(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Vichy Republicans [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-04-07 Reclaim our narrative. The anti woke movement is anti- democracy. It is opposed to the authentic story of each American. Anti woke forces want to replace our collective narratives with a single dystopian ideology that promotes one view, once religion, once race. By opposing each of our narratives it assaults our integrity, our dignity, our meaning, our authentic diversity, our self determination. Authoritarian movements have certain features that set them apart from democratic movements They cannot tolerate the narrative of any citizen that conflicts with the one they wish to impose on the entire population. the anti-woke movement understands that by attacking each person’s narrative it is undermining the democratic foundations of self determination. Persons who do not believe they have a right to their own story will not participate in a democratic society. They will be more likely to accept the ideology of the state imposed upon them as a truth that cannot be opposed. This narrative is a dystopian ideology that must be obeyed for anyone to live in their society with any chance of success and tranquility. Their power requires maintaining their narrative without dissent. Any attempt to promote an alternative to this narrative is considered treason and an assault on the state and will never be met with reasoned dialogue. The authoritarian state will make every effort to annihilate the message and the messenger. The end always justifies the means. For the authoritarian movement, violence is a sign of patriotism and when violence is used to oppose any disagreement it is not only tolerated but applauded. Authoritarian movements like it. Human beings who are not loyal to the movement have no rights, and their lives are forfeited and have no value. All institutions that represent efforts to promote and protect the narratives and rights of all individuals to participate in a democratic state are enemies of the authoritarian state and must be discredited, disrupted, and finally destroyed: schools, universities, government, medical and health institutions, courts, libraries, newspapers, media, religious institutions that encourage diverse points of view must be eliminated and the citizenry forced to have only the state and its ideology as a source of information and explanation The redistribution of resources and political power to a handful of elite individuals creating an aristocracy or oligarchy is the primary goal of the system and this group selects the leaders who will affirm and maintain control over the state which is called fascism. Foreign policy will always be directed to support other authoritarian movements regardless of their positions and policies, and to show support for all leaders who aspire to impose authoritarian policies on their citizens. Regardless of their political or religious preferences, the fundamental goal of foreign policy of all authoritarian states is to promote authoritarian regimes whenever possible. Todays press continues to respond to the authoritarian movement that has taken over the Republican party as if the leaders and representatives of this movement are willing to work within the structure of the current democratic process. This is a naïve and fatal view. It has sadly occurred throughout the history of democratic countries. Orwell pointed out that it is the major flaw in democratic systems; their commitment to free speech, free elections and the right to assembly makes them late to recognize those internal threats by groups within their own borders who are opposed to securing these very rights for all the constituents of their society. they nurture the very seeds of their own destruction with no apparent awareness. This is why Steve Bannon and the MAGA movement can gleefully report that the political opposition has no response to his desire to blow up the current American electoral system. On the main stream media stations we continue to hear commentators say: How silly these Republicans are How foolish they sound Why cant these republicans grasp the truth? Why can’t they be reasoned with? Why do they act with such preference for excessive use of force, hatred, injustice, intolerance , injustice? Why don’t they respond to reasonable response to facts? to reality? Why indeed! These statements demonstrate a tragic inability to grasp the intention of authoritarian movements. Rather we should bd asking what is the political state that they are attempting to promote and build and what is their intention ? If they seem pleased with the injustice, oppression, violence, and hatred that they encourage could it be that they enjoy it? Authoritarian movements want to destroy democratic institutions and impose their narrative on everyone. That is the only purpose of being anti woke. That is why they support silencing and expelling elected officials, opposing alternative historical analysis. Or legal theory. Or religious theory. or medical and public health recommendations. Arguing over the details of their critique amuses them. That is a distraction. They identify anyone as woke who insists on the right to self-determination and self narrative without their approval. They cannot accept anyone’s right to