We know who republicans are fighting for: the wealthy and the Christian right-wing. That unholy alliance was formed to help Reagan get elected and was such a resounding success that despite seeming to be totally at odds, the two groups have gone on to be famous lovers.
On the Democratic side, we try to do the right thing, but we get so damned confused. We want to win -- not for our own gratification of course, but because that's the only way we can do good. It is easy to manipulate us by accusing us of, gee, almost anything; just toss out an attack and watch us scurry around in confused agitation, like a disturbed ant hill.
It is with some amusement that I have been observing David Brooks, who of late has determined to advise Dems on how to best succeed. In a recent column he suggests that on gun control we blue people should be more empathetic towards those red folks, and let them take the lead. In another special piece of mansplaining entitled "The Abortion Memo", he tells us that if we don't do some compromising on abortion restrictions, then we are letting Donald Trump win. And, after all, going along with something like the twenty week abortion ban doesn't affect all that many women.
Democrat Conor Lamb just won a special election in a district that had belonged to Trump not too long ago. In the wake of which, as described in a brilliant article by Charlie Pierce, David Brooks obfuscates into a win as a result of a move toward the center. Pierce says, "This attempt to drag Conor Lamb into David Brooks' Cloud Cuckoo Land of Responsible Centrism is simply a load."
From the White House we have the brute-in-chief, who is always happy to tell "Schumer and Pelosi" what they need to do to make their party happy.
Enough from the republican chorus. It takes second guessing from our own party and candidates' advisors to really put a damper on that whole liberty and justice for all thing. If you plan on running for office on a truly progressive agenda, you are going to be facing a whole lot of squishy Democratic opinions about why you can't do that and win. You are just going to have to hide those lefty beliefs, embrace those on the other side, and make some compromises.
What it all comes down to, this compromise business, is who we Democrats agree to throw under the bus in our race to the finish line. And there are so very many Americans and issues to choose from.
For example, we might support Dreamers. In fact, Dreamers are very popular. But we might just want to be a little more agreeable about closing that Mexican border. We could beef up security, spend more money on patrol agents and build just a little bit of a wall. (And let's not make a big deal out of all those families being deported, and especially about the children being separated from their parents. Oh, and let's not get into defending sanctuary cities; that's just too messy.)
How about that Muslim ban? We know it's a bad idea to close our borders, and it's not just the melting pot, "give me your tired, your poor" thing. It's bad for business. But the courts are fighting it out. (And if our candidates make too big a deal out of it, it is just going to scare those Christians on the other side.)
Teachers. We have heard our democratic candidates say all the same safe words about teachers. It is so important that we praise teachers for their important hard work that there is even a website with "Words to Thank a Teacher." (But we don't want to get into what it would cost to pay a teacher what they are worth, or provide them the environment and supplies and support that they need to do their jobs better and with less stress.) In fact, one of our own SC Democratic candidates for governor is these days saying we should get rid of 1/3 of our teachers.
Which brings us to an even more explosive four-letter-word: Unions. (Oh, please don't let anyone ask about unions, please, please, please, please. Because then I'll have to say I support unions, but people who don't "believe in them" shouldn't have to pay for them, and then union members will get angry at me and then...)
Taxes. The republicans have long ago taken ownership of the phrase "lower taxes and better government services." The fact that republicans that lower taxes invariably cut needed services doesn't seem to dispel the magic of the promise. But does it? Maybe candidates that fearlessly talk about the cost of inadequate taxation... (If I talk about taxes, I'll be called a tax and spend Democrat, so maybe I just won't say anything.)
Women's health care. Health care. Abortion. If you recall, back during the Obamacare "debate," big republican donors paid for a huge astroturf campaign, much like the Russian trolls spurred in 2016, revving up the American people with fears that the government was going to kill their grandmas with their death panels, and the government was going to spy on their doctor appointments. They even gave them bag lunches and put them on buses en route to protests. Well, women are dying from inadequate access to health care, and our government wants to tell our doctors what they can say to us about our reproductive health and dictate and monitor our care. Texas has closed so many clinics that over recent years the maternal mortality rate has been likened to that of a third world country. The highest in the nation, they had no recourse but to... re-interpret the data. Still the highest mortality rate in the country, but not as high as they thought. (But I'll be very careful not to sound as though I'm "pro-abortion." And make sure that I agree with the sanctity of life, and just get back to saying mothers and babies need better health care. And hope nobody notices.)
AND guns. Maybe our Democratic politicians could stop prefacing every statement on gun control with, "I believe in the Second Amendment" or by telling us how old they were when they first went hunting with their daddy. The numbers of shootings in this country, mass and otherwise, is obscene. We can all agree that we have to do something about it. We can take a tough stand against the NRA when it comes to bump stocks and AR-15's and background checks, because poll after poll has shown that this is supported by the vast majority of Americans. (But stay away from registering guns, or making laws about safe use; we sure don't want anyone to think we are planning on restricting their God-given -- I mean constitutional -- right to carry a gun.)
Oh, I could go on. There are so many minefields, and so much opportunity for republican opponents to attack us Democrats for taking a stand. And so much potential for in-fighting. But there are minority rights and individual rights and constitutional rights being eroded, and we are the ones who must turn that tide.
If we don't stand up for every single one who is affected by those issues, if we are willing to sell out one woman who may at some future time need a third-trimester abortion, or ignore one immigrant whose family is being torn apart, if we allow our unions to be undermined and our workers underpaid and unprotected, we are not who we claim to be.
A smart candidate in Trump's failed America should be able to explain why it is good for us all to welcome immigrants, support women's reproductive rights, and restrict access to guns. We should also be able to explain the difference between responsible taxation and burdening the middle class.
Yes, voters are often tempted to follow the shiny object: the biggest mouth, the most brazen promises. But we have had special elections this year where fearless candidates fought against the lies and the fearmongering, and they have won.
Don't let anyone convince you that the way to victory is through caution. Let us not throw anyone or any group under the bus in the cause of victory. Not this year.
Showing posts with label Gun Control. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gun Control. Show all posts
Monday, March 19, 2018
Tuesday, June 21, 2016
How Deep the Hatred
Bigotry is not new in America. If you want to read about how politics has been shaped by fear and racism, try Limousine Liberal: How an Incendiary Image United the Right and Fractured America by Steve Fraser. Or you may be able to, like me, simply reflect on the America where you grew up.
I lived in a little Italian community in a rural town in Rhode Island that became suburban during my childhood and teenage years. My father, an Italian immigrant, would complain about "the frogs" who lived next door, threaten (privately) to "fix" neighbors who angered him by selling his vacant lots to blacks (I believe he said "negro"), and referred to my boyfriend as "that Jew." For that matter, my future father-in-law, a Jewish man who was married to an Anglican, was incensed that his son was dating someone not Jewish. In one rather hysterical family fight, he berated his son for going out with a "spaghetti-eater." And then he threw the plate of spaghetti he was eating at the wall.
It is odd that those who were solidly members of groups who faced bigotry would be so quick to turn it on members of other groups. Because I lived in a small Italian community, I did not hear the words "wop" and "guinea" until my first full-time supermarket job, and then it was a self-derogatory joke made by an old Italian meat-cutter. I can only imagine the world of hate he had grown up in.
I was mostly unaware of any racial bigotry that might have been directed at me. When I was a school psychologist on Long Island, the director once commiserated with me about Italian men, not realizing that I had kept my family name, thinking I had married an Italian. I believe she thought I was Jewish, as was she. I am aware these days that I can pass for Jewish and Hispanic, but the features are not so distinct that it is ever a conscious part of my interactions with people.
It is so much a part of our heritage, to mistrust and hate those who are different than us, to feel threatened by their proximity, that we Americans are easy targets for anyone who seeks power. Hence, the Donald Trump phenomenon. Which has been brought to us by decades of right-wing rage targeting minorities.
Want to win an election? Target a minority.
Just as in my mother's day Italians and Irish were called lazy and dirty, so have African-Americans and Mexicans.
Just as Jews have been persecuted for being sneaky and greedy, and for plotting control over whatever "civilization" happens to be feeling threatened, Moslems are now targeted as plotting to destroy "civilization."
Small people with perverse sexual obsessions have always in our society been fond of gay-bashing, when they aren't focused on what goes on in a woman's body without their approval.
As a woman who has not ever had to really face bigotry (only misogyny), I can't imagine how awful must be the threat of being targeted in America. Show your papers. Stop and frisk. Driving while being black. And Trump's outrages-of-the-day: "We have to go and we have to maybe check, respectfully, the mosques" (six days ago). Since he proposed the national database of Muslims last year when he was only a primary candidate, he apparently has realized that as a presumptive nominee, when he suggests taking away a group's rights he now has to do it "respectfully."
South Carolina is not the only proud state to waste taxpayer dollars on "bathroom bills" and bills that would keep out refugees and prevent Sharia Law from infiltrating our courts. Because right wing radicals continue to foster fear and hatred, we have our own home-grown assault rifle toting paranoids to contend with. In a totally irony-free atmosphere, state and federal legislators have caused such a panic over our rights and our safety that they have unleashed the very wackos we should be concerned about, who kill in the name of protecting the country from killers.
Fueled by the NRA which is controlled by arms manufacturers, our legislators have once again failed to pass even the most basic gun controls. Paul Ryan, never before concerned about the rights of people kept off planes because they were wrongly put on the no-fly list is now expressing his concern for people that would wrongly lose their right to buy a gun. And how about this pretzel-shaped rationale: by refusing to sell a gun to someone on the no-fly list we would be jeopardizing national security by alerting them to the fact that they are being watched.... Hmm, you mean like if they are told they can't get on a plane???
Which leaves us all waiting for the next mass shooting. And while we are waiting, innocent people continue to be killed on the streets, in bars, at home. And the rage goes on.
I lived in a little Italian community in a rural town in Rhode Island that became suburban during my childhood and teenage years. My father, an Italian immigrant, would complain about "the frogs" who lived next door, threaten (privately) to "fix" neighbors who angered him by selling his vacant lots to blacks (I believe he said "negro"), and referred to my boyfriend as "that Jew." For that matter, my future father-in-law, a Jewish man who was married to an Anglican, was incensed that his son was dating someone not Jewish. In one rather hysterical family fight, he berated his son for going out with a "spaghetti-eater." And then he threw the plate of spaghetti he was eating at the wall.
It is odd that those who were solidly members of groups who faced bigotry would be so quick to turn it on members of other groups. Because I lived in a small Italian community, I did not hear the words "wop" and "guinea" until my first full-time supermarket job, and then it was a self-derogatory joke made by an old Italian meat-cutter. I can only imagine the world of hate he had grown up in.
