We often turn to prayer to help us heal from emotional or physical trauma. Prayers can help us achieve inner peace or resolution. Prayers can help us get to a place that allows us to get on with life. In that sense, prayer can be a valuable tool.
But prayer is never a solution to a problem. Prayer is never an agent of change. For example, do you know who was praying the most fervently during the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas? The teachers and the parents of the students trapped in the classroom – and the children themselves. They were desperately praying for God to intervene and save them.
By now, we’ve established a precedent: praying to enact change does not fucking work.
Republican senators and congressmen desperately want their constituents to believe that prayer is a solution. Because they know if people rely on prayer alone, nothing changes. And if nothing changes, these senators and congressmen will continue to fill their coffers with money from the gun lobby.
The only way to enact change is through action. By demanding those who represent us support meaningful and impactful gun legislation. And if they don’t, we must organize, march, campaign, and pressure both candidates and corporations in communities and states where representatives refuse to act.
How does one’s life change if they no longer have their AR-15?
What can these folks no longer do that they could do when they had their AR-15?
Does their world change in any substantive way if they no longer have that particular gun?
Can they still go to work, provide for their family, hug their children, and take their son or daughter to their little league game?
I’d suggest that the only substantive change to their lives is anchored in “feelings.” They’d no longer be able to fire an AR-15 — no longer be able to experience whatever the fuck it is that gets them off when they fire that gun.
Perhaps, those suffering under the NRA-fed delusion that they “need this type of weapon” might feel unsafe without their AR-15. But that feeling would dissipate over time.
Are a rush of endorphins and a false sense of security worth sacrificing the health and safety of children?
The depth of this uniquely American attitude in the face of unending human tragedy is a fucking disgrace.
I don’t know what to say anymore. I feel empty inside – bereft of hope – drowning in sorrow – swallowed in darkness.
My expectations of humanity obliterated – smashed into the ground under the butt of an AR-15 in the hands of apathetic, craven, and power-hungry lawmakers.
What does it say about our country that slaughtered elementary school children huddled in corners of classrooms, their bodies ripped open, their fragile bones splintered and shattered, their blood smeared on the floor and splattered on the walls, the final minutes of their lives filled with overwhelming fear and terror, and still US representatives refuse to even talk about gun legislation?
This happens over and over and over again. The next school shooting is right around the corner and yet we remain stuck, unable to do anything because the people we send to congress care more about their job than the safety of your children.
The river of apathy that runs through the halls of congress intensifies the futility and hopelessness we all feel for days after a school shooting.
Now we’ll go through the scripted responses from spineless and heartless Republican legislators – the lies about the threat to the second amendment, the outrageous claim that we need more guns to combat this violence, the blame it on mental illness argument.
We’ve heard these responses so many times that we can recite them almost word-for-word.
Until US representatives who oppose gun regulation get voted out or begin losing their loved ones to gun violence, situations like what played out in Uvalde, TX, and Buffalo, NY will happen repeatedly.
Would Republican lawmakers care enough to act if their child or loved one was struck down by a bullet from an AR-15?
Would Republican lawmakers care enough to act if they had to identify their child or loved one gruesomely and mortally wounded by a bullet from an AR-15?
Sadly, other people’s children and loved ones being mowed down in a hail of gunfire is not enough to get these people to act.
At first, it was difficult to brush aside the carnage.
We see the horror of war and empathize with those engulfed by it.
We get angry at the senselessness of it.
We get agitated that one man’s evil ambition can wreak havoc on millions of innocent people who just want to live their lives.
But as the war drags on, we’ll grow to accept it as part of the global landscape.
For Ukrainians, outrage and anger fuel their fight and their will to survive.
For Ukrainians, outrage is ammunition. Outrage is necessary.
But for us watching the war from a safe distance, in 3-minute segments on flat-screen TVs, maintaining the same level of outrage we felt initially is not sustainable. Not because we’re callous or ambivalent, but because that level of outrage interferes with our daily routine and our need to get on with our lives.
Humans are not wired to maintain a constant state of outrage when their environment does not merit it, or when their survival does not depend on it.
For those not directly impacted by war, extended outrage is an impediment. To move on with our lives, outrage gives way to a begrudging (and guilt-laden) acceptance of other people’s suffering.
In a way, turning off our outrage becomes a survival mechanism.
Putin understands this.
Putin is betting that the world will get tired of feeling outrage.
Putin knows that outrage has a short shelf-life and all he has to do for victory is wait us out.
We need sustainable outrage to stand up against the enemies of freedom and democracy.
Religious fanatics in red caps and black robes Choice Appomattox and transvaginal probes Beaten and raped, then told what to do Stripped of your voice, no autonomous you
Back-alley midwives with buckets and hangers Forced into action, like fierce Margret Sangers Matt K and Sam A, don’t care what you think Judge Thomas and Barrett drown Roe in the sink
Ejaculate holder, an object, a vessel A fait accompli, with no room to wrestle Your thoughts do not matter; just do what we say Your handmaid’s dilemma, the American way
From pro-choice to no-voice, a Trump court of minions Precedent killing abortion opinions The fetus and soul are what matters the most Your womanly role is to be a good host
A recent report from the January 6th commission shows Ginny Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, was communicating with President Trump’s Chief of Staff to illegally (and seditiously) stop the certification of the 2020 presidential election.
