Kudos to Jamie Raskin for pointing out the misuse of the noun "Democrat" as an adjective. -- This has irked me for years, and while I doubt it will stop Republicans for continuing this implied pejorative terminology, it is important to call out the misuse and ask for grammatically correct and respectful language as a common courtesy and an important first step toward bipartisanship.
Are we perhaps overestimating Congresswoman Boebert’s language skills by assuming she can grasp the difference between a noun and an adjective, and further, understands the different usage of both?
We all know, as does Raskin, that the grammar is not the point t. The point is to make "Democrat" a dirty word.
I very much like Raskin's suggestion of calling the other Party the Banana Republicans every time we mention them. I know this is childish name-calling, but it actually is truthful!😊
The Republican use of the word “Democrat” was begun by Karl Rove and was always intended as an insult. Now if someone would call out their use of “woke.” It too is intended as an insult. The press should ask Republicans who talk about “woke policies”and the like, what does that word mean to you, and provide an example. It’s just used like scratching on a blackboard, to irritate people.
“Woke” is different. It’s not just a barb. It reminds people of why they vote Republican: because they want to preserve the enormous, systemic advantages of white Americans. That makes “woke” the most efficient possible communication of Republican values to Republican-leaning voters that can be conceived. A complete message in four letters.
I think if you were to ask one of them what the word means, they would be unable to define it. All they know is people start clutching their pearls when they hear it!
You’re right. It’s the right’s equivalent of virtue signaling to each other. But it really means nothing in their eyes other than f***ing withe the libs.
And one of the things that makes "woke" so powerful among GOPers is that so many whites in our country are underprivileged, and they feel left behind by black people and immigrants--as many of them actually are! (As my long-ago Berkeley professor, Arlie Hochschild wrote in her fairly recent book, Strangers in their Own Land.) Who dies from opioid overdoses? Who are all those ne'er do wells in JD Vance's Hillbilly Elegy? They're whites!
We Democrats go way overboard with sorting people by skin color, and insisting whites are the top of the heap, and much to our detriment at election time. Money has a lot more to do with privilege in the US than does skin color. People of Indian, and probably Chinese ancestry do better financially, on average, than white people, as do several other non-white groups.
Yes... economic classism doesn't always match up with stereotypical ethnicity. Been noticing that for years.
Sooo... Arlie Hochschild was your UC Bezerkeley prof??? Just now reading her book... only in the first part so far. She's brilliant in how she approaches this work.
Horrified at the parallels between E. Palestine OH train disaster and all the 'industrial pollution' destroying in short order the lives, homes, communities, environment in SW Louisiana where those regular people tell her their awful stories. And yes, so far, they're all white. Tragic.
The destruction is just horrendous and likely permanent.
If you haven't seen B.J. Novak's film, Revenge... it's excellent. Another powerful study in struggling white American culture.
How are whites "underprivileged?" I can agree that many lack adequate resources for housing,, food, and shelter, educational opportunities, and employment opportunities, but right now, I cannot imagine that there is any group in this nation who has more "privilege" than a person whose skin is white. Time and again, studies reveal that when examined side by side -- apples to apples, oranges to oranges, so to speak -- when you compare a white person's situation at every level, in any category, to that of a person of color (especially black people), there is real disparity between them, with the white having a distinct advantage over the other.
We're not going to improve anything buying into the trope of the whites being somehow oppressed by people who don't look, act, or think like they do, or the even worse idea that there's nothing really wrong with a system that is designed in such a way that assistance and lift can only be provided to any person at the expense of another. That's called a "zero-sum" situation, and it usually results in nobody being satisfied.
We can do better. We have to think our way out of this mess we're in, and offer help and fresh ideas when we can, and we above all else need to understand that we're all sharing the same sky.
As I blow it back, woke is self educated as a successive, successful, life long pursuit; a high compliment to my thinking. Also a worthy insult to toss back, when one is 'woke' to the widespread inability to read, write, and process information objectively and critically in this digital misinformation age.
Absolutely Ally ! ..... And it 'resonates'. I highly recommend over using and abusing it at every opportunity. *edit in - I've also taken a real liking to calling them "proud boyz" especially including revolting MTG; no where in her do I recognize the grace inherent in a real female of our species.
Yes, it's the purposeful and somewhat underhanded insult that is the goal of 'misusing' that word. Yep, Cheryl... it is truthful and accurate ... Love the Banana Republican Party!! Perfect!! Banana Republicans!! From now on....
Actually, that was not his point. Quite the opposite., and I think it behooves us to recognize that and honor it. He was comparing -some- Republicans misuse of the word Democrat to an "as if", and used the example "It's as if everytime we (Dems) referred to their colleagues on the other side of the aisle, we use, oh, say, "banana republicans", and we used it every time we referred to anything about them." He goes on to say "But we don't do that", and gives a lesson in civility to the Republicans about the importance of using appropriate terminology on the House floor when speaking to or about the other party in order to further communication. I suggest we do the same, and stick to the point, and avoid language meant primarily to demean. Disagreement is appropriate. Snide name-calling is not.
I always thought that Rs deliberately misusing the word was to confuse small 'd' democratic with capital 'D' Democractic. And since plenty of people aren't careful (or don't know) about nouns vs. adjectives, this just played into the purposeful mix-up.
I agree with you that that is how it started. I have made that mistake often at times (confounding Democrat with Democratic), even though I've been active in the Democratic Party for a very long time. It didn't really matter so much until, as is true of much of what the present iteration of the Republican party does, it was taken up as a dig, a jibe meant to demean. We had two choices: ignore it until it burned itself out. But grammar police kept highlighting it, giving it more power. The other choice was exactly what Raskin did, making a gently worded correction and then placing it not in the frame of ignorance or grammar, but in the long tradition of using terms of respect and recognition in legislative chambers. One reason I admire him so much: he sets an example for all of us.
In my younger days, I was a fast typist and words would often get away from me, and sometimes I didn't pick up in proofreading. I made a practice of having someone else look over my work before sending it out to a wider audience. Now, my fingers make a LOT of mistakes, but how carefully I proof depends on what I am typing and the how forgiving an audience might be. Added all spellings with and without caps to my word list to alert me. It works in most settings.
Now this common but understandable mix-up has been perverted and made into a childish insult, so I added it to my word list so it gets red-lined no matter how it is spelled.
Go ahead, attack a woman for using the word "democrat" the way Republican men have been using it for years, if not decades. The two "Macs" - McCarthy and McConnell - have used the word as slur, not to mention George W. Bush. It's great that Jamie Raskin pointed this out, but it's also way past due time that Democrats called it out. Now, who is going to call out the fact that weaponizing the terms "woke" and "critical race theory" is overtly racist? Not just on the House or Senate floor, but on main stream media?
And while we are criticizing folks for barely completing high school, let's keep in mind the fact that Ron DeSantis is a graduate of Harvard. Lauren Boebert is a despicable person, but it's not because she didn't go to college.
And the comment is not directed at her because she is a woman either, but because she is aping what she has heard from other Rs, so she can appeal to the base.
It's just too easy to dump on Boebert, not that she doesn't deserve it and good on Jamie Raskin for calling it out on the House floor. It just can't stop there; Dems need to call out the GOPs demeaning rhetoric all the time.
That would get old fast. There would be no time to talk about anything else. Besides, our opponents, comprised mostly of the white working class, don’t give a shit about grammar, hate anything that reminds them of a schoolmarm, and love anything that smacks of demeaning educated people.
Could we all agree to put "weaponizing" in quotes every time we use it as it's the Republicans new "Democrat party"? How do they succeed at getting their little word usages into general use?
I'm not sure the use of "weaponizing" is incorrect, but it is certainly over-used; and I share your amazement at their ability to "weaponize" certain words and phrases.
PS. I think the use of Democrat as an adjective was popularized by Dick Army umpteen years ago. It caught on with uncivil Republicans (that is, all Republicans) right away.
I am not accusing Jamie Raskin of misogyny, but it is worth noting that men have been using "democrat" in that way for a long time without repercussion, as if it were somehow ok for men to say something insulting, or act obnoxious, but not ok for women to behave the same way.
I don't think people attack her in this instance because she is a woman, but because she is aping the R line that they all have used for years.... R men and women on D men and women.
Oh, she can't, but she knows that using Democrat as the Rs do is an insult. The one that really made smile today is Herr Gaetz not knowing who published his source. I find that when I call for sources on some of the dreck I see on other sites, there is a lot of stumbling around or the person reveals a wing nut site. The real corker was the person who said I should dig deeper and then used Judicial Watch as her source. And I hope I am remembering the name of that wing nut site correctly.
Hahaaahaaa..CW Bo Burrrr Ttt.. talk about a boob-job. What she needs is a boot-camp and a few deployments to some 'out-posts' made from packing crates, sandbags, and mosquito/spyder nets, on the rocky hillside of a valley in some far-a-way land. No hi-heels.
She may not be grammatically aware. But she sure groks the non-verbal attitude. And since attitude is all that she appears to be and specializes in, the correction stings.
I found this very interesting and a little surprising. Speaks to the MAGA base. This report is from the Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, July 2019.
“What is the make-up of adults with low English literacy skills by nativity status and race/ethnicity?
“U.S.-born adults make up two-thirds of adults with low levels of English literacy skills in the United States.5 However, the non-U.S. born are over-represented among such low-skilled adults. Non-U.S.-born adults comprise 34 percent of the population with low literacy skills, compared to 15 percent of the total population (figure 2).
“White and Hispanic adults make up the largest percentage of U.S. adults with low levels of English literacy, 35 percent and 34 percent respectively (figure 3).
“By race/ethnicity and nativity status, the largest percentage of those with low literacy skills are White U.S.-born adults, who represent one third of such low-skilled population. Hispanic adults born outside the United States make up about a quarter of such low-skilled adults in the United States (figure 3).”
Hmm. The second paragraph is odd. Yes, non-U.S. born adults comprise about a third of the population with low literacy skills... because (as the first sentence already states) the other two-thirds are U.S.-born adults. <insert eye roll here> Am I missing something? What's surprising?
I’m an old white woman, just turned seventy. And I was a loyal Republican until that brass escalator (hated tfg before he ever declared). I retired as the librarian of a high-poverty K-5 NC public school, 2007-17. If asked, I would have said that Black illiteracy would have been higher. And I’m ashamed of that. The kids at my school were about 45% urban Black, 40% rural white, 14% Hispanic and a small number of Asian and other. The Hispanic population grew over my ten years. So I should have known better.
If you use the link to NCES, Figure 3 shows Black illiteracy at 23% - not what the Republicans would have you believe.
Glad you're here with us, Suzanne! Congrats on removing yourself from the Rs. As someone else kindly told me, we're forgiven for not having all the 'correct' answers earlier. We did the best we could with what we had or knew at the time. Thank you for pursuing that career in public education.
Zelle, I don’t subscribe to demeaning another by how they got their education to point out someone else’s apparent lack of understanding the English language. When we as a society cannot communicate in our own language, we must go back to square one and clarify the speaker’s “misspeak” but without insulting another. That appears to be acting in the same way. Just sayin’. Let’s stay higher on the road.
The correction isn't about teaching grammar. The correction is about putting someone in their place via pointing out their meanness (intentional use of Democ-rat) without pointing to it directly. Cunning and wily and absolutely needed. Clarifying the hidden message - You mess with us and you'll get you're come up-pence. Finally! You don't "straighten up" a bully by silence nor by the "higher road." You straighten up the bully by matching their energy and then one. Congress is a street brawl today. Raskin, by reminding the opposition that it can't get away with its insults, is drawing the line and saying, we won't put up with your BS anymore. You are on notice! (And, Raskin's sharp, they know he knows where they are vulnerable and he won't pull any punches and will be so polite as he delivers the needed skewer.
Yes, Selina. And Raskin made his point while battling cancer and undergoing chemo. I'm thankful for him every day. The issues between our parties make it clear that we must stand up to these ignorant bullies, and I'm all for it. Taking the high road just isn't effective, and the bullies see it as a sign of weakness.
Don’t bad mouth the GED. The test is difficult. It is more difficult in staying in high school and getting a diploma. We all do not need to have Ivy League diplomas.
Polite and proper has yielded 'Zero' results for Dems Pat. Your point is taken regards ill considered generalizations. The 'professional' in that regard was someone with literally walls full of degrees; she also ran against a charlatan and lost, partially as a result of ill considered - ill aimed generalizations. Dems in general are decades behind reality concerning 'taking off the gloves'. An activist such as myself has been on their collective azzes for decades about that. Is that just that, or have they really been totally out of touch ?
I've been haranguing this for a couple of decades, and in a response from the DNC for a donation, I wrote instead that the party needs a weapon sharper than a rubber knife, and a few sets of what becomes Rocky Mountain oysters. The Dark Brandon began to appear about that time, for which I attribute pure coincidence. Since the Dems don't want to muss up their J Crews by gutter fighting, some ju jitsu would be a beginning, and Mr Raskin is excelling at that, along with Mr Swalwell. But I don't detect any momentum. I am fascinated by Their (the other side) ability to dismiss formalities like accusing Mr Buttigeg of every crisis or disaster whether it's in his purview or not. Pin it on someone as high up as possible. MTG says 6 billion crossed the border last year or whatever she stated, she doesn't care about accuracy because her followers just quivered and reached for their weapons. Tell Them that DJT can't run for re-election again and They will besiege Piggly Wiggly in a New York minute. They do not insist on the finer points like some Dems I know, throw propriety out the damn window and get to it. I'll wait.
Oh MaryCat... It's not about dissing the GED. Awesome for your daughter!! Cheers to her success!!
It's about showing that LB is ignorant and not helpful in her current role in Congress. For me, the BIG reveal was her complaining loudly about separation of church and state in such crass and obviously ignorant language. Like a pissed off teenager. She appeared to truly have no clue about basics of American civics. And she's a legislator???
"From the web"? That's your citation? I know you are being snarky (very in these days), but if you base a statement on something, you'd better dang better be more specific than "from the web". Even Gaetz did better than that.
" @NaveedAJamali" has posted this stupid lie in several places around the internet (Twitter, Quora, etc). While Boebrt did indeed pass her GED in 2020, months before being elected to Congress, the truth is that she had to pass a four-course review in order to earn that GED. She passed on the first try, not the fourth.
You can search Snopes (reliable internet fact-checking source) and learn that truth yourself.
I'm with Annie on this -- please provide a source for this information. Not that I don't think Lauren Boebert is a loose cannon, but before you assert something dealing with a person's credentials, factual and accurate sourcing is absolutely necessary.
Will Jamie and Steve create a fashion trend with the ‘Bandana’ Look?
‘Jamie Raskin Credits Steven Van Zandt For Bandana Look As He Endures Chemotherapy’
‘The Maryland Democrat said treatment has been going well since he was diagnosed with diffuse large B cell lymphoma.’
'WASHINGTON — Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) received an ovation Tuesday at the House Oversight Committee’s first meeting since he started cancer treatment, sporting a bandana look he credited to a famous rocker.'
“We’re all rooting for you,” committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) told Raskin at the start of the meeting, which was the panel’s first of the year. “We know that you’re going to win this battle. You’re in our thoughts and prayers, and it’s good to see you here today.”
‘Raskin said that he hoped all the well wishes he’d received would become “seeds of friendship over the year” and that he planned to beat his illness. The ranking member seemed to blush as the room burst into applause. '
'On Tuesday, Raskin’s black-and-white bandana covered up the apparent hair loss.'
“I give all honor to Little Steven for creating this look for American men going through something,” Raskin told HuffPost, referring to guitarist and actor Steven Van Zandt.(HuffingtonPost)
In MY part of the country it stood for Grouchy Old Parasites. At least until 2020, when they literally gave up on having a platform. Now it's Grabbing Others' Puss*es. The nomenclature changes so fast these days!
TC, I wanted you to know that, while I can't afford to be a paid subscriber on your substack at this time, I do read it, and absolutely loved ¨Nobody Here But Us Chickens:¨ I hope that paid subscribers shared it via social media. I did and hope it brings you new readers.
Same boat as Gailee. Also the writing that you've shared about your Jurate was just so touching. I wish I could do more than just say how much I loved it but, unfortunately, I cannot. Just thank you, TC, for putting yourself "out there" at such a raw time. Deep and kind stirrings.
TC, since other folks are 'fessing up regards affordability to follow / participate at your page, I am one as well. I find myself a disabled senior with only SS as income - despite being in deep denial over accepting that status. The small sum I pay to participate here is actually painful, b/c 5$ for this, is 5$ away from another thing; but I 'must' be here.
"The love of money" and power figures into the history of both, but compare Reagan era (and since) pronouncements on "government' with Lincoln's "The legitimate object of government, is to do for a community of people, whatever they need to have done, but can not do, at all, or can not, so well do, for themselves -- in their separate, and individual capacities.", or imagine any prominent Republican saying anything remotely similar today? And obviously, it wasn't the Republicans who carried around Confederate flags back in Lincoln's day.
And yes, Teddy, a school of Lincoln Republican, famously championed the general welfare over plutocratic appeasement. Even Ike was mostly moderate, even, in some ways, Nixon.
