The Way Forward

Dems, don't be afraid.  Don't be disconsolate.  Be angry.  Be unified.  Defend our media and our elected officials.

The Trump crime family, with Mitch McConnell, Kevin McCarthy and of course Donald at the helm, have had 3 weeks to plan an attack to offset all the investigations. They are going after Dems in Congress and the media with renewed energy after the partisan and highly censored Barr "report." We need to be more outraged and energized than ever.

Don't just write to like-minded friends, send letters to the editor, contact the news media, and keep calling our elected officials. We got Paul Ryan convinced he needed to spend more time with family, we need to put the pressure on Graham and Scott. We need to keep saying the truth. We need to be unified and angry. Mueller knew Trump was trying to shut him down, so I believe he did what he did in order to keep the investigations going. Don't let Trump and his mafia discourage you.

Trump is going to play all his greatest hits at his rallies. So educating everyone you know about his lies is essential.

Lindsey Graham has gone from telling truth to power (when he was running against Trump) to being no more than his golf caddy. We need to keep at him about his own lies and hypocrisy.

Let no manipulation by the Trump minions go unchallenged.

I received an email from Kevin McCarthy yesterday, stewed about it for awhile, and then composed this letter for The State:

Yesterday I received an email from "Kevin McCarthy -- Republican Leader." In it he claims that the case is closed -- no collusion. He says that Democrats' behavior has been "irresponsible." Then he concludes that "For the good of the country, it is time we moved on."

This completely partisan missive was sent to me via House Communications email.

I believe most Americans are sick of these mean-spirited, divisive attacks. Our tax dollars are paying for what amounts to a 2020 campaign run from Congress and the White House; this is undemocratic and morally repugnant.

Lindsey Graham, who once spoke the truth about President Trump, has sold out for a standing invitation to Mara Lago. His hateful rhetoric mirrors that of Trump.

Attorney General Barr has kept his promise to protect the president by keeping most of the report hidden, and Mitch McConnell refuses to allow the Senate to vote to demand that the full report be made public.

While McCarthy is saying that "for the good of the country, it is time we moved on" Donald Trump is seeking revenge on Democrats in Congress. We just can't tolerate this hypocrisy and the threat to the citizens of our democracy that it represents.

Senators Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott must insist that Attorney General Barr release the full Mueller Report immediately rather than be implicated in the obstruction of justice that has been going on for far too long.

Don't worry about how you say it, just say it. We know who the criminals are and what crimes they have brazenly committed. We don't have to be afraid. And we won't allow ourselves to be silenced.

Being outraged got us the House of Representatives in 2018. The people who stepped up and are now representing us reflected our own feelings: they were fearless and they were outraged. They believed in our country and they were not going to be distracted by fear of not winning. When they spoke what was on their minds, they found out that the majority of Americans felt the same way. We were just waiting for someone who wasn't going to hide in fear to say it.

So spread the word. Share my blog. It may be an example of passion over literary worth, but boy, it's how I am feeling.

I took this picture in DC on January 21, 2017. It couldn't have foretold better what was going to happen to our country after Donald Trump got his tiny, greedy hands on it. He goal is to control everything. My goal is to leave him with one last enterprise:

So Many Rabbit Holes... #2

The insanity in Virginia is changing faster than I can write about it.  This blog post would have been very different had I written it just yesterday.  And the path through the weeds and down this rabbit hole are even more convoluted than what I blogged about a few days ago.

As briefly as I can possibly put it:

Governor Ralph Northam attempted to answer a question about Virginia's new abortion bill, which would roll back restrictions on a woman's right to an abortion where there are risks to the woman or likely severe fetal abnormalities.  Northam, apparently not a really smooth talker, stumbled in his response, giving right wing media and politicians the opening to portray the bill as in support of infanticide.

Never willing to stop at mere distortion of facts, the right wing media dug up -- excuse me, investigated -- a tip by an anti-abortion activist, found and published the now infamous yearbook photo of someone in blackface standing with someone in KKK garb.  The esteemed publication was Big League Politics, and I urge you to check out the article as well as the ads.  I, myself, will be clicking to see what that object is that I should stick in my ear to cure my tinnitis.  In other words, not the Washington Post.

But apparently, the yearbook page and photo exist.  The predictable result was that Northam was immediately pressured by Dems across the country, and especially presidential candidates, to resign.  And then... one day, Northam was apologizing for the photo, the next day he was saying it wasn't him.  This is what I think happened:

Northam, a good guy who is a good governor, was a med student in the 80's.  Strange times.  Michael Jackson was a phenomenon, that we all remember by now.  But there was also Neil Diamond in The Jazz Singer, which is a lame remake of Al Jolson's 1927 performance in the original.  In neither were blackface an insult, although by the 80's I have to say, "What on earth were we thinking???"  By now we understand so much more about the times when blackface was intended as an insult and how any blackface can bring back the bad old days.  We white folk mostly cringe when we hear about blackface, as we should.

