Anita, I feel fairly optimistic that we are seeing the death throes of the GOP, though optimism has not been my default since 2016. They keep doubling down on values that the majority of Americans reject and it’s coming home to roost. Tuesday lifted my spirits tremendously. Watching MTG getting a taste of her own medicine at the rally in NY, turning tail and running after only 5 minutes was second only to the indictment itself. She horribly misjudged her popularity and influence, though it still played to her base.
If the GOP goes extinct, what will take its place ? The Aryan Nation Party ? MAGA ? Qanon ? As despicable as these faux " patriots " who say that they're pro - American, pro - free speech, pro - family, etc. are, they could be replaced by something worse.
I doubt that the Party of Lincoln will go extinct. The Old School Republican stalwarts have been using TFG's popularity with his maga crowd. Like hitching a ride on a garbage truck -- it's not how you would ordinarily choose to travel, but since the truck is headed in the same direction you are heading, you can put up with the stench for a while. When tfg is no longer of any use, the Old School types will leave the maghats behind.
The Party of Lincoln died a long time ago. What took its place were conspiracy theorists, gun nuts who believe that it's constitutional to carry assault weapons capable of taking out an armor - plated vehicle, racists, homophobes, people want to go back to the Dark Ages, other weird types. Have you ever heard George Carlin's routine " 4 Groups That Gotta go " ? If Mr. Carlin was still alive he would have added these people as 5 or possibly also number 6.
I was born in 1948. I've been watching politics my entire life. I remember Ike. The so-called Republican Party is no longer the Republican Party, as long as TFG has any influence. I think Robert Reich said a day or three ago that the Independents are the largest group of voters, at around 40%. I'm not trying to defend the Republicans. It's just that I remember what is was like when it felt like we were all on the same side, and the arguments were about how far and how fast to move forward -- not whether or where to go.
Don’t forget Nixon the Tricky Dick so fast, David! And then there was Joe McQarthy, sowing their miserable hate. I grew up in NYC starting in 1949 and my parents discussed all the events of the day with us.
Even Tricky Dick faded into the sunset instead of crying, yelling, acting like Linda Blair's character from The Exorcist. He faced his fate with some dignity, unlike TFG.
Sorry, Nixon did not face his fate with dignity! He should have been prosecuted and maintained his innocent with comments like (when a President does it, it's legal) (paraphrased)
Growing up in a 1950's Republican household was as you say, arguments among democracy loving rivals. This current Repugnant Party is way beyond the pale. I am a dedicated Democrat, who still likes Ike...
Indeed so Craig, me too! Ike only seems to get better with time, what he accomplished and what he resisted simply grow in significance with the passing of time and political experience.
Eisenhower was the last true Republican with vision and honor. During his presidency those like Goldwater, William F. Buckley, and others began sowing the seeds and fear of ¨socialism¨ and ¨communism¨. Eisenhower wanted to follow in FDR's legacy. They didn't.
I remember Vietnam & the Cold War, even though I was a kid. I didn't always process all that was going on. The division that we have now makes the Vietnam war demonstrations look like an argument over a game of " Go Fish " or " Spit in the Ocean ".
I dropped out of college in my third semester. I was doing ok, could have kept going. I enlisted in the Army -- on Richard Nixon's birthday (also Joan Baez' birthday) Jan 9 1968. I spent a year of my life in the war. After returning home I applied for discharge as a conscientious objector -- and won, on the first application, based solely on my written statement. There was a series of demonstrations in Washington DC in April 1970 -- when John Kerry was running for President we saw him and a bunch of other veterans throw their medals on to the steps of the Capitol or the Supreme Court building. I was stationed at Fort Meade, Maryland and I had a car, and it took about half an hour to drive to DC. I was in a march or demonstration one day when the papers estimated the crowd on the Mall at around 600,000 people. I actually saw somebody put a flower into the barrel of a rifle held by a member of the National Guard. Everybody was smiling that day. During one of those demonstrations, maybe the one I was in, the Attorney General, John Mitchell, stood on a balcony, surveying the crowd, and made a public declaration that everyone in the crowd was unpatriotic. I didn't feel unpatriotic at all, and I imagined that most of the people there felt as I did, that just because the government wants to do something, does not make it right.
When you listen to "For What It's Worth" by Buffalo Springfield you can probably recognize that today's struggles have been going on for a long time.
