#Reichstag Fire

[davidaugust]

The last 24 hours of the TikTok ban is a less violent retread of the Reichstag fire.

[poorrichardjr]

Conspiracies Abound

If you ever spend any time around MAGA individuals you will quickly run into at least three different conspiracy theories before the first twenty minutes of conversation, and even more if you start speaking about politics. The country is doing terribly because of a loss of God, satanic democrats drinking the blood of raped babies they murdered just after they were born, or because of the Illuminati, deep state, or UN. Pick your poison and a MAGA has a conspiracy theory that explains everything. Covid was a Chinese hoax designed to get Biden elected. There is no limit to their madness.

No offense to any of these people. I understand the need to explain things that seem "unusual." The thing is, almost none of these people understand Occam's Razor, which states that the simplest explanation for any situation is often correct. America sucks because we elect bad leaders and don't take the time or effort to do the work to determine who really would be a better politician for us. Instead we descend into tribalism that has determined our entire view of the world.

The thing is, conspiracy theories have a place. It just depends upon why you are using them. Believe it or not, but conspiracy theories can be used to make yourself more aware of things that you should be paying attention to. If a conspiracy theory makes you suspicious of the election process, you "could" spend more time learning about it and trying to understand it. We know that almost never happens, but it is always a way to combat the craziness of some more outlandish conspiracy theories.

Another plus of conspiratorial thinking, not necessarily the theory spinning so popular in America today, is to posit future possibilities. Depending upon how far you take it the "theories" become more and more conspiratorial. However, there is a good reason to sometimes spin these yarns, especially when it comes to dictatorially minded politicians. I am not saying you should take all of these theories so seriously that you see the possibilities of the thinking everywhere, but it can make you aware of situations that are definitely questionable at best.

For instance here is a conspiracy theory to be aware of, simply because it has happened in history and considering our current situation could be a factor in our future. Complain all you want about how many people are drawing parallels between Hitlerian Germany and modern America, but any historian worth their salt will tell you there are many similarities. Hitler complained about Jews and undesirables, Trump complains about immigrants and undesirables. Each divided the people of their nations. Each came to power through election where they did not receive the plurality of the vote.

Here are some similarities that haven't yet come to pass. Hitler placed people into positions of power who had no experience in those jobs but who had a lot of disdain for the functions of those departments. Trump is nominating people to lead departments who fit that mold, though the Senate "might" keep them from those positions (though I doubt it). Hitler deported people, made life so uncomfortable that many "undesirables" left, and eventually put people into camps. We know how that ended. Trump is promising mass deportations for legal and illegal immigrants, removal of citizenship, and massive camps. We can go on, but you get the picture.

So, here is where I will give you a conspiracy theory to ponder. Hitler had power when he got his Chancellorship, but that wasn't enough. Similar to how Trump being president isn't quite enough to turn him into a dictator. What really gave Hitler power was the moment he was able to remove his oppositions ability to interfere with his plans. Enter the Reichstag fire, the pretext the Nazi's used to seize total power and jail and make illegal opposition parties.

Yesterday all I heard from some people was that the people Trump was nominating for power were being targeted with bombings and swatting threats. I expect tons of protests when Trump takes office, especially if he gets his way and starts deploying the military and police to go through cities. Here is where the conspiracy comes into play. Some event is going to happen in the future that causes the right wing talking heads to demand Trump crack down on the opposition. Whether that is the death of a possible head (even if it isn't caused by liberals or immigrants) or a riot by the "liberals."

Where that goes is anybody's guess, but if history repeats itself it will be the fundamental issue that gives Trump the power he needs and craves to do everything he wants. As I said, it is a conspiracy theory, but one based in some semblance of reality. As reactionary as our republican "friends" are, I wouldn't put it too far past them to try something like this. Care to take bets now?

[originalleftist]

WARNING for US Protesters:

There have been calls for a large "50 State" protest to be held at state capitols across the country tomorrow.

However, there are increasingly worrying signs that this is actually an op by bad actors.

Just a couple posts by people I know on Spoutible, warning that their local Democrats have put out warnings about infiltration and unreachable organizers (names redacted):

The worry is that this might be, as mentioned above, a ploy to gather information, or even an attempt to cause a conflict or stage/instigate a violent clash in order to give the regime a pretext for a crackdown/martial law (something the Felon claimed he would do on day one).