The report illustrates that extremism, guided by conspiratorial thinking, existed at the highest levels of government. Unfortunately, that’s still the case today. The ideas and conspiracy theories that Ginny Thomas referenced to prod Mark Meadows to turn against his country are readily available to anyone with internet access.
Lies and conspiracy theories are nothing new. But social media amplifies them and accelerates how they’re spread. So, to combat this, one must be committed to countering the lies with truth and facts. But, unfortunately, and with few exceptions, Republican politicians have done the exact opposite. They’re embracing the lies and conspiracy theories, not because they believe them but because it’s politically advantageous. In fact, embracing lies and spreading conspiracy theories is now a political strategy of the Republican party. And we’re seeing the effect before our very eyes.
The political proliferation of lies and conspiracy theories is like a constricting snake around the throat of our democracy – choking off reason, rationality, accountability, and integrity.
The lies and conspiracy theories are woven in fear, fake patriotism, and culture war issues such as transgenderism and critical race theory.
I feel sorry for people caught up in conspiracy theories, many of whom are so desperate to be part of something worth fighting for they disregard facts and evidence. But I have nothing but contempt for politicians who look to capitalize on the misguided and misinformed. And that’s what a lot of Republican congressmen and senators are doing.
Republicans clearly understand the connection between technology, lying, and generating support from voters. We saw this on display at Judge Jackson’s confirmation hearing.
Senators Cruz, Hawley, Blackburn, and Graham cherry-picked snippets from Judge Jackson’s court cases and decisions and painted an un-nuanced and inaccurate caricature. That caricature became twitter-sphere fodder for their party’s base and kindling for their political campaigns.
We all saw Senator Cruz checking his Twitter feed after questioning Judge Jackson about racist babies and pornography.
The hearing illuminated a disturbing trend, where politicians are not simply repeating lies and conspiracy theories but are ginning up their own lies and false narratives, which end up on websites and social media accounts, and, inevitably, into the hearts and minds of their constituency.
Since the end of the confirmation hearing, we’ve seen a disturbing uptick in political attacks against Judge Jackson, labeling her as a sympathizer of Nazis and pedophiles. So perhaps we’re witnessing the birth of a fresh new conspiracy theory about Judge Jackson?
I would not be surprised.
And finally, Kudos to Judge Jackson for her grace under pressure.
Had Lindsey Graham asked me to rate my religiosity on a scale of one to ten (as if religion has anything to do with being a sound jurist), I would have said, “Zero. And fuck you for asking the question.”
Judge Jackson is supremelyqualified. She has the intellect, experience, and temperament to be a justice on the United States Supreme Court.
‘Let he who tied the bell on the tiger take it off’
So said China’s President Xi Jinping, alluding to who is responsible for reigning in Vladimir Putin from his vicious and unlawful military assault on Ukraine.
So, who tied the bell on the Russian Tiger?
I would suggest:
The first bell was tied on the Tiger when Trump sought Russia’s cooperation in a US election.
The next bell on the tiger was Trump’s un-ending praise of Putin and other autocrats.
More bells were attached with 4 years of Trump trashing NATO alliances.
And then there was that big bell when Trump sided with Putin over US intelligence agencies, for everyone to see, in Helsinki.
Another bell on the Tiger was the Trump administration turning its back on the Kurds and letting Russia have its way in Syria.
So, President Xi is correct; America did indeed put the bell on the Tiger. A fuck-load of bells. Christ, with so many bells, we could name that Tiger Jingles.
Biden is dealing with a Russian Tiger, belled by 4 years of praise and appeasement from a thug-loving autocratic-wanna-be President who hated our NATO allies.
And now Putin, the belled Russian Tiger, is terrorizing Ukraine, murdering innocent men, women, and children.
I have my own proverb:
The belled tiger is less restrained and more dangerous after 4-years of an orange bull in Western Democracy’s China Closet.
Like a bull in a China Closet, former President Trump obliterated the norms of liberal western democracy in favor of autocratic principals, opening the door to a terroristic Tiger.
On Daddy’s dime, he ran business after business into the ground.
He shorted his contractors, defrauded, and extorted his way to the top of the New York real estate market.
He cheated on his taxes almost as much as he cheated on his wives.
He sexually assaulted women and bragged about it.
He publicly mocked a disabled reporter.
When a woman reporter held his feet to the fire with tough questions, he insinuated that her tough questions were related to her menstrual cycle.
He endlessly equated a woman’s worth with her appearance.
He sexualized his own daughter publicly.
He denied housing to people based solely on the color of their skin.
He used a charity as a front for illegal activities and was forced to shut it down.
He created a fake university to take money from suckers, truckers, and dumb motherfuckers all across America.