I was mostly unaware of any racial bigotry that might have been directed at me. When I was a school psychologist on Long Island, the director once commiserated with me about Italian men, not realizing that I had kept my family name, thinking I had married an Italian. I believe she thought I was Jewish, as was she. I am aware these days that I can pass for Jewish and Hispanic, but the features are not so distinct that it is ever a conscious part of my interactions with people.
It is so much a part of our heritage, to mistrust and hate those who are different than us, to feel threatened by their proximity, that we Americans are easy targets for anyone who seeks power. Hence, the Donald Trump phenomenon. Which has been brought to us by decades of right-wing rage targeting minorities.
Want to win an election? Target a minority.
Just as in my mother's day Italians and Irish were called lazy and dirty, so have African-Americans and Mexicans.
Just as Jews have been persecuted for being sneaky and greedy, and for plotting control over whatever "civilization" happens to be feeling threatened, Moslems are now targeted as plotting to destroy "civilization."
Small people with perverse sexual obsessions have always in our society been fond of gay-bashing, when they aren't focused on what goes on in a woman's body without their approval.
As a woman who has not ever had to really face bigotry (only misogyny), I can't imagine how awful must be the threat of being targeted in America. Show your papers. Stop and frisk. Driving while being black. And Trump's outrages-of-the-day: "We have to go and we have to maybe check, respectfully, the mosques" (six days ago). Since he proposed the national database of Muslims last year when he was only a primary candidate, he apparently has realized that as a presumptive nominee, when he suggests taking away a group's rights he now has to do it "respectfully."
South Carolina is not the only proud state to waste taxpayer dollars on "bathroom bills" and bills that would keep out refugees and prevent Sharia Law from infiltrating our courts. Because right wing radicals continue to foster fear and hatred, we have our own home-grown assault rifle toting paranoids to contend with. In a totally irony-free atmosphere, state and federal legislators have caused such a panic over our rights and our safety that they have unleashed the very wackos we should be concerned about, who kill in the name of protecting the country from killers.
Fueled by the NRA which is controlled by arms manufacturers, our legislators have once again failed to pass even the most basic gun controls. Paul Ryan, never before concerned about the rights of people kept off planes because they were wrongly put on the no-fly list is now expressing his concern for people that would wrongly lose their right to buy a gun. And how about this pretzel-shaped rationale: by refusing to sell a gun to someone on the no-fly list we would be jeopardizing national security by alerting them to the fact that they are being watched.... Hmm, you mean like if they are told they can't get on a plane???
Which leaves us all waiting for the next mass shooting. And while we are waiting, innocent people continue to be killed on the streets, in bars, at home. And the rage goes on.
Thursday, February 4, 2016
All Politics Is Local
I have in the past tended to follow national politics, so much louder and glitzier than the local variety. But a few years ago I began tracking state legislation for our ACLU and a whole new world opened up. And sucked me into it.
Local politics is not pretty. And it is exhausting work documenting so much stupidity. But somebody ought to do it. Because we really, really need to know what is going on up there in Columbia. Because it has so very much impact on our lives.
Here in South Carolina, the dark work of the legislature is evident in our "minimally adequate" schools, with extraordinarily high dropout rates and inadequate employment. Whenever a South Carolinian does not go to a doctor because they are uninsured, we can thank our legislature and our governor for refusing the federal Medicaid expansion dollars that are actually our federal taxes. "No thank you, I don't want my money."
It was the wisdom of our state legislators that, in light of the horrific mass shootings in our country, passed a law allowing guns in drinking establishments, making restaurant and bar owners responsible for posting when guns are not welcome. Of course, the thing about guns is that when you don't want them you anger the people with the guns.
And oh my, our infrastructure. Any homeowner with an ounce of sense would make use of a windfall to make needed repairs -- keep up that important investment. Yet when the price of gas falls precipitously, instead of looking at our crumbling and dangerous roads and bridges and seeing the opportunity to make them right argue about "new taxes." We remain a poor state because we squander any kind of financial opportunity.
Meanwhile -- and you have all heard me rant about this -- the idiots at the Statehouse continue to flood the docket with new anti-abortion bills that say the same thing as the old ones. We also apparently need a bunch more bills that honor and revere the 2nd amendment. Instead of paying for better education, our tax dollars are going to go to plaques in every school that declare that "In God We Trust." I guess with the poor state of our education, those yahoos figure we'd better pray.
And they are all over the threat to our state presented by poor Mexican immigrants, gays, Muslims, atheists, pregnant women, low wage-workers, and workers attempting to form unions. They are on guard protecting the interest of big out-of-state businesses who have the god-given right to pollute and profit here in South Carolina. Nikki Haley has fought the valiant fight to channel millions of tax dollars to big corporations while anyone living below the poverty line -- and there are quite a number of us here -- are subject to scorn and the threat of laws that would require drug testing and other humiliating and near-impossible requirements. And pay attention, small business owners. When our legislators say they are "for small business," y'all better check your pockets.
So we can track the legislation, call and write senators and representatives, but unless we change the makeup of the Statehouse, we are shouting into the big winds caused by global climate change that our legislators mostly deny.
Here it is, 2016, and every damn member of the legislature is up for re-election. The sad thing is that in way too many cases, they will be re-elected without a breath of protest. We can complain about gerrymandering, and it would be a legitimate complaint, but the fact is that most voters want the same things, and don't have (or don't think they have) anyone to vote for that would get us there.
If there are few courageous individuals that are willing to speak loudly to the abuses of our current legislators, not only will there not be options, voters will not even be aware of those abuses or the better options.
I don't believe that the majority of the people that re-elect Lee Bright really are voting against abortion, although I'm sure he does stay awake nights imagining all the dirty doings that create that "preborn child." His war against anything that looks like a tax -- which I believe is the secret to his longevity -- needs to be countered with facts about how much more it costs most of us when taxes are cut.
We Dems don't tend to run on the need for taxes because we have let ourselves wear the "tax and spend" label even when it has proven false. And yet, here is Bernie Sanders getting support from republicans who see him as more responsive to their needs than Trump or Cruz. If we believe in good government services, we need to learn to sell it. As Trump has shown, politics is mostly about sales. And in sales, you have to believe in yourself or no one else will believe in you.
I am hoping that our State Democratic Party this year will show some of that fearlessness. I am hoping that they will encourage people to run against the right-wingnuts that we have for too long thought were impregnable. And put some money behind it. A candidate that runs against a right wing wacko needs funding, needs publicity. And our party needs to find a way to support all the Democratic candidates that are stepping up to fight this entrenched and old party.
Instead of thinking that money spent on a Democratic candidate may be money lost, we should believe that money spent to give a Democratic candidate airtime is money spent on the future of the Democratic party. I believe that our platform is the right one. I believe that responsible taxation creates jobs, improves our standard of living, and pays it all forward.
And on the other side, I see the party that claims to be for small government stealing from small business owners to give to big corporations and taking away workers' rights to fight for better working conditions so that those big corporations can boast bigger profits. I see this party that fought Obamacare on the grounds that it would bring big government into our doctors' offices propose twenty or more bills doing just that to women, from conception to the disposition of a fetus.
That old party is the party that fights government regulation if it means making our neighborhoods safer, our air and waters cleaner, our children better educated. Yet they propose bills to regulate the poor and monitor refugees. Yes, under this bunch there would be laws that require immigrants and refugees to produce documentation, but they invite those from other states to bring in y'all's guns, and oppose background checks and bans on assault weapons. Because as they say, if they can stop just one terrorist from coming into South Carolina it will be worth denying all those others the right to live free. But if you take one gun away from one gun nut, you are denouncing American values and bringing down the nation.
So we have a lot of hypocrisies that need to be confronted. And we have lots of smart people who could do the confronting. So let's get our Democratic Party behind them. And let's give them the opportunity to be heard this election year.
Local politics is not pretty. And it is exhausting work documenting so much stupidity. But somebody ought to do it. Because we really, really need to know what is going on up there in Columbia. Because it has so very much impact on our lives.
Here in South Carolina, the dark work of the legislature is evident in our "minimally adequate" schools, with extraordinarily high dropout rates and inadequate employment. Whenever a South Carolinian does not go to a doctor because they are uninsured, we can thank our legislature and our governor for refusing the federal Medicaid expansion dollars that are actually our federal taxes. "No thank you, I don't want my money."
It was the wisdom of our state legislators that, in light of the horrific mass shootings in our country, passed a law allowing guns in drinking establishments, making restaurant and bar owners responsible for posting when guns are not welcome. Of course, the thing about guns is that when you don't want them you anger the people with the guns.
And oh my, our infrastructure. Any homeowner with an ounce of sense would make use of a windfall to make needed repairs -- keep up that important investment. Yet when the price of gas falls precipitously, instead of looking at our crumbling and dangerous roads and bridges and seeing the opportunity to make them right argue about "new taxes." We remain a poor state because we squander any kind of financial opportunity.
Meanwhile -- and you have all heard me rant about this -- the idiots at the Statehouse continue to flood the docket with new anti-abortion bills that say the same thing as the old ones. We also apparently need a bunch more bills that honor and revere the 2nd amendment. Instead of paying for better education, our tax dollars are going to go to plaques in every school that declare that "In God We Trust." I guess with the poor state of our education, those yahoos figure we'd better pray.
And they are all over the threat to our state presented by poor Mexican immigrants, gays, Muslims, atheists, pregnant women, low wage-workers, and workers attempting to form unions. They are on guard protecting the interest of big out-of-state businesses who have the god-given right to pollute and profit here in South Carolina. Nikki Haley has fought the valiant fight to channel millions of tax dollars to big corporations while anyone living below the poverty line -- and there are quite a number of us here -- are subject to scorn and the threat of laws that would require drug testing and other humiliating and near-impossible requirements. And pay attention, small business owners. When our legislators say they are "for small business," y'all better check your pockets.
So we can track the legislation, call and write senators and representatives, but unless we change the makeup of the Statehouse, we are shouting into the big winds caused by global climate change that our legislators mostly deny.
Here it is, 2016, and every damn member of the legislature is up for re-election. The sad thing is that in way too many cases, they will be re-elected without a breath of protest. We can complain about gerrymandering, and it would be a legitimate complaint, but the fact is that most voters want the same things, and don't have (or don't think they have) anyone to vote for that would get us there.
If there are few courageous individuals that are willing to speak loudly to the abuses of our current legislators, not only will there not be options, voters will not even be aware of those abuses or the better options.
I don't believe that the majority of the people that re-elect Lee Bright really are voting against abortion, although I'm sure he does stay awake nights imagining all the dirty doings that create that "preborn child." His war against anything that looks like a tax -- which I believe is the secret to his longevity -- needs to be countered with facts about how much more it costs most of us when taxes are cut.
