I need to think and collect my thoughts. The war in Afghanistan has taken a terrible toll on Afghan citizens, US Americans, and allies. There are loose ends which will result in additional lives being lost.
It is, first and foremost, time for every US American to understand that being a US American citizen is not a gift but something that takes dedication and commitment. That commitment includes not diminishing the intrinsic worth of another human being no matter where they live, the color of their skin or the god they believe in. Those of us who have sprung from immigrants, today or centuries ago, need to stop, take a breath and consider the fate of those Afghans (and others) who are desperate to land on US soil and live a "good life" - one where they and their children can learn and grow unencumbered by the politics of submission and hate.
There is no real difference between the far right, the evangelical right and the Taliban. They all are about curbing human and civil rights. We, in the US, have allowed bigotry and hate to percolate just below the surface for decades. When Trump became president he unleashed an unfathomable amount of hate and rage which infected millions around the country. We still, today, live with Trump's influence and stain.
My 67 years on this planet have been extraordinary in so many ways. I have been blessed. Even when I've struggled, I've believed in a better tomorrow and carried on. I no longer believe in a better tomorrow even as I advocate for one today. My thoughts are with those who have personally felt terror and loss as a result of the war in Afghanistan and subsequent withdrawal. May they find peace and comfort.
I've also thought at my age I'll have to watch things get worse and worse... and I'll be dead before it gets better if it ever does. I, too, have been blessed with a very good life. I was so energized by the George Floyd protests. It felt like we were actually going to make this world into a world for all the People this time. Love Benjamin Franklin's quote "Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are."
I agree. The far right, the evangelical right and the Taliban are basically indistinguishable. There are too many MAGA angry fat white men without masks yelling and threatening people with violence. With Rights come the responsibility to protect those rights for others. Otherwise it is anarchy.
Hi Terry. As someone who used the word "fat" as a pejorative more than once in my younger years without considering how hurtful it might be for some people, I appreciate your posts, and I know Cathy would not have used the word if she had given her post another moment's thought.
(Not sure why my name doesn't show up next to the head symbol, but this is Terry Nicholetti from DC.) With due respect, and agreement with your premise, I want to encourage us all to leave out the word "fat" as a pejorative when describing the rioters. (BMI charts are grossly inadequate in describing the health of any individual, contributing to fat shaming behavior among laity and medical professionals alike, but that's another story.) Angry white men covers all the men we saw, some fat, some average, some thin. I'm a 76 year old woman (tomorrow!) who has struggled with my weight since I was a child, starving in the first two weeks of my life because they couldn't figure out what to feed me that didn't make me vomit. Using food for comfort shows up on my body as extra stored energy, which has been a license for many to shame me. It's taken me decades to learn self-acceptance and healthier ways to self-sooth. Meanwhile, those who use alcohol, or sex, or over-work, or video games or any of the hundreds of other, move acceptable ways to self-sooth, escape this shaming unless their behavior becomes extreme. I ask people of compassion to recognize that fat as a description has turned into fat as a shaming word, and to choose no longer to use it that way. Thank you!
As a "White Male" I can appreciate your umbrage at ppl categorizing by fysical characteristics. I realize my "white privilege" but hate having it thrown in my face by ppl who don't know my civil rights efforts to correct that. Also, I have been told I cannot engage in black discussions or even mourn the death of Chadwick Boseman because that is only for black ppl. And, if I mention that I was married to a black woman for 2 decades and my grandsons are black I get mocked for that as trying to prove I am not racist. The same with radical feminists who pigeon-hole me because I am "Male."
I understand but I also see so many of these Fat, Out of Shape, Men with military assault rifles pretending to be some sort of militia, when they would likely have a coronary if they tried to sprint in a combat situation. This is the caricature image that gets that tag, much like the screaming Misogynist, Racist, White Men.
You'll just have to content yourself with pointing out that not all overweight men are idiots, just as I often point out that I am a White Male who believes in racial & gender rights.
Will I get mocked for saying that I have a very dear overweight diabetic male friend, a professor with whom I really enjoy talking? I can actually say I have a Fat, Redneck brother in MS, whom I haven't talked to since 2016 because he is an ignorant MAGAT?
Thanks Bob. I don't like angry rants or put downs from either end of the spectrum. Pigeonholing, blaming, calling others out as though we know what they are thinking or feeling...none of these actions help to create a more compassionate, just society. I think these are the kinds of extremes that happen as growing pains from change, not as a place to end up.
My daughter married a black man and my grands and great grands are mixed race, so I identified with some of your experiences and concerns. I've finally defined white privilege (how can I be privileged - I'm living on SS!) as I enjoy white privilege because non of the hard/hurtful/dangerous things that happened to me ever happened just because I'm white.
My only thought about your last two questions is, why, when talking about your dear male friend, or your brother, would you need to include the labels at all; why would someone else need to know that your friend is diabetic or overweight? I'm thinking an alternative is to describe behaviors or feelings rather than labels. for example, And a very dear friend of mine with whom I worked for six months as my producer/direcor of my one-woman show is so pro-trump that I find it nearly impossible to speak with her about anything to do with our country's government or politics. That's very painful for me. Just a thought...
Well, one thing I do avoid is calling anyone an idiot. People who are mentally retarded that I have met are almost always lovely pleasant people. Yes, we have a long way to go with our assumptions and understanding of others and getting rid of the stereotypical responses we learned growing up. I didn't like being a woman and for years felt I had a man's brain trapped in a woman's body. Got over that. But, never liked being discriminated against just because my penis was too short. When I have a stereotypical reaction I try to reframe it in my mind before saying anything.
Having worked with developmentally disabled ppl for 40 years, I have seen the changes in language. The last agency I worked with was called Miami Adult Center for Retarded in the early 70s, just as the umbrella agency Association for Retarded Citizens is now only the acronym ARC. I have even written essays on the changing names and IDIOT, IMBICILE & MORON, once clinical terms are now archaic and get a pass by the very nature of its common usage. Ever read “Common Vernacular for Dummys?” Just made that up, but deaf/mute ppl were once considered mentally defective, hence Dumb became the insult that ppl today don’t even consider. As a woman you could be insulted if told you were having a “hissy fit.” It is likely a shortening of “hysterical” an affliction only for ppl with a uterus (hyster). There are all sorts of insulting words floating around and you have to take them in context.
That's a brilliant approach...and gives me a tool to add to my own effort to 'pause ' when ever I have a strong reaction that's ready to burst...pause followed by reframing! Thanks!
Well said. As an endocrinology APRN I get it that the prenatal environment and early life health events shape an adult’s health issues. Please do not accept the stereotypical and shaming attitudes of others to influence your self worth. BMI is not always accurate in assessing a person’s health status. I often see slender people with type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Compassion and respect are essential In this so needy world.
Terry, Point well taken. I, too, am almost your age and still struggling with weight. And, yes, it has stung when I have been called fat and worse. It does seem that Americans are becoming more and more obese because of our poor diets with too much salt and fat (so we'll be addicted and buy the stuff that isn't good for us). Because we are an obese society it does seem like the majority of these angry mostly men are average Americans -- obese. Happy Birthday! Hope you enjoy your special day!
