Anyone else getting really tired of Republicans telling us we can't say certain things, we can't read certain books, we can't teach certain things, we can't talk about certain history, etc. Why are they taking away our freedom to think and talk and read and teach? Why are they taking away our freedom to vote, to choose what happens to ou…
Anyone else getting really tired of Republicans telling us we can't say certain things, we can't read certain books, we can't teach certain things, we can't talk about certain history, etc. Why are they taking away our freedom to think and talk and read and teach? Why are they taking away our freedom to vote, to choose what happens to our bodies, to grant asylum to seekers, to defend our Constitution, and the freedom to live in a democracy? And not to get started on the wasted taxpayer money and the economic disaster for certain states pretending to defend the southern border.
Kathy….so well stated and in language much nicer than I could have conjured up! Thanks.
I would be inclined to parrot Stephan Colbert in his review of CBS hiring the ignorant, lying, immoral slug, Mulvaney, into their news division….”What the F…?”
Kathy, I write, partially, to agree with Gailee, who is part of this thread, and also to build upon her reply with some additional thoughts.
In my view, because Republicans largely have no ideas, they believe, perhaps rightly, that their strategy of running on divisiveness and fighting the culture wars is how they win elections. At the same time, Dems, barring a few exceptions, seem to want to run away from culture issues rather than fighting the culture wars and winning them, on abortion, on book banning, on teaching history…, a mistake, I believe, considering the public largely is on the side of the Dems.
In the alternative, Dems frequently are quoted as saying, “We’re not going to deal with that stuff; we’re going to focus on kitchen table issues.” Though that might sound good, in the past 15 months, Dems haven’t been able to extend the child tax credit or lower prescription drug costs or improve childcare or raise the minimum wage to $15…, legislation that actually would make people’s lives easier and would be counter-inflationary.
Fair or not, politics largely is perception, a truism seemingly better understood by Republicans than by Democrats. Perhaps, too, Republicans, more so than many Democrats, also are acutely aware that no democracy can survive with a working and middle class so insecure that it is willing to accept any authoritarian option in order to provide some sense of normalcy and security in their lives.
The Republicans are the ones who don’t want government to work for everyone. They do their best to break and handicap government at every opportunity because that is what their Uber wealthy white donors want. They absolutely DO NOT CARE what the majority of Americans want. They provoke and stoke distrust in government by constantly obstructing and hamstringing the processes of government. Then they claim Dems aren’t addressing the country’s problems. The ACA battle is a prime example of their tactics.
JennSH, I agree completely with your comment, which I find logically and factually valid. My point was to show how Republicans, by and large, rely on tactics that use appeals to emotions and attitudes to influence/manipulate voters. I imagine their tools would be far less effective if more of the electorate were better educated and informed.
Oh the hair-raising stories I could tell about this dumbing down--and it doesn't come from the students. It is imposed on them in such slick and subtle ways they hardly even know that their brains are being altered. This has been going on for decades. The first sign I noticed (although I'll bet there were earlier ones I missed) was that, about the same time, the atrocity (IMHO) of Young Adult Literature appeared and those and children's books began having vocabulary and sentence structure limited according to what someone thought kids of a certain age could read. I guess they didn't consider all those children in he 19th century waiting eagerly for the next installment of Dickens' novels. Sigh
Yes, Barbara, I agree. Part of the deal is that all this structure that is democracy is supposed to rest on a foundation of "an informed electorate." The "Electorate"--by choice or manipulation or just because so many have to worry about jobs and rent and groceries--are, by and large, basically uninformed
Dean, Interestingly, though our founders understood the need for checks and balances against the excesses of any one branch, Madison and Jefferson, in particular, contended what in their day was known as “the press” and today has become “the media” would be the most critical factor, as it alone could provide the necessary information and nurture the fundamental discourse that would maintain the democratic republic.