One can’t help wonder why Ivanka was interred at Bedminster and why the mysterious gathering. Can’t help but wonder if Trump’s select ‘top secret files’are in her crypt for potential blackmail purposes.
Buffalo Springfield - I usually listen to " We Didn't Start the Fire ", because it ticks a lot of the boxes. Or " Ball of Confusion ( That's What the World is Today ) ".
A few days ago "We Didn't Start the Fire" started playing in my mind, but I wasn't sure why. I was probably thinking: this has been going on for a long time. I don't know "Ball of Confusion" -- I'll look for it.
I was there, too, David H! What a wonderful story of how you enlisted, but after seeing and realizing what was really going on in Vietnam, you got CO status. Bravo!!
Daniel, while recognizing that you refer to just the demonstrations, it was no game of fish for those required to serve. In fact, I recall some of the demonstrations were no picnic either if you think about the Chicago Republican convention of 1968.
I was approximately 10 years old, & it seemed like there was change in the air to a kid such as young me even then. Anyway, if we can ensure that the change taking place now is POSITIVE, all this cr-pstorm will mean something & be worth it - especially if we can loosen the DAMN DEATH GRIP that the GOP and the Evangelical sellouts have on the Bible Belt Red states.
Excepept the Neighborhood Kids who went to Vietnam and not UCLA never came back. I never saw them again until I touched their engraved names on the Vietnam war wall in DC.
David H, a good year to be born! "Twould appear Ike was the last truly decent, honorable Republican to serve as POTUS. Unlike virtually any human we have seen he had access to true nearly absolute power in two spheres, military and political. And yet he remained true to democratic ideals serving country over party and warning us of the apocalypse of power coming in the form of "the military-industrial complex!" ...truly a man for all seasons.
“It's just that I remember what is was like when it felt like we were all on the same side, and the arguments were about how far and how fast to move forward -- not whether or where to go.” That’s it exactly! Just had this conversation with my son. There’s currently no competition between the 2 parties, that would end in our country moving forward the quickest, and to the place where we all gain the most benefit.
I have other stories to tell as well, about how the Members of Congress would fight all day in their respective chambers, and then gather at the local "water holes" to commiserate, regardless of party affiliation. The friendships went across the aisle. Their families got together, they were truly friends, regardless of political party. I went to Washington DC in the summer of '66, with 4-H, for a Citizenship Short Course. I shook hands with Senator William Proxmire from Wisconsin. By most accounts, that feeling of comradery dissipated by around 1975 -- and eventually morphed into what we see today, with Members heckling the President during the State of the Union address. Some of us believe that the "conservative movement" is responsible for most of the loss of the sense of all of us being on the same side.
You must be thinking of Eisenhower. I grew up under his relatively beneficent rule. Since then, all the repugnicant "leaders" I can count have been corrupt.
Instead of shaved skulls, black leather, tattoos and swastika armbands, dark suits, ties, well-coiffed hair... And Grandma didn't even notice the difference.
Meanwhile failed fascist wingnuts from wastelands on the remote edge of the political spectrum found... RELIGION, became tax-free "minister of religion" cuckoos, ousted the real thing from the nest... and rule the roost unquestioned and unchallenged. Just like the Wolf who ate Grandma and put on her nightshirt and nightcap...
Have you seen some of these rallies ? The participants / spectators look like Hell's Angels, the crowds at WWE or WWF wrestling matches. Not many suits & ties. Tattoos, half their teeth missing, probably from bar fights, probably carrying a concealed weapon. It's like something out of Mad Max. All that's missing is Master Blaster & Auntie Entity from Beyond Thunderdome.
Can we stop with the way they look thing please? Especially in regards to missing or no teeth at all.
You see, I have no teeth. Long story but due to losing bone mass my implants fell out and the many dentists I've been to can't seem to make me dentures (especially the top) that will stay in place, even with a whole tube of that nasty glue cr*p.
As for the tattoos, I don't have one but I have a lot of friends who do. Unless they're vulgar or related to white supremacy I have no problem with them.
There's a lot of reasons other than looks to bash these people for.
Of course, you're dead right, only I wasn't thinking of the Mainstream-MAGA-Mudstream but of what struts and postures in the halls of Congress and of Statehouses, the Ivy League imitations of Adolf Hitler's tame aristocrats... longing to bring back jackboots and black uniforms...