In MT they hav excommunicated a former Republican Gov, telling him he can no longer refer to himself as a Republican. He notes that he has not changed his stance, it is the GOP. In exchanges with people on our Republican Congressional representatives, if I refer to them as MAGA, they say they are not but what they say reflects a MAGA stance. I have taken to referring to them as RINOS & their statements as reflective of the Christian National Party. Andrew Whitehead co authored a book discussing the CNP I am waiting to read. I am wondering when the leaders of the GOP will come out of the closet & say what they really are.
Many years ago I had a friend who had worked as a peon in the "Bohemian Grove", a patch of redwoods that caters exclusively to the ultra-wealthy and powerful, CEOs, Senators, and the like. He claimed they would get stinking drunk and openly brag to each other about what they were really up to, at least some of which was contempt for the poor.
As for the passionate fan club, I think they are so muddled with mental malware they don't know which way is up.
The party of greed. They even adopted it for a while (less so since the Subprime debacle) appropriating and proudly parroting the phrase "Greed is good" from film that cautioned against it. We all pursue self-interest, but it is only "greed" when it's hurting others. "Greedy Old Plutocrats" is among the more accurate updates of their moniker.
While I appreciate the irony, it cuts both ways. Democrats used to be mostly slave-owners, and were, roughly until Nixon, the majority party in the south.
They were Dixiecrats who caucused with Democrats. Democrats had to agree to a lot of deeply immoral actions to keep Dixiecrats in the caucus. The Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act in the 1960s broke the Dixiecrats loose and freed Democrats from having to kowtow to stone-cold racists.
I was going to write the same thing! It seems small, but it's exactly like Janie Raskin said, a tiny, ridiculous insult. Every time a GOP member says Democrat this or Democrat that, it rankles. You're so right: common courtesy would be a good first step for restoring a positive working relationship between parties. Maybe we should reward Rep. Raskin with one of those T-shirts that say 'I am silently correcting your grammar.'
My brother, also a Van Zandt fan, wore the same kind of bandana during the hairless part of his treatment. This is no coincidence. Someone on here mentioned a wig. Uncomfortable and hot. Not much to do about the no eyelashes and eyebrow part. They grow back though. His hair came back almost enough to cover the scar. His scc originated in his lung and metastesized to his brain. It was kind of nasty, but my brother is a Stratton and therefore stubborn. He actually beat the thing. I bet Jamie will too. His cancer is a different kind, and from what I understand, his odds are way better than my brothers. I'd love to be able to introduce them someday.
I have been tilting at that windmill for at least15 years, and am thrilled that Raskin is taking them to task. He also wins the internet with "Banana Republicans".
What is funny is that my wife (who sweats a lot, and has to wear a bandana as a headband when she works outside, even in freezing temperatures) calls them "bananas" as a joke.
I unfortunately too have been irked by the pejorative use of Democrat. But as mentioned here already, I believe that some use it out of ignorance while others knowingly use it as a pejorative. And Raskin of course nail it.
The pejorative use of of the noun 'democrat' in place of the adjective 'democratic' goes back at least to Minnesota governor Harold Stassen, a perpetual and unsuccessful seeker of the G.O.P. presidential nomination in the last century. Republicans have continued to use it, and shockingly, I have heard some ignorant Democrats even make the mistake of doing so. The pejorative effect it has is similar to the negativity that accompanies referring to a Jewish businessman as a 'Jew businessman.' While even the word 'pejorative' is probably beyond the depth of many Republicans, they like the insulting negativity calling their opposition the Democrat Party provides. It probably gets them a few votes, too.
Jamie Raskin is being too nice. We should take his advice and refer, always, to the Banana Republican (or maybe just Banana Republic) Party and to Banana Republicans.
I think they like the word "Democrat" because they feel it ends with "-RAT"? My hunch is they don't like "Democratic" because they're thinking "democratic"--small "d"--is something they represent more than we do. Maybe we should start doing something similar to "Republican" and start calling them "Republics"...I like "Repubes" myself...
I expect that the MAGA response to the concern for grammar and civility will be to call it out as another example of “wokeness” (a term, by the way, that was rejected by my spellchecker).
Thank you. Republicans have used that slur on the other party since the 1940s. It is meant to say to us, and to the American people, that our party is not worthy of enough respect to warrant learning its proper name. Call this repellent practice out whenever you can.
Since when do we not use nouns as adjectives? Car seat, table top, coffee mug. This is common in English, German, Japanese and I suppose many other languages. We live in a republic. Is republican an adjective? Maybe in 1856, but now we use it as a noun. Should we refer to the republicanic party.? Or maybe we should refer to the republic party and the democrat party. The term Democratic Party is in my opinion a grammatical subterfuge, a way to make one party seem more democratic than the other, a contention not borne out by history. Meanwhile democrats should start talking about restoring taxes, not raising them. That would be more correct.
How many people know Trump’s tax cut for ordinary people was designed to expire in 2025, restoring the pre-2017 rates after that? But his tax cut for corporations was written to be permanent.
How many people know the range of tax rates in our history?
I see a lot of folks think that democrat party is an insult. Maybe Democratic Party seems like an insult to republicans. It perhaps has irked them for a long time. So everyone is insulted? Seems like a distraction from more important things to me. If you can’t stand a little heat, stay away from the bonfire.
desperado, you make some excellent point, but maybe missing the key point. The Republicans that incorrectly use Democrat use it as an insult. Should one ignore stupid childish insults or should stupid childish insults be called out. That is the question. As a sign of respect we refer to people the way they prefer. To do otherwise is disrespectful and insulting.
desperado, here is another "take" on how appropriate are the names of our two political parties. There is a big difference between a republican form of government and a democratic form of government. It seems plausible that we could actually become a true democracy, wherein every citizens has a moral obligation and duty to participate in a self-governing nation. In 1789 the delegates to the Constitutional Convention had to travel by carriage or horseback -- for some, it was a journey of hundreds of miles and days or weeks of rough travelling. Today we have the Internet. In a Constitutional Republic, we elect "representatives", but inevitably a Rep can only represent, at most, a subset of all constituents. Speaker of the House Paul Ryan was my Representative in the House. He certainly did not represent my policy preferences. The Republicans tend to think they are smarter than most other people. Historically they have tended to be older white males, who tended to play the role of "Dad". "Father Knows Best". We don't get what we want because the Will of the People can be casually ignored.
For a while I took umbrage upon hearing "The Democrat Party". But I decided to try to own it, and now when I hear "democrat party" I hear "Party of the Democrats".
Bottom line: Democracy is aspirational for the US. We live in a Republic. We are governed by a micro-mini minority of the American People, who make public policy for the rest of us. I hope some day we will all be democratic.
A political party can call itself whatever it wants. And it is wrong for others, not of that party, to permanently change it to something more to their liking when referring to it. Republic Party would be fine, but that's not the G.O.P.'s official name.
Great idea... a turn on reality of correct wording. Till the '60's, all paid a fairer share to be in this community of USA with 'all' that entails, like equal treatment and protection before the laws of the land we protected with blood and treasure. JMHO, all those opposed could join hands with Putin, Xi, Ayatollah, or.. we give them the smaller of the US virgin islands that 'someone' doesn't already own and give them an aging PT boat or 2 to defend their collective way of life.
Those of us whose memories go back to the 1960s, or who have read up on the history and listened to old newscasts from that decade, remember how white Southern politicians regularly referred to "the Democrat Party." I can still see and hear George Wallace's sneering face when he said it. There's no question in my mind that the current crop of Republicans -- the direct descendants of those white "Southern Democrats" -- know exactly what they're doing when they use "Democrat" as an adjective.
It is said that when words aren't sufficient to describe something, music can add the emotion necessary to properly communicate an idea. That's what opera does. That's what gospel music does. That's what country music does. That's what rap and hip-hop do. All of these are superior to Republican attempts to corrupt and confuse spoken language with such misuse of words like Democrat, socialist, and whatever else they choose to redefine.
Make no mistake, making sure no nice things ever happen to anyone (at least, anyone not rich) is precisely what these Banana Republicans are there for, in every branch of government, and on every level. They are there to make every attempt to make any tiny improvement to the average citizen's well-being as lengthy a maze as possible, to put as many dead-end sky-high brick walls in that maze as possible. As God is their witness, as few people will get as little help, in the fewest ways, for the shortest time, with the maximum strain, as possible.
And you know what? It really isn't all about the money. No, really. Don't get me wrong, they're stingy all right. Yet that isn't really the base issue here. The base issue here is that we have a swath of fellow citizens who operate under the overarching philosophy that helping people is actually *bad* for them. And they truly believe it. They truly believe that to offer help to someone makes them weaker, lazier, more reliant on future "handouts". The worst thing you can do is give someone a break, because granting mercy to them takes from them their millionth opportunity to learn to fight and claw for survival, which is a necessity in a merciless world. (The fact the world is merciless precisely because of this attitude is lost on them. They don't DO irony.) The mass internalization of this mentality perfectly explains the worship of unrestricted capitalism by those who are the least served by it: that system is the apotheosis of treating dog-eat-dog as a virtue, and being part of it a point of pride for many.
Every branch of the twisted vine that forms their philosophy is fed from the roots of denial - of both the self and others. In a world where help is hindrance, every man must be an island. Since every man is an island, the idea of any systemic injustice is a sham, every reason you could give for any failure to succeed is a self-pitying excuse, and to lend a sympathetic ear to what ails another is to indulge that self-regard. Buried under loans? Shouldn't have gone to college. Can't make ends meet? Get another job. Got pneumonia? Work anyway. Can't feed your kids? Shouldn't have had them. Couldn't access that abortion? Shouldn't have had sex. Actually, you were raped? Shouldn't have worn that dress. Wait, the kids just got shot while we were talking? Guess they didn't duck fast enough. Let this be a lesson to you.
Their outlook is one of severity, their constant urge is to punish, and in the idea of a kinder society they forsee nothing but the guaranteed dissolution of that society. Why, if we all took care of each other we might get soft and vulnerable to attack from those who haven't yet learned how not to claw and steal! Better to not make the switch.
And don't pretend religion plays no role. If this whole life is merely a test regarding refusal of temptation and conformity to The Word, what could be better for someone than to provide them as many tests as possible? It's not like being safe and happy during our time on Earth matters that much, like the heretics keep suggesting. We will have plenty of that when we reach the holy land!
Thank you Will, I agree in most part, with one glaring exception. Those making the biggest noise about poor people being lazy or they'd be rich - are the same lot who spend billions of dollars for lobbyists to get larger Government handouts for themselves. They refuse to admit that the recipients of the largest "welfare" in this Country is CORPORATE AMERICA. All their talk about the 'lazy, undeserving, poor'is just a distraction from how the bottom 90% are working their butts off, so those corporate hogs can live in the most luxury available.
Will is spot on about the origins of the MAGA hate. I would add that multiple generations of wife and child beating and raping - the same treatment applied to slaves - have embedded a brutal male dominated philosophy that Will so well describes. But they are just the tools.
The elephant in the room that YOU describe has been ignored for way too long. The government gets demonized as "the problem". Thank you, President RayGun. And to be fair, there are many inefficiencies and wasted dollars within our government. But all that is addressable. There should be more audits and reviews of how we spend.
What has not been addressed and the "Democratic Party" has failed to capitalize on (pun intended) is the monstrous robbery from our national treasure by the billionaire class. Bernie tries to ring the alarm. Warren constantly reminds us. But we are afraid to say it. The nation is literally run by a few uber rich people. They hire the lobbyists who actually write the laws. They feed Federalist Society puppets into the judicial system. They buy key elections by pouring unlimited amounts of money into PACs - making a sick joke of any election law restrictions.
We should be talking about a bloodless revolution that claws back and redistributes stolen wealth. There is enough money in the nation, the richest ever known to humans, to solve every financial shortcoming of every American - healthcare, education, child care, climate adaptation...we know the list. We are just afraid of losing campaign donations from the same billionaire class.
The November, 2022, '... report from researchers at UC Davis has found that Republicans who supported former president Donald Trump and agreed with the statement that the 2020 election was “stolen” were more likely to hold extreme and racist beliefs and endorse political violence. '
'The survey asked 7,000 people nationwide about their political views and how they affiliated. Classified as “MAGA Republicans” in the report, the survey showed that people who affiliated this way were most likely to hold extremist views about race and more likely to believe that a civil war would happen in the United States in the next few years.'
'“There appears to be a decline in the support for democracy as a form of government,” said Garen Wintemute, director of the UC Davis Violence Prevention Research Program. “The threat is existential not to us as a nation, but potentially to us as a democracy.”
'He adds that he sees the report as a warning.'
'“Even abstract support for political violence creates a climate of acceptance for that, and that facilitates mobilization to actually committing violence, and that has in it the seed of the solution,” he said. “If the majority of us who don’t endorse political violence, the majority of Republicans who don’t endorse political violence will make that publicly clear, if leaders from all points on the spectrum will say this is not acceptable, that’s likely to reduce the amount of violence that occurs.”
'According to the study, 60% of “MAGA Republicans” who met the two key criteria felt political violence could be justified. This was compared to 30% of people who identified simply as “Republicans” and 25% for all other political affiliations.'
'The group of “MAGA Republicans” were also far more likely to agree with elements of the QAnon conspiracy that American-born white people are being replaced by immigrants. Seth Brysk, Regional Director for the Anti-Defamation League’s Northern California office noted that recent acts of anti-semitism around Sacramento and the attack on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul, all point to an alarming level of civil unrest from the far right.'
“Anti-semitism is the canary in the coal mine of civil society,” Brysk said. “In other words, when you see anti-semitism rearing its ugly head, this is an indication that society is sick.”
'Other experts see the new report as further evidence of a growing threat to democracy from far right extremists. Lindsay Schubiner is a program director at the Western States Center, an organization that started tracking far right extremist groups before the 2020 election. She feels the study is an extension of the growing evidence of far right groups threatening democracy. ' (UC Davis Violence Prevention Research Program.)
Bill, are you referring to sources, which substantiated to quote you, 'I would add that multiple generations of wife and child beating and raping - the same treatment applied to slaves - have embedded a brutal male dominated philosophy that Will so well describes. But they are just the tools' ? Thank you.
No sources. Just an observation that may be flawed. I don't think we would see the same levels of abuse in a more educated "liberal tribe" of similar economic status. I could be wrong. It happens all the time. But I bet if we dropped into certain regions of certain states, we could witness women being treated as chattel. And I don't think the perpetrators would have "Biden 2024" signs in their front yards.
These forums can help generate anger and sweeping generalizations. Which I try to avoid, but can be drawn into.
Of course, MAGAs don't have an exclusive on this. It isn't unique. Abuse happens at all levels of society and income distribution. And if you are rich enough, you can bury it with lawyers.
There is definitely a MAGA personality type. It’s mostly made up of white men but also men of varied heritage. Their women support them 100%. Stand By Your Man and all that ~no matter if they pound on and belittle her and the kids. It’s hate, denigration of the other who thinks differently. It’s AR-15’s. They can be miserly. They keep the little woman poor to maintain control, their marriage sex is like rape. They never apologize or praise anyone. They hate anything you love if you are their wife or child. They are never wrong. They lie and lie and lie.
I am glad that you are thinking about your comment, Bill, which was not only unsourced, it was biased, and you know where stereotyping such as that leads. Amendments, corrections or labeled as a personal opinion would indicate reflection. All in favor, say aye...
Words. They are so deeply powerfully rooted in our National psyche. Take the word Socialism. This word has been murdered and the bloody terrifying corpse is hung for all to see. It’s a trigger word now. It’s lost it’s original nature. But still. Call it what you like. We need it NOW.
If by socialism you mean a society that offers everyone healthcare, education and equal opportunities for employment and a decent retirement, sign me up.
The means of production and the distribution of products and services I would leave to a highly regulated private sector.
I like the Nordic model. Taxes and happiness are high. And a thriving but carefully regulated capitalism offers jobs and prosperity.
Instead we profiteer off of illness, educate the affluent and guarantee recidivism in privately owned prisons (loaded with disproportionately people of color and those who committed victimless crimes).
Bill, Bravo, applause, Bic Lighters swaying side to side for an encore
Re “ We should be talking about a bloodless revolution that claws back and redistributes stolen wealth. There is enough money in the nation, the richest ever known to humans, to solve every financial shortcoming of every American - healthcare, education, child care, climate adaptation...we know the list. We are just afraid of losing campaign donations from the same billionaire class.”. BINGO. Root Cause, meet your Problem
Thank you, Bill. Beautifully written and to the sharpest point, if only we could get some credence from our decent elected politicians we'd have a much better Country
This is completely true, but I have come to realize that too many of my fellow liberals focus only on the class/inequality aspect of the dynamic, and that paints a picture of working class people who subscribe to the propaganda as being simply easily distracted. "Oh my poor busy, easily distracted neighbors, you would be so much better off with my ideas if only to stopped to think about it!" It's why so many working-class conservatives view liberals as condescending. They too see the inequality, but either they are okay with it because they have bought so completely into the conflation of capitalism and freedom, or they somehow see it as a liberal problem because they have bought so completely into the conflation of intellectualism/altruism and elitism. The bigwigs can so easily exploit so many people's value system because the upside-down value system in question lends itself easily to that particular brand of exploitation. I suppose that is what I was attempting to illustrate.