We Dems don't tend to run on the need for taxes because we have let ourselves wear the "tax and spend" label even when it has proven false. And yet, here is Bernie Sanders getting support from republicans who see him as more responsive to their needs than Trump or Cruz. If we believe in good government services, we need to learn to sell it. As Trump has shown, politics is mostly about sales. And in sales, you have to believe in yourself or no one else will believe in you.
I am hoping that our State Democratic Party this year will show some of that fearlessness. I am hoping that they will encourage people to run against the right-wingnuts that we have for too long thought were impregnable. And put some money behind it. A candidate that runs against a right wing wacko needs funding, needs publicity. And our party needs to find a way to support all the Democratic candidates that are stepping up to fight this entrenched and old party.
Instead of thinking that money spent on a Democratic candidate may be money lost, we should believe that money spent to give a Democratic candidate airtime is money spent on the future of the Democratic party. I believe that our platform is the right one. I believe that responsible taxation creates jobs, improves our standard of living, and pays it all forward.
And on the other side, I see the party that claims to be for small government stealing from small business owners to give to big corporations and taking away workers' rights to fight for better working conditions so that those big corporations can boast bigger profits. I see this party that fought Obamacare on the grounds that it would bring big government into our doctors' offices propose twenty or more bills doing just that to women, from conception to the disposition of a fetus.
That old party is the party that fights government regulation if it means making our neighborhoods safer, our air and waters cleaner, our children better educated. Yet they propose bills to regulate the poor and monitor refugees. Yes, under this bunch there would be laws that require immigrants and refugees to produce documentation, but they invite those from other states to bring in y'all's guns, and oppose background checks and bans on assault weapons. Because as they say, if they can stop just one terrorist from coming into South Carolina it will be worth denying all those others the right to live free. But if you take one gun away from one gun nut, you are denouncing American values and bringing down the nation.
So we have a lot of hypocrisies that need to be confronted. And we have lots of smart people who could do the confronting. So let's get our Democratic Party behind them. And let's give them the opportunity to be heard this election year.
Sunday, December 6, 2015
Gun Safety v. Gun Control
As I updated my legislative tracking list yesterday, I cheered because a few of our Democratic leaders in South Carolina are loading up the House and Senate with gun bills. But I grimaced every time I entered the preferred term "gun safety" rather than "gun control."
We Dems don't much like to fight. We operate under the delusion that if we frame what we are doing in more peaceable terms, our opponents will look thoughtful, shrug and then say, "Well, then, I never thought of it that way."
Meanwhile, republican wingnuts (pardon my redundancy), harbor no such concerns about our feelings when they are talking about gun "freedom." The same holds true when they proudly claim that they are "anti-abortion" as opposed to our gentler "pro-choice."
This is a battle of words, but the words represent how strongly we feel about going to war. There is a reason that while my car is laden with political bumper stickers, I have passed up the opportunity to advertise my gun control sentiments. The reason is twofold: those who disagree are more willing to fight over it, and they are armed.
It is a good thing that we have legislators like Marlon Kimpson in the Senate and Wendell Gilliard in the House that are ready to stand up against the legislators who have drunk the NRA cool-aid that is killing off so many innocent people. It is going to take not just a slew of bills, but it is going to take courageous co-sponsors, and it is going to take South Carolinians who are willing to yell louder and and yell every day until those bills are passed.
We need to stop worrying about what to call it, and how it will affect gun owners. We have had enough polls showing that sane gun owners, including NRA members, want gun control. They want licensing, background checks, waiting periods, and controls on what type of weapons are for sale. The lunatics that are afraid that Obama is coming after their guns, that yell about Second Amendment rights without a clue about the meaning or history of the Constitution, are not going to be swayed by reasoned, gentler language. They are bullies, and they are bullies with guns. The way to stop a bully is through a show of strength and through fearlessness -- and I don't mean bigger bullets.
When someone rants about taking his (or her) gun away, I am tempted to point out that "you are exactly the type of person who should not own a gun." Fact. If you have irrational fears and anger issues, you shouldn't have a gun. The shootings we have been subject to on a daily basis, whether mass shootings, terrorist attacks, gangbangers or paranoid or depressed loners, have gone on too long. The rage and fear has been stoked by politicians who are bought by the NRA who exists solely for the arms manufacturers. Lindsey Graham and Lee Bright, and all in their club, bear responsibility for what is going on in this country. Their constant and unreasoned criticism of our country, their insistence that we are in danger and our national government is not doing anything about it, their targeting groups based on race, sex, sexual orientation, all feed the mob.
We need strong language, fearless language, and a determination not to stop fighting. So join the lawmakers who have stepped up to fight this fight. Letters to the editor, calls, emails, talking to friends, family, co-workers, neighbors, posting on social media -- the only way to stop a bully with a gun is to take away the gun.
And here is a PS: we need bills that will carry penalties for individuals whose carelessness has left guns in the wrong hands. Too many toddlers getting killed playing with their dad's weapon. Painting toy guns pretty colors isn't going to do it.
We Dems don't much like to fight. We operate under the delusion that if we frame what we are doing in more peaceable terms, our opponents will look thoughtful, shrug and then say, "Well, then, I never thought of it that way."
Meanwhile, republican wingnuts (pardon my redundancy), harbor no such concerns about our feelings when they are talking about gun "freedom." The same holds true when they proudly claim that they are "anti-abortion" as opposed to our gentler "pro-choice."
This is a battle of words, but the words represent how strongly we feel about going to war. There is a reason that while my car is laden with political bumper stickers, I have passed up the opportunity to advertise my gun control sentiments. The reason is twofold: those who disagree are more willing to fight over it, and they are armed.
It is a good thing that we have legislators like Marlon Kimpson in the Senate and Wendell Gilliard in the House that are ready to stand up against the legislators who have drunk the NRA cool-aid that is killing off so many innocent people. It is going to take not just a slew of bills, but it is going to take courageous co-sponsors, and it is going to take South Carolinians who are willing to yell louder and and yell every day until those bills are passed.
We need to stop worrying about what to call it, and how it will affect gun owners. We have had enough polls showing that sane gun owners, including NRA members, want gun control. They want licensing, background checks, waiting periods, and controls on what type of weapons are for sale. The lunatics that are afraid that Obama is coming after their guns, that yell about Second Amendment rights without a clue about the meaning or history of the Constitution, are not going to be swayed by reasoned, gentler language. They are bullies, and they are bullies with guns. The way to stop a bully is through a show of strength and through fearlessness -- and I don't mean bigger bullets.
When someone rants about taking his (or her) gun away, I am tempted to point out that "you are exactly the type of person who should not own a gun." Fact. If you have irrational fears and anger issues, you shouldn't have a gun. The shootings we have been subject to on a daily basis, whether mass shootings, terrorist attacks, gangbangers or paranoid or depressed loners, have gone on too long. The rage and fear has been stoked by politicians who are bought by the NRA who exists solely for the arms manufacturers. Lindsey Graham and Lee Bright, and all in their club, bear responsibility for what is going on in this country. Their constant and unreasoned criticism of our country, their insistence that we are in danger and our national government is not doing anything about it, their targeting groups based on race, sex, sexual orientation, all feed the mob.
We need strong language, fearless language, and a determination not to stop fighting. So join the lawmakers who have stepped up to fight this fight. Letters to the editor, calls, emails, talking to friends, family, co-workers, neighbors, posting on social media -- the only way to stop a bully with a gun is to take away the gun.
And here is a PS: we need bills that will carry penalties for individuals whose carelessness has left guns in the wrong hands. Too many toddlers getting killed playing with their dad's weapon. Painting toy guns pretty colors isn't going to do it.
Friday, June 19, 2015
Still Too Soon...
Since the church massacre in Charleston, committed by a paranoid psychotic young man with a weapon he should never have had, I have been stunned, and then disgusted, and now enraged. In attempting to do some cursory research for this post, I found that there is absolutely nothing I can say that hasn't already been said. The same clowns and NRA puppets are coming out and saying the same things they said after the movie theater shooting in Aurora, after the massacre of children in Newtown, after each and every obscene mass murder in our country since Columbine.
When that asshole Mark Sanford was asked about gun control on MSNBC on Thursday, he said, "I think it's premature. I think that advocates on both sides of the gun debate will use this tragedy to make their case." He called it a "tug-of-war, if you will, that goes with the world of politics."
I wish I could just say what I am thinking, but the string of obscenities that come to mind just don't advance my position on this, so I won't. Although obscenity would certainly be warranted in response to the obscenity of Sanford's bullshit.
Fact is, as usual, Sanford is not saying anything new. I am sure that since Wednesday the NRA has been in high gear, reaching out to all its politicians in South Carolina and the rest of the country, soothing raw nerves, giving Nikki Haley a figurative tissue to dry her eyes. I'm not sure she was choked up over the tragedy, or over "the humility" she was seeing. A normal human being might consider that she had been wrong about her staunch advocacy over gun rights; after her all too recent prayer day, she might even wonder if God was trying to tell her something. But what will come out of this, after she congratulates herself on being there for the families of the victims, is more certainty that what we need is more law and order, as well as more guns. Just like her buddies at the NRA want her to believe.
It's appalling -- appalling doesn't even approach the word I am trying to convey -- that these protectors of the weapons can pretend to be protectors of the people. The NRA bullshit spouted by Lindsey Graham about a mother needing a high capacity gun to defend her children, the bullshit by Wayne LaPierre that has been parroted by all our gun-totin', NRA worshipping officials:
This morning The Onion did an angry and ironic spoof, not of the violence, but of the NRA's Charles Cotton who was front and center telling us why we should not cause this tragedy to infringe on our constitutional rights. In the words of The Onion:
“While we mourn those killed, we should never let an incident like this distract from our defense of [the fact that I myself am a pile of human waste who is fundamentally incapable of responding to the deaths of innocent people without raw, putrid sewage gushing from my mouth].”
And keep your eyes on Lindsey Graham, who is now saying that the reason this happened is the failure of the national background check system. I wonder why the system failed... maybe it's because the last time it was up for debate in Congress people like Lindsey Graham played politics with it, hoping to slip in some nasty amendments and maybe water down the language. It seems to me that basically what Graham wanted to do was track people who were mentally ill, and under no circumstances allow universal background checks.
If there was money involved here, I would say keep your hand on your wallet.
But it's only about money for the NRA. They are again twisting this tragedy around to promote the kind of fear that actually armed people like the young man who committed this horrendous crime. After Aurora, it took the NRA about a week to come up with the line that it is too soon after the tragedy to debate gun control. By the time of the Newtown massacre, they were armed and ready, successfully convincing politicians and too many of the fearful public that what was needed was more guns, not less.
And the taste of success was green and gold. Billions of dollars were made by the arms industry from the blood of innocent and fearful Americans.
