We Seen This Before

I was watching PBS when the program American Experience came on and the title caught my attention form an article that I had read about a Connecticut town that said "No" to the American Nazi Movement here in Connecticut. The name of the show is Nazi Town, USA.

Back in the late 1930s there was a movement that was strikingly similar to toady's MAGA movement.

Nazi Town, USA

The untold story of Nazi sympathizers on American soil

In February 1939, more than 20,000 Americans filled Madison Square Garden for an event billed as a “Pro-American Rally.” Images of George Washington hung next to swastikas and speakers railed against the “Jewish controlled media” and called for a return to a racially “pure” America. The keynote speaker was Fritz Kuhn, head of the German American Bund. Nazi Town, USA tells the largely unknown story of the Bund, which had scores of chapters in suburbs and big cities across the country and represented what many believe was a real threat of fascist subversion in the United States. The Bund held joint rallies with the Ku Klux Klan [Note: Trump's father was arrested at one of them.] and ran dozens of summer camps for children centered around Nazi ideology and imagery. Its melding of patriotic values with virulent anti-Semitism raised thorny issues that we continue to wrestle with today.

 *****

Arnie Bernstein, Writer: It looked like any summer camp in America. It looked normal but it wasn't normal, it was Nazi camp. In the 1930s there were these camps all across the country. 

Sarah Churchwell, Cultural Historian: They were indoctrinating centers, that’s what they were for. As well as for protecting the purity and the health of your superior breed.

Bradley Hart, Historian: The camps were the creation of something called the German-American Bund. The Bund's vision was an America ruled by white Christians, and they thought that Nazism was entirely consistent with American ideals.

Rally speech: My fellow Americans, what would George Washington think and do were he alive today? Would he not plead with the thinking, the loyal and law-abiding people, the true Christian Americans?

Leah Wright Rigueur, Historian:  The German-American Bund is after power, they’re after influence, within the very fabric of the United States. They want their ideas to become mainstream and they want people to embrace those ideas.

William Hitchcock, Historian: They were against democracy. And thought that America would be a kind star in a constellation of pro-Nazi governments around the world.

Leah Wright Rigueur, Historian: We assume that Democracy is something that all Americans embrace. But in the 1930s, there were people in the United States who were ready to try something different.

Beverly Gage, Historian: In the 1930s, lots of Americans thought the whole social order was about to collapse. Capitalism, democracy, they were done for, and something else was going to have to come along to take its place. And a lot of people thought that was going to be Fascism.

Does any of this sound familiar? "...white Christian nationalism combined with family values, which was a message that was appealing to millions of people...."

Beverly Gage, Historian: in the 1920s, one of the biggest organizations in the United States was the Ku Klux Klan, which was not only anti-Black, it was anti-Jew, it was anti-immigrant. And those weren't marginal ideas.

William Hitchcock, Historian: In 1924, 4 to 5 million people were in the Ku Klux Klan, including a couple of dozen senators and congressmen. The Klan's basic message was a combination of white Christian nationalism combined with family values, which was a message that was appealing to millions of people.

Steven Ross, Historian: Father Coughlin, Charles Coughlin, known as the radio priest, every week went on the air to 14 million listeners basically warning the country that Jews were destroying it.

Coughlin: We are Christian in so far as we believe in Christ's principle of love your neighbor as yourself. And with that principle, I challenge every Jew in this nation to tell me that he does not believe in it.

Back then, we were also on the German-American Bund's hit list... including trans people and gay people!

What we are seeing now makes it feel almost as if they are using the German-American Bund as their playbook.

If you compare MAGA and the German-American Bund, you can see clear similarities between the two:

• Strong appeals to patriotism and national renewal.
• Large political rallies emphasizing loyalty to a leader.
• Populist rhetoric portraying elites as disconnected from ordinary citizens.
• Skepticism toward established institutions and the mainstream press.

The German American Bund and the MAGA movement share some broad features common to various nationalist or populist political movements, such as appeals to national identity and leader-centered politics.

