tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76675473995141183072024-02-06T20:10:19.724-08:00The Ironic Cherry...I'm Agnes Pomata, and I'm unequivocally Liberalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09070728055590439046noreply@blogger.comBlogger526125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7667547399514118307.post-67646559442072441682020-05-08T08:58:00.000-07:002020-05-08T08:58:48.136-07:00Warriors<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Just when I think there is nothing new in Donald Trump's puny bag of tricks, that his meager vocabulary of insults has been exhausted, that we've heard all his dog whistles, he says something that makes me need to stop and think.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">A week or so ago, he began to call his people "warriors." It wasn't a brilliant compliment and I didn't pay much attention until he said it again. And again. He was saying it about people who were fighting for the right to get their hair cut and go to the beach. The danger lies in its very absurdity. As I ruminate about it today, I am convinced that this is the way he is going to win in November.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The economy is in the toilet. People are dying by the hundreds because if it doesn't profit Donald Trump, he doesn't see it. And we are mostly shut up in our homes, worried about running out of disinfectant and getting angry at those who go out without wearing masks.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Donald Trump doesn't wear a mask. His protection is his power. He is able to put on a face of fearlessness for his followers, making the rest of us seem like cowards. Tough, he is not. He gets tested frequently because, as he asserted yesterday when his valet tested positive, it is everybody else's job to keep him safe.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It amazes me how invulnerable he has been to coronavirus. It will be interesting to see how he reacts to his brush with it. I am guessing that he will deal with it the way he deals with every damn thing in his life that gets in his way: by bullying it. So far, for some insane reason, it has worked.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">If he continues to have meetings and go out in public unscathed, his message to his people will be a powerful one.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">"Fight for me."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We saw it when he pit his adoring fans against his own government by inciting them to protest the governors -- Democratic governors -- who refused to open for business. They came out just the way he would have wanted them to in his fantasies, carrying guns and maskless. Fearless for Trump.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">They are hearing his message loud and clear. The scientists in his government say to continue to social distance and to wear masks, but, he said, he probably won't, because how would it look when he met with world leaders if he wore a mask? How clever to pit himself -- the real warrior -- against his own government. People who are angry about what they have lost over the past months can't blame Trump, because his government is also trying to hold him hostage. But he won't let them.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">He knows the mob mentality; he has been using it successfully since he came down the escalator to address the crowd, many of whom he had <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/donald-trump-campaign-offered-actors-803161" target="_blank">paid to be there</a>, in 2015. He didn't invent astroturfing, but he knows how to use it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">He may claim he has "the best words," but his vocabulary is so limited that we could play <i>Trump Bingo</i> when we listen to him. What he is doing, though, is instinctively brilliant. He throws out a word and listens for the reaction. He even admits that he is waiting to hear how the crowd reacts. "Make America Great Again." "Drain the Swamp." "Lock her up." It's <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/conditioning" target="_blank">behavioral conditioning</a> pure and simple, and nobody really knows, or cares, who is conditioning whom.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We know that Trump is basically a stupid man. He has learned how to succeed by watching the behaviors -- and more important, the reactions to behaviors -- of others. He knows how to bully, and he knows to never back down. As long as he can toss out blame, no matter how ridiculous and illogical, he can win.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And, just as Rick Perry's broken clock is right <a href="https://nypost.com/2015/09/03/oops-rick-perry-says-broken-clock-is-right-once-a-day/" target="_blank">once a day</a>, if Donald Trump tosses out enough taunts and attacks, some will hit home. And just as vulnerable as he is to flattery, he knows he can manipulate his people by building them up.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Hence, warriors.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">They are fighting for haircuts. They are fighting for the right to go to the beach. They are fighting for jobs. And they are fighting for Trump, who, after all, is fighting his own government for them. And if they get sick, they are doing it to save him.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">All the damn way to November 3.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">On the other side, we are the worriers. We listen to science, and we think about future consequences. We are willing to make sacrifices for the survival of others. We have done what I never thought I would see. We have holed up in our homes for months, stayed away from loved ones, and yes, cut our own damn hair, for the greater good.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And that has fostered a lot of fear.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">What would we do at this point to stay safe? We've already thrown in with the scientists, and we've listened to the tallies of death and disease daily. We walk around with sanitizer if we walk around at all.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">What happens in November, when the Trump warriors and the covid worriers have decisions to make about whether to get out and elect our next president? The republicans already know how to suppress the vote; they've been working at it successfully for years. On their side is loyalty to a leader, on our side is loyalty to our loved ones. Trump is incrementally getting his people out breaking the law, carrying guns and attitude, fearless because Trump is fearless. He is not really fearless, but it is a persona he has developed his entire life, even convincing himself.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">So if the republicans can squash attempts to mail in voting, whether by finally destroying the postal service or just banning it outright, they will do it. If we have to go out and stand in line to vote -- which too many of us refuse to do even in the best of times -- will we do it? Are we so afraid of covid that we will forego our democracy?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">In other parts of the world there are people who truly risk their lives when they go out to vote, even in societies so corrupt that the outcome is a given, and the penalties for fighting for that right are harsh. Will we stay home because we fear contagion from a virus?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Or will we stop worrying and do whatever it takes to get the thugs out of office? Will our leaders start to send messages to us telling us to get out and vote -- yes, safely, but even if it means standing in a line for hours -- because Donald Trump is banking on us being too afraid to fight against him?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We need to assume that our corrupt government will make it as difficult as possible for us to get out and vote. And that is exactly why we need to redouble our efforts, and overcome our fears, in November.</span>I'm Agnes Pomata, and I'm unequivocally Liberalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09070728055590439046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7667547399514118307.post-66933312141304205612020-02-13T11:18:00.000-08:002020-02-13T11:18:29.819-08:00Doing Trump's Work<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I very nearly scraped my Joe Cunningham bumper sticker off my car today. But I figure if the republicans can hold their nose and vote I can keep my damn bumper sticker on my car.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The headline in today's <a href="https://www.postandcourier.com/politics/sc-s-joe-cunningham-slams-bernie-sanders-socialism-ahead-of/article_e81bee3e-4dd6-11ea-9fbd-2fcdbb861195.html" target="_blank">Post and Courier</a> says that "Joe Cunningham slam's Bernie Sanders' socialism...." Boy, Joe, with friends like you, we might just as well declare Trump the winner in November right now.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">But we voters are going to be bigger than you, because the election is much more critical than whether you win again. We are fighting for our democracy. The sad thing is, when Cunningham lets his "conservative" supporters know he is running their party line by slamming Pelosi as a -- god-forbid -- liberal, or voting against raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour, he loses those Democrats he needs to show up for him. He may think the Dems in Charleston are outnumbered, or that those women trying to make ends meet on minimum wage will take time out from their exhausting lives to get out and vote just because he is a "D" but he is dead wrong.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The sad thing is that, unlike myself, most of us have chosen not to beat ourselves up by studying the obscene workings of the law and our government these days. Most of us don't know anything about the ACLU other than what those right-wingnuts have been yelling for all these decades (ten decades this year). And too many of us don't have a clue what the difference is between a socialist, a democratic socialist, or a damn commie.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">So when Joe engages in Trumpian name-calling, he is doing Trump's work for him. And we should know by now that Donald Trump likes himself nothing more than causing others to fight.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The fact is that whatever you call Bernie Sanders, he has been a respected member of Congress since 1991 (when Joe was not yet ten years old). For that matter, Nancy Pelosi has been a US representative since 1987, when Joe was five. The voters in their states and districts see that as experience, not old age, and happily re-elect them. Which Joe Cunningham can only dream of.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">How about this: how about we think in larger terms than who is going to win the Democratic nomination? Let's instead prove that our brains are greater than the republicans who as we speak are working <i>together</i> to figure out how to cheat and steal their way back into power in November. Let's do what we said we were going to do way back in 2018, and work together. We can have a primary where we fight over issues rather than man-caves or "socialism." The very best way to win this thing is for all of y'all, and all of us, to continue to combat Donald Trump and his gang of deplorables (and wasn't Hillary right?). We need to ALL do what Mike Bloomberg and Tom Steyer are doing, and that is to stay focussed on Trump and every single obscenity that he has committed since he and Vladimir Putin stole the election.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This time around, he is going to cheat much, much bigger than he did before, because in the past 3 1/2 years he has been collecting power, just like Roy Cohn taught him when he was a boy-thug. Each time justice has been sacrificed, whether it be the Muslim travel ban, the border wall, cutting food stamps, or firing the heroes in our government, each time he gets away with it, democracy shrinks. When he calls us names, and the media focusses on the tweets and rallies, he can't be any happier.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Except, of course, when we take up his attacks and turn on each other.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">So let's not do that anymore. Joe.</span>I'm Agnes Pomata, and I'm unequivocally Liberalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09070728055590439046noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7667547399514118307.post-53139128933609134172019-10-27T08:45:00.000-07:002019-10-27T08:45:15.823-07:00The "Very Least He Could Do" Award<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It was with some bemusement that I heard that Trump was planning to come to South Carolina to receive an award. I expected I would hear a lot about backlash and protests. Then I heard someone saying that even though they don't support Trump, he was glad Trump was getting the award for signing into law the First Step Act.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This whole thing seems to have started with Jared Kushner, who for some reason (maybe having a dad doing time) was focussed on prison reform. Then came Kim Kardashian, and a bunch of tweets about a 63-year-old <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/06/us/politics/trump-alice-johnson-sentence-commuted-kim-kardashian-west.html" target="_blank">doing time</a> since 1996 for a first drug offense. This was not about someone caught carrying some dope. This was about cocaine distribution and money laundering, which would go a ways to explain why President Obama did not choose to pardon her during his presidency, although he pardoned 212 and commuted the sentences of 1,715 prisoners. But Donald Trump knows a media opportunity when he sees one.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The chance to one-up Obama along with the how it looked to be the one setting free a little old lady was irresistible. And it worked.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">So, I imagine when Jared suggested following it up with prison reform, he jumped at the chance. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The result was decidedly a union of strange bedfellows.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We can be glad for this badly needed and long overdue reform. One that would not have been possible with the obstructionist and racist Congress that Barack Obama was stuck with.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">But we don't need to shower praise on a man who has done more damage to minorities during his years on earth, and especially since becoming president, than nearly any other American. We should not give him the good press that was, to be honest, his goal.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Donald Trump is a stupid man. But he is fine-tuned to how to divide people. And that is what his visit to South Carolina was intended to do. And he was enabled by the Bipartisan Justice Center and Benedict College.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Donald Trump at Benedict College getting an award for the First Step Act happened because Joe Biden continues to be the first choice of many African Americans in South Carolina. If Trump can sway a handful of voters, that would for him be worth the effort, because Trump lives in a world of spite and revenge. But his advisors know that the PR he got was invaluable. Who could accuse him of being racist after not just signing this reform bill, but for getting an award for it?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">For those of us in the cheap seats, this was an award ceremony. But the Trump campaign was in high gear making sure this event was entirely orchestrated to maximize gain and to make absolutely sure there was no fly in the ointment. Behind the scenes, the White House was in total control. Of the over 2,100 attendees, ONLY TEN were students invited from Benedict College, with only seven attending. All the remaining attendees were brought in from elsewhere. The White House refused Benedict College's president's request that more Benedict College be allowed to attend, "<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/25/politics/donald-trump-hbcu-speech/index.html" target="_blank">insisting that the White House maintain control of organizing the event</a>."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">In fact, students were told to <a href="https://www.thestate.com/news/politics-government/politics-columns-blogs/the-buzz/article236652858.html" target="_blank">stay in their dorm rooms</a> during the event.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">STUDENTS WERE TOLD TO STAY IN THEIR DORM ROOMS DURING TRUMP'S TIME ON CAMPUS.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This lockdown occurred on a college campus in South Carolina in 2019. And it occurred while taxpayers funded what was a campaign rally, including attacks on President Obama and Democrats, and the usual brags and lies.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">If we allow Donald Trump to control the story, the media, the audience, we are creating the same damn environment that soured voters on Hillary Clinton in 2016. It is good that the First Step Act was passed, and that Trump signed it into law. But we know him. We know he did not do it out of a sense of justice, or compassion for those wrongfully imprisoned. We need now, more than ever, to keep our eyes on the motivation behind everything he does.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Donald Trump doesn't just want to win in 2020. He needs to win in 2020. Because if he loses, what waits for him is a plethora of criminal charges, and if the justice system still works by the time he is gone, very likely a prison sentence. And if the justice system still works, the First Step Act won't save him. </span>I'm Agnes Pomata, and I'm unequivocally Liberalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09070728055590439046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7667547399514118307.post-49502800834121966362019-09-09T12:29:00.000-07:002019-09-09T12:29:08.633-07:00Don't Blame God<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I believe the most offensive comment I have heard regarding Hurricane Dorian was uttered by our own City of Charleston Mayor John Tecklenburg. He was being interviewed after Dorian had made his way up the coast. He said that he was... and as he paused I filled in "relieved" but I was wrong. He said he felt "<i>blessed"</i> that the worst of the storm had passed us by. BLESSED.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">BLESSED.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Each day, as I watch the devastation that befell the people of the Bahamas, the word echoes in my mind. What hubris! That God would choose to give us a break after wreaking havoc on the people of the Bahamas.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I wonder that we wouldn't rather give credit to science for the path and effects of the storm.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Holy City, my ass.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And for the record, Mayor Tecklenburg, with that comment, for once beats out Donald Trump for tastelessness and insensitivity. Congrats, Mayor.</span>I'm Agnes Pomata, and I'm unequivocally Liberalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09070728055590439046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7667547399514118307.post-11873679085863702062019-06-24T09:10:00.000-07:002019-06-24T09:10:29.293-07:00The Secret Plan to Beat Lindsey<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I saw Joy Reid interview Jim Clyburn from his Columbia fish fry over the weekend. He was sounding more wide awake and chipper than usual, I guess since he was at his own big fete, and that made me happy. Then Reid mentioned that he was a supporter of Jaime Harrison, who has announced his intention to run against Lindsey Graham in 2020. Maybe it was my imagination but he gave a teensy tinsy nod and then went on to the next subject.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I have two problems with that. First of all, this is the second time I have seen Clyburn interviewed on MSNBC when he has been asked about the race for senator in 2020, and he has failed to make a big deal out of it. I understand that Clyburn may just not be comfortable with promoting someone that isn't himself -- Harrison tends to have the same quirk -- but the race against Lindsey Graham should be a huge deal. After 2018, even SC should be chomping at the bit to get rid of this Trump patsy. All his crazy flip flops as he chases down Trump's approval and his temper tantrum at the Kavanaugh hearing only magnify the need and the potential for change, especially after all those fearless women took the House last November.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">My second problem is that even feminist and advocate of women of color Joy Reid failed to note that there is an actual primary opponent running for the Democratic contender, <a href="https://www.thestate.com/news/politics-government/article229667249.html" target="_blank">Gloria Bromell Tinubu</a>. And not surprisingly, Clyburn has also failed to acknowledge this.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I say "not surprisingly" because a number of years ago, Clyburn threw his two cents into the race against Tim Scott, during Scott's first senate election campaign after his appointment to the Senate by his buddy Nikki Haley. In a primary race among two men and one woman, Clyburn asked the woman to step aside and let the guys fight it out. She did not step aside. And she won the primary. The woman, <a href="https://theironiccherry.blogspot.com/2014/11/some-last-thoughts-before-i-vote.html" target="_blank">Joyce Dickerson</a>, is a truly dynamic firebrand. She wasn't afraid to go head to head with Scott. But she really didn't get the chance. Not the money nor the true support of the Democratic Party. Clyburn was silent.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And now we have another dynamic woman who has stepped up against Lindsey Graham. Gloria Tinubu is a former economics professor and a former Georgia state legislator. She is speaking for those who have been left behind because of racial injustice and the failures of the government to address economic inequality.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Tinubu has experienced being <a href="https://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/election/article230940268.html" target="_blank">overlooked</a> by the Democratic Party machine, local and national, before. She is not likely to get financial support, or even acknowledgement, by the South Carolina Democratic Party, or the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, or, of course, from big Congressional honcho Jim Clyburn. Unless we make waves.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Write and tweet the SCDP and the DSCC. Let them know you expect a fair primary fight. Tell them to put both candidates front and center. I am tired of our senate candidates being the best kept secret in South Carolina, and I hope you are too.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">If you believe it takes a woman, a strong, smart woman, to defeat misogynist Lindsey Graham in 2020, please help spread the word. Follow Gloria Bromell Tinubu on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/gloriabromelltinubu" target="_blank">Facebook</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/Gloria4USsenate" target="_blank">Twitter</a>, meet up with her on her website, <a href="http://gloriaforussenate.com/">gloriaforussenate.com</a>. Share, contribute, and help in any way you can.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I can be fairly certain, after years of hearing about how we are turning blue, that unless our party leaders put our candidates front and center, and do it now, the only thing that will be turning blue is our mood after the next election. I have suggested that the best way to generate publicity right now is by planning events for both candidates, forums, meet 'n' greets, debates, where both candidates engage each other AND the public. You know, like the presidential candidates have been doing for months.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Or, they can follow the old playbook and support the <i>guy</i> who will attract the most money in lieu of excitement. We know how that will turn out.