Good morning, Barbara, What concerns me as much as anything, and what finally drove me here, is the realization that the press is deep in another role--manipulating and even creating the news. A paper like the NYTimes, with its stable of very fine writers, is particularly good at this. But equally so a 24-hour, supposedly neutral, news source like CNN. They do it by the order in which they present their reports or their paragraphs. If they lead with Biden's accomplishments, that's what we believe. If they lead with his mistakes, we are there. HCR often counters that by simply reversing the order. Quite amazing. The words carry the power. They tell us what to think and, without words, we are unable to think at all. So, to apply the idea of checks and balances in a broader sense, we're losing that safeguard. The media seem to me to be part of the confusion and noise, swinging one way today, another tomorrow. Parallel with this media-driven song and dance is the fact that we are losing our vocabulary very fast. Literally dropping words from our store. LOL and IMHO aren't words. Alas. But I am sliding into a ditch here and getting way off your topic. If anything, the war on the ground is precisely between the idea of checks and balances and the impulse-driven excesses of a few who are mighty close to being monsters.
Right, Barbara Jo. They are fully aware of what you say and want to turn their base and all the rest of us into serfs and indentured servants who are so oppressed by needing to work until we drop that we can't manage a counteroffensive any time soon. What intrigues me most is how many of these Rs seem to think they will be part of the ruling class in the new system that only rewards the people who are currently in favor. They kill the others.
Deborah, I fully appreciate how you so thoughtfully expanded upon my comment.
As for the rest of us, seeing that history has taught us that autocracies win when we can’t imagine democracy losing, we must do everything we can to sound the alarm.
Jenn, yes, it’s their roadmap, playbook, created long ago: how to sabotage government and the most vulnerable citizens, especially poor and people of color, and their strategies are often cruel and deadly. Examples: healthcare: why withhold care from anyone? Education: why lie and omit critical facts and curriculum? And withhold funding? Infrastructure: why reduce or withhold funds for bridges and roads? KEY: Environmental laws, protections for now and future? “They” do not care. Or they purposely hurt others who are not on their side. This is beyond governing. Looks like politics from another century. And often racism. And Undoing laws: abortion and voting rights and laws. Cheating and packing courts including Supreme. It’s heartbreaking and cruel. But that would take empathy and compassion and commitment to uphold their promise and the constitution. My rant!
I see often people saying that all pols are bad and corrupt including ones who should know better. This to me is an easy way out and a failure to take citizenship, including voting, seriously. Right now there are a plethora of ads on the TV (always muted) claiming that they will solve homelessness, crime, etc. without one description of how they are going to do it and importantly, pay for it. And of course a barrage of mailers arriving everyday which go straight into the circular file. Yesterday I did see a plausible plan from one of the D candidates (who will not win) about homelessness. Also we have one D candidate who is being financed by some billionaire out of state and his barrage started before anyone else. Stupidly, the D House Committee also gave him money which raised the ire of everyone else. The Rs are going to solve all our problems and all they have is pictures of homelessness, protests, etc. plus the worse pictures of Biden, Pelosi, and Brown they could find. We also have a conservative D running as an Independent for governor because she knows she would not get the D nod in the primary. She is actually preferable to any of the R candidates for governor including a deeply religious oncologist who lost the last time. May 17th is the primary and we will see who prevails.
Repubs are intent on maintaining the caste system that diversity and equality threaten, as well as democracy threatens (their perceptions...and bank accounts).
and yet..."The Left wants to divide people into favored and disfavored castes, granting special favors to the former while excluding the latter from civil rights and professional protections. The aim is to dragoon our society and make its members obey a range of ideas incompatible with the founding principles of the nation." Washington Examiner today. (far right publication)
Yep. But people fall for it. In Psychology it is called projection. We knew what TFG was up to because he accused the Democrats of doing whatever it was.
Ah yes, just saw a post from Salem Progressives which was as rigid as any right wing pronouncement. I answered and nothing back yet. I asked what would people do about the progressive things Biden has done, starting with his cabinet. So I agree with the first sentence and not the rest of this quote.
The important perception here is that in your last line Barbara. If the working and middle class perceives themselves as insecure they will vote in that perception-based interest or need. Almost a Maslov truism. Need finds resource, even if in less threatening times, the toxicity of the choice were better understood.
Fred, I presume you are referring to Abraham Maslow’s “hierarchy of needs,” which suggests that basic physical and safety needs are preemptive and must be met before one may attempt to address the needs of the intellect and the spirit.
