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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
If he continues to have meetings and go out in public unscathed, his message to his people will be a powerful one.
"Fight for me."
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.
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.
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 paid to be there, in 2015. He didn't invent astroturfing, but he knows how to use it.
He may claim he has "the best words," but his vocabulary is so limited that we could play Trump Bingo 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 behavioral conditioning pure and simple, and nobody really knows, or cares, who is conditioning whom.
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.
And, just as Rick Perry's broken clock is right once a day, 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.
Hence, warriors.
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.
All the damn way to November 3.
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.
And that has fostered a lot of fear.
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.
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.
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?
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?
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?
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.
Friday, May 8, 2020
Thursday, February 13, 2020
Doing Trump's Work
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.
The headline in today's Post and Courier 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 together 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.
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.
Except, of course, when we take up his attacks and turn on each other.
So let's not do that anymore. Joe.
The headline in today's Post and Courier 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 together 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.
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.
Except, of course, when we take up his attacks and turn on each other.
So let's not do that anymore. Joe.
Sunday, October 27, 2019
The "Very Least He Could Do" Award
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.
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 doing time 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.
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.
So, I imagine when Jared suggested following it up with prison reform, he jumped at the chance. The result was decidedly a union of strange bedfellows.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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, "insisting that the White House maintain control of organizing the event."
In fact, students were told to stay in their dorm rooms during the event.
STUDENTS WERE TOLD TO STAY IN THEIR DORM ROOMS DURING TRUMP'S TIME ON CAMPUS.
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.
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.
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.
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 doing time 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.
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.
So, I imagine when Jared suggested following it up with prison reform, he jumped at the chance. The result was decidedly a union of strange bedfellows.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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, "insisting that the White House maintain control of organizing the event."
In fact, students were told to stay in their dorm rooms during the event.
STUDENTS WERE TOLD TO STAY IN THEIR DORM ROOMS DURING TRUMP'S TIME ON CAMPUS.
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.
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.
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.
Monday, September 9, 2019
Don't Blame God
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 "blessed" that the worst of the storm had passed us by. BLESSED.
BLESSED.
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.
I wonder that we wouldn't rather give credit to science for the path and effects of the storm.
Holy City, my ass.
And for the record, Mayor Tecklenburg, with that comment, for once beats out Donald Trump for tastelessness and insensitivity. Congrats, Mayor.
BLESSED.
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.
I wonder that we wouldn't rather give credit to science for the path and effects of the storm.
Holy City, my ass.
And for the record, Mayor Tecklenburg, with that comment, for once beats out Donald Trump for tastelessness and insensitivity. Congrats, Mayor.
Monday, June 24, 2019
The Secret Plan to Beat Lindsey
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.
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.
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, Gloria Bromell Tinubu. And not surprisingly, Clyburn has also failed to acknowledge this.
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, Joyce Dickerson, 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.
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.
Tinubu has experienced being overlooked 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.
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.
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 Facebook and Twitter, meet up with her on her website, gloriaforussenate.com. Share, contribute, and help in any way you can.
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.
Or, they can follow the old playbook and support the guy who will attract the most money in lieu of excitement. We know how that will turn out.
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.
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, Gloria Bromell Tinubu. And not surprisingly, Clyburn has also failed to acknowledge this.
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, Joyce Dickerson, 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.
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.
Tinubu has experienced being overlooked 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.
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.
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 Facebook and Twitter, meet up with her on her website, gloriaforussenate.com. Share, contribute, and help in any way you can.
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.
Or, they can follow the old playbook and support the guy who will attract the most money in lieu of excitement. We know how that will turn out.
Tuesday, April 2, 2019
The Spirit of 2020
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Tuesday, March 26, 2019
The Way Forward
Dems, don't be afraid. Don't be disconsolate. Be angry. Be unified. Defend our media and our elected officials.
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.
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.
Trump is going to play all his greatest hits at his rallies. So educating everyone you know about his lies is essential.
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.
Let no manipulation by the Trump minions go unchallenged.
I received an email from Kevin McCarthy yesterday, stewed about it for awhile, and then composed this letter for The State:
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."
This completely partisan missive was sent to me via House Communications email.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Trump is going to play all his greatest hits at his rallies. So educating everyone you know about his lies is essential.
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.
Let no manipulation by the Trump minions go unchallenged.
I received an email from Kevin McCarthy yesterday, stewed about it for awhile, and then composed this letter for The State:
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."
This completely partisan missive was sent to me via House Communications email.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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:
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