</span>I'm Agnes Pomata, and I'm unequivocally Liberalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09070728055590439046noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7667547399514118307.post-68369734838845835962019-04-02T08:58:00.001-07:002019-04-03T12:34:22.361-07:00The Spirit of 2020<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">There was a time, in the 70's, when I could always find a job that paid a living wage, with health benefits, vacation, retirement. Then corrupt Nixon got canned which led to narcissistic but pure-of-heart Jimmy Carter, an ineffectual president, fucked over by OPEC, embarrassed by Iran, wearing a sweater and telling us to turn down the heat. We remember the gas lines and the cost-of-living skyrocketing. That scared us so much that we let corporations steal our unions out from under us, giving up guarantees and hard-won benefits in order to keep our jobs, which we ended up losing anyway -- sound familiar?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Turns out the republican brain trust had been waiting in the wings, or under their rocks, all along; they knew we would tire of honor over promises of the good life. And they gave us plenty of empty promises, and an actor to make them convincing. Ronald Reagan told us it was morning in America, but what he really meant was "mourning in America," and that is what we got. Mortgage rates up to 16% with scams a-plenty to make our mortgages affordable. A tax cut that he promised would trickle down -- a promise that never seems to get old, a con that works every time, and never, ever trickles down.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">After the trickle down free-for-all of the Dubya years, when we nearly fell over the cliff, we at least recognized Sarah Palin as an idiot and rejected her hate (back then we still rejected overt bigotry). What still puzzles us is that we had eight years of an economy improving despite every republican trick in the books (and some that weren't), and we still elected a bloviating con artist.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Today I struggle to get by spending most of my meager savings on insurance -- home, car, health -- and repairs on old stuff I can't afford to replace. We keep hearing that most of us don't have $400 for an emergency, but billionaires convinced us that their families should not have to give up a penny in inheritance tax, making it sound like we were taking food out of the mouths of their children while they in fact were cutting food stamps and Medicaid to those who were truly in need. The further irony being that the reason so many of us today are in need of basic services is that the wealthy fixed the system decades ago.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Our children live in financial insecurity like many of us have never known. It was our fear that allowed us to compromise and give up the rights we grew up with. It was anger over having lost those rights that allowed us to swallow and even bigger con.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Unless things change, my children will never know financial security. They will work hard and never have time for their families, even though they won't be able to afford good quality child care. They will never be able to take their eyes off the ball that is their next paycheck. They will see their children receive education that offers less than I had back in the 50's and 60's, when fear of Russian exploration led to a surge in funding for better schools, better teacher training and salary, critical and creative thinking, sports, music and science. In other words, quality of life. They will worry about health care because the wealthy continue to work to snatch it away. The cost of necessities will continue to skyrocket, the poor will be taxed so the rich can get richer. And the rich will scorn the struggling middle class while learning bigger and better ways to con us with flattery and fear. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Our Democratic politicians have tried everything to turn this tide. Everything, that is, but the hard stuff. But that is about to change... if we let it. We have for the first time in decades people standing up who aren't afraid to fight to right those economic wrongs, and they now control the House of Representatives. Proof that Americans aren't afraid to vote for dramatic change. It was the young generation who saw how bad things continued to get under the whispered lies that compromise will keep them safe.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">My generation was once fearless. Some of us still are. But we have been lulled into complacency by the battles that we won long ago. We have been the frog in the pot of water that doesn't see that he is incrementally being cooked to death. We keep hoping that if we don't rock the boat we won't get our lives stolen away.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">What is utterly ironic is that it was the bright-eyed fearlessness of young women that won us the House in 2018, and now, facing 2020, we are hearing the mantra of the need for "safe" candidates. That is indeed the sign of insanity, or maybe just of desperation, when we keep insisting on doing what hasn't worked before.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Women in the House, women of color, Muslims, LGBTQ, people we thought were unelectable. And yet I am hearing the sighs and watching the wringing of hands over who is electable. You know who isn't electable? Donald fucking Trump. And yet because he was fearless we let him lie his way into the White House. I'm hearing qualms over being too extreme. You know what is too extreme? The republican party under Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">It's time to stop being afraid. It's definitely time we stopped allowing the enemies of the people to define us and frighten us. Proposals to clean our atmosphere and give health care to all are not extreme. Plans to fund and improve education are not extreme. A living wage is not extreme. Building bridges that don't collapse and hospitals in rural towns, that is not extreme. Protecting the rights of people of color, and making women's health care private is not extreme.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The opposite of all of the above is what is extreme. What the next election is about is protecting us from the extremists. It is about democracy.</span>I'm Agnes Pomata, and I'm unequivocally Liberalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09070728055590439046noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7667547399514118307.post-82085159791521619292019-03-26T12:07:00.000-07:002019-03-26T12:09:23.457-07:00The Way Forward<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Dems, don't be afraid. Don't be disconsolate. Be angry. Be unified. Defend our media and our elected officials.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The Trump crime family, with Mitch McConnell, Kevin McCarthy and of course Donald at the helm, have had 3 weeks to plan an attack to offset all the investigations. They are going after Dems in Congress and the media with renewed energy after the partisan and highly censored Barr "report." We need to be more outraged and energized than ever.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Don't just write to like-minded friends, send letters to the editor, contact the news media, and keep calling our elected officials. We got Paul Ryan convinced he needed to spend more time with family, we need to put the pressure on Graham and Scott. We need to keep saying the truth. We need to be unified and angry. Mueller knew Trump was trying to shut him down, so I believe he did what he did in order to keep the investigations going. Don't let Trump and his mafia discourage you.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Trump is going to play all his greatest hits at his rallies. So educating everyone you know about his lies is essential.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Lindsey Graham has gone from telling truth to power (when he was running against Trump) to being no more than his golf caddy. We need to keep at him about his own lies and hypocrisy.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: black; white-space: pre-wrap;">Let no manipulation by the Trump minions go unchallenged.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: black; white-space: pre-wrap;">I received an email from Kevin McCarthy yesterday, stewed about it for awhile, and then composed this letter for The State:</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: red; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: black; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yesterday I received an email from "Kevin McCarthy -- Republican Leader." In it he claims that the case is closed -- no collusion. He says that Democrats' behavior has been "irresponsible." Then he concludes that "For the good of the country, it is time we moved on."</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: red; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: black; white-space: pre-wrap;">This completely partisan missive was sent to me via House Communications email.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: red; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: black; white-space: pre-wrap;">I believe most Americans are sick of these mean-spirited, divisive attacks. Our tax dollars are paying for what amounts to a 2020 campaign run from Congress and the White House; this is undemocratic and morally repugnant.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: red; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: black; white-space: pre-wrap;">Lindsey Graham, who once spoke the truth about President Trump, has sold out for a standing invitation to Mara Lago. His hateful rhetoric mirrors that of Trump.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: red; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: black; white-space: pre-wrap;">Attorney General Barr has kept his promise to protect the president by keeping most of the report hidden, and Mitch McConnell refuses to allow the Senate to vote to demand that the full report be made public.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: red; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: black; white-space: pre-wrap;">While McCarthy is saying that "for the good of the country, it is time we moved on" Donald Trump is seeking revenge on Democrats in Congress. We just can't tolerate this hypocrisy and the threat to the citizens of our democracy that it represents.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: red; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: black; white-space: pre-wrap;">Senators Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott must insist that Attorney General Barr release the full Mueller Report immediately rather than be implicated in the obstruction of justice that has been going on for far too long.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: white;">Don't worry about how you say it, just say it. We know who the criminals are and what crimes they have brazenly committed. We don't have to be afraid. And we won't allow ourselves to be silenced.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: white;">Being outraged got us the House of Representatives in 2018. The people who stepped up and are now representing us reflected our own feelings: they were fearless and they were outraged. They believed in our country and they were not going to be distracted by fear of not winning. When they spoke what was on their minds, they found out that the majority of Americans felt the same way. We were just waiting for someone who wasn't going to hide in fear to say it.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: white;">So spread the word. Share my blog. It may be an example of passion over literary worth, but boy, it's how I am feeling.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: white;">I took this picture in DC on January 21, 2017. It couldn't have foretold better what was going to happen to our country after Donald Trump got his tiny, greedy hands on it. He goal is to control everything. My goal is to leave him with one last enterprise:</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span>I'm Agnes Pomata, and I'm unequivocally Liberalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09070728055590439046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7667547399514118307.post-45516170254867497502019-02-10T09:51:00.001-08:002019-02-10T09:51:47.514-08:00So Many Rabbit Holes... #2<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The insanity in Virginia is changing faster than I can write about it. This blog post would have been very different had I written it just yesterday. And the path through the weeds and down this rabbit hole are even more convoluted than what I blogged about <a href="https://theironiccherry.blogspot.com/2019/02/so-many-rabbit-holes-1.html" target="_blank">a few days ago</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">As briefly as I can possibly put it:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Governor Ralph Northam attempted to answer a question about Virginia's <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/2/1/18205428/virginia-abortion-bill-kathy-tran-ralph-northam" target="_blank">new abortion bill</a>, which would roll back restrictions on a woman's right to an abortion where there are risks to the woman or likely severe fetal abnormalities. Northam, apparently not a really smooth talker, stumbled in his response, giving right wing media and politicians the opening to portray the bill as in support of infanticide.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Never willing to stop at mere distortion of facts, the right wing media dug up -- excuse me, investigated -- a tip by an anti-abortion activist, found and published the now infamous yearbook photo of someone in blackface standing with someone in KKK garb. The esteemed publication was <a href="https://bigleaguepolitics.com/yearbook-ralph-northam-in-blackface-photo/" target="_blank">Big League Politics</a>, and I urge you to check out the article as well as the ads. I, myself, will be clicking to see what that object is that I should stick in my ear to cure my tinnitis. In other words, not the Washington Post.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">But apparently, the yearbook page and photo exist. The predictable result was that Northam was immediately pressured by Dems across the country, and especially presidential candidates, to resign. And then... one day, Northam was apologizing for the photo, the next day he was saying it wasn't him. This is what I think happened:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Northam, a good guy who is a good governor, was a med student in the 80's. Strange times. Michael Jackson was a phenomenon, that we all remember by now. But there was also Neil Diamond in The Jazz Singer, which is a lame remake of Al Jolson's 1927 performance in the original. In neither were blackface an insult, although by the 80's I have to say, "What on earth were we thinking???" By now we understand so much more about the times when blackface was intended as an insult and how any blackface can bring back the bad old days. We white folk mostly cringe when we hear about blackface, as we should.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">So when Northam was asked about the photo, which he hadn't yet seen, he recalled the time he performed as Michael Jackson in a talent show in med school, and he cringed. Then he apologized, profusely.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Then he saw the photo, and he was confused. I believe he knew that it wasn't him, not the guy in blackface or in the KKK robe. He had nothing to do with the photo being placed on his page (come on, people, we know it's not the students who put their own photos on their yearbook pages). But in his denial, he was trying to be honest. And it comes out just as clumsily as his statement about the abortion bill. Guilty of tripping over his tongue? Absolutely. Guilty of being a racist? I say no.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Then, amid the pitchforks and torches, came word that his proposed successor, Lt. Governor Justin Fairfax had been accused of <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/2/6/18213902/ralph-northam-resign-justin-fairfax-mark-herring-blackface-virginia-governor" target="_blank">sexual assault</a> in 2004. And then another woman came forward. Now we had a Brett Kavanaugh deal, with three important differences. Fairfax is a Democrat, and he is African American. And there was no beer involved.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">As Rick Perry might say, "Oops."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The interviews on CNN and MSNBC were fun to watch, as Dems began to rethink everything from their demand to have Northam step down to whether they had been premature in demanding Al Franken's resignation without benefit of a hearing. Sadly, I heard a well-respected black man give the Kavanaugh defense, saying there was no way to prove the allegations, and so we would have to take Fairfax's word that he was innocent.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">You know what? Way back before a lot of you were born, when a woman was raped, the rapist more often than not got away with it, because rapes just don't happen in public (unless it is with a group of like-minded buddies, as with Kavanaugh). And if it did happen, we were told, it was with the consent of the woman -- whether she knew it or not -- because she was asking for it with her body language, her clothes, or her very presence. And you know what else? That remains true today.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">We were all patting ourselves on the back with the success of the #MeToo movement when Kavanaugh came along to remind us all in a very eerie way that Clarence Thomas could indeed happen again.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">SNL had some fun with the blackface thing.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">And I would like to say, mockery is just about where we should be when we talk about Michael Jackson impressions in the 80's. Let me repeat: the KKK pic was horrific, and any blackface at all should not be happening today.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">So, as far as Northam goes, let us keep in mind that what he did (and I am assuming he did not star in the KKK pic, which was abhorrent) was not illegal, just dumb.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">But what Fairfax is being accused of is illegal. He is asking for an investigation, and I welcome that... except that if he is guilty, and it happened privately, how many others will have to come forward before he is required to step down? And let us not forget that we are not talking about criminal charges, but what we demand of our government leaders.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">There is a lot of grey area to mine when the talk is of sexual assault. Who of us women have not felt coerced but gone along with the pressure to engage in a sexual act? Who of us women have felt shame and anger in retrospect and done nothing about it, because we know we will be seen as complicit and shamed even further?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">When Dr. Christine Blasey Ford stepped forward, her greatest fears came to pass. She was viciously attacked by those in authority, she and her family threatened, and Kavanaugh heralded as the victim, finally being confirmed to the highest court in the land.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">We really have to ask ourselves why one women, much less two, would want to walk into that same scenario with another popular political leader. All they can expect is denial and attacks on their integrity, while having to revisit the experience that has been haunting them in private, but now in public.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">We Democrats need to get our priorities straight, and fast. We can't be led by oppo research or the media's obsession with the shiny object. We have all done something in our past that embarrasses us to this day. We all have skeletons in our closets. Now we need to put them in perspective.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">There is a difference between donning blackface to impersonate Michael Jackson and forcing a woman to have oral sex. That means, in this case in Virginia, that we have to take a look at our biases about race and sex. Acknowledge that sigh of relief in urging Northam to resign because we had what appeared to be a good black Democrat waiting in the wings. How about next time some nastiness is leaked about one of our own, we start off by demanding an investigation rather than immediate resignation? And how about if we work on gaining some perspective into the severity of the "crime"?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We can't honestly talk about giving criminals a second chance when we rush to toss someone out of office (or out of the race) as soon as some dirt surfaces. And we need to have a solid footing about right and wrong, stupidity versus crime.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Right now we have a sexual predator in the White House. We have had a racist, the KKK variety, as attorney general, and one who has let it be known that he plans on taking his Senate seat back in 2020. Those are the lines that need to be drawn.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And we need to continue to remind journalists and commentators of the difference. We cannot allow them to draw false equivalence and focus on inanities while crimes are being committed by those in office.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We learned a painful lesson in 2016, and we have been paying for it for too long. We need to insist that our political leaders and candidates be judged on moral character and actions and not youtube videos and yearbook photos. We need to focus the media instead of following it down the rabbit hole. To mix my metaphors, when the right wing tosses a bone to the media, and we chase after it, it become a grenade with which we will only end up blowing ourselves to smithereens.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Don't let it happen again.</span>I'm Agnes Pomata, and I'm unequivocally Liberalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09070728055590439046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7667547399514118307.post-24430646787876696172019-02-07T09:47:00.002-08:002019-02-07T09:47:58.908-08:00So Many Rabbit Holes... #1<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Apparently, I blinked and when I opened my eyes I saw that Elizabeth Warren had apologized for her insensitivity to Native Americans. Let me just summarize this situation the way I see it:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">When Elizabeth was a child, her mother told her she had some Native American blood. I imagine it was a point of pride. So when it came to indicating her heritage, Warren later included Native American.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Scott Brown, who is an idiot, had nothing else to run on against Warren in 2012, so his oppo researchers learned that she had included this detail when applying for a job at Harvard. It was such a moronic attack, and given that Warren was running on intelligent and important issues, that she easily won.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Of course, idiot-in-chief Donald Trump, who can't resist the opportunity to mock a woman, began the highly insulting (to Native Americans) taunt of "Pocahontas" when referring to her. Popular with his really ignorant base, who thought it was really clever and hilarious, the taunt became a standard line.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Circus showman Trump promised $1 million to charity if a <a href="https://www.factcheck.org/2018/10/the-facts-on-elizabeth-warrens-dna-test/" target="_blank">DNA test</a> "shows you're an Indian." Sick of the taunts and knowing how hard it is for Trump to part with a penny, she took him up on it. Which SHE WOULD NOT HAVE DONE IF SHE DID NOT BELIEVE SHE WAS PART NATIVE AMERICAN.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Now, the test found "strong evidence" that Warren has a Native American ancestor, which should have been solid enough proof that her claim was valid. But not only did Trump turn it around to his ugly needs, but the Native American community joined in.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Elizabeth Warren has been a hero for working class Americans and minorities throughout her life and her political career. Instead of recognizing this for the manipulative attack that it is, the argument became over whether she had the right to claim Indian heritage without the proper "blood quantum" amount. Which term was brought into use by the federal government in the first place, and not by Native American tribes. Into the weeds, and through to the rabbit hole.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Meanwhile, the media has taken this on, as though Hillary's emails had never led to the election of Donald Trump and mea culpas all around. No more talking about raising the working poor by taxing the wealthy, or about regulating Wall Street. Now she can count on at least one question by some imbicile about her heritage.