Terry, Early birthday greetings to you! I hope your day is filled with joy. You're right about removing the word fat from our vocabulary as a pejorative.
PS, I see your name next to the head icon just fine🌷
"The far right, the evangelical right and the Taliban are basically indistinguishable."
While it is true that Southern evangelical component of the Baptist Church long used the Old Testament to support slavery, and probably would again, and advertises a patriarchal family structure where women are encouraged not to work, today's Southern Baptist Convention is far from the Taliban in terms of violence, intolerance and treatment of both men and women.
Yes, but the American civil war ended in 1865 and—for all the violence of our times—you can’t compare the American South today to a land that has been ravaged by war for nearly half a century.
Right. I grew up in the land of "Colored" water fountains and other terrible institutions. If they were allowed today, they would still be around. (I also have a stash of Confederate money that my grandma gave me "just in case"). But I moved out of that environment as soon as I joined the military after high school and I've never looked back. Now in California.
NPR's Rachel Martin talks to pastor Ed Litton, the new president of the Southern Baptist Convention ...
MARTIN: "...Separately. Let's begin with the reckoning about racism that's happening, obviously, around the country. And the Southern Baptist Convention is no exception. There was an effort to get the convention to take a stand on critical race theory, which is the idea of viewing our current institutions in America through the lens of racism and our history with slavery. Where did you land on that?"
LITTON: "Well, it's interesting because those efforts did not succeed. And, in fact, what I think our listeners need to understand about Southern Baptists is we have bound ourselves to the word of God as the tool for evaluating anything, systems of injustice would be included. And the reason we don't first turn to CRT is because CRT doesn't really deal with what we think is the core issue, which is the human heart. And the truth is, CRT doesn't deal with the origin of sin in all of us. It doesn't deal with the origin of - or the nature of redemption through the blood of Jesus Christ, shed for us. Nor does it give us hope for what we call a Revelation 7:9 Vision, which is around the throne of God in eternity, there will be every tribe and tongue."
This sounds like so much obfuscation dancing around the real issue with buybull scripture. I know from the 1990s in Gainesville Florida, I watched & got fotos of the KKK men at our Gay Pride picnic bowing their heads in prayer. I suspect they were Southern Baptists, like my MS Uncle who was deacon in his Southern Baptist church and also a member of the Klan.
I'm reminded my only son's death September 1st a few years back. He was 29. I'll be 69 tomorrow. There has to be a better tomorrow. Thank you for your compassion to the Afghan people.
On days like this, the veil between worlds seems very thin as we remember and allow love and grief to flow. Our children live on in our hearts and minds.
d017, Your insistence that there be a better tomorrow forced my head up with eyes off the screen. I sensed hope and determination with a plea attached to what you wrote. You lifted me up, d017. Be well and strong. Thank you.
" You wrote: There is no real difference between the far right, the evangelical right, and the Taliban. They all are about curbing human and civil rights." Yep. And given yesterday's; legislative accomplishments in Texas we have our own little caliphate to watch and see how this plays out and impacts the quality of life of the residents. A hint: it does not turn out well.
[Repeating from yesterday] I am proud of our military in the execution of the evacuation and for Mr Biden's decision to do it now, quickly, from Kabul, and with the astounding logistical effectiveness that kept life losses at a minimum and huge numbers of Afghans able to escape; 120,000 by America and a total of 240,000 I believe, in concert with our allies. To think that we could have started earlier without repercussions or dragged the exit on for a longer more planful period of time, while hopeful, is ignoring the facts: That there was not a viable government in place for nearly the whole 20 years, that the Taliban have a will greater than the military we supported, that a government built by us in-country that mirrored ours required us to be the forever CEO of that financially supported subsidiary, that we were not the victors in the war, that we embued a small sector of the populus with hopes and promises of undying commitment to Afghan becoming a democracy and we would rescue all those who followed such unrealized dreams, that we accepted the terms of defeat as early as February 2020, and that there was no best deal to be made or better negotiations to be achieved from this collective of individual provinces that make up Afghanistan, and the only ones who could control our exit were the Taliban who won decisively among those Afghanies who were held power in every one of the provinces excepting the capitol Kabul, to name a few of the key facts. The last leader, general, guy dutied with turning the lights off and locking the door while turning the keys over in a bankruptcy gets the blame, the derision, is the proverbial scapegoat for the thousands of bad decisions that created failure or defeat going before. Biden is strong enough to live with that and get on with the rest of OUR agenda. Hooray, Mr Biden for doing what others before you should have done and that would have left our national dignity in better standing, at least temporarily. Please, Mr Biden, one time to explain and state your responsibility. Then, move on so that the War in Afghanistan is not allowed to be your failure. It's done. The humanitarian outcomes and the kindness and bravery of our military families contain the lessons for us from our nation's (and allies) expenditure of wealth and lives in that war.
There is no good way to gracefully end a 20 year war in a country with multiple tribes and factions. In fact, there is no way to end a 20 year war gracefully, period. Terrorism wreaks hell on the oppressed. TFG and his comrades only made deals with the Taliban and not the existing Afghan government. TFG and his comrades allowed the release of 5,000 Taliban prisoners and planners that undergird them now. The TFG and his comrades refused a transitional handover to pass information to the incoming administration of current issues with the war, agreements and national/international security issues. TFG and his comrades have proven they care zip for the welfare and well-being of the women and children at the hands of the Taliban in Afghanistan, and for that matter of all the people in our democracy. So who the hell should we be mad at, really? Biden is doing a yeoman's job and he won't be perfect, he admits mistakes, and he has humility. He has a lot of experience and he has to deal with seditionists in his government who are still able to vote and make laws for a country they want to have total authoritarian control. I think people need to reign in their anger. War is hell and so is fascism right here where our brainwashed people and children are endangered and dying.
I was happy to hear on our local news that my community has asked to have 3 Afghan families come to this area. Locals are ready to open their homes until the refugees can find housing. This, when the folks on the right in this country are spewing hatred and violence. Unfortunately, like you, Daria, I do not see a "better tomorrow" in what remains of my life. Sad.....
20 years ago another refugee airlift forever changed the trajectory of my life and my mindset. That was when 3,800 "Lost Boys of Sudan" came to the U.S.; approximately 300 to the Boston area. They were unaccompanied, older teenage boys who, when very young, literally escaped death and destruction of their villages.
So many stories of heartbreak, joy, struggles, successes, resiliency. My involvement literally began by collecting winter clothing, making meals, then forming a nonprofit to help with education, housing, and providing guidance and support (i.e. parenting!) to help adjust to a new world. These young men (now with their wives and children) are among the loves of my life - they are family. I encourage anyone who has the opportunity to become involved with refugees to seize the moment. You will see a "better tomorrow" through their eyes!
There is now much written about "The Lost Boys". These links give a quick overview.
“ I encourage anyone who has the opportunity to become involved with refugees to seize the moment. You will see a "better tomorrow" through their eyes!”
Such optimism and resolve are critical for getting us through the challenges and threats of the far right.
For over seven decades, Mexico lived under the rule of the oxymoronic Institutional Revolutionary Party.
Americans—our poor wretched planet—now have to live with something that ought to be a physical impossibility.
It still masquerades as “the Republican Party”—just like the Wolf all dressed up as Granny—but it is nothing less than a permanent coup d’état, an ongoing 24/24, 7/7 PUTSCH.
