John Casperson - The Collapse of Truth: The Emergence of American Fascism

Foreword

The United States of America is at a crossroads, the like of which we have never experienced. Since 1860, Americans have fought many wars, even one against ourselves, the Civil War. Those many wars have been costly in terms of blood and lives of both participants in battle and the family members who mourn their loss. Arlington Cemetery in Virginia and the many hallowed burial grounds in Europe bear the fallen soldiers, sailors, and marines of two world wars. Quarries on all continents are emptied of stone to provide silent epitaphs that bear witness to the valor of those combatants. Further, one might wonder how many quarries would be emptied if testimonies in stone were erected to commemorate the heartbreak of those left behind, never again able to hold their loved one but one more time. Only by proxy can we mourn the heroes who symbolically lay at rest beneath the flame of the Unknown Soldier in their gallant anonymity.

American wars fought prior to 2020 were against authoritarian governments. They might have been hot wars against fascismItaly (Mussolini), Spain (Franco), and Germany (Hitler)or cold wars against communismthe Soviet Union (Khrushchev et al.) and Cuba (Castro). But Americas wars represented democracy versus oppression, democracy against autocracy, democracy and the will of the majority against, for lack of a better term, totalitarianism, that is, Big Brother. The tables are turning; hopefully we can stop them from toppling over. It seems like the Trump administration, in its thirst for power, is ready to abolish the constitutional checks and balances they have taken an oath to uphold. When voting to impeach Trump, both houses of Congress voted essentially on party lines. The republican-held Senate refused to hear witnesses in the Senate trial! A trial without witnesses! The attorney general, William Barr, believes that Trump essentially is above the law. Mr. Barr has also stepped in to obstruct six investigations of Trump and his businesses by the Justice Department. Politicususa reports,

Attorney General William Barr has shut down six separate investigations into Donald Trump and his businesses since he took over the Department of Justice.

Author Don Winslow tweeted that his sources in the DOJ told him that Barr is shutting down investigations into Trump:

Don Winslow

@donwinslow

I have multiple sources inside the Justice Department that tell me when Barr became Attorney General he shut down *six* separate investigations into Trump and Trump related companies and surrogates.

Im told Barr has also prevented *two new* investigations from moving forward.

https://

twitter.com/brhodes/status

/1225575893424312324

Ben Rhodes

@brhodes

Barr is legit scary. Now consider 4 more years of DOJ as an extension of Trump-Barr worldview of an all-powerful executive

https://

twitter.com/NBCNews/status

/1225538457990258690

39.5K

7:58 PMFeb 6, 2020

The new information matches up with Barrs memo that notified the DOJ that any investigation into Trump or Pence had to be personally approved by him in writing. Barr is known to have been involved in Trumps Ukraine plot, and it seems would have no issue with letting the President Of The United States use federal enforcement to attack his political enemies.

If Winslows tweet is accurate, William Barr is running around and shutting down investigations into Trump and his businesses. Barr could go down in history as the most corrupt person to ever act as attorney general.

The nations top law enforcement official has become nothing more than Trumps cleanup man.

(Note: Ben Rhodes was Barack Obamas Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications.)

Barr wanted to become a Trump sycophant, Lindsey Graham became one. One might ask how Senator Lindsey Graham (R. S.C.) went from You know how you make America great again? Tell Donald Trump to go to hell to Trumps first footman (servant). On July 20, 2015, Graham told CNN, Trumps a jackass. On December 8, 2015, Graham told CNN, Hes a race-baiting xenophobic, religious bigot. He doesnt represent my party. He doesnt represent the values that the men and women who wear the uniform are fighting for. As a former member of the Office of the Judge Advocate General and Chairman of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, he would know. Graham, alas, is only one of many elected officials in the Republican Party to do a U-turn.

Over time, Lindsey has devalued his friendship with John McCain (now deceased) and cozied up to Donald Trump who had several deferments for military service for supposed bone spurs. Lindsey went from hero to zero. For those who have forgotten about John McCain, let me refresh your memory. In 1967, John McCain was piloting an A-4 Skyhawk when he was shot down over Trc Bach Lake, North Vietnam. He was subsequently captured, tortured, bayoneted, and imprisoned at Hoa Lo Prison, the Hanoi Hilton where beatings, interrogation, and torture continued. This mans extraordinary courage is given an almost surreal dimension when one considers the following circumstance. John McCains father was the commander in chief, Pacific Command, commander of all US forces in Vietnam. When the North Vietnamese became aware of this, John McCain was offered early repatriation. Due to his honor, and the honor he shared with his fellow prisoners, he refused out-of-turn repatriation. Thus John McCain waited five more years before coming home. His conduct and heroism brought exemplary honor in the highest tradition to himself and to those with whom he served. Lindsey now embraces the draft dodger who said McCain was not a hero, who says a man with six bankruptcies is an excellent businessman.

This book will explore the type of mindset in which this type of utter fealty from both elected officials and a substantial part of the electorate that will make more than possible, perhaps even probable, that in the first quarter of the twenty-first century, the United States of America will have transitioned from a democracy to a fascist form of government.