I follow a local to Fort Worth man, Chris Tackett, that first became outraged by the book ban in his daughter’s school. But now he is an all out amazing source of information. Yesterday he posted information about a new House Bill being proposed here in Texas. First you have to own a house because our only taxes are property taxes. If you’re married man and wife and have children after you’re married, you get tax cuts. It starts at with one child and bumps up again if you have four children. If you have ten children (!), you are exempt from taxes! It doesn’t include gay couples. It doesn’t include you if you’re divorced or had a child out of wedlock. It’s the most eye popping piece of legislation I’ve ever heard of! Straight up excludes anyone who doesn’t fit their religious narrative! And we’ve had way too many eye popping house bills!
Well hey, at least they're coming around to the idea of the expanded child tax credit. But the fact it's being deducted from property taxes is ludicrous. By ten kids, you are practically your own ZIP code.
Ah, "traditional values!" All hail natural supremacy for those who look like us!
Chris is getting there with the recognition status! He and his wife Mindi are well recognized for their work in exposing political corruption. Like the school district that bought a private plane and the administrator that now flies it. Chris and Mindi are recognized by Mothers Against Greg Abbott and the group I’m a part of the Tarrant Democratic Women’s Club. Very much a power couple!
I call the current "religious narrative" heresy. The truly "religious" people I know are all for helping anyone who needs help, regardless of their ideology, race, creed, color, gender, or what they identify as. They are using "religion" as another means to get what they want, not to help people.
Denise, you and Chris should share the news about SJR 25 in Texas! Filed by Senator Johnson, it will enable Statewide Citizen Ballot Initiatives and give Texans a more direct say in our democracy.
Texans should have the right to vote on whether or not abortion is available in Texas, if Medicaid should be expanded, if school vouchers should divert taxpayer funds from public education, and if the age to purchase assault weapons should be raised. Right now, it’s clear the views of most in our Legislature do not align with the views of most Texans, but with statewide citizen ballot measures we can put forth these initiatives ourselves!
Statewide citizen ballot measures are bipartisan and give equal voice to all Texans regardless of political affiliation. The majority of Texans agree on common sense solutions to many concerns. For example:
- Abortion access: 78% of Texans agree that abortion should be legal in some form, but Texas legislators ban it and place a bounty on anyway who facilitates this type of reproductive health care
- Medicaid expansion: supported by 67% of Texans, but denied by the Legislature even though we have the country’s highest rate of uninsured people
- School vouchers: an overwhelming 89% of Texas parents are satisfied with their child’s public education, but some in the Legislature are steadfast on taking funding away from public schools and giving it to private and faith-based schools
Gun safety: 70% support raising the age to buy an assault weapon from 18 to 21, yet it’s ignored by members of the Legislature who fear reprisal by the - NRA
Bottom line, Texans agree on a great deal -- our legislators, not so much.
CALL TO ACTION: On February 15, SJR 25 was referred to the Senate Committee for State Affairs, and is pending a hearing date. Texans must reach out to the chair of the State Affairs Committee, Sen. Hughes (512-463-0101) to voice support for statewide citizen ballot initiatives and request a hearing date be scheduled as soon as possible because SJR 25 deserves to be heard by the full chamber. And, contact your own state senator and representative and tell them to support SJR 25. All Texans deserve to have their voice heard and their vote counted!
What odds do you give that the Texas legislature will pass this bill or that the current Texas governor would sign it if, in some alternate reality, the legislature passes it?
No false illusions, it won't be easy, but that should not discourage us. If Republicans refuse to advance it - was does that say to their constituents, that they don't trust them - don't trust their vote? SJR 25 has great support from many grassroots organizations, the first hurdle is getting it passed out of committee, hence the need for calls to the Senate's State Affairs Committee now. As for the governor, that's the good news! He doesn't get to veto a joint resolution - if passed by both the Senate and the House , SJR 25 will go directly on the ballot for Texans to vote on. Lastly, municipalities across Texas already have the the right to enact citizen initiatives, consequently Texas cities can have laws that differ from state law - SJR 25 will enable citizens to speak with a unified voice statewide.
Will do! Twenty six states already enable statewide citizen ballot measures, hoping Texas will be #27! Please pass info on to anyone you know in Texas -- and others as well, because what happens in Texas affects the whole country!
Whether passed or not, if these items are put to the public who would know that their ¨representative¨ voted against, it would help the Democrat running against them. This is why it is so important to make every thing that the Biden administration is doing FOR all is talked of daily. The Banana Republicans are actually using it against the Democrats in Tweets. McCarthy´s ¨ we will de everything possible to keep your tax dollars from being given to the undeserving (Dreamers). McConnell's ¨ Democrats want Washington to dictate your childcare choices, your kitchen appliances, your small business decisions, and your local voting laws. But the one thing Congress shouldn't address is runaway violent crime in D.C. itself? Dems are just trying to duck a debate on crime.¨ This is where effective rebuttals must happen. They must be made impotent by giving truth.
Well written Will. The farther away from Jesus’ lessons we allow, the more warped and merciless policies get. Using religion to justify hateful practices needs to be called out which you have done beautifully. Thanks.
While my intellectual attachment to the separation of church and state would get in the way, part of me actually would not mind governing a society according to the Bible, PROVIDED that we ACTUALLY hewed as close to Jesus's intent as possible. I suspect it would look like a continent-wide Woodstock and be a lot of fun.
You’re right. “It really isn’t all about the money.. its about the overarching philosophy that helping people is actually *bad* for them.” Republicans frame everything from the perspective of a strong(man) father figure in the disciplinarian role while Democrats frame from the perspective of a nurturing parent role using kindness and empathy.
Everything you have described fits Republican framing. And Christianity is framed in the same disciplining father figure way.
George Lakoff has been explaining framing for years. The link below is from an article written in 2003. Change the names and it could have been written in 2023. Not a bad intro to framing for those who haven’t read Lakoff.
Whoa! GREAT article--very informative. Thank you for that link. Yes, Dems have an uphill slog to battle against the decades long established Repubbie "framing infrastructure".
A quick look at his website and this particular book ¨Ten years after writing the definitive, international bestselling book on political debate and messaging, George Lakoff returns with new strategies about how to frame today’s essential issues. Called the “father of framing” by The New York Times, Lakoff explains how framing is about ideas—ideas that come before policy, ideas that make sense of facts, ideas that are proactive not reactive, positive not negative, ideas that need to be communicated out loud every day in public. The ALL NEW Don’t Think of an Elephant! picks up where the original book left off—delving deeper into how framing works, how framing has evolved in the past decade, how to speak to people who harbor elements of both progressive and conservative worldviews, how to counter propaganda and slogans, and more. In this updated and expanded edition, Lakoff, urges progressives to go beyond the typical laundry list of facts, policies, and programs and present a clear moral vision to the country—one that is traditionally American and can become a guidepost for developing compassionate, effective policy that upholds citizens’ well-being and freedom, ¨ is something many of us need to learn.
Lakoff is one of the few truly bang-on insightful political minds of the last however-many decades. Why every left-of-center voter does not keep a copy of one of his books in their nightstand is beyond me.
Treasure of an article, Lena! Thank you! Been a Lakoff fan with a few of his books for a good while. Never saw this excellent article before. 2003... just as relevant today.
I think you give Banana Republicans more credit than they deserve for a cohesive philosophy. They simply use outrage focused on the dangerous “other” as means of rallying enough people to win targeted voter suppressed, gerrymandered elections. Once in power, their goal is to lower taxes in order to justify budget cuts that will shrink the governments ability to regulate rapacious capitalism. With luck and a focused Federalist Society assault on the Constitution, they now have the Disgraced Roberts Court that is single mindedly dismantling the ability of the government to regulate corporations in anyway.
The only hope for a fair an reasonably democratic republic is the election of a Democratic majority in congress that is willing to end the filibuster in the Senate and expand the Supreme Court.
Carole I remember ‘banana republic’ in the 1954s. It was a perforation used, I believe, by the United Fruit Company, that sought to control these Central American countries.
In one country, a ‘nationalist’ leader took control over a United Fruit patsy. He sought to nationalize the United Fruit properties using, for compensation, the value stated by United Fruit in its tax assessment (fraudulently low).
In the subsequent brouhaha, the CIA launched an invasion to oust this anti-United Fruit guy. Think his name in Ardensz, but too lazy to check.
Carole Árbenz, democratically elected president of Guatemala in 1954, then ousted in CIA-organized coup. I recall CIA planes mysteriously flying out of Honduras.
Huh—we were supporting dictators over democratically elected leaders? PHSAW.
This was under Dull, Duller, Dullest John and his brother Allen, CIA director.
I believe that it was introduced (newly) in Robert Hubbell´s newsletter a day or two ago when the Repubs were called out for using ¨Democrat agenda¨ and a Democrat shamed the person by teaching the difference between Democrat (noun) and Democratic (adjective), then saying perhaps we should begin using Banana Republican for their adjective.
Just because they may not be willing to, or consciously be able to articulate this philosophy, does not mean it is not there. But in order to use the concocted outage to rally people, enough people have to actually hold the combination of beliefs that allow them to feel the outrage they are being directed to feel. There can be no successful sales pitch without willing buyers.
There was or is a movie made right after WWI. The Germans come into a French village that is actually an insane asylum but the care takers have left. The insane becomes what passes for sane & the sane become the insane.
They have bought the pitch from what they express and still call themselves republicans . MTG has voiced the philosophy by name, wants T shirts. Hopefully enough will wake up to the path they are being lead on. Our Senator keeps harping on closing the border. One comment to day was that the children that were separated from their mothers were actually rentals or kidnapped to get people into the States, had sources to prove it(but not produced). Very scary time!
My sister is like this.. can’t bear the homeless, immigrants are dangerous, capitalism rules.. oh, unless someone in her circle needs disability or other free govt service.
Will from Cal - you hit the nail on the head. Often when doing my errands around town I'll listen to "Right Wing Radio" (we got scads of these stations here in northern Wisconsin) to see what they are saying. Our friend Mr. Hannity was on and talking about the fact that businesses can't fill open positions because too many Americans just want the government to send them another check. He and a guest rambled on and on about how people don't want to work and now O'Biden wants to give these people free childcare so they "can" work. They called bullshit on that idea too. They then discussed how even a single mother of 3 can work without daycare. She simply needs to either find a shift that she can work and have a friend or family member watch her children and if that doesn't work that mother of 3 can simply work from home and watch her 3 kids while working. Really - I thought. Their pathetic look into a simple issue like childcare made me just shake my head. -saw-
I would bet that the majority of teachers in the K-12 districts in the US are (or were) mothers. Just how do you "work from home" with small children?
And I believe that 3+3=6, which just might be against the laws regarding number of adults/number of children being cared for. Besides the fact that they are probably unlicensed day care??
"Just how do you "work from home" with small children?"
By being stressed and miserable and ineffective every moment of the day.
"And I believe that 3+3=6, which just might be against the laws regarding number of adults/number of children being cared for."
The only solution is to get rid of those laws. Just another example of big gummint strangling productivity. If she doesn't want to watch the kids, they can go to work themselves. They will learn the value of it early, and will be less likely to be corrupted by the liberal college they wont get into. It's so obvious!
This boils my blood! I awoke this morning (t's morning here in Europe) with my constant mantra regarding their ´right to life¨ bs. How many adopt from foster homes? How many become loving, caring, foster parents¨, How many support women who are struggling to raise children while working? How many? How many? How many? And, biggest question of all for these ¨religious¨ smarms is how many children of color will they adopt or support or feed or clothe or educate?
Hello Will. I agree with most of your comment. I am fuzzy on what % of Them actually are beating folks with the religious baton, I don't hear it often. I have had many discussions with the "by their bootstraps" argument, which triggers a response like a doorbell does to a dog. I jump in and ask whomever said it to take me through the process step by step, my point being that a person would have to go outside themselves to analyze their condition, recognise a better option, figure out how to implement it, make adjustments, and find new supporters in the process, since a lot of folks look in the mirror and see someone they know. I know how hard this is because I did it. So my question to Them is this: after prying 100 million citizens, Biden's number, off the government teat, what plans do They have next? Do these deprived people line up like those Chinese terra cotta soldiers and , and what? What about that Southern congressman who is sponsoring a bill to disallow Dems from voting in his state? I ask locals who complain as, for instance, why are we paying for JImmy Carter's health care, what the heck does it mattter to them? The immensity of that insult to the greatest humanitarian I have ever heard of is beyond the pale. Those lowlifes will come upon a fallen body and respond like the driver who runs over a dead cat, backs up and does it again, while his wife asks what is going on, the cat is already dead? The hubby replies, "you just can't trust them SOBs."
Many will argue against the Bible, and the Bible can be interpreted to fbolster any argument you wish, I realize this. However, to those who like to kick someone in need, I do like to mention the parable of the Good Samaritan.
Ed, I like your tactic of actually (politely, I am sure) interrogating the thought process when someone goes all in on verbalizing the extreme "bootstraps" mentality. I do so too whenever I encounter it; asking them to guide you through the thought process does not immediately lead to them realizing the dead-end nature of the philosophy as much as it provides me with useful detail as to how the thought process actually unfolds. You can't beat them if you don't understand them. The hardest part of the bootstraps aspect to challenge is actually that the impulse comes from the root of some healthy values - self-reliance, industriousness, grit - but applied in an unhealthy way to a whole society instead of as individual motivation.
Also, obviously not all of ther folks with a callous attitude are religious, and vice versa goes double. But in my experience there is a notable overlap, a residual Puritanism in the culture which has gone full social Darwin somewhere along the line.
I notice here a number of people cite being a Christian as following the 'Good Stuff'. I wonder how many haven´t a clue of the number of other religions and philosophies that came before that have the same 'Good Stuff' . Good Stuff needs no religion to join to practice.
Wow. Well done. I’ve always had a hard time wrapping my mind around the Republican way of thinking. How can their philosophy be so heartless and at the same time they call themselves (so many of them) “Christian”? It’s an angry, vengeful, Old Testament God that condones the current Republican Party, for sure. Thank you for this.
Will, While your provocative and astute analysis regrettably rings true regarding the radical right of the Republican Party, I have a different take with respect to “establishment” Republicans of the recent past. In my view, the latter perceived the government’s role not as undoing all harms, but as securing equal rights. In this regard, what one made of these rights, what status one obtained as a result of one’s efforts, was not a subject of public concern: it was entirely up to the individual.
To be clear, in my view, the notion that everyone ever had an equal chance to succeed and that success in the United States required no more than hard work, sacrifice, and perseverance was pure myth. Nonetheless, shielding oneself from institutionally oppressive forces that, then and now, hold substantial swaths of our population back from realizing their potential, undoubtedly, served to justify the conviction that concern for an individual does not translate into a public responsibility involving the government.
Thank you, Barbara. I appreciate your adding in some of the nuances to what seems to (again) have devolved into another 2 sided argument with no room for shades of grey, and no room for considering that solving one aspect of a problem does not mean the problem is no longer an issue. I guess we are going through another phase of abstraction. Thanks for bringing it back to real lives.
Barbara Jo, while I agree that the avoidance of unnecessary conflating of differing degrees of the "other side of the aisle" is essential, and while I also recognize the truth of your delineation on an intellectual level, I confess I do not see how even the "establishment" types fail to fit into the mindset I (colorfully) described. Yes, they may be better at couching it an intellectual rationalization around respecting free will, but it still boils down to the core belief that the best thing you can do for someone is refuse to assist them in any real way. They find "staying out of the way" a virtue and making life a little easier objectionable. Show me any proposal by any group of the current elected Repubs that involves expanding any aspect of the social safety net, rather than cutting it, and I will recant.
Will, To start, I would note I wrote “establishment Republicans of the recent past.” As an example, I would offer resistance from both Democrats and Republicans to George W. Bush’s proposal to privatize Social Security.
My point is that the Republican Party, particularly since 2008, has been radicalized and its original organizing principles, as I understand them, increasingly obliterated, and, in my view, we should be scared sh*tless.
"Their outlook is one of severity, their constant urge is to punish, and in the idea of a kinder society they forsee nothing but the guaranteed dissolution of that society. "
Well, if one were born white and wealthy, which, as a law of physics, couples with dumb and lazy, you would feel the same way.
Because, when one is born with a "Silver Foot in One's Mouth" then one really cannot speak with much intelligence now can one?
Mike As a broad generalization your “Silver Foot in One’s Mouth” has considerable validity. However, I would caution you about definitive generalizations. I have found, in my life, that the exceptions can be significant.
Trumpublicans make sweeping, definitive generalizations that I consider dangerously wrong.
'Sanders-Warren plan would tax the rich to increase Social Security by $2,400 a year
The proposal would ensure the program is fully funded through 2096'
'As congressional Republicans threaten to cut Social Security and other key federal programs, progressive Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren led a group of lawmakers … in unveiling legislation that would increase Social Security benefits by at least $200 per month and prolong the program's solvency for decades by finally requiring wealthy Americans to pay their fair share.'