They also share economic similarities, both were in times of economic stress, Germany was in a the grips of the "Great Depression" while we are in the straights of economic stagnation that are putting millions at risk of an economic disaster, living from pay check to pay check. We share where the "industrialist" want to conserve  their wealth. In the 1930s out of fear of communism/socialism taking they wealth they backed Hitler. Now it is fear of anti-monopolies laws, and high taxes on the ultra-wealthy. 

Money Talks

One thing you can count on with the Trump administration: make a donation, get your wish.

President Trump shrinks Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante — again

Monuments slashed by about 3 million acres. Utah Republicans applaud the move, while Democrats, conservation groups and tribal leaders vow to fight

Desert News

By Katie McKellar

July 13, 2026

In 2017, during his first term as president, Trump shrank Bears Ears from about 1.35 million acres to roughly 228,000 acres and Grand Staircase-Escalante from about 1.87 million acres to roughly 1 million acres. In 2021, former President Joe Biden restored both of the monuments to their original sizes, to frustration from Republicans and applause from conservation groups and tribes.

This time, Trump shrunk Bears Ears to about 121,000 acres and Grand Staircase-Escalante to about 182,000 acres, according to a news release issued by Utah Gov. Spencer Cox’s office.

[...]

When he cut the national monuments the first time nearly 10 years ago, Trump’s cuts were applauded by Republican state elected leaders, saying it freed the land from federal control and allowed more public access for hunting, ranching and economic development. Conservation groups and tribes reacted with outrage and lawsuits, arguing Trump lacked the authority to downsize the protections. Bears Ears in particular has deep spiritual and cultural significance for tribes.

This has been an ongoing battle between the Trump and Biden administrations. During his first term, the Trump administration moved to remove the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe's reservation land even though they were there to greet the Pilgrims when they landed, from federal trust status, a step that would have effectively disestablished the reservation. The Biden administration later reversed that decision and reaffirmed the tribe's reservation.

And we see it again in his downsizing even though it affect native Americans lands that were set be treaty.

When he cut the national monuments the first time nearly 10 years ago, Trump’s cuts were applauded by Republican state elected leaders, saying it freed the land from federal control and allowed more public access for hunting, ranching and economic development. Conservation groups and tribes reacted with outrage and lawsuits, arguing Trump lacked the authority to downsize the protections. Bears Ears in particular has deep spiritual and cultural significance for tribes.

[...]

Utah Rep. Celeste Maloy said both monuments were created “over the unanimous opposition of Utah’s federal delegation, our governors, county commissioners, the locals who were worried about losing multiple uses on these federal lands.”

However, the People have a different view of it...

“Our Tribes were not informed of or asked about this decision, and that’s unacceptable. The federal government must honor its Trust and Treaty obligations to our Tribes — it is not optional,” Autumn Gillard, inter-tribal coalition coordinator who is a descendent of the Cedar Band of Paiutes, said in a prepared statement. “Today’s action is a direct strike against the federal government’s duty to consult with Tribes. It also profoundly disrespects our intergenerational Traditional Knowledge by destroying a framework for Tribal co-stewardship over our ancestral lands in which we invested years of effort. Today’s action cannot stand.”

Trump just ignores them... they have no wealth to bribe him with. They how no political power. So Trump does what he usually does,

“These are places where Tribal history, culture, and spiritual traditions continue today. Future generations deserve the opportunity to experience these places as they have existed for centuries,” Romero said.

The Center for Western Priorities, a conservation advocacy group, issued a news release after Monday’s signing saying Trump shrunk the monuments “based on false information.”

The group pointed to a moment during the signing when Trump falsely said: “You can’t do anything. You can’t go hunting. You can’t go fishing. You can’t do anything. You can virtually not even walk on it.”

“That’s exactly right, sir,” Deputy Interior Secretary Kate MacGregor told the president in response. “So you are remedying that today.”

Put money before the environment and the welfare of the indigenous peoples. Money is "King"

This reminds me of something from Firesign Theater about stealing from the native peoples:  

I can tell by the pie on your tie

You're an American, well, so am I

Hi bub, How are you? How do ya do?

And while we’re on the subject...

And while we're on the subject..

And while we're on the subject

How’s the old wazoo?

I was born an American

I was raised an American

And I'll die an American

In America, with Armenians.

