The Eastman Memo is a 21st Century Zimmerman Telegram. It is a war plan. It is aimed at destroying American democracy. The coverage and meaning of the memo have been insufficient, grotesquely so. Winston Churchill wrote about this phenomenon in the Gathering Storm.
During the opening chapters he writes about Hitler and the rise of the “Austrian Corporal”. He writes about the failed 1923 Munich Coup and Hitlers 14 month prison term during which he wrote his ideological treatise “My Struggle”. Churchill points out that the first sentence of
the book declares the necessity of Austria being merged to Germany. Churchill writes about the extraordinary gap between Hitlers stated intentions and Allied belief in their sincerity. He records his dismay at French and British political leaders who were surprised that
Hitler did exactly what he suggested he would do in clear prose. The willful blindness to danger, the hope that the worst is behind us, turns out to be a very human yearning, one that transits the generations. It has all been laid before us in writing. The one thing we will
Never ever be able to say honestly, is that we didn’t or couldn’t see it coming. The enemies of American democracy have been good enough to lay out the plan for us. In writing.

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More from @SteveSchmidtSES

27 Sep
👇 The “TRUMP COUP MEMO” aka “Eastman Plan” should be an occasion for a giant, collective, national time out. I placed the concession phone call for John McCain. The fact that a plan was developed and the defeated President was engaged in executing it for the purposes of stealing
an election he squarely lost is an unconscionable betrayal of our country. The Confederates who sat at his right arm as he plotted to destroy the Republic from within are known to us all. There is no other moment in American history where the revelation of such treachery would
not have induced the greatest possible National outrage. American democracy is imperfect. That has always been so. There now exists in the public realm, documentary evidence, a written plan to kill it off and replace it with something new. It was written by the Presidents atty
Read 7 tweets
26 Sep
CPAC is going to Budapest. Mike Pence was just in Budapest talking about his hopes for the Supreme Court outlawing abortion. Tucker Carlson embraced Orban and his anti Semitic fascist state on Fox prime time. Why are they all going to Hungary? What magnetic force is drawing
the American Extreme Right towards a landlocked Central European Country that was defeated in the First and Second World Wars? Listening tends to be an under appreciated virtue in life, relationships and our current politics. We should all listen carefully for the answers to
the questions above. They are asserted with greater directness, malice, dishonesty and confidence on a daily basis. What is it that these people are trying to tell us? Listen. You will hear it. Everyone must hear it before it is too late. What will we do about it? The answer will
Read 4 tweets
25 Sep
Sometimes famous quotes become jumbled through repetition and time. The words retain their familiarity but the power and deep meaning of them is washed smooth like a rock by the sea. Think about the Pledge of Allegiance being recited by children on a single exhale or think about
FDR and his first use of these words “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” Why is it that the greatest leader of the 20th Century chose to begin his Presidency with that message at the exact moment Democracies were failing, fascism was ascendant, Hitler was Chancellor
and unregulated Capitalism (gambling) had destroyed the American and global economies? He knew that fear was a virus, a metastic contagion that could destroy American democracy. When the Lie marries Fear there will always be despots lurking. Fear stifles hope and the Pursuit
Read 7 tweets
22 Sep
The cynicism of this moment is profound. Do not underestimate the ability of Trump, @LeaderMcConnell @GOPLeader to simultaneously create chaos, suffering, instability, recession and a worsening pandemic while campaigning to restore order.
What an appalling spectacle. @LeaderMcConnell and his caucus are some of the greatest spenders in history. Drunken sailors are awe struck by their profligacy. Their hypocrisy around this issue beggars the imagination, yet here we are, careening towards another calamity caused
by the perfidy of the GQP’s senior most political leadership. Radical? Certainly. But that doesn’t begin to describe it. The staggering National vandalism on display is a beacon of weakness, rot, decay and collapse. Let’s not pretend the Chinese, Russians and others who cheer
Read 11 tweets
21 Sep
The Trump-McConnell war is at its beginning. I think much of the CW is wrong about @LeaderMcConnell being safe. The comments by @SenTuberville and other Trump Senators about the situation seem more like evasions of reality and a display of the natural human emotion of avoidance
over unpleasantness. What are Trump’s intentions? How aggressive will he be? Trump could force the hand of GOP Senators by depressing turnout the way he did in Georgia. The question, it seems to me is around how much Trump hates McConnell and how much energy he is willing to
spend in pursuit of vengeance. Republican Senators by the bushel have turned against democracy in the name of Trump. Why not McConnell? Right now GOP Senators will stay in the foxhole and evade the question. Right now they are weighing risk around their self interest and in the
Read 6 tweets
21 Sep
Duty, Honor, Country | Douglas MacArthur | May 12, 1962 | West Point via @YouTube. This speech by MacArthur at West Point is an amazing piece of oratory. Anyone interested in great oratory, linguistics or wanting to understand the magnitude of the
disgrace of Trump appointing prolific public liars who debased themselves and abused the American people with their gaslighting should listen to this. I have always found it interesting for a couple of other reasons. First, I think I am right in describing this as the last major
address from a man steeped in the aesthetics and linguistics of the 19th century. I’ve always thought of it as the last words of a passed era. Second, it was delivered in 1962, in the middle of JFK’s New Frontier. The freshman class, present to hear those words would go on
Read 6 tweets

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