Indeed. And a correlate we observed in poverty and disability evaluatons that the need will find a resource to meet it. For example, when welfare rolls were purged, disability applications increased along with training-for-employment referrals.
Morning fabulous Gailee. I say “no” to your question. No need to let them. That discourse, however egregious, is allowed in our country so just keep on, Repubs. They are digging a sh*thole so deep, it will take many shoulders for one to climb out and that’s their downfall. Treasonous behavior scatters rats.
Behavior reflective of the common good always gives a hand up.
One fierce, emphatic, sincere, response from a Michigan state senator addressing another senator accusing her of interest in pedophilia and grooming behaviors has gained national attention. How many people on this forum have asked for exactly that correct messaging?
It’s because they are exploiting taxpayers money. They’re either incompetent or downright theives, and they are out to destroy the role an organized government has in our everyday lives - to support projects that benefit all of their constituents. They clearly need to stay in power, so political opponents are predators.
The Republicans took the book Trump wrote, when he put family members in WH roles and politicians as department heads who broke down the mission and leadership of those departments, all while mocking the disabled and weaponizing hatred.
Kathy, we can VOTE THEM OUT! Never give up fighting for Truth…we can beat these fools, but it takes work and determination. Get EVERYONE you know to vote these haters, liars, traitors out of office. Keep the new haters out to begin with….
I could wish that there were an effective way to get into their "belief space" and break through that crust. When you lay out reason, fact, practicality, and document your sources and are met with a resounding "well, I just don't believe that" it is pretty hard not to wash your hands of them. I have had some tiny modicum of success in one to one settings in person, when what they "just don't believe" is something that I can point to as impacting me individually in a negative manner. Otherwise, there is no "breaking through".
Yes, and they are all "experts" because they visited some wing nut site, heard it from their all powerful pastors, or see it on wing nut TV. Also they resent you because you can present a reasonable intelligent argument based on facts.
One doesn’t really. I always watch what happens every time when one of the “deniers” gets thrown under the bus due to their erroneous thinking, ignorance, and questionable loyalty to anyone or anything except their own greed or desperation.
The tune changes.
Our plot, our action, our direction must reflect President Biden’s repeated mantra.
“Move forward.”
I add to that, keep your face gazing towards the guidepost of the Light ahead…not the dry dusty road behind littered with treason.
Kathy I experienced the book-burning and the banning of books during the Joe McCarthy mania. George Orwell (1984) provides the game plan for these ‘thought control’ maniacs.
1) Purge access to our history as a country that has progressed from slavery and 2nd class women to what we have accomplished today.
2) Seek to ‘purify’ the American citizenry [echoes of Hitler’s Aryan race?] on issues of gender and skin color.
3) Encourage insurrection and debasement of the Constitution [echoes of Hitler’s Reichstag fire?]
4) Permit only the ‘white electorate’ to vote and insure that even these votes are scrutinized by a local legislature before the results are certified.
Kathy and Kathy, Thank you for this rational and measured outline of an insane and brutal process by which an entire people can be robbed of their humanity--in the system, certainly, but more devastating, in their own minds. If we are battered hard enough and long enough with the words and actions that communicate our worthlessness we are liable to internalize them. One immediate and particular example that comes to mind is hearing women parrot something we have too often come to believe, "I can't stand working with other women. They're always so catty and competitive." The process by which we, as women, begin to believe the stereotype and then to reinforce it is cruel and calculated. And that's just my own small example of what you are describing on a larger stage. What I don't know is what factors come together to make one group the oppressors and another, the oppressed. Any thoughts?
It occurred to me this morning that if a political party only practices “obstruction of Government” as a platform for 40 years, and focuses on only on fundraising through “identity politics” then they loose their organizational knowledge, expertise, and capacity to do their jobs which dumbs down their voters even more. Its a negative feedback loop. The focus has become “rile the base, collect donations, stay in power”. Republicans have become the largest impediment to progress of a nation. We send representatives to DC to solve our problems by looking at facts, metrics, science, and experts to find truth, consensus, and thus compromise through reasoned debate. By sending people who can’t do any of that at all, the GOP has become our biggest problem of all.