So when Northam was asked about the photo, which he hadn't yet seen, he recalled the time he performed as Michael Jackson in a talent show in med school, and he cringed.  Then he apologized, profusely.

Then he saw the photo, and he was confused.  I believe he knew that it wasn't him, not the guy in blackface or in the KKK robe.  He had nothing to do with the photo being placed on his page (come on, people, we know it's not the students who put their own photos on their yearbook pages).  But in his denial, he was trying to be honest.  And it comes out just as clumsily as his statement about the abortion bill.  Guilty of tripping over his tongue?  Absolutely.  Guilty of being a racist?  I say no.

Then, amid the pitchforks and torches, came word that his proposed successor, Lt. Governor Justin Fairfax had been accused of sexual assault in 2004.  And then another woman came forward.  Now we had a Brett Kavanaugh deal, with three important differences.  Fairfax is a Democrat, and he is African American.  And there was no beer involved.

As Rick Perry might say, "Oops."

The interviews on CNN and MSNBC were fun to watch, as Dems began to rethink everything from their demand to have Northam step down to whether they had been premature in demanding Al Franken's resignation without benefit of a hearing.  Sadly, I heard a well-respected black man give the Kavanaugh defense, saying there was no way to prove the allegations, and so we would have to take Fairfax's word that he was innocent.

You know what?  Way back before a lot of you were born, when a woman was raped, the rapist more often than not got away with it, because rapes just don't happen in public (unless it is with a group of like-minded buddies, as with Kavanaugh).  And if it did happen, we were told, it was with the consent of the woman -- whether she knew it or not -- because she was asking for it with her body language, her clothes, or her very presence.  And you know what else?  That remains true today.

We were all patting ourselves on the back with the success of the #MeToo movement when Kavanaugh came along to remind us all in a very eerie way that Clarence Thomas could indeed happen again.

SNL had some fun with the blackface thing.

And I would like to say, mockery is just about where we should be when we talk about Michael Jackson impressions in the 80's.  Let me repeat:  the KKK pic was horrific, and any blackface at all should not be happening today.

So, as far as Northam goes, let us keep in mind that what he did (and I am assuming he did not star in the KKK pic, which was abhorrent) was not illegal, just dumb.

But what Fairfax is being accused of is illegal.  He is asking for an investigation, and I welcome that... except that if he is guilty, and it happened privately, how many others will have to come forward before he is required to step down?  And let us not forget that we are not talking about criminal charges, but what we demand of our government leaders.

There is a lot of grey area to mine when the talk is of sexual assault.  Who of us women have not felt coerced but gone along with the pressure to engage in a sexual act?  Who of us women have felt shame and anger in retrospect and done nothing about it, because we know we will be seen as complicit and shamed even further?

When Dr. Christine Blasey Ford stepped forward, her greatest fears came to pass.  She was viciously attacked by those in authority, she and her family threatened, and Kavanaugh heralded as the victim, finally being confirmed to the highest court in the land.

We really have to ask ourselves why one women, much less two, would want to walk into that same scenario with another popular political leader.  All they can expect is denial and attacks on their integrity, while having to revisit the experience that has been haunting them in private, but now in public.

We Democrats need to get our priorities straight, and fast.  We can't be led by oppo research or the media's obsession with the shiny object.  We have all done something in our past that embarrasses us to this day.  We all have skeletons in our closets.  Now we need to put them in perspective.

There is a difference between donning blackface to impersonate Michael Jackson and forcing a woman to have oral sex.  That means, in this case in Virginia, that we have to take a look at our biases about race and sex.  Acknowledge that sigh of relief in urging Northam to resign because we had what appeared to be a good black Democrat waiting in the wings.  How about next time some nastiness is leaked about one of our own, we start off by demanding an investigation rather than immediate resignation?  And how about if we work on gaining some perspective into the severity of the "crime"?

We can't honestly talk about giving criminals a second chance when we rush to toss someone out of office (or out of the race) as soon as some dirt surfaces.  And we need to have a solid footing about right and wrong, stupidity versus crime.

Right now we have a sexual predator in the White House.  We have had a racist, the KKK variety, as attorney general, and one who has let it be known that he plans on taking his Senate seat back in 2020.  Those are the lines that need to be drawn.