Recall also that after the 2016 election, Russian propagandists notoriously backed opposing rallies at the same location.

I don't know if that's what's happening here, but I would be very sceptical of any "protest" who's organizers can't be reached, or who's QR codes link back to pedophilia advocates.

Probably best not to attend, and whether you do or don't, exercise extreme caution tomorrow. Be on the look out for provocateurs and misinformation.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Dean Obeidallah at The Dean's Report:

Donald Trump is by design making our nation less safe from potential terrorist attacks. That is not just my opinion, but that of two experts I spoke to this week, Frank Figliuzzi—who served as FBI’s Assistant Director for Counterintelligence—and Rep. Dan Goldman, a former federal prosecutor who now serves on the House Committee on Homeland Security. We have all seen the headlines about Trump purging our national intelligence agencies of seasoned, non-partisan public servants—including some of the FBI’s top managers overseeing criminal, national security and cyber investigations. On Friday, Trump vowed to fire even more FBI agents who worked on his cases and prosecuting his supporters who waged the Jan. 6 terrorist attack. Trump has also taken the unprecedented and dangerous effort to gut the CIA and National Security Agency by offering buyouts to every single employee there.

Worse, the replacements being hired at our intelligence agencies—as the Washington Post reported Sunday—must pass in essence a Trump loyalty test by answering whether the 2020 election was “stolen” and was the Jan. 6 attack was an “inside job”? As The Post detailed, candidates “who did not give the desired straight “yes” answers, were not selected.” Rep. Goldman told me point blank that these Trump actions are “making our nation less safe.” The New York representative passionately explained, “by removing senior officials, you are removing hundreds and hundreds of years of expertise and experience and institutional knowledge, and that jeopardizes every single American.”

Figliuzzi-who served in the FBI for more 25 years—echoed that very sentiment, noting that purge of senior intelligence figures and replacing them with unqualified Trump loyalists has already made “America less safe.” Figliuzzi explained that the key to effective intelligence work is developing relationships with people in other nation’s intelligence communities. But with Trump removing so many senior people, the result is our intelligence counterparts in other nations are going to be reluctant to share info that could prevent attacks on our nation for fear that the information will not be protected. Figliuzzi—who serves as MSNBC’s national security expert--noted this is especially true given Trump was criminally charged with “squirreling away hundreds of classified documents at the top-secret level--some of them from foreign powers.”

[... The bottom line-as Goldman warned—is that the US under Trump is “going to get so much less critical intelligence that we use every day to stop terrorist attacks, to stop massive drug transactions and criminal enterprises. Goldman bluntly concluded that Trump is now “jeopardizing our daily public safety and national security.”

This is where we find ourselves as a nation. And there is no doubt Trump and “President Musk” get this as well. The question is why? I have no evidence that Trump is actually rooting for a terrorist attack on U.S. soil. (Although that is fair question.) But what I can say with absolute certainty is that if one were to happen, Trump would follow the fascist/authoritarian playbook to grab more power, reduce what little checks remain on him and silence dissent. The reason I can say that with confidence is because history tells us that is exactly what aspiring tyrants do as Yale Professor Timothy Snyder lays out in his book, “On Tyranny.” Snyder writes, “When the terrorist attack comes, remember that authoritarians exploit such events in order to consolidate power.” [...]

Snyder offers a famous example of the 1933 fire that struck the German parliament—known as The Reichstag--one month after Hitler became chancellor of Germany. While historians have debated who actually started the fire, it’s undisputed that Hitler saw an opportunity to grab power. He quickly issued a decree that suspended the basic rights of German citizens--allowing them to be “preventively detained” by the police. And with the Nazi party in control of the Parliament, less than a month later they passed the “Enabling Act,” known formally as “The Law to Remedy the Distress of the People and the Reich.” It was this law that empowered Hitler to rule by decree making him a dictator. From there, the first group Hitler imprisoned in concentration camps in early 1933 were his political opponents and critics. By July 1933, nearly 27,000 political prisoners were incarcerated in these camps. Snyder writes, “For tyrants, the lesson of the Reichstag fire is that one moment of shock enables an eternity of submission.”

Another Dean Obeidallah column that hits home some vital truths.

[themuskrater]

So the tiktok ban turned out to be a publicity stunt for Trump, and now the app just feels... gross

DON'T BE FOOLED. THIS IS WHAT FASCISTS DO

They start a fire and then demand you thank them for putting it out. He wants your praise, so he created a problem, blamed his advisories, and then pretended to solve it. Does that sound familiar to you?