This land is made of mountains

This land is made of mud

This land has lots of everything

For me and Elmer Fudd

This land has lots of trousers

This land has lots of mausers

And pussycats to eat them

When the sun goes down

"And we took to them"

"And they took to us"

"And what do you think they took?"

Oil from Canada, gold from Mexico

Geese from the neighbors backyard

(Boom, boom)

Corn from the Indians

Tobacco from the Indians

Dakota from the Indians

New Jersey from the Indians

New Hampshire from the Indians

New England from the Indians

New Deli from the Indians!

"Indonesia for there Indonesians!"

Vacancy-No Vacancy  Firesign Theater

They Say That Money Buys Happiness.

But it also buys hate... a lot of it!

Far-right billionaires are behind PragerU, and they are using their wealth to buy animosity against us.

I Watched This Documentary — Which Is Pure Anti-Trans Propaganda — So You Don't Have To

No, PragerU, gender-affirming care is not a “social contagion.”

Huff Post

By Ian Kumamoto

Nov 8, 2023

Updated May 13, 2024

If you were on X at all at the end of last week, then you probably had the misfortune of seeing the term “Detrans” trending. For those who didn’t investigate, here’s the unpleasant rundown: “Detrans” is the latest short film from the Prager University Foundation (better known as PragerU), a conservative nonprofit group best known for its videos that present archaic viewpoints on various civic and social justice topics.

Its latest documentary is about a small handful of people who transitioned as young people and then decided to detransition later. This film is not trending because people love or hate it, by the way. PragerU reportedly paid X $1 million to shove its agenda into everyone’s faces. This tactic should be terrifying to anyone who values speech, because it essentially boils down to a massive misinformation campaign. Although people who detransition certainly exist and are entitled to sharing their story, they account for only about 1% of all trans people.

So you know that the documentary’s creators aren’t acting in good faith when they withholds that context and make it look like giant swaths of trans people regret their decision to affirm their gender. The film makes it seem like kids everywhere are being tricked into being trans — and that this is a widespread problem we should all be worried about.

The Southern Poverty Law Center wrote this about PragerU;

Despite its name, Prager University, more commonly known as PragerU, is not an accredited academic institution in any sense. Instead, it specializes in promoting far-right propaganda through professionally produced media. The organization, which claims it “promotes the American values of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” perpetrates far-right ideology vilifying the LGBTQ+ community, immigrants and people of color.

And these are the exact people Donald Trump is using for his "Freedom 250" program, a blatant rip-off of America 250, the bipartisan, congressionally mandated commission planning community celebrations. To make matters worse, many Republican-led states are now officially using PragerU materials in their public schools!

PragerU was founded in 2009 by Allen Estrin and conservative radio host Dennis Prager. The organization was conceived as a digital media project presenting viewpoints in a succinct and engaging format as “a free alternative to the dominant left-wing ideology in culture, media, and education,” according to the PragerU website.

Since its founding, PragerU has expanded its activities well beyond its initial video series. The organization now produces a broad range of media content including short educational videos, articles, podcasts and social media posts. PragerU’s goal is to indoctrinate and mobilize a conservative audience by framing issues in a way that is both accessible and compelling. This approach has allowed the organization to build a substantial following and influence public discourse on a variety of issues. According to the organization’s own metrics, 30 million unique viewers watch PragerU videos on YouTube every quarter. The PragerU site notes that 60% of YouTube viewers are under the age of 35. Additionally, the organization claims that 55% of its viewers say their civic actions were influenced by PragerU videos, and 85% say they reference PragerU videos during ideological discussions.

They are nothing more than a propaganda machine for the far-right. As the HuffPost article concludes:

Another gag is that the end of the documentary includes a clip of Oli London, who made headlines for claiming to be a “transracial” Korean and who is now a conservative anti-trans advocate. It’s disturbing to be reminded that, for those who don’t personally know any trans people, these types of documentaries might be the only content about trans people they’ll ever interact with. It’s fear-mongering at its absolute worst, and we need to call it out.

The billionaires funding this project exhibit distinct authoritarian tendencies. They remind me deeply of the wealthy industrialists who historically backed the rise of Adolf Hitler.