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Shortly after the test results hit, I tuned in to a talk show on NPR. The guests were Native American and they were all having a go at Warren, postulating about the meaning of "blood quantum" and whining about how Warren had insulted their heritage. Then a caller -- a Native American woman -- said that Elizabeth Warren had been a strong and uncompromising voice for women and minorities, and this silly misstep wasn't going to make her less of a Warren supporter. Before I could let out a cheer, the moderator asked the geniuses in the studio another question about tribes and blood quantum identity TOTALLY IGNORING THE CALLER'S COMMENTS.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Are we so gullible that we will continue to turn on our own, so desperate to be politically correct that we don't recognize the virus in the messaging? Once again, republicans have been able to toss in the grenade and watch as Democrats jump in after it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">When I first heard the comment that Warren should not run for president because she had too much baggage, I thought my head would explode. Baggage??? Warren is the most straightforward and honest person in politics. Period. The only baggage she has been carrying has been that thrust on her by the media, who once again is passing it on for the Fox News crowd.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We have got to stop this. Tweet MSNBC and CNN whenever they start to wander toward those rabbit holes. Remind them that their job is to talk about real issues, not rumors and questionable or false attacks. Write letters to the editor and make phone calls.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We lost an amazing if imperfect candidate in 2016. She would have been as good a president as Barack Obama, an amazing if imperfect president. We have lost members of Congress and solid candidates because republicans know how to avoid the issues with really ugly oppo research and we continue to chase after it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Meanwhile, there is a pussy grabber in the White House, one who openly mocks Native American dignity as he attacks a U.S. Senator, locks up children and lies about immigrants. And waiting backstage is our former attorney general, also a former member of the KKK, who is contemplating a run to retake his Alabama Senate seat in 2020.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Let us not get distracted. Not again.</span>I'm Agnes Pomata, and I'm unequivocally Liberalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09070728055590439046noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7667547399514118307.post-90740303458030093032019-01-26T09:30:00.002-08:002019-01-26T09:30:37.337-08:00The Nixon Pardon<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I just heard an interview with Julian Castro from December in which one of the great guys from <a href="https://crooked.com/podcast/rudy-giuliani-human-tweet/" target="_blank">Pod Save America</a> asked if he would have pardoned Richard Nixon. This is because Castro has announced that he is running for president in 2020, and we all know that Trump in stripes is on all our minds. Castro analyzed cautiously as Democrats are wont to do. He started off saying that he "wouldn't be inclined to pardon Donald Trump," adding that "nobody is above the law." Then he began the equivocation thing where he thought that some have thought that at the time Ford pardoned Nixon it may have been the right thing for the country to, you know, move on.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">First of all, Nixon committed some egregious crimes. That he was the President of the United States should make him more culpable rather than less. That Ford would pardon him gave him privilege that those of us lacking money and power just don't have. That set a pitiful example, reinforcing criminals with deep pockets and powerful attorneys and turning the slippery slope into an avalanche. It was wrong. The country was not better off for having let a criminal go free because he had been a criminal with power.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">In 2009, President Obama made the same mistake with the criminals in the banking industry that led us to the brink of financial catastrophe. For many, many of us, it wasn't just the brink. People lost their homes and their jobs. Small businesses went bankrupt. And after the government bailed out the financial behemoths, they gave themselves raises, and went back to business as usual. Not a single Wall Street criminal did time for those crimes. And yet we teach our children that it is wrong to steal, and that they have to follow the law.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Within the Trump administration, we have had the good fortune of being able to see, under a magnifying glass, the incredible corruption that is corporate and political America. Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan have been rewarded for descending to depths that we have not seen in our lifetimes in this country -- and in Congress that is not a high bar. Trump's cabinet of deplorables has been a pageant of criminality; not only did he choose those with the same sleazy moral values as he, but once in the White House they also demonstrated the belief that they were more important than their positions, they were above the law and could rightfully plunder what had been the people's government.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">On the other hand, Trump and his band of pirates had no compunction about attacking and accusing others in order to detract from their own ugly acts. Flynn led the chant "lock her up" in 2016, and Trump (who rarely smiles) would break into his creepiest, smuggest grin whenever the crowd of misfits at a rally would bring it out. Ah, they learned so well. Add to that accusing President Obama and other leaders in that administration of ridiculous crimes, promising he would send Hillary to jail, challenging the FBI to investigate idiotic and paranoid charges; all serving the dual purpose of smearing those better than him and distracting the public via twitter rants with help from the media from his own horrendous actions.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The tweets accusing Obama of wiretapping his office and phones led to weeks of diversion, happily obsessive pondering by the media, hours of wasted dollars and time by the FBI, who I believe were frankly scared to just say, "that's ridiculous." You know, you have to follow procedure whether what Trump says is crazy or not. But apparently Trump has the First Amendment right to tell whatever damn lies he wants. Except that when the president tells a lie, it really is tantamount to yelling "fire" in a crowded building, which <i>is</i> against the law.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Back to the pardoning of the criminal. Donald Trump has committed crimes that Tricky Dick could only wish he had been able to get away with. As a candidate -- and since -- he has colluded with foreign governments, making deals that jeopardize our sovereignty for the sole purpose of personal gain. He has made comments which purpose is to fuel hatred and attacks toward pretty much anyone or any group that he envies or sees as a threat. Hate crimes have increased dramatically against minorities. Most recently, Trump's former attorney Michael Cohen has postponed testimony to Congress out of fear of threats he has received, directed not just to him but to his family.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The President of the United States as crime boss.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Should we impeach? Just the fact that we keep hearing the media asking this question makes me shudder. The process is there to be used if needed. I can't think of any better reason than the criminal who now resides in the White House. Should Donald Trump be indicted?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">With Donald Trump's blessing, the weaselly former attorney general went after people who smoked marijuana and those who had lived peacefully in this country for decades. When it came to people who were just trying to get by, Jefferson Sessions brooked no excuse. Trump, modeling his administration after his hero, Richard Nixon, touted himself as the "law and order" president.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">So why should the "law and order" president not have to do time for his crimes? Damned if I know.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">We have had too many years of bogus congressional committees and investigations. Media morons like our own Chuck Todd will no doubt compare our efforts to seek justice to those of the Devin Nunes republican party. That is like Donald Trump blaming <a href="https://www.vox.com/identities/2017/8/12/16138982/trump-charlottesville-false-equivalency" target="_blank">"many sides"</a> in Charlottesville. It is that false equivalency that put Trump in the White House, with phony investigations on Benghazi and emails creating the appearance that Hillary was guilty of ... something.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Pursuing justice does not make us an unruly mob. We should not be investigating Donald Trump and his cronies out of revenge, but in order to see justice done. More important, we need to do all we can to stop the crimes that he is committing on a daily basis. Whether it is private meetings with Vladimir Putin or business deals with Saudi Arabia and China in return for favors, or attempts to intimidate or influence witnesses in government investigations, Donald Trump needs to be held to account.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Donald Trump, as is true with all bullies, sees forgiveness as weakness. When he gets away with something, he brags about it and goes on to commit crimes ever more flagrantly. Donald Trump allowed to continue to break the law is Donald Trump creating more harm and chaos, with more manic rallies and bigger lies and attacks. That is the way of the despot, and Trump has shown through words and deeds his willingness -- and delight -- to rule as a third world dictator.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">This week Nancy Pelosi finally put a stop to a Trump tantrum that was damaging the country. That is the example we need to follow in reigning in and putting an end to the abuses of this terrible administration and president.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Investigations and impeachment because that is the right thing to do. And no pardon, because a hardened criminal should have to do his time.</span></div>
I'm Agnes Pomata, and I'm unequivocally Liberalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09070728055590439046noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7667547399514118307.post-17472266724112568592018-12-31T07:40:00.001-08:002018-12-31T07:40:29.183-08:00Dear Joe Cunningham...<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Dear Joe,</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">You know how tickled we all were when you were elected to serve in Congress. We Dems fought hard for you, even those like me who do not live in your district (I was gerrymandered out). You ran a great campaign, and your stand on the issues was stellar. You did not back off on any of those issues Dems in the past have tiptoed around, like women's reproductive rights and gun control.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The only time you blinked was when you caved to the republican's "Operation Nancy Pelosi." I'm thinking that in the heat of the campaign, you may not have realized that people like Donald Trump are playing with you. They want you to think opposing Pelosi is your idea, when it is truly what they want you to do more than anything in the world.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">You're young and you may not know the history behind the demonizing of Nancy Pelosi, so let me give you a little background. Back in 2010, Michael Steele, then chairman of the Republican Party (before they threw him under the bus), was the genius behind the "Fire Pelosi" campaign. It happened after she got Obamacare passed by one vote; given the narcissism and back-biting that was going on it was amazing that she could herd that bunch of cats. It scared the bejeezus out of republicans.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">So Steele decided to create a campaign that turned Nancy Pelosi into the spawn of Satan, i.e., a liberal. They were the RNC, the Republican National Committee, and they did a <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/i-helped-lead-the-fire-pelosi-campaign-in-2018-democrats-would-be-nuts-to-do-it-now" target="_blank">bus tour</a> and everything. Most important, all the republicans got on board, if not the bus, the strategy. It was the same unified voice that you hear when they talk about Pelosi today. Because they didn't get rid of her, but they got lots of press, and they taught their base to equate Pelosi with a dirty word. Of course, it had no basis in fact; they didn't need any. It worked brilliantly.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">It worked so well that Mark Sanford decided it would be more advantageous to run against Pelosi in a 2013 special election than against his real-life opponent, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/mar/19/mark-sanford-elizabeth-colbert-south-carolina" target="_blank">Elizabeth Colbert Busch</a>. He still reeked from the Appalachian Trail bullshit that he wore when he left the governor's office. Colbert Busch was smart and sound on the issues. He could not have beat her. But Sanford always has a gimmick up his sleeve, and those good ole boys enjoyed the <a href="https://www.islandpacket.com/news/politics-government/election/article33511914.html" target="_blank">gag</a>. So he beat Pelosi, or, the republicans' caricature of her.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Joe, I was taken aback when I saw the campaign ad in which you had a white male stereotype say that he was a republican but because you were against Pelosi he was voting for you. I imagine you -- and a number of Dems that I know -- believe you could not have won if you hadn't thrown Nancy under the bus. But I believe you were the butt of Michael Steele's scam, the one that has been working <i>on Dems</i> all these years.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">A few weeks ago, around the time you and a bunch of young Dems, mostly men, signed that ridiculous letter urging Pelosi not to run for leadership, Michael Steele was interviewed on AM Joy. When Reid asked him why his Pelosi strategy worked so well on <i>Democrats</i> he laughed and said, "I don't know; I'm trying to figure that out myself." Please take two minutes and listen to the <a href="https://crooksandliars.com/2018/11/joy-reid-michael-steele-why-did-your" target="_blank">video</a>. It is indeed an eye-opener.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">This strategy has worked before. Mitch McConnell would not be spreading his evil today if Alison Lundergan Grimes had not decided to run from Barack Obama and the Affordable Care Act. Lord knows, Trump could never have beaten Hillary if she hadn't had thirty years of republicans building her into the kind of evil genius that could do anything; anything, that is except win the presidency.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">And they can't -- THEY CAN'T -- do it without the help of Democrats.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Right now, Nancy Pelosi is the nightmare that keeps the republican party -- and Donald Trump -- up at night. She is smart and masterful. She believes in the same causes and issues that you believe in. She will fight, and win, when she is Speaker. It's not a fantasy. It is Pelosi's resume.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/house/418902-in-reversal-lynch-likely-to-support-pelosi" target="_blank">Stephen Lynch</a> was one of the Dems who signed that silly letter. He met with Pelosi, and changed his mind. If that doesn't give you pause, you are not the reasonable man I think you are.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Trump will go down with his wall because he believes that is what gave him his victory. He doesn't have the capacity to look around and see that he isn't the president of a rally. He can't put together all the factors that got him to the White House.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Opposing Nancy Pelosi did not win your election, Joe. Being on the right side of the issues against a woman who was both mean and dumb was what did it. Oh, and as much as I hate to say it, if she were a mean, dumb white man instead of a woman he would have won.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">But the time is right for progressive ideas, and you transported enough people to put you in Congress. Fight for those progressive ideas, and be sure to make headlines letting us know what you are doing for us. Keep an eye on Pelosi, because she will teach you how to win, again and again, against all odds.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">And Joe, you will need those skills. Mark Sanford isn't going anywhere. All he knows how to do is be on the public dole. We couldn't believe it when he went from disgrace in the governor's office to win back a House seat. But that is what he does. He has not stopped running. He will be there in 2020. If you don't proudly own being a progressive Democrat, you will just be seen as a watered down republican. If you throw Nancy Pelosi under the bus, if you fight her on key issues instead of standing by her and helping her win, I can guarantee you will have a short life in Congress. And that would be a shame.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">We had the House in 2010 and the Senate in 2014. We lost Congress because we wouldn't stand together. Republicans have the bluster, but we have the causes. The economy, our standing in the world, our treatment of children, <i>democracy itself</i> for gods' sake, there is no issue we should not stand for proudly. I can't say enough how important it is -- to the electorate -- to see you all stand together, in strength. Going up against the most powerful Democratic leader ever is not a good way to start. So I urge you to do the right thing. Admit that now that you have seen Pelosi in action, up close, you will be supporting her.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">You may have won because just enough republicans voted for you, but if you lose the enthusiasm we Dems felt for you in 2018, you don't have a chance.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Best of luck in your new job.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Sincerely,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The Ironic Cherry</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>I'm Agnes Pomata, and I'm unequivocally Liberalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09070728055590439046noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7667547399514118307.post-68573676519467328052018-11-29T09:51:00.000-08:002018-11-29T09:51:58.981-08:00The TSA and Me<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><u>How We Got Here</u></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I hate flying. It wasn't always this way. Before the PLO began <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1970/09/13/archives/hijacks-create-grave-mideast-crisis.html" target="_blank">hijacking planes</a> in the 70's, there were not even x-ray scans at airports. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">In <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1973/01/06/archives/airports-start-thorough-screening-of-all-passengers-airports-start.html" target="_blank">1973</a></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">, a White House directive charged airports with scanning all passengers and baggage with electronic weapons detectors. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">There were occasional pat-downs when metal detectors sounded the alarm and the reason wasn't obvious. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Many were angered by the inconvenience and assault on privacy; some were totally fine with the new measures, and felt safer because of them.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Hijackings decreased. Air travel was affordable. Those were the halcyon days when you could walk to the gate to meet your family and friends, or shed a few tears saying good-bye. You could watch the plane come into or leave the gate. Your valuables, including your body, were safe from assault.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">But just as violence happens outside of an airport, it was inevitable that there would be another airline attack, and it was massive. 9/11 changed America's sense of invulnerability. The cluelessness of the George W. Bush administration ignored all the signs that would have prevented 9/11, while the paranoia of the Dick Cheney contingent ushered in the Patriot Act of 2001 and all its abominations. It took the weenies in Congress less than two months to pass the law, and no amount of protestation over the <a href="https://www.aclu.org/other/surveillance-under-usapatriot-act" target="_blank">loss of constitutional freedoms</a> could stop them.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Imagine the chaos. And the horror stories.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">And yet, with the security business booming and Americans as insecure as ever, in 2009 the TSA got away with adding <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/07/business/07road.html" target="_blank">full body scanners</a> to the myriad tortures of proceeding onto an aircraft. Initially, they were to be used only when the walk through x-ray machine set off an alarm. But when you've got a really fancy-ass hammer, everything looks like a nail, so in no time everyone was required to submit to having their body perused. I said "got away with," but it wasn't easy. People were appalled that the scanners showed their naked image. And then there were those who were just appalled at the unnecessary invasion of privacy. So -- being the Obama administration -- the problem was investigated and full-body scanners were walked back. But, being the Obama administration, the problem was pursued until a new, improved full body scanner, that did not show us standing there, arms up, naked, became the new toy at the airport. I hate to say it, but Obama did continue the march toward cutting back on freedoms in the name of security; he just did it in a more studied, scientifically researched manner. The body scanner was once again a thing, although not used consistently, and the busier airports were far more pragmatic about enforcing their use than others: like, for example, the Charleston International Airport, which just can't believe we aren't next on the terrorist to-do list.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">So back to me.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I am 67 years old, and a New Englander. As such, I've never been much for uninvited touching. The TSA attacks appalled me for civil rights violation reasons, and also for personal privacy reasons. I pretty much stopped flying after 9/11 when we all had to stand in line in order to have our suitcases opened up and watch our items fondled by gloved screeners before they were checked. So even before the obscene full-body scanners.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I would prefer to drive two days each way to Chicago than fly. I will in an instant choose the 23-hour Amtrak travel to Rhode Island than fly. I miss the days of walking freely through an airport as though it was just a public building, but don't at all miss air travel as it exists today.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">So there I was, this summer, with a pregnant daughter all the way over in Denver. I honestly looked into cars and trains. The only not-insane way to get there is flying.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">And then, a month before my grandbaby made her appearance, my sister in Rhode Island died suddenly. I booked a flight for the next day.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">And had myself patted down for the first time ever at Charleston International. The culprit appeared to be the metal in my bra. I was upset about my sister's death, and rather than being silently stoic (which is what we are supposed to do), I said, "My sister died yesterday; I really don't need this." The TSA agent did not respond verbally, but made sure to give me a thorough check before allowing me to put my shoes back on and get on my way. On the way back, in Rhode Island, there was no such idiocy, and I was able to walk through the x-ray screener without incident.