And it won’t stop there. It can’t stop—ever! Not even when the Ongoing Putsch becomes their Institutionalized Putsch.
Like the Villain in a Tex Avery cartoon, these rabid loons ran off the clifftop in November… and they’re still running! What does this say about America? What does it say about mankind today? Would such delusions be thinkable in a land not in thrall to “virtual reality”, where millions can’t tell a hawk from a handsaw or the world from a video game?
ISIS employs psychopaths to commit mass murder. Whoever pays the onetime GOP employed a human battering ram to do its bidding for four years from November 2016… but now… “rabid” is a polite word for the feral parasites that have gotten into our apple.
No one on Earth will be safe as long as the hell-beings that are hijacking America roam free. The planet can breathe freely only once they’re under lock and key in secure prisons for the criminally insane.
On my way to work this morning I heard about the Texas ban on essentially all abortion having passed into law. First thought was, "this is the American Taliban hard at work stripping away the rights of women to make their own life choices."
I’m far happier with your excellent comment than with my own, but I did want to make it clear that what calls itself the Republican Party is no such thing, it is not a political party but a conspiracy. No external enemies can rival it.
Peter, you are absolutely right and I agree with you - the Republican Party has morphed from a political party to a conspiracy and no external enemies can rival it. That our biggest threat is from within is chilling.
I wish I didn’t have to “like”—even endorse—what you have just written. No sane person can feel anything but horror at the mass madness in your country, in mine, in so many others. Given America’s power and influence, the nightmare looms vaster.
Yet there’s no place and no cause for discouragement.
I once asked my very agnostic father why, after the fall of France and the debacle of Dunkirk, he, being so down to earth, did not consider suing for peace in the face of overpowering material force.
His response:
“The war was often going badly for us, yet in all those years neither I nor any of my comrades ever doubted for one single moment that we would overcome.”
So much truth and wisdom here, Daria. Religions can carry human beings into dark corners, and it stuns me perpetually to think about the social role of evangelical religion and other cults. Simply put, IMO, they constantly deny and override the national creed about all men being created equal and being equally entitled to pursue life, liberty and happiness. One hopes the founders held the expansive view of 'men' but I think that is the clearly modern view among most as it should be.
“There is no real difference between the far right, the evangelical right and the Taliban.” Do you actually believe this? Maybe you are joking no? Daria you are better and smarter than this. I hope I am missing something.
There is the Taliban. Then there are the "Oath Keepers" and the "Proud Boys".
The difference between them is that the Taliban once they gain control of a region, will help feed the population. Of course, they will fund that effort with "taxation" aka extortion, the opium trade and duties levied on trade.
The American Taliban (and there are many) range from the above mentioned groups to racist clergymen and some members of Congress. And then there are the leaders of the NRA. Yes, we have our own "Taliban". And Kevin McCarthy's statements just put him in support of that club.
And all the defenders of the Capitol invaders of January 6th shall have that designation as well...and worse.
Here’s one similarity between right wing extremists and the Taliban, and it didn’t take long to find this image plus hundreds more. Yeah, I would call these guys terrorists, too
David, maybe Daria meant to say "important" instead of "real". Do you suggest there are no important similarities among these extreme groups? When I saw the image of AK-47-carryingTalibans standing grimly behind a frightened Afghan TV journalist as he tried to read the news, I thought "Hmmm, looks like a bunch of Trumpoids, but with better beards."
Like Saddam Hussein (and any number of “our sonofabitches”) the Taliban once enjoyed US support, before serving for target practice. Would they have become what they are if America hadn’t hammered them into their present shape and tempered the metal… over a long, long period of time?
It’s “the only good Injun is a dead Injun” all over again. You’d have thought the Vietnam fiasco would put an end to the frontiersmen’s westward push across Asia.
We in Europe will pay for the horrible messes successive administrations made of vast swathes of western Asia, and the bills may come in for generations. It’s more than sad that America’s sacrifice for our freedom should have degenerated to this. One thing to carry a big stick but… where was the soft speech?
David, no, I'm not joking. When people organize and support the use violence to defend their faith and/or their political beliefs they are modeling terrorism. When groups of (mostly) men walk the streets of Any Town, USA openly carrying powerful, semiautomatic weaponry, in order to intimidate "the other" they are terrorists. When religion is used as the justification for violence and stripping away rights and freedom that is terrorism.
The only thing that has not yet happened in the US is right wing extremists routinely gunning people down in the streets or in their homes. That day is coming. When dangerous, vocal politicians like Cawthorn, Greene, Brookes and the like talk about the right rising up against liberals they are planting the seeds of violence in the minds of people champing at the bit to act out their hatred against those who "stole" the election from them. Do you seriously think Cawthorn suggesting civil war is empty rhetoric? Do you seriously think that people won't act on his Civil War fantasy? What of this from Fuentes and Malkin?
"The influential young white supremacist Nick Fuentes — an ally of the Arizona Republican congressman Paul Gosar and the anti-immigrant pundit Michelle Malkin — wrote on the encrypted app Telegram: “The Taliban is a conservative, religious force, the U.S. is godless and liberal. The defeat of the U.S. government in Afghanistan is unequivocally a positive development.” An account linked to the Proud Boys expressed respect for the way the Taliban “took back their national religion as law, and executed dissenters.” NYT
I think you are missing something, David. You're missing the fact that the right's advocacy of violence has become acceptable to talk about openly. The Taliban used violence to topple a government and install themselves in a position of power. There are people in our country who admire what the Taliban has done and look to achieve a similar success, through force, in the US. The minute right wing extremists in the US pick up arms to overwhelm their neighbors, overtake the government and force their brand of Christianity on us they will, in fact, be the American Taliban.
And let's add to this the Texas abortion law that allows for vigilantism against women seeking abort after 6 weeks, anyone who performs an abortion after six weeks, and anyone that you even think has knowledge of someone seeking or performing an abortion after 6 weeks.
"Beyond outlawing abortion as early as six weeks into a pregnancy, the Texas law, signed in May, would deputize citizens to file civil suits against abortion providers or anyone who helps facilitate the procedure after six weeks, such as a person who drives a pregnant person to the clinic. Individuals found to have violated the law would have to pay $10,000 to the person who successfully brings such a suit — a bounty abortion rights advocates warn will encourage harassment, intimidation and vigilantism."
This new law in Texas that deputizes citizens financially incentivizes abortion bounty hunters. And who will make any finding forcing an alleged violator to pay $10,000 to the bounty hunter? A trump judge and/or a jury of what “peers?”
There is extremism on both the right and the left. Just look at the riots of 2020. It is not at all all right wing. I also find your identification with fundamental Christianity with violent troubling. What would the abolitionist John Brown or Billy Graham be called. Terrorist. Now. What about progressive rioters be called? The chosen? Be careful labeling entire groups as evil. People are more nuanced.
Firstly, I would never lump John Brown in with Billy Graham. John Brown was a passionate, dedicated abolitionist who practiced what he preached putting his and his family's lives in jeopardy throughout his life to help run away slaves travel safely to Canada. He gave his life for the Abolitionist Movement. Billy Graham, for all his talk, was not a passionate advocate of civil rights, distancing himself from MLK and other civil rights leaders in the early 60s.
