appeared to be trying to provoke a race war. Vance used X to rile up his followers, posting “…don’t let the crybabies in the media dissuade you, fellow patriots. Keep the cat memes flowing”. In other words, those who had objected to the harassment and criminalisation of black guest workers in Springfield were to be shunned and ignored in furtherance of the MAGA agenda of ‘patriotism’. Needless to say, there were no reports of attacks on, nor abduction of, cats or any other animals for food: it turns out that just isn’t the Haitian way. Nor did those fomenting race-based hatred acknowledge the damage done when schools and hospitals and their routines were repeatedly disrupted as threats from far right hate groups responded to continuing goading from Trump and his cult. Trump subsequently said “…I don’t know what happened with the bomb threats. I know that it’s been taken over by illegal migrants, and that’s a terrible thing that happened. Springfield was this beautiful town, and now they’re going through hell…” and “[the]…real threat is what’s happening at our border rather than the bomb threats in Springfield”. It’s distressing, but hardly surprising, that Trump ‘doesn’t know’ about widely-publicised security threats; and appears not to know that the Haitian guest workers are in Springfield on a completely legal basis—under the ‘Immigration Parole Program‘. The Secretary of Homeland Security designated emigrants from Haiti as eligible for Temporary Protected Status (TPS); this is valid at least until February 2026. It is to be remembered that it was the United States under George Bush that deliberately destabilised Haiti culminating in the kidnapping and removal from office of the country’s elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, in 2004. At the beginning of October, Trump promised to revoke the legal status of those living in the town and contributing to its economy; then deport them. He really hates (and must be afraid of) non-white people. Vance too actually criticised the TPS status of Haitians in Springfield, saying openly and explicitly that Haitians weren’t the “…right kind of people…” to be living in the United States. Although he could presumably have made a more intolerant, offensive and divisive supremacist comment, he would have had to try pretty hard. But that should not surprise anyone as—a few days later—he boasted that he would willingly lie, exaggerate and fabricate such ‘news’, and also admitted that he had indeed made the whole pet-eating lies. As is the case with Trump, the number and absurdity of lies has been increasing the nearer we get to the election. Some residents in Springfield, though, have brought legal actions against Trump and Vance for what they are—still—doing. RACISM These developments, perhaps more than any other, ripped away any shred of decency which until then had kept the MAGA cult’s racism in small part hidden. Throughout September it became clearer than ever that for many this election is an opportunity for a fascist putsch to exclude, expel—at ‘best’ to demonise, at worst to exterminate—black immigrants in the United States because the MAGA cult sees them all as belonging to an inferior race; as rapists, criminals and a detrimental force on the lives of true (‘patriotic’) white Americans. They simply have… ‘bad genes‘. The supremacist message was finally overt, blatant, unapologetic, open; and being ferociously pushed with a lust for violence. Easily 99% of the Republican party was behind this, or hiding—in order quietly to acquiesce to what in some senses is a preparation for ethnic cleansing if the election goes their way. And conceivably to agitate for it if it goes against them. Two facts add to the alarming nature of this situation. Firstly, that about a third of the electorate (those who could well have voted to return Trump to office as president by this time next month) essentially support an election fought chiefly to promote white supremacy. It appears futile to try to alert members of the cult to its transgressive nature because such foul ‘core values’ excite and exhilarate the cult’s members, and validate their proud adherence to MAGA. Secondly, few on the left appear really to be able to situate MAGA in the swamp of revived global fascism… Biden, for instance, simply stamped his foot and uttered word redolent of Thatcher’s school ma’am “Now stop it!” Without understanding the (historical) origins of fascism and fascistic actions, opposing and meeting the threats head on will at best miss the mark; at worst it will be impossible, and fail. To be sure, few (if any) well-informed and experienced people have all the answers, or any. But that doesn’t mean they are unaware of—or not justified in drawing stark attention to—the problems. The small steps which need to be taken to confront MAGA are always still legitimate despite the absence in the public sphere of tried or superficially-novel alternatives demonstrably better than Harris/Walz Democrats. If the right and MAGA gain victory, it will not be because of any policies, argument or persuasion. Rather, it will be through attempts at intimidation, rigging the electoral system and systematically disenfranchising their opponents. Last month, as he ‘promised’, Trump used his golf club and residence in Bedminster, New Jersey, to host an event featuring at least one person indicted for his role in the January 6 attempted putsch: Timothy Hale-Cusanelli. This is a fascist apologist of the opinion that “Hitler should have finished the job” and “babies born with any deformities or disabilities should be shot in the forehead”. So, to repeat, the possible future president of the world’s most powerful nation, while not in attendance, did send a message: “…all of the people there, you’re amazing patriots… Have a great time at Bedminster”. MAGA Yes, the excesses of Trump and his cult are getting greater and farther than ever out of hand. Trump is, of course, a convicted felon, a twice-impeached misogynist, a lying, incompetent, not-completely-literate racist who has pushed conspiracy theories in multiple fields—not least when he made several attempts to overturn the results of the last election. Yet he still stands a good chance of being elected in about three weeks’ time. But for many it’s still not obvious why his opponents—particularly in media which one would expect to be sympathetic to ‘democracy’—aren’t more active in trying to demolish his appeal; and why they fail to challenge him more vociferously, articulating the evident threat he and the MAGA cult pose to the United States and indeed to the rest of the world. It seems as though the Harris/Walz approach has been to try and ‘keep