He pandered to Americans’ fears, employing a nationalistic propaganda campaign emblematic of the Nazis in Pre-World War II Europe. And as a result of that campaign, he ascended to the highest office in the land.
For four years, we bore witness to a fundamental truth: like sewage in a leeching field, a man’s lack of character seeps into every decision he makes.
At the pinnacle of power and public service, Trump put all his energy into pitting Americans against one another instead of leading and uniting a nation. He understood that a divided America was his only chance at hanging on to power.
He promoted and pushed tax policies that helped the rich and powerful as president.
He implemented a punitive immigration policy that separated children from their parents and caged them, all while using nationalistic propaganda and xenophobic tropes to justify his cruelty.
He tried to shake down a foreign leader by holding up military funding for dirt on his political opponent.
He minimized the danger of the COVID-19 pandemic and pushed false cures and the notion that COVID-19 would not last, despite knowing his words were lies.
He cheered the efforts of nationalist militias to overthrow state governments.
He regularly praised and flirted with authoritarians while simultaneously trashing alliances.
And when the American people finally said enough is enough, he used lies and misinformation about a stolen election to whip his supporters into a frenzy. Then, he gathered his supporters in Washington for the express purpose of subverting American Democracy, urging them to storm the capital to stop the certification of the 2020 presidential election.
Blood was spilled, and people died, but Democracy prevailed.
Since then, members of his administration have said that Trump was, and is, unfit to lead. Yet members of the Republican party serving in Congress refuse to refute the fat orange brute.
A few weeks ago, Russia invaded the free and sovereign nation of Ukraine, and Trump refused to refute the brute who initiated the attack. In fact, he praised Putin’s tactics as “Genius” and “Savvy.”
When asked by a reporter, “What message would you like to give Vladimir Putin today?” Trump did not denounce Putin’s aggression. Instead, the former leader of the free world said, “I have no message.”
And yet Trump – this menace to American Democracy and democracies around the world – this selfish, shallow, vile human being devoid of character and morality is still the most powerful man in the Republican party.
Republicans in Congress grub for his support., similar to the scared immigrant families of generations ago who cowered to the local mafia thug strutting in their streets.
Unfortunately for America, Trump is that Mafia thug. Instead of threatening physical violence, he threatens the congressional community to withhold his support. And to the dismay of many, Republican members of Congress bend a knee and kiss the ring of this despicable human being.
The lack of courage in the face of Trump’s moral and ethical turpitude stunned and deflated Americans and weakened our global standing. Our allies wondered aloud if America could still be trusted. How can we expect America to stand up for Democracy when their own president does not?
Trump spent four years weakening alliances with Western democracies across Europe. He joyfully cozied up to authoritarian leaders and countries around the globe. He softened the ground for autocratic regimes in their march against Western democratic ideals, which lead inevitably to Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
Like Trump, Putin is a bully and a thug.
Like Trump, Putin understands Democracy is the iron in the blood of free men and women.
And when Democracy takes hold in a country previously constricted by authoritarianism, it unlocks the desire for freedom that exists naturally in all human beings. Our natural human desire for freedom is contagious and spreads quickly, especially in countries where freedom has been denied.
Freedom and the courage to fight for it are the kryptonite of autocrats, dictators, and bullies.
Freedom was flourishing in Ukraine. And though Ukraine was no threat militarily to Russia, the freedom of its people was a threat to Putin himself.
What happens if Russians get infected with freedom? How long would Putin last?
And so, we have bombs raining down on cities across Ukraine. We have a free and sovereign nation under attack by a menacing bully.
Like Putin, Trump understood that his rule was also threatened by freedom.
The freedom for people to march in protest.
The freedom of the press to report truthfully.
The freedom of citizens to question and challenge authority.
All of these freedoms ended Trump’s presidency and saved (for now anyway) our Democracy.
We must do all that we can to help Ukraine fight for freedom. As free people, it’s our responsibility to help Ukrainians in their fight to remain free. They’re standing up to the bully, putting their lives on the line to remain a sovereign nation of free people. If they lose their fight, it’s a victory for the enemies of freedom everywhere. A victory for Putin opens the door to further aggression and the spread of autocracy’s dark shadow around the globe.
In a recent interview, a reporter asked Ukraine President Zelenskyy if he understood America’s view that imposing a no-fly zone over Ukraine would worsen the situation. Worsen it for who? was his reply.
By refusing to close the sky over Ukraine, we’re permitting the slaughter of Ukrainians.
When you’re an ocean away from bombs raining down from the skies, you can afford to be pragmatic; when bombs are raining down on you, pragmatism goes out the window.
Ukrainians don’t have the luxury of being pragmatic or assessing their situation from a geopolitical perspective. Instead, they’re asking America and the world to give them a chance at survival. Refusing to close the sky over Ukraine diminishes their chances significantly.
Either we stand up to the bully and close the skies and risk escalating the war to other countries, or we permit the slaughter of innocent civilians.
Put more simply, either we do what is right or what is safe. We stand up to the menacing bully with all of our strength and courage, or we do not.
bendingtheneedle 