And, yes, let's talk about the riots of 2020. In many instances peaceful BLM protests were high jacked by extremists seeking to disrupt that peace. Were there extremists from both sides of the spectrum? Yes indeed. But the difference between the two sides is well documented and it is this: right wing extremists tend to be very well organized and interconnected, left wing extremists function in a more nebulous fashion. There is no head of ANTIFA because it is not a group but a movement against fascism. There are heads of the Proud Boys, 3 Percenters, The Oath Keepers and other right extremist groups and many of these groups prop themselves up using "White Christian Nationalism" as a basic tenet.
Rioting and looting by anyone is not the same as peaceful protest. Many of those who rioted in 2020 did so because they objected to a revitalized BLM movement following the death of George Floyd. They wanted to make sure that the BLM movement was tainted with violence. Those on the left who countered right wing violence with violence during the 2020 events are no less guilty, however, I dare say there are fewer on the left side of the spectrum than the right.
Finally, January 6, 2021. Let's look at that briefly. A lot of God and Jesus talk has been thrown around before, during and after that day by the insurrectionists, their agitators and supporters. We are, according to them, a Christian nation and God is exclusively on their side. It's sickening.
I don't believe I've ever used the word evil. Don't put words into my mouth
Brown and Graham are both Evangelicals. The point is they are not monolithic.
Your disgust is duly noted.
The Progressive movement is becoming more “fascist” too by the day. And It is totally organized. No Schiff ;) Cultish. Isn’t that why many are here? It is incredibly the movement of the wealthy and coastal Elite. Who would have thunk. Nancy’s Warriors, Gavin sure in their righteousness. The People Like Us Crowd. Above it. Mandate, Impose, Cancel, Obfuscate, Control. Odd no? Even Eric Clapton is hip to it, protesting attacks on individual Freedom…I imagine he gets canceled ;) Back to the future…strange days indeed. Good evening.
The BLM protests were mostly peaceful. It was the instigators on the right wing fringe that did most of the rioting and them blamed it on something else. Ya know, kinda like 45 did all his life.
Please, our extreme left would be seen as merely moderate in a number of European social democracies where civility is still a value and healthcare is a birthright. I think our lefties are the only ones keeping our moderate Democrats from becoming Joe Manchin clones.
I think our problem in the States is that we've -- justifiably -- lost faith in politicians generally, and we have ceased believing that some people (scientists, educators, intellectuals, artists, older folks, etc.) actually know more about many things than the rest of us do and that we should listen to them. People think that all existing knowledge is easily available to them if they just tap their smartphones a few times, no interpretation or mentoring needed, but this is not literally the case. This is not real learning. It is not real knowledge. It is social adaptation above all, as well as subjugation to our bizarre socio-economic system.
So we can just read a few sentences, and if what's written seems to correspond to some belief (or -- more likely -- feeling) we have picked up somewhere and rings true, then we feel reassured, justified and even confident that we have latched on to a piece of the truth and can repeat it, pass it on with satisfying assurance to others who may actually know more (or less) than we do, but there's no way to know because we assume they get their knowledge the same way we do. And sometimes we lead each other out on a very long and brittle limb, and now look where we are!
The need to remind each other that the lefties are just as bad as our proto (and not so proto) fascist righties helps us feel evenhanded (it is pleasant to feel evenhanded!), but the fact is that our extreme lefties (are there still American Communists, a couple of Leninist-Stalinst professors in a backroom of one of our prestigious and expensive Ivy League colleges or universities?) are few and far between and have no effect on our national discourse whatever (really, who are they?), but they are in our minds like the little bit of evil lurking in our hearts.
Our Frankensteinish Right has been working to invent the perfect world-destroying monster for at least 40 years (Trump is just a prototype) and they are now getting close and they have us out on their limb with them, while our left has been in full retreat ever since LBJ decided to listen to his generals and not his heart, and Bernie Sanders and a handful of bright-eyed progressives have not changed this, unfortunately.
The problem with our Left is that it barely exists, and most of us subscribe to HCR's Letter.
The problem with extremism is that the perfect world, in either extreme, does not and cannot exist within the continuum of diverse values and priorities in any society. Compromise is the watchword of a functional society and extremists, who condemn the notion that giving something up to gain something you desire, are really at the root of disfunction
I need to think and collect my thoughts. The war in Afghanistan has taken a terrible toll on Afghan citizens, US Americans, and allies. There are loose ends which will result in additional lives being lost.
It is, first and foremost, time for every US American to understand that being a US American citizen is not a gift but something that takes dedication and commitment. That commitment includes not diminishing the intrinsic worth of another human being no matter where they live, the color of their skin or the god they believe in. Those of us who have sprung from immigrants, today or centuries ago, need to stop, take a breath and consider the fate of those Afghans (and others) who are desperate to land on US soil and live a "good life" - one where they and their children can learn and grow unencumbered by the politics of submission and hate.
There is no real difference between the far right, the evangelical right and the Taliban. They all are about curbing human and civil rights. We, in the US, have allowed bigotry and hate to percolate just below the surface for decades. When Trump became president he unleashed an unfathomable amount of hate and rage which infected millions around the country. We still, today, live with Trump's influence and stain.
My 67 years on this planet have been extraordinary in so many ways. I have been blessed. Even when I've struggled, I've believed in a better tomorrow and carried on. I no longer believe in a better tomorrow even as I advocate for one today. My thoughts are with those who have personally felt terror and loss as a result of the war in Afghanistan and subsequent withdrawal. May they find peace and comfort.
I've also thought at my age I'll have to watch things get worse and worse... and I'll be dead before it gets better if it ever does. I, too, have been blessed with a very good life. I was so energized by the George Floyd protests. It felt like we were actually going to make this world into a world for all the People this time. Love Benjamin Franklin's quote "Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are."
Franklin saw it right!
Fundamentalism, in any guise, wreaks havoc, hatred, and oppression.
May we be of generosity of spirit to immigrants, from which we came.
Amen.
I 2nd that! The GQP has devolved into a Fundamentalist Organization.
As mad as only the maddest of them.
I agree. The far right, the evangelical right and the Taliban are basically indistinguishable. There are too many MAGA angry fat white men without masks yelling and threatening people with violence. With Rights come the responsibility to protect those rights for others. Otherwise it is anarchy.
I wouldn't turn my back on the skinny ones either.
Thank you for saying that!!!
Hi Terry. As someone who used the word "fat" as a pejorative more than once in my younger years without considering how hurtful it might be for some people, I appreciate your posts, and I know Cathy would not have used the word if she had given her post another moment's thought.
(Not sure why my name doesn't show up next to the head symbol, but this is Terry Nicholetti from DC.) With due respect, and agreement with your premise, I want to encourage us all to leave out the word "fat" as a pejorative when describing the rioters. (BMI charts are grossly inadequate in describing the health of any individual, contributing to fat shaming behavior among laity and medical professionals alike, but that's another story.) Angry white men covers all the men we saw, some fat, some average, some thin. I'm a 76 year old woman (tomorrow!) who has struggled with my weight since I was a child, starving in the first two weeks of my life because they couldn't figure out what to feed me that didn't make me vomit. Using food for comfort shows up on my body as extra stored energy, which has been a license for many to shame me. It's taken me decades to learn self-acceptance and healthier ways to self-sooth. Meanwhile, those who use alcohol, or sex, or over-work, or video games or any of the hundreds of other, move acceptable ways to self-sooth, escape this shaming unless their behavior becomes extreme. I ask people of compassion to recognize that fat as a description has turned into fat as a shaming word, and to choose no longer to use it that way. Thank you!