[godisarepublican]

[ineffableigh]

Figures.

[recently-reanimated]

So this is going to be like the American Reichstag fire right? I should pack a go bag and figure out how long it takes to hike to Canada?

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

“ORDERS ARREST 100 COMMUNIST MEMBERS HOUSE,” Kingston Whig-Standard. February 28, 1933. Page 10. ---- German Reichstag Building Is Severely Damaged by Incendiary Fire --- BERLIN, Feb. 28 - William Goering. Cabinet Minister without portfolio, early today ordered the arrest of 100 Communist members of the Reichstag, a few hours after fire of incendiary origin had swept the first floor of the Reichstag Building.

Police began making the arrests shortly after 4 a.m. The Communists will be held pending a complete investigation of the blaze, which let night did damage estimated at several million marks. 

Herr Goering was placed in complete charge of the probe. He also ordered the suspension of the entire Leftst press. 

Every fire company in Berlin was rushed to the scene. After fighting the flames for two hours, the fire was under control at 10.45 p.m.. but the east wing still smouldered. The glided cupola above the Reichstag meeting hall was reduced almost to ruins.

Police arrested a man giving the surname of Van der Lubbe, 24 years old, who said he was a Dutch Communists. He refused to talk further, but authorities heard from other sources reports that explosives had perhaps been placed in the burning heap.

[withlibertyandjusticeforall]

Trump will declare martial law this year. So he can have the kind of power he craves.

Whether from "immigration" or upheaval (which may be manufactured, Reichatsg Fire-style)

[arcticdementor]

(link)

[victusinveritas]

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Markers of permanence surround us.

January 2, 2025

Robert B. Hubbell

Two incidents described as terror attacks marked the first day of 2025. In the wake of such tragedies, our first and last thoughts should be about the victims and their families. In New Orleans and Las Vegas, there are dozens of families dealing with tragedy on a day meant for celebration and reflection. They deserve the support, care, and concern of the American people and their government. In the days to come, we must not allow coverage of the terrorists and their methods to overwhelm the human toll of their acts.

Reports regarding the two incidents have changed in material respects throughout the day, especially regarding the potential existence of co-conspirators (in New Orleans) and the nature of the attack (in Las Vegas). As I write, the supposed “facts” are still in flux. So, I recommend two sources for the current understanding of the facts, recognizing that they are provisional.

As to the attack in New Orleans, see FBI, FBI Statement on the Attack in New Orleans. The FBI’s statement includes the following:

Today, at approximately 3:15 a.m. CST, an individual drove a pickup truck into a crowd of people on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, killing at least 10 and injuring dozens of others. After hitting the crowd, he exited the vehicle and fired upon local law enforcement. Law enforcement returned fire, and the subject was pronounced deceased at the scene. Two law enforcement officers were injured and transported to a local hospital. The subject has been identified as 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a U.S. citizen from Texas. He was driving a Ford pickup truck, which appears to have been rented, and we are working to confirm how the subject came into possession of the vehicle. An ISIS flag was located in the vehicle, and the FBI is working to determine the subject's potential associations and affiliations with terrorist organizations.

Weapons and a potential IED were located in the subject’s vehicle. Other potential IEDs were also located in the French Quarter.

As of Wednesday evening, reports are conflicting as to the existence of co-conspirators in the New Orleans attack.

As to the Las Vegas incident, see CNN, Tesla Cybertruck explosion at Trump hotel in Vegas investigated as a possible terrorist act, law enforcement official says.

Authorities believe fireworks, gas tanks and camping fuel were connected to a detonation system controlled by the driver in the Tesla Cybertruck that exploded outside a Trump Hotel in Las Vegas Wednesday morning, according to a law enforcement official briefed on the investigation. Surveillance video shows a driver passing by the Trump Hotel in Vegas about an hour before the car explodes, and then circling back near the end of that hour and stopping in front of the hotel, where the car explodes several seconds later, according to a law enforcement official briefed on the investigation. The FBI is working to determine whether the incident was a terrorist act, Jeremy Schwartz, acting special agent in charge for the FBI’s Las Vegas office, said Wednesday. The agency believes it was an isolated incident and there is no further danger to the public, Schwartz noted.