'The Social Security Expansion Act, introduced by Sanders, I-Vt., and Warren, D-Mass., in the Senate and by Reps. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., and Val Hoyle, D-Ore., in the House, would put an additional $2,400 in beneficiaries' pockets each year and ensure the program is fully funded through 2096.'
'The bill would accomplish this by lifting the cap on the maximum amount of income subject to the Social Security payroll tax—a change that would not raise taxes on the 93% of U.S. households that make $250,000 or less per year, according to an analysis conducted by the Social Security Administration at the request of Sanders.'
'Currently, annual earnings above $160,200 are not subject to the Social Security payroll tax, which means that millionaires will stop contributing to the program later this month. The legislation proposes lifting this cap and subjecting all income above $250,000 per year to the Social Security payroll tax. If enacted, the bill would have raised more than $3.4 billion from the nation's top 11 highest-paid CEOs alone in 2021, including $2.9 billion from Tesla and Twitter executive Elon Musk.'
"At a time when nearly half of older Americans have no retirement savings and almost 50% of our nation's seniors are trying to survive on an income of less than $25,000 a year, our job is not to cut Social Security," Sanders said in a statement.'
"Our job is to expand Social Security so that every senior in America can retire with the dignity that they deserve and every person with a disability can live with the security they need," the chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions continued. "The legislation that we are introducing today will expand Social Security benefits by $2,400 a year and will extend the solvency of Social Security for the next 75 years by making sure that the wealthiest people in our society pay their fair share into the system."
"Right now, a Wall Street CEO who makes $30 million pays the same amount into Social Security as someone who makes $160,000 a year," the Vermont Independent added. "Our bill puts an end to that absurdity which will allow us to protect Social Security for generations to come while lifting millions of seniors out of poverty." (Salon)
This is a voice from the very distant past! I hope you are well and thriving! You are still fighting the good fight which warms my heart. Take good care of yourself.
This is a voice from the distant past. It warms my heart that you are still fighting the good fight. I hope you are well and thriving. I am writing this a second time because I wanted to make sure you receive my message. Take good care of yourself!
Like pretty much everything that issues from a modern Republican mouth these days, "republican" is a total misnomer for what they are about. The walk and quack like despotic plutocrats.
Every time I pass by the swanky store with the same name at the mall, I cannot believe they never changed the name. Banana Republic is already the name of a thing, and not a very good thing! It would be like if Old Navy was named Third World.
The original Banana Republic retail stores had rustic, tropical decor - think the Jungle Boat ride at Disneyland - with clothing that one could call safari chic, so the name made a little sense, but whoever thought it a good one for a clothing retailer sure didn’t understand history.
Thank you for this addition to the definition of “banana republic”, for those who are unaware of the history of how the Boston based United Fruit Company, AKA Chiquita Brands, instigated quite a few coups & insurrections in Central & South America.
When I became a history professor in 1992 the great majority of American history text books focused on the white male story of the evolution of the United States.
This was evidenced in the Constitution, which fudged the issue of slavery and did not acknowledge that women were equal citizens.
I was delighted in the modern-day teaching of American history with the increasing acknowledgement of initial discrimination and the gradual process in which racism, gender discrimination, and the uneven treatment of immigration were highlighted.
One of my most popular courses was: THE WHAT vs. THE WHO: SOCIETAL DISCRIMINATION FROM PATRIARCHY TO THE PRESENT.
Sadly, this would be banned in DeSantis’s Florida.
DeSantis was a regular history major at Yale. This was considered a ‘gut program’ as contrasted to the far more rigorous ‘intensive history’ Yale major that I completed in 1955.
I wish that DeSantis had chosen the far more demanding ‘intensive history’ program.
Will I will acknowledge that Yale devised a song that would not overly challenge the intellect of jocks or frat boys: BOOLA BOOLA. It is simply repetitive, except for the last line. Mastering it was a requirement for becoming cum laude.
Mike DeSantis’s ‘reading’ and ass sucking skills must have increased at Harvard Law School, since he was awarded a Bronze Star while serving as a lawyer with a SEAL unit in Iraq. Those wobbly desk chairs must have been dangerous.
The self-righteous blather and outright lies with a heinous purpose should nauseate any one in earshot. Jamie and company must take anti-nausea meds to tolerate being in the House. I can no longer tolerate a sound or a picture of these cretins. Soon tv will be replaced by music…
Let us not forget that we did have a balanced budget, indeed, a budget surplus, when Bill Clinton was president. As soon as an R got into the White House, he put an end to that, and the budget has been in deficit ever since. Whether you hate deficits or accept them, this is another example of R budgetary hypocrisy.
Thanks for the link to that graph, Mike S. It should be required viewing for each and every Banana Republican dumbo and bimbo in the House and Senate--not that many (or any) of them would understand it.
It's easy to play to your base and keep making absurd claims when you're in the minority. All you have to do is lob grenades and be incendiary...it's much harder when you have a slim majority and folks on the fringe of the right feel empowered to keep making those claims and being bombastic...and then when you have someone as bright and talented as Jamie Raskin, who will call you out, all day, every day, then you have a problem because the spotlight is on you. Your bombast and snake oil show still works for the true believers, but many other folks may still watch the show, because folks love a train wreck...unless it's polluting their air and water...but they will stop buying your product when it doesn't work for them. And then there's this brilliant lawsuit from Dominion which is showing the world who and what Murdock and his Fox really are (if there was any doubt) and he will try and protect his empire...over saving DJT and his minions. This is much better than any written for prime time TV series.
“Republican control of the House of Representatives has fed a changing dynamic. After decades of playing defense, the Democrats are going on offense.” Necessary, and long overdue. Thank you Heather.
I enjoyed the latest political chat and better understand some of my friends who have disengaged from the overwhelming “firehose of information, which exhausts us.’
President Biden is correct in specifying the 2 Republican Party's we have. He should continue to do so.
I think we all knew that the Affordable Care Act will be where the GOP will go to make cuts. It's low hanging fruit for them. They can be the heros that take away from the "unsightly ". Unsightly = poor and old.
Yeah, there's one "Republican Party" with like five members, then there's the Banana Republican Party with all the rest of the worthless scum - from voters to officeholders.
Glad to see Democrats finding their voices to call out the Republican crap. It would be a lot better if the stories got carried more widely in the media. "Rep. Matt Gaetz introduces Chinese propaganda in House Committee hearing" should be newsworthy. So should "The gift that keeps on giving. Republican's failed tax plan is adding XXX to the federal deficit this year in lost tax revenue and added interest costs"
Two things must happen in this county--the faux news organizations have to be bankrupted to cut down on the lies and Democrats have to learn how to listen to and talk to the people of both parties about what really matters to them. Much as I admire Jamie Raskin's smarts and grit, it isn't going to be about nouns vs adjectives. It's going to be increasingly about basic pocketbook issues--great that I am employed, no so great that I can't afford $18/lb fish for dinner for my family.
OK, this has been bugging me all day. I know prices have gotten crazy, but what is the fish in question that is $18/lb??? I totally believe you, but I live in a notoriously expensive area and can find several varieties of frozen fish for half the price and even one or two types of fresh, depending on the day, to say nothing of canned goods. Are things even more variable than I realized?
"After decades of playing defense, the Democrats are going on offense…."
Indeed, it is radical to change direction from a course that emphasizes, as a primary duty of government, the regulating of drag queen entertainment to: "… invest in America, lower health costs, and protect and strengthen Social Security and Medicare while cutting the deficit more than $2 trillion over the next 10 years.”
I look forward to a time when acceptance of the kinds of goals expressed in Biden's budget are expected practices without a need to deal with crazy distractions from the business of governing.
Because I relished reading, “After decades of playing defense, the Democrats are going on offense,” I write, in plain English, to pile on.
As someone, last January, who anxiously watched and waited while Freedom Caucus extremists were extracting concession after concession from Kevin McCarthy, as he desperately attempted to get enough votes to become Speaker, I rightly feared that far-right extremists would be setting the agenda for the next 2 years. Now, nearly 2 months later, I contend that responsibility rests with Democrats to ensure, in 24, that all House Republicans are held politically accountable for every single concession adopted, for everything that appeared in the rules they voted for, and for the constant drumbeat of Republican extremism that invariably will ensue with McCarthy as Speaker.
I would agree, except the responsibility here does not rest with Democrats to hold the extremists politically accountable. Democratic officeholders are already doing their jobs just fine. The responsibility rests with American voters.
Will, While I agree in principal, because I can’t emphasize enough how urgent the moment is, I believe we need our Democratic representatives to amplify that our democracy is in trouble and that it’s not the Russian’s fault; it’s ours. We are the ones killing it.
"Vought’s proposal promises to balance the budget in ten years, but it also predicts the number of working people in the U.S. will increase by 14.5 million more people than the Congressional Budget Office says will enter....But where the people will come from is a mystery."
Empty G knows, after all, according to her miscalculation, 6 billion people crossed the U.S. border last 2 years. Now let's say she's wrong by half, nah, let's just call it what it is - she's completely incompetent and should be removed from Congress for acts of sedition, promoting secession.
The grossest part about the usage of "woke" as a pejorative is that it is a deliberate appropriation of a term used for decades by a marginalized group to empower themselves. Total weaponization of language. I say we keep on using it the right way.
While I wasn't successful at passing on the NYT article, our friend Annie D. Stratton, sparked my interest in digging into the "bona fides" of its author, William Melvin Kelley.
The short of it is: "In 2014, the Oxford English Dictionary credited Kelley with coining the political term “woke,” in a 1962 New York Times article titled “If You’re Woke You Dig It; No mickey mouse can be expected to follow today’s Negro idiom without a hip assist. If You’re Woke You Dig It.” The hashtag #staywoke later became a catchphrase of the new Black Lives Matter movement, after first passing serendipitously through Erykah Badu."
Morning, Christine and Mark. Being a NYT subscriber, I clicked on the "Give this article" link. I can't tell from my end whether it's working for you. Here it is again to try if you want. I can't seem to copy the article itself to paste it here, but I'm sorta working on it.
I think your gift only allows access to the doorway to the article. Still have to subscribe to their archives on TimesMachine. It is not a public portal, though NYT makes it look like one until you get there. Thanks for the thought, though.
I took a look and realized that I'd read the book back in the day. I've got his name on my list now. I follow a few blogs by linguists because words fascinated me. My mom sparked an interest in word meanings and how they change. I think I took Latin mainly because it contained the roots of so many words in English and other Euro languages! Linguistics in college, and though the course wasn't very good, it reawakened an interest in words and how meanings change that my mother in particular sparked. And as a writer I am addicted to words. How many people own a shelf-full of dictionaries? (Not counting the ones in my computer!)
Kudos to Jamie Raskin for pointing out the misuse of the noun "Democrat" as an adjective. -- This has irked me for years, and while I doubt it will stop Republicans for continuing this implied pejorative terminology, it is important to call out the misuse and ask for grammatically correct and respectful language as a common courtesy and an important first step toward bipartisanship.
Are we perhaps overestimating Congresswoman Boebert’s language skills by assuming she can grasp the difference between a noun and an adjective, and further, understands the different usage of both?
I’m skeptical.
We all know, as does Raskin, that the grammar is not the point t. The point is to make "Democrat" a dirty word.
I very much like Raskin's suggestion of calling the other Party the Banana Republicans every time we mention them. I know this is childish name-calling, but it actually is truthful!😊
The Republican use of the word “Democrat” was begun by Karl Rove and was always intended as an insult. Now if someone would call out their use of “woke.” It too is intended as an insult. The press should ask Republicans who talk about “woke policies”and the like, what does that word mean to you, and provide an example. It’s just used like scratching on a blackboard, to irritate people.
“Woke” is different. It’s not just a barb. It reminds people of why they vote Republican: because they want to preserve the enormous, systemic advantages of white Americans. That makes “woke” the most efficient possible communication of Republican values to Republican-leaning voters that can be conceived. A complete message in four letters.
Woke actually means awareness... kindness. Caring humanitarian. What BRs are NOT usually!!
I think if you were to ask one of them what the word means, they would be unable to define it. All they know is people start clutching their pearls when they hear it!
You’re right. It’s the right’s equivalent of virtue signaling to each other. But it really means nothing in their eyes other than f***ing withe the libs.
And one of the things that makes "woke" so powerful among GOPers is that so many whites in our country are underprivileged, and they feel left behind by black people and immigrants--as many of them actually are! (As my long-ago Berkeley professor, Arlie Hochschild wrote in her fairly recent book, Strangers in their Own Land.) Who dies from opioid overdoses? Who are all those ne'er do wells in JD Vance's Hillbilly Elegy? They're whites!
We Democrats go way overboard with sorting people by skin color, and insisting whites are the top of the heap, and much to our detriment at election time. Money has a lot more to do with privilege in the US than does skin color. People of Indian, and probably Chinese ancestry do better financially, on average, than white people, as do several other non-white groups.
Well studied. Thx for sharing that out loud David.
Yes... economic classism doesn't always match up with stereotypical ethnicity. Been noticing that for years.
Sooo... Arlie Hochschild was your UC Bezerkeley prof??? Just now reading her book... only in the first part so far. She's brilliant in how she approaches this work.
Horrified at the parallels between E. Palestine OH train disaster and all the 'industrial pollution' destroying in short order the lives, homes, communities, environment in SW Louisiana where those regular people tell her their awful stories. And yes, so far, they're all white. Tragic.
The destruction is just horrendous and likely permanent.
If you haven't seen B.J. Novak's film, Revenge... it's excellent. Another powerful study in struggling white American culture.
How are whites "underprivileged?" I can agree that many lack adequate resources for housing,, food, and shelter, educational opportunities, and employment opportunities, but right now, I cannot imagine that there is any group in this nation who has more "privilege" than a person whose skin is white. Time and again, studies reveal that when examined side by side -- apples to apples, oranges to oranges, so to speak -- when you compare a white person's situation at every level, in any category, to that of a person of color (especially black people), there is real disparity between them, with the white having a distinct advantage over the other.
We're not going to improve anything buying into the trope of the whites being somehow oppressed by people who don't look, act, or think like they do, or the even worse idea that there's nothing really wrong with a system that is designed in such a way that assistance and lift can only be provided to any person at the expense of another. That's called a "zero-sum" situation, and it usually results in nobody being satisfied.
We can do better. We have to think our way out of this mess we're in, and offer help and fresh ideas when we can, and we above all else need to understand that we're all sharing the same sky.
As I blow it back, woke is self educated as a successive, successful, life long pursuit; a high compliment to my thinking. Also a worthy insult to toss back, when one is 'woke' to the widespread inability to read, write, and process information objectively and critically in this digital misinformation age.
yep, D4N ... exactly how i define it as well. proud of it, too. you said it much better. :D
I'm kinda drawn to MAGAts, and how it is pronounced... indicative of insect larvae.
Absolutely Ally ! ..... And it 'resonates'. I highly recommend over using and abusing it at every opportunity. *edit in - I've also taken a real liking to calling them "proud boyz" especially including revolting MTG; no where in her do I recognize the grace inherent in a real female of our species.
Yes, it's the purposeful and somewhat underhanded insult that is the goal of 'misusing' that word. Yep, Cheryl... it is truthful and accurate ... Love the Banana Republican Party!! Perfect!! Banana Republicans!! From now on....
Actually, that was not his point. Quite the opposite., and I think it behooves us to recognize that and honor it. He was comparing -some- Republicans misuse of the word Democrat to an "as if", and used the example "It's as if everytime we (Dems) referred to their colleagues on the other side of the aisle, we use, oh, say, "banana republicans", and we used it every time we referred to anything about them." He goes on to say "But we don't do that", and gives a lesson in civility to the Republicans about the importance of using appropriate terminology on the House floor when speaking to or about the other party in order to further communication. I suggest we do the same, and stick to the point, and avoid language meant primarily to demean. Disagreement is appropriate. Snide name-calling is not.
I always thought that Rs deliberately misusing the word was to confuse small 'd' democratic with capital 'D' Democractic. And since plenty of people aren't careful (or don't know) about nouns vs. adjectives, this just played into the purposeful mix-up.
I agree with you that that is how it started. I have made that mistake often at times (confounding Democrat with Democratic), even though I've been active in the Democratic Party for a very long time. It didn't really matter so much until, as is true of much of what the present iteration of the Republican party does, it was taken up as a dig, a jibe meant to demean. We had two choices: ignore it until it burned itself out. But grammar police kept highlighting it, giving it more power. The other choice was exactly what Raskin did, making a gently worded correction and then placing it not in the frame of ignorance or grammar, but in the long tradition of using terms of respect and recognition in legislative chambers. One reason I admire him so much: he sets an example for all of us.
In my younger days, I was a fast typist and words would often get away from me, and sometimes I didn't pick up in proofreading. I made a practice of having someone else look over my work before sending it out to a wider audience. Now, my fingers make a LOT of mistakes, but how carefully I proof depends on what I am typing and the how forgiving an audience might be. Added all spellings with and without caps to my word list to alert me. It works in most settings.
Now this common but understandable mix-up has been perverted and made into a childish insult, so I added it to my word list so it gets red-lined no matter how it is spelled.