Hi, Kathy, I assume the answer is brutally simple. They are taking away our rights because they want to dictate them and not to have to deal with the mixed, complicated, sometimes loud voices that are democracy functioning at its best. I think that's what all the verbal battering is about--to get us to finally give up and shut up. There are days when I'm tired enough to almost consider it.
Kathy, your banner says you have ties to Arizona and Alaska. If you live in either of those states now, I'm sure you're taking advantage of being in a contested, purple state to be active in registering and mobilizing Democratic and progressive voters. Being active on the ground in your states is a powerful contribution!
Anyone else getting really tired of Republicans telling us we can't say certain things, we can't read certain books, we can't teach certain things, we can't talk about certain history, etc. Why are they taking away our freedom to think and talk and read and teach? Why are they taking away our freedom to vote, to choose what happens to our bodies, to grant asylum to seekers, to defend our Constitution, and the freedom to live in a democracy? And not to get started on the wasted taxpayer money and the economic disaster for certain states pretending to defend the southern border.
Kathy….so well stated and in language much nicer than I could have conjured up! Thanks.
I would be inclined to parrot Stephan Colbert in his review of CBS hiring the ignorant, lying, immoral slug, Mulvaney, into their news division….”What the F…?”
... Fudge?:)
No fudge, one could only dream…
Kathy, I write, partially, to agree with Gailee, who is part of this thread, and also to build upon her reply with some additional thoughts.
In my view, because Republicans largely have no ideas, they believe, perhaps rightly, that their strategy of running on divisiveness and fighting the culture wars is how they win elections. At the same time, Dems, barring a few exceptions, seem to want to run away from culture issues rather than fighting the culture wars and winning them, on abortion, on book banning, on teaching history…, a mistake, I believe, considering the public largely is on the side of the Dems.
In the alternative, Dems frequently are quoted as saying, “We’re not going to deal with that stuff; we’re going to focus on kitchen table issues.” Though that might sound good, in the past 15 months, Dems haven’t been able to extend the child tax credit or lower prescription drug costs or improve childcare or raise the minimum wage to $15…, legislation that actually would make people’s lives easier and would be counter-inflationary.
Fair or not, politics largely is perception, a truism seemingly better understood by Republicans than by Democrats. Perhaps, too, Republicans, more so than many Democrats, also are acutely aware that no democracy can survive with a working and middle class so insecure that it is willing to accept any authoritarian option in order to provide some sense of normalcy and security in their lives.
The Republicans are the ones who don’t want government to work for everyone. They do their best to break and handicap government at every opportunity because that is what their Uber wealthy white donors want. They absolutely DO NOT CARE what the majority of Americans want. They provoke and stoke distrust in government by constantly obstructing and hamstringing the processes of government. Then they claim Dems aren’t addressing the country’s problems. The ACA battle is a prime example of their tactics.
JennSH, I agree completely with your comment, which I find logically and factually valid. My point was to show how Republicans, by and large, rely on tactics that use appeals to emotions and attitudes to influence/manipulate voters. I imagine their tools would be far less effective if more of the electorate were better educated and informed.
And that is why they want to maintain the dumbing down of education.
Oh the hair-raising stories I could tell about this dumbing down--and it doesn't come from the students. It is imposed on them in such slick and subtle ways they hardly even know that their brains are being altered. This has been going on for decades. The first sign I noticed (although I'll bet there were earlier ones I missed) was that, about the same time, the atrocity (IMHO) of Young Adult Literature appeared and those and children's books began having vocabulary and sentence structure limited according to what someone thought kids of a certain age could read. I guess they didn't consider all those children in he 19th century waiting eagerly for the next installment of Dickens' novels. Sigh
Pensa_VT, Precisely!
You are absolutely right!
JennSH, The good news is that I expect we’ll see more Dems following McMorrow’s lead and calling out Repub’s “performative nonsense.”
Lord! I hope so! She was straight forward in her speech.