As for their real attitude to less exalted beings, Philip Larkin said it all:
I think that you made my day, perhaps my WHOLE FREAKING WEEK ! 🙆♂️🤜🤛 The GOP needs to get knocked off of their high horse & their ivory tower knocked down ! Thinking of the day when they get treated like Nazi - ish SCUM.
David, I frevently hope that you are wrong. Seeing the GOP die the death it wishes for those who do not follow its philosophy will leave us all better off. I, for one, have not mourned the deaths of all those who believed their nonsense about COVID and decided vaccines were not to be taken. The GOP has devolved into a psychopathic cult. The human race no longer needs them, if it ever did.
James, I appreciate your sentiments. My position is so far to the Left that I sometimes describe it as a Speculative Fiction Leftist. I do care about the people I grew up with in rural southeastern Wisconsin, most of whom grew up on dairy farms. Some are still farming. Some time ago I "unfriended" a man who was a neighbor growing up, and we went all the way through school together from second grade. I decided I'd be happier if I just excluded him from my reality. For those who hold sincere religious beliefs, I am happy for them, but G*d help them if they try to foist their personal beliefs on me or on anybody else who does not wish to be bothered. I blame the conservative movement for everything that is wrong, or is holding us back from being able to fix the things that are within our power to fix. I think we should reframe the whole conversation, change the public narrative, look to the long-term future, and change the way we do things so that Earth will still be habitable a thousand years from now, and ten thousand years from now. If we don't take drastic concerted action soon, we won't even make it to the turn of the century. And that's just the problems we already know about. I think we should expand the concept of the new James Webb Space Telescope, make bigger segmented mirrors, and lots of them, so we can get a better understanding of what the universe has in store for us. While we're bickering here, there is a lot we don't know about the world in which we live. The conservative movement wants to impose austerity on us. Bad idea. Our federal government, our Congress, needs to spend lots of money into our economy to bring everyone up out of poverty. Deficit spending does not matter. We will always be able to pay our debts. When Congress spends money into our economy we tend to prosper, and money flows into the hands of our neighbors and friends at the bottom tiers of our economy. We can build a new economy based in part on repairing the damage that our economy has over the past three centuries inflicted on the planet. The so-called conservatives are standing in our way. In every election we need to ask them to get out of our way, because we have a lot of work to do. Either join us, or get out of our way.
Great post, David H. I think if I was a young person today, I'd be furious about the failure of political leaders to address climate change and gun violence. (Actually, I AM furious!) I really hope that young adults will vote like their lives depend on it and replace these idiots with people who are willing to do something positive for a change.
Yes, the young adults need to get involved. I am continually pushing my sons (I think they'd be called millenials) to pay attention and be sure to vote. But they're both busy as hell raising my grandkids: I understand the time pressure they're under.
Amen to all that. I, too, have a lot of friends who are devout, but I'll have no truck with organized religion. I don't believe it's ever been shown to be a force that advances the human race. That doesn't mean I exclude them: I just understand the limits I have to place on any contact with them. You're right about that last point: there was a motto over the door in one of them many barracks I spent time in: "Lead, follow, or get out of the way".
Lincoln would have been horrified to see what his "Republican party" has become. (And it actually isn't the same party, historically, which current day repugnicants fail to mention.)
Curious, that metaphor. 9 months before said Dump was raised to Higher Things, I dreamed a dream and got out of bed to scribble a few lines which I've quoted here before...
& yet my idiot cousin was wringing her hands about the BLM march that I mentioned. I guess she would have jumped for joy if the Proud Boys, Qanon or Aryan Nation had marched through here.
Elisabeth, something worse indeed! The majority of Republicans have sown division, doubt and suspicion of our own admittedly imperfect democracy and it has come into full bloom! The evidence is present in the vituperative language of "our own" Heather's comment section. That they have sown this division makes it even more critical that we not join in and fan the flames of hatred by name-calling and depersonalizing those others.
I don’t name call except for 45, and I am so disturbed because I do not depersonalize anyone! I am shocked to be living in a country that is on a fast track to dissolving its democracy. I love this forum because it is a “safe space” for ideas and exchange of opinions, even ones that clash.
Possibly, but I see the growth in the numbers of Independents as a good sign. They’re currently the largest block of voters in the country. What the hell do we even need parties for? Candidates could fund raise and campaign on a much more even playing field without them. And would result in candidates running because they truly believe in their platforms, rather than just trying to get rich. The amount of money wasted on elections between two parties, neither of which represent the majority of Americans, is horrifying.