So now the lines are well rehearsed. The NRA has actually, as spoofed by The Onion, assigned blame to pastor and state senator Clementa Pinckney for failing to support bills that would allow people to carry guns in churches. While Charleston mourns the tragedy, Nikki Haley has come out armed and ready for revenge, saying that the gunman deserves the death penalty. I don't know what god she prayed to last weekend, but it was not the one that was being studied at the Emanuel AME Church on Wednesday.
When that asshole Mark Sanford was asked about gun control on MSNBC on Thursday, he said, "I think it's premature. I think that advocates on both sides of the gun debate will use this tragedy to make their case." He called it a "tug-of-war, if you will, that goes with the world of politics."
I wish I could just say what I am thinking, but the string of obscenities that come to mind just don't advance my position on this, so I won't. Although obscenity would certainly be warranted in response to the obscenity of Sanford's bullshit.
Fact is, as usual, Sanford is not saying anything new. I am sure that since Wednesday the NRA has been in high gear, reaching out to all its politicians in South Carolina and the rest of the country, soothing raw nerves, giving Nikki Haley a figurative tissue to dry her eyes. I'm not sure she was choked up over the tragedy, or over "the humility" she was seeing. A normal human being might consider that she had been wrong about her staunch advocacy over gun rights; after her all too recent prayer day, she might even wonder if God was trying to tell her something. But what will come out of this, after she congratulates herself on being there for the families of the victims, is more certainty that what we need is more law and order, as well as more guns. Just like her buddies at the NRA want her to believe.
It's appalling -- appalling doesn't even approach the word I am trying to convey -- that these protectors of the weapons can pretend to be protectors of the people. The NRA bullshit spouted by Lindsey Graham about a mother needing a high capacity gun to defend her children, the bullshit by Wayne LaPierre that has been parroted by all our gun-totin', NRA worshipping officials:
This morning The Onion did an angry and ironic spoof, not of the violence, but of the NRA's Charles Cotton who was front and center telling us why we should not cause this tragedy to infringe on our constitutional rights. In the words of The Onion:
“While we mourn those killed, we should never let an incident like this distract from our defense of [the fact that I myself am a pile of human waste who is fundamentally incapable of responding to the deaths of innocent people without raw, putrid sewage gushing from my mouth].”
And keep your eyes on Lindsey Graham, who is now saying that the reason this happened is the failure of the national background check system. I wonder why the system failed... maybe it's because the last time it was up for debate in Congress people like Lindsey Graham played politics with it, hoping to slip in some nasty amendments and maybe water down the language. It seems to me that basically what Graham wanted to do was track people who were mentally ill, and under no circumstances allow universal background checks.
If there was money involved here, I would say keep your hand on your wallet.
But it's only about money for the NRA. They are again twisting this tragedy around to promote the kind of fear that actually armed people like the young man who committed this horrendous crime. After Aurora, it took the NRA about a week to come up with the line that it is too soon after the tragedy to debate gun control. By the time of the Newtown massacre, they were armed and ready, successfully convincing politicians and too many of the fearful public that what was needed was more guns, not less.
And the taste of success was green and gold. Billions of dollars were made by the arms industry from the blood of innocent and fearful Americans.
So now the lines are well rehearsed. The NRA has actually, as spoofed by The Onion, assigned blame to pastor and state senator Clementa Pinckney for failing to support bills that would allow people to carry guns in churches. While Charleston mourns the tragedy, Nikki Haley has come out armed and ready for revenge, saying that the gunman deserves the death penalty. I don't know what god she prayed to last weekend, but it was not the one that was being studied at the Emanuel AME Church on Wednesday.
Thursday, November 13, 2014
Just as Silly
I'm having flashbacks to the Republican loss in 2012. Remember when, immediately after the election, they were all talking about what they'd done wrong, that they must not have been reaching the American people, and then they came out the other end with the idea that it must be that they had to change, not the message, but the way they sold that message. Say what???
So let's move forward to 2014. Here are the Democrats, all demoralized, wondering what they did wrong. All talking to each other having meetings and forming committees, trying to figure out why people didn't come out to vote for them. It seemed like they almost nearly just about had it figured out. Maybe it was because they hadn't represented the issues that Democrats were supposed to stand up for. Maybe they were trying too hard to soften the message, to distance themselves from the President. Maybe they had failed to talk to the voters about all the successes the Democrats had, in spite of Republican obstruction.
In fact, I'm hearing one Republican strategist say he can't understand why the Dems ran away from their successes, were afraid to talk about all the people that were now insured, the low unemployment rate, the declining deficit. And Rachel Maddow is pointing out how the Dems that won in this really bad year were the ones that actually ran on Obamacare, the environment, saving Social Security, you know, Democratic issues.
So here we are a week and a couple days later, and I hear that Mary Landrieu who is in a runoff race for her Senate seat, is trying to push her opponent's bill to approve the XL pipeline before the end of the session. Huh???
And here's a Harry Reid story: apparently he is reluctant to get all those Obama judicial appointments -- and that all-important attorney general appointment -- through the Senate while the Democrats still hold the majority.
So what have we really learned from this year's midterm disaster? Well, President Obama has figured out that if he plans on enacting all those things he promised in his two election campaigns, he's going to have to do it without the help of his party. And the Republicans have learned to keep doing what they are doing, because it really scares the Dems and keeps their base happy. The Democrats who didn't get it to begin with seem to have learned nothing.
With people voting to approve gun control measures, and legal marijuana, and gay marriage, the only big success stories from the candidates were those who ran a campaign on solidly progressive issues, like Al Franken. Even the two guys who were beaten in an NRA-sponsored recall election in 2013 in Colorado for their gun control legislation had their day. The voters re-elected them to the seats they had lost such a short time ago. And Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper who promoted that gun control legislation has also won his re-election. And my goodness, in the Arizona town where the school board voted to remove pages from an honors level science textbook that discussed abortion, the electorate sent those recently elected idiots back to their caves and elected candidates who actually approved of educating students.
Maybe voters aren't really paying attention to what the candidates stand for. So when the candidates are afraid to be outspoken and challenge their opponents, all we have to go on is the rumor, scandalous headlines and idiotic ads. No wonder then that voters are often able to vote smart on issues, but just pull that big "R" when it comes to candidates.
I just don't think that Wendy Davis or Alison Lundergan Grimes understand that where they fell short was where they backed off from being a Democrat. And it seems that Mary Landrieu will learn too late that pushing the pipeline isn't what will make people head to the polls to support her in the runoff.
Silly times, tragic consequences.
So let's move forward to 2014. Here are the Democrats, all demoralized, wondering what they did wrong. All talking to each other having meetings and forming committees, trying to figure out why people didn't come out to vote for them. It seemed like they almost nearly just about had it figured out. Maybe it was because they hadn't represented the issues that Democrats were supposed to stand up for. Maybe they were trying too hard to soften the message, to distance themselves from the President. Maybe they had failed to talk to the voters about all the successes the Democrats had, in spite of Republican obstruction.
In fact, I'm hearing one Republican strategist say he can't understand why the Dems ran away from their successes, were afraid to talk about all the people that were now insured, the low unemployment rate, the declining deficit. And Rachel Maddow is pointing out how the Dems that won in this really bad year were the ones that actually ran on Obamacare, the environment, saving Social Security, you know, Democratic issues.
So here we are a week and a couple days later, and I hear that Mary Landrieu who is in a runoff race for her Senate seat, is trying to push her opponent's bill to approve the XL pipeline before the end of the session. Huh???
And here's a Harry Reid story: apparently he is reluctant to get all those Obama judicial appointments -- and that all-important attorney general appointment -- through the Senate while the Democrats still hold the majority.
So what have we really learned from this year's midterm disaster? Well, President Obama has figured out that if he plans on enacting all those things he promised in his two election campaigns, he's going to have to do it without the help of his party. And the Republicans have learned to keep doing what they are doing, because it really scares the Dems and keeps their base happy. The Democrats who didn't get it to begin with seem to have learned nothing.
With people voting to approve gun control measures, and legal marijuana, and gay marriage, the only big success stories from the candidates were those who ran a campaign on solidly progressive issues, like Al Franken. Even the two guys who were beaten in an NRA-sponsored recall election in 2013 in Colorado for their gun control legislation had their day. The voters re-elected them to the seats they had lost such a short time ago. And Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper who promoted that gun control legislation has also won his re-election. And my goodness, in the Arizona town where the school board voted to remove pages from an honors level science textbook that discussed abortion, the electorate sent those recently elected idiots back to their caves and elected candidates who actually approved of educating students.
Maybe voters aren't really paying attention to what the candidates stand for. So when the candidates are afraid to be outspoken and challenge their opponents, all we have to go on is the rumor, scandalous headlines and idiotic ads. No wonder then that voters are often able to vote smart on issues, but just pull that big "R" when it comes to candidates.
I just don't think that Wendy Davis or Alison Lundergan Grimes understand that where they fell short was where they backed off from being a Democrat. And it seems that Mary Landrieu will learn too late that pushing the pipeline isn't what will make people head to the polls to support her in the runoff.
Silly times, tragic consequences.
Friday, October 17, 2014
What's In It for Me?
Corporations and their right-wing patsies have figured out that the way to win is to make it all about us, even though it's really not. They make all their pitches about what we have to gain, and more important, what we have to lose, if we don't vote for them. Those of us who don't vote often believe that it won't make a difference, that both parties are the same, that nobody represents them. When we Democrats fail, it is often because we waffle about our principles so that we don't offend anyone, or we talk about them too broadly so they become meaningless to people who are struggling with day to day problems.
There are a lot of differences between the parties and the candidates, and they are not abstract. They reflect the issues we are struggling with every day. Who gets elected in November is going to determine in very real terms whether our lives will get better or we will just get by. This election affects dramatically every person of every age.
So here it is, the pitch:
College graduates: Republicans are opposed to allowing the refinancing of student loans, forcing graduates to carry high-interest rate loans for years. This means being strapped with debt before they have even been able to make their way in the workforce. The high interest loans involved are either owned or guaranteed by the federal government, so this is money that our government is making from what should be an investment in a student's future. Debt from everything from mortgages to credit cards can be refinanced. Big banks are allowed to borrow at 0 percent from the government. Why are students forced to pay exorbitant rates on their loans? Because the Republicans do not want to increase taxes on the millionaires and billionaires that fund their campaigns.
Women: Oh, so many issues are so critical for the well-being of women in South Carolina. Our state and federal legislators continue to force votes that would prevent women from accessing affordable birth control. Preventing women from having family planning will result in not just unplanned pregnancies, but the stress involved with not being able to control decisions about college, jobs and marriage. It will result in job insecurity. Men should be outraged that legislators would remove from the family decisions that so directly effect emotional and financial well-being.
Parents: School choice is the pseudonym for privatizing. Basically all the many schemes offered provide inadequate financial allotments to most while the wealthy can continue to send their children to the expensive private schools. This false promise also drains money from a public school system that has never been funded adequately here in South Carolina.
