Blitzkriegs

The Deprogramming Dilemma – 20

Blitzkriegs

By D-Jay

More than six months after the Trump cult’s invasion of the Capitol, things could not be more discouraging.  Far from that being the point at which Republicans would finally step back from the brink, their assault on democracy since then has only been gathering steam. 

Is it now approaching a critical mass?

What started out years ago as a slow-motion coup d’etat (as we documented here back in 2016), is now becoming nothing less than an all-out blitzkrieg.

A full-on attack on what makes America America.

Hearing the word “blitzkrieg,” most of us immediately think of the early days of World War 2, when Hitler’s panzers first rolled through hapless Poland and then, half a year later, France, with its “invincible” Maginot Line.

There are other examples we can point to.

The Japanese conquest of “invincible” Singapore is one.  Instead of launching a straight-forward sea attack into the face of the city-state’s massive guns, they simply raced down the Malay Peninsula on cheap bicycles, out-maneuvering and defeating a larger British force in the process.  From there, it was an easy matter to cross the narrow straights, head up into the hills and capture the city’s water supply. Turns out Singapore’s giant cannons were all pointed in the wrong direction.  The British had lost their naval defenses by letting them be lured into a torpedo plane ambush by sending them out to stop an earlier landing without any air cover.

And this after Pearl Harbor’s example of what an air attack could do to the era’s battleships.

For perhaps the best example of the tactic, however, we should go back to the 13^th Century, when Genghis Khan united Mongolia’s relatively backward tribes of horsemen and proceeded to rapidly forge the largest empire in the history of the world.

What made these campaigns so successful?

None of them had huge lead in military technology and they were all outnumbered by their enemies.

The Mongols had powerful bows and steel rods in their stirrups that allowed them to stand up and fire an arrow accurately from a moving horse. This was an advantage to be sure, but not exactly a smart bomb or nuclear weapon.

The Japanese and German’s had even less.  In 1939, the French and British actually had more troops tanks and aircraft than the German and for the most part, the quality was competitive. 

And the big secret weapon used by the Japanese in Malaysia? 

Bicycles.

So, not larger numbers of troops. Not an overwhelming advantage in weaponry. What made these blitzkriegs so effective?

Speed, coordination, clever tactics and ruthlessness were all key elements.  The Germans, the Japanese, the Mongols – all made brilliant use of highly mobile forces to attack weak points and break up larger forces into uncoordinated groups that were easily destroyed.

Fear was also weaponized.

Surrender now, said the Nazis to the French, or Paris will be demolished. 

Surrender now, said the Japanese to the defenders of Singapore, or we’ll cut off your water supply and you’ll all die of thirst. 

Surrender now, said the Mongols as they approached the city gates of their next target, or we’ll massacre every last one of you.

They all meant it, and it often worked.

Even more important, however, was the simple fact that their enemies were all fighting the last war - and they were not.

They moved fast and hard, demolishing their opponents before they knew what hit them.

In the blink of an eye, stable societies had collapsed.

And everything had changed.

For the worse.

Don’t think for a minute that it can’t happen here.

No bullets are flying yet. The Proud Boys aren’t marching en mass with their assault rifles loaded and no more government buildings have been occupied since January 6th, but don’t let the lack of overt violence fool you.

Before Genghis Khan conquered the largest empire in the history of the world, he first had to take the time to unify the Mongol tribes and forge them into a single force.

The period between the German invasion of Poland and its lightning strike into France was actually called the “phony war” because so little was happening.

The Japanese had to bring an isolated feudal country up to the technological level where it could take on the most powerful military forces of the day.

Here too, don’t think for a moment that the calm before the storm means that a storm isn’t coming.

It is.   

In fact, the Orange Horde of Donald Trump is already on the march.  In state houses throughout the country, a blitzkrieg of voter-suppression and resulting nullification laws is already underway. 

Mitch McConnell’s years-long blitzkrieg on the federal courts has succeeded wildly. By gutting the Voting Rights Act, his 6-3 radical right majority on the Supreme Court has thrown its full support to the Republican state houses efforts to undermine democracy.

A blitzkrieg of contagious Trumpian insanity and QAnon conspiracy theories has swept through the minds of millions of Americans, destroying their ability to tell the difference between deranged fantasy and objective reality.

A blitzkrieg of fakery and lies has flooded every corner of the toxic right-wing media – what we here on Cannonfire call the Iron Bubble of Disinformation.

Mark my words, however, the worst is yet to come.

At some point, the guns will come out – perhaps when the disgraced former president himself is finally indicted.

Are we ready for that?

To quote President Biden’s very welcome, if not long overdue, speech on the right-wing assault on voting rights, “I don’t mean to alarm you.  But you should be alarmed!”

 

****************************************************************************************

Contributing factors to our democratic decline:

From the Right

Truth Decay – Destruction of the Ability to Distinguish Fantasy from Reality

Ever Worsening Demonization of the Media

Manufactured Distrust of Science and Expertise

The Iron Bubble of Disinformation

The Dark Money Conspiracy

Information Warfare Aimed at Us

Domestic Terrorism

Emergence of a Full-blown Cult of Personality

Ongoing Voter Suppression and Gerrymandering

Election Security

Continued Weaponization of Social Media

Toxic Right-wing Pseudo-Christianity

Racism

Sexism and a Pseudo-Macho Mentality

Putinism and the International Neo-Fascist Movement

Lack of Education in Civics and Critical Thinking Skills

Destruction of Crucial Democratic Norms

The Collapse of Good Manners and Propriety

Radicalization

Sedition

From the Left (and Sometimes the Center)

OTT PC (Over-The-Top Political Correctness)

Inept Messaging

Lack of Media Investment

Arrogance

Surrender of Rural America Without a Fight

Failure to Call Out and Counteract Toxic Right-Wing Christianity

Failure to Call Out Right-Wing Racism, Sexism and Fascism for what it is, and Counteract it in Time

Framing Too Many Issues as Being Rooted in Race Rather than Economics and Class

Failure to Recognize Just How Bad Things Can Really Get

Forever Bringing Beanbags to a Knife Fight

Failure to Protect Critical Norms

(To read the rest, click "Permalink" below)