What the hell do we need parties for, Indeed. I'm going to put on my Sherlock Holmes deerstalker hat & Google that question after I get some sleep. Chris, you have given me a juicy morsel to go with my whisky & coffee. Thanks !
Morlocks trying to pass themselves off as Eloi. OR - demons trying to pass themselves off as " angels of light ( even though I left organized religion over a decade ago, some of the phraseology still comes in handy at times ) ".
Exactly. This faux GOP might die, but its 74+ million constituents and its deep pocket funders will create an alternative that will be dedicated to democracy's destruction.
Ït hasn't been legal and they see that they are able to get away with it. Until huge numbers of Independents and Democrats hit the streets in protest and demand the return of ethics, rules, laws, it will get worse.
I can only hope that these despicable behavior will turn around and bite them. Hard.
I keep waiting for the pendulum to swing towards sanity but I'm wondering if the timepiece of justice is broken.
Anita, I feel fairly optimistic that we are seeing the death throes of the GOP, though optimism has not been my default since 2016. They keep doubling down on values that the majority of Americans reject and it’s coming home to roost. Tuesday lifted my spirits tremendously. Watching MTG getting a taste of her own medicine at the rally in NY, turning tail and running after only 5 minutes was second only to the indictment itself. She horribly misjudged her popularity and influence, though it still played to her base.
If the GOP goes extinct, what will take its place ? The Aryan Nation Party ? MAGA ? Qanon ? As despicable as these faux " patriots " who say that they're pro - American, pro - free speech, pro - family, etc. are, they could be replaced by something worse.
I doubt that the Party of Lincoln will go extinct. The Old School Republican stalwarts have been using TFG's popularity with his maga crowd. Like hitching a ride on a garbage truck -- it's not how you would ordinarily choose to travel, but since the truck is headed in the same direction you are heading, you can put up with the stench for a while. When tfg is no longer of any use, the Old School types will leave the maghats behind.
The Party of Lincoln died a long time ago. What took its place were conspiracy theorists, gun nuts who believe that it's constitutional to carry assault weapons capable of taking out an armor - plated vehicle, racists, homophobes, people want to go back to the Dark Ages, other weird types. Have you ever heard George Carlin's routine " 4 Groups That Gotta go " ? If Mr. Carlin was still alive he would have added these people as 5 or possibly also number 6.
I was born in 1948. I've been watching politics my entire life. I remember Ike. The so-called Republican Party is no longer the Republican Party, as long as TFG has any influence. I think Robert Reich said a day or three ago that the Independents are the largest group of voters, at around 40%. I'm not trying to defend the Republicans. It's just that I remember what is was like when it felt like we were all on the same side, and the arguments were about how far and how fast to move forward -- not whether or where to go.
Don’t forget Nixon the Tricky Dick so fast, David! And then there was Joe McQarthy, sowing their miserable hate. I grew up in NYC starting in 1949 and my parents discussed all the events of the day with us.
Even Tricky Dick faded into the sunset instead of crying, yelling, acting like Linda Blair's character from The Exorcist. He faced his fate with some dignity, unlike TFG.
Sorry, Nixon did not face his fate with dignity! He should have been prosecuted and maintained his innocent with comments like (when a President does it, it's legal) (paraphrased)
And yet, after 20 years of laying low, he emerged as an “elder statesman”—barf!
Growing up in a 1950's Republican household was as you say, arguments among democracy loving rivals. This current Repugnant Party is way beyond the pale. I am a dedicated Democrat, who still likes Ike...
Indeed so Craig, me too! Ike only seems to get better with time, what he accomplished and what he resisted simply grow in significance with the passing of time and political experience.
I am friends with one of Ike's descendants. She says that, without question, her grandfather would now be a Democrat.
And the Republican Party would have lost yet another strong and thoughtful mind.
Eisenhower was the last true Republican with vision and honor. During his presidency those like Goldwater, William F. Buckley, and others began sowing the seeds and fear of ¨socialism¨ and ¨communism¨. Eisenhower wanted to follow in FDR's legacy. They didn't.
I remember Vietnam & the Cold War, even though I was a kid. I didn't always process all that was going on. The division that we have now makes the Vietnam war demonstrations look like an argument over a game of " Go Fish " or " Spit in the Ocean ".
