Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

Things fall apart. The center cannot hold.

Chaos destroys their enemies (democracies) and enables authoritarians they can manipulate.

Who is hateful at every turn backed by oligarchs who are so self centered and greedy, lacking empathy for other humans so each day is feeling a sense of impending doom. They provoke hatred and anger so few are happy or optimistic as this PINO promotes war and antagonizes or aggravates just for fun. It's pathetic and he and his ilk are the cause.. Before Reagan and his era of greed anad selfishness America was a community of caring people. Ask yourself how you felt when Obama was president even though republicans blocked all he tried to do, enthusiasm was still in the air. This administration wants to bring ruin to everything good in America so we are born bought and sold

by Reagan, and Trump wants to finish the job

in fact their leader has lots of money
I heard it said he was the richest man in the world

sex on the wrong brain and the cure is simple....

I'm reminded of this poem every time a line or an image from it is quoted or used as a title...which is as often as anything from Shakespeare.

Frost is so much darker and richer than the two roads diverged cliche that has come to represent him.
Thanks.

Chilling is right.

than I ever read it before (which is saying something; it's one of my favorites).

And each time I do read it, I find something new to say, "yes, this is what is going on."

The "worst/best" line and the "center cannot hold" line are where we have been for years; it's only now been made apparent to those who were not watching as it unfolded.

I have no idea where we go from here.

That was so bad I am going to throw myself over the edge of the world to atone.

Thank you for enjoying my comments.

This is what I've found so far:



from here

and this primary source

"Unsere Strategie ist, .....den Feind von innen zu vernichten, ihn durch sich selbst vernichten zu lassen."

"Our strategy is...to destroy the enemy from within, to let him destroy himself."

In 1939, when musing about his plan to conquer France, Hitler described the 2016 election and its aftermath with unerring accuracy.

The original of the quote being discussed in the thread here is this: "«Geistige Verwirrung, widerspruchsvolle Gefühle, Unentschlossenheit, Panik — das sind unsere Waffen»"

"Mental confusion, conflicting feelings, indecision, panic--those are our weapons." That could just as easily have come from Bannon or Putin.

when referring to the student debt burden and the dearth of real jobs at living wages for our young people, but I think it applies to your long list of damages, as well.

K&R.

Let's say, thank God, Trump is forced from office. Everyone with a brain and a heart sighs in relief.

Trump's base is outraged, oh the humanity someone stopped a Nazi-loving POTUS.

A Democrat gets into office because of the backlash. The VRWC goes to work on him or her and successfully demonizes him/her.

A much smarter and much more subtle version of Trump gets elected. Overton's window gets pushed even further to the right.

Rinse repeat until the 21st century witnesses officially-recognized Great Depression 2.0 because of unstable financial institutions and extreme wealth inequality. This time, a Hitler wannabe gets elected instead of the 21st century version of FDR. We're fucked.

I really hope I'm wrong.

The corruption, the hearings, the court convictions, and a country ready to move on. Carter was elected but only served one term as he was demonized for the next 4 years through a carefully crafted spiral of negativity that eventually fed on itself due to an unstable economic and geopolitical environment, and in swoops slick Raygun, a half-baked actor to play the part the RW wanted him to play.

If Trump was a lot more intelligent, more mature and a great deal more subtle, he would be far more dangerous. Pence is more dangerous but I think we can counteract him. Could we counteract a Hitler-wannabe (but against Muslims probably) during a full-blown depression ? I have my serious doubts.

taking back the House after 12 years out of control of it. But then after the election of Barack Obama in 2008, our electorate fell asleep during the 2010 elections - and notably at the state level - which was the year of a crucial census. This lead to a spate of gerrymandered congressional districts unlike anything seen before, sealing our fate for the following 10 years.

I am heartened however, about the state focus in the elections this past year. It is crucial that we solidify our representatives and governors in the states so that when the next census comes around (where Drumpf is already trying to put in someone to basically tear it all up), we can have a better shot at regaining our rightful number of seats in Congress.

(remarkable how that works) that everything we are dealing with today politically flows directly from Nixon's impeachment. The GOP said "never more" and has conspired relentlessly since then. And here we are today readying to refuel that cycle ... because we frankly have no other option (relying on 2020 alone is too frighteningly fraught with risk).