And we need to continue to remind journalists and commentators of the difference.  We cannot allow them to draw false equivalence and focus on inanities while crimes are being committed by those in office.

We learned a painful lesson in 2016, and we have been paying for it for too long.  We need to insist that our political leaders and candidates be judged on moral character and actions and not youtube videos and yearbook photos.  We need to focus the media instead of following it down the rabbit hole.  To mix my metaphors, when the right wing tosses a bone to the media, and we chase after it, it become a grenade with which we will only end up blowing ourselves to smithereens.

Don't let it happen again.

So Many Rabbit Holes... #1

Apparently, I blinked and when I opened my eyes I saw that Elizabeth Warren had apologized for her insensitivity to Native Americans.  Let me just summarize this situation the way I see it:

When Elizabeth was a child, her mother told her she had some Native American blood.  I imagine it was a point of pride.  So when it came to indicating her heritage, Warren later included Native American.

Scott Brown, who is an idiot, had nothing else to run on against Warren in 2012, so his oppo researchers learned that she had included this detail when applying for a job at Harvard.  It was such a moronic attack, and given that Warren was running on intelligent and important issues, that she easily won.

Of course, idiot-in-chief Donald Trump, who can't resist the opportunity to mock a woman, began the highly insulting (to Native Americans) taunt of "Pocahontas" when referring to her.  Popular with his really ignorant base, who thought it was really clever and hilarious, the taunt became a standard line.

Circus showman Trump promised $1 million to charity if a DNA test "shows you're an Indian."  Sick of the taunts and knowing how hard it is for Trump to part with a penny, she took him up on it.  Which SHE WOULD NOT HAVE DONE IF SHE DID NOT BELIEVE SHE WAS PART NATIVE AMERICAN.

Now, the test found "strong evidence" that Warren has a Native American ancestor, which should have been solid enough proof that her claim was valid.  But not only did Trump turn it around to his ugly needs, but the Native American community joined in.

Elizabeth Warren has been a hero for working class Americans and minorities throughout her life and her political career.  Instead of recognizing this for the manipulative attack that it is, the argument became over whether she had the right to claim Indian heritage without the proper "blood quantum" amount.  Which term was brought into use by the federal government in the first place, and not by Native American tribes.  Into the weeds, and through to the rabbit hole.

Meanwhile, the media has taken this on, as though Hillary's emails had never led to the election of Donald Trump and mea culpas all around.  No more talking about raising the working poor by taxing the wealthy, or about regulating Wall Street.  Now she can count on at least one question by some imbicile about her heritage.

Shortly after the test results hit, I tuned in to a talk show on NPR.  The guests were Native American and they were all having a go at Warren, postulating about the meaning of "blood quantum" and whining about how Warren had insulted their heritage.  Then a caller -- a Native American woman -- said that Elizabeth Warren had been a strong and uncompromising voice for women and minorities, and this silly misstep wasn't going to make her less of a Warren supporter.  Before I could let out a cheer, the moderator asked the geniuses in the studio another question about tribes and blood quantum identity TOTALLY IGNORING THE CALLER'S COMMENTS.

Are we so gullible that we will continue to turn on our own, so desperate to be politically correct that we don't recognize the virus in the messaging?  Once again, republicans have been able to toss in the grenade and watch as Democrats jump in after it.

When I first heard the comment that Warren should not run for president because she had too much baggage, I thought my head would explode.  Baggage???  Warren is the most straightforward and honest person in politics.  Period.  The only baggage she has been carrying has been that thrust on her by the media, who once again is passing it on for the Fox News crowd.

We have got to stop this.  Tweet MSNBC and CNN whenever they start to wander toward those rabbit holes.  Remind them that their job is to talk about real issues, not rumors and questionable or false attacks.  Write letters to the editor and make phone calls.

We lost an amazing if imperfect candidate in 2016.  She would have been as good a president as Barack Obama, an amazing if imperfect president.  We have lost members of Congress and solid candidates because republicans know how to avoid the issues with really ugly oppo research and we continue to chase after it.

Meanwhile, there is a pussy grabber in the White House, one who openly mocks Native American dignity as he attacks a U.S. Senator, locks up children and lies about immigrants.  And waiting backstage is our former attorney general, also a former member of the KKK, who is contemplating a run to retake his Alabama Senate seat in 2020.

Let us not get distracted.  Not again.