On The War Path For WPATH!

A snowball chance in hell? Or a death knell for us.

I would say "a snowball chance in hell" but the FTC has cherrypicked the judges.

Federal Trade Commission sues leading transgender health group

AP News

By  DEVI SHASTRI

June 17, 2026

The Federal Trade Commission and four states sued the World Professional Association for Transgender Health on Wednesday, in the latest push by President Donald Trump’s administration and others to limit gender-affirming care for transgender minors.

The suit alleges the group, known widely as WPATH, made deceptive claims about gender-affirming care for minors and its members profited off the claims. Alaska, Iowa, Nebraska and Texas filed along with the FTC.

Since a lot of things have been happening. First Kennedy had to get his two cents in...

HHS Applauds FTC Action to Protect Children from Deceptive WPATH Guidelines

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today commended the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) decision to pursue legal action against the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) over alleged deceptive trade practices.

“I commend Chairman Ferguson and the FTC for taking decisive action against WPATH,” said HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. “Medical organizations must follow the science, disclose conflicts, and put patients first. Children deserve the highest standard of care, parents deserve honest information, and the American people deserve accountability.”

You know that this is like suing the AMA for malpractice but it seem to okay with them because it is against us, so anything goes. But they hit one road block but got a green light on another.

Trump officials were so extreme in transgender health case that a Texas judge hit pause

The FTC tried to keep WPATH from seeking relief outside Texas. After two judges talked, that plan stalled.

The Advocate

Christopher Wiggins

Jul 04, 2026

A federal judge in Texas has paused consideration of an emergency request in the Trump administration’s lawsuit against the World Professional Association for Transgender Health after an unusual confrontation between two federal courts over where the fight should proceed, Law Dork first reported.

U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor, a George W. Bush appointee in the Northern District of Texas, canceled a July 7 hearing on the Federal Trade Commission’s request and said he would wait for Chief Judge James Boasberg of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to rule first in WPATH’s related D.C. lawsuit challenging the FTC’s earlier investigative demand.

[...]

At the time, Boasberg granted preliminary injunctions to WPATH and the Endocrine Society, temporarily halting FTC investigations that the groups argued were politically motivated and unconstitutional. As The Advocate previously reported, the FTC had issued civil investigative demands seeking years of internal records, communications, financial information, conference materials, and documents related to medical guidance on transgender care.

But they went judge shopping so...

Update: Judge denies WPATH request to block FTC from proceeding in Texas

Judge James Boasberg heard arguments on Thursday afternoon in D.C.

Law dork

Chris Geidner

Jul 09, 2026

U.S. District Judge James Boasberg on Friday, from D.C., denied the request from the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, or WPATH, for a temporary restraining order blocking the Federal Trade Commission from proceeding with its enforcement action against WPATH in the Northern District of Texas.

Boasberg found that WPATH had not shown that the Texas action needs to be blocked to protect Boasberg’s jurisdiction over an order he issued previously protecting WPATH from needing to respond to an FTC Civil Investigative Demand or because that D.C. case and Texas action would be sufficiently duplicative.

Additionally, Boasberg found that that WPATH had not shown they will face irreparable harm if forced to litigate related matters in both D.C. and Texas.

The ruling is not a ruling on the merits of the FTC’s action filed in Texas, and Boasberg did not address that. It is, instead, solely an order on WPATH’s request to block the FTC from proceeding with the action in Texas.

That said — and the reason why this request was so hard-fought by both parties — the FTC action in Texas is before U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor, a far-right judge with a history of anti-LGTBQ rulings. Further still, any appeals of O’Connor’s rulings go to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, one of the more far-right appeals courts in the nation.

You see Trump, Gov. Abbott and Attorney General Paxton all have been putting far right extremists judges on the benches who put party before the Constitution and now it is paying off!

I don't know how this case will finally be settled...why? Because the federal courts in Texas have been packed with far right Christians judges who put their religious beliefs before the Constitution.