As a "White Male" I can appreciate your umbrage at ppl categorizing by fysical characteristics. I realize my "white privilege" but hate having it thrown in my face by ppl who don't know my civil rights efforts to correct that. Also, I have been told I cannot engage in black discussions or even mourn the death of Chadwick Boseman because that is only for black ppl. And, if I mention that I was married to a black woman for 2 decades and my grandsons are black I get mocked for that as trying to prove I am not racist. The same with radical feminists who pigeon-hole me because I am "Male."
I understand but I also see so many of these Fat, Out of Shape, Men with military assault rifles pretending to be some sort of militia, when they would likely have a coronary if they tried to sprint in a combat situation. This is the caricature image that gets that tag, much like the screaming Misogynist, Racist, White Men.
You'll just have to content yourself with pointing out that not all overweight men are idiots, just as I often point out that I am a White Male who believes in racial & gender rights.
Will I get mocked for saying that I have a very dear overweight diabetic male friend, a professor with whom I really enjoy talking? I can actually say I have a Fat, Redneck brother in MS, whom I haven't talked to since 2016 because he is an ignorant MAGAT?
Thanks Bob. I don't like angry rants or put downs from either end of the spectrum. Pigeonholing, blaming, calling others out as though we know what they are thinking or feeling...none of these actions help to create a more compassionate, just society. I think these are the kinds of extremes that happen as growing pains from change, not as a place to end up.
My daughter married a black man and my grands and great grands are mixed race, so I identified with some of your experiences and concerns. I've finally defined white privilege (how can I be privileged - I'm living on SS!) as I enjoy white privilege because non of the hard/hurtful/dangerous things that happened to me ever happened just because I'm white.
My only thought about your last two questions is, why, when talking about your dear male friend, or your brother, would you need to include the labels at all; why would someone else need to know that your friend is diabetic or overweight? I'm thinking an alternative is to describe behaviors or feelings rather than labels. for example, And a very dear friend of mine with whom I worked for six months as my producer/direcor of my one-woman show is so pro-trump that I find it nearly impossible to speak with her about anything to do with our country's government or politics. That's very painful for me. Just a thought...
Well, one thing I do avoid is calling anyone an idiot. People who are mentally retarded that I have met are almost always lovely pleasant people. Yes, we have a long way to go with our assumptions and understanding of others and getting rid of the stereotypical responses we learned growing up. I didn't like being a woman and for years felt I had a man's brain trapped in a woman's body. Got over that. But, never liked being discriminated against just because my penis was too short. When I have a stereotypical reaction I try to reframe it in my mind before saying anything.
Having worked with developmentally disabled ppl for 40 years, I have seen the changes in language. The last agency I worked with was called Miami Adult Center for Retarded in the early 70s, just as the umbrella agency Association for Retarded Citizens is now only the acronym ARC. I have even written essays on the changing names and IDIOT, IMBICILE & MORON, once clinical terms are now archaic and get a pass by the very nature of its common usage. Ever read “Common Vernacular for Dummys?” Just made that up, but deaf/mute ppl were once considered mentally defective, hence Dumb became the insult that ppl today don’t even consider. As a woman you could be insulted if told you were having a “hissy fit.” It is likely a shortening of “hysterical” an affliction only for ppl with a uterus (hyster). There are all sorts of insulting words floating around and you have to take them in context.
thanks for the heads up on hissy fit...I had no idea!!!
That's a brilliant approach...and gives me a tool to add to my own effort to 'pause ' when ever I have a strong reaction that's ready to burst...pause followed by reframing! Thanks!
Happy Birthday ahead of time, Terry. Good on you for pointing out that name-calling as you describe is not appropriate. I second your admonition.
Thanks you, Lynell! Looks like we're practically neighbors!
Well said. As an endocrinology APRN I get it that the prenatal environment and early life health events shape an adult’s health issues. Please do not accept the stereotypical and shaming attitudes of others to influence your self worth. BMI is not always accurate in assessing a person’s health status. I often see slender people with type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Compassion and respect are essential In this so needy world.
Terry, Point well taken. I, too, am almost your age and still struggling with weight. And, yes, it has stung when I have been called fat and worse. It does seem that Americans are becoming more and more obese because of our poor diets with too much salt and fat (so we'll be addicted and buy the stuff that isn't good for us). Because we are an obese society it does seem like the majority of these angry mostly men are average Americans -- obese. Happy Birthday! Hope you enjoy your special day!
Terry, Early birthday greetings to you! I hope your day is filled with joy. You're right about removing the word fat from our vocabulary as a pejorative.
PS, I see your name next to the head icon just fine🌷
thank you Daria for your greetings and your thought! And yes, I saw my name once I completed the post. But I haven't figured out how DC can show up.
Happy birthday, Terry! Here on Substack, you can go to My Account, select (Change), and type your name as Terry Nicholetti (DC) or however you prefer.
Terry, so glad you made this comment. Your point is important and well made. Wishing you a very happy birthday tomorrow! 💐
"The far right, the evangelical right and the Taliban are basically indistinguishable."
While it is true that Southern evangelical component of the Baptist Church long used the Old Testament to support slavery, and probably would again, and advertises a patriarchal family structure where women are encouraged not to work, today's Southern Baptist Convention is far from the Taliban in terms of violence, intolerance and treatment of both men and women.
I probably should have said evangelical extremists.
Yes, but the American civil war ended in 1865 and—for all the violence of our times—you can’t compare the American South today to a land that has been ravaged by war for nearly half a century.
The Civil War ended? Tell that to the ignoramii.
Right. I grew up in the land of "Colored" water fountains and other terrible institutions. If they were allowed today, they would still be around. (I also have a stash of Confederate money that my grandma gave me "just in case"). But I moved out of that environment as soon as I joined the military after high school and I've never looked back. Now in California.
I just did a quick search and found this:
NPR's Rachel Martin talks to pastor Ed Litton, the new president of the Southern Baptist Convention ...
MARTIN: "...Separately. Let's begin with the reckoning about racism that's happening, obviously, around the country. And the Southern Baptist Convention is no exception. There was an effort to get the convention to take a stand on critical race theory, which is the idea of viewing our current institutions in America through the lens of racism and our history with slavery. Where did you land on that?"
LITTON: "Well, it's interesting because those efforts did not succeed. And, in fact, what I think our listeners need to understand about Southern Baptists is we have bound ourselves to the word of God as the tool for evaluating anything, systems of injustice would be included. And the reason we don't first turn to CRT is because CRT doesn't really deal with what we think is the core issue, which is the human heart. And the truth is, CRT doesn't deal with the origin of sin in all of us. It doesn't deal with the origin of - or the nature of redemption through the blood of Jesus Christ, shed for us. Nor does it give us hope for what we call a Revelation 7:9 Vision, which is around the throne of God in eternity, there will be every tribe and tongue."