Seniors: Republican fear mongering about Social Security and Medicare is also all about privatization. Back in the '80's, social security cuts were enabled by the promise of IRA's, which were supposed to herald in a future of wealth and prosperity, but actually just made us all vulnerable to the greed and speculation of Wall Street. This false promise also allowed corporations to bargain away our pensions. Cuts to Medicare have and will continue to damage a system that was once a great safety net, forcing seniors to spend more on health care at a time when they should not have to worry about whether they will be able to pay to survive.
So many issues:
Food Stamps: Too many people are working and not earning a living wage. Food stamps not only feeds the poor, but keeps dollars flowing in our communities.
Medicaid: Not wanting everyone to have health insurance is just plain cruel. But it is also stupid. Even without the panic over Ebola, the inability to treat a medical problem before a contagion spreads, or a treatable illness becomes terminal, is costly as well as inhumane. And again, providing health care also provides jobs to our communities.
Minimum Wage: All the arguments against raising the minimum wage are really about not wanting to raise the wages of those who are making more than minimum. Because Republicans really do know that a rising tide lifts all boats. What they really don't want to see is all wages rise in response to the raise in the minimum wage. Greedy and stupid? Sure, but these are the politics we have been suffering under since the 80's. If you are not working for minimum wage, and you're still struggling, you should be fighting -- and voting -- for raising the minimum wage. And again, raising the minimum wage puts more dollars into the pockets of those who will spend it in their communities. So if you are a business person, you too should be wanting everyone in your community to be making a living wage.
Voting Rights: We all know people who won't be voting because they are afraid they will be confronted (and embarrassed) at the polls. Let's get out there and vote to protect everybody's rights and elect people who will not need to use intimidation to win.
Gun Control: Those who are most vulnerable in general tend to live in areas where there is more danger of gun violence. The Second Amendment argument is pure nonsense. But the mostly republican lawmakers who refuse to make the streets safe for all our citizens need to be voted out of office. Our police officers should be voting for legislators who support reasonable gun controls; their lives are on the line as well. And with shootings by officers in the news, we know that the more guns on the streets, the more stressful the job, and the more likely they will have to live (or die) based on a split second decision.
I could go on and on. There are so many issues that really do affect us every single day. I urge our candidates to talk to people not about issues that don't seem relevant to them, but to relate the legislation they would pursue to what it means for each of us, every day. And when we talk to others about the upcoming election, if we talk about how each issue ripples out to affect us all, we might just motivate people to get out and vote.
There are a lot of differences between the parties and the candidates, and they are not abstract. They reflect the issues we are struggling with every day. Who gets elected in November is going to determine in very real terms whether our lives will get better or we will just get by. This election affects dramatically every person of every age.
So here it is, the pitch:
College graduates: Republicans are opposed to allowing the refinancing of student loans, forcing graduates to carry high-interest rate loans for years. This means being strapped with debt before they have even been able to make their way in the workforce. The high interest loans involved are either owned or guaranteed by the federal government, so this is money that our government is making from what should be an investment in a student's future. Debt from everything from mortgages to credit cards can be refinanced. Big banks are allowed to borrow at 0 percent from the government. Why are students forced to pay exorbitant rates on their loans? Because the Republicans do not want to increase taxes on the millionaires and billionaires that fund their campaigns.
Women: Oh, so many issues are so critical for the well-being of women in South Carolina. Our state and federal legislators continue to force votes that would prevent women from accessing affordable birth control. Preventing women from having family planning will result in not just unplanned pregnancies, but the stress involved with not being able to control decisions about college, jobs and marriage. It will result in job insecurity. Men should be outraged that legislators would remove from the family decisions that so directly effect emotional and financial well-being.
Parents: School choice is the pseudonym for privatizing. Basically all the many schemes offered provide inadequate financial allotments to most while the wealthy can continue to send their children to the expensive private schools. This false promise also drains money from a public school system that has never been funded adequately here in South Carolina.
Seniors: Republican fear mongering about Social Security and Medicare is also all about privatization. Back in the '80's, social security cuts were enabled by the promise of IRA's, which were supposed to herald in a future of wealth and prosperity, but actually just made us all vulnerable to the greed and speculation of Wall Street. This false promise also allowed corporations to bargain away our pensions. Cuts to Medicare have and will continue to damage a system that was once a great safety net, forcing seniors to spend more on health care at a time when they should not have to worry about whether they will be able to pay to survive.
So many issues:
Food Stamps: Too many people are working and not earning a living wage. Food stamps not only feeds the poor, but keeps dollars flowing in our communities.
Medicaid: Not wanting everyone to have health insurance is just plain cruel. But it is also stupid. Even without the panic over Ebola, the inability to treat a medical problem before a contagion spreads, or a treatable illness becomes terminal, is costly as well as inhumane. And again, providing health care also provides jobs to our communities.
Minimum Wage: All the arguments against raising the minimum wage are really about not wanting to raise the wages of those who are making more than minimum. Because Republicans really do know that a rising tide lifts all boats. What they really don't want to see is all wages rise in response to the raise in the minimum wage. Greedy and stupid? Sure, but these are the politics we have been suffering under since the 80's. If you are not working for minimum wage, and you're still struggling, you should be fighting -- and voting -- for raising the minimum wage. And again, raising the minimum wage puts more dollars into the pockets of those who will spend it in their communities. So if you are a business person, you too should be wanting everyone in your community to be making a living wage.
Voting Rights: We all know people who won't be voting because they are afraid they will be confronted (and embarrassed) at the polls. Let's get out there and vote to protect everybody's rights and elect people who will not need to use intimidation to win.
Gun Control: Those who are most vulnerable in general tend to live in areas where there is more danger of gun violence. The Second Amendment argument is pure nonsense. But the mostly republican lawmakers who refuse to make the streets safe for all our citizens need to be voted out of office. Our police officers should be voting for legislators who support reasonable gun controls; their lives are on the line as well. And with shootings by officers in the news, we know that the more guns on the streets, the more stressful the job, and the more likely they will have to live (or die) based on a split second decision.
I could go on and on. There are so many issues that really do affect us every single day. I urge our candidates to talk to people not about issues that don't seem relevant to them, but to relate the legislation they would pursue to what it means for each of us, every day. And when we talk to others about the upcoming election, if we talk about how each issue ripples out to affect us all, we might just motivate people to get out and vote.
Tuesday, September 30, 2014
Blue Dogs Going Down
I was surprised to hear that Alison Lundergan Grimes has fallen behind that idiot Mitch McConnell in the polls. How is that possible? McConnell has done more to disrupt the workings of government for the people of his state than just about anyone except Tim Scott in the Senate. Maybe it's because she begins a new ad with, "I'm not Barack Obama," and then says that she disagrees with him on "guns, coal and the EPA."
Well, I'm here to say that she may have just gotten a whole lot of supporters to decide to stay home on election day. There appear to be in Kentucky actual liberals who don't equate gun control with tyranny but with increased safety and a reduction in crime. They may also think that coal should not be their children's future; they just may want their kids to grow up without the threat of cancer and climate disasters; they might want to see renewable energy be the source of jobs in Kentucky. And as for getting rid of the EPA, well, we've heard that old song a lot, but we didn't think we'd hear it from a fellow Democrat.
We don't need another blue dog Democrat undermining the progress the current president has worked so hard (against the tide of Congressional ignorance) to promote. And I don't think the voters in Kentucky are going to get quite as excited about someone who promises to be McConnell-lite.
Hearing Grimes promise not to be like Barack Obama raises some other questions. For example, while she supports equal pay for women and help for victims of abuse, she fails to mention whether she supports a woman's right to reproductive freedom and privacy. I shudder to imagine her failing to support access to birth control and abortions, but can you really trust someone who opposes environmental regulation?
Just as here in South Carolina, we have had to make some tough choices, and Grimes is a sight better than McConnell, but it is disturbing to see members of our own party attempting to curry the favor of those who oppose Democratic principles. And I have to think that I am not alone in my disappointment. Those of us who understand the consequences of not voting will grit our teeth and pull that lever for the Democratic candidate. But sadly, a lot of those who are less informed will go with what they know rather than someone who is trying to sound like them. And way too many others of us will just stay home.
Well, I'm here to say that she may have just gotten a whole lot of supporters to decide to stay home on election day. There appear to be in Kentucky actual liberals who don't equate gun control with tyranny but with increased safety and a reduction in crime. They may also think that coal should not be their children's future; they just may want their kids to grow up without the threat of cancer and climate disasters; they might want to see renewable energy be the source of jobs in Kentucky. And as for getting rid of the EPA, well, we've heard that old song a lot, but we didn't think we'd hear it from a fellow Democrat.
We don't need another blue dog Democrat undermining the progress the current president has worked so hard (against the tide of Congressional ignorance) to promote. And I don't think the voters in Kentucky are going to get quite as excited about someone who promises to be McConnell-lite.
Hearing Grimes promise not to be like Barack Obama raises some other questions. For example, while she supports equal pay for women and help for victims of abuse, she fails to mention whether she supports a woman's right to reproductive freedom and privacy. I shudder to imagine her failing to support access to birth control and abortions, but can you really trust someone who opposes environmental regulation?
Just as here in South Carolina, we have had to make some tough choices, and Grimes is a sight better than McConnell, but it is disturbing to see members of our own party attempting to curry the favor of those who oppose Democratic principles. And I have to think that I am not alone in my disappointment. Those of us who understand the consequences of not voting will grit our teeth and pull that lever for the Democratic candidate. But sadly, a lot of those who are less informed will go with what they know rather than someone who is trying to sound like them. And way too many others of us will just stay home.
Friday, August 15, 2014
War at Home
I have been away for awhile. I found that it seemed I was writing the same old over and over again. No new information, no new perspectives. It has been nice being a member of the uninformed public. Also, when I got back not a thing had changed -- except that somebody told me gay marriage is now legal in South Carolina, which I guess would be earth-shattering news if it were true.
The "riots" in St. Louis are related to George Zimmerman being handed his gun and set free with the blessing of the NRA and the KKK. And the Zimmerman outrage is related to the fact that Columbia, SC, last year bought a tank from the federal government.
Rachel Maddow last night had an excellent retrospective on the shootings at Kent State in 1970. But then she went farther back, to the campus protest in Madison, Wisconsin, in 1967, when Vietnam protests were turned over from local campus police to city police, ending in 65 people hospitalized.
After that, Madison hired a new chief of police, David Cooper, who in his long career there successfully demilitarized the police force, and began what is now called "community policing."
I urge you to read The Rise of the Warrior Cop by Radley Balko. He paints a gruesome picture of how police departments in small communities in this country over the past decade have become armed. Just as the US is supplying their favored sides in battles in the Middle East, they are also arming our communities. And what they are being armed for is not fighting neighborhood crime, but for war.
