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.
Showing posts with label Donald Trump. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Donald Trump. Show all posts
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.
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:
Thursday, February 7, 2019
So Many Rabbit Holes... #1
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:
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.
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.
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.
Circus showman Trump promised $1 million to charity if a DNA test "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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Let us not get distracted. Not again.
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.
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.
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.
Circus showman Trump promised $1 million to charity if a DNA test "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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Let us not get distracted. Not again.
Monday, December 31, 2018
Dear Joe Cunningham...
Dear Joe,
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.
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.
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.
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 bus tour 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.
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, Elizabeth Colbert Busch. 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 gag. So he beat Pelosi, or, the republicans' caricature of her.
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 on Dems all these years.
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 Democrats he laughed and said, "I don't know; I'm trying to figure that out myself." Please take two minutes and listen to the video. It is indeed an eye-opener.
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.
And they can't -- THEY CAN'T -- do it without the help of Democrats.
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.
Stephen Lynch 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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, democracy itself 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.
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.
Best of luck in your new job.
Sincerely,
The Ironic Cherry
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.
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.
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.
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 bus tour 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.
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, Elizabeth Colbert Busch. 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 gag. So he beat Pelosi, or, the republicans' caricature of her.
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 on Dems all these years.
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 Democrats he laughed and said, "I don't know; I'm trying to figure that out myself." Please take two minutes and listen to the video. It is indeed an eye-opener.
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.
And they can't -- THEY CAN'T -- do it without the help of Democrats.
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.
Stephen Lynch 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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, democracy itself 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.
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.
Best of luck in your new job.
Sincerely,
The Ironic Cherry
Monday, October 8, 2018
Lindsey v. Women
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.
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.
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 sympathize 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
We don't just have smart and motivated women, we have organizations right here in South Carolina that will help.
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.
Then there are the women's action networks that have grown HUGE since 2016. WREN -- 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. Emerge America 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.
And of course we have great groups here in South Carolina like Planned Parenthood Action Fund and the American Association of University Women, both of which can be counted on to promote women in government as well as women's issues in healthcare and education.
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:
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?
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?
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.
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.
It is time for Lindsey to go. And he seems to agree.
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.
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 sympathize 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
We don't just have smart and motivated women, we have organizations right here in South Carolina that will help.
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.
Then there are the women's action networks that have grown HUGE since 2016. WREN -- 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. Emerge America 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.
And of course we have great groups here in South Carolina like Planned Parenthood Action Fund and the American Association of University Women, both of which can be counted on to promote women in government as well as women's issues in healthcare and education.
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:
SC Representative Gilda Cobb-Hunter from Orangeburg
Linda Ketner, who in 2008 nearly defeated 4-term incumbent Henry Brown for US Congress District 1
Margie Bright Matthews, SC state Senator for District 45
State Senator Mia McLeod from Richmond County,
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?
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?
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.
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.
It is time for Lindsey to go. And he seems to agree.
 |
| "I hope the American people can see through this sham." |
Friday, August 3, 2018
Leading Without a Clue
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.
The people who run our government don't have a clue who we are.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The people who run our government don't have a clue who we are.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Saturday, May 19, 2018
Sex and Violence
Now that I have your attention.
I am crazy about Jim Jefferies. 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.
I am crazy about Jim Jefferies. 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
#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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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."
It is time to let men know that we are the ones who will determine what our place will be.
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?
#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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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."
It is time to let men know that we are the ones who will determine what our place will be.
Sunday, May 6, 2018
What Comey Forgot
Not too long ago I wrote about an important book that went under the radar called, The Unmaking of the President 2016. 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, A Higher Loyalty, I find that I have changed my opinion of the man.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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."
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.
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.
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.
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,
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.
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 Solyndra? 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.
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.
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 Syria 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."
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
We cannot be passive during this midterm election season. Be informed. Volunteer. Donate. Spread the word. Vote.
Our lives and our children's futures depend on it.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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."
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.
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.
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.
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,
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.
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 Solyndra? 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.
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.
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 Syria 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."
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
We cannot be passive during this midterm election season. Be informed. Volunteer. Donate. Spread the word. Vote.
Our lives and our children's futures depend on it.
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