This sounds like so much obfuscation dancing around the real issue with buybull scripture. I know from the 1990s in Gainesville Florida, I watched & got fotos of the KKK men at our Gay Pride picnic bowing their heads in prayer. I suspect they were Southern Baptists, like my MS Uncle who was deacon in his Southern Baptist church and also a member of the Klan.
I'm reminded my only son's death September 1st a few years back. He was 29. I'll be 69 tomorrow. There has to be a better tomorrow. Thank you for your compassion to the Afghan people.
On days like this, the veil between worlds seems very thin as we remember and allow love and grief to flow. Our children live on in our hearts and minds.
My heart is with you.
Beautifully said, Diane.
d017, Your insistence that there be a better tomorrow forced my head up with eyes off the screen. I sensed hope and determination with a plea attached to what you wrote. You lifted me up, d017. Be well and strong. Thank you.
I'm so sorry, I will keep you in my heart ❤️
I’m so sorry. Heartbreaking. ❤️💕 I hope you will feel some peace on this very difficult day.
I am so sorry for your loss. You're in my thoughts.
" You wrote: There is no real difference between the far right, the evangelical right, and the Taliban. They all are about curbing human and civil rights." Yep. And given yesterday's; legislative accomplishments in Texas we have our own little caliphate to watch and see how this plays out and impacts the quality of life of the residents. A hint: it does not turn out well.
Charlie, can't tell you have furious I am about the TX voting and abortion laws. F@#k them all and I hope they get Covid.
Had to take the dog for a long walk to lower my BP. Had a thought. Maybe we should just refer to it as Texistan which is ruled by Ayatoldyouso Abbott.
LOVE this, Charlie. Can we add Floridistan?
Floriduh works for me. We've got a lot of really ignorant ppl here. Including the idiot posing as governor.
Certainly. It seems we have as many 'stans' as Central Asia.
Led by Death de Santis
Years ago I made a meme of a map with the "Texistan Republic" Preserving the 19th Century since 1836.
Excellent
[Repeating from yesterday] I am proud of our military in the execution of the evacuation and for Mr Biden's decision to do it now, quickly, from Kabul, and with the astounding logistical effectiveness that kept life losses at a minimum and huge numbers of Afghans able to escape; 120,000 by America and a total of 240,000 I believe, in concert with our allies. To think that we could have started earlier without repercussions or dragged the exit on for a longer more planful period of time, while hopeful, is ignoring the facts: That there was not a viable government in place for nearly the whole 20 years, that the Taliban have a will greater than the military we supported, that a government built by us in-country that mirrored ours required us to be the forever CEO of that financially supported subsidiary, that we were not the victors in the war, that we embued a small sector of the populus with hopes and promises of undying commitment to Afghan becoming a democracy and we would rescue all those who followed such unrealized dreams, that we accepted the terms of defeat as early as February 2020, and that there was no best deal to be made or better negotiations to be achieved from this collective of individual provinces that make up Afghanistan, and the only ones who could control our exit were the Taliban who won decisively among those Afghanies who were held power in every one of the provinces excepting the capitol Kabul, to name a few of the key facts. The last leader, general, guy dutied with turning the lights off and locking the door while turning the keys over in a bankruptcy gets the blame, the derision, is the proverbial scapegoat for the thousands of bad decisions that created failure or defeat going before. Biden is strong enough to live with that and get on with the rest of OUR agenda. Hooray, Mr Biden for doing what others before you should have done and that would have left our national dignity in better standing, at least temporarily. Please, Mr Biden, one time to explain and state your responsibility. Then, move on so that the War in Afghanistan is not allowed to be your failure. It's done. The humanitarian outcomes and the kindness and bravery of our military families contain the lessons for us from our nation's (and allies) expenditure of wealth and lives in that war.
There is no good way to gracefully end a 20 year war in a country with multiple tribes and factions. In fact, there is no way to end a 20 year war gracefully, period. Terrorism wreaks hell on the oppressed. TFG and his comrades only made deals with the Taliban and not the existing Afghan government. TFG and his comrades allowed the release of 5,000 Taliban prisoners and planners that undergird them now. The TFG and his comrades refused a transitional handover to pass information to the incoming administration of current issues with the war, agreements and national/international security issues. TFG and his comrades have proven they care zip for the welfare and well-being of the women and children at the hands of the Taliban in Afghanistan, and for that matter of all the people in our democracy. So who the hell should we be mad at, really? Biden is doing a yeoman's job and he won't be perfect, he admits mistakes, and he has humility. He has a lot of experience and he has to deal with seditionists in his government who are still able to vote and make laws for a country they want to have total authoritarian control. I think people need to reign in their anger. War is hell and so is fascism right here where our brainwashed people and children are endangered and dying.
Well said. Thanks.
Totally agree, thanks for your post.
Yes!
Morning Daria.
“I need to think and collect my thoughts.”
For me, that wasn’t always such a daily, intense chore. Things so out of balance. I feel resentment. No bueno.
I was happy to hear on our local news that my community has asked to have 3 Afghan families come to this area. Locals are ready to open their homes until the refugees can find housing. This, when the folks on the right in this country are spewing hatred and violence. Unfortunately, like you, Daria, I do not see a "better tomorrow" in what remains of my life. Sad.....
20 years ago another refugee airlift forever changed the trajectory of my life and my mindset. That was when 3,800 "Lost Boys of Sudan" came to the U.S.; approximately 300 to the Boston area. They were unaccompanied, older teenage boys who, when very young, literally escaped death and destruction of their villages.
So many stories of heartbreak, joy, struggles, successes, resiliency. My involvement literally began by collecting winter clothing, making meals, then forming a nonprofit to help with education, housing, and providing guidance and support (i.e. parenting!) to help adjust to a new world. These young men (now with their wives and children) are among the loves of my life - they are family. I encourage anyone who has the opportunity to become involved with refugees to seize the moment. You will see a "better tomorrow" through their eyes!
There is now much written about "The Lost Boys". These links give a quick overview.
https://www.rescue.org/article/lost-boys-sudan
The 2014 film "The Good Lie" https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2652092/
Thank you, Janet. This warrants amplifying:
“ I encourage anyone who has the opportunity to become involved with refugees to seize the moment. You will see a "better tomorrow" through their eyes!”
Such optimism and resolve are critical for getting us through the challenges and threats of the far right.
Janet, I remember reading about the "Lost Boys". What a gift you gave them....and they you.
G. O. P. THE GHOULS’ ONGOING PUTSCH
Who will believe me, if I swear
That I have had the plague a year?
Who would not laugh at me, if I should say
I saw a flash of powder burn a day?
John Donne—from The Broken Heart
For over seven decades, Mexico lived under the rule of the oxymoronic Institutional Revolutionary Party.
Americans—our poor wretched planet—now have to live with something that ought to be a physical impossibility.
It still masquerades as “the Republican Party”—just like the Wolf all dressed up as Granny—but it is nothing less than a permanent coup d’état, an ongoing 24/24, 7/7 PUTSCH.
And it won’t stop there. It can’t stop—ever! Not even when the Ongoing Putsch becomes their Institutionalized Putsch.
