This is, you know, textbook “Mein Kampf.”

Sunday evening I watched episodes 5 and 6 of Cosmos, the series originated by Carl Sagan in a recreation hosted by Niel deGrasse Tyson. Episode 5 explored the idea that because stars are so far away – sometimes millions of years – by the time the light gets to earth the star may be long dead. So the sky is full of ghosts. The animation of this episode was about William Herschel, a famous astronomer in England. He discovered a binary star and realized the gravity that affected life on earth also operated between all celestial bodies – and everything in the universe. The episode also discussed relativity – no matter the speed of the light source the speed of the light from that source, and every source, is always constant. Then there was a discussion of black holes – we know they’re there because of the gravitational effects on the bodies around it. The episode made an important point. Some branches of Christianity believe the earth was created only 6500 years ago. If that were true we could see nothing further away than 6500 light years away. Our sky would be quite empty. Where episode 5 went big episode 6 went small. It explored the world of the dewdrop. From there it discussed chlorophyll. It said that if we could harness what chlorophyll does we could power all human needs with the ultimate clean energy while sucking carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Then the show went on to flowers and scents, then atoms and molecules. The idea of atoms was theorized 2500 years ago in what is now Turkey. Some of the thinkers of that age created theater and the idea of democracy. They also figured out that things like thunder are the results of natural processes and not punishment for humans. Atoms form molecules and the repertoire of configurations of almost all atoms and the molecules they form are quite small. Crystals make only so many patterns. The lone exception is carbon, where the kinds of molecules it can form are vast. The Supreme Court has adopted a code of ethics! Finally! NPR host A Martínez talked to Amanda Frost, a law professor at the University of Virginia. She has testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Supreme Court ethics. The good bit is that public pressure had an effect. Frost said:

But I'm also concerned by the lack of an enforcement mechanism and by the suggestion in the opening statement to this code that it's all been a misunderstanding, and they've been following these rules all along, which just isn't true.

They talked about something better, such as legislation to impose oversight. And yes, Congress can impose some things on the Court – it already imposes a budget. Joan McCarter of Daily Kos also reviewed this code of ethics. She came to the same conclusion, though does so in a lot more detail. One example: The existing code for other federal judges says: “A judge shall disqualify himself or herself...” and the new Supreme Court code says, “A justice should disqualify himself or herself...” In both phraeses McCarter added the emphasis. Another section of the code uses phrases, such as a justice should not “knowingly” lend the prestige of the office to private interests. McCarter responds, “Because how often does a justice just stumble into an event not knowing that they’re going to be the star attraction?” Another big problem is a not-quite-explicit exception that says the justices can hang out with their Federalist Society buddies, no problem. The Federalist Society is the highly conservative group that worked to get five of them into their jobs. And hanging out with those pals is a big conflict of interest. On to the big story of the week. Dartagnan of the Kos community discussed an article in the New York Times written by Charlie Savage, Maggie Haberman, and Jonathan Swan. The article reported on one aspect of the nasty guy’s plan for when he is returns to the White House. He will be cracking down on immigration, including rounding up undocumented people, detain them sprawling camps, and deport them. They plan to round up so many they’ll need the help of state National Guard troops, local police, and maybe even the military. He will also restrict visa applications. They plan so many actions that are likely illegal that they would overwhelm the legal system, even though many courts now have many nasty guy loyalists. The effort will be led by white supremacist and former aide Stephen Miller. He’s dismissive of the economic disruption the loss of workers will have on the agriculture, hospitality, or construction industries. The nasty guy and his supporters clearly believe the public will support all this. These measures will feature prominently in his 2024 campaign. Mark Sumner of Kos reported on the nasty guy’s vile and alarming Veterans Day speech that mirrors Nazi propaganda. Sumner wrote:

“We pledge to you that we will root out the communists, Marxists, fascists, and the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country, that lie and steal and cheat on elections,” Trump said. He followed by saying that the threat from Russia, China, and North Korea was “less sinister, dangerous, and grave than the threat from within.”

Two important things to note. First, the word “vermin” was used by both Hitler and Mussolini to dehumanize opponents, at the time mostly Jews. Second, the praise for dictators and the claim that the threat is from within. Sumner then contrasted the headlines of the NYT with that of the Washington Post. On NYT: “Trump Takes Veterans Day Speech in a Very Different Direction.” On WaPo: “Trump calls political enemies ‘vermin,’ echoing Hitler, Mussolini.” Walter Einenkel of Kos posted a video of a conversation between Mehdi Hasan of MSNBC and Jason Stanley, a professor at Yale University and the author of “How Fascism Works.” They discussed that Veterans Day speech. The key phrase came from Stanley:

I mean, this is straight—it doesn't echo “Mein Kampf.” This is, you know, textbook “Mein Kampf.”