Here are the priorities in the nation today: we do not have money to spend on education, on housing, on psychotherapy. We do have unlimited amounts to spend on arms and prisons. And the citizens of our country are the ones who have chosen these priorities, because they are the ones who are voting. They may be voting out of ignorance, they are certainly vulnerable to the hysterical fear-mongering of Fox News and the NRA, but the fact remains, we voters have chosen.
The reason we voters choose an armed America is because we believe that only the bad guys will get hurt. But the battering rams are not shattering the houses of drug lords, but homes of individuals who may have their small stash of pot. They aren't going after cartels, but people enjoying poker night.
Don't believe it? Neither do most of us, because it is too horrendous to consider.
But there are a couple of truisms about this situation. First, there is the supply of weapons. Then there is the fact that we will pay for the toys, but not for the training. And then there is the fact that the police have gone from those who live in the community and are hired to protect us, to those with too much firepower, too little training, and who believe that they need to be constantly vigilant, in order to protect themselves.
And of course, police violence like that going on in Ferguson, Missouri, won't be likely to happen in suburban white communities. We have over the past several years, been fed racist attitudes that have allowed black teenagers to be targeted. It may be that Michael Brown stole cigars from a convenience store, but maybe not. He may have pushed the officer, but maybe not. Whatever he did do, he was unarmed, and shot eight times.
This is not our system of justice. This is a national corrosion of values, evident in "stop and frisk" and "papers, please." Where guns are not just allowed but welcomed, because politicians and, yes, our courts, don't really have a clue about the second amendment but prefer to sow seeds of fear across the country, and quash state and individual rights to protect themselves through peaceful measures. In fact, the second amendment has become somewhat like a Rorschach Test, reflecting just how power hungry and paranoid we are.
This time, though, there were journalists -- white journalists -- who got caught in the tear gas and the rubber bullets and the jailing. It was a middle class, conservative campus in 1970 where the murders of four unarmed students forced the nation to look at its war on its young citizens. I am hoping that the media, because members of its own were caught in the crosshairs of a militant police action, will pick up this fight. Because we are looking at a future with tanks and assault weapons, where people are watched from cameras on the street corners, and are guilty until proven innocent, or maybe until killed.
The "riots" in St. Louis are related to George Zimmerman being handed his gun and set free with the blessing of the NRA and the KKK. And the Zimmerman outrage is related to the fact that Columbia, SC, last year bought a tank from the federal government.
Rachel Maddow last night had an excellent retrospective on the shootings at Kent State in 1970. But then she went farther back, to the campus protest in Madison, Wisconsin, in 1967, when Vietnam protests were turned over from local campus police to city police, ending in 65 people hospitalized.
After that, Madison hired a new chief of police, David Cooper, who in his long career there successfully demilitarized the police force, and began what is now called "community policing."
I urge you to read The Rise of the Warrior Cop by Radley Balko. He paints a gruesome picture of how police departments in small communities in this country over the past decade have become armed. Just as the US is supplying their favored sides in battles in the Middle East, they are also arming our communities. And what they are being armed for is not fighting neighborhood crime, but for war.
Here are the priorities in the nation today: we do not have money to spend on education, on housing, on psychotherapy. We do have unlimited amounts to spend on arms and prisons. And the citizens of our country are the ones who have chosen these priorities, because they are the ones who are voting. They may be voting out of ignorance, they are certainly vulnerable to the hysterical fear-mongering of Fox News and the NRA, but the fact remains, we voters have chosen.
The reason we voters choose an armed America is because we believe that only the bad guys will get hurt. But the battering rams are not shattering the houses of drug lords, but homes of individuals who may have their small stash of pot. They aren't going after cartels, but people enjoying poker night.
Don't believe it? Neither do most of us, because it is too horrendous to consider.
But there are a couple of truisms about this situation. First, there is the supply of weapons. Then there is the fact that we will pay for the toys, but not for the training. And then there is the fact that the police have gone from those who live in the community and are hired to protect us, to those with too much firepower, too little training, and who believe that they need to be constantly vigilant, in order to protect themselves.
And of course, police violence like that going on in Ferguson, Missouri, won't be likely to happen in suburban white communities. We have over the past several years, been fed racist attitudes that have allowed black teenagers to be targeted. It may be that Michael Brown stole cigars from a convenience store, but maybe not. He may have pushed the officer, but maybe not. Whatever he did do, he was unarmed, and shot eight times.
This is not our system of justice. This is a national corrosion of values, evident in "stop and frisk" and "papers, please." Where guns are not just allowed but welcomed, because politicians and, yes, our courts, don't really have a clue about the second amendment but prefer to sow seeds of fear across the country, and quash state and individual rights to protect themselves through peaceful measures. In fact, the second amendment has become somewhat like a Rorschach Test, reflecting just how power hungry and paranoid we are.
This time, though, there were journalists -- white journalists -- who got caught in the tear gas and the rubber bullets and the jailing. It was a middle class, conservative campus in 1970 where the murders of four unarmed students forced the nation to look at its war on its young citizens. I am hoping that the media, because members of its own were caught in the crosshairs of a militant police action, will pick up this fight. Because we are looking at a future with tanks and assault weapons, where people are watched from cameras on the street corners, and are guilty until proven innocent, or maybe until killed.
Friday, August 8, 2014
The Gun Conundrum
So you're carrying your gun. Either you watch a lot of Fox News and have been frightened into believing that anywhere you go there will be a paranoid bully waiting to take you out. Or you are a paranoid bully looking for someone to take out.
Fact is, the world is a confusing place for gun-toters. Let's take the beach community of Atlantic Beach / Morehead City, North Carolina, which is where I have been vacationing this week. My own resort has posted by the tennis courts a sign that says that guns are not allowed anywhere in this resort.
I was relieved, but then I thought, how would all the gun-toters know about this? I've been here for five days and only just saw the sign. Suppose I'd been traveling from Georgia, where everybody is encouraged to carry their arms everywhere, all the time, just in case. Or maybe to impress the ladies. And I've heard (from Fox News) that here in the South (you gun-toters know it as "Dixie") no bleeding heart Obamacare liberals are going to stop you from protecting yourself and your loved ones from, well, them damned liberal gun-toting Obama-loving Democrats. And especially in North Carolina, where their God-fearing, Koch-worshiping politicians have ensured that those that got it, flaunt it.
So of course I take my weapon on vacation.
And here we are, a real American family, on vacation. We've been to the beach, we've barbecued and stayed up late drinking our brew. We've even honored the voluntary ban on smoking in the rooms. But we've never been to the tennis courts. Are we in the wrong here? And if we were (which we are probably not) how are we supposed to know? And if we found out when we got here we aren't supposed to be carrying our guns, what the heck are we supposed to do with them?
Here's another example. Last night I went out for Italian. Let me tell you, I have been coming here, on and off, for twenty-three years, and I say with some confidence that there is not a lot of great food in the Atlantic Beach area. And I am the person who is able to rout out great food nearly anywhere I travel. But I figured this place, a couple miles away in Morehead City, sounded like it had potential. I'd been eating in all week and thought I might have my dinner there. I had already checked to make sure they served alcohol, because in these God-fearing parts of the South, you never do know when a family restaurant will just assume lemonade and sweet tea are the perfect accompaniments to steak or oysters.
Crispino's had an interesting online menu and served beer and wine. It was in a large shopping center, and looked like either they were preparing to expand, or they had just decided to use the shop next door to store pizza boxes. It was fairly small, with several people waiting for take-out, and otherwise empty. Not a single person eating in. So I decided I would do take-out. As I sat waiting for my order, I noted with displeasure that Fox News was on the television, but at least sound was muted. I prefer my pizza without partisan politics, but one young man watched, rapt, as the gospel according to Fox played on the screen. I took out my book.
But just before my order was ready, I noticed a sign that said:
Fact is, the world is a confusing place for gun-toters. Let's take the beach community of Atlantic Beach / Morehead City, North Carolina, which is where I have been vacationing this week. My own resort has posted by the tennis courts a sign that says that guns are not allowed anywhere in this resort.
I was relieved, but then I thought, how would all the gun-toters know about this? I've been here for five days and only just saw the sign. Suppose I'd been traveling from Georgia, where everybody is encouraged to carry their arms everywhere, all the time, just in case. Or maybe to impress the ladies. And I've heard (from Fox News) that here in the South (you gun-toters know it as "Dixie") no bleeding heart Obamacare liberals are going to stop you from protecting yourself and your loved ones from, well, them damned liberal gun-toting Obama-loving Democrats. And especially in North Carolina, where their God-fearing, Koch-worshiping politicians have ensured that those that got it, flaunt it.
So of course I take my weapon on vacation.
And here we are, a real American family, on vacation. We've been to the beach, we've barbecued and stayed up late drinking our brew. We've even honored the voluntary ban on smoking in the rooms. But we've never been to the tennis courts. Are we in the wrong here? And if we were (which we are probably not) how are we supposed to know? And if we found out when we got here we aren't supposed to be carrying our guns, what the heck are we supposed to do with them?
Here's another example. Last night I went out for Italian. Let me tell you, I have been coming here, on and off, for twenty-three years, and I say with some confidence that there is not a lot of great food in the Atlantic Beach area. And I am the person who is able to rout out great food nearly anywhere I travel. But I figured this place, a couple miles away in Morehead City, sounded like it had potential. I'd been eating in all week and thought I might have my dinner there. I had already checked to make sure they served alcohol, because in these God-fearing parts of the South, you never do know when a family restaurant will just assume lemonade and sweet tea are the perfect accompaniments to steak or oysters.
Crispino's had an interesting online menu and served beer and wine. It was in a large shopping center, and looked like either they were preparing to expand, or they had just decided to use the shop next door to store pizza boxes. It was fairly small, with several people waiting for take-out, and otherwise empty. Not a single person eating in. So I decided I would do take-out. As I sat waiting for my order, I noted with displeasure that Fox News was on the television, but at least sound was muted. I prefer my pizza without partisan politics, but one young man watched, rapt, as the gospel according to Fox played on the screen. I took out my book.
But just before my order was ready, I noticed a sign that said:
Now this really got me thinking.
If the proprietor appreciates judicious marksmanship, does this mean for just the good guy with the gun? I'm assuming one would prefer the bad guy not to hit any unintended targets as well. Also, was the young woman who took my order so inordinately polite because she was afraid that being rude might cause the need to arise for a weapon to be unholstered? And just suppose that some bad guy comes in to this very small pizza place and even judiciously targets another customer (or employee); what are the chances he is going to be able to hit his target without taking some chunks out of the booths? And suppose another customer decides to judiciously fight back; how likely is it that not a single customer standing there waiting for their take-out is going to get hit? Not to mention the possibility that the gun-toter in question doesn't know the meaning of the word "judicious?"