Yes, Barbara, I agree. Part of the deal is that all this structure that is democracy is supposed to rest on a foundation of "an informed electorate." The "Electorate"--by choice or manipulation or just because so many have to worry about jobs and rent and groceries--are, by and large, basically uninformed
Dean, Interestingly, though our founders understood the need for checks and balances against the excesses of any one branch, Madison and Jefferson, in particular, contended what in their day was known as “the press” and today has become “the media” would be the most critical factor, as it alone could provide the necessary information and nurture the fundamental discourse that would maintain the democratic republic.
Good morning, Barbara, What concerns me as much as anything, and what finally drove me here, is the realization that the press is deep in another role--manipulating and even creating the news. A paper like the NYTimes, with its stable of very fine writers, is particularly good at this. But equally so a 24-hour, supposedly neutral, news source like CNN. They do it by the order in which they present their reports or their paragraphs. If they lead with Biden's accomplishments, that's what we believe. If they lead with his mistakes, we are there. HCR often counters that by simply reversing the order. Quite amazing. The words carry the power. They tell us what to think and, without words, we are unable to think at all. So, to apply the idea of checks and balances in a broader sense, we're losing that safeguard. The media seem to me to be part of the confusion and noise, swinging one way today, another tomorrow. Parallel with this media-driven song and dance is the fact that we are losing our vocabulary very fast. Literally dropping words from our store. LOL and IMHO aren't words. Alas. But I am sliding into a ditch here and getting way off your topic. If anything, the war on the ground is precisely between the idea of checks and balances and the impulse-driven excesses of a few who are mighty close to being monsters.
Right, Barbara Jo. They are fully aware of what you say and want to turn their base and all the rest of us into serfs and indentured servants who are so oppressed by needing to work until we drop that we can't manage a counteroffensive any time soon. What intrigues me most is how many of these Rs seem to think they will be part of the ruling class in the new system that only rewards the people who are currently in favor. They kill the others.
Deborah, I fully appreciate how you so thoughtfully expanded upon my comment.
As for the rest of us, seeing that history has taught us that autocracies win when we can’t imagine democracy losing, we must do everything we can to sound the alarm.
Jenn, yes, it’s their roadmap, playbook, created long ago: how to sabotage government and the most vulnerable citizens, especially poor and people of color, and their strategies are often cruel and deadly. Examples: healthcare: why withhold care from anyone? Education: why lie and omit critical facts and curriculum? And withhold funding? Infrastructure: why reduce or withhold funds for bridges and roads? KEY: Environmental laws, protections for now and future? “They” do not care. Or they purposely hurt others who are not on their side. This is beyond governing. Looks like politics from another century. And often racism. And Undoing laws: abortion and voting rights and laws. Cheating and packing courts including Supreme. It’s heartbreaking and cruel. But that would take empathy and compassion and commitment to uphold their promise and the constitution. My rant!
I see often people saying that all pols are bad and corrupt including ones who should know better. This to me is an easy way out and a failure to take citizenship, including voting, seriously. Right now there are a plethora of ads on the TV (always muted) claiming that they will solve homelessness, crime, etc. without one description of how they are going to do it and importantly, pay for it. And of course a barrage of mailers arriving everyday which go straight into the circular file. Yesterday I did see a plausible plan from one of the D candidates (who will not win) about homelessness. Also we have one D candidate who is being financed by some billionaire out of state and his barrage started before anyone else. Stupidly, the D House Committee also gave him money which raised the ire of everyone else. The Rs are going to solve all our problems and all they have is pictures of homelessness, protests, etc. plus the worse pictures of Biden, Pelosi, and Brown they could find. We also have a conservative D running as an Independent for governor because she knows she would not get the D nod in the primary. She is actually preferable to any of the R candidates for governor including a deeply religious oncologist who lost the last time. May 17th is the primary and we will see who prevails.
Todays Robert Reich podcast, a very good listen, addresses differences between “parties”. https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/365422/private/2444bfa2-441e-46b1-8cd5-850d5befd1e5.rss “ Zelensky, Patriotism, Putin Patriotism, Trump Patriotism: same word, with profoundly different meanings.”
The Republicans have ideas. They don't run on their ideas because they know that's a losing strategy.
Joan, I agree, but would add that every idea I’m aware of arises largely out of greedy and self-serving impulses.
