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Reagan daughter Patti Davis on the Trump admin, and Bannon
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2017/03/05/is-ronald-reagan-s-vision-for-america-dead.htmlSince January 20th, I have shuddered every time I hear the phrase ‘America First.’ That was the rallying cry of Charles Lindbergh, an unrepentant anti-Semite, and the America First Committee when they wanted this country to ignore the holocaust going on in Germany. They wanted us to close our eyes, our hearts, and our borders. Let us please not forget the origins of that phrase.
Steve Bannon, the architect of this administration, has said he does not remember saying (as Ronald Radosh has claimed) that he is a Leninist who wants to bring everything crashing down. But Bannon has spoken about “deconstructing the administrative state.” He adheres to a theory of historical cycles, espoused by William Strauss and Neil Howe, that includes recurrent crises and claims that we are due for another. Mr. Bannon seems determined to bring that about. There is no love of country in wanting to tear apart its fabric and rip up its foundation. Destruction is not patriotism, it’s the underpinnings of tyranny.
Tyranny doesn’t blow in like a gale-force wind and transform the landscape in a day. It creeps in slowly, methodically. It instills fear, it creates enemies, it restricts freedoms, particularly freedom of the press. By creating and declaring enemies, you are governing by a doctrine of fear.
When Steve Bannon says, referring to the media, “If you think they’re going to give you your country back without a fight, you are sadly mistaken,” he is trafficking in fear. He may be unwashed, but he’s very smart, and well-schooled in the dark art of tyranny.
America, for all its strength and resilience, is not indestructible. No nation is. We will either splinter in fear and rage or we will rise up united in our love of the principles that built this country.
Steve Bannon, the architect of this administration, has said he does not remember saying (as Ronald Radosh has claimed) that he is a Leninist who wants to bring everything crashing down. But Bannon has spoken about “deconstructing the administrative state.” He adheres to a theory of historical cycles, espoused by William Strauss and Neil Howe, that includes recurrent crises and claims that we are due for another. Mr. Bannon seems determined to bring that about. There is no love of country in wanting to tear apart its fabric and rip up its foundation. Destruction is not patriotism, it’s the underpinnings of tyranny.
Tyranny doesn’t blow in like a gale-force wind and transform the landscape in a day. It creeps in slowly, methodically. It instills fear, it creates enemies, it restricts freedoms, particularly freedom of the press. By creating and declaring enemies, you are governing by a doctrine of fear.
When Steve Bannon says, referring to the media, “If you think they’re going to give you your country back without a fight, you are sadly mistaken,” he is trafficking in fear. He may be unwashed, but he’s very smart, and well-schooled in the dark art of tyranny.
America, for all its strength and resilience, is not indestructible. No nation is. We will either splinter in fear and rage or we will rise up united in our love of the principles that built this country.
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