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">A month later, my grandbaby was born, and I was once again booking a last minute flight. I had only a short time to obsess about the upcoming screening and happier things to think about. I was not surprised when we were all slowly and systematically herded through the body-scanners. But, having been sure to wear a bra that while less personally secure would not be likely to set off alarms, I was still patted down. This time not only my breasts but both my ankles.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">And after a lovely week with my beautiful new grandbaby, frisked once again by what I had thought of as the more reasonable Denver TSA.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">It appears to me that since Trump began his ham-fisted reign, the slippery slope of the TSA during the Obama years has become free to stomp on our privacy with abandon. The full-body scanners are either more sensitive or set to be more sensitive, TSA agents instructed to "search" far more freely than in the recent past. Not just an overweight woman in a bra with metal snaps, but the bulge of socks fallen around the ankle will also do it. I don't know how many of us are chosen for this, but I finally decided to stop obsessing and just watch the last time I was in line. Way too many pat-downs, way, way too many false positives. And way too many rights being violated.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Like the frog that is put in the pot while the water is still cold, we are now quietly allowing our bodies to be handled in a way that would have caused outrage and rebellion a few years ago.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">And why should that surprise me? There are babies being torn from their parents and put in cells and African Americans being shot for traffic violations. We live in a country being led by a cretin that aspires to being a dictator, and is right this very minute working to close our borders, keep the press out of the White House, and cut off ties with our allies.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">What is happening at our airports seems small next to having a baby torn out of your arms or being shot by a poorly-trained and/or racist cop.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">But we let the "small" liberties go in the name of security. We kept sliding down that slippery slope, at first protesting and then just shrugging and going along with the intense scrutiny required just <i>to travel</i>. We have been allowing our purses to be ravaged just to go to a sporting event for years.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">This in a country that won't even allow a background check before buying a gun, or restrict the sale of bump stocks and silencers.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I know this has been a long blog, but I have been thinking about this TSA thing and how it has gotten away from us for a long time. So it is going to get longer. Go grab a cup of coffee or a beer and bear with me.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><u>The TSA and Breast Milk</u></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I now have a grandbaby and a daughter who has begun to travel with her. On her first flight, over Thanksgiving, Denver TSA agents were befuddled over how to deal with her pumped breast milk. Obviously, she had a baby with her, what nefarious plot would require such a cover? And yet, they sniffed, opened and had meetings over how to proceed. It was upsetting to the point that she did not carry breast milk on the trip home, in order to avoid what should be a totally avoidable fiasco. Which made even more burdensome the feeding a three-month-old infant in a world where nursing moms get hassled by dirty-minded wingnuts.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">A quick google search located another instance of the TSA <a href="https://offspring.lifehacker.com/how-to-get-through-tsa-with-breast-milk-1796469809" target="_blank">assault on breast milk</a>, amazingly also at Denver International, you know, where you can probably smuggle out legally purchased marijuana with ease. The blogger suggests ways to more easily get through screening, </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">like bringing in printed TSA information to show the agent so they can learn the rules about breast milk on-the-job. The saddest thing about this particular post, however, is that she ends by suggesting paying for the use of a transportation service to carry your milk, if you are a traveling mom with a baby at home. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">IF YOU ARE <a href="http://seniorjournal.com/NEWS/Features/2014/20140731_Senior_Citizens_75_and_Older_Can_Now_Board_Airlines_a_Lot_Easier.htm" target="_blank">75 OR OLDER</a>, YOU CAN GET THROUGH TSA SCREENING WITHOUT TAKING YOUR SHOES OFF. This means that in the defective yet watchful eyes of our government, a 75-year-old is less likely to be a terrorist than a woman with an infant.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">In 2013, the TSA even changed the rule about knives in order to allow <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewbender/2013/06/06/tsa-cancels-decision-allowing-knives-on-planes/#1379d3cee55a" target="_blank">small folding knives</a> to be carried onto a plane. Until that decision proved so wacky that the outcry caused them to rethink it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">So women are once again singled out for the kind of personal scrutiny that is an embarrassment and a violation. Not to mention the incredible disruption of an already burdensome process of traveling with a small child. Why have we put up with it? Because women have always put up with special rules and restrictions. Just as we have put up with sexual discrimination at work, and inappropriate sexual approaches and assaults. If this isn't an issue to be taken up by #MeToo I don't know what is.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><u>I Decide to Sell Out</u></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I hope to visit my grandbaby every couple of months. In the interest of not having to deal with the abomination of a pat-down at the beginning of every trip, I decided to look into TSA Precheck.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Turns out for the low, low price of $85 for five years, you can apply for a precheck that will allow you to avoid the most humiliating and infuriating aspects of TSA screening. I wondered just how intensive this screening would be, if it really screened out those who might be dangerous on a flight. It seems that they run your name and fingerprints through their national database, looking for <a href="https://www.tsa.gov/disqualifying-offenses-factors" target="_blank">criminals and terrorists</a>! The good news is, if you haven't yet been up to any criminal activity, not only are you good for prescreening, I'll bet there are terrorist organizations that would love to recruit you.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The difference that getting "awarded" TSA Precheck (for the low, low price of $85 for five years) is that next time you are at the security line at the airport you don't have to take off your shoes or <i>light</i> jacket. Then you get to go through a regular x-ray machine instead of a body-scanner, like we used to do in the old days. And you send your carry-ons on the belt through the x-ray scanner. In other words, you are allowed to do the perfectly adequate screening that you were allowed to do before 9/11 (except no box cutters or knives).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Here are some other effects of the Precheck: 1. There is a lot of money to be made by security companies, and our government loves to give money away to big corporations, as with private prisons. 2. As an added bonus, the government gets to add lots of non-criminals and their fingerprints to its database, and even better, voluntarily.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Precheck doesn't mean your privacy won't get invaded when you're not looking. We have known since the post 9/11 days when we stood and watched that our suitcases would be opened and inspected. I knew that checked luggage continued to be "checked" because the tie I used to minimally safeguard my suitcase from opening was frequently retied in a different way. But after my first precheck trip, I found this brazen confirmation, kind of a TSA "Fuck You and Your Rights":</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">It says: For your own safety we have the right to rummage around in your stuff. If you tried to lock us out, we busted our way in. And there ain't nothing you can do about it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Think about it. I can carry on stuff that merely gets x-rayed. But my checked bags need to get opened. They honestly don't have and can't create the technology for seeing what is in our bag without opening it? Or they just want us to know they can....</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">When I got to Denver and was bitching about the TSA, my daughter told me about a TV series that most of you probably already know about called <i>Adam Ruins Everything</i>. In this episode, he ruins the myth that the TSA screening keeps us all safer and he does it with facts and <a href="https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2015/06/reassessing_air.html" target="_blank">experts</a>. It's a great episode, and I knew it all along.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">It's a sad day when intelligent Americans have willingly abandoned such critical freedoms as being able to travel without assaults on our privacy, and on our very bodies. Young adults are submitting to these atrocities because they have grown up in a 9/11 America in which privacy has been and is being subverted going on two decades in the name of security. Young women carrying babies are having to submit their breast milk to inspection and us older women to getting parts of our bodies touched that we wouldn't allow to happen in any other circumstance. And I have not even addressed the horrors that minorities, especially Muslim men, have had to endure since 9/11.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">These days we are feeling overwhelmed by ever more horrendous attacks on civil liberties; mostly, they don't directly involve us, unless we are a minority, in which they have become a way of life. It is way past time we resensitize ourselves to the violations by our government to our rights. The Trump era is nothing but a really, really red flag of what we stand to lose, and each day we are losing just a bit more of it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">When you are at the airport, and standing stoically in line waiting to see if you will be frisked, look around. Be aware of how unlike a free democratic society this process has become. We don't make jokes or laugh. We don't debate, question or complain. We stand there trying not to be noticed and singled out. How un-American we have become.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">In the words of John Oliver: "This is NOT normal."</span><br />
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I'm Agnes Pomata, and I'm unequivocally Liberalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09070728055590439046noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7667547399514118307.post-30392051818528897612018-10-31T14:13:00.000-07:002018-10-31T14:13:43.707-07:00That School Board Election -- The Final Episode<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">When I wrote <a href="https://theironiccherry.blogspot.com/2018/10/the-school-board-election-quandary-part_21.html" target="_blank">The School Board Election Quandary -- Part 2</a> I included my own recommendations. They are:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><u>East Cooper</u> -- Sarah Shad Johnson</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><u>West Ashley</u> -- Paul H. Padron</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I had not yet decided on the North Charleston race yet, so I am adding that here:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><u>North Charleston</u> -- Vivian Pettigrew</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Also, as I said earlier, you are allowed to choose up to two candidates for the two vacant East Cooper seats. I prefer to choose one, as I believe in a close race choosing more than one candidate can take away from a first choice. Others disagree and want to use all allowable votes. If there were a gun to my head and I had to choose a second candidate for East Cooper (and, hey, this is South Carolina so it could happen...) I would choose Jake Rambo. But I really, really want to see Sarah Johnson on the school board, so I will only be voting for her in East Cooper. Up to you.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">If you haven't voted yet -- and the big day is next Tuesday -- I hope this has helped.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">If you have already voted, kudos. But don't stop now. Pass this information onto friends, family, coworkers, and help them get to the polls.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">If there ever was a year we could see our candidates win, this is it. But every vote will matter.</span>I'm Agnes Pomata, and I'm unequivocally Liberalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09070728055590439046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7667547399514118307.post-71984035615076946372018-10-21T06:40:00.000-07:002018-10-21T06:40:42.335-07:00The School Board Election Quandary -- Part 2<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">They all pretty much say the same thing. They are all there for the kids. Of course, they all want to improve our schools. They all want safe schools, quality education for all our children.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The way they want to get there is the thing.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I wrote in <a href="https://theironiccherry.blogspot.com/2018/10/the-school-board-election-quandary-part.html" target="_blank">Part 1</a> of The School Board Election Quandary about the increase in magnet/charter schools and the drain this causes on already limited public school resources. The nice way to say it is "choice" (which we all seem to like when it doesn't refer to women's reproductive rights) but what it really amounts to is privatization, because once you have a charter school, you need somebody to run it. Enter the <a href="https://www.postandcourier.com/opinion/beware-of-privatizing-public-education/article_9e64a932-7014-5a8d-a088-22049a728b47.html" target="_blank">charter school business</a>, which is booming. You will hear from candidates about spending tax dollars responsibly, but when they promote what is euphemistically called "Achievement School Districts" they are taking responsibility away from local government and handing it over to those who are not bound by state and local rules. And when you are promoting "pro-business" and "public-private partnerships" you are handing over schools to those who are more mindful of the bottom line than the needs of our children.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">There are groups here in the Lowcountry that are pro-charter (read, pro-business), and there are groups that promote true public education. I think one of the best guidelines for which school board candidates to support is by who these groups endorse.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The Charleston <a href="https://www.charlestonchamber.org/pac-charleston-county-school-board/" target="_blank">Chamber of Commerce PAC</a> endorsements have all the right buzzwords, as does their statement of educational goals. It is only when you get to the very last paragraph that they tell you the PAC's real agenda:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "titillium web" , "helvetica" , "roboto" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 19.2312px; letter-spacing: 1.05772px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: red;">The PAC’s mission is to evaluate and support candidates for local and state office who acknowledge, support and actively vote for pro-business policies and legislation.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Which should tell you all you need to know about their endorsements.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.postandcourier.com/news/frustrated-with-school-board-charleston-power-players-aim-to-shake/article_9736455a-6999-11e8-a7e4-4b103d094955.html" target="_blank">Charleston Coalition for Kids</a> is a big player in this year's school board election. Members include some familiar faces, like Joe Riley, as well as Ben Navarro and Anita Zucker, the latter two who the Post & Courier describe as "among the wealthiest people in the state." Their slick promotional <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tb2FdDuOpss&feature=youtu.be" target="_blank">video</a> shows mostly white men described as business leaders interspersed with African-Americans described as parents.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Let me just say that we all want our kids to have the best possible education. I can't blame parents for being attracted to the slick promises of corporate education in the guise of charter schools, schools that can be free of burdensome state regulation. But the sad fact is that too many charter schools shake free of those regulations in order to advance profit. And I can't say this often enough: they will be draining the public coffers while they do it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">It is important to note that both the Chamber of Commerce PAC and Charleston Coalition for Kids endorse the same four candidates: Darby, Green, Coats and Mack. What I also find interesting is that both groups are talking about the need for change, yet three of the four endorsements are incumbents. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">So, the group that is complaining about the path of Charleston County Schools is endorsing the same people that got us here.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">On the other hand, there are organizations that are truly dedicated to improving education for all children. They support public schools, and they are aware that we have failing public schools because they have inadequate resources. They know that funneling tax dollars into specialized schools (magnets) and schools that do not have to adhere to state educational guidelines (charters) have drained public school resources even further than our politicians' craze for cutting taxes has done. They provide information and evaluations of candidates online.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The <a href="https://www.qualityeducationproject.org/" target="_blank">Quality Education Project</a> (QEP) has been active in getting communities involved in advocating for better schools, and in community based research to help determine what is needed. They will be providing within a couple of days evaluations of the school board candidates, which will be invaluable.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The League of Women Voters (LWV) provides at Vote411.org a <a href="https://www.vote411.org/ballot" target="_blank">Voter's Guide</a> which gives you a personalized ballot. You can click on a race, say, "Charleston County School Board East Cooper" and it will give you the candidates and lots of information for each one, including contact information.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">And then there are the candidate Facebook pages and websites. It is often as easy as googling the name and scrolling to what is obviously the FB or website. Or you can go to <a href="http://ballotpedia.org/">Ballotpedia.org</a> to get a sample ballot, from which you can get website info on a candidate.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">That brings us to the voting process. A candidate must live in the district in which they run, but all of us in Charleston County can -- and should -- vote in each district. This year, we will be able to vote as follows:</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> East Cooper: Choose up to two candidates of the four who are running.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> North Charleston: Choose one candidate of the three who are running.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> West Ashley: Choose one candidate of the three who are running.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Now, this is important. My friends and I have given this a bit of thought. While you should vote for at least one candidate for each area, if you are allowed more than one vote but you really like one candidate, I believe that using additional votes dilutes your vote. In other words, if you vote for two, you will be essentially splitting the vote and taking a vote away from your favored candidate. Again, this is my take, and I will only be voting for one candidate in each area.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">So, who to choose? You will need to make your own informed decisions, but as you know, I am not shy about endorsing a candidate that I believe in. So I will end with my endorsements, and encourage you to check out their websites and make your own decision.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><u>East Cooper</u> -- <a href="https://www.sarahshadjohnson.com/" target="_blank">Sarah Shad Johnson</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><u>North Charleston</u> -- I will be waiting to see the QEP evaluations to choose between Linda Mosley Lucas and Vivian Pettigrew. The best info I could find on both was at <a href="http://vote411.org/">vote411.org</a>, where you can compare candidates' responses to their questionnaire.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><u>West Ashley</u> -- <a href="https://www.paulpadron4schoolboard.com/" target="_blank">Paul H. Padron</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">In conclusion...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I am most specifically making my choices based on each candidate's past involvement and experience in, and commitment to, public schools. While in 2018 our schools are compelled to work with business to some extent, it is <i>really</i> important that business is not running the schools. I want candidates who are not afraid to spend money where it is needed: teachers' salaries, student supplies (including technology and sports), and infrastructure. It is so important that we have strong board members who are willing to fight for a curriculum that is current in the sciences -- who knew we would have to be fighting for the sciences in 2018? We need a board that will support teachers who raise difficult questions in order to develop awareness and critical thinking skills. We need board members who understand how important arts and literature are in growing children into creative and empathic adults.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">And we need a board that sets as its priorities <i>not</i> developing special schools, but is determined to make all schools excellent in Charleston County.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>One last thing:</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">School board are the most confusing and muddied races of all. Some vote haphazardly, some not at all. It stands to reason that a united effort for a good candidate can make a difference.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">If you found these two blog posts helpful, please pass them along. Spread the word and increase the chances of putting good, pro-public education people on Charleston's school board.</span><br />