An Associated Pres article posted on Kos discussed the nasty guy’s plans for what he would do if he gets back into the White House. The article says the campaign and allied groups are “assembling policy books with detailed plans.” An overview of the plans: Dismantle the deep state – fire all federal employees felt insufficiently loyal to him, including firing officials that leak to reporters. There are laws to fire civil service employees for political reasons, but the first order would be to reclassify all employees as political appointees. Immigration, which is described above, though this adds ending birthright citizenship, which is part of the constitution. Trade – give himself authority to impose a tariff on any country that imposes one on us. Also, there is a plan to phase out China’s access to the US market. Foreign Policy – End the war in Ukraine, at least by cutting off US aid. Also, reevaluate NATO membership and stand with Israel. Transgender rights – ask Congress to pass a law specifying there are “only two genders,” creating bans on gender affirming care. Energy – “Drill, baby, Drill.” Education – both terminate the Department of Education and have influence over all schools and colleges. That includes abolish tenure, ban vaccine and mask mandates, promote prayer in schools, impose a “patriotic education” so kids don’t hate their country, promote the nuclear family with proper roles for men and women, and train teachers to carry weapons. Homelessness – there won’t be any, though little is said about where the currently unhoused will go. Public Safety – send the National Guard to cities “struggling with violence.” I’m sure that’s the Fox News depiction of the phrase. Also, shoplifters should expect to be shot. Hunter of Kos works from an article on Axios to add how much the Heritage Foundation has been a part of these plans. They’re the ones developing Project 2025, their name for the plans outlined above. Their policy book is already over 900 pages. One part of the plan not mentioned so far is a purge of the military of those who prioritize the Constitution over the nasty guy.

Strip out all of the people who objected, both in government and in the military itself, and a second coup becomes both plausible and winnable. This is not merely Trumpism. If it were Trumpism, then it would be Trump proposing the agenda and his underlings carrying it out. Trump himself, however, has been generally indifferent to policy except as means of riling his far-right base; it is the conservatives around him who have shaped that agenda and pressed for Trump to adopt it as his own. These four planks are the Heritage Foundation’s plan to unmake America, forming a one-party government that sees laws as unconstraining and fungible. Conservatism has fully collapsed into a fascist movement, and Trump is merely the tool. When he is gone, they will find another.

Einenkel reported that Joe Scarborough, host of “Morning Joe,” talked to Brian Klass, professor of global politics at the University College London. Here is part of what Klass said,

I study the breakdown of democracy, and I don't know how to say this more clearly. We are sleepwalking towards authoritarianism, and people are not waking up to this. And the Constitution is not written with magical ink. It is protected by the people who make brave choices during moments of political peril and we are in one of those moments. So the question is, do voters wake up as well? Because our political class is not rising to the challenge. They're not distancing themselves and the Republican Party from this rhetoric. They're just sort of pretending like it doesn't exist.

About that political class not rising to the challenge. Laura Clawson of Kos wrote about the Republican response to that speech. Some tried to compare it to Hillary Clinton’s “basket of deplorables,” though she used it as a call to vote, not a call to exterminate. Others refused to comment. In a pundit roundup for Kos Chitown Kev quoted a bit from the NYT mentioned above:

He plans to scour the country for unauthorized immigrants and deport people by the millions per year. To help speed mass deportations, Mr. Trump is preparing an enormous expansion of a form of removal that does not require due process hearings. ... Since Mr. Trump left office, the political environment on immigration has moved in his direction. He is also more capable now of exploiting that environment if he is re-elected than he was when he first won election as an outsider.

Note the millions per year. Kev also quoted Philip Bump of WaPo reporting on PRRI’s annual American Values Survey.

Included among the questions was one that specifically addressed the question of authoritarianism: Did they think that things in the U.S. had gone so far off track that we need a leader who would break rules in order to fix the country’s direction? About 2 in 5 respondents said they did. That included nearly half of Republicans. ... Less than half of respondents objected to the idea that we need a strong leader, even if the leader bends existing rules. A plurality of conservatives endorsed that idea. Less than half of respondents similarly expressed concern that the government might want to muffle critical reporting with a plurality of conservatives again expressing a lack of concern about that possibility.

In another pundit roundup Kev quoted Jamelle Bouie of NYT:

Americans are obsessed with hidden meanings and secret revelations. This is why many of us are taken with the tell-all memoirs of political operatives or historical materials like the Nixon tapes. We often pay the most attention to those things that are hidden from view. But the mundane truth of American politics is that much of what we want to know is in plain view. You don’t have to search hard or seek it out; you just have to listen. And Donald Trump is telling us, loud and clear, that he wants to end American democracy as we know it.

I’ve heard more from that guy, what’s-his-name, who is trying to challenge Biden for the Democratic nomination. There are those upset with Biden’s support of Israeli war crimes in Gaza and vow never to vote for him. And there are all those mentions of Biden’s age. All this is implying, sometimes outright saying, that this time Biden can’t win against the nasty guy. But I don’t see any other Democrat of national stature, including what’s-his-name, who could accomplish what these people say Biden can’t do. And all of the above shows how critical it is the nasty guy loses again. So I will vote for the Democratic nominee, including if it is Biden. And we keep repeating that until the MAGA movement goes away (which will be a really long time). After all that gloom we need something lighter. On Sunday mornings I listen to the first hour of NPR’s Weekend Edition Sunday. A feature of the hour is the puzzle. In a 6-7 minute segment host Ayesha Rascoe and NPR puzzle master Will Shortz will answer a challenge from last week, bring on a guest who correctly answered the challenge and ask them to play an on-air puzzle, then post a challenge for listeners to answer in the next week. Sometimes I can say the answers before the guest, sometimes not. This past week the segment with Shortz ran 15 minutes. Yeah, there was a puzzle. Then Rascoe and Shortz talked about his second passion of table tennis. And then they talked about Shortz’ love life. He’s gay. For a while he didn’t want to be gay. Then for a long time he was content to be single. Then at age 69 love found him. He’s now in his mid 70s and in a happy relationship.