their own story. And narrative gives us our sense of meaning, integrity, value. Affirmation. Without our own narrative we are open to oppression injustice intolerance and persecution. The anti woke movement is abusive. Asking an abuser to be reasonable without accountability is asking to be abused more. Allowing an abuser to deny your narrative and continuing to live within a state that protecfs only their narrative is asking to be abused more. If you engage with them you are making them legitimate. If you mock them you are making them victims. If you attempt to cooperate with them to build compromises, you will be appeasing them Silence in the face of an authoritarian movement is not maintaining decorum, it is complicity. Neutrality in the face of repression is not some form of political and professional respectability, it is collusion. The Republican party is no longer a serious participant in the democratic experiment we have cherished and our families have fought to protect for generations. there is a stench that is spreading through the Republican party.. A stench of hatred, intolerance, injustice, oppression, fascism. . It is now the Vichy Republican party. It reaches out to the anxiety, grief and fear of people who sense that their way of life, their sense of privilege, is now under assault. They are in denial that their leaders are authoritarian because they would have to accept feeling the distress of their own condition. they would have to abandon their narrative and their ideology to re- connect with Americans who do not share their narrative , their story, their religion. That is the core civic requirement of a democracy . To have the moral capacity to listen, to care for, to listen, to respect, to cooperate , to treat as equals ; but it will never happen in an authoritarian state that protects their denial as form of political privilege.. Anti woke is anti-democracy, not just anti-black scholasticism. Not just anti vaccine. Not just Anti science. Denial is a formidable defense mechanism to anxiety grief and fear. humans will do almost anything to distract themselves from these emotions. even if the cost is the harm to themselves their children their own lives. Demagogues understand this. Many Americans are having feelings of anxiety, fear, and grief. Our communities are experiencing rapid changes with more suffering, isolation, abandonment, losses. Authoritarian movements replace democratic solutions with an ideology that is based on violence, hatred, and injustice. But it first must create the conditions that enforce its narrative on the population. This narrative is always an ideology attached to some dystopian future that depends on the denial of the human spirit. That deadens the capacity of the population to have genuine sense of compassion and integrity and focus on each individuals need to survive at the expense of others. That is why the Republican party is not a pro- life party. it is a pro after life party. Life is not sacred. Their dystopian ideology is sacred. That is why the infant mortality rate rises in red states. Why covid19 deaths rise in red stats. Why the life span is declining in red states. It believes in coercive reproduction, not the right to life. It believes in coercive rationing, not freedom from vaccinations. No amount of human suffering and lives lost are enough to disrupt their claim to power. Even among their own followers they promote Death squad DeSantis and other red state governors whose states have higher mortality from COVID, from pregnancy, from childhood, from aging. trump committed crimes against civilian populations violating the Geneva conventions. Reclaim our narrative. Do not allow trump supporters to use their own language to define them or us. They are not “the new” republicans. They are Vichy republicans. Corporate and political leaders who support them are fascist collaborators. Trying to accommodate them is appeasement. Democrats who refuse to call them out are Chamberlain democrats. Their supporters are fascists sympathizers. They are your well-dressed well behaved neighbors, coworkers, our social and athletic contacts, friends, lovers ,and religious parishioners, congregants, and colleagues. They are family members. You know them. They are not strangers, dressed and speaking differently than you. They are an authoritarian movement of white supremacists and religious imperialists. They are pro-Trump pro insurrection pro treason mob. Arguing with them over the big lie that the election was stolen from them, and Trump, is a misdirection and a deflection of their true intentions. Redirect the narrative back to define who they are and what they represent. They are an authoritarian movement, and their leaders are not candidates in an electoral system but fascists who wish to destroy it. True opposition means resistance. Resistance starts with appreciating, respecting, loving ourselves. With validating and affirming our own story and everyone else’s. Each individual narrative is part of the democratic fabric of American society. And our collective stories transform our participation into an act of self-determination which is the core of a democratic society. We are all woke Americans. We must each wake up and act: individually and collectively. 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