<br />I'm Agnes Pomata, and I'm unequivocally Liberalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09070728055590439046noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7667547399514118307.post-49523374055871272692018-10-19T10:53:00.000-07:002018-10-19T10:54:11.626-07:00The School Board Election Quandary - Part 1<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">If you don't have time to investigate those pesky school board elections, you aren't alone. I think too many of us (myself included) have gone into the voting booth embarrassed that we don't have a clue who the candidates are or what they stand for. We choose our candidates as though we are playing Pin the Tail on the Donkey.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">And we pretty much end up voting for candidates whose names are most familiar, for some reason we can't quite grasp. The reason ends up being the person with the most signs, or the biggest signs, or the nicest slogan, or the nicest name. We maybe vote for the incumbent, just because their name is most familiar.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Really, there just aren't enough hours in the day. And yet, these races are the ones that turn out to be most critical in our day-to-day lives. They affect not just what is taught in our schools, but the qualifications of who does the teaching, the size of the classes, and the condition of the buildings our kids are taught in.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">To make matters worse on election day, we have a system that flummoxed me for years, wherein we all vote for candidates from each district regardless of where we live, and sometimes we vote for one candidate in a district, and other times we vote for more than one. I would not be surprised if some of us just skip over districts we don't reside in because we don't think we <i>really</i> are supposed to be voting for those candidates. It is just befuddling.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">So for the past few years, I spend most of my time following other races, and then ask knowledgeable friends what they think of the school board candidates. And then, before I write here about it, I look up the candidates for myself. But the issues behind the candidates turn out to be critical, and yet not all that complicated. The face of the candidate, however, can be entirely different than what that candidate really stands for. And so, that is where we need to begin.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The big battles, no surprise, have to do with magnets/charter schools and eventually, the elephant in the room, segregation. There are zillions of studies of varying quality, and even more zillions of opinions, on the efficacy of magnets and charter schools. And the magic word is "choice."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Here is my two cents.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The best schools have a mix: they teach college and career track students equally well. They provide quality services for special needs students of all types, from academically accelerated (I hate the word "gifted") to those who need extra time and help. They have teachers who have a range of skills and class sizes that will allow those teachers to be most effective. They challenge kids at all levels, and in all kinds of pursuits.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Because this is a huge task, magnet schools seemed to fill some needs some of the time very well. From there, it became easier -- in the short run -- to create a magnet school for a special population rather than incorporate different populations into the community's schools. That means traveling to the school, often many miles away. It means having separate buildings where those <i>special</i> kids are <i>segregated.</i> It means far too many kids aren't getting a broad enough education to be able to evolve as they grow up or as society changes. And it means that kids are coming into contact only with others that share whatever particular learning trait we've decided to feature in that particular school.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Charter schools have different enticements. They happen when a community is unhappy with their schools, and decide they want to take matters into their own hands. They apply and get approval from state and/or county, and then elect </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">their own board, which then makes its own rules and does its own hiring. So, whatever they tell you, a charter school is only as good as the people that are running it. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The public relations promotion of charter schools has been intense, from advertising to movies. They, of course, focus on the brilliant successes of the charter schools they highlight. More objective studies report that the success of charter schools is no greater than that of public schools. They both depend on the expertise and, yes, dollars put into them.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The problem with both magnets and charter schools is that they take tax dollars that should be spread equitably across the county, further exhausting public school resources. To be honest, public school funding is a bang-for-your-buck situation. If everyone pays taxes based on what they can afford, and then it is spent equitably across the area, we are more likely to see better schools across the entire area. The way we are doing it now, we are putting more money into some specially designated schools, taking it away from public schools, draining them of resources and making them worse. Which</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> those who support charters and magnets THEN use to further promote the need for charters and magnets, further draining public school resources.... And so it goes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">There is a lot of money going into campaigns that are pushing for school "choice," the advantages of magnets and charters being the major talking point. What it amounts to is that a lot of money will be going from our public schools into private schools, or schools that operate independently of public schools and the school board. Follow the money.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">And the candidates who promote "choice" are trained well in using the most enticing words and phrases. But the bottom line is that some -- too many -- of our kids will be left out in the cold after the tax dollars are doled out to the special schools. This is the downward spiral we in Charleston and South Carolina have been experiencing for far too many years, and too many generations of our children. It is time to get back to the goal of real public education with good, well-paid teachers and school programs and campuses that we can be proud of.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I will be talking more about the specific candidates, the groups that are backing them, and that bizarre voting process next.</span>I'm Agnes Pomata, and I'm unequivocally Liberalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09070728055590439046noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7667547399514118307.post-9386701904760652692018-10-08T10:34:00.000-07:002018-10-08T10:34:04.672-07:00Lindsey v. Women<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The thing about the tantrums we saw last week, both from Brett Kavanaugh and Lindsey Graham, was that they both sounded like men who had been spending way too much time with the "president." It makes sense, doesn't it, that if he can get away with it, they can too. And they did.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Women like Susan Collins, who pretend to be pro-women, are really throwbacks, as are any republican women who will tolerate and make excuses for raging men, and minimize the assaults on women. I guess because she is a women, successful in the republican party, she knew to keep her head down, study the notes she was given, and act like she was taking the high road.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The double-talk we heard last week may have taken us by surprise, but shouldn't have. It was the same double-talk we heard during the Clarence Thomas hearing. The woman was confused; the woman allowed herself to be put in that position; the woman waited until she had something to gain (?!) by coming forward when she did; while we <i>sympathize </i>with the woman, we don't believe her. The man is having his reputation destroyed; his family and career are being harmed; his sincerity cannot be doubted. Lies excused, attacks rationalized.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Why wouldn't Kavanaugh stick it out? He had powerful and loud men on his side. Donald Trump has insulted every-damn-body in the world, and knows that they will stand by him as long as he has power to wield. And, like Clarence Thomas in 1991, Kavanaugh ends up not having his family and career destroyed: he ends up with a lifetime appointment on the Supreme Court.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And then there is Lindsey. He has been taken for a ride -- and not just on the golf course -- more than once by Trump. But he has what Trump preys on: ambition. So he has been strung along since November of 2016, at first tentatively throwing his support, and then with more fervor, no, fever. What we witnessed from Graham last week was nothing short of hysteria. He was indeed crazed.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Like Kavanaugh, he had been spending a lot of time listening to presidential rants and invective, to the point where reason was a distant memory, calm was no longer even in the repertoire.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">So it was no surprise that after Graham's rant, women -- and good men -- across the country rose up with outrage. We need to do something NOW, and the passion and determination is NOW.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I was not surprised to receive an email during that time from the South Carolina Democratic Party. What did surprise me was that they were promoting past chair and bombast Jaime Harrison as their choice to oppose Lindsey Graham in 2020.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">First of all, I have heard Harrison speak just a few times, including a couple of appearances on Rachel Maddow before the 2016 SC primaries. I may be wrong, but it seems that whatever question he is asked, Harrison will respond with a long-winded replay of who he is and how he got here. Harrison's success as chair can only be summed up by the Democrats' losses in local, state and national government during his reign.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">That said, the most important thing about where the party stands today is that they are not RIGHT NOW promoting a woman to run against Lindsey Graham in 2020. With the successes of women running for office across the country, with the rage and determination that resulted from the mockery of a Senate Supreme Court nomination hearing, it never occurred to our state party that Graham's assault was an invitation.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Had the situation been reversed -- and I am happy to say that wouldn't have ever happened -- but if it had -- by the end of the tirade, there would have been meetings and "bindersful of women" to parade in front of the electorate; fund raising emails promising the revenge of victimized women would have gone out in minutes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">While republicans disdain women, they know how to use us. That is why we had a Nikki Haley as governor, but we can't seem to promote and elect a Democratic woman governor. It pains me to say it, but they will use Nikki all the way to the presidency, and she will be happy to be used.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We do have fantastic women on the political stage in South Carolina. While the party might jump on board when they smell success, they don't put their money or their mouth into finding and promoting women that are right here for the running.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We don't just have smart and motivated women, we have organizations right here in South Carolina that will help.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Right off the top, we have South Carolina Democratic Women's Council, and local chapters, including Charleston County Democratic Women. I wish I could say women were well represented on the Democratic Party websites, but you have to look hard to find them. If you want to hook up with the Women's Council or CCDW, your best bet is to look on Facebook.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Then there are the women's action networks that have grown HUGE since 2016. <a href="https://www.scwren.org/" target="_blank">WREN</a> -- Women's Rights and Empowerment Network -- is fighting for women's issues across the state, from wage equality to healthcare to empowering women to seek leadership roles in business and, yes, politics. <a href="https://emergeamerica.org/emergesc/" target="_blank">Emerge America</a> opened its doors in South Carolina in 2017. I can't speak highly enough about the work they are doing to encourage and train women to run for political office. Thinking you can do a better job than the jackasses now in office? Get in touch with Emerge SC. Want to help women who have decided to run? Contact Emerge SC.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And of course we have great groups here in South Carolina like <a href="https://www.plannedparenthoodaction.org/local/south-carolina" target="_blank">Planned Parenthood Action Fund</a> and the <a href="https://aauw-sc.aauw.net/" target="_blank">American Association of University Women</a>, both of which can be counted on to promote women in government as well as women's issues in healthcare and education.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Then there are all the women right here, right now, that we should be persuading to take on Lindsey Graham. Just a few names come to mind; I'm sure we can put our heads together and think of lots more:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">SC Representative <a href="https://www.womeningovernment.org/legislators/in-the-news/representative-gilda-cobb-hunter" target="_blank">Gilda Cobb-Hunter</a> from Orangeburg</span> </blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.lindaketner.com/AboutUS.html" target="_blank">Linda Ketner</a>, who in 2008 nearly defeated 4-term incumbent Henry Brown for US Congress District 1</span> </blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.thestate.com/news/politics-government/politics-columns-blogs/the-buzz/article208693384.html" target="_blank">Margie Bright Matthews</a>, SC state Senator for <a href="https://www.scstatehouse.gov/member.php?code=0194318159" target="_blank">District 45</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">State Senator </span><a href="https://www.aikenstandard.com/news/s-c-sen-mia-mcleod-leads-mlk-service-celebration-at/article_ef058114-ff05-11e7-819b-af5dce8f36bc.html" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;" target="_blank">Mia McLeod</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> from Richmond County, </span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">So, here we are. Do we jump up and down and wave our hands so that our Democratic Party will listen to us? Do we -- both women and men -- insist on being represented equally in government and especially in the Democratic Party?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And most important TODAY, after Lindsey Graham invited us to step up and challenge him, do we find a woman who will fight for us, so that a misogynist like Lindsey will not be holding down that seat and voting against our interests in Congress after 2020?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Write, call, email your state and local Democratic Party. They won't take this step unless it is absolutely clear we will accept no less. Spread the word on Facebook, at home, at work, community meetings.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Finding and supporting a woman to step up and take on Lindsey Graham for Senate in 2020 needs to start now. And it should really be a no-brainer.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It is time for Lindsey to go. And he seems to agree.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgolZfZHjLYiNw0E9kQRe9VaZQRdtUPqIRxVDnXalJ3_UXmt9ZmQXH8KcrkWquMBWyANo6ap_geoVOq7Rr4eZTUk-BLtfRE5YapdRgV-3OEXV4p5JPuPthettk1nW2sTgNTyNo0XdlWATA/s1600/download.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgolZfZHjLYiNw0E9kQRe9VaZQRdtUPqIRxVDnXalJ3_UXmt9ZmQXH8KcrkWquMBWyANo6ap_geoVOq7Rr4eZTUk-BLtfRE5YapdRgV-3OEXV4p5JPuPthettk1nW2sTgNTyNo0XdlWATA/s1600/download.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"I hope the American people can see through this sham."</td></tr>
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I'm Agnes Pomata, and I'm unequivocally Liberalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09070728055590439046noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7667547399514118307.post-55738944392770397242018-09-30T09:25:00.000-07:002018-09-30T09:25:11.380-07:00The Times, Are They a-Changing?<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I've heard quite a number of women now remark on Brett Kavanaugh's emotional tantrum during Thursday's Senate hearing. They actually recognized his tears for what they were: rage at having been called to question for his past. Up until now, Kavanaugh has had the bejeweled life of a white boy who went to the best prep school and college, who was groomed for success. He was so confident -- cocky --about his bright and shining future, that he had <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2018/09/19/brett-kavanaugh-georgetown-prep-joke/1355117002/" target="_blank">made jokes</a> about his rambunctious past behavior in front of a group of a group of law students at Catholic University for gods' sake:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">"...fortunately, we had a good saying that we've held firm to, to this day,... which is, 'What happens at Georgetown Prep, stays at Georgetown Prep....' That's been a good thing for all of us, I think."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Until today, that is. Today the thought of this man having the power of a Supreme Court Justice was just too much for a few women to bear. Until now, men like Brett Kavanaugh and his drinking buddy Mark Judge, and like his admirer Donald Trump, were able to treat women with condescension and insult, and assume that all the bad behavior of their past would be of no consequence to their fortunes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Kavanaugh's statement was pretty unbelievable. He states proudly that he showed it to no one except one of his clerks. Maybe that was his first mistake. His tone was defensive from the beginning, his face contorted into rage. His attacks were many, and bizarre, naming the Democrats in general and the ever-popular Clinton conspiracy machine in particular. I imagine that holing up for days in the White House while you plan your attack (i.e. defense) will do that to a person.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Let me admit here that I was planning on listening again to Kavanaugh's <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRmGxgxMhO4" target="_blank">opening statement</a>, but just could not do it. Over the past weeks I have heard enough lies from this smart and conceited brat. I have been, since 2015, tainted by the ugly comments of our now sitting "president," and don't have much stomach for that kind of bullshit. I did hear him avoid asking for an FBI investigation, and noted his clever legal tap-dance around the issue. I'll bet he didn't even need to rehearse his responses, he is so good at the maneuvers that have gotten him to this point in his life.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">He took his attitude from Clarence Thomas, who did the outrage thing at his hearing in 1991. But Kavanaugh did not count on women who, in 2018, are fed up with the hatred and rage spewed by men of power when they are held to account. We hear it in his voice, and his words.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">It may be that Brett Kavanaugh's behavior at one time so scared him that he turned to God and went on the straight and narrow. But it may also be that he has merely sculpted himself to look like the type of man who has always done the right thing. Studies, sports and church indeed. And it may be that the powerful white boy's club we have in this country accepted his whitewash and welcomed him into their arms, and he has never been challenged before. Indeed, he said in so many words that he has never been challenged the way he is being challenged now.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">We had a helluva nerve.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">He certainly had good cause to assume his confirmation would be a slam dunk. That is the way the Senate works these days, provided you are on the right side of this right wing.</span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> You will be protected. You don't have to answer a question if you don't want to, and those in power will help you dance around it if the questioner is too persistent. Chuck Grassley has done a fine job of that, cutting Democrats off in mid-sentence when the air gets too thick. Even so, the questions continued to come. And the women, brave hearts that they are, continued to come forward.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Appalling: <i>Brett Kavanaugh</i> was appalled at being called to account for a past that he has never even had to hide. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I tried to imagine the fate of a person in Judge Kavanaugh's courtroom being asked a question he did not want to answer and responding, as he did with Senator Amy <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=autkkRE2GhA" target="_blank">Klobuchar's</a> question about whether he had ever blacked out, "I don't know, have you?" Imagine Kavanaugh tolerating the belligerence he himself demonstrated.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I have heard many comparisons now of Kavanaugh's testimony to that of Dr. Ford, who was restrained and polite, and obviously attempting to answer as completely and honestly as possible. What this hearing put me in mind of, though, was all those hours Hillary Clinton spent being harassed by this partisan Congress.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Hillary, too, was hoping to be chosen for an important position in the government. What happened to her in Congress impacted her and the entire country. Through all the accusations, through all the tortured and twisted investigations of everything she had ever said or done, Hillary held herself with dignity. She was knowledgeable and professional. She was tireless. She never tried to avoid a question, or an investigation. She never had a tantrum.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Because if she had, the men (and, sadly, too many women) would have pointed to her and said that this was proof that she was lying. Meanwhile, hours and hours of testimony made their way into the media and took over the narrative of her campaign. Still, she never attempted to refuse or avoid an investigation. Not just because she was innocent, which she was, but because that is the temperament of a leader.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Brett Kavanaugh did not feel the need to reign in his behavior or his attitude. He reeked of haughtiness and privilege, and self-importance. He demonstrated exactly why he should not be on the court -- any court. <a href="https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/national/article219131690.html" target="_blank">He stated</a> melodramatically that his name has been "permanently destroyed by vicious and false... accusations."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">One has to wonder why he would think, if he were innocent, why his life would be "permanently destroyed." Remember, this is a judge. Who presumably believes in the law, and the courts. And who would have no compunction at all in demanding that any of us in his courtroom answer his questions. And presumably assumes that the innocent would walk away happy to have had their day in court.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Apparently, Brett Kavanaugh does not believe that the truth will set him free. Wonder why?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">And I also have to wonder why someone of Kavanaugh's intelligence, who can argue the existence of angels on the head of a pin -- or the right to prevent a young woman from having a legal abortion -- would resort to such a slew of transparent and insulting lies. Attributing "ralphing" to a weak stomach. Lying brazenly about yearbook entries: calling cruel references to being a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/erik-wemple/wp/2018/09/27/cornered-on-renate-alumnius-kavanaugh-shifts-blame-to-media-circus/?utm_term=.e52e13db7df8" target="_blank">"Renate alumnus"</a> as honoring their friendship and calling the "Devil's Triangle" a drinking game. I could just about picture him as a 17-year-old giving these answers, straight-faced, and then walking out of the room and bursting into laughter at having lied so convincingly.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">We have also heard the comparisons between this hearing and that of Anita Hill. We have had too many years of the smug and silent Clarence Thomas flaunting his right wing privilege over the poor and powerless of the country. Granted, if justice had been served all those years ago, we may yet have had a conservative justice in his place who spoke out against women and minority rights, but we would not be haunted by the overtly misogynistic acts of the man and those who ignored compelling testimony to vote him to the Supreme Court.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">So, where are we?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I won't even say I feel cautiously optimistic about the decision to have the FBI investigate Kavanaugh and the accusations. The FBI may be bringing us the Russia investigation, but they also brought us Hillary's emails, and the door slamming on her campaign days before the election. I wonder who Trump is reaching out to on the FBI, and how he is attempting to pull the strings of this investigation. You know Trump. You know he is.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I admit, I will be surprised if what happens is a thorough "limited investigation," and I will be further surprised if the Senate (no longer Chuck Grassley but the even more vile Mitch McConnell in charge) proceeds in an open and professional manner.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">What should have happened weeks ago is that Kavanaugh should have withdrawn his nomination. But he wants that post and that power so much that he can taste it, and it tastes better than any brew he has ever chugged. He knows that in 1991 a similar hearing was <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/9/21/17886484/joe-biden-anita-hill-brett-kavanaugh-christine-blasey-ford" target="_blank">rigged</a> to halt further testimony, and that justice sits on the bench today. His belief that a sitting president is immune to prosecution assures him that the deck is stacked in his favor by the most powerful man in the country, the one he would protect.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">So we wait and see. I cannot imagine a world in which we don't vote to take over the House and the Senate in November. I don't want to believe that Americans can be that jaded and, frankly, stupid. But I was here in 2016, and I know the impossible can happen. And in the weeks to come we will find out whether women's voices matter any more than they did in 1991, or whether the rage of powerful men will drown them out.</span><br />