The Nixon Pardon

I just heard an interview with Julian Castro from December in which one of the great guys from Pod Save America asked if he would have pardoned Richard Nixon.  This is because Castro has announced that he is running for president in 2020, and we all know that Trump in stripes is on all our minds.  Castro analyzed cautiously as Democrats are wont to do.  He started off saying that he "wouldn't be inclined to pardon Donald Trump," adding that "nobody is above the law."  Then he began the equivocation thing where he thought that some have thought that at the time Ford pardoned Nixon it may have been the right thing for the country to, you know, move on.

First of all, Nixon committed some egregious crimes.  That he was the President of the United States should make him more culpable rather than less.  That Ford would pardon him gave him privilege that those of us lacking money and power just don't have.  That set a pitiful example, reinforcing criminals with deep pockets and powerful attorneys and turning the slippery slope into an avalanche.  It was wrong.  The country was not better off for having let a criminal go free because he had been a criminal with power.

In 2009, President Obama made the same mistake with the criminals in the banking industry that led us to the brink of financial catastrophe.  For many, many of us, it wasn't just the brink.  People lost their homes and their jobs.  Small businesses went bankrupt.  And after the government bailed out the financial behemoths, they gave themselves raises, and went back to business as usual.  Not a single Wall Street criminal did time for those crimes.  And yet we teach our children that it is wrong to steal, and that they have to follow the law.

Within the Trump administration, we have had the good fortune of being able to see, under a magnifying glass, the incredible corruption that is corporate and political America.  Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan have been rewarded for descending to depths that we have not seen in our lifetimes in this country -- and in Congress that is not a high bar.  Trump's cabinet of deplorables has been a pageant of criminality; not only did he choose those with the same sleazy moral values as he, but once in the White House they also demonstrated the belief that they were more important than their positions, they were above the law and could rightfully plunder what had been the people's government.

On the other hand, Trump and his band of pirates had no compunction about attacking and accusing others in order to detract from their own ugly acts.  Flynn led the chant "lock her up" in 2016, and Trump (who rarely smiles) would break into his creepiest, smuggest grin whenever the crowd of misfits at a rally would bring it out.  Ah, they learned so well.  Add to that accusing President Obama and other leaders in that administration of ridiculous crimes, promising he would send Hillary to jail, challenging the FBI to investigate idiotic and paranoid charges; all serving the dual purpose of smearing those better than him and distracting the public via twitter rants with help from the media from his own horrendous actions.

The tweets accusing Obama of wiretapping his office and phones led to weeks of diversion, happily obsessive pondering by the media, hours of wasted dollars and time by the FBI, who I believe were frankly scared to just say, "that's ridiculous."  You know, you have to follow procedure whether what Trump says is crazy or not.  But apparently Trump has the First Amendment right to tell whatever damn lies he wants.  Except that when the president tells a lie, it really is tantamount to yelling "fire" in a crowded building, which is against the law.

Back to the pardoning of the criminal.  Donald Trump has committed crimes that Tricky Dick could only wish he had been able to get away with.  As a candidate -- and since -- he has colluded with foreign governments, making deals that jeopardize our sovereignty for the sole purpose of personal gain.  He has made comments which purpose is to fuel hatred and attacks toward pretty much anyone or any group that he envies or sees as a threat.  Hate crimes have increased dramatically against minorities.  Most recently, Trump's former attorney Michael Cohen has postponed testimony to Congress out of fear of threats he has received, directed not just to him but to his family.

The President of the United States as crime boss.

Should we impeach?  Just the fact that we keep hearing the media asking this question makes me shudder.  The process is there to be used if needed.  I can't think of any better reason than the criminal who now resides in the White House.  Should Donald Trump be indicted?

With Donald Trump's blessing, the weaselly former attorney general went after people who smoked marijuana and those who had lived peacefully in this country for decades.  When it came to people who were just trying to get by, Jefferson Sessions brooked no excuse.  Trump, modeling his administration after his hero, Richard Nixon, touted himself as the "law and order" president.

So why should the "law and order" president not have to do time for his crimes?  Damned if I know.

We have had too many years of bogus congressional committees and investigations.  Media morons like our own Chuck Todd will no doubt compare our efforts to seek justice to those of the Devin Nunes republican party.  That is like Donald Trump blaming "many sides" in Charlottesville.  It is that false equivalency that put Trump in the White House, with phony investigations on Benghazi and emails creating the appearance that Hillary was guilty of ... something.

Pursuing justice does not make us an unruly mob.  We should not be investigating Donald Trump and his cronies out of revenge, but in order to see justice done.  More important, we need to do all we can to stop the crimes that he is committing on a daily basis.  Whether it is private meetings with Vladimir Putin or business deals with Saudi Arabia and China in return for favors, or attempts to intimidate or influence witnesses in government investigations, Donald Trump needs to be held to account.