To reiterate, the Las Vegas incident is being investigated as a terror attack, although no firm conclusion has been reached regarding the nature of the attack. In contrast, President Biden said in remarks on Wednesday evening that the FBI identified a video posted on social media in which the New Orleans attacker expressed sympathies for ISIS.

The domestic political environment in which the attacks took place

Trump's nominees view federal law enforcement and security agencies as enemies of the people

The attacks occur as the nominees of the incoming administration have been hand-picked to dismantle or neuter the capabilities of intelligence agencies designed to prevent the types of attacks that occurred on Wednesday. The president-elect’s nominees view the FBI and federal intelligence agencies as enemies of the people.

One of the president elect’s first acts will be to pardon insurrectionists who sought to prevent the peaceful transfer of power by mounting a violent attack on the US Capitol. What message will those pardons send to aspiring terrorists?

What message will potential domestic terrorists take from the appointment of a Secretary of Defense who was flagged as a possible “insider threat” by the US military based on Christian nationalist symbols tattooed to his chest? The Independent, (11/15/24),��Pete Hegseth flagged as possible ‘Insider Threat’ over tattoo that’s associated with white supremacist groups.

What message will domestic terrorists take from statements by the FBI Director nominee Kash Patel praising QAnon, a group identified by an FBI field office as a domestic terror threat? See Mother Jones, (8/2/19), FBI Names QAnon, Conspiracy Theories Domestic Terrorism Threats.

And what are foreign terrorists to make of the fact that the president elect has nominated an NSA director who is sympathetic to Syria’s Assad and Russia’s Putin? See AP, Tulsi Gabbard's sympathetic views toward Russia cause alarm, and NBC News, (12/9/24), Democrats and Republicans in Congress worried that Gabbard might leak to Assad regime.

We live in a world in which terror threats are real, though remote. Keeping them at bay requires a disciplined, serious, and professional national security organization. Trump seems intent on destroying that organization because it investigated his connections to Russia.

Sadly, the tragic events in New Orleans and Las Vegas remind us once again that there are real-world, destructive consequences to Trump's ego-driven effort to destroy everyone and everything he considers to be disloyal to him. The events in New Orleans and Las Vegas remind us that Trump's nominees for national security and law enforcement positions are dangerous to American national security and must be defeated.

Trump attempted to blame the New Orleans attack on immigrants

Shortly after the New Orleans attack, Trump posted a statement on his vanity social media platform that referred to the attack and said, in part,

When I said that the criminals coming in are far worse than the criminals we have in our country, that statement was constantly refuted by Democrats and the Fake News Media, but it turned out to be true. The crime rate in our country is at a level that nobody has ever seen before. Our hearts are with all of the innocent victims and their loved ones, including the brave officers of the New Orleans Police Department.

See The Independent, Trump uses New Orleans attack to slam migrants without offering proof one was involved.

The FBI has identified the New Orleans attacker as a US citizen from Texas who is an Army veteran.

Fox News piled on by reporting that the truck involved in the New Orleans attack was driven across the US-Mexico border two days ago. See Fox News, New Orleans suspect's truck came across border in Eagle Pass, Texas | Fox News Video. The FBI later reported that the attacker rented the truck using the Turo app, which operates like an “AirBnB” for autos.

The fact that the New Orleans attacker turned out to be a US citizen, Army veteran, and resident of Texas has punctured a hole in the right-wing narrative about the nature and sources of crime (and terrorism) in the United States. Indeed, both assassination attempts on Trump were by US citizens.

While we can expect Trump and Republicans to admonish Democrats not to “politicize” the terror attacks by discussing the cause and nature of US domestic terrorism—including white supremacy—it was Trump who sought to politicize the attacks within hours and before definitive facts were known regarding the attacker.

To state the obvious, it is reprehensible that the president-elect would use a tragedy to promote disinformation about immigration. The false implication promoted by Trump after the tragedy should have provoked a firestorm of condemnation in the legacy media. But they have (again) looked the other way—thereby normalizing and excusing Trump's grotesque behavior.

[Robert B. Hubbell Newsletter]

[origami-butterfly]

pick a couple pet peeves, or a character you really love (or hate), or anything really, just so long as you can rant about it for a long time, and answer this ask doing just that!!!

Suddenly I've forgotten everything I've ever been passionate about. Uhhhhh.... imma tell you about the Reichstag fire of 1933 because my history class spent one lesson on it, for a very small section of the course, and then it became an obsession of mine.