I dropped out of college in my third semester. I was doing ok, could have kept going. I enlisted in the Army -- on Richard Nixon's birthday (also Joan Baez' birthday) Jan 9 1968. I spent a year of my life in the war. After returning home I applied for discharge as a conscientious objector -- and won, on the first application, based solely on my written statement. There was a series of demonstrations in Washington DC in April 1970 -- when John Kerry was running for President we saw him and a bunch of other veterans throw their medals on to the steps of the Capitol or the Supreme Court building. I was stationed at Fort Meade, Maryland and I had a car, and it took about half an hour to drive to DC. I was in a march or demonstration one day when the papers estimated the crowd on the Mall at around 600,000 people. I actually saw somebody put a flower into the barrel of a rifle held by a member of the National Guard. Everybody was smiling that day. During one of those demonstrations, maybe the one I was in, the Attorney General, John Mitchell, stood on a balcony, surveying the crowd, and made a public declaration that everyone in the crowd was unpatriotic. I didn't feel unpatriotic at all, and I imagined that most of the people there felt as I did, that just because the government wants to do something, does not make it right.
When you listen to "For What It's Worth" by Buffalo Springfield you can probably recognize that today's struggles have been going on for a long time.
And speaking of John Mitchell, Martha's suspicious death was eerily prescient of Ivanka's . . . As Marvin asked, "What's Goin' On?"
One can’t help wonder why Ivanka was interred at Bedminster and why the mysterious gathering. Can’t help but wonder if Trump’s select ‘top secret files’are in her crypt for potential blackmail purposes.
Ooops Ivana
Heather, I've wondered the same things about Ivana's grave. I don't think she's been interred at Bedminster. I hope to see an investigation.
WOW!!! That's an incredible idea! And too insane to not be true.
Buffalo Springfield - I usually listen to " We Didn't Start the Fire ", because it ticks a lot of the boxes. Or " Ball of Confusion ( That's What the World is Today ) ".
A few days ago "We Didn't Start the Fire" started playing in my mind, but I wasn't sure why. I was probably thinking: this has been going on for a long time. I don't know "Ball of Confusion" -- I'll look for it.
I pay respect to Billy Joel's "We didn't Start the Fire" ... "because it's always burning ... always turning".
Billy would appreciate that one of his best works is still so powerful.
I was there, too, David H! What a wonderful story of how you enlisted, but after seeing and realizing what was really going on in Vietnam, you got CO status. Bravo!!
Thanks, kdsherpa - Cheers!
❤️ Buffalo Springfield- will definitely check it out. Also your recollection of the flower in the barrel- powerful. Thank you for your post.
Didn’t that happen at Kent State?
Surprisingly, it’s not
https://www.songfacts.com/facts/buffalo-springfield/for-what-its-worth
I love this so much. So powerful. So honest. Such truth.
Daniel, while recognizing that you refer to just the demonstrations, it was no game of fish for those required to serve. In fact, I recall some of the demonstrations were no picnic either if you think about the Chicago Republican convention of 1968.
I was approximately 10 years old, & it seemed like there was change in the air to a kid such as young me even then. Anyway, if we can ensure that the change taking place now is POSITIVE, all this cr-pstorm will mean something & be worth it - especially if we can loosen the DAMN DEATH GRIP that the GOP and the Evangelical sellouts have on the Bible Belt Red states.
Excepept the Neighborhood Kids who went to Vietnam and not UCLA never came back. I never saw them again until I touched their engraved names on the Vietnam war wall in DC.
David H, a good year to be born! "Twould appear Ike was the last truly decent, honorable Republican to serve as POTUS. Unlike virtually any human we have seen he had access to true nearly absolute power in two spheres, military and political. And yet he remained true to democratic ideals serving country over party and warning us of the apocalypse of power coming in the form of "the military-industrial complex!" ...truly a man for all seasons.
As someone else here observed, "I still like Ike".
“It's just that I remember what is was like when it felt like we were all on the same side, and the arguments were about how far and how fast to move forward -- not whether or where to go.” That’s it exactly! Just had this conversation with my son. There’s currently no competition between the 2 parties, that would end in our country moving forward the quickest, and to the place where we all gain the most benefit.
Thank You, Kathy for amplifying that point.
I have other stories to tell as well, about how the Members of Congress would fight all day in their respective chambers, and then gather at the local "water holes" to commiserate, regardless of party affiliation. The friendships went across the aisle. Their families got together, they were truly friends, regardless of political party. I went to Washington DC in the summer of '66, with 4-H, for a Citizenship Short Course. I shook hands with Senator William Proxmire from Wisconsin. By most accounts, that feeling of comradery dissipated by around 1975 -- and eventually morphed into what we see today, with Members heckling the President during the State of the Union address. Some of us believe that the "conservative movement" is responsible for most of the loss of the sense of all of us being on the same side.