So the question is: how do we break that cycle? How do we slay the beast?

whoever is left with half a brain cell in the GOP have to be the ones to "break that cycle". They used to have an entire "intellectual class" within that party that sortof began with William F. Buckley and has now devolved into attracting the very scum of the earth into the party while suppressing votes (which eventually may backfire on them too), and summarily ejecting their intellectuals (who sat back and did nothing as the party began to self-destruct). In essence, we are seeing the fulfillment of all the promises that Raygun, Poppy, and Shrub made to those who we call "deplorables" in exchange for their votes, yet were never delivered to them. I.e., they were shoved to the back burner as usual. But not this time. Drumpf courted them and continues to embrace them, and they are determined to finally get "their due", and this is the closest that they have ever been to doing so.

When you see people on DU jaw-droppingly agreeing with he likes of Bill Kristol, David Frum, and George Will, then you can see how far the GOP has fallen. IMHO, and I may be wrong but... I expect that there may be an "underground" group forming out of the "never-Trumpers" who might attempt to retake their party.

That we may make short term gains, but they will never stop coming after us and you know how dirty they fight. I really fear for the future.

We were a lot more civil before he came along. Vladimir Putin is a James Bond villain. He has been using the internet to spread fear and misinformation since he came into power, and that has been breaking humanity, and it broke the United States. If we ever get back in power, we need to declare Russia as a hostile enemy of the free world. Sanctions aren't enough. It's time to do something about this monster. He's no better than Osama bin Laden.

Just waiting to see what horrible things are done almost hourly. This all seems unreal.

Something feels over-determined.

Combine Milton Friedman and Buchanan's economics with Oligarch control of media, education, energy, food supply, environment, health care, and the judiciary---and we're f&*cked.

Because most of them are sociopaths.

The rest of us are essentially going straight to Hell BEFORE we die.

everybody broke and hunger rampant.

For many in the world that is already reality.

One huge difference is simply the population now versus then.

The "independents", Republicans and especially Trump's base don't get it. We do. A depression makes everything completely obvious, but I sure as hell hope we never get there again.

The truly scary part is now we have the weapons to destroy ourselves too.

Anyone notice, that we are pretty much the laughing stock, of the planet. Just had to throw that in. Sorry..

and I don't generally feel despair.

This was taken during the Depression. Notice how the woman is hiding her face, and how the children are hanging on to each other. I fear things are going to get this bad again before people believe the good ol' days aren't coming back and start voting for Democrats up and down the ticket again.

we need to pay attention to the clerks/sos

and the 1%ers that own the companies that make machines ,design reporting web sites

make sure we vote in overwhelming numbers

they cheat about the vote in every other possible manner why not electronically?

I've suspected the legitimacy of every election. But, if the only power we really have to change it is our votes, well, it's that's a vicious cycle.

hopefully Alabama


there is still time for folks to register to vote, they have until 15 days before the election to register

We, on the left, have been too busy trying to be fair to monsters and "defending with our lives their right to say it" to be of any real use at all.

And the party can't even decide that this is war and it has to fight (think how nice Obama was to the GOP -- we really couldn't afford that).

Yes, as has been said on DU before: Democrats are going to have to learn to fight Republicans the way Republicans fight Democrats.

as best we can. It is coming at us from all sides so attention is fractured. We need more than the Democratic politicians who are interviewed on MSNBC on speak up. Call press conferences.
Republican lawmakers need to be called out more forcefully.

The Rs organized around a tea party that had an ambiguous platform so people hopped on because they were angry or dissatisfied. We need a generic gathering point that includes all concerns - it should be the Democratic Party showing strength.

This episode has been coming to mind a LOT lately. For you young'uns, the second link explains what was happening on Maple St. And it's all too familiar today.

freaking me out. It's so surreal and that is exactly what I feel that we are going through right now. It's just too surreal. I can't even get my mind around it most of the time.

But he wasn't allowed to be obvious with his knowledge...he had to give us clues and hope we caught on, so he became a writer. Ever notice how often his themes were about nuclear annihilation? We don't seem to have learned.

You should write it!

Never really tried my hand at writing, but this could be fun! Thanks!

Having recently read “Dark Money” I believe that it can all be attributed to a few who have amassed so much wealth and power that they no longer see themselves as mere humans. They have bought Congress, the courts and the White House. They are executing a carefully planned attack on democracy to keep the pendulum from ever swinging back. Gerrymandering, voter suppression, repressive tax policy, perversion of social media, unchecked campaign spending and cultivation of divisive issues are the key weapons in their arsenal. For them government is not an instrument of the common good but a means to amassing more wealth and protecting it. It is not surprising that the ultra wealthy see themselves in the same light as Russian oligarchs. They are not nationalists but a tribe of billionaire kleptocrats.