Repubs are intent on maintaining the caste system that diversity and equality threaten, as well as democracy threatens (their perceptions...and bank accounts).
and yet..."The Left wants to divide people into favored and disfavored castes, granting special favors to the former while excluding the latter from civil rights and professional protections. The aim is to dragoon our society and make its members obey a range of ideas incompatible with the founding principles of the nation." Washington Examiner today. (far right publication)
This is the looking glass strategy. Whatever mischief the radical right is engaged in, they project and accuse their opponents of it.
Yep. But people fall for it. In Psychology it is called projection. We knew what TFG was up to because he accused the Democrats of doing whatever it was.
Goebbels favorite strategy, along with the big lie (from Mein Kampf)
Sounds about right from the seditious, fascist, Putin loving Right.
I wish the Democrats had such a massive, cohesive messaging machine like the bad, evil folks do.
Just oust Rupert, but damn, the clones have metastasized
Ah yes, just saw a post from Salem Progressives which was as rigid as any right wing pronouncement. I answered and nothing back yet. I asked what would people do about the progressive things Biden has done, starting with his cabinet. So I agree with the first sentence and not the rest of this quote.
The important perception here is that in your last line Barbara. If the working and middle class perceives themselves as insecure they will vote in that perception-based interest or need. Almost a Maslov truism. Need finds resource, even if in less threatening times, the toxicity of the choice were better understood.
Fred, I presume you are referring to Abraham Maslow’s “hierarchy of needs,” which suggests that basic physical and safety needs are preemptive and must be met before one may attempt to address the needs of the intellect and the spirit.
Indeed. And a correlate we observed in poverty and disability evaluatons that the need will find a resource to meet it. For example, when welfare rolls were purged, disability applications increased along with training-for-employment referrals.
I'm just getting really tired of Republicans.
Would the answer be because we're letting them?
Morning fabulous Gailee. I say “no” to your question. No need to let them. That discourse, however egregious, is allowed in our country so just keep on, Repubs. They are digging a sh*thole so deep, it will take many shoulders for one to climb out and that’s their downfall. Treasonous behavior scatters rats.
Behavior reflective of the common good always gives a hand up.
One fierce, emphatic, sincere, response from a Michigan state senator addressing another senator accusing her of interest in pedophilia and grooming behaviors has gained national attention. How many people on this forum have asked for exactly that correct messaging?
Well here we go.
United!
It’s because they are exploiting taxpayers money. They’re either incompetent or downright theives, and they are out to destroy the role an organized government has in our everyday lives - to support projects that benefit all of their constituents. They clearly need to stay in power, so political opponents are predators.
The Republicans took the book Trump wrote, when he put family members in WH roles and politicians as department heads who broke down the mission and leadership of those departments, all while mocking the disabled and weaponizing hatred.
JaneDouglas56: "They’re either incompetent or downright thrives"
I suspect you meant "thieves" but both words are pretty accurate descriptors.
Thanks! It’s the result of typing at 4 am. At least we now have an edit button. 😄
Kathy, not only do they make me tired, they make me sick to my stomach!
We have outrage aplenty, but no outlet. RM has the rage and a voice and gives it her all, MSM ignores her efforts
Kathy, we can VOTE THEM OUT! Never give up fighting for Truth…we can beat these fools, but it takes work and determination. Get EVERYONE you know to vote these haters, liars, traitors out of office. Keep the new haters out to begin with….
And find ways and words to break through the thick crust of denial of his followers.
I could wish that there were an effective way to get into their "belief space" and break through that crust. When you lay out reason, fact, practicality, and document your sources and are met with a resounding "well, I just don't believe that" it is pretty hard not to wash your hands of them. I have had some tiny modicum of success in one to one settings in person, when what they "just don't believe" is something that I can point to as impacting me individually in a negative manner. Otherwise, there is no "breaking through".
Deprogramming is going to be needed on a massive scale (re USA citizens).
Yes
Yes, but that brings its own baggage that can be used by the non-governance league.
Yes, and they are all "experts" because they visited some wing nut site, heard it from their all powerful pastors, or see it on wing nut TV. Also they resent you because you can present a reasonable intelligent argument based on facts.
I simply keep posting everywhere I can the truths in all forms. I don't engage with their negative, false rhetoric as it only feeds their hatred.