You must be thinking of Eisenhower. I grew up under his relatively beneficent rule. Since then, all the repugnicant "leaders" I can count have been corrupt.
Grandpa's Old Party was hijacked.
Brilliant ploy by failed Nazis...
Instead of shaved skulls, black leather, tattoos and swastika armbands, dark suits, ties, well-coiffed hair... And Grandma didn't even notice the difference.
Meanwhile failed fascist wingnuts from wastelands on the remote edge of the political spectrum found... RELIGION, became tax-free "minister of religion" cuckoos, ousted the real thing from the nest... and rule the roost unquestioned and unchallenged. Just like the Wolf who ate Grandma and put on her nightshirt and nightcap...
Have you seen some of these rallies ? The participants / spectators look like Hell's Angels, the crowds at WWE or WWF wrestling matches. Not many suits & ties. Tattoos, half their teeth missing, probably from bar fights, probably carrying a concealed weapon. It's like something out of Mad Max. All that's missing is Master Blaster & Auntie Entity from Beyond Thunderdome.
Can we stop with the way they look thing please? Especially in regards to missing or no teeth at all.
You see, I have no teeth. Long story but due to losing bone mass my implants fell out and the many dentists I've been to can't seem to make me dentures (especially the top) that will stay in place, even with a whole tube of that nasty glue cr*p.
As for the tattoos, I don't have one but I have a lot of friends who do. Unless they're vulgar or related to white supremacy I have no problem with them.
There's a lot of reasons other than looks to bash these people for.
Know what I have a problem with? Their (or anyone's) disrespect for our flag.
Obviously they've never read about flag etiquette.
Neither did I until I became a scoutmaster.
Of course, you're dead right, only I wasn't thinking of the Mainstream-MAGA-Mudstream but of what struts and postures in the halls of Congress and of Statehouses, the Ivy League imitations of Adolf Hitler's tame aristocrats... longing to bring back jackboots and black uniforms...
As for their real attitude to less exalted beings, Philip Larkin said it all:
I want to see them starving,
The so-called working class
Their wages weekly halving
Their women stewing grass.
When I ride out each morning
In one of my new suits
I want to find them fawning
To clean my car and boots.
Peter, my man -
I think that you made my day, perhaps my WHOLE FREAKING WEEK ! 🙆♂️🤜🤛 The GOP needs to get knocked off of their high horse & their ivory tower knocked down ! Thinking of the day when they get treated like Nazi - ish SCUM.
What if they're all extras from central casting, paid for by the Rs!
David, I frevently hope that you are wrong. Seeing the GOP die the death it wishes for those who do not follow its philosophy will leave us all better off. I, for one, have not mourned the deaths of all those who believed their nonsense about COVID and decided vaccines were not to be taken. The GOP has devolved into a psychopathic cult. The human race no longer needs them, if it ever did.
James, I appreciate your sentiments. My position is so far to the Left that I sometimes describe it as a Speculative Fiction Leftist. I do care about the people I grew up with in rural southeastern Wisconsin, most of whom grew up on dairy farms. Some are still farming. Some time ago I "unfriended" a man who was a neighbor growing up, and we went all the way through school together from second grade. I decided I'd be happier if I just excluded him from my reality. For those who hold sincere religious beliefs, I am happy for them, but G*d help them if they try to foist their personal beliefs on me or on anybody else who does not wish to be bothered. I blame the conservative movement for everything that is wrong, or is holding us back from being able to fix the things that are within our power to fix. I think we should reframe the whole conversation, change the public narrative, look to the long-term future, and change the way we do things so that Earth will still be habitable a thousand years from now, and ten thousand years from now. If we don't take drastic concerted action soon, we won't even make it to the turn of the century. And that's just the problems we already know about. I think we should expand the concept of the new James Webb Space Telescope, make bigger segmented mirrors, and lots of them, so we can get a better understanding of what the universe has in store for us. While we're bickering here, there is a lot we don't know about the world in which we live. The conservative movement wants to impose austerity on us. Bad idea. Our federal government, our Congress, needs to spend lots of money into our economy to bring everyone up out of poverty. Deficit spending does not matter. We will always be able to pay our debts. When Congress spends money into our economy we tend to prosper, and money flows into the hands of our neighbors and friends at the bottom tiers of our economy. We can build a new economy based in part on repairing the damage that our economy has over the past three centuries inflicted on the planet. The so-called conservatives are standing in our way. In every election we need to ask them to get out of our way, because we have a lot of work to do. Either join us, or get out of our way.