The only rhyme or reason I can think of is that it doesn't relate to the world at all. We just have an insane narcissist in control who is attempting to make the world spin around him and will manipulate all he can to make it so.

The world being out of control is not the issue, the question is are you intact?

Don't let it all get to you.

I've been doing disaster relief work in the Caribbean, looking at Maria and Irma damages, and all I can say is:

Keep yourself healthy, even if around you the world is blowing up...

"We’re doing this to ourselves. We chose to create our own monsters."



How is that exactly?

(I do agree with your list of problems, of course)

are correct on many points. But I see them applying primarily to the US as a nation, rather than to the world as a whole. This, IMO, is a tragic shame, when for so long we were seen by the world as an admirable example to follow. No more, I'm afraid. Not at all.

If anything, the US is serving as a VERY bad example of what happens to democracy when a population is deliberately dumbed down, people do not inform themselves about the issues, preferring personalities to programs and money rules the airwaves. Most developed nations around the world - especially in Europe - are determined NOT to follow this example. Even some in the developing world are paying attention.

This is not to say that everything is perfect here and there are lots of niggling problems that need to be addressed. But there is strong national commitment to European unity and the strong post-WWII social democracies that evolved healthily in most of Europe - even in the UK until Margaret Thatcher - are well entrenched here. Best of all, with the horrors of Trump made manifest on a daily basis, most have learned that they must never take anything for granted - if they ever really forgot. After all, this region LIVED through two world wars in the 20th century, while the US was largely spared.

The only good thing about having the Orange Abomination in office is that most I know in the international community and my local community here are now well on guard about Russian and other meddling in their processes and institutions - to an extent they might never have been otherwise.

But yes, if it weren't for events like the Women's March and other good work that is being done by many to elect good Dems to office in order to turn the tide, I would have given up on everything in the US by now.

There has rarely been a day since Election Night 2016 that I have not been in tears for my country. I will NOT forgive.

November 7 was just a tiny hint of what *could* come, as long as people don't give up.

Don't give up.

Nothing to add.

Thanks for posting the truth even if it is so so very painful.

Obama did it.

Obama did it.

Obama did it.

Ad infinitum.

Human overpopulation...I'm certain this is at the central foundation of everything exploding out of control now. And it's continuing to increase. More and more people needing shelter and resources that are finite and eat away the fragile crust we --And every other being--depend on.

Those other beings are the first to be decimated to make room for us, our needs, our fancies, and our pathologies. Humans have always been a mixed bag, but while there was enough space to accommodate us and the rest of Earth's residents, our harmful practices weren't as impactful on the systems, natural and manmade, that allow us to live with some confidence that the sun will continue to rise on a daily basis.

The butterfly effect is so much more critical now, as we continue to add to the population load we all must live in.

I don't want to live in a world where 50% of other species have been extincted because we refuse to limit our own numbers. That will be a world with no beauty and a shriveled heart.

I don't want that.🖤💔😭💔🖤

We are together, almost 70% of us. We are awake, we are angry, we are active. We must continue to #resist.

That one fact alone is INSANE. More insane facts: The person occupying the White House is a megalomaniac. He is mentally unstable and completely unfit to serve as president, and yet he is tolerated and allowed to continue his destructive narrative. He and his team make no real effort to even hide what they’re doing. And yet this is allowed to continue.

In order to stomach #45, a person would have to suffer from one (or more) of the following: ignorance, fearfulness, mental illness, anger issues, xenophobia, bigotry, spitefulness, selfishness, extreme cynicism.

There exists NO healthy reason to vote for the Asshole-in-charge. None. So it would appear that the daily insanity and weird behaviors will continue indefinitely.

magnitude can be overwhelming. As a people we are not completely powerless as the immense opposition to the healthcare repeal outrage proved. It also showed us that when smart and caring women beside determined men decide to defend their families, and by extension society as a whole, what we are truly capable of doing. Women for too long have been excluded from the corridors of real political power. The recent elections gives reason for hope that we can have a better nation and a better world. Those who use a $ yardstick to measure everything cannot be allowed to continue to hoard power and resources solely for themselves.
The work to level the gerrymandering playing field being done by President Obama and ex AG Eric Holder was recently highlighted by Rachel who went to great length to stress that it’s importance cannot be overstated. The $ hoarders fear the real and more powerful currency, which is knowledge.
Happy thanksgiving all.