Truly appreciate you, Annie.
Thanks, Suz-an. That made my day.
Go ahead, attack a woman for using the word "democrat" the way Republican men have been using it for years, if not decades. The two "Macs" - McCarthy and McConnell - have used the word as slur, not to mention George W. Bush. It's great that Jamie Raskin pointed this out, but it's also way past due time that Democrats called it out. Now, who is going to call out the fact that weaponizing the terms "woke" and "critical race theory" is overtly racist? Not just on the House or Senate floor, but on main stream media?
And while we are criticizing folks for barely completing high school, let's keep in mind the fact that Ron DeSantis is a graduate of Harvard. Lauren Boebert is a despicable person, but it's not because she didn't go to college.
And the comment is not directed at her because she is a woman either, but because she is aping what she has heard from other Rs, so she can appeal to the base.
It's just too easy to dump on Boebert, not that she doesn't deserve it and good on Jamie Raskin for calling it out on the House floor. It just can't stop there; Dems need to call out the GOPs demeaning rhetoric all the time.
That would get old fast. There would be no time to talk about anything else. Besides, our opponents, comprised mostly of the white working class, don’t give a shit about grammar, hate anything that reminds them of a schoolmarm, and love anything that smacks of demeaning educated people.
And ours. We do ourselves no favors with this kind of indulgence.
Could we all agree to put "weaponizing" in quotes every time we use it as it's the Republicans new "Democrat party"? How do they succeed at getting their little word usages into general use?
I'm not sure the use of "weaponizing" is incorrect, but it is certainly over-used; and I share your amazement at their ability to "weaponize" certain words and phrases.
They get their demeaning language into general use because their demeaning terminology appeals to their base.
PS. I think the use of Democrat as an adjective was popularized by Dick Army umpteen years ago. It caught on with uncivil Republicans (that is, all Republicans) right away.
"Go ahead, attack a woman for using the word "democrat" the way Republican men have been using it for years, if not decades."
The most bizarre accusation of misogyny I think I've ever seen.
I am not accusing Jamie Raskin of misogyny, but it is worth noting that men have been using "democrat" in that way for a long time without repercussion, as if it were somehow ok for men to say something insulting, or act obnoxious, but not ok for women to behave the same way.
It's something to think about, though, don't you think?
I don't think people attack her in this instance because she is a woman, but because she is aping the R line that they all have used for years.... R men and women on D men and women.
No.
And Yale...
Oh, she can't, but she knows that using Democrat as the Rs do is an insult. The one that really made smile today is Herr Gaetz not knowing who published his source. I find that when I call for sources on some of the dreck I see on other sites, there is a lot of stumbling around or the person reveals a wing nut site. The real corker was the person who said I should dig deeper and then used Judicial Watch as her source. And I hope I am remembering the name of that wing nut site correctly.
This comment should be in the discussion about Gunslinger Barbie.
lol Michele !
Hahaaahaaa..CW Bo Burrrr Ttt.. talk about a boob-job. What she needs is a boot-camp and a few deployments to some 'out-posts' made from packing crates, sandbags, and mosquito/spyder nets, on the rocky hillside of a valley in some far-a-way land. No hi-heels.
She may not be grammatically aware. But she sure groks the non-verbal attitude. And since attitude is all that she appears to be and specializes in, the correction stings.
Yes, it's a mystery. Maybe Boebert should consult with MTG and her Peachtree dish.
Do we know at what grade level Lauren Boebert's reading comprehension is?
I found this very interesting and a little surprising. Speaks to the MAGA base. This report is from the Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, July 2019.
“What is the make-up of adults with low English literacy skills by nativity status and race/ethnicity?
“U.S.-born adults make up two-thirds of adults with low levels of English literacy skills in the United States.5 However, the non-U.S. born are over-represented among such low-skilled adults. Non-U.S.-born adults comprise 34 percent of the population with low literacy skills, compared to 15 percent of the total population (figure 2).
“White and Hispanic adults make up the largest percentage of U.S. adults with low levels of English literacy, 35 percent and 34 percent respectively (figure 3).
“By race/ethnicity and nativity status, the largest percentage of those with low literacy skills are White U.S.-born adults, who represent one third of such low-skilled population. Hispanic adults born outside the United States make up about a quarter of such low-skilled adults in the United States (figure 3).”
https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2019/2019179/index.asp
Hmm. The second paragraph is odd. Yes, non-U.S. born adults comprise about a third of the population with low literacy skills... because (as the first sentence already states) the other two-thirds are U.S.-born adults. <insert eye roll here> Am I missing something? What's surprising?
I’m an old white woman, just turned seventy. And I was a loyal Republican until that brass escalator (hated tfg before he ever declared). I retired as the librarian of a high-poverty K-5 NC public school, 2007-17. If asked, I would have said that Black illiteracy would have been higher. And I’m ashamed of that. The kids at my school were about 45% urban Black, 40% rural white, 14% Hispanic and a small number of Asian and other. The Hispanic population grew over my ten years. So I should have known better.
If you use the link to NCES, Figure 3 shows Black illiteracy at 23% - not what the Republicans would have you believe.
Glad you're here with us, Suzanne! Congrats on removing yourself from the Rs. As someone else kindly told me, we're forgiven for not having all the 'correct' answers earlier. We did the best we could with what we had or knew at the time. Thank you for pursuing that career in public education.
I’m not sure, but I bet you could describe it with the fingers on one hand.
You insult the 5th graders.
Annnnnddd my typing dyslexia initially typed inslut. Junior high mind took that and ran with it.
LOLOLOL!!!! Thank you for the yucks today, Ally!! :D
That's wonderfully humorous!
Might only need one finger.
GED - just before she ran for office. So, perhaps High School.
Source:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lauren_Boebert
She dropped out of her senior year in high school to have a baby.
Soooo correct!!
No matter whether Laura knows the difference or not, there are lots of Banana Republicans who do. We need to say this to every one of them.
Are you sure it's not weaponizing language?
Zelle, I don’t subscribe to demeaning another by how they got their education to point out someone else’s apparent lack of understanding the English language. When we as a society cannot communicate in our own language, we must go back to square one and clarify the speaker’s “misspeak” but without insulting another. That appears to be acting in the same way. Just sayin’. Let’s stay higher on the road.
The correction isn't about teaching grammar. The correction is about putting someone in their place via pointing out their meanness (intentional use of Democ-rat) without pointing to it directly. Cunning and wily and absolutely needed. Clarifying the hidden message - You mess with us and you'll get you're come up-pence. Finally! You don't "straighten up" a bully by silence nor by the "higher road." You straighten up the bully by matching their energy and then one. Congress is a street brawl today. Raskin, by reminding the opposition that it can't get away with its insults, is drawing the line and saying, we won't put up with your BS anymore. You are on notice! (And, Raskin's sharp, they know he knows where they are vulnerable and he won't pull any punches and will be so polite as he delivers the needed skewer.
Yes, Selina. And Raskin made his point while battling cancer and undergoing chemo. I'm thankful for him every day. The issues between our parties make it clear that we must stand up to these ignorant bullies, and I'm all for it. Taking the high road just isn't effective, and the bullies see it as a sign of weakness.
Don’t bad mouth the GED. The test is difficult. It is more difficult in staying in high school and getting a diploma. We all do not need to have Ivy League diplomas.
It's a bit like taking the test to become a citizen. One must actually know things in order to pass it.
If I were still teaching social studies or US history, I would use the citizenship test as a curriculum.
We are beginning to sound like those “effete eastern snobs” that my buddy Spiro T Gyro Agnew spoke about.
I remember that dude. He turned out to be a real gem...
Polite and proper has yielded 'Zero' results for Dems Pat. Your point is taken regards ill considered generalizations. The 'professional' in that regard was someone with literally walls full of degrees; she also ran against a charlatan and lost, partially as a result of ill considered - ill aimed generalizations. Dems in general are decades behind reality concerning 'taking off the gloves'. An activist such as myself has been on their collective azzes for decades about that. Is that just that, or have they really been totally out of touch ?
I've been haranguing this for a couple of decades, and in a response from the DNC for a donation, I wrote instead that the party needs a weapon sharper than a rubber knife, and a few sets of what becomes Rocky Mountain oysters. The Dark Brandon began to appear about that time, for which I attribute pure coincidence. Since the Dems don't want to muss up their J Crews by gutter fighting, some ju jitsu would be a beginning, and Mr Raskin is excelling at that, along with Mr Swalwell. But I don't detect any momentum. I am fascinated by Their (the other side) ability to dismiss formalities like accusing Mr Buttigeg of every crisis or disaster whether it's in his purview or not. Pin it on someone as high up as possible. MTG says 6 billion crossed the border last year or whatever she stated, she doesn't care about accuracy because her followers just quivered and reached for their weapons. Tell Them that DJT can't run for re-election again and They will besiege Piggly Wiggly in a New York minute. They do not insist on the finer points like some Dems I know, throw propriety out the damn window and get to it. I'll wait.
My daughter has a GED, and you can bet she's smarter than anyone who insults her that way. Please, do better.
Oh MaryCat... It's not about dissing the GED. Awesome for your daughter!! Cheers to her success!!
It's about showing that LB is ignorant and not helpful in her current role in Congress. For me, the BIG reveal was her complaining loudly about separation of church and state in such crass and obviously ignorant language. Like a pissed off teenager. She appeared to truly have no clue about basics of American civics. And she's a legislator???
We don’t know that. I suspect someone else took her exam for her.
lol Zella !
"From the web"? That's your citation? I know you are being snarky (very in these days), but if you base a statement on something, you'd better dang better be more specific than "from the web". Even Gaetz did better than that.
" @NaveedAJamali" has posted this stupid lie in several places around the internet (Twitter, Quora, etc). While Boebrt did indeed pass her GED in 2020, months before being elected to Congress, the truth is that she had to pass a four-course review in order to earn that GED. She passed on the first try, not the fourth.
You can search Snopes (reliable internet fact-checking source) and learn that truth yourself.
I'm with Annie on this -- please provide a source for this information. Not that I don't think Lauren Boebert is a loose cannon, but before you assert something dealing with a person's credentials, factual and accurate sourcing is absolutely necessary.
Will Jamie and Steve create a fashion trend with the ‘Bandana’ Look?
‘Jamie Raskin Credits Steven Van Zandt For Bandana Look As He Endures Chemotherapy’
‘The Maryland Democrat said treatment has been going well since he was diagnosed with diffuse large B cell lymphoma.’
'WASHINGTON — Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) received an ovation Tuesday at the House Oversight Committee’s first meeting since he started cancer treatment, sporting a bandana look he credited to a famous rocker.'
“We’re all rooting for you,” committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) told Raskin at the start of the meeting, which was the panel’s first of the year. “We know that you’re going to win this battle. You’re in our thoughts and prayers, and it’s good to see you here today.”
‘Raskin said that he hoped all the well wishes he’d received would become “seeds of friendship over the year” and that he planned to beat his illness. The ranking member seemed to blush as the room burst into applause. '
'On Tuesday, Raskin’s black-and-white bandana covered up the apparent hair loss.'
“I give all honor to Little Steven for creating this look for American men going through something,” Raskin told HuffPost, referring to guitarist and actor Steven Van Zandt.(HuffingtonPost)
My brother and sister in law were on the committee that hired Raskin. (voters in a certain Maryland district.)
To know what irks me? The "GOP" moniker: supposedly, the Grand Old Party.
The DemocratIC party is actually older.
Even their nickname is an obvious lie.
It stands for "Ghouls, Ogres and Putzes."
In MY part of the country it stood for Grouchy Old Parasites. At least until 2020, when they literally gave up on having a platform. Now it's Grabbing Others' Puss*es. The nomenclature changes so fast these days!
GOP
Grabbing Others' Puss*es
Go Will Go!!
I’m LITERALLY laughing out loud!
same!!!! :D
Will, from Cal , I will laugh all day to those description of GOP meaning
OK, with this conversation thread, now I'm ready for the day. 🤣
Will, you are a delight! :)
Right ON !! When will THEY " WAKE UP ??!!"
lol Will ! Now I'm on the floor !
TC, I wanted you to know that, while I can't afford to be a paid subscriber on your substack at this time, I do read it, and absolutely loved ¨Nobody Here But Us Chickens:¨ I hope that paid subscribers shared it via social media. I did and hope it brings you new readers.
Thank you!
Same boat as Gailee. Also the writing that you've shared about your Jurate was just so touching. I wish I could do more than just say how much I loved it but, unfortunately, I cannot. Just thank you, TC, for putting yourself "out there" at such a raw time. Deep and kind stirrings.
Thank you.
Greedy Oligarch Party
TC, since other folks are 'fessing up regards affordability to follow / participate at your page, I am one as well. I find myself a disabled senior with only SS as income - despite being in deep denial over accepting that status. The small sum I pay to participate here is actually painful, b/c 5$ for this, is 5$ away from another thing; but I 'must' be here.
Many of us in this boat, D4N. Checked out Substack Reads page (something like that) recently. Lots of discussion about this topic.
Lol TC.. I fell off my chair laughing !
The Democratic Party and the Republican Party have gone through a lot of changes. The early Republican party had a lot more going for it.
In fact, the two parties have done a 180 degree shift since the early 20th century.
"The love of money" and power figures into the history of both, but compare Reagan era (and since) pronouncements on "government' with Lincoln's "The legitimate object of government, is to do for a community of people, whatever they need to have done, but can not do, at all, or can not, so well do, for themselves -- in their separate, and individual capacities.", or imagine any prominent Republican saying anything remotely similar today? And obviously, it wasn't the Republicans who carried around Confederate flags back in Lincoln's day.
And yes, Teddy, a school of Lincoln Republican, famously championed the general welfare over plutocratic appeasement. Even Ike was mostly moderate, even, in some ways, Nixon.
Up until 1868 when they discovered having power meant access to money.
In MT they hav excommunicated a former Republican Gov, telling him he can no longer refer to himself as a Republican. He notes that he has not changed his stance, it is the GOP. In exchanges with people on our Republican Congressional representatives, if I refer to them as MAGA, they say they are not but what they say reflects a MAGA stance. I have taken to referring to them as RINOS & their statements as reflective of the Christian National Party. Andrew Whitehead co authored a book discussing the CNP I am waiting to read. I am wondering when the leaders of the GOP will come out of the closet & say what they really are.
Many years ago I had a friend who had worked as a peon in the "Bohemian Grove", a patch of redwoods that caters exclusively to the ultra-wealthy and powerful, CEOs, Senators, and the like. He claimed they would get stinking drunk and openly brag to each other about what they were really up to, at least some of which was contempt for the poor.
As for the passionate fan club, I think they are so muddled with mental malware they don't know which way is up.
Which gov?
I'm guessing Montana. "MT".
Will, a couple of years ago I adopted "Ghastly Oligarch Party" as the true meaning of the acronym GOP. I use it all the time here.
I'm fine with GQP. Shorter to type and summarizes where most of them are these days.
I just call them the party of death.
The party of greed. They even adopted it for a while (less so since the Subprime debacle) appropriating and proudly parroting the phrase "Greed is good" from film that cautioned against it. We all pursue self-interest, but it is only "greed" when it's hurting others. "Greedy Old Plutocrats" is among the more accurate updates of their moniker.
Excellent description.
Irks me to nth degree
GOP: Guns Over People (courtesy of MoveOn).
accurate!!
While I appreciate the irony, it cuts both ways. Democrats used to be mostly slave-owners, and were, roughly until Nixon, the majority party in the south.
They were Dixiecrats who caucused with Democrats. Democrats had to agree to a lot of deeply immoral actions to keep Dixiecrats in the caucus. The Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act in the 1960s broke the Dixiecrats loose and freed Democrats from having to kowtow to stone-cold racists.
And the Southernist Party scum who were "Democrats" then are "Republicans" now.
".. Follow the money"
ALWAYS
Banana Republican Party, I love it.
Expecting common courtesy, you jest
I would expect it in a fully functioning democracy. It is not unreasonable to require a degree of visible professionalism where so much is at stake.
How I wish
Jamie Raskin is on fire!
I am a resident of Ohio, in between Cleveland and Akron. I have always adored Raskin.
I was going to write the same thing! It seems small, but it's exactly like Janie Raskin said, a tiny, ridiculous insult. Every time a GOP member says Democrat this or Democrat that, it rankles. You're so right: common courtesy would be a good first step for restoring a positive working relationship between parties. Maybe we should reward Rep. Raskin with one of those T-shirts that say 'I am silently correcting your grammar.'
Common courtesy is no longer in the R playbook. They love being as rude as they can possibly be and some of them are way beyond rude.
Reminds me of Gov. Huckabee Sander’s use of Democrat as an adjective during the SOTU rebuttal. Turned my stomach.
didn't listen to it... tho she certainly oughta know better
😆😆😆😆😆 Great idea!
Love Jamie Raskin. Praying to any and all gods for his health and wellbeing.
I hope he continues to wear the pirate-style headscarf even after completing treatment (successfully, of course).