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I'm Agnes Pomata, and I'm unequivocally Liberalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09070728055590439046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7667547399514118307.post-54188745234843978622018-08-03T09:07:00.000-07:002018-08-03T09:07:07.560-07:00Leading Without a Clue<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Donald Trump thinks we have to show ID's in order to buy groceries. Yes, that is hilarious; it is also just another example of the verbal diarrhea that is Donald Trump. But it also points to something essential to what is wrong with our government, something we have overlooked for far too long.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The people who run our government don't have a clue who we are.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Trump is a perfect example, because he has so completely isolated himself from the real world. When do you think was the last time he bought something on his own? With cash? In public? When was the last time he even walked on a sidewalk in any city, much less down a road in a suburb. For that matter, when was the last time he was driven through one of those towns in which any of us live other than to get to a rally where he pretends to be like us?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And no, I'm not even talking about since he became "president." He was as closely guarded and isolated before he hunkered down in what was once the people's house. Other than his lowly employees, Donald Trump has no friends or associates that come even close to living the life of most Americans. And we should know by now that he only gets close enough to his employees to pick their pockets.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">But what of the rest of those elected officials? In 2012, Mitt Romney provided some comic relief when he went grocery shopping, and before that, the elder George Bush was astonished to find that supermarkets had scanners at checkout. Nikki Haley may have known that you don't have to show ID to buy groceries, but she sure as hell doesn't have a clue what it is like to work forty hours or more at minimum wage, or even at median wage, and then go home and cook for a family. And I wonder when was the last time Nikki walked down the street to actually get somewhere, or went out to "run errands." Or rubbed elbows with any of us when it wasn't politically motivated.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Because that is when we see our elected officials. They show up now and then, less so these days, in order to remind us that they are one of us, when they aren't. They show up so we will believe they like us, and respect us, and want to help us, when all they really want is to get re-elected. And then they want us to leave them alone, and they do the same for us in return.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The media is no different. I heard someone (a presumed liberal) on MSNBC this week talk about tariffs and the cost of big cars, and how the added expense wouldn't matter as long as the price of gas remained at "record lows." Obviously spoken by someone who hasn't paid for gas in awhile. The rest of us may not realize that the price of gas began to increase the week after Donald Trump was elected, but we sure as hell know that it has gone up over $1 a gallon since he has taken charge of wrecking our economy.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It is no surprise that republicans don't have a clue what we all go through. They are wined and dined from the moment they are deemed to be political assets. If you have started off as a small business owner, it doesn't take long to get accustomed to the flattery, to living that better life and having others do your bidding. In fact, it feels so good that fear of losing the privilege may begin to outweigh things like doing a good job. And along the way, you begin to think all those people who are bugging you for government freebies are just whiners who don't deserve the handouts the way your real donors do.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">That is how we end up with republicans who fight to kill healthcare, food stamps and social security, and with Democrats who will sell us out in the name of "working with the other side." If you think wondering how to make ends meet makes you feel insecure, imagine what it feels like to work in a cushy place like Congress and know you could lose it in two years. Poor things, living a good life that could disappear, know they need to kiss as much big corporate ass as they can for the day when they are no longer able to live off the government.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Of course, that is not how they see things. They don't. What they ignore won't hurt them. Our elected officials learn quickly to listen to those with the deep pockets, who provide them with the bullet points they use to make us feel like they are working for us when they aren't. It even helps them believe they are really, really working for us. When they aren't.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The delusion that fattening the rich will make us all better off has never worked, and yet we keep electing people who keep selling us that fairy tale. Apparently, we want to believe it as much as the politicians, who need to believe it so they can continue to work guilt-free to keep fattening the rich, who keep them just fat enough to stay loyal.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This is just a piece of the problem we have with elected officials who don't represent us. Here in SC, we have two single men (I am tempted to say "white men" because Tim Scott does a great impression) as senators. With their own great government benefits, they weigh in against health care; with no clue as to what it takes to raise children, they tell us what families need to be whole. They don't just opine, they vote: on wages, on contraception, on education, religion, and of course, taxation. Because they are really there to make sure that the rich don't pay taxes and the poor get nothing for free.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Trump is a buffoon, and his comment about needing ID to buy groceries was a moment of fun, but it was actually also a glimpse into where our politicians stand in relation to us: far, far away. From a distance, it makes it so much easier to lie, and cheat, and steal, and justify it with nonsense about what the simple folk do.</span><br />
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I'm Agnes Pomata, and I'm unequivocally Liberalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09070728055590439046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7667547399514118307.post-88817505205996577502018-07-27T08:54:00.003-07:002018-07-27T08:54:57.816-07:00Waiting to Pounce<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Wonder where your republican lawmakers are? If Peter McCoy is your representative in the South Carolina State House, I have a good idea.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">If you don't know Peter, he is that warm and fuzzy lawmaker whose <a href="http://www.petermccoy.com/platform" target="_blank">issues</a> page promises that "South Carolinians can count on Peter McCoy" to do any number of things, followed by no specific item or pledge. How can you not like someone who you can "count on" to: provide ethical leadership, improve infrastructure, grow jobs and the economy, protect taxpayers and ratepayers, continue enhancing our quality of life, and continue improving education? Sign me up.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Actually, if you are a republican legislator in a safe district, the first thing you do is: nothing. Mark Sanford was a pro at this, until he got sideswiped by a simultaneous challenge from the right and a progressive Democrat taking advantage of a loophole that in the past had always worked to the republicans' advantage.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Lately, Peter McCoy has had no challengers. In 2012, <a href="http://womenbelonginthehouse.weebly.com/blog/against-all-odds" target="_blank">Carol Tempel</a> gave him a run for his money, despite the fact that a bizarre rule kept her off the ballot as a Democrat and forced her to run as an Independent. He was not expecting that to be a serious challenge.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">During that 2012 campaign, while Tempel worked tirelessly to get her message out to the voters, McCoy was avoiding anything that might actually inform voters of his stand on the issues, including refusing to show up to a debate, thus becoming the other <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/08/04/clint-eastwood-explains-and-regrets-his-speech-to-an-empty-chair/?utm_term=.4d2410b65175" target="_blank">"empty chair"</a> featured in that year's political extravaganza.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">About the time the <a href="https://www.postandcourier.com/opinion/five-for-the-s-c-house/article_4c2c8c7f-49c0-5584-a1e7-96a2cae861e9.html" target="_blank">Post & Courier</a> endorsed Carol, the McCoy gang decided it was time to bring out the big guns they had at the ready. With more money in his campaign chest, and little need to spend it till the last few weeks of the campaign, McCoy began to litter mailboxes in the 115th with fliers claiming that Carol was the "most liberal" candidate ever, featuring the most unflattering photo of her that they could find and further doctor.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">This isn't new. Republicans here in SC will bring out all the fear-mongering tools at their disposal, starting and spreading rumors about their opponent being a "Nancy Pelosi liberal" when they can't find a skeleton in the closet. Sadly, in SC this sometimes means a last minute whisper campaign about <a href="https://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/columns/the-sexist/blog/13117231/secret-gay-mafia-decides-your-elections" target="_blank">sexual preferences</a>. Right this very minute there is a smear campaign going on against a <a href="https://runforsomething.net/candidates/ja-moore/" target="_blank">candidate</a> for SC House District 15, featuring the bombastic musings (complete with mug shot) of <a href="https://www.fitsnews.com/2018/07/26/scstatehouse-democratic-candidates-arrest-record-revealed/" target="_blank">FitsNews</a>. This is because, of course, they are unable to fight on the issues. Because, of course, if they were honest about their stand on the issues, they would lose.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Let's take Peter McCoy, for example.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">He has had one issue that he has been hanging his political hat on lately: SCANA. This ripoff of South Carolina ratepayers has put McCoy squarely on the side of... pretty much all utility ratepayers. So he has been outspoken on where he stands, kind of like demanding the end to puppy abuse. And he was also in the fortunate position of being a leader in the House legislature when this issue exploded.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">But what about all those other things McCoy claims you "can count on" him fighting for?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Peter McCoy hasn't yet found a tax he wouldn't want to cut. He is one of those folks who promises to cut your taxes and improve your... fill in the blank. The secret is, that he stands by big business (he calls it "small business"), as the answer to pretty much everything. You can "count on him" to privatize education, vote no to modernizing public transportation in the Lowcountry, and resist any regulation that his donors might oppose. The result is an education system that continues to lag well behind the rest of the country, roads and public transportation that continue to worsen, and shameful and costly <a href="https://www.postandcourier.com/news/costly-repairs-ahead-for-south-carolina-town-after-sewer-leak/article_46a8755e-4c7a-11e8-98e6-bb87ae536eff.html" target="_blank">failures</a> in infrastructure.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">If Peter was around to debate these issues, he might blame local government. Or he could, as Carol Tempel does, vow to work with local government to make these incredibly important changes happen.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">And then there is Peter and the NRA. He voted to allow guns in restaurants and bars a short couple of years ago. He won't concern himself with the gun tragedies that happen on James Island, maybe because so many of his voters come from "safer" (read, "white") parts of town, conveniently gerrymandered (read, "hammered") into House District 115. When it comes right down to it, McCoy will always vote with the NRA because he knows where the big money comes from.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">And as long as we are on favors, let's talk about "counting on" Peter to provide ethical leadership. It appears that McCoy's wife was easily appointed to a seat on the Circuit Court in Charleston County, leading to charges of <a href="https://www.postandcourier.com/politics/time-to-curb-s-c-lawmakers-spouses-family-from-getting/article_6d4710ac-0c2a-11e8-80e1-0b72849962b0.html" target="_blank">nepotism</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">In a surprising twist, Peter McCoy has come out in favor of legalizing medical marijuana. McCoy has a more, shall we say progressive, attitude towards allowing medical marijuana than other knuckle-draggers on his side of the aisle because he has had personal experience with seeing his infant daughter suffering and learning of the relief that is available through cannabis. To his credit, rather than hunting it down through illegal channels he has pursued legalizing the drug. Not true for abortion, as I suppose he has never been the unfortunate who has had to face an unwanted or dangerous pregnancy.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">McCoy will always support life until birth, and gun rights afterwards.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Now, rumors were swirling in the younger days of this never-ending Trump administration that Charleston's own Peter McCoy was being considered for a <a href="https://www.postandcourier.com/politics/south-carolina-prosecutor-contender-at-odds-with-feds-over-medical/article_e454b3ac-0bef-11e7-917b-47dde66e16f5.html" target="_blank">federal prosecutor</a> appointment. He had been a good Trump supporter until the cannabis thing. But whether Jeff Sessions had a conniption over McCoy because of his own irrational obsession over marijuana, or somebody just told Trump that he might score more points by appointing a woman, McCoy continues to be stuck here in Charleston.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Laying low, until the final weeks of the campaign.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">This is a strategy that rears its ugly head with the GOP because, frankly, it works. We need to be aware and educated on this dirty trick. Let your friends and neighbors know that Peter McCoy is not being forthcoming about his positions on issues, those votes that have not improved South Carolina and the Lowcountry in the years he has had the privilege of representing you.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">And be aware, and make others aware, that while Peter presents himself as harmless and endearing, the people behind the money that feeds his campaign are not. There are likely to be smears and just plain stupid insults, designed to create fear of voting for change. Don't let it work this time.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">South Carolina continues to hang onto the bottom of quality of life measures, and education continues to be underfunded. As Carol would say, "Education=Jobs." We are losing good teachers because they can earn a living wage in other states. Our environment can be protected with adequate funds for infrastructure, and modern public transportation.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We need a state legislator that is honest and ethical. Time to stop letting the GOP get away with playing games, like spreading innuendos and dirt, or hiding till October and then tossing a grenade at their opponents.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">With just over three months to this election, it is time to spread the word, not just about the GOP dirty tricks, but about the good candidates that are running. Carol Tempel is in this to improve and safeguard District 115, Charleston and the state of South Carolina, and she will be happy to talk to you about it. She is not just asking you to trust her to do the right thing, she respects the people in her community enough to tell them what she <a href="https://www.caroltempel.com/carol-tempels-priorities" target="_blank">plans</a> to do when she gets to the State House.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Forced to run as an Independent in 2012, Carol came away with 31.9 percent of the vote. I imagine the republican machine is working overtime to make sure they are armed and ready to fight her off again. As Will Folks writes in FitsNews: "There are one or two other competitive SC House races this November... so stay tuned for reports on those seats." <i>Reports,</i> indeed.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Support her any way you can, because she is one of the great candidates that will actually work to make the changes that Peter McCoy will only make vague promises about.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>I'm Agnes Pomata, and I'm unequivocally Liberalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09070728055590439046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7667547399514118307.post-55113719776038304632018-07-07T07:46:00.004-07:002018-07-07T07:46:42.648-07:00Forgetting 2016<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">No, there wasn't a military parade this 4th of July. But perhaps we Dems won't take back Congress in November, and that military parade will happen in 2019.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Meanwhile, Trump still has his rallies. Taxpayer funded lunatic rants. And each one is more rage fueled than the last. Why not? Each time he surrounds himself with his stupid and angry followers, he is guaranteed the same national attention he got before he won the presidency.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">There have been mad, tyrannical leaders on the world stage in the past. Who could forget <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/24/world/24nations.html" target="_blank">Qaddafi's</a> ninety minute bizarro rant at the United Nations in 2009?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The UN is a favorite stage for the lunatic leader. <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/meast/09/22/un.ahmadinejad/index.html" target="_blank">Ahmadinahad's</a> 2011 assaults on reality and the world were so offensive that there was a walkout by US and European delegations.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And now we have Trump. Yes, after the election, the media reflected shamefully that maybe they should not have given him so much coverage. But the ratings! Who could take their eyes off this train-wreck in motion? And yet, the end result was an electorate that had not heard a single Clinton speech while being fed the full blown ugliness of Trump's assaults day after day after day.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">What we learned -- what I thought we had learned -- from the election coverage, was that Trump feeds on that coverage. He may be stupid, but he knows how to play to the crowd. And he knows that there is no such thing as bad publicity.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">He is also batshit crazy.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Put that all together and we have the Trump rally. He personally hates people. But he adores his adoring crowds. And surrounded by people cheering him on, there is nothing he can say that is too unhinged. And surrounded by TV cameras, he cannot be happier. Unless, of course, that he knew that those TV networks were going to be playing his insane attacks, name calling and lies, on a regular loop, all damn day.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">They even call it "Trump's greatest hits."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Have we learned nothing???</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I have been weaning myself from MSNBC and CNN. Honestly, there isn't that much news being covered. You can hear the headlines of Trump's daily obscenities in the first five minutes of any hour. Yes, it is important to keep us informed about what is happening in <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/06/us/puerto-ricans-long-lines-supermarket/index.html" target="_blank">Puerto Rico</a>, a country neglected by Trump, still not recovered from last year's hurricanes as they anticipate the next one. And we need to keep hearing about the horrendous abuses to immigrants and <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-ready-to-turn-away-another-20000-refugees" target="_blank">families seeking asylum</a>, a humanitarian disaster caused by Trump and his gleeful attorney general. Jobs being lost, prices going up, wages stagnating as Trump acts out his decades long fantasies about <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/business-44742714" target="_blank">economic power</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We need to keep hearing about how our allies are now needing to defend themselves against our mad leader. And what happens now that <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/07/07/north-korea-foreign-ministry-says-talks-with-pompeo-regrettable-acc.html" target="_blank">North Korea</a> is doing what it has always done, lies as it pursues its plans to threaten and eventually dominate the Korean peninsula? And then there is <a href="http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/395911-mcmaster-complained-that-trump-thinks-he-can-be-friends-with" target="_blank">Putin</a>, Trump's favorite dictator. With no adults in the room to provide an honest reporting, we can be assured that Putin will be leading Trump around by his dick, I mean, promises of wealth and power (or at least a Trump hotel in Moscow).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We have some amazing investigative journalists, who have been uncovering scandal after larceny after lie after outrage. It has been exhausting for those who worry about our democracy to keep up with the tragedies and the cons. The last thing we need is for our news organizations to run Donald Trump's rallies on a never-ending loop. We don't need to see them.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">After one of the all-too-many mass shootings, some of the media decided that it was wrong to continue to use the shooter's name. That kind of notoriety could only exacerbate the problem by encouraging other disturbed potential attackers.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It is not much different with putting a camera on Trump.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I was sickened yesterday when I began hearing the rants from his latest rally. And then heard them again. And again. This morning I posted to @MSNBC to stop playing those vile and violent videos. I won't watch them. When he starts to screech and rage, call names and tell lies, I will turn off the television.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We should have insisted on more responsible reporting in 2016, but we didn't know any better. Today we do. I hope you will help me by telling your news outlets to stop promoting the goals of this disturbed and powerful dictator. Tell them to stay on message, keep us informed, and treat the rallies and tweets as the fake news that they are.</span></div>