Well, fortunately, I was sitting so I wasn't a great target. Even more fortunate, I wouldn't be sitting for long because my order was almost ready. I was glad I had decided not to eat in after all.
But later I wondered at the confusion caused by this situation. Suppose you had your weapon at home and you were feeling a bit naked and unprotected, and then you came in here, ordered your pizza, and then realized you could have brought your gun. And also that other people probably already know they can bring their guns. How can you possibly enjoy your meal under the circumstances?
Or suppose you bring your gun, enjoy your pizza without incident, and then walk over to Dunkin' Donuts only to find that they don't allow guns. Or maybe they do, my point being you don't actually know until you go in. Some quandary, isn't it? I would think the situation would put so many people on edge that somebody is bound to get shot just from the stress of not knowing whether to tote or not.
Meanwhile, back to Crispino's. The food was good. I would certainly have gone there again on a future vacation. But now that I know guns are welcome, it's put a damper on my enthusiasm. So my plan is to go to TripAdvisor and write an honest review, stating that there is no food that is worth the risk of marksmanship, judicious or not.
I encourage all y'all to do the same when you encounter an establishment that doesn't just allow guns but encourages them.
Tuesday, August 5, 2014
Awesome in North Carolina
I know, I couldn't wait to get away from SC politics, so here I am, in North Carolina. Well, it couldn't be helped. It's a timeshare week that I hoped to rent to help cover my recent blue state getaway, and since I couldn't rent it I figured I'd head on out to Atlantic Beach and see how much it's changed in five years.
My resort is still fairly nice, hasn't changed much, and it's lovely to have the beach a short walk away. The skinny little island, however, is just sad. It's been way too wet lately, and the standing water and drizzle combined with the fact that ugly three-story tall houses two feet away from other three-story tall houses have been stuck any wherever they barely fit make it seem that the whole thing is just going to sink fairly soon. I walked the main drag to the causeway yesterday and it's so trashy it's depressing. It pretty much seemed like a testament to greed and refusal to care. After my time at the beautiful beach towns in Rhode Island, I couldn't have imagined a greater contrast.
But today I decided to head out to neighboring Morehead City to find Sugarloaf Bakery. Despite my poor sense of direction, my GPS got me there with no problem. Traffic was light and I took a careful u-turn and parked in front of the tiny building, and looked up to see a cop car with lights flashing pull up behind me. The 30-40-ish African American officer took a few seconds to check out my out-of-state plate and no doubt my blatantly liberal bumper stickers.
I couldn't figure out what I might have done wrong, so when the cop walked over and I asked "What did I do?" I was very obviously not faking it. I had taken a u-turn under a small unobtrusive sign that said "No U-turns." I apologized and explained that I was looking for the bakery and hadn't been here before. He looked up at the bakery and commented, "They have great cheesecake. The best in the state." And then he explained to me about the u-turns and told me -- nicely -- not to do it again. And left.
The tiny bakery was supposed to have opened at 11, but the sign on the door said that due to roof damage from the rains they would be opening at 12, and it was just a couple minutes before. So far, I'd been lucky all the way around.
The shelves of goodies were still being stocked, and the woman behind the counter described the different sweets. I bought too many, and as we said our good-byes I told her I was glad they were open and that I hadn't been given a ticket. She replied that she had noticed my bumper stickers and that she had seen me being stopped for something that people do all day. Given that I had been let off with the recommendation to try the cheesecake, I really didn't think the stop had been because of the bumper stickers. The man was, after all, a police officer, and he was a black man, so I thought that I had those two details in my favor.
But she is a Democrat, and we talked about the sad state of North Carolina in the maws of the Republican party and the Kochs, and treading cautiously with a small business in the belly of the beast. Being from SC, I commiserated, and I told her how astonishing it was to see NC get taken down, and how proud I was that with groups like the SC ACLU, we managed to not have a single anti-abortion law passed in this last legislative session. Then I got the great opportunity to talk about being fearless, taking chances (like plastering pro-Obama care and anti-Citizens United bumper stickers on your car). It was a very happy meeting.
And the more conversations I have like this, the more I heartily believe that there are far more of us out there than our Democratic politicians believe. They just need to know -- we just need to know that we are not alone. We need to know that our representatives, our candidates, will really stand up for us. Elizabeth Warren did it in 2012. In South Carolina we have a few who are unafraid to speak up on issues like women's reproductive rights and gun control, and they even get elected. Fearless women like Gloria Bromell-Tinubu. Heck, there are even a couple of men who proudly fight for marriage and workplace equality and women's reproductive freedom.
And that is what it is going to take. Because we really are the ones who are fighting to protect the American people.
So speak up.
My resort is still fairly nice, hasn't changed much, and it's lovely to have the beach a short walk away. The skinny little island, however, is just sad. It's been way too wet lately, and the standing water and drizzle combined with the fact that ugly three-story tall houses two feet away from other three-story tall houses have been stuck any wherever they barely fit make it seem that the whole thing is just going to sink fairly soon. I walked the main drag to the causeway yesterday and it's so trashy it's depressing. It pretty much seemed like a testament to greed and refusal to care. After my time at the beautiful beach towns in Rhode Island, I couldn't have imagined a greater contrast.
But today I decided to head out to neighboring Morehead City to find Sugarloaf Bakery. Despite my poor sense of direction, my GPS got me there with no problem. Traffic was light and I took a careful u-turn and parked in front of the tiny building, and looked up to see a cop car with lights flashing pull up behind me. The 30-40-ish African American officer took a few seconds to check out my out-of-state plate and no doubt my blatantly liberal bumper stickers.
I couldn't figure out what I might have done wrong, so when the cop walked over and I asked "What did I do?" I was very obviously not faking it. I had taken a u-turn under a small unobtrusive sign that said "No U-turns." I apologized and explained that I was looking for the bakery and hadn't been here before. He looked up at the bakery and commented, "They have great cheesecake. The best in the state." And then he explained to me about the u-turns and told me -- nicely -- not to do it again. And left.
The tiny bakery was supposed to have opened at 11, but the sign on the door said that due to roof damage from the rains they would be opening at 12, and it was just a couple minutes before. So far, I'd been lucky all the way around.
The shelves of goodies were still being stocked, and the woman behind the counter described the different sweets. I bought too many, and as we said our good-byes I told her I was glad they were open and that I hadn't been given a ticket. She replied that she had noticed my bumper stickers and that she had seen me being stopped for something that people do all day. Given that I had been let off with the recommendation to try the cheesecake, I really didn't think the stop had been because of the bumper stickers. The man was, after all, a police officer, and he was a black man, so I thought that I had those two details in my favor.
But she is a Democrat, and we talked about the sad state of North Carolina in the maws of the Republican party and the Kochs, and treading cautiously with a small business in the belly of the beast. Being from SC, I commiserated, and I told her how astonishing it was to see NC get taken down, and how proud I was that with groups like the SC ACLU, we managed to not have a single anti-abortion law passed in this last legislative session. Then I got the great opportunity to talk about being fearless, taking chances (like plastering pro-Obama care and anti-Citizens United bumper stickers on your car). It was a very happy meeting.
And the more conversations I have like this, the more I heartily believe that there are far more of us out there than our Democratic politicians believe. They just need to know -- we just need to know that we are not alone. We need to know that our representatives, our candidates, will really stand up for us. Elizabeth Warren did it in 2012. In South Carolina we have a few who are unafraid to speak up on issues like women's reproductive rights and gun control, and they even get elected. Fearless women like Gloria Bromell-Tinubu. Heck, there are even a couple of men who proudly fight for marriage and workplace equality and women's reproductive freedom.
And that is what it is going to take. Because we really are the ones who are fighting to protect the American people.
So speak up.
Monday, July 7, 2014
Beating Graham
Some of you may not know that Lindsey Graham does actually have an opponent in the upcoming election. Brad Hutto has been around and involved in state politics for awhile, and represents SC Senate District 40. I was so impressed with his strong stand on women's right to reproductive freedom and privacy that I hoped that he would be that candidate who is unafraid to really promise to make a difference.
Sadly, based on his website, this does not appear to be the case. Other than promising to fight for a woman's right to make her own health care decisions without government intervention, his statements on issues tend to be along the lines of trying not to say much that might be controversial. Getting people off food stamps, improving education and infrastructure (while making sure government tightens its belt). He's going to "fix" the Affordable Care Act, by allowing people to choose the best plan and at the same time not letting the insurance companies be in control. Granted, he promises to support alternative energy development, but even Exxon claims to do that.
I like Brad. And we all know it took guts to step up to run against Graham, who has been courting the biggest of the big money backers for a very long time. He doesn't have lots of billionaires who are going to be writing him checks because frankly, they have Lindsey Graham in their pockets. What he does have is lots of people who might make the effort to get out and vote for him if he is willing to take a strong and public stand for them.
I don't know anyone who is sponging off the government by collecting food stamps. That allotment is a pittance, and yet it helps to sustain more of us than you can imagine. I like that Hutto is speaking out in support of raising the minimum wage. But $10.10, by the time it gets passed in the Senate is still inadequate. It will still keep families living in poverty. By the way, those of us who are living with the help of food stamps -- you don't even know who they are, because they are embarrassed and afraid to admit it. In order to get rid of the need for food stamp assistance, our government needs to take a strong stand against employers who claim they are unable to stay in business if they give employees a living wage.
And here's more unsolicited advice to State Senator Hutto:
Don't be afraid to speak up for Obamacare. Honestly, if you're willing to campaign on all the great benefits of the Affordable Care Act, you will be doing a great service to the public, because you will be fighting the absurd and destructive disinformation campaign that idiots like Graham have been promoting, all in the name of fear-building in order to garner votes.
And by standing up to right wingnuts on women's reproductive health, you've gotten our attention and a lot of loyalty. Mention it every chance you get, and we'll actually get out and vote for you.
Here's something few politicians do in South Carolina: talk about the great work Elizabeth Warren is doing to curb the great and powerful Wall Street beast. And specifically talk about the bill that was recently defeated that would have allowed people to refinance older student loans at current lower interest rates, and Lindsey Graham's part in that defeat. And if you want students to get out and vote for you, talk about making college more affordable. Oh, go on, even talk about subsidizing education, the way we subsidize big oil and big agriculture.
For that matter, you might even get some hard-core republican farmers out to support you if you talk about how failure to regulate and large government subsidies have strangled the family farm, and small business in general. Because Graham and his gang have convinced voters that the enemy is government, where the enemy is actually the giant corporation with their lobbyists and lawyers that control people like Lindsey Graham.
So many issues, and it's just a matter of explaining to people how the current system, with Graham and Scott, have worked to keep us one of the poorest states, with bad roads, failing education, low-paid workers, inadequate health care, oh, and gun violence.