Donald Trump, as is true with all bullies, sees forgiveness as weakness.  When he gets away with something, he brags about it and goes on to commit crimes ever more flagrantly.  Donald Trump allowed to continue to break the law is Donald Trump creating more harm and chaos, with more manic rallies and bigger lies and attacks.  That is the way of the despot, and Trump has shown through words and deeds his willingness -- and delight -- to rule as a third world dictator.

This week Nancy Pelosi finally put a stop to a Trump tantrum that was damaging the country.  That is the example we need to follow in reigning in and putting an end to the abuses of this terrible administration and president.

Investigations and impeachment because that is the right thing to do.  And no pardon, because a hardened criminal should have to do his time.

Dear Joe Cunningham...

Dear Joe,

You know how tickled we all were when you were elected to serve in Congress.  We Dems fought hard for you, even those like me who do not live in your district (I was gerrymandered out).  You ran a great campaign, and your stand on the issues was stellar.  You did not back off on any of those issues Dems in the past have tiptoed around, like women's reproductive rights and gun control.

The only time you blinked was when you caved to the republican's "Operation Nancy Pelosi."  I'm thinking that in the heat of the campaign, you may not have realized that people like Donald Trump are playing with you.  They want you to think opposing Pelosi is your idea, when it is truly what they want you to do more than anything in the world.

You're young and you may not know the history behind the demonizing of Nancy Pelosi, so let me give you a little background.  Back in 2010, Michael Steele, then chairman of the Republican Party (before they threw him under the bus), was the genius behind the "Fire Pelosi" campaign.  It happened after she got Obamacare passed by one vote; given the narcissism and back-biting that was going on it was amazing that she could herd that bunch of cats.  It scared the bejeezus out of republicans.

So Steele decided to create a campaign that turned Nancy Pelosi into the spawn of Satan, i.e., a liberal.  They were the RNC, the Republican National Committee, and they did a bus tour and everything.  Most important, all the republicans got on board, if not the bus, the strategy.  It was the same unified voice that you hear when they talk about Pelosi today.  Because they didn't get rid of her, but they got lots of press, and they taught their base to equate Pelosi with a dirty word.  Of course, it had no basis in fact; they didn't need any.  It worked brilliantly.

It worked so well that Mark Sanford decided it would be more advantageous to run against Pelosi in a 2013 special election than against his real-life opponent, Elizabeth Colbert Busch.  He still reeked from the Appalachian Trail bullshit that he wore when he left the governor's office.  Colbert Busch was smart and sound on the issues.  He could not have beat her.  But Sanford always has a gimmick up his sleeve, and those good ole boys enjoyed the gag.  So he beat Pelosi, or, the republicans' caricature of her.

Joe, I was taken aback when I saw the campaign ad in which you had a white male stereotype say that he was a republican but because you were against Pelosi he was voting for you.  I imagine you -- and a number of Dems that I know -- believe you could not have won if you hadn't thrown Nancy under the bus.  But I believe you were the butt of Michael Steele's scam, the one that has been working on Dems all these years.

A few weeks ago, around the time you and a bunch of young  Dems, mostly men, signed that ridiculous letter urging Pelosi not to run for leadership, Michael Steele was interviewed on AM Joy.  When Reid asked him why his Pelosi strategy worked so well on Democrats he laughed and said, "I don't know; I'm trying to figure that out myself."  Please take two minutes and listen to the video.  It is indeed an eye-opener.

This strategy has worked before.  Mitch McConnell would not be spreading his evil today if Alison Lundergan Grimes had not decided to run from Barack Obama and the Affordable Care Act.  Lord knows, Trump could never have beaten Hillary if she hadn't had thirty years of republicans building her into the kind of evil genius that could do anything; anything, that is except win the presidency.

And they can't -- THEY CAN'T -- do it without the help of Democrats.

Right now, Nancy Pelosi is the nightmare that keeps the republican party -- and Donald Trump -- up at night.  She is smart and masterful.  She believes in the same causes and issues that you believe in.  She will fight, and win, when she is Speaker.  It's not a fantasy.  It is Pelosi's resume.

Stephen Lynch was one of the Dems who signed that silly letter.  He met with Pelosi, and changed his mind.  If that doesn't give you pause, you are not the reasonable man I think you are.

Trump will go down with his wall because he believes that is what gave him his victory.  He doesn't have the capacity to look around and see that he isn't the president of a rally.  He can't put together all the factors that got him to the White House.