I'm Agnes Pomata, and I'm unequivocally Liberalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09070728055590439046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7667547399514118307.post-26714324047943545412018-07-02T08:09:00.000-07:002018-07-02T08:09:28.795-07:00The Ironic Cherry Reads... If It Hadn't Been for Dubya<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: lime; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b><i>Bill of Wrongs: The Executive Branch's Assault on America's Fundamental Rights</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b>by Molly Ivins & Lou Dubose</b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_6il3-4CKnY0wHX36dFRivkgt6B0-N19jKUM65w1RHVatmR3sUclqrWulgpVPKhqSCIUPRvjJlfESzjAR-m9xcrS8wUgGR5_N2jiQV2ycbwNscpXyDk01EQAZYmMrDlA1NfZUasvYv1M/s1600/bill+of+wrongs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="275" data-original-width="183" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_6il3-4CKnY0wHX36dFRivkgt6B0-N19jKUM65w1RHVatmR3sUclqrWulgpVPKhqSCIUPRvjJlfESzjAR-m9xcrS8wUgGR5_N2jiQV2ycbwNscpXyDk01EQAZYmMrDlA1NfZUasvYv1M/s200/bill+of+wrongs.jpg" width="132" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">If you don't know Molly Ivins, you missed one of the great political writers of all time. She came to my attention when I read a review of her collected articles entitled, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1991/10/20/books/plain-talk-in-big-d.html" target="_blank">"Molly Ivins Can't Say That, Can She?"</a> Molly Ivins once wrote about Texas politics, and with great gusto about the Texas legislature. After writing in the Dallas Times Herald about one local politician, "if his IQ slips any lower, we'll have to water him twice a day," a number of humorless readers canceled their subscriptions. To which the Times Herald put up billboards all around Dallas saying, "Molly Ivins Can't Say That, Can She?" Yes, she could.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">She had a wonderful wit and was fearless, lived life as I imagine a Texan would. She had a great time mocking the idiots in the Texas legislature, so it was only natural that she would be the one to expose George W. Bush in all his ignorance and privilege. She, along with Lou Dubose, wrote books about the Bush years entitled <a href="https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/00/03/05/reviews/000305.05applebt.html" target="_blank">Shrub</a> (his years as governor and campaign for president) and <a href="https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/molly-ivins/bushwhacked/" target="_blank">Bushwacked</a> (the presidency). Over the years, Molly maintained her sense of humor, but writing about the serious damage that was being done to our country became more dark and pronounced.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">In 2007, Molly Ivins and Lou Dubose published her last book, <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2008/7/5/546777/-" target="_blank">Bill of Wrongs</a>, while Molly was dying of cancer. In the acknowledgements, Dubose has the sad privilege of thanking her for her contributions to exposing injustices and attacks on our democracy throughout her life. This book was her last attempt to warn us that our rights were under attack. Molly begins the book talking about how she is less amused and more alarmed by the transgressions of the Bush administration. For someone who lived her life laughing past the graveyard, this was something to take seriously.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">When I hear people talk wistfully of the Dubya years, I find myself missing Molly more than ever. We need her to give us a good shake, to remind us that without Bush, we would not have become so desensitized to losing our rights. It was a slippery slope indeed, and on so many fronts. As we talk about children in cages, we are not talking about the war on Muslims. We try to fight for women, DACA children, African Americans, LGBTQ, and for gods' sake the New York Times and the Capital Gazette, but can't seem to keep up with the hatred being spewed and violations that are being</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> made on each of us daily, by the twitter president and his partners in crime, the US Congress and the Supreme Court.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">We keep reminding ourselves that <i>this is not normal</i>. Yet after only 24 hours of the media talking about how the Democrats were going to fight Mitch McConnell's push to get another radical right wing supreme court justice on the bench, last night I heard a bunch of talking heads going through Trump's list of potential nominees, assessing them as though this was going to be a normal process. More air time validating the unconstitutional consolidation of the three once independent branches of our government.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">So, let me give you a quick run-through of Molly's reporting of the plundering of the Constitution that went on during the Bush years.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Before Bush, we could protest in view of the president. During the Bush years, people began to get arrested at rallies for, one example, wearing a t-shirt that read:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">This arrest, mind you, wasn't even at a rally; it was during an official presidential visit. Celebrating the 4th of July. As he gave a speech about "free thought, free expression." Those were the days, when we had a president that really knew how to double-talk, with sincerity. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Molly features South Carolina's own Brett Bursey in his fight for the right to protest, as Bush's own deplorables worked to create the "free speech zones" that now typically make certain that our free speech is hidden from view.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Bill of Wrongs was published in 2007, after years of dizzying changes brought about by the shock of 9/11. After years of tyrants like Dick Cheney turning our fears into frenzy. Terrifyingly, the PATRIOT Act that was pushed through Congress in 2003 is now just a fact of life, as we struggle with Russian interference and a president that welcomes it. I was surprised to recall that the chillingly acronymed ICE -- Immigration and Customs Enforcement -- was only imagined and implemented in 2003. As an arm of the creepily named "Department of Homeland Security," which itself was invented in 2002. All just part of the government these days. (Since the horrifying past weeks of children in cages, separated from their families, there has been a growing call for the end to ICE. Infuriatingly, our own Congressional Democrats are walking it back, pleading for moderation. What can I say?)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">During the Bush years, it wasn't just political appointees that were chosen for their loyalty and ideology. I recall some news about screening and litmus tests for judicial appointments, and a nation horrified. Unlike the current stable genius who is raiding our democracy, Bush was shrewd enough to deny what he was doing; he knew he couldn't get away with such a flagrant abuse of power. These days, the orange haired tyrant wants us all to know he is denying us our rights as he does it. A short year or so ago we were appalled that he had demanded loyalty from his FBI Director; today we don't even blink at the thought of justice department toadies. That slippery slope gets steeper and ever more slippery. And lest we give him too much credit, our republican Congress has been excluding its elected Democratic representatives from lawmaking since our first black president was elected. Trump has no new bad ideas, he just flaunts the old ones. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Way back in the aughts, we had journalists <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/07/politics/reporter-jailed-after-refusing-to-name-source.html" target="_blank">imprisoned</a> for not giving up their sources. We had unchecked government <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/16/AR2005121600021.html" target="_blank">surveillance</a> of American citizens. There were Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib, black sites, torture memos; that was when the right wingnut John Ashcroft and James Comey got to be heroes, when torture became "enhanced interrogation techniques," and they reached the limit of what they could tolerate.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">We talk fondly about Bush defending Muslims after 9/11, but while he was saying the right things, the FBI was surveilling and <a href="https://www.democracynow.org/2006/11/30/exclusive_falsely_jailed_attorney_brandon_mayfield" target="_blank">falsely arresting</a> people who happened to be Muslim; Ivins and Dubose describe Attorney Brandon Mayfield's arrest for the Madrid train bombings. Sure he was Muslim... And did you hear that?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>But</i> he was Muslim, <i>but</i> they were protesting, <i>but</i> she was crossing the border, <i>but</i> he looked dangerous...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Which brings up the subject of religious freedom. It was probably Karl Rove who decided that Dubya should call himself a "compassionate conservative." And the Bush administration happily gave over federal funds to Christian organizations to do the work of government. We mostly didn't worry about it too much. It was hard to see what was wrong with doing good. Unless you are gay and can only appeal for help from a fundamentalist Christian group. Or you are a young woman who needs contraceptive care (or an abortion, which our government has decided not to pay for decades ago, for religious reasons).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">During the Bush years, our librarians fought for our right to privacy. Many of them. I worked at a library where the branch manager happily gave up the internet sign-up list because a rape suspect said he was at the library on the computer during the time of the assault. She was tickled that she could be part of solving the crime. We had patrons who were unhappy that we didn't keep records of what they had read (so they wouldn't have to...).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I hate to say this, but most of us these days don't understand what could happen if: our library records, computer records, phone records become available. We have allowed businesses from Facebook to AT&T to credit card companies to have access to our personal data. It takes seconds online to apply for and receive a credit card. Because they have all our information.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The despot-in-chief wanted a national database of our voter registration records, and most of us couldn't understand what the big fuss was about. Which left our governors and state attorneys general on their own, fighting the fight for our right to a protected secret ballot.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Forget the slippery slope. We went over the cliff when we allowed ourselves to be frightened and intimidated into The PATRIOT Act. And if I were more knowledgeable about history, I could go back farther. We have been complacent about our rights. We have a government TODAY -- all three branches -- that are complicit in dismantling the Bill of Rights.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Oh, my, I had intended to write a summary of Molly's book, highlighting each area that our rights were violated during the Bush years... but I couldn't help but go into a rant. So many outrages, so many injustices, so many egregious violations of our civil rights.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">And it all started with George W. Bush. Please take the time to read the book. Ivins and Dubose have done an excellent job, in just 200 pages, of describing the harm that began with Bush and his own basket of deplorables, many of whom have stuck around and crawled out from under their rocks now that Trump has freed up the swamp for his own personal use.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Our wonderful library still has copies that survived the Henderson Purge (which began around the end of the Bush era). And because libraries have only so much space, I urge you to check it out, because: use it or lose it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Bill of Wrongs is so very relevant and important today. But go back farther into the beginnings of the political life of George W. Bush. We need to be clear that without him we would not be tolerating Trump. As Will Ferrell said in his <a href="https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2018/01/28/will_ferrells_george_w_bush_remember_i_was_really_bad_like_historically_not_good.html" target="_blank">reprise</a> of Dubya, "I was really bad. Like historically not good."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Molly Ivins is the journalist that painted the picture of what harm Dubya could do, with a laugh and then with alarm. If only we had listened. If only she were here now, to help us through these dark days.</span></div>
I'm Agnes Pomata, and I'm unequivocally Liberalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09070728055590439046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7667547399514118307.post-75958261490998096302018-06-15T11:06:00.000-07:002018-06-15T11:06:56.345-07:00Electability<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I was appalled when, on Wednesday morning, I read this headline in the <a href="https://www.postandcourier.com/news/democrat-archie-parnell-who-once-beat-his-ex-wife-easily/article_8cc18420-69af-11e8-92d8-83537e8e8037.html" target="_blank">Post & Courier</a>:</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="color: red;">Democrat Archie Parnell, who once beat his ex-wife, easily wins SC primary</span></span></h1>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">No, it wasn't glaring red, but it might as well have been.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Sadly, it doesn't take much to get to this point when our own Democrats are so willing to jump in and push good candidates -- and elected officials -- off the ship. Bakari Sellers, who has turned from a decent and caring public servant to a famous celebrity, was among the first to try to shame Parnell into stepping down. Either no skeletons in his closet, or no plans to run for office.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Apparently, republicans have realized that all they need to do is to dig up (or invent) some dirt on a candidate who threatens their feifdom, and then step back and let us Dems pummel that candidate into the ground. Lordy, the best they could come up with was <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztJlZ3Ndbw4" target="_blank">college party videos</a> of Jon Ossoff, who scared the crap out of republicans in Georgia last year. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">They couldn't have done it without us. While most Dems continued to stand by Ossoff, enough backed away to give his republican opponent the win. That's all it takes. Remember Hillary? Thirty years of republicans flinging mud, with James Comey putting the icing on the cake and leaving him, and us, with feelings of nausea -- and with Donald Trump.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Focus, Democrats! Focus on the issues here, because we stand to lose good candidates who MIGHT JUST WIN unless we get distracted by rumor, innuendo and the occasional irrelevant fact.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We are the party where we stand by people who have had tough times in their lives, made horrible mistakes, and come out better for it. We don't need to support people who live bigotry and misogyny; we can leave that to the republicans. We have enough good Democrats who will fight for us. But we have to accept that they may be flawed.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We need to stop looking for the perfect candidate, because that is our Achilles heel: the strength that becomes our vulnerability.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">In fact, we don't even have the ability to look a gift horse in the mouth and say, "Aw, thanks." As when our own Dimitri Cherny made the outrageous decision to run against Mark Sanford in the republican primary. It was hilarious to watch the republicans (who have used the open primary system against us a number of times) squeal about how unfair it was. What wasn't as much fun was watching our own party have conniptions over what they saw as Dimitri jumping ship.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Because in the cold light of day, there was absolutely nothing for us to lose in Dimitri's candidacy. At best he might topple the horrible Mark Sanford, who has been like a piece of chewing gum stuck to the feet of South Carolina for decades. At worse, he would... what? lose? In fact, he did lose, but the three percent of votes that he got just might have been what lost Sanford his cushy job. To that I say, "Thanks, Dimitri." Of course, now we need to garner some enthusiasm for Joe Cunningham instead of cowering over the fact that he will be running against a right-wing wacko Trump supporter.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Meanwhile, the DCCC, in an effort to prove their irrelevance once again, is currently sniffing around, looking to put the money they suck from us whenever they can into candidates that are "electable." It saddens me to say that <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/5/3/17290902/dccc-2018-midterms-primaries-democrats-nancy-pelosi-laura-moser" target="_blank">Nancy Pelosi</a>, once my hero, is now so desperate to win in November that she is leading the charge against candidates that may be <i>too progressive</i> to be <i>electable.</i> Pelosi: once a progressive firebrand herself, the woman who held the damn bag of cats that was the Democratic House together to pass Obamacare. I have until this recent news defended Nancy with every breath I had, and continue to believe that it is ageism and misogyny that has been behind the push to push her from her position of party leader in the House. And yet this picture of Pelosi seeking to support Democrats who appear safe -- electable -- and pass on those who aren't afraid to talk about significant change, that is the real threat to the Democratic Party and our success in taking back Congress.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We had Bernie "the socialist" shake things up in 2016. In 2017, among other headline wins, Danica Roem became the first transgender elected official. People are electing Muslims and gays without fear these days. And yet we continue to have a party afraid to support "progressive" candidates.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">On the other side, we had a child molester in Alabama who nearly beat an amazing Democratic candidate. Thankfully, Doug Jones didn't have any scandals that could have been dug up. And don't forget the current "president" of the United States, who ran happily on being capable of every possible crime that could be committed (including shooting someone on Fifth Avenue). While good Democrats stayed away from Hillary, muttering about "emails," "Benghazi," and never proven financial crimes.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I don't know how much more proof we need that voters want radical change. They want to hear about their own lives and needs. Donald Trump didn't win (he really didn't) on grabbing pussy. He won because he lied about giving everyone health insurance and good jobs. And now we have solid proof that the republican party has not only failed in those goals, they have actively legislated killing health care and job creation. They convinced some of us that a $14.00 a week increase in our paychecks was a win, but psychotic economic policies have caused the price of gas to go up over $1 a gallon since the maniac-in-chief took office. Social services are being cut to fatten the pockets of Trump, Ryan and McConnell, and all their rich buddies. Trade wars with our once-friends will eat up more of our miserable incomes while Jeff Sessions and the cabinet of deplorables works to make sure that, from education to employment, we won't have a chance at a level playing field.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Archie Parnell is serious about winning this thing. And he is damn close. All it takes for him to lose is friends like Bakari Sellers, and us.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I did not support Parnell in his special election primary last year. Rather I supported a young, smart, African American woman. Big name Democrats came out in droves for Parnell, because he was "electable." It is a shame that we do that to ourselves, keep women and minorities from representing us because we are afraid they won't win. Talk about your vicious circle. But when he was chosen, he became by far the best candidate, and I continue to wholeheartedly support him. I'm glad he has the guts to stay with it, rather than hand this victory to the republicans.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">On June 13, BuzzFeed published this friggin' headline:</span></div>