Like the Villain in a Tex Avery cartoon, these rabid loons ran off the clifftop in November… and they’re still running! What does this say about America? What does it say about mankind today? Would such delusions be thinkable in a land not in thrall to “virtual reality”, where millions can’t tell a hawk from a handsaw or the world from a video game?
ISIS employs psychopaths to commit mass murder. Whoever pays the onetime GOP employed a human battering ram to do its bidding for four years from November 2016… but now… “rabid” is a polite word for the feral parasites that have gotten into our apple.
No one on Earth will be safe as long as the hell-beings that are hijacking America roam free. The planet can breathe freely only once they’re under lock and key in secure prisons for the criminally insane.
Yes but will it happen?? Or is US justice intended merely for poorly connected street criminals?
Would Sun Tzu not have insisted on beheading the monster, thus sparing the small fry?
I believe Sun Tzu would say, "The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting."
On my way to work this morning I heard about the Texas ban on essentially all abortion having passed into law. First thought was, "this is the American Taliban hard at work stripping away the rights of women to make their own life choices."
Precisely.
Daria,
I’m far happier with your excellent comment than with my own, but I did want to make it clear that what calls itself the Republican Party is no such thing, it is not a political party but a conspiracy. No external enemies can rival it.
Peter, you are absolutely right and I agree with you - the Republican Party has morphed from a political party to a conspiracy and no external enemies can rival it. That our biggest threat is from within is chilling.
I wish I didn’t have to “like”—even endorse—what you have just written. No sane person can feel anything but horror at the mass madness in your country, in mine, in so many others. Given America’s power and influence, the nightmare looms vaster.
Yet there’s no place and no cause for discouragement.
I once asked my very agnostic father why, after the fall of France and the debacle of Dunkirk, he, being so down to earth, did not consider suing for peace in the face of overpowering material force.
His response:
“The war was often going badly for us, yet in all those years neither I nor any of my comrades ever doubted for one single moment that we would overcome.”
WE SHALL OVERCOME.
WE ARE NOT AFRAID.
LISTEN!
SING ALONG…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhnPVP23rzo
The Conspiratorial Republican Sedition Party. Surely there must be accountability?
Well done, K! There’s almost an acronym in there… how about Conspiratorial Republican Antipeople Party…something like that
I just refer to it as The Repugnant Party.
Prove me Wrong!
Thank you for such a well-written and expressive response. It summarized so much of my internal monologue I’ve been sitting on for a few weeks.
So much truth and wisdom here, Daria. Religions can carry human beings into dark corners, and it stuns me perpetually to think about the social role of evangelical religion and other cults. Simply put, IMO, they constantly deny and override the national creed about all men being created equal and being equally entitled to pursue life, liberty and happiness. One hopes the founders held the expansive view of 'men' but I think that is the clearly modern view among most as it should be.
“There is no real difference between the far right, the evangelical right and the Taliban.” Do you actually believe this? Maybe you are joking no? Daria you are better and smarter than this. I hope I am missing something.
There is the Taliban. Then there are the "Oath Keepers" and the "Proud Boys".
The difference between them is that the Taliban once they gain control of a region, will help feed the population. Of course, they will fund that effort with "taxation" aka extortion, the opium trade and duties levied on trade.
The American Taliban (and there are many) range from the above mentioned groups to racist clergymen and some members of Congress. And then there are the leaders of the NRA. Yes, we have our own "Taliban". And Kevin McCarthy's statements just put him in support of that club.
And all the defenders of the Capitol invaders of January 6th shall have that designation as well...and worse.
Here’s one similarity between right wing extremists and the Taliban, and it didn’t take long to find this image plus hundreds more. Yeah, I would call these guys terrorists, too
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.businessinsider.com/trump-protestors-with-guns-in-michigan-capitol-are-very-good-people-2020-5%3famp
David, maybe Daria meant to say "important" instead of "real". Do you suggest there are no important similarities among these extreme groups? When I saw the image of AK-47-carryingTalibans standing grimly behind a frightened Afghan TV journalist as he tried to read the news, I thought "Hmmm, looks like a bunch of Trumpoids, but with better beards."
I have always noticed similarities between these intolerant groups. And they need each other to thrive.
They lose power when the world is well.
And they gain power not by being leaders but by bullying and intimidation.
Like Saddam Hussein (and any number of “our sonofabitches”) the Taliban once enjoyed US support, before serving for target practice. Would they have become what they are if America hadn’t hammered them into their present shape and tempered the metal… over a long, long period of time?
It’s “the only good Injun is a dead Injun” all over again. You’d have thought the Vietnam fiasco would put an end to the frontiersmen’s westward push across Asia.
We in Europe will pay for the horrible messes successive administrations made of vast swathes of western Asia, and the bills may come in for generations. It’s more than sad that America’s sacrifice for our freedom should have degenerated to this. One thing to carry a big stick but… where was the soft speech?
David, no, I'm not joking. When people organize and support the use violence to defend their faith and/or their political beliefs they are modeling terrorism. When groups of (mostly) men walk the streets of Any Town, USA openly carrying powerful, semiautomatic weaponry, in order to intimidate "the other" they are terrorists. When religion is used as the justification for violence and stripping away rights and freedom that is terrorism.
The only thing that has not yet happened in the US is right wing extremists routinely gunning people down in the streets or in their homes. That day is coming. When dangerous, vocal politicians like Cawthorn, Greene, Brookes and the like talk about the right rising up against liberals they are planting the seeds of violence in the minds of people champing at the bit to act out their hatred against those who "stole" the election from them. Do you seriously think Cawthorn suggesting civil war is empty rhetoric? Do you seriously think that people won't act on his Civil War fantasy? What of this from Fuentes and Malkin?
"The influential young white supremacist Nick Fuentes — an ally of the Arizona Republican congressman Paul Gosar and the anti-immigrant pundit Michelle Malkin — wrote on the encrypted app Telegram: “The Taliban is a conservative, religious force, the U.S. is godless and liberal. The defeat of the U.S. government in Afghanistan is unequivocally a positive development.” An account linked to the Proud Boys expressed respect for the way the Taliban “took back their national religion as law, and executed dissenters.” NYT
I think you are missing something, David. You're missing the fact that the right's advocacy of violence has become acceptable to talk about openly. The Taliban used violence to topple a government and install themselves in a position of power. There are people in our country who admire what the Taliban has done and look to achieve a similar success, through force, in the US. The minute right wing extremists in the US pick up arms to overwhelm their neighbors, overtake the government and force their brand of Christianity on us they will, in fact, be the American Taliban.
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2021/08/madison-cawthorn-is-openly-talking-about-civil-war-at-this-point
https://www.thedailybeast.com/madison-cawthorn-fantasizes-about-busting-out-jan-6-political-hostages
https://wset.com/news/local/us-rep-greene-congratulates-crowd-for-low-vaccination-rate-promotes-gun-violence
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2021/08/mo-brooks-capitol-bomb-threat
https://www.politico.eu/article/far-right-taliban-afghanistan-social-media-facebook-twitter/
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/27/opinion/alt-right-taliban.html
And let's add to this the Texas abortion law that allows for vigilantism against women seeking abort after 6 weeks, anyone who performs an abortion after six weeks, and anyone that you even think has knowledge of someone seeking or performing an abortion after 6 weeks.