Opposing Nancy Pelosi did not win your election, Joe.  Being on the right side of the issues against a woman who was both mean and dumb was what did it.  Oh, and as much as I hate to say it, if she were a mean, dumb white man instead of a woman he would have won.

But the time is right for progressive ideas, and you transported enough people to put you in Congress.  Fight for those progressive ideas, and be sure to make headlines letting us know what you are doing for us.  Keep an eye on Pelosi, because she will teach you how to win, again and again, against all odds.

And Joe, you will need those skills.  Mark Sanford isn't going anywhere.  All he knows how to do is be on the public dole.  We couldn't believe it when he went from disgrace in the governor's office to win back a House seat.  But that is what he does.  He has not stopped running.  He will be there in 2020.  If you don't proudly own being a progressive Democrat, you will just be seen as a watered down republican.  If you throw Nancy Pelosi under the bus, if you fight her on key issues instead of standing by her and helping her win, I can guarantee you will have a short life in Congress.  And that would be a shame.

We had the House in 2010 and the Senate in 2014.  We lost Congress because we wouldn't stand together.  Republicans have the bluster, but we have the causes.  The economy, our standing in the world, our treatment of children, democracy itself for gods' sake, there is no issue we should not stand for proudly.  I can't say enough how important it is -- to the electorate -- to see you all stand together, in strength.  Going up against the most powerful Democratic leader ever is not a good way to start.  So I urge you to do the right thing.  Admit that now that you have seen Pelosi in action, up close, you will be supporting her.

You may have won because just enough republicans voted for you, but if you lose the enthusiasm we Dems felt for you in 2018, you don't have a chance.

Best of luck in your new job.

Sincerely,
The Ironic Cherry

The TSA and Me

How We Got Here

I hate flying.  It wasn't always this way.  Before the PLO began hijacking planes in the 70's, there were not even x-ray scans at airports.  In 1973, a White House directive charged airports with scanning all passengers and baggage with electronic weapons detectors.  There were occasional pat-downs when metal detectors sounded the alarm and the reason wasn't obvious.  Many were angered by the inconvenience and assault on privacy; some were totally fine with the new measures, and felt safer because of them.

Hijackings decreased.  Air travel was affordable.  Those were the halcyon days when you could walk to the gate to meet your family and friends, or shed a few tears saying good-bye.  You could watch the plane come into or leave the gate.  Your valuables, including your body, were safe from assault.

But just as violence happens outside of an airport, it was inevitable that there would be another airline attack, and it was massive.  9/11 changed America's sense of invulnerability.  The cluelessness of the George W. Bush administration ignored all the signs that would have prevented 9/11, while the paranoia of the Dick Cheney contingent ushered in the Patriot Act of 2001 and all its abominations.  It took the weenies in Congress less than two months to pass the law, and no amount of protestation over the loss of constitutional freedoms could stop them.

Imagine the chaos.  And the horror stories.

And yet, with the security business booming and Americans as insecure as ever, in 2009 the TSA got away with adding full body scanners to the myriad tortures of proceeding onto an aircraft.  Initially, they were to be used only when the walk through x-ray machine set off an alarm.  But when you've got a really fancy-ass hammer, everything looks like a nail, so in no time everyone was required to submit to having their body perused.  I said "got away with," but it wasn't easy.  People were appalled that the scanners showed their naked image.  And then there were those who were just appalled at the unnecessary invasion of privacy.   So -- being the Obama administration -- the problem was investigated and full-body scanners were walked back.  But, being the Obama administration, the problem was pursued until a new, improved full body scanner, that did not show us standing there, arms up, naked, became the new toy at the airport.  I hate to say it, but Obama did continue the march toward cutting back on freedoms in the name of security; he just did it in a more studied, scientifically researched manner.  The body scanner was once again a thing, although not used consistently, and the busier airports were far more pragmatic about enforcing their use than others:  like, for example, the Charleston International Airport, which just can't believe we aren't next on the terrorist to-do list.

So back to me.

I am 67 years old, and a New Englander.  As such, I've never been much for uninvited touching.  The TSA attacks appalled me for civil rights violation reasons, and also for personal privacy reasons.  I pretty much stopped flying after 9/11 when we all had to stand in line in order to have our suitcases opened up and watch our items fondled by gloved screeners before they were checked.  So even before the obscene full-body scanners.

I would prefer to drive two days each way to Chicago than fly.  I will in an instant choose the 23-hour Amtrak travel to Rhode Island than fly.  I miss the days of walking freely through an airport as though it was just a public building, but don't at all miss air travel as it exists today.