the peace’, avoid what they see as ‘negativity’ and go easy on the ‘foibles’ of Trump—not because they are so appalling, but because they hardly align with the Democrats. Fears are beginning to be expressed that there will be much greater violence if Trump loses than most people care to admit. No wonder, when sentiments are expressed like those in a poll last month conducted by the World Justice Project. Fully 14% of Republican voters—that’s one in seven—are quite clear that if Trump loses they will “take action”. Nearly half said they would not accept the result if Trump loses (nor would Vance, for that matter). Presumably this is because they have convinced themselves—against all the evidence—that the electoral process is not ‘fair’… unless it results in a victory for Trump. Notes from the US has previously mentioned North Carolina election candidate Michelle Morrow before. It emerged last month that this frontrunner in the upcoming election was present and active in the January 6 riot at the US Capitol; and that she urged Trump to “[put] the Constitution to the side”, use the army to stay in power and carry out mass arrests for anyone who certified that election: “…if the police won’t do it and the Department of Justice won’t do it, then he will have to enact the Insurrection Act… which completely puts the Constitution to the side and says, now the military rules all…”. Morrow could still be elected next month. A similarly unfit state candidate is Mark Robinson. His rapidly-disintegrating candidacy may, though, adversely affect Trump—so extreme is Robinson’s unsuitability for public office. Yet—despite all the many scandals which would finish the career of any candidate in a ‘normal’ democracy— Robinson is still avidly supported by Trump. Things get even stranger, though. Last month Vance attended a gathering in person at which one of the key participants seriously expressed the view that Kamala Harris is a ‘witch’ and uses ‘witchcraft’ as part of her campaign strategy. The MAGA coven in Texas, for its part, is suing the Biden administration for access to any information it has on patients who are unable to obtain an abortion in states like Texas and so travel—legally—elsewhere to obtain one. Meanwhile a sheriff in Vance’s state, Ohio, has ordered residents to keep a list of their neighbours who have signs supporting Trump’s and Vance’s opponents. The implication is clear. There would be fewer such signs of dissent in future: if Trump is elected and has his way, he would make it illegal to even criticise the Supreme Court. ENVIRONMENT If you want to understand MAGA for the immature, selfish nonsense that it is, borne of an underdeveloped and severely distorted political system in the United States, then look no farther than to the death threats which were aimed at meteorologists tracking hurricanes Helene and Milton. Don’t like the message? Then kill the messenger. It hardly needs to be said now—but at this stage in the election it must be remarked on—that the collapse of the environment, the greatest threat to life on Earth, does not figure in the campaigns at all. Various polls show that the percentage of voters who say the environment is an issue is in the low single digits. Science is, however, emphatically unambiguous on how the climate degradation caused by excessive human-generated emissions of greenhouse gasses contributes to the frequency and severity of ‘weather events’ like hurricanes. Yet this understanding was mocked by the MAGA gang while Biden—after doing the obligatory tour of some of the areas devastated by the storm— went on to Texas the same day to raise funds from leaders of the fossil fuel industry. So it should come as no surprise that it was almost impossible to find a media/propaganda outlet which even mentioned what they still call ‘climate change’ (with the inference that it could also be for the better) in the context of hurricanes Helene and Milton. The main response—if any—of those in power when asked about the ‘apparently quite threatening’ uptick in such ‘natural’ disasters is almost always that they are taking—or “need to take”—better steps than the other side to prepare for them. As for Trump, Vance and the MAGA cultists, for them it’s nothing but a ‘hoax’. For a solid fortnight they have been making political capital from the storms by spreading conspiracy theories about their origin. Meanwhile there are activists who have increased their (conventional and probably largely ineffective) pressure on Florida’s governor, Ron DeSantis, who is of course an established climate denier. DeSantis seems quite sanguine about the hits which his state (and others) are taking from hurricanes in the context of climate collapse. He refused to take a phone call from Vice President Harris, for example, which he thinks would somehow acknowledge the climate emergency. But as the second (so far) hurricane was approaching his state, DeSantis was busy censoring radio stations which ran (legal and legitimate) advertisements on abortion. This time last month, convict Trump was in California trying to raise money for his campaign. While there he held a ‘press conference’; amongst other topics was the dire climate situation in the state which contributes fiercely to wildfires. In 2024 California experienced greater burning than the most recent five year average. Trump said, though, that if the votes were “counted properly” he would “win California” (in 2020 Trump lost the state by five million votes); then, as president, he would withhold federal firefighting aid for the state—unless its governor, Gavin Newsom (who Trumo childishly refers to as “Newscum”), does his bidding. GAZA Israeli state terrorism against Palestinians and Lebanese continues with almost total support from the US élite and media. At a Senate Judiciary hearing last month—while officials in Gaza were publishing a list of those slaughtered in their homeland, the first dozen or so pages of which contained babies—MAGA senator John Kennedy from Louisiana said to Maya Berry, executive director of the Arab American Institute, that for her support of Palestinians: “You should hide your head in a bag”. Again, predictably, on 7 October—after a year of Israel’s hugely disproportionate, genocidal response to the Hamas massacre of Israelis—far and away the greatest sympathy in the media was consistently and unapologetically exclusively for the Israeli hostages and the Israeli polity as a beleaguered victim. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Photo: Devastation in Asheville, North Carolina after Hurricane Helene. Wikimedia Commons The post Notes from the US: Countdown to dictatorship? appeared first on Freedom News.