---

The feds also got their hand slapped in a case where they wanted medical records of trans patients,

 Judge blocks Trump DOJ’s latest effort to obtain medical records of transgender minors

The court stepped in after families warned that the Trump administration was using a grand jury investigation to access confidential medical information.

The Advocate

Christopher Wiggins

Jun 09, 2026

A federal judge has temporarily blocked the Trump administration from obtaining confidential medical records belonging to transgender youth and their families, intervening just one day before federal prosecutors sought to force a California children's hospital to turn over the documents.

In an emergency order issued Monday night, U.S. District Judge P. Casey Pitts directed Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford not to produce additional records sought through a federal grand jury subpoena and barred the government from taking further action to enforce similar demands while the court considers pending motions in the case.

Neil deGrasse Tyson's Thoughts on Transgenderism

Accuracy

[Editorial]

Accuracy counts, but it matters much more in some situations than in others. While accuracy in a cornhole game might not be important, accuracy in reporting crimes is critical. The tech industry and academia give a nice, fancy name to this disparity: "surveillance asymmetry." However, out on the streets, an automation error puts innocent people in life-or-death situations.

'Flock Flocked up'

How a license plate camera misread unraveled one man's life.

Business Insider

By Nicole Einbinder 

Mar 9, 2026

In April 2024, Brandon Upchurch and his cousin were driving home from a convenience store when they noticed flashing lights behind them. When Upchurch pulled over, officers from the Toledo Police Department drew their guns and ordered him out of his red Dodge Ram.

Upchurch initially refused to turn off the engine or exit the truck, and repeatedly asked officers why he was being pulled over. An officer named Adrian Wilson warned that he would deploy his police dog if Upchurch didn't get on the ground. As Upchurch began to get down, Wilson released the animal.

The dog latched onto Upchurch's dreadlocks, rammed his head into the ground, and sunk its teeth into his arm. Wilson later said he thought Upchurch had tripped and was getting ready to run.

"Your car has a stolen license plate on it," one of the officers said. His plates weren't stolen, Upchurch insisted. He was transported to a hospital for his injuries, then sent to the county jail, where he remained for hours. The charges, which were later dismissed, were obstructing official business and resisting arrest.

Flock's stated mission is "shaping the future of safety." Or is it actually bringing us into the dystopian era of George Orwell's 1984 and Big Brother? The Electronic Frontier Foundation wrote back in 2024 about this exact crisis:

The Human Toll of ALPR Errors

By Adam Schwartz

Imagine driving to get your nails done with your family and all of a sudden, you are pulled over by police officers for allegedly driving a stolen car. You are dragged out of the car and detained at gun point. So are your daughter, sister, and nieces. The police handcuff your family, even the children, and force everyone to lie face-down on the pavement, before eventually realizing that they made a mistake. This happened to Brittney Gilliam and her family on a warm Sunday in Aurora, Colorado, in August 2020.

And the error? The police officers who pulled them over were relying on information generated by automated license plate readers (ALPRs). These are high-speed, computer-controlled camera systems that automatically capture all license plate numbers that come into view, upload them to a central server, and compare them to a “hot list” of vehicles sought by police. The ALPR system told the police that Gilliam’s car had the same license plate number as a stolen vehicle. But the stolen vehicle was a motorcycle with Montana plates, while Gilliam’s vehicle was an SUV with Colorado plates.

You don't hear about these "errors" until they get someone killed.

Wrongful detentions like these happen all over the country. In Atherton, California, police officers pulled over Jason Burkleo on his way to work, on suspicion of driving a stolen vehicle. They ordered him at gun point to lie on his stomach to be handcuffed, only to later realize that their license plate reader had misread an ‘H’ for an ‘M’. In Espanola, New Mexico, law enforcement officials detained Jaclynn Gonzales at gun point and placed her 12 year-old sister in the back of a patrol vehicle, before discovering that the reader had mistaken a ‘2’ for a ‘7’ on their license plates. One study found that ALPRs misread the state of 1-in-10 plates (not counting other reading errors).

What someone needs to do is sue the pants off of the ALPR companies. Right now, there are no incentives for the companies to achieve 'Zero Defects.' In the meantime, I hope that no one gets killed.