So there I was, this summer, with a pregnant daughter all the way over in Denver.  I honestly looked into cars and trains.  The only not-insane way to get there is flying.

And then, a month before my grandbaby made her appearance, my sister in Rhode Island died suddenly.  I booked a flight for the next day.

And had myself patted down for the first time ever at Charleston International.  The culprit appeared to be the metal in my bra.  I was upset about my sister's death, and rather than being silently stoic (which is what we are supposed to do), I said, "My sister died yesterday; I really don't need this."  The TSA agent did not respond verbally, but made sure to give me a thorough check before allowing me to put my shoes back on and get on my way.  On the way back, in Rhode Island, there was no such idiocy, and I was able to walk through the x-ray screener without incident.

A month later, my grandbaby was born, and I was once again booking a last minute flight.  I had only a short time to obsess about the upcoming screening and happier things to think about.  I was not surprised when we were all slowly and systematically herded through the body-scanners.  But, having been sure to wear a bra that while less personally secure would not be likely to set off alarms, I was still patted down.  This time not only my breasts but both my ankles.

And after a lovely week with my beautiful new grandbaby, frisked once again by what I had thought of as the more reasonable Denver TSA.

It appears to me that since Trump began his ham-fisted reign, the slippery slope of the TSA during the Obama years has become free to stomp on our privacy with abandon.  The full-body scanners are either more sensitive or set to be more sensitive, TSA agents instructed to "search" far more freely than in the recent past.  Not just an overweight woman in a bra with metal snaps, but the bulge of socks fallen around the ankle will also do it.  I don't know how many of us are chosen for this, but I finally decided to stop obsessing and just watch the last time I was in line.  Way too many pat-downs, way, way too many false positives.  And way too many rights being violated.

Like the frog that is put in the pot while the water is still cold, we are now quietly allowing our bodies to be handled in a way that would have caused outrage and rebellion a few years ago.

And why should that surprise me?  There are babies being torn from their parents and put in cells and African Americans being shot for traffic violations.  We live in a country being led by a cretin that aspires to being a dictator, and is right this very minute working to close our borders, keep the press out of the White House, and cut off ties with our allies.

What is happening at our airports seems small next to having a baby torn out of your arms or being shot by a poorly-trained and/or racist cop.

But we let the "small" liberties go in the name of security.  We kept sliding down that slippery slope, at first protesting and then just shrugging and going along with the intense scrutiny required just to travel.  We have been allowing our purses to be ravaged just to go to a sporting event for years.

This in a country that won't even allow a background check before buying a gun, or restrict the sale of bump stocks and silencers.

I know this has been a long blog, but I have been thinking about this TSA thing and how it has gotten away from us for a long time.  So it is going to get longer.  Go grab a cup of coffee or a beer and bear with me.

The TSA and Breast Milk

I now have a grandbaby and a daughter who has begun to travel with her.  On her first flight, over Thanksgiving, Denver TSA agents were befuddled over how to deal with her pumped breast milk.  Obviously, she had a baby with her, what nefarious plot would require such a cover?  And yet, they sniffed, opened and had meetings over how to proceed.  It was upsetting to the point that she did not carry breast milk on the trip home, in order to avoid what should be a totally avoidable fiasco.  Which made even more burdensome the feeding a three-month-old infant in a world where nursing moms get hassled by dirty-minded wingnuts.

A quick google search located another instance of the TSA assault on breast milk, amazingly also at Denver International, you know, where you can probably smuggle out legally purchased marijuana with ease.  The blogger suggests ways to more easily get through screening, like bringing in printed TSA information to show the agent so they can learn the rules about breast milk on-the-job.  The saddest thing about this particular post, however, is that she ends by suggesting paying for the use of a transportation service to carry your milk, if you are a traveling mom with a baby at home. 

IF YOU ARE 75 OR OLDER, YOU CAN GET THROUGH TSA SCREENING WITHOUT TAKING YOUR SHOES OFF.  This means that in the defective yet watchful eyes of our government, a 75-year-old is less likely to be a terrorist than a woman with an infant.

In 2013, the TSA even changed the rule about knives in order to allow small folding knives to be carried onto a plane.  Until that decision proved so wacky that the outcry caused them to rethink it.

So women are once again singled out for the kind of personal scrutiny that is an embarrassment and a violation.  Not to mention the incredible disruption of an already burdensome process of traveling with a small child.  Why have we put up with it?  Because women have always put up with special rules and restrictions.  Just as we have put up with sexual discrimination at work, and inappropriate sexual approaches and assaults.  If this isn't an issue to be taken up by #MeToo I don't know what is.