My brother, also a Van Zandt fan, wore the same kind of bandana during the hairless part of his treatment. This is no coincidence. Someone on here mentioned a wig. Uncomfortable and hot. Not much to do about the no eyelashes and eyebrow part. They grow back though. His hair came back almost enough to cover the scar. His scc originated in his lung and metastesized to his brain. It was kind of nasty, but my brother is a Stratton and therefore stubborn. He actually beat the thing. I bet Jamie will too. His cancer is a different kind, and from what I understand, his odds are way better than my brothers. I'd love to be able to introduce them someday.
Appreciate this story, Annie. So glad your brother survived it all.
yeah, it's pretty great!
I have been tilting at that windmill for at least15 years, and am thrilled that Raskin is taking them to task. He also wins the internet with "Banana Republicans".
Yes, and Jamie Raskin wins with his Democratic Majority Bandana. Ally, what do you think of the Bandanas for Democracy Campaign?
I'd buy several.
What is funny is that my wife (who sweats a lot, and has to wear a bandana as a headband when she works outside, even in freezing temperatures) calls them "bananas" as a joke.
Funny, 'Banana, Bandana …" isn't that a Gilda Radner? The Democracy Bandana would sell. Think of the variety of designs with red, white and blue.
For sure!! Banana Republicans for the win!!
I unfortunately too have been irked by the pejorative use of Democrat. But as mentioned here already, I believe that some use it out of ignorance while others knowingly use it as a pejorative. And Raskin of course nail it.
The pejorative use of of the noun 'democrat' in place of the adjective 'democratic' goes back at least to Minnesota governor Harold Stassen, a perpetual and unsuccessful seeker of the G.O.P. presidential nomination in the last century. Republicans have continued to use it, and shockingly, I have heard some ignorant Democrats even make the mistake of doing so. The pejorative effect it has is similar to the negativity that accompanies referring to a Jewish businessman as a 'Jew businessman.' While even the word 'pejorative' is probably beyond the depth of many Republicans, they like the insulting negativity calling their opposition the Democrat Party provides. It probably gets them a few votes, too.
Jamie Raskin is being too nice. We should take his advice and refer, always, to the Banana Republican (or maybe just Banana Republic) Party and to Banana Republicans.
I vote for “Banana Republic Party”
I think they like the word "Democrat" because they feel it ends with "-RAT"? My hunch is they don't like "Democratic" because they're thinking "democratic"--small "d"--is something they represent more than we do. Maybe we should start doing something similar to "Republican" and start calling them "Republics"...I like "Repubes" myself...
I expect that the MAGA response to the concern for grammar and civility will be to call it out as another example of “wokeness” (a term, by the way, that was rejected by my spellchecker).
Or elitism. They think anyone who can put an articulate sentence together is an “elite”.
Thank you. Republicans have used that slur on the other party since the 1940s. It is meant to say to us, and to the American people, that our party is not worthy of enough respect to warrant learning its proper name. Call this repellent practice out whenever you can.
And also for him pointing out that HE was the genesis of Bobert’s bill.
Since when do we not use nouns as adjectives? Car seat, table top, coffee mug. This is common in English, German, Japanese and I suppose many other languages. We live in a republic. Is republican an adjective? Maybe in 1856, but now we use it as a noun. Should we refer to the republicanic party.? Or maybe we should refer to the republic party and the democrat party. The term Democratic Party is in my opinion a grammatical subterfuge, a way to make one party seem more democratic than the other, a contention not borne out by history. Meanwhile democrats should start talking about restoring taxes, not raising them. That would be more correct.
Yes, restoring taxes! Much better word choice!
How many people know Trump’s tax cut for ordinary people was designed to expire in 2025, restoring the pre-2017 rates after that? But his tax cut for corporations was written to be permanent.
How many people know the range of tax rates in our history?
Desperado, you are absolutely right about nouns as adjectives, and restoring taxes is what we should be doing, big time! Right on!
I see a lot of folks think that democrat party is an insult. Maybe Democratic Party seems like an insult to republicans. It perhaps has irked them for a long time. So everyone is insulted? Seems like a distraction from more important things to me. If you can’t stand a little heat, stay away from the bonfire.
desperado, you make some excellent point, but maybe missing the key point. The Republicans that incorrectly use Democrat use it as an insult. Should one ignore stupid childish insults or should stupid childish insults be called out. That is the question. As a sign of respect we refer to people the way they prefer. To do otherwise is disrespectful and insulting.
desperado, here is another "take" on how appropriate are the names of our two political parties. There is a big difference between a republican form of government and a democratic form of government. It seems plausible that we could actually become a true democracy, wherein every citizens has a moral obligation and duty to participate in a self-governing nation. In 1789 the delegates to the Constitutional Convention had to travel by carriage or horseback -- for some, it was a journey of hundreds of miles and days or weeks of rough travelling. Today we have the Internet. In a Constitutional Republic, we elect "representatives", but inevitably a Rep can only represent, at most, a subset of all constituents. Speaker of the House Paul Ryan was my Representative in the House. He certainly did not represent my policy preferences. The Republicans tend to think they are smarter than most other people. Historically they have tended to be older white males, who tended to play the role of "Dad". "Father Knows Best". We don't get what we want because the Will of the People can be casually ignored.
For a while I took umbrage upon hearing "The Democrat Party". But I decided to try to own it, and now when I hear "democrat party" I hear "Party of the Democrats".
Bottom line: Democracy is aspirational for the US. We live in a Republic. We are governed by a micro-mini minority of the American People, who make public policy for the rest of us. I hope some day we will all be democratic.
A political party can call itself whatever it wants. And it is wrong for others, not of that party, to permanently change it to something more to their liking when referring to it. Republic Party would be fine, but that's not the G.O.P.'s official name.
Great idea... a turn on reality of correct wording. Till the '60's, all paid a fairer share to be in this community of USA with 'all' that entails, like equal treatment and protection before the laws of the land we protected with blood and treasure. JMHO, all those opposed could join hands with Putin, Xi, Ayatollah, or.. we give them the smaller of the US virgin islands that 'someone' doesn't already own and give them an aging PT boat or 2 to defend their collective way of life.
Thank you, desperado!! Restoring taxes!! Exactly right... such a George Lakoff thingy!!
Those of us whose memories go back to the 1960s, or who have read up on the history and listened to old newscasts from that decade, remember how white Southern politicians regularly referred to "the Democrat Party." I can still see and hear George Wallace's sneering face when he said it. There's no question in my mind that the current crop of Republicans -- the direct descendants of those white "Southern Democrats" -- know exactly what they're doing when they use "Democrat" as an adjective.
It is said that when words aren't sufficient to describe something, music can add the emotion necessary to properly communicate an idea. That's what opera does. That's what gospel music does. That's what country music does. That's what rap and hip-hop do. All of these are superior to Republican attempts to corrupt and confuse spoken language with such misuse of words like Democrat, socialist, and whatever else they choose to redefine.
Yes. Republicans sneer while Democrats smile.
Matt Gaetz's face keeps giving me George Wallace flashbacks.
Make no mistake, making sure no nice things ever happen to anyone (at least, anyone not rich) is precisely what these Banana Republicans are there for, in every branch of government, and on every level. They are there to make every attempt to make any tiny improvement to the average citizen's well-being as lengthy a maze as possible, to put as many dead-end sky-high brick walls in that maze as possible. As God is their witness, as few people will get as little help, in the fewest ways, for the shortest time, with the maximum strain, as possible.
And you know what? It really isn't all about the money. No, really. Don't get me wrong, they're stingy all right. Yet that isn't really the base issue here. The base issue here is that we have a swath of fellow citizens who operate under the overarching philosophy that helping people is actually *bad* for them. And they truly believe it. They truly believe that to offer help to someone makes them weaker, lazier, more reliant on future "handouts". The worst thing you can do is give someone a break, because granting mercy to them takes from them their millionth opportunity to learn to fight and claw for survival, which is a necessity in a merciless world. (The fact the world is merciless precisely because of this attitude is lost on them. They don't DO irony.) The mass internalization of this mentality perfectly explains the worship of unrestricted capitalism by those who are the least served by it: that system is the apotheosis of treating dog-eat-dog as a virtue, and being part of it a point of pride for many.
Every branch of the twisted vine that forms their philosophy is fed from the roots of denial - of both the self and others. In a world where help is hindrance, every man must be an island. Since every man is an island, the idea of any systemic injustice is a sham, every reason you could give for any failure to succeed is a self-pitying excuse, and to lend a sympathetic ear to what ails another is to indulge that self-regard. Buried under loans? Shouldn't have gone to college. Can't make ends meet? Get another job. Got pneumonia? Work anyway. Can't feed your kids? Shouldn't have had them. Couldn't access that abortion? Shouldn't have had sex. Actually, you were raped? Shouldn't have worn that dress. Wait, the kids just got shot while we were talking? Guess they didn't duck fast enough. Let this be a lesson to you.
Their outlook is one of severity, their constant urge is to punish, and in the idea of a kinder society they forsee nothing but the guaranteed dissolution of that society. Why, if we all took care of each other we might get soft and vulnerable to attack from those who haven't yet learned how not to claw and steal! Better to not make the switch.
And don't pretend religion plays no role. If this whole life is merely a test regarding refusal of temptation and conformity to The Word, what could be better for someone than to provide them as many tests as possible? It's not like being safe and happy during our time on Earth matters that much, like the heretics keep suggesting. We will have plenty of that when we reach the holy land!
Shhh! It's all for your own good.
Thank you Will, I agree in most part, with one glaring exception. Those making the biggest noise about poor people being lazy or they'd be rich - are the same lot who spend billions of dollars for lobbyists to get larger Government handouts for themselves. They refuse to admit that the recipients of the largest "welfare" in this Country is CORPORATE AMERICA. All their talk about the 'lazy, undeserving, poor'is just a distraction from how the bottom 90% are working their butts off, so those corporate hogs can live in the most luxury available.
Thank you Fay!
Will is spot on about the origins of the MAGA hate. I would add that multiple generations of wife and child beating and raping - the same treatment applied to slaves - have embedded a brutal male dominated philosophy that Will so well describes. But they are just the tools.
The elephant in the room that YOU describe has been ignored for way too long. The government gets demonized as "the problem". Thank you, President RayGun. And to be fair, there are many inefficiencies and wasted dollars within our government. But all that is addressable. There should be more audits and reviews of how we spend.
What has not been addressed and the "Democratic Party" has failed to capitalize on (pun intended) is the monstrous robbery from our national treasure by the billionaire class. Bernie tries to ring the alarm. Warren constantly reminds us. But we are afraid to say it. The nation is literally run by a few uber rich people. They hire the lobbyists who actually write the laws. They feed Federalist Society puppets into the judicial system. They buy key elections by pouring unlimited amounts of money into PACs - making a sick joke of any election law restrictions.
We should be talking about a bloodless revolution that claws back and redistributes stolen wealth. There is enough money in the nation, the richest ever known to humans, to solve every financial shortcoming of every American - healthcare, education, child care, climate adaptation...we know the list. We are just afraid of losing campaign donations from the same billionaire class.
The November, 2022, '... report from researchers at UC Davis has found that Republicans who supported former president Donald Trump and agreed with the statement that the 2020 election was “stolen” were more likely to hold extreme and racist beliefs and endorse political violence. '
'The survey asked 7,000 people nationwide about their political views and how they affiliated. Classified as “MAGA Republicans” in the report, the survey showed that people who affiliated this way were most likely to hold extremist views about race and more likely to believe that a civil war would happen in the United States in the next few years.'
'“There appears to be a decline in the support for democracy as a form of government,” said Garen Wintemute, director of the UC Davis Violence Prevention Research Program. “The threat is existential not to us as a nation, but potentially to us as a democracy.”
'He adds that he sees the report as a warning.'
'“Even abstract support for political violence creates a climate of acceptance for that, and that facilitates mobilization to actually committing violence, and that has in it the seed of the solution,” he said. “If the majority of us who don’t endorse political violence, the majority of Republicans who don’t endorse political violence will make that publicly clear, if leaders from all points on the spectrum will say this is not acceptable, that’s likely to reduce the amount of violence that occurs.”
'According to the study, 60% of “MAGA Republicans” who met the two key criteria felt political violence could be justified. This was compared to 30% of people who identified simply as “Republicans” and 25% for all other political affiliations.'
'The group of “MAGA Republicans” were also far more likely to agree with elements of the QAnon conspiracy that American-born white people are being replaced by immigrants. Seth Brysk, Regional Director for the Anti-Defamation League’s Northern California office noted that recent acts of anti-semitism around Sacramento and the attack on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul, all point to an alarming level of civil unrest from the far right.'
“Anti-semitism is the canary in the coal mine of civil society,” Brysk said. “In other words, when you see anti-semitism rearing its ugly head, this is an indication that society is sick.”
'Other experts see the new report as further evidence of a growing threat to democracy from far right extremists. Lindsay Schubiner is a program director at the Western States Center, an organization that started tracking far right extremist groups before the 2020 election. She feels the study is an extension of the growing evidence of far right groups threatening democracy. ' (UC Davis Violence Prevention Research Program.)
Thank you Bill. We need to get angry.
Bill, are you referring to sources, which substantiated to quote you, 'I would add that multiple generations of wife and child beating and raping - the same treatment applied to slaves - have embedded a brutal male dominated philosophy that Will so well describes. But they are just the tools' ? Thank you.
No sources. Just an observation that may be flawed. I don't think we would see the same levels of abuse in a more educated "liberal tribe" of similar economic status. I could be wrong. It happens all the time. But I bet if we dropped into certain regions of certain states, we could witness women being treated as chattel. And I don't think the perpetrators would have "Biden 2024" signs in their front yards.
These forums can help generate anger and sweeping generalizations. Which I try to avoid, but can be drawn into.
Of course, MAGAs don't have an exclusive on this. It isn't unique. Abuse happens at all levels of society and income distribution. And if you are rich enough, you can bury it with lawyers.
There is definitely a MAGA personality type. It’s mostly made up of white men but also men of varied heritage. Their women support them 100%. Stand By Your Man and all that ~no matter if they pound on and belittle her and the kids. It’s hate, denigration of the other who thinks differently. It’s AR-15’s. They can be miserly. They keep the little woman poor to maintain control, their marriage sex is like rape. They never apologize or praise anyone. They hate anything you love if you are their wife or child. They are never wrong. They lie and lie and lie.
They may not all be MAGA, but these people are real. They exist. They vote. They are not democrats.
I am glad that you are thinking about your comment, Bill, which was not only unsourced, it was biased, and you know where stereotyping such as that leads. Amendments, corrections or labeled as a personal opinion would indicate reflection. All in favor, say aye...
Words. They are so deeply powerfully rooted in our National psyche. Take the word Socialism. This word has been murdered and the bloody terrifying corpse is hung for all to see. It’s a trigger word now. It’s lost it’s original nature. But still. Call it what you like. We need it NOW.
If by socialism you mean a society that offers everyone healthcare, education and equal opportunities for employment and a decent retirement, sign me up.
The means of production and the distribution of products and services I would leave to a highly regulated private sector.
I like the Nordic model. Taxes and happiness are high. And a thriving but carefully regulated capitalism offers jobs and prosperity.
Instead we profiteer off of illness, educate the affluent and guarantee recidivism in privately owned prisons (loaded with disproportionately people of color and those who committed victimless crimes).
It was the Nordic model I was introduced to.
Bill, Bravo, applause, Bic Lighters swaying side to side for an encore
Re “ We should be talking about a bloodless revolution that claws back and redistributes stolen wealth. There is enough money in the nation, the richest ever known to humans, to solve every financial shortcoming of every American - healthcare, education, child care, climate adaptation...we know the list. We are just afraid of losing campaign donations from the same billionaire class.”. BINGO. Root Cause, meet your Problem
Context, its all about context
Agree, Dave. Just read the paragraph aloud to hubs. You put it perfectly, Bill.
Thank you, Bill. Beautifully written and to the sharpest point, if only we could get some credence from our decent elected politicians we'd have a much better Country
Vanderbilt Beach, Naples Flirida
Thank you Fay for a concise statement of the problem of unfettered capitalism.
This is completely true, but I have come to realize that too many of my fellow liberals focus only on the class/inequality aspect of the dynamic, and that paints a picture of working class people who subscribe to the propaganda as being simply easily distracted. "Oh my poor busy, easily distracted neighbors, you would be so much better off with my ideas if only to stopped to think about it!" It's why so many working-class conservatives view liberals as condescending. They too see the inequality, but either they are okay with it because they have bought so completely into the conflation of capitalism and freedom, or they somehow see it as a liberal problem because they have bought so completely into the conflation of intellectualism/altruism and elitism. The bigwigs can so easily exploit so many people's value system because the upside-down value system in question lends itself easily to that particular brand of exploitation. I suppose that is what I was attempting to illustrate.
Well said. Thx.
Wow, Will from Cal, you nailed it. “The idea that some lives matter less is the root of all that is wrong with the world” Dr. Paul Farmer
Paul Farmer, one of my heroes, lost to us far too early. Imagine a 21-year-old delivering health care in the depths of Haiti. A life so well lived.