Gailee — This has been my quandary for nearly 6 years now. How do we get through to the deniers?
Morning ed.
One doesn’t really. I always watch what happens every time when one of the “deniers” gets thrown under the bus due to their erroneous thinking, ignorance, and questionable loyalty to anyone or anything except their own greed or desperation.
The tune changes.
Our plot, our action, our direction must reflect President Biden’s repeated mantra.
“Move forward.”
I add to that, keep your face gazing towards the guidepost of the Light ahead…not the dry dusty road behind littered with treason.
I think the answer is to give them all a healthy dose of Ivermectin. /s
It is something I think on daily. If more of the 'bad guys' confesses it might begin an unraveling.
Well, looks like Michigan state senator Mallory McMorrow found another emphatic way to say…..
Russian warship…go f*ck yourself.
And stared right into the eyes of the hater.
“We will not let hate win.”
You got that right.
Salud! United! 🇺🇸💫🗽
Christine: Yes indeed. I hope we see Michigan state senator Mallory McMorrow go places. She's got courage and she's not afraid to use it.
Christine, agreed !
Kathy I experienced the book-burning and the banning of books during the Joe McCarthy mania. George Orwell (1984) provides the game plan for these ‘thought control’ maniacs.
1) Purge access to our history as a country that has progressed from slavery and 2nd class women to what we have accomplished today.
2) Seek to ‘purify’ the American citizenry [echoes of Hitler’s Aryan race?] on issues of gender and skin color.
3) Encourage insurrection and debasement of the Constitution [echoes of Hitler’s Reichstag fire?]
4) Permit only the ‘white electorate’ to vote and insure that even these votes are scrutinized by a local legislature before the results are certified.
You are spot on—-OUR DEMOCRACY IS AT STAKE.
Kathy and Kathy, Thank you for this rational and measured outline of an insane and brutal process by which an entire people can be robbed of their humanity--in the system, certainly, but more devastating, in their own minds. If we are battered hard enough and long enough with the words and actions that communicate our worthlessness we are liable to internalize them. One immediate and particular example that comes to mind is hearing women parrot something we have too often come to believe, "I can't stand working with other women. They're always so catty and competitive." The process by which we, as women, begin to believe the stereotype and then to reinforce it is cruel and calculated. And that's just my own small example of what you are describing on a larger stage. What I don't know is what factors come together to make one group the oppressors and another, the oppressed. Any thoughts?
😪
It occurred to me this morning that if a political party only practices “obstruction of Government” as a platform for 40 years, and focuses on only on fundraising through “identity politics” then they loose their organizational knowledge, expertise, and capacity to do their jobs which dumbs down their voters even more. Its a negative feedback loop. The focus has become “rile the base, collect donations, stay in power”. Republicans have become the largest impediment to progress of a nation. We send representatives to DC to solve our problems by looking at facts, metrics, science, and experts to find truth, consensus, and thus compromise through reasoned debate. By sending people who can’t do any of that at all, the GOP has become our biggest problem of all.
Well said!!
Well, Kathy, just came across “Time Travel….Republican Style”.
Don’t they wish. https://youtu.be/K4TZL8jFBG8
Christine Give me that ‘ole time religion, and please leave your KKK robes at the door.
I’ll take the only “ole time” that sounds good to me and that’s rock-n-roll.
Fabulous. Should be shared by everyone everywhere.
Hi, Kathy, I assume the answer is brutally simple. They are taking away our rights because they want to dictate them and not to have to deal with the mixed, complicated, sometimes loud voices that are democracy functioning at its best. I think that's what all the verbal battering is about--to get us to finally give up and shut up. There are days when I'm tired enough to almost consider it.
Kathy, your banner says you have ties to Arizona and Alaska. If you live in either of those states now, I'm sure you're taking advantage of being in a contested, purple state to be active in registering and mobilizing Democratic and progressive voters. Being active on the ground in your states is a powerful contribution!
I wish I could give this ten "hearts".
Kathy, I'm afraid we have to get used to it. This should have been nipped in the bud long ago. The ship has sailed.....
Seriously????
Yes. Really tired of it.