I Decide to Sell Out

I hope to visit my grandbaby every couple of months.  In the interest of not having to deal with the abomination of a pat-down at the beginning of every trip, I decided to look into TSA Precheck.

Turns out for the low, low price of $85 for five years, you can apply for a precheck that will allow you to avoid the most humiliating and infuriating aspects of TSA screening.  I wondered just how intensive this screening would be, if it really screened out those who might be dangerous on a flight.  It seems that they run your name and fingerprints through their national database, looking for criminals and terrorists!  The good news is, if you haven't yet been up to any criminal activity, not only are you good for prescreening, I'll bet there are terrorist organizations that would love to recruit you.

The difference that getting "awarded" TSA Precheck (for the low, low price of $85 for five years) is that next time you are at the security line at the airport you don't have to take off your shoes or light jacket.  Then you get to go through a regular x-ray machine instead of a body-scanner, like we used to do in the old days.  And you send your carry-ons on the belt through the x-ray scanner.  In other words, you are allowed to do the perfectly adequate screening that you were allowed to do before 9/11 (except no box cutters or knives).

Here are some other effects of the Precheck:  1.  There is a lot of money to be made by security companies, and our government loves to give money away to big corporations, as with private prisons.  2.  As an added bonus, the government gets to add lots of non-criminals and their fingerprints to its database, and even better, voluntarily.

Precheck doesn't mean your privacy won't get invaded when you're not looking.  We have known since the post 9/11 days when we stood and watched that our suitcases would be opened and inspected.  I knew that checked luggage continued to be "checked" because the tie I used to minimally safeguard my suitcase from opening was frequently retied in a different way.  But after my first precheck trip, I found this brazen confirmation, kind of a TSA "Fuck You and Your Rights":

It says:  For your own safety we have the right to rummage around in your stuff.  If you tried to lock us out, we busted our way in.  And there ain't nothing you can do about it.

Think about it.  I can carry on stuff that merely gets x-rayed.  But my checked bags need to get opened.  They honestly don't have and can't create the technology for seeing what is in our bag without opening it?  Or they just want us to know they can....

When I got to Denver and was bitching about the TSA, my daughter told me about a TV series that most of you probably already know about called Adam Ruins Everything.  In this episode, he ruins the myth that the TSA screening keeps us all safer and he does it with facts and experts.  It's a great episode, and I knew it all along.

It's a sad day when intelligent Americans have willingly abandoned such critical freedoms as being able to travel without assaults on our privacy, and on our very bodies.  Young adults are submitting to these atrocities because they have grown up in a 9/11 America in which privacy has been and is being subverted going on two decades in the name of security.  Young women carrying babies are having to submit their breast milk to inspection and us older women to getting parts of our bodies touched that we wouldn't allow to happen in any other circumstance.  And I have not even addressed the horrors that minorities, especially Muslim men, have had to endure since 9/11.

These days we are feeling overwhelmed by ever more horrendous attacks on civil liberties; mostly, they don't directly involve us, unless we are a minority, in which they have become a way of life.  It is way past time we resensitize ourselves to the violations by our government to our rights.  The Trump era is nothing but a really, really red flag of what we stand to lose, and each day we are losing just a bit more of it.

When you are at the airport, and standing stoically in line waiting to see if you will be frisked, look around.  Be aware of how unlike a free democratic society this process has become.  We don't make jokes or laugh.  We don't debate, question or complain.  We stand there trying not to be noticed and singled out.  How un-American we have become.

In the words of John Oliver:  "This is NOT normal."

That School Board Election -- The Final Episode

When I wrote The School Board Election Quandary -- Part 2 I included my own recommendations.  They are:

East Cooper -- Sarah Shad Johnson

West Ashley -- Paul H. Padron

I had not yet decided on the North Charleston race yet, so I am adding that here:

North Charleston -- Vivian Pettigrew

Also, as I said earlier, you are allowed to choose up to two candidates for the two vacant East Cooper seats.  I prefer to choose one, as I believe in a close race choosing more than one candidate can take away from a first choice.  Others disagree and want to use all allowable votes.  If there were a gun to my head and I had to choose a second candidate for East Cooper (and, hey, this is South Carolina so it could happen...) I would choose Jake Rambo.  But I really, really want to see Sarah Johnson on the school board, so I will only be voting for her in East Cooper.  Up to you.

If you haven't voted yet -- and the big day is next Tuesday -- I hope this has helped.

If you have already voted, kudos.  But don't stop now.  Pass this information onto friends, family, coworkers, and help them get to the polls.

If there ever was a year we could see our candidates win, this is it.  But every vote will matter.