Paul Farmer, a true example for us all ❤️
I follow a local to Fort Worth man, Chris Tackett, that first became outraged by the book ban in his daughter’s school. But now he is an all out amazing source of information. Yesterday he posted information about a new House Bill being proposed here in Texas. First you have to own a house because our only taxes are property taxes. If you’re married man and wife and have children after you’re married, you get tax cuts. It starts at with one child and bumps up again if you have four children. If you have ten children (!), you are exempt from taxes! It doesn’t include gay couples. It doesn’t include you if you’re divorced or had a child out of wedlock. It’s the most eye popping piece of legislation I’ve ever heard of! Straight up excludes anyone who doesn’t fit their religious narrative! And we’ve had way too many eye popping house bills!
Well hey, at least they're coming around to the idea of the expanded child tax credit. But the fact it's being deducted from property taxes is ludicrous. By ten kids, you are practically your own ZIP code.
Ah, "traditional values!" All hail natural supremacy for those who look like us!
Wow!!! He needs to become a household name all across Texas.
Chris is getting there with the recognition status! He and his wife Mindi are well recognized for their work in exposing political corruption. Like the school district that bought a private plane and the administrator that now flies it. Chris and Mindi are recognized by Mothers Against Greg Abbott and the group I’m a part of the Tarrant Democratic Women’s Club. Very much a power couple!
I call the current "religious narrative" heresy. The truly "religious" people I know are all for helping anyone who needs help, regardless of their ideology, race, creed, color, gender, or what they identify as. They are using "religion" as another means to get what they want, not to help people.
SPOT ON !!
Denise, you and Chris should share the news about SJR 25 in Texas! Filed by Senator Johnson, it will enable Statewide Citizen Ballot Initiatives and give Texans a more direct say in our democracy.
Texans should have the right to vote on whether or not abortion is available in Texas, if Medicaid should be expanded, if school vouchers should divert taxpayer funds from public education, and if the age to purchase assault weapons should be raised. Right now, it’s clear the views of most in our Legislature do not align with the views of most Texans, but with statewide citizen ballot measures we can put forth these initiatives ourselves!
Statewide citizen ballot measures are bipartisan and give equal voice to all Texans regardless of political affiliation. The majority of Texans agree on common sense solutions to many concerns. For example:
- Abortion access: 78% of Texans agree that abortion should be legal in some form, but Texas legislators ban it and place a bounty on anyway who facilitates this type of reproductive health care
- Medicaid expansion: supported by 67% of Texans, but denied by the Legislature even though we have the country’s highest rate of uninsured people
- School vouchers: an overwhelming 89% of Texas parents are satisfied with their child’s public education, but some in the Legislature are steadfast on taking funding away from public schools and giving it to private and faith-based schools
Gun safety: 70% support raising the age to buy an assault weapon from 18 to 21, yet it’s ignored by members of the Legislature who fear reprisal by the - NRA
Bottom line, Texans agree on a great deal -- our legislators, not so much.
CALL TO ACTION: On February 15, SJR 25 was referred to the Senate Committee for State Affairs, and is pending a hearing date. Texans must reach out to the chair of the State Affairs Committee, Sen. Hughes (512-463-0101) to voice support for statewide citizen ballot initiatives and request a hearing date be scheduled as soon as possible because SJR 25 deserves to be heard by the full chamber. And, contact your own state senator and representative and tell them to support SJR 25. All Texans deserve to have their voice heard and their vote counted!
What odds do you give that the Texas legislature will pass this bill or that the current Texas governor would sign it if, in some alternate reality, the legislature passes it?
No false illusions, it won't be easy, but that should not discourage us. If Republicans refuse to advance it - was does that say to their constituents, that they don't trust them - don't trust their vote? SJR 25 has great support from many grassroots organizations, the first hurdle is getting it passed out of committee, hence the need for calls to the Senate's State Affairs Committee now. As for the governor, that's the good news! He doesn't get to veto a joint resolution - if passed by both the Senate and the House , SJR 25 will go directly on the ballot for Texans to vote on. Lastly, municipalities across Texas already have the the right to enact citizen initiatives, consequently Texas cities can have laws that differ from state law - SJR 25 will enable citizens to speak with a unified voice statewide.
Please keep us posted on progress of this bill.
Will do! Twenty six states already enable statewide citizen ballot measures, hoping Texas will be #27! Please pass info on to anyone you know in Texas -- and others as well, because what happens in Texas affects the whole country!
Whether passed or not, if these items are put to the public who would know that their ¨representative¨ voted against, it would help the Democrat running against them. This is why it is so important to make every thing that the Biden administration is doing FOR all is talked of daily. The Banana Republicans are actually using it against the Democrats in Tweets. McCarthy´s ¨ we will de everything possible to keep your tax dollars from being given to the undeserving (Dreamers). McConnell's ¨ Democrats want Washington to dictate your childcare choices, your kitchen appliances, your small business decisions, and your local voting laws. But the one thing Congress shouldn't address is runaway violent crime in D.C. itself? Dems are just trying to duck a debate on crime.¨ This is where effective rebuttals must happen. They must be made impotent by giving truth.
Excellent, thank you! Share away!
Check to be sure it's not being proposed only for white people. I wouldn't be surprised if Texas legislators would try to do that in some sneaky way.
That’s completely the intention!
😱🥵
Well written Will. The farther away from Jesus’ lessons we allow, the more warped and merciless policies get. Using religion to justify hateful practices needs to be called out which you have done beautifully. Thanks.
While my intellectual attachment to the separation of church and state would get in the way, part of me actually would not mind governing a society according to the Bible, PROVIDED that we ACTUALLY hewed as close to Jesus's intent as possible. I suspect it would look like a continent-wide Woodstock and be a lot of fun.
You’re right. “It really isn’t all about the money.. its about the overarching philosophy that helping people is actually *bad* for them.” Republicans frame everything from the perspective of a strong(man) father figure in the disciplinarian role while Democrats frame from the perspective of a nurturing parent role using kindness and empathy.
Everything you have described fits Republican framing. And Christianity is framed in the same disciplining father figure way.
George Lakoff has been explaining framing for years. The link below is from an article written in 2003. Change the names and it could have been written in 2023. Not a bad intro to framing for those who haven’t read Lakoff.
https://newsarchive.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2003/10/27_lakoff.shtml
Whoa! GREAT article--very informative. Thank you for that link. Yes, Dems have an uphill slog to battle against the decades long established Repubbie "framing infrastructure".
If you want a deeper dive, Lakoff’s book Moral Politics goes into more detail.
His website is: https://george-lakoff.com
Dip in!!!!
A quick look at his website and this particular book ¨Ten years after writing the definitive, international bestselling book on political debate and messaging, George Lakoff returns with new strategies about how to frame today’s essential issues. Called the “father of framing” by The New York Times, Lakoff explains how framing is about ideas—ideas that come before policy, ideas that make sense of facts, ideas that are proactive not reactive, positive not negative, ideas that need to be communicated out loud every day in public. The ALL NEW Don’t Think of an Elephant! picks up where the original book left off—delving deeper into how framing works, how framing has evolved in the past decade, how to speak to people who harbor elements of both progressive and conservative worldviews, how to counter propaganda and slogans, and more. In this updated and expanded edition, Lakoff, urges progressives to go beyond the typical laundry list of facts, policies, and programs and present a clear moral vision to the country—one that is traditionally American and can become a guidepost for developing compassionate, effective policy that upholds citizens’ well-being and freedom, ¨ is something many of us need to learn.
Wow--THANK YOU for that link!!!
Thanks for the article Lena. It makes a lot of sense.
Lakoff is one of the few truly bang-on insightful political minds of the last however-many decades. Why every left-of-center voter does not keep a copy of one of his books in their nightstand is beyond me.
AGREE, Will. Rumor has it that Lakoff tried to get the attention of Hillary's 2016 prez campaign. He wanted to offer tips. They blew him off!!!!
Treasure of an article, Lena! Thank you! Been a Lakoff fan with a few of his books for a good while. Never saw this excellent article before. 2003... just as relevant today.
I think you give Banana Republicans more credit than they deserve for a cohesive philosophy. They simply use outrage focused on the dangerous “other” as means of rallying enough people to win targeted voter suppressed, gerrymandered elections. Once in power, their goal is to lower taxes in order to justify budget cuts that will shrink the governments ability to regulate rapacious capitalism. With luck and a focused Federalist Society assault on the Constitution, they now have the Disgraced Roberts Court that is single mindedly dismantling the ability of the government to regulate corporations in anyway.
The only hope for a fair an reasonably democratic republic is the election of a Democratic majority in congress that is willing to end the filibuster in the Senate and expand the Supreme Court.
In my day Banana Republic was a Central American country under a dictatorship. I think this term was used under Regan?
Carole I remember ‘banana republic’ in the 1954s. It was a perforation used, I believe, by the United Fruit Company, that sought to control these Central American countries.
In one country, a ‘nationalist’ leader took control over a United Fruit patsy. He sought to nationalize the United Fruit properties using, for compensation, the value stated by United Fruit in its tax assessment (fraudulently low).
In the subsequent brouhaha, the CIA launched an invasion to oust this anti-United Fruit guy. Think his name in Ardensz, but too lazy to check.
Carole Árbenz, democratically elected president of Guatemala in 1954, then ousted in CIA-organized coup. I recall CIA planes mysteriously flying out of Honduras.
Huh—we were supporting dictators over democratically elected leaders? PHSAW.
This was under Dull, Duller, Dullest John and his brother Allen, CIA director.
…and now is a retail store owned by Gap inc.
I believe that it was introduced (newly) in Robert Hubbell´s newsletter a day or two ago when the Repubs were called out for using ¨Democrat agenda¨ and a Democrat shamed the person by teaching the difference between Democrat (noun) and Democratic (adjective), then saying perhaps we should begin using Banana Republican for their adjective.
Just because they may not be willing to, or consciously be able to articulate this philosophy, does not mean it is not there. But in order to use the concocted outage to rally people, enough people have to actually hold the combination of beliefs that allow them to feel the outrage they are being directed to feel. There can be no successful sales pitch without willing buyers.
There was or is a movie made right after WWI. The Germans come into a French village that is actually an insane asylum but the care takers have left. The insane becomes what passes for sane & the sane become the insane.
They have bought the pitch from what they express and still call themselves republicans . MTG has voiced the philosophy by name, wants T shirts. Hopefully enough will wake up to the path they are being lead on. Our Senator keeps harping on closing the border. One comment to day was that the children that were separated from their mothers were actually rentals or kidnapped to get people into the States, had sources to prove it(but not produced). Very scary time!
My sister is like this.. can’t bear the homeless, immigrants are dangerous, capitalism rules.. oh, unless someone in her circle needs disability or other free govt service.
Daryl, I refer to this as the IGMFY response (I’ve Got Mine F*** You).
Will from Cal - you hit the nail on the head. Often when doing my errands around town I'll listen to "Right Wing Radio" (we got scads of these stations here in northern Wisconsin) to see what they are saying. Our friend Mr. Hannity was on and talking about the fact that businesses can't fill open positions because too many Americans just want the government to send them another check. He and a guest rambled on and on about how people don't want to work and now O'Biden wants to give these people free childcare so they "can" work. They called bullshit on that idea too. They then discussed how even a single mother of 3 can work without daycare. She simply needs to either find a shift that she can work and have a friend or family member watch her children and if that doesn't work that mother of 3 can simply work from home and watch her 3 kids while working. Really - I thought. Their pathetic look into a simple issue like childcare made me just shake my head. -saw-
OMG, seriously!
I would bet that the majority of teachers in the K-12 districts in the US are (or were) mothers. Just how do you "work from home" with small children?
And I believe that 3+3=6, which just might be against the laws regarding number of adults/number of children being cared for. Besides the fact that they are probably unlicensed day care??
Just wow.
"Just how do you "work from home" with small children?"
By being stressed and miserable and ineffective every moment of the day.
"And I believe that 3+3=6, which just might be against the laws regarding number of adults/number of children being cared for."
The only solution is to get rid of those laws. Just another example of big gummint strangling productivity. If she doesn't want to watch the kids, they can go to work themselves. They will learn the value of it early, and will be less likely to be corrupted by the liberal college they wont get into. It's so obvious!
but, of course!!
This boils my blood! I awoke this morning (t's morning here in Europe) with my constant mantra regarding their ´right to life¨ bs. How many adopt from foster homes? How many become loving, caring, foster parents¨, How many support women who are struggling to raise children while working? How many? How many? How many? And, biggest question of all for these ¨religious¨ smarms is how many children of color will they adopt or support or feed or clothe or educate?
Hello Will. I agree with most of your comment. I am fuzzy on what % of Them actually are beating folks with the religious baton, I don't hear it often. I have had many discussions with the "by their bootstraps" argument, which triggers a response like a doorbell does to a dog. I jump in and ask whomever said it to take me through the process step by step, my point being that a person would have to go outside themselves to analyze their condition, recognise a better option, figure out how to implement it, make adjustments, and find new supporters in the process, since a lot of folks look in the mirror and see someone they know. I know how hard this is because I did it. So my question to Them is this: after prying 100 million citizens, Biden's number, off the government teat, what plans do They have next? Do these deprived people line up like those Chinese terra cotta soldiers and , and what? What about that Southern congressman who is sponsoring a bill to disallow Dems from voting in his state? I ask locals who complain as, for instance, why are we paying for JImmy Carter's health care, what the heck does it mattter to them? The immensity of that insult to the greatest humanitarian I have ever heard of is beyond the pale. Those lowlifes will come upon a fallen body and respond like the driver who runs over a dead cat, backs up and does it again, while his wife asks what is going on, the cat is already dead? The hubby replies, "you just can't trust them SOBs."
Many will argue against the Bible, and the Bible can be interpreted to fbolster any argument you wish, I realize this. However, to those who like to kick someone in need, I do like to mention the parable of the Good Samaritan.
Ed, I like your tactic of actually (politely, I am sure) interrogating the thought process when someone goes all in on verbalizing the extreme "bootstraps" mentality. I do so too whenever I encounter it; asking them to guide you through the thought process does not immediately lead to them realizing the dead-end nature of the philosophy as much as it provides me with useful detail as to how the thought process actually unfolds. You can't beat them if you don't understand them. The hardest part of the bootstraps aspect to challenge is actually that the impulse comes from the root of some healthy values - self-reliance, industriousness, grit - but applied in an unhealthy way to a whole society instead of as individual motivation.
Also, obviously not all of ther folks with a callous attitude are religious, and vice versa goes double. But in my experience there is a notable overlap, a residual Puritanism in the culture which has gone full social Darwin somewhere along the line.
I notice here a number of people cite being a Christian as following the 'Good Stuff'. I wonder how many haven´t a clue of the number of other religions and philosophies that came before that have the same 'Good Stuff' . Good Stuff needs no religion to join to practice.
Wow. Well done. I’ve always had a hard time wrapping my mind around the Republican way of thinking. How can their philosophy be so heartless and at the same time they call themselves (so many of them) “Christian”? It’s an angry, vengeful, Old Testament God that condones the current Republican Party, for sure. Thank you for this.
I won’t pretend to know God’s mind, but any God in whom I might believe would never condone the Republican Party.
Will, While your provocative and astute analysis regrettably rings true regarding the radical right of the Republican Party, I have a different take with respect to “establishment” Republicans of the recent past. In my view, the latter perceived the government’s role not as undoing all harms, but as securing equal rights. In this regard, what one made of these rights, what status one obtained as a result of one’s efforts, was not a subject of public concern: it was entirely up to the individual.
To be clear, in my view, the notion that everyone ever had an equal chance to succeed and that success in the United States required no more than hard work, sacrifice, and perseverance was pure myth. Nonetheless, shielding oneself from institutionally oppressive forces that, then and now, hold substantial swaths of our population back from realizing their potential, undoubtedly, served to justify the conviction that concern for an individual does not translate into a public responsibility involving the government.
Thank you, Barbara. I appreciate your adding in some of the nuances to what seems to (again) have devolved into another 2 sided argument with no room for shades of grey, and no room for considering that solving one aspect of a problem does not mean the problem is no longer an issue. I guess we are going through another phase of abstraction. Thanks for bringing it back to real lives.
Barbara Jo, while I agree that the avoidance of unnecessary conflating of differing degrees of the "other side of the aisle" is essential, and while I also recognize the truth of your delineation on an intellectual level, I confess I do not see how even the "establishment" types fail to fit into the mindset I (colorfully) described. Yes, they may be better at couching it an intellectual rationalization around respecting free will, but it still boils down to the core belief that the best thing you can do for someone is refuse to assist them in any real way. They find "staying out of the way" a virtue and making life a little easier objectionable. Show me any proposal by any group of the current elected Repubs that involves expanding any aspect of the social safety net, rather than cutting it, and I will recant.
Will, To start, I would note I wrote “establishment Republicans of the recent past.” As an example, I would offer resistance from both Democrats and Republicans to George W. Bush’s proposal to privatize Social Security.
My point is that the Republican Party, particularly since 2008, has been radicalized and its original organizing principles, as I understand them, increasingly obliterated, and, in my view, we should be scared sh*tless.
Will, outstanding post and thank you.