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<span style="color: red;">“What Archie Parnell did is inexcusable and deeply disturbing, and he should drop out of this race immediately.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Well, there's a surprise.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Farther down in the <a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/ryancbrooks/archie-parnell-dccc-south-carolina?utm_term=.iypkDyWdj#.wbxp8YQ2q" target="_blank">article</a> was a video posted on Facebook by Parnell. The <a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/ryancbrooks/archie-parnell-dccc-south-carolina?utm_term=.iypkDyWdj#.wbxp8YQ2q" target="_blank">same video</a> was published by the Post & Courier before the primary, and before their egregious post-primary headline. I would like to post the video here, but can't do it from Facebook. I urge you to listen to Archie talk about his decision to continue to run, in its entirety. This is the kind of candidate we should throw our support behind, enthusiastically.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">You know what, we might get hoodwinked. But at some point we need to trust what we see with our own eyes. And if we don't, for sure we will be the ones to lose.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span>I'm Agnes Pomata, and I'm unequivocally Liberalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09070728055590439046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7667547399514118307.post-37411698551293417122018-05-31T09:27:00.000-07:002018-05-31T09:27:02.368-07:00In Defense of Roseanne<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I have been crazy about Roseanne since I saw her on Johnny Carson in 1985. Her humor is an acquired taste -- or not. Her voice is grating, she insults with the charm and bad taste of W. C. Fields. She stood Rodney Dangerfield's "Take my wife... please" on its head when she began to take potshots at marriage and husbands. And I loved it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I enjoyed the first run of the sitcom, but at the time I was an older parent with my first child and pretty much in denial of any conflicts about parenting. That meant I was uncomfortable with Roseanne's trademark insults. Now, after having raised two kids that aren't addicts or in prison, I can step back and admit we had our rough patches. And some of that affectionate sarcasm might just have helped a bit.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I don't follow celebrities. I haven't followed Roseanne, although I had heard that she is a right-wing nutcase. If you couldn't tell she was flaky and off-center right from the start you just weren't there. Like Cosby, Franken and Van Gogh, Roseanne's genius came with baggage; her brilliance at pushing the envelope meant that she would at times go too far.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I wasn't surprised to hear that she was a very vocal Trump follower. We have all had to distance ourselves from loved ones since that asshole came down that escalator three long years ago. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">But, since November 8, 2016, I have been listening to Democrats obsess ad nauseum about what they need to do to understand and capture the trust of the Trump voter. Too many have gone so far as to support abhorrent positions in order to attempt to win over abhorrent people. All the while completely missing the boat.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">While the pussy-grabber-in-chief flaunts his racism and misogyny and pushes through an agenda that enriches himself and destroys families, Democrats are still looking for the safe stance. We talk about being a big tent, but instead of meaning we will try to help all, it ends up meaning we will support a candidate or issue that denies some group its rights if only we can get the approval of a Trump bigot somewhere.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I live on a shoestring, but my worries are still in the future. I have an old car that runs reliably, a house that is nearly paid for, and never lack for food or an alcoholic beverage. But there are working class Americans who have never had the chance I had to sock away some savings, or who lost jobs and homes a short decade ago and never got back on their feet, or whose income goes to health care or trying to educate their kids. I am happy to say most of my friends, also on shoestring budgets, are also not walking that tightrope to survival. And most Democratic politicians can't even fathom the fears blue collar Americans live with, or the painful decisions they have to make on a daily basis. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">So, that in mind, let's talk about the Roseanne reboot. Because what I have heard from the majority of my Democratic friends is how they hate Roseanne. And that they would NEVER watch her show. Which reminded me of those Dems who just couldn't vote for Hillary, and then added, "I just don't trust her."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I loved the reboot. I loved that her cast loved being part of the original sitcom so much that they ALL happily signed up. And that Roseanne would happily work creatively with a bunch of liberals like Sara Gilbert and Laurie Metcalf. Looking back through eyes that raised two kids, I loved the affection that so obviously went with the wisecracks. I loved the twists and turns, like the cross-dressing grandson and <a href="https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/entertainment/a20632021/gina-on-roseanne-djs-wife/" target="_blank">D.J.'s marriage</a> to an African-American woman, Gina, stationed in Afghanistan. And it turns out that Gina dates back to the original show as well. Where D.J. is in a play and refuses to kiss Gina; Roseanne tackles racism and sexism in one wonderful wack.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I heard a TV blowhard critique Season 10's Episode 7 because the anti-bigotry plot was simplistic. I imagine that's a person who doesn't spend a lot of time around blue collar Americans. No wonder they get insulted by us liberals, who turn up our noses at a 30-minute sitcom that doesn't get into the complexities of anti-Muslim attitudes.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And the <a href="https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6k6wpw" target="_blank">last episode to air</a> took my breath away. If you want to understand how good people (not the Nazi sympathizer or right-wing religious zealots) could have supported Trump in 2016, there could be no better portrayal than that of Dan Connor, stuck along with too many Americans between the rock and the hard place, trying to survive. Having to compromise life-long values to take care of his family. In fact, the problems the Connors encounter are the ones that day after day, one by one, add up relentlessly in an America where the quality of life has declined for some forty years, where wages have dropped and education has been corrupted by profit and premiums, co-pays and deductibles have rendered health care unattainable.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I am saddened by the tragedy of Roseanne, much as I was saddened by the tragedy of Bill Cosby, who also spoke so much truth about the absurdities of life. I am glad we got this short flash of brilliance before it blew itself up. Roseanne Barr is a disturbed -- conflicted -- woman, one who is destined to self-destruct. ABC was right to give Roseanne the chance despite her past bigotry, and ABC was right to cancel.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And my heart breaks for it.</span></div>
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I'm Agnes Pomata, and I'm unequivocally Liberalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09070728055590439046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7667547399514118307.post-51166116100275577092018-05-19T10:26:00.004-07:002018-05-19T10:26:56.391-07:00Sex and Violence<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Now that I have your attention.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I am crazy about <a href="http://www.cc.com/shows/the-jim-jefferies-show" target="_blank">Jim Jefferies</a>. He is Australian, now living in the U.S. I discovered him when a friend sent me a link to a stand up comedy bit he did on guns. It is biting, hilarious, and just as relevant today as it was when he first did it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">He also has a filthy mouth. He happily pushes the limits way past humor. He has to tone it down for basic cable, but his podcast is something to behold. It is basically him and a couple of his writers getting drunk and dirty for an hour after the show each week. The filth is pretty meaningless, just drunken slobber for the most part. It would be nice if it were funnier, but his political commentary is so brilliant, as is his humor, that I will plow through the pure crap for it. I don't know many who would. Even my son has said, Uh, no thanks.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">But Jefferies follows a long line of great comedians who pushed the limit. Lenny Bruce was slightly before my time, but he fought the law for freedom of speech. George Carlin did it when the zeitgeist welcomed it, and I am so glad he did.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">As he branched out from the seven words you can't say on TV, two things happened. He really exercised his First Amendment right, and in so doing, exercised it for the rest of us. And he offended a lot of people.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Being a child of the 60's and in full-blown rebellion against parents that would curse at times but tell me it was a sin, I rejoiced in Carlin's literally calling out the hypocrisy. In my home, "god-damn" was the forbidden swear word, requiring confession on Saturday. Carlin welcomed sexual curse words into our vocabulary. It was glorious to be able to toss out a "fuck" back in the day. Today those dirty words more often are uninspired, about as clever as a burp, but truly tinged with violence.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Today we have a "president" who dismisses his comment about grabbing pussy as locker room talk, and then is celebrated at the annual prayer breakfast. Granted, you still can't say "shit" on TV. But Roy Moore very nearly became a US Senator with the religious right fully aware of his pedophiliac past.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I was planning on writing about sexual harassment and women's rights. But there is the power of words, and maybe we need to start there. After all, it was a matter of empowerment that African Americans have forced our entire country to say "N-word" instead of, well, you know. And yet, "bitch" isn't even consistently bleeped on TV.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">A staple of Bill Maher's comedy for the past two years has been inviting his audience to join him in calling Donald Trump a "whiny little bitch." This gets my back up. And yet, when I searched for the inception of this routine I came up with the funny and ironic "New Rule" in which he turns the stereotypes of women on its head, and applies those stereotypes to the whiner-in-chief.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The most powerful of words, the dirty words, have power because they are sexual. And they have the potential to twist our morality into knots because our sense of our sexuality is so twisted.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Men who, despite their thoughts and prayers, don't flinch over mass murders, are willing to legislatively rape women in the name of "saving babies." And women have been willing to let them. The most logical comparison is of the fight to preserve a man's god-given right to own a gun versus the fight to allow women to control their own bodies.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">In the 60's we welcomed those seven dirty words into public life, but began to refer to sex as "making love." Is sex talk dirty, does it have to be? And when is it degrading, because it surely can be. As, for example, when used by the "president." And what does it do to women, who are still considered the weaker sex? When is sex talk violent, and when are insults sexual?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">#MeToo has us all wondering how afraid men should be about stepping over the boundaries between approach and harassment, sex play and coercion. I would like to suggest that sexual harassment and assault is the end result of verbal attacks on women that we ignore and/or accept. If you aren't uncomfortable with Maher calling Trump a "whiny little bitch" you are either a man or a woman who doesn't recognize the power that words have to demean you. If you don't cringe when you hear men insulted by being referred to as "girls" you are accepting not just that women are physically weaker, but that women are weaker.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The answer is not censorship. The answer is changing perceptions, refusing to accept stereotypes and insults. The value of forcing us to refer to the derogatory term as "n-word" (when we are in civil society) may be a constant reminder of how wrong it is, but it also denotes the power that African-Americans now have that they can compel this change. Sadly, another result is that racists become ever more filled with rage at the imposition on their freedom to publicly display their bigotry; the backlash was destined to happen. But African-Americans aren't taking it anymore, and that too will be quashed.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Women don't like to fight. We want to fix things. This makes us appear to be weak, and people like Congressional republicans and Donald Trump will use us as a battering ram to force their way into power. On the other hand, they can dog whistle other misogynists by painting those of us who aren't compliant as bitches, you know, like Hillary, Nancy and Elizabeth.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Sexual equality is going to mean a fight. Our daughters have grown up in a world we thought was safe, but was still fraught with sexual harassment and degradation. As long as there are laws that establish rules about what is contained within our bodies, men will control us. And we will be demeaned.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Those dirty words have power. I am all for the well-placed curse word, but we have to admit that there is violence in sexual language. It is not just that men in power can "grab pussy," it is that they are so confident in that right that they are happy to tell others about it. Confronting men who assault women sexually is the beginning; their acts must have consequences. What we do as these men are confronted is going to be a long and tangled path.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">But we need to first become sensitized to the words, their meaning, and their effect. Not to censor, but not to ignore. Indeed, until there are consequences for a man who brags about grabbing pussy, women will be under siege. Denial of the power of those violent words leaves us vulnerable, and grants permission to men to continue to put us "in our place." </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">It is time to let men know that we are the ones who will determine what our place will be.</span></div>
I'm Agnes Pomata, and I'm unequivocally Liberalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09070728055590439046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7667547399514118307.post-19509790384337152472018-05-06T09:05:00.000-07:002018-05-06T09:05:23.808-07:00What Comey Forgot<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Not too long ago <a href="http://theironiccherry.blogspot.com/2018/03/the-ironic-cherry-reads-whats-up-with.html" target="_blank">I wrote about</a> an important book that went under the radar called, <i>The Unmaking of the President 2016</i>. The book explains quite thoroughly how Comey's clumsy handling of the Hillary email fiasco caused Trump to win the election. At the time, I got pretty snarky in describing James Comey. But I do try to be fair, and now that I have heard him analyze the bizarre details of his past couple of years in the spotlight, and have read his book, <i>A Higher Loyalty</i>, I find that I have changed my opinion of the man.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I believe I have referred to James Comey as smug and compared him to Pence and Gorsuch, which would conveniently make them the unholy trinity of vanity, hypocrisy and self-righteousness. But I don't believe Comey is like that at all.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">He seems to be honestly struggling to do the right thing. He can be self-deprecating, which means he is attempting to be objective and is aware of his own very human fallibility. He has a sense of humor, which immediately separates him from the humorless Pence and Gorsuch, as well as Donald Trump. By the way, I have for some time been aware that Trump never smiles or laughs, a feature of the narcissist-in-chief that had also come to Comey's attention.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Comey has a lot to say about bullying. In his book he describes having been both a victim of bullying and an instance wherein he became a bully in his younger days. This kind of self-analysis and insight makes his narrative of the election of Donald Trump both personal and relevant to the current political era.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">As with all heroes, Comey's greatest strength became his Achilles heel. The need to be honest and fair brought him to national attention during the Bush years, when he went head to head with Dick Cheney over the reauthorization of the NSA surveillance program "Stellar Wind." It was a dramatic moment, when Jim Comey dashed to John Ashcroft's hospital room -- in intensive care -- to head off White House counsel Alberto Gonzales and Bush chief of staff Andrew Card who were trying to force Ashcroft to sign the reauthorization.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Because of this, Comey had a great deal of respect and credibility when he began the investigation into Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server as Secretary of State.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">In his book, Comey goes into great detail explaining the situation as he saw it, and each step of his decision making. It is obvious from this narrative that he has not only examined his actions but looked to others of his peers for their analysis. He is aware that his actions may have influenced the election, and he has admitted that the thought of having a hand in electing the deranged and dangerous Donald Trump makes him "mildly nauseous."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I can appreciate, after the diarrhea of lies that have come from Donald Trump and his swamp creatures, that James Comey is being honest. I share his nausea over the events that led to the election of Donald Trump. I value the extent of his self-examination in order to get this account right.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">But James Comey has missed an even greater factor in this tragic event. He has neglected to include the effects of a corrupt Congress in the way this story has played out.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The story goes way back, but it was the republicans in Congress after the election of Barack Obama, and subsequently the Tea Party extremists that took over who represent the bully in the room.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">It was minutes after Obama's inauguration that the republican leaders in Congress were meeting to strategize how to defeat the president. Mitch McConnell famously and unashamedly stated,</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">John Boehner on the floor of the House led the rage with a cry of "Hell no you can't" as he talked about the proposed health care bill, a bill republicans refused to be a part of constructing, and then told the American people that the Democrats were excluding them from the process.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Republicans in Congress thwarted Obama's every effort to move the near-dead economy, ignored or distorted his successes and magnified out of context the defeats. Remember <a href="https://www.factcheck.org/2011/10/obamas-solyndra-problem/" target="_blank">Solyndra</a>? Thanks to republican spin and the media echo chamber, all the successes that resulted from government investment in such small businesses were buried under headlines about this one failed attempt. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">That was the way Obama's eight years went under this republican Congress, as they doubled down on lies and false accusations with each electoral success.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">While ignoring the hunting down of bin Laden and the winding down of one of our most tragic wars, republicans in Congress did not just refuse to work as partners with Obama in defeating our enemies, they actively opposed whatever he proposed. Isis? Syria? The dynamic and entertaining McCain/Graham duo found fault with it all. McConnell and Boehner refused to offer any constructive alternatives. In fact, Congress did not offer any legislation that could be seen as a commitment one way or the other; all they offered was cynical criticism of anything Obama thought might work. And because he believed that he should be working with Congress, he hesitated to take strong actions in <a href="https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/07/obama-syria-foreign-policy-red-line-revisited-214059" target="_blank">Syria</a> without agreement from Congress. Although Obama's diplomacy turned out well at the time, he has faced contempt throughout for failing to act when Assad "crossed the red line."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">And the whole Hillary project may have begun as an innocent misogynist reaction to the smart and powerful wife of a president, but by the time her intentions to run for president had barely been announced, the same game went into play. Her every action was criticized, lies were told and then retold by the press, and the Hillary that can't be trusted became the narrative. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The obstructionism worked, because the republican party united in their loud opposition. They worked the media, and they played the American people. They lied and then they lied again.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">So, when Donald Trump brought his tantrums and lies to his campaign, the only difference between him and Congressional republicans was the degree and the flamboyance. And because the media likes to follow shiny objects, like the orange hair, we got to witness every moment of the blowhard's traveling salvation show, with fake miracles and full-blown hate and hysteria.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Sadly, Trump gets full credit for Obama's failure to act more aggressively against Russian election interference. And surely Trump was by then the bully that controlled the entire show. He spewed anti-democratic hatred with far more flair than his republican allies. But without eight years of the bombast and bullying of the republican party and Congressional leaders, Trump would have most likely been dismissed as a crackpot. Without a Congress that refused to fight for anything other than their own survival, Obama would have fought hard against Russian interference. But the bullies were harassing and attacking one of the candidates, and the opponent was making shrill accusations of cheating. Bullies win when they cause the rest of us to lose confidence and to hesitate to do what is right. The bullies won because Obama did not want to be seen as interfering in the election, as the bullies had already intimated.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">And this is where Comey lost the thread of the narrative. He thought he was cooperating with a responsible branch of government, but Congress was a fully partisan player in destroying Hillary Clinton. He reported to Congress about emails as though the emails were the issue, and not the defamation of a candidate for president. And then he went back again, because he had promised he would if anything changed, even though he had no reason to believe anything had changed.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Just as Obama went timidly into these last weeks of this election, Comey went obediently to Congress. He ignored the advice of his boss and he rationalized ignoring precedent, and he interfered in the presidential election by jumping into an investigation because he was afraid of not opening it, and he reported it to Congress and the American people, because he was afraid he would be seen as dishonest if he didn't.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">There are times when one has to take the risk of doing the wrong thing in order to do the right thing. That last decision point, days before the election, was when James Comey decided it was more important that he be seen as trustworthy rather than that he had followed precedent and law.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">James Comey has had to face the reality, through his subsequent dealings and ultimate firing by Donald Trump, that his attempt to be honorable led to a disaster for our democracy. Out of fear of being seen as dishonorable, he allowed himself to be used by a corrupt Congress and a megalomaniac candidate. Had he not come forward to announce the reopening of the investigation of Hillary Clinton's emails, the outcome of the election would surely have been different. But then he would have had to face accusations of partisanship by the other side. And that is where being honorable would really have come into play.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Which brings me to the point of the whole thing. We have a Congress that is dirty. Congressional republicans have proven to be wholly partisan and untrustworthy. They have chosen to continue to hide facts in order to support a corrupt and unbalanced leader in order to maintain their hold over our democracy. In Germany in 1933, it took elected members of the republic to give Hitler the power to create a dictatorship. And today we have lapdogs like Devin Nunes and power mongers like Mitch McConnell paving the way for the illegal and undemocratic acts of the Trump administration. Today this Congressional majority is not only thwarting efforts to protect Robert Mueller from being fired by Donald Trump, they have undermined the investigation into Russian interference. And incredibly, we continue to hear from one or the other that they think Congress should reopen investigations on Hillary.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">While Trump keeps us busy following his criminal and crazy rants, Congress is truly the arm in which the fate of our democracy rests. I don't believe we can take another session of republican rule. Not only have they gutted laws that protect 98 percent of us, they have stood by as Trump signs away our environment and our liberties. They happily approve federal judges that represent the far right: big business, big money and the curbing of individual freedoms. They continue to hope baiting us with Planned Parenthood and the Second Amendment will keep them in power, and are blind to the threats to our democracy. In so doing, they have become the greatest threat to our democracy.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">This is why we must do everything we can to turn over both houses of Congress in November. The only way we can survive the terrorism of Donald Trump is by electing a Congress that will fight for our democratic principles.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">We cannot be passive during this midterm election season. Be informed. Volunteer. Donate. Spread the word. Vote.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Our lives and our children's futures depend on it. </span>I'm Agnes Pomata, and I'm unequivocally Liberalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09070728055590439046noreply@blogger.com2