Picture the scene, it's February 1933 in Germany, 3 years into the Great Depression- arguably, Germany was hit hardest by it because of all the American loans they had taken out- so understandably, everyone is pissed at the government. The nazis are the most popular party in the Reichstag (kind of like the German parliament) and hitler has been chancellor for 4 weeks. At 9pm on the 27th of February, the Berlin fire department get a call: the Reichstag building is on fire. The fire department and the police arrive, and one of the lower chambers in the reichstag is burning. Police search the building, and find Marinus Van der Lubbe. Van der Lubbe was a Dutch communist, who had a fascination with fire growing up, as well as learning difficulties. Naturally, because he's a communist, the police (controlled by the nazis) go on a communist-arresting spree, and hitler goes around Germany blaming the communists for all their problems, using the fire as an example, in order to gain support in the elections in March. Slightly later in March that year, the head of the Berlin fire department suggests the nazis were involved in the fire, because they reportedly delayed the support of the fire department. He was arrested in 1937 and killed in 1939. Marinus Van der Lubbe is put on trial, along with 3 other communists in September 1933, and at the same time, another group of communists decide to investigate the fire, and produce "The Brown Book", which claimed the fire was entirely set up by the nazis, and- I cannot believe this is real- they claimed Van der Lubbe was gay and secretly in a relationship with ernst röhm, the openly gay leader of the SA, implying that röhm had used this secret relationship to manipulate Van der Lubbe. Most historians believe the Brown Book was mostly communist propaganda, and there is very little evidence to support its interpretation of the events, however it was probably right about nazi involvement- or at least, involvement of someone other than Marinus Van der Lubbe. At the site of the fire, there was evidence of chemical fuels, however Van der Lubbe only had his shirt as kindling on the night (he was found without one) as well as the fact there were fires in other parts of the Reichstag building that night, and Van der Lubbe would not have had the time to set all of them if he acted alone, but at his trial, Van der Lubbe confessed to setting the fire by himself because he wanted to start a revolution- although there's several things suggesting this confession was forced- he was given sedatives during his trial, and also tortured for his confession, combined with the fact that the jury at his trial were almost entirely nazi party members. That's most of the facts we know about, so no one knows what really happened the night of the fire. There are some accounts from witnesses that claim they saw SA members at the reichstag the night of the fire, and there's some saying they saw two men- Van der Lubbe and another- and there's some that claim they only saw Van der Lubbe, so it's difficult to know what really happened, and which accounts are nazi or communist propaganda. The only other thing that implies nazi involvement is in 1942, long after Van der Lubbe was executed, herman goering boasts at a dinner party with hitler "I am the only one who can talk about the Reichstag, because I set fire to it!". Maybe he meant it metaphorically, or maybe he meant he was involved with it, or maybe he meant it in a completely literal sense, but we can never know, and it gnaws at my mind CONSTANTLY.

Don't know if this is what you were expecting, when you sent the ask, but I hope you enjoyed reading all the same! (Sorry it took me so long to reply)

[hobohobgoblim]

Fine fuck it imma say it 9/11 was the Reichstagh fire of the 21rst century.

[ernestdescalsartwok]

HANUSSEN-ARTE-PINTURA-PROFECIA-QUEMA-REICHSTAG-ACTRIZ-MARIA PAUDLER-PALACIO -OCULTISMO-PINTOR-ERNEST DESCALS por Ernest Descals Por Flickr: HANUSSEN-ARTE-PINTURA-PROFECIA-QUEMA-REICHSTAG-ACTRIZ-MARIA PAUDLER-PALACIO -OCULTISMO-PINTOR-ERNEST DESCALS- La famosa actriz de teatro y de cine MARIA PAUDLER acude a las sesiones de hipnotismo del Mentalista ERIC JAN HANUSSEN en su nuevo PALACIO DEL OCULTISMO, ahí accede a ser hipnotizada en público por el célebre hipnotizador, entra en trance y de su boca surgen las palabras y mensajes proféticos que anuncian la inminente quema y destrucción por el fuego del REICHSTAG, el Parlamento alemán, el edificio en llamas, parece que esta trepidante profecía trajo importantes problemas a HANUSSEN con algunos miembros del nuevo Gobierno Nacionalsocialista, escenas históricas sobre la historia del III Reich. Pintura del artista pintor Ernest Descals con gouache sobre papel de 50 x 70 centímetros, personajes históricos en acción y expresiones.