"Their outlook is one of severity, their constant urge is to punish, and in the idea of a kinder society they forsee nothing but the guaranteed dissolution of that society. "
Well, if one were born white and wealthy, which, as a law of physics, couples with dumb and lazy, you would feel the same way.
Because, when one is born with a "Silver Foot in One's Mouth" then one really cannot speak with much intelligence now can one?
Mike As a broad generalization your “Silver Foot in One’s Mouth” has considerable validity. However, I would caution you about definitive generalizations. I have found, in my life, that the exceptions can be significant.
Trumpublicans make sweeping, definitive generalizations that I consider dangerously wrong.
Something to think about?
Thank you Will. Yes. Yes. Yes.
Hey Will!, re: the religious thing. We Puritans, Calvinists and Jansenists need to adopt this from an African Catechism.
Q. " Why did God make you?"
A. " Because He thought you might enjoy it."
Dang, putting my thoughts into cogent sentences in such an eloquent manner
Wayne’s World’s Wayne meeting Alice Cooper
Great analogy! :)
A truly thought provoking scene, huh
Genuine Genuflection
Lol, “Garth, do you play drums?
“A little bit”
Calvinism alive and well. And these “Christian’s “ love the the Old Testament god. Imo the Old Testament doesn’t belong in the Christian Bible.
TO MANY ! PHARISEES ! & SADDUCEES ! The Sadducees , are SAD ! because They DO NOT , Believe ! in THE RESURECTION ! of the DEAD !!
Please stop the shouting in all caps. It makes you look a little cray cray
IT is WRITTEN ! Gods People,,,, Will be DISPISED! The World ! WILL call Us CRAZY ! WE are. a PECULIAR People !! SORRY ! that you, are 0FFENDED !!
Our Democratic members of government are fighting forward to stop the MAGA Machine. More power and a big shout out to them. ❤️🇺🇸🕊️
'Sanders-Warren plan would tax the rich to increase Social Security by $2,400 a year
The proposal would ensure the program is fully funded through 2096'
'As congressional Republicans threaten to cut Social Security and other key federal programs, progressive Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren led a group of lawmakers … in unveiling legislation that would increase Social Security benefits by at least $200 per month and prolong the program's solvency for decades by finally requiring wealthy Americans to pay their fair share.'
'The Social Security Expansion Act, introduced by Sanders, I-Vt., and Warren, D-Mass., in the Senate and by Reps. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., and Val Hoyle, D-Ore., in the House, would put an additional $2,400 in beneficiaries' pockets each year and ensure the program is fully funded through 2096.'
'The bill would accomplish this by lifting the cap on the maximum amount of income subject to the Social Security payroll tax—a change that would not raise taxes on the 93% of U.S. households that make $250,000 or less per year, according to an analysis conducted by the Social Security Administration at the request of Sanders.'
'Currently, annual earnings above $160,200 are not subject to the Social Security payroll tax, which means that millionaires will stop contributing to the program later this month. The legislation proposes lifting this cap and subjecting all income above $250,000 per year to the Social Security payroll tax. If enacted, the bill would have raised more than $3.4 billion from the nation's top 11 highest-paid CEOs alone in 2021, including $2.9 billion from Tesla and Twitter executive Elon Musk.'
"At a time when nearly half of older Americans have no retirement savings and almost 50% of our nation's seniors are trying to survive on an income of less than $25,000 a year, our job is not to cut Social Security," Sanders said in a statement.'
"Our job is to expand Social Security so that every senior in America can retire with the dignity that they deserve and every person with a disability can live with the security they need," the chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions continued. "The legislation that we are introducing today will expand Social Security benefits by $2,400 a year and will extend the solvency of Social Security for the next 75 years by making sure that the wealthiest people in our society pay their fair share into the system."
"Right now, a Wall Street CEO who makes $30 million pays the same amount into Social Security as someone who makes $160,000 a year," the Vermont Independent added. "Our bill puts an end to that absurdity which will allow us to protect Social Security for generations to come while lifting millions of seniors out of poverty." (Salon)
This should be the leading proposal of every Democrat running for Congress in 23-24!
"The answer (in 1862) was a federal tax on incomes. “It would be manifestly unjust
to allow the large money operators and wealthy merchants, whose incomes
might reach hundreds of thousands of dollars, to escape from their due
proportion of the burden,” said Thaddeus Stevens, a House Republican
leader and wealthy iron manufacturer. The staunchly Republican Chicago
Tribune agreed: 'The rich should be taxed more than the poor.' " -HCR
This is a voice from the very distant past! I hope you are well and thriving! You are still fighting the good fight which warms my heart. Take good care of yourself.
❤️🐼Billie W. Johnson
Billie: a wonderful voice from our past; please call me at 858 864 2258 in San Diego? So delighted to find you!
Just missed your call; will call back Friday
This is a voice from the distant past. It warms my heart that you are still fighting the good fight. I hope you are well and thriving. I am writing this a second time because I wanted to make sure you receive my message. Take good care of yourself!
❤️🐼Billie Johnson
It is heartening to see the Democrats showing measurably more spunk. We are going to need it.
(The term “banana republic” refers to a country that is corrupt and badly governed*.)
* by a US fruit corporation.
I intend to call them Banana Republicans from now on.
Me too
Like pretty much everything that issues from a modern Republican mouth these days, "republican" is a total misnomer for what they are about. The walk and quack like despotic plutocrats.
Bravo!
Good idea; thanks.
It solves a lot of different details all in one go.
...including, in a way, an answer to"Go Brandon"
Me too, TC
DeSantistan: America's newest banana republic.
Every time I pass by the swanky store with the same name at the mall, I cannot believe they never changed the name. Banana Republic is already the name of a thing, and not a very good thing! It would be like if Old Navy was named Third World.
The original Banana Republic retail stores had rustic, tropical decor - think the Jungle Boat ride at Disneyland - with clothing that one could call safari chic, so the name made a little sense, but whoever thought it a good one for a clothing retailer sure didn’t understand history.
Thank you for this addition to the definition of “banana republic”, for those who are unaware of the history of how the Boston based United Fruit Company, AKA Chiquita Brands, instigated quite a few coups & insurrections in Central & South America.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Fruit_Company
Shades of the British East India Co.
And part of why it is plainly anti-democratic to allow corporations to do whatever they please.
"We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can’t have both” — Louis Brandeis
"Banana Republicans" wins the internet today.
🏆
Certainly Trumps most visible cronies and idols have been the world's most execrable "Dear Leaders". He is even said to have admired Hitler. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jul/06/donald-trump-hitler-michael-bender-book
When I became a history professor in 1992 the great majority of American history text books focused on the white male story of the evolution of the United States.
This was evidenced in the Constitution, which fudged the issue of slavery and did not acknowledge that women were equal citizens.
I was delighted in the modern-day teaching of American history with the increasing acknowledgement of initial discrimination and the gradual process in which racism, gender discrimination, and the uneven treatment of immigration were highlighted.
One of my most popular courses was: THE WHAT vs. THE WHO: SOCIETAL DISCRIMINATION FROM PATRIARCHY TO THE PRESENT.
Sadly, this would be banned in DeSantis’s Florida.
DeSantis was a regular history major at Yale. This was considered a ‘gut program’ as contrasted to the far more rigorous ‘intensive history’ Yale major that I completed in 1955.
I wish that DeSantis had chosen the far more demanding ‘intensive history’ program.
Were the "gut programs" the preferred academic track for Justice I-Like-Beer? Yale too, I believe.
Will I will acknowledge that Yale devised a song that would not overly challenge the intellect of jocks or frat boys: BOOLA BOOLA. It is simply repetitive, except for the last line. Mastering it was a requirement for becoming cum laude.
DeSantis spent more time playing second string baseball at Yale than he did studying any particular curriculum.
His reading skill is probably very low, as is the case for many folks emitting from cloistered private high schools.
Mike DeSantis’s ‘reading’ and ass sucking skills must have increased at Harvard Law School, since he was awarded a Bronze Star while serving as a lawyer with a SEAL unit in Iraq. Those wobbly desk chairs must have been dangerous.
🤣👏
Gail Did you receive my case of wine?
Sadly, the borders must be closed down here in DeSantistan.
Likely would have been wasted on a cretin
The self-righteous blather and outright lies with a heinous purpose should nauseate any one in earshot. Jamie and company must take anti-nausea meds to tolerate being in the House. I can no longer tolerate a sound or a picture of these cretins. Soon tv will be replaced by music…
I found these wonderful channels on YouTube that play jazz and have calming CGI pictures. Cannot listen to news much during the day.
"anti-nausea meds" ✅
Let us not forget that we did have a balanced budget, indeed, a budget surplus, when Bill Clinton was president. As soon as an R got into the White House, he put an end to that, and the budget has been in deficit ever since. Whether you hate deficits or accept them, this is another example of R budgetary hypocrisy.
Here is a graph that shows the lie of Republican "fiscal responsibility:"
https://zfacts.com/national-debt/
Mike This graph should be viewed while singing ‘YOU DO VOODOO SO WELL’
Reminds me of Voodoo in a James Bond movie. I believe he escaped by jumping on the heads of crocodiles.
Thanks for the link to that graph, Mike S. It should be required viewing for each and every Banana Republican dumbo and bimbo in the House and Senate--not that many (or any) of them would understand it.
I remember
Clifford And Clinton raised taxes!
It's easy to play to your base and keep making absurd claims when you're in the minority. All you have to do is lob grenades and be incendiary...it's much harder when you have a slim majority and folks on the fringe of the right feel empowered to keep making those claims and being bombastic...and then when you have someone as bright and talented as Jamie Raskin, who will call you out, all day, every day, then you have a problem because the spotlight is on you. Your bombast and snake oil show still works for the true believers, but many other folks may still watch the show, because folks love a train wreck...unless it's polluting their air and water...but they will stop buying your product when it doesn't work for them. And then there's this brilliant lawsuit from Dominion which is showing the world who and what Murdock and his Fox really are (if there was any doubt) and he will try and protect his empire...over saving DJT and his minions. This is much better than any written for prime time TV series.
Ahhh, DemocratIC Reps trolling their Republican counterparts. Today was a good day for a laugh. I look forward to many more.
“Republican control of the House of Representatives has fed a changing dynamic. After decades of playing defense, the Democrats are going on offense.” Necessary, and long overdue. Thank you Heather.
I enjoyed the latest political chat and better understand some of my friends who have disengaged from the overwhelming “firehose of information, which exhausts us.’
It helps to focus, especially when the "ship of state" is on course to hit an iceberg.
Thank you Heather.
President Biden is correct in specifying the 2 Republican Party's we have. He should continue to do so.
I think we all knew that the Affordable Care Act will be where the GOP will go to make cuts. It's low hanging fruit for them. They can be the heros that take away from the "unsightly ". Unsightly = poor and old.
Well, that's the American way, right?
Be safe. Be well.
Yeah, there's one "Republican Party" with like five members, then there's the Banana Republican Party with all the rest of the worthless scum - from voters to officeholders.
Are you sure there are five…
I keep waiting for a whole lot of Trump voters to wake up one day and say "What were we thinking"? I know at least one who did.
oooh that's awesome! One at a time.
A step in the right direction.
😆😁
If you can name those five, I'd appreciate it, TC!
I'm sitting here scratching my head trying to figure it out.................
Glad to see Democrats finding their voices to call out the Republican crap. It would be a lot better if the stories got carried more widely in the media. "Rep. Matt Gaetz introduces Chinese propaganda in House Committee hearing" should be newsworthy. So should "The gift that keeps on giving. Republican's failed tax plan is adding XXX to the federal deficit this year in lost tax revenue and added interest costs"
Two things must happen in this county--the faux news organizations have to be bankrupted to cut down on the lies and Democrats have to learn how to listen to and talk to the people of both parties about what really matters to them. Much as I admire Jamie Raskin's smarts and grit, it isn't going to be about nouns vs adjectives. It's going to be increasingly about basic pocketbook issues--great that I am employed, no so great that I can't afford $18/lb fish for dinner for my family.
OK, this has been bugging me all day. I know prices have gotten crazy, but what is the fish in question that is $18/lb??? I totally believe you, but I live in a notoriously expensive area and can find several varieties of frozen fish for half the price and even one or two types of fresh, depending on the day, to say nothing of canned goods. Are things even more variable than I realized?
"After decades of playing defense, the Democrats are going on offense…."
Indeed, it is radical to change direction from a course that emphasizes, as a primary duty of government, the regulating of drag queen entertainment to: "… invest in America, lower health costs, and protect and strengthen Social Security and Medicare while cutting the deficit more than $2 trillion over the next 10 years.”
I look forward to a time when acceptance of the kinds of goals expressed in Biden's budget are expected practices without a need to deal with crazy distractions from the business of governing.
Because I relished reading, “After decades of playing defense, the Democrats are going on offense,” I write, in plain English, to pile on.
As someone, last January, who anxiously watched and waited while Freedom Caucus extremists were extracting concession after concession from Kevin McCarthy, as he desperately attempted to get enough votes to become Speaker, I rightly feared that far-right extremists would be setting the agenda for the next 2 years. Now, nearly 2 months later, I contend that responsibility rests with Democrats to ensure, in 24, that all House Republicans are held politically accountable for every single concession adopted, for everything that appeared in the rules they voted for, and for the constant drumbeat of Republican extremism that invariably will ensue with McCarthy as Speaker.
I would agree, except the responsibility here does not rest with Democrats to hold the extremists politically accountable. Democratic officeholders are already doing their jobs just fine. The responsibility rests with American voters.
Will, While I agree in principal, because I can’t emphasize enough how urgent the moment is, I believe we need our Democratic representatives to amplify that our democracy is in trouble and that it’s not the Russian’s fault; it’s ours. We are the ones killing it.
"Vought’s proposal promises to balance the budget in ten years, but it also predicts the number of working people in the U.S. will increase by 14.5 million more people than the Congressional Budget Office says will enter....But where the people will come from is a mystery."
Empty G knows, after all, according to her miscalculation, 6 billion people crossed the U.S. border last 2 years. Now let's say she's wrong by half, nah, let's just call it what it is - she's completely incompetent and should be removed from Congress for acts of sedition, promoting secession.
She should be removed for weaponized imbecility, or political flatulence
Lol, C. Both of the above
Delighted to read Heather's LFAA tonight. What's not to like?
As to this "woke" thing, on May 20, 1962 (yes, 1962!) William Melvin Kelley wrote and published "If You're Woke You Dig It."
Hopefully, this is a direct PDF link. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1962/05/20/140720532.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0
But if that doesn't work, try this: Clicking on the "View on TimesMachine" link should get you there. Then click on "Continue Reading: PDF."
https://nyti.ms/3XQzGcD (Gifted)
Very interesting little article on language....provokes much thought on how it evolves and changes the traditionally assigned meanings to words.
The grossest part about the usage of "woke" as a pejorative is that it is a deliberate appropriation of a term used for decades by a marginalized group to empower themselves. Total weaponization of language. I say we keep on using it the right way.
Tried every which way, Lynell, but could not open it. Tried both links. Would have to be posted as gifted article.
Sounds fascinating….the little tidbit available to read.
Salud, friend
🗽
While I wasn't successful at passing on the NYT article, our friend Annie D. Stratton, sparked my interest in digging into the "bona fides" of its author, William Melvin Kelley.
https://www.publicbooks.org/if-youre-woke-you-dig-it-william-melvin-kelley/
The short of it is: "In 2014, the Oxford English Dictionary credited Kelley with coining the political term “woke,” in a 1962 New York Times article titled “If You’re Woke You Dig It; No mickey mouse can be expected to follow today’s Negro idiom without a hip assist. If You’re Woke You Dig It.” The hashtag #staywoke later became a catchphrase of the new Black Lives Matter movement, after first passing serendipitously through Erykah Badu."
Valuable info for this forum, Lynell. Wear woke like a proud emblem. I loved when I heard the word pass through Erykah Badu’s lips. Like a whisper.
Salud!
🗽
Thanks, Christine!
Morning, Christine and Mark. Being a NYT subscriber, I clicked on the "Give this article" link. I can't tell from my end whether it's working for you. Here it is again to try if you want. I can't seem to copy the article itself to paste it here, but I'm sorta working on it.
https://nyti.ms/3KJ63XF
I think your gift only allows access to the doorway to the article. Still have to subscribe to their archives on TimesMachine. It is not a public portal, though NYT makes it look like one until you get there. Thanks for the thought, though.
Thanks, Annie. I tried without success to copy the article. I guess they figured that out, too.
Sorry to disappoint anyone one wanted to read it.
I took a look and realized that I'd read the book back in the day. I've got his name on my list now. I follow a few blogs by linguists because words fascinated me. My mom sparked an interest in word meanings and how they change. I think I took Latin mainly because it contained the roots of so many words in English and other Euro languages! Linguistics in college, and though the course wasn't very good, it reawakened an interest in words and how meanings change that my mother in particular sparked. And as a writer I am addicted to words. How many people own a shelf-full of dictionaries? (Not counting the ones in my computer!)
Yours, through your mom, is a noble calling, Annie. It shines through all your posts that I'm always excited to read.
GOTTA BUY The SUBSCRIPTION .....