"Beyond outlawing abortion as early as six weeks into a pregnancy, the Texas law, signed in May, would deputize citizens to file civil suits against abortion providers or anyone who helps facilitate the procedure after six weeks, such as a person who drives a pregnant person to the clinic. Individuals found to have violated the law would have to pay $10,000 to the person who successfully brings such a suit — a bounty abortion rights advocates warn will encourage harassment, intimidation and vigilantism."
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/09/01/supreme-court-texas-abortion-ban-508275
I can't help but draw a comparison to those in Nazi Germany who "turned in" their neighbors.
Sharon, I am absolutely sickened by this and was going to include it then simply got side tracked. Thank you for bringing it front and center.
So am I Daria. Thank you for your contributions to this discussion. There's so much coming at right now it's overwhelming.
This new law in Texas that deputizes citizens financially incentivizes abortion bounty hunters. And who will make any finding forcing an alleged violator to pay $10,000 to the bounty hunter? A trump judge and/or a jury of what “peers?”
Brilliantly said and footnoted, Daria!
There is extremism on both the right and the left. Just look at the riots of 2020. It is not at all all right wing. I also find your identification with fundamental Christianity with violent troubling. What would the abolitionist John Brown or Billy Graham be called. Terrorist. Now. What about progressive rioters be called? The chosen? Be careful labeling entire groups as evil. People are more nuanced.
Firstly, I would never lump John Brown in with Billy Graham. John Brown was a passionate, dedicated abolitionist who practiced what he preached putting his and his family's lives in jeopardy throughout his life to help run away slaves travel safely to Canada. He gave his life for the Abolitionist Movement. Billy Graham, for all his talk, was not a passionate advocate of civil rights, distancing himself from MLK and other civil rights leaders in the early 60s.
And, yes, let's talk about the riots of 2020. In many instances peaceful BLM protests were high jacked by extremists seeking to disrupt that peace. Were there extremists from both sides of the spectrum? Yes indeed. But the difference between the two sides is well documented and it is this: right wing extremists tend to be very well organized and interconnected, left wing extremists function in a more nebulous fashion. There is no head of ANTIFA because it is not a group but a movement against fascism. There are heads of the Proud Boys, 3 Percenters, The Oath Keepers and other right extremist groups and many of these groups prop themselves up using "White Christian Nationalism" as a basic tenet.
Rioting and looting by anyone is not the same as peaceful protest. Many of those who rioted in 2020 did so because they objected to a revitalized BLM movement following the death of George Floyd. They wanted to make sure that the BLM movement was tainted with violence. Those on the left who countered right wing violence with violence during the 2020 events are no less guilty, however, I dare say there are fewer on the left side of the spectrum than the right.
Finally, January 6, 2021. Let's look at that briefly. A lot of God and Jesus talk has been thrown around before, during and after that day by the insurrectionists, their agitators and supporters. We are, according to them, a Christian nation and God is exclusively on their side. It's sickening.
I don't believe I've ever used the word evil. Don't put words into my mouth
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/15/opinion/sunday/a-christian-nation-since-when.html
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/feb/21/billy-graham-wrong-side-history
https://www.counterextremism.com/content/white-supremacy-groups-united-states
https://www.counterextremism.com/content/extreme-left-groups-united-states
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/02/04/qanon-christian-extremism-nationalism-violence-466034
https://religionnews.com/2021/01/12/the-faith-of-the-insurrectionists/
You'll have to copy and paste the link below, I believe.
ICSR-Report-Far-From-Gone-The-Evolution-of-Extremism-in-the-First-100-Days-of-the-Biden-Administration.pdf
Brown and Graham are both Evangelicals. The point is they are not monolithic.
Your disgust is duly noted.
The Progressive movement is becoming more “fascist” too by the day. And It is totally organized. No Schiff ;) Cultish. Isn’t that why many are here? It is incredibly the movement of the wealthy and coastal Elite. Who would have thunk. Nancy’s Warriors, Gavin sure in their righteousness. The People Like Us Crowd. Above it. Mandate, Impose, Cancel, Obfuscate, Control. Odd no? Even Eric Clapton is hip to it, protesting attacks on individual Freedom…I imagine he gets canceled ;) Back to the future…strange days indeed. Good evening.
Wow, sounds like Sandy when he hasn't taken his meds.
Oh, stop. Go have a glass of wine.
The BLM protests were mostly peaceful. It was the instigators on the right wing fringe that did most of the rioting and them blamed it on something else. Ya know, kinda like 45 did all his life.
We all liked it better when you were silent. Your "what-aboutism" is disgusting.
"whataboutism" = the old conservative fallback position.
Sorry you feel that way.
Sorry not sorry. Mansplaining doesn't look good on you Comrade.
And, sad to say, the extreme left.
Please, our extreme left would be seen as merely moderate in a number of European social democracies where civility is still a value and healthcare is a birthright. I think our lefties are the only ones keeping our moderate Democrats from becoming Joe Manchin clones.
I guess I was thinking of the really extreme left - I guess in the USA, for many, being slightly left of center makes you an extreme lefty!
I think our problem in the States is that we've -- justifiably -- lost faith in politicians generally, and we have ceased believing that some people (scientists, educators, intellectuals, artists, older folks, etc.) actually know more about many things than the rest of us do and that we should listen to them. People think that all existing knowledge is easily available to them if they just tap their smartphones a few times, no interpretation or mentoring needed, but this is not literally the case. This is not real learning. It is not real knowledge. It is social adaptation above all, as well as subjugation to our bizarre socio-economic system.
So we can just read a few sentences, and if what's written seems to correspond to some belief (or -- more likely -- feeling) we have picked up somewhere and rings true, then we feel reassured, justified and even confident that we have latched on to a piece of the truth and can repeat it, pass it on with satisfying assurance to others who may actually know more (or less) than we do, but there's no way to know because we assume they get their knowledge the same way we do. And sometimes we lead each other out on a very long and brittle limb, and now look where we are!
The need to remind each other that the lefties are just as bad as our proto (and not so proto) fascist righties helps us feel evenhanded (it is pleasant to feel evenhanded!), but the fact is that our extreme lefties (are there still American Communists, a couple of Leninist-Stalinst professors in a backroom of one of our prestigious and expensive Ivy League colleges or universities?) are few and far between and have no effect on our national discourse whatever (really, who are they?), but they are in our minds like the little bit of evil lurking in our hearts.
Our Frankensteinish Right has been working to invent the perfect world-destroying monster for at least 40 years (Trump is just a prototype) and they are now getting close and they have us out on their limb with them, while our left has been in full retreat ever since LBJ decided to listen to his generals and not his heart, and Bernie Sanders and a handful of bright-eyed progressives have not changed this, unfortunately.
The problem with our Left is that it barely exists, and most of us subscribe to HCR's Letter.
The problem with extremism is that the perfect world, in either extreme, does not and cannot exist within the continuum of diverse values and priorities in any society. Compromise is the watchword of a functional society and extremists, who condemn the notion that giving something up to gain something you desire, are really at the root of disfunction
Define extreme Left.
Could you be specific? Where is this “extreme left?” What exactly are you referring to?