[/Editorial]

Not So Fast

People think that the United States v. Skrmetti case banned trans healthcare nationwide... but it only upheld Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming medical care for minors. It had nothing to do with Connecticut at all. So when I see this article... they are blowing smoke!

High court’s trans ruling leaves state case open

Litigation on whether states can permit biological males in women’s sports to resume

By Edmund H. Mahony

Hartford Courant

July 12, 2026

When the U.S. Supreme Court concluded that states can bar biological males from competing in women’s sports, it left unanswered the other side of the question: Can states

permit it?

The question is pointed directly at Connecticut or, more particularly, at a case referred to as Soule that has percolated in Connecticut’s federal district court for six years. The Supreme Court acknowledged as much in the first footnote in its late June decision.

The cases on which it based its opinion, the court said in the footnote, “do not present the distinct question of whether (under federal law) schools may allow biological males who identify as female to participate on girls’ and women’s sports teams.”

“That question is currently the subject of litigation in some lower courts,” the court said.“Nothing in this opinion is intended to decide that question.”

Selina Soule is one of four female high school track athletes who sued the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference and four local school boards in 2020 to reverse policies that allow biological males who identify as female to compete in women’s high school sports. It is the mirror image of the question raised in the two cases on which the high court ruled on June 30 — cases referred to as B.P.J from West Virginia and Hecox from Idaho.

So, contrary to what many have heard, United States v. Skrmetti has not banned healthcare nor sports for us here in CT. And from what I remember of the Soule v. Connecticut Association of Schools case, it was initially dismissed because the court found there were no injuries to the students. They still received scholarships to the colleges of their choice. (By "injuries," the court meant legal injuries—like being denied college admission or a scholarship—not physical injuries.)

The four women bringing the suit, who competed at a high level in high school sports when the suit was filed, claim that two biological men who identify as woman repeatedly outperformed them in championship level events that might have created scholarship opportunities.

Because they got into their schools and received scholarships anyway, the transgender student-athletes didn't legally harm them.  You have to realize where the Republicans are coming from... the 1950s! Back then, they thought people chose to be LGBTQ+. They still believe that chromosomes alone determine gender. They completely ignore conditions like Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome (AIS), Swyer syndrome, or mutations in the SRY gene. But now, we know there are complex medical and biological factors involved in being trans.

So, if the Supreme Court says it is a matter of states' rights when it comes to banning trans healthcare, then that state-level autonomy should also hold true for schools and trans students in sports here in Connecticut.

Surprise! Surprise!

As Gomer Pyle used to say, but is anyone really surprised that gay cruise going to an Islamic country this wouldn't be their response?

Egypt turns away cruise ship with mostly gay men after Turkey blocked same voyage from docking

The Virgin Voyages ship Scarlet Lady, chartered by Atlantis Events, was reportedly denied entry into Egyptian waters after Turkish authorities barred it days earlier.

The Advocate

Christopher Wiggins

Jul 09, 2026

A Mediterranean cruise chartered for thousands of LGBTQ+ travelers, most of them gay men, has been blocked from docking at a second country along its itinerary because of who the travelers are.

As The Advocate reported on Friday, Virgin Voyages’ Scarlet Lady, chartered by Atlantis Events for a 10-day sailing from Athens, Greece, to Italy, was denied scheduled port calls in Kuşadası and Istanbul by Turkish authorities last week, citing "moral standards," forcing organizers to change the route shortly before the ship arrived. Atlantis said on its website that Turkish authorities informed the company the ship would not be permitted to dock in either city.

Now come on folks, what were they thinking?

CNN wrote;

“My mind went to the LGBTQ communities in Egypt and Turkey where LGBTQ individuals don’t have the opportunities to just sail away,” passenger Morley told CNN. “Discrimination and the lack of opportunities that come with the shortsighted marginalization of LGBTQ people and other minorities damages far beyond a cruise ship rescheduling.”

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan’s AK Party has adopted increasingly harsh rhetoric against the LGBTQ community over the past decade, sparking condemnation from rights groups. Authorities have banned Pride marches in Istanbul since 2015, citing public safety and security concerns.

What were they thinking? It is like waving a red flag in front of a bull!