The issue that seems to have alienated more of us Dems than any other is that of gun control. Hutto voted for the ridiculous bill that allows guns in bars and restaurants, putting the onus of responsibility on the bar/restaurant owners. If you're afraid of the people here who are passionate about their guns, you should know that even gun owners understand that there is a time and a place for wielding that weapon. Here we are in 2014 making the country's top-10 list for gun violence.
I would give pause at the voting booth when I consider that you might be in the US Senate, voting on a bill that would require background checks and limit ammunition capacity. Such a reasonable law, adopted in states that recognize the need, a law that might actually make life safer on the streets and in our schools, I would have to say at this point you would vote against it.
All things being equal -- and in politics in 2014 they are not -- you just might win against Graham. But because all things are not equal, Brad Hutto needs to be a strong alternative to Lindsey Graham, not a lukewarm bunch of promises. My motto here in South Carolina is, if you're going to lose anyway, you might as well speak out. In fact, and in a wonderful irony, speaking out will get you the greatest chance of beating the odds and winning that election.
So, Brad, go out and defend us against the likes of Lindsey Graham.
Sadly, based on his website, this does not appear to be the case. Other than promising to fight for a woman's right to make her own health care decisions without government intervention, his statements on issues tend to be along the lines of trying not to say much that might be controversial. Getting people off food stamps, improving education and infrastructure (while making sure government tightens its belt). He's going to "fix" the Affordable Care Act, by allowing people to choose the best plan and at the same time not letting the insurance companies be in control. Granted, he promises to support alternative energy development, but even Exxon claims to do that.
I like Brad. And we all know it took guts to step up to run against Graham, who has been courting the biggest of the big money backers for a very long time. He doesn't have lots of billionaires who are going to be writing him checks because frankly, they have Lindsey Graham in their pockets. What he does have is lots of people who might make the effort to get out and vote for him if he is willing to take a strong and public stand for them.
I don't know anyone who is sponging off the government by collecting food stamps. That allotment is a pittance, and yet it helps to sustain more of us than you can imagine. I like that Hutto is speaking out in support of raising the minimum wage. But $10.10, by the time it gets passed in the Senate is still inadequate. It will still keep families living in poverty. By the way, those of us who are living with the help of food stamps -- you don't even know who they are, because they are embarrassed and afraid to admit it. In order to get rid of the need for food stamp assistance, our government needs to take a strong stand against employers who claim they are unable to stay in business if they give employees a living wage.
And here's more unsolicited advice to State Senator Hutto:
Don't be afraid to speak up for Obamacare. Honestly, if you're willing to campaign on all the great benefits of the Affordable Care Act, you will be doing a great service to the public, because you will be fighting the absurd and destructive disinformation campaign that idiots like Graham have been promoting, all in the name of fear-building in order to garner votes.
And by standing up to right wingnuts on women's reproductive health, you've gotten our attention and a lot of loyalty. Mention it every chance you get, and we'll actually get out and vote for you.
Here's something few politicians do in South Carolina: talk about the great work Elizabeth Warren is doing to curb the great and powerful Wall Street beast. And specifically talk about the bill that was recently defeated that would have allowed people to refinance older student loans at current lower interest rates, and Lindsey Graham's part in that defeat. And if you want students to get out and vote for you, talk about making college more affordable. Oh, go on, even talk about subsidizing education, the way we subsidize big oil and big agriculture.
For that matter, you might even get some hard-core republican farmers out to support you if you talk about how failure to regulate and large government subsidies have strangled the family farm, and small business in general. Because Graham and his gang have convinced voters that the enemy is government, where the enemy is actually the giant corporation with their lobbyists and lawyers that control people like Lindsey Graham.
So many issues, and it's just a matter of explaining to people how the current system, with Graham and Scott, have worked to keep us one of the poorest states, with bad roads, failing education, low-paid workers, inadequate health care, oh, and gun violence.
The issue that seems to have alienated more of us Dems than any other is that of gun control. Hutto voted for the ridiculous bill that allows guns in bars and restaurants, putting the onus of responsibility on the bar/restaurant owners. If you're afraid of the people here who are passionate about their guns, you should know that even gun owners understand that there is a time and a place for wielding that weapon. Here we are in 2014 making the country's top-10 list for gun violence.
I would give pause at the voting booth when I consider that you might be in the US Senate, voting on a bill that would require background checks and limit ammunition capacity. Such a reasonable law, adopted in states that recognize the need, a law that might actually make life safer on the streets and in our schools, I would have to say at this point you would vote against it.
All things being equal -- and in politics in 2014 they are not -- you just might win against Graham. But because all things are not equal, Brad Hutto needs to be a strong alternative to Lindsey Graham, not a lukewarm bunch of promises. My motto here in South Carolina is, if you're going to lose anyway, you might as well speak out. In fact, and in a wonderful irony, speaking out will get you the greatest chance of beating the odds and winning that election.
So, Brad, go out and defend us against the likes of Lindsey Graham.
Tuesday, May 20, 2014
The Benghazi Plot
Things have gotten pretty grim around here. Unemployment is down, the federal budget deficit is shrinking, and Obamacare is working. Oh, and Hillary may be running for president in 2016.
What's to be done?
The answer: Benghazi.
While even Kentucky has failed to buy into the evils of the Affordable Care Act, here in South Carolina you can't hardly say a friendly hello before someone tells you about that bad old Obamacare. That's the result of the never-ending republican election strategy. Years of repeating the same lies about the ACA, the "death panels," the threats of losing your favorite docs, socialism and government control, long lines and higher prices. All that repetition actually works, especially when you have an uninformed middle class that has been hit hard in the economy. It has gotten my fellow South Carolinians as fired up and ready to go as any Obama oratory.
And while they were hyping the evils of health care for all for the hurting middle class, they got the religious right cranked up with regularly scheduled anti-abortion votes in the House of Representatives. In 2011, they introduced 44 anti-abortion bills. Of course, there was no chance of getting them passed, but if the GOP understands anything it is how to get their base riled up -- and by the way, distracting us all from unemployment and corporate (and Wall Street) crime.
After the horrific shooting of twenty children and six adults in Newtown, Connecticut, in December of 2012, to our amazement, the republican party turned its attention to increasing the freedom of gun owners to bear weapons. This became the cause that fired up the paranoid redneck population which has resulted in state laws permitting guns in bars and restaurants here in SC, to Georgia, which now has a "guns everywhere" law that "guards against tyranny." Except, of course, for the tyranny of those nuts with deadly weapons.
So is it any surprise that those far thinking right wingnuts should be setting their sights (as in cross-hairs) on Hillary, who was in charge during the Benghazi attack? If they can get their uninformed but flammable constituents to parrot the word "Benghazi" the way they have for "Obamacare" they will be well on their way to a strategy for 2016.
It would do us well to recall, however, that this strategy has not worked so well against Barack Obama. They tried it when he was candidate Obama, and for a couple of years thereafter, with the Kenya birth certificate nonsense.
And since then, regardless what new conspiracy the right wing is pushing, Obama has moved forward. In fact, in the Senate in 2012 the Democrats picked up two seats. Had it not been for the nefarious redistricting done after the last census, Democrats would have won House seats, having won a nation-wide plurality in all House elections.
I don't think Hillary is quaking in her boots over Benghazi. The shame is that one of South Carolina's own is proudly chairing the committee to perpetuate the question of whether Benghazi can lead to republican victories in 2014 and 2016. Has the country not laughed at us enough? I admit, I will miss the bizarre rages of Darrell Issa but I am confident that he will have plenty more conspiracy theories with which to waste time.
The further shame is that people who don't know or care where Benghazi is, people who waved the American flag in support of the Bush administration lies that led to the war that resulted in so many deaths, are pretending to really care about the four American fatalities in the Benghazi attack.
Since the only alternative to conspiracy theories, however, is to talk about issues like the economy, corporate greed, and the environment, you can rest assured that in these parts you won't be able to swing a dead cat without hitting someone muttering about Benghazi, at least through the next couple of elections.
What's to be done?
The answer: Benghazi.
While even Kentucky has failed to buy into the evils of the Affordable Care Act, here in South Carolina you can't hardly say a friendly hello before someone tells you about that bad old Obamacare. That's the result of the never-ending republican election strategy. Years of repeating the same lies about the ACA, the "death panels," the threats of losing your favorite docs, socialism and government control, long lines and higher prices. All that repetition actually works, especially when you have an uninformed middle class that has been hit hard in the economy. It has gotten my fellow South Carolinians as fired up and ready to go as any Obama oratory.
And while they were hyping the evils of health care for all for the hurting middle class, they got the religious right cranked up with regularly scheduled anti-abortion votes in the House of Representatives. In 2011, they introduced 44 anti-abortion bills. Of course, there was no chance of getting them passed, but if the GOP understands anything it is how to get their base riled up -- and by the way, distracting us all from unemployment and corporate (and Wall Street) crime.
After the horrific shooting of twenty children and six adults in Newtown, Connecticut, in December of 2012, to our amazement, the republican party turned its attention to increasing the freedom of gun owners to bear weapons. This became the cause that fired up the paranoid redneck population which has resulted in state laws permitting guns in bars and restaurants here in SC, to Georgia, which now has a "guns everywhere" law that "guards against tyranny." Except, of course, for the tyranny of those nuts with deadly weapons.
So is it any surprise that those far thinking right wingnuts should be setting their sights (as in cross-hairs) on Hillary, who was in charge during the Benghazi attack? If they can get their uninformed but flammable constituents to parrot the word "Benghazi" the way they have for "Obamacare" they will be well on their way to a strategy for 2016.
It would do us well to recall, however, that this strategy has not worked so well against Barack Obama. They tried it when he was candidate Obama, and for a couple of years thereafter, with the Kenya birth certificate nonsense.
And since then, regardless what new conspiracy the right wing is pushing, Obama has moved forward. In fact, in the Senate in 2012 the Democrats picked up two seats. Had it not been for the nefarious redistricting done after the last census, Democrats would have won House seats, having won a nation-wide plurality in all House elections.
I don't think Hillary is quaking in her boots over Benghazi. The shame is that one of South Carolina's own is proudly chairing the committee to perpetuate the question of whether Benghazi can lead to republican victories in 2014 and 2016. Has the country not laughed at us enough? I admit, I will miss the bizarre rages of Darrell Issa but I am confident that he will have plenty more conspiracy theories with which to waste time.
The further shame is that people who don't know or care where Benghazi is, people who waved the American flag in support of the Bush administration lies that led to the war that resulted in so many deaths, are pretending to really care about the four American fatalities in the Benghazi attack.
Since the only alternative to conspiracy theories, however, is to talk about issues like the economy, corporate greed, and the environment, you can rest assured that in these parts you won't be able to swing a dead cat without hitting someone muttering about Benghazi, at least through the next couple of elections.
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