Great post, David H. I think if I was a young person today, I'd be furious about the failure of political leaders to address climate change and gun violence. (Actually, I AM furious!) I really hope that young adults will vote like their lives depend on it and replace these idiots with people who are willing to do something positive for a change.
Yes, the young adults need to get involved. I am continually pushing my sons (I think they'd be called millenials) to pay attention and be sure to vote. But they're both busy as hell raising my grandkids: I understand the time pressure they're under.
We need to join the young people and support their efforts. There is a lot of work yet to be done.
Amen to all that. I, too, have a lot of friends who are devout, but I'll have no truck with organized religion. I don't believe it's ever been shown to be a force that advances the human race. That doesn't mean I exclude them: I just understand the limits I have to place on any contact with them. You're right about that last point: there was a motto over the door in one of them many barracks I spent time in: "Lead, follow, or get out of the way".
“[T]he [Republican garbage] truck is headed in the same direction.” Hopefully, the dumpster, the landfill or, better yet, jail!
Lincoln would have been horrified to see what his "Republican party" has become. (And it actually isn't the same party, historically, which current day repugnicants fail to mention.)
Daniel, that horse is out of the barn, has been since Dump came to sow his hate and evil. “Something worse” has come to replace them….omg.
Curious, that metaphor. 9 months before said Dump was raised to Higher Things, I dreamed a dream and got out of bed to scribble a few lines which I've quoted here before...
The last verse:
*
You fight to close the stable door
The horse is not there anymore
I don't think that it ever was
Inside the stall, and that's because
In there's the lair of the Beast.
Boy, is that prophetic.
& yet my idiot cousin was wringing her hands about the BLM march that I mentioned. I guess she would have jumped for joy if the Proud Boys, Qanon or Aryan Nation had marched through here.
Elisabeth, something worse indeed! The majority of Republicans have sown division, doubt and suspicion of our own admittedly imperfect democracy and it has come into full bloom! The evidence is present in the vituperative language of "our own" Heather's comment section. That they have sown this division makes it even more critical that we not join in and fan the flames of hatred by name-calling and depersonalizing those others.
I don’t name call except for 45, and I am so disturbed because I do not depersonalize anyone! I am shocked to be living in a country that is on a fast track to dissolving its democracy. I love this forum because it is a “safe space” for ideas and exchange of opinions, even ones that clash.
The Lord of the Rings:The Rings of Power....".Orcs".....written by J.R.R, Tolkien
Or Klingons with " molecular surgery " endeavoring to pass themselves off as humans in Classic Trek. I'm a nerd.
Possibly, but I see the growth in the numbers of Independents as a good sign. They’re currently the largest block of voters in the country. What the hell do we even need parties for? Candidates could fund raise and campaign on a much more even playing field without them. And would result in candidates running because they truly believe in their platforms, rather than just trying to get rich. The amount of money wasted on elections between two parties, neither of which represent the majority of Americans, is horrifying.
What the hell do we need parties for, Indeed. I'm going to put on my Sherlock Holmes deerstalker hat & Google that question after I get some sleep. Chris, you have given me a juicy morsel to go with my whisky & coffee. Thanks !
Same game, different name.
Morlocks trying to pass themselves off as Eloi. OR - demons trying to pass themselves off as " angels of light ( even though I left organized religion over a decade ago, some of the phraseology still comes in handy at times ) ".
The GOP is extinct.
Yes, replaced by this mutated troglodytic abomination that Trump helped to enable.
Exactly. This faux GOP might die, but its 74+ million constituents and its deep pocket funders will create an alternative that will be dedicated to democracy's destruction.
I forgot the most uplifting event of all on Tuesday, the Wisconsin SC win!
Anita, I keep thinking “How can this shit even be legal?????!!!!” I hope they are challenged up the wazoo by the Tennessee Three, our heroes. 🌈
I hope masses of Tennessee citizens will rally around these injustices.
Ït hasn't been legal and they see that they are able to get away with it. Until huge numbers of Independents and Democrats hit the streets in protest and demand the return of ethics, rules, laws, it will get worse.