America – Page 2 – bendingtheneedle

Vote Ideas, Not Candidates

Joe Biden is a walk waiting to fall.

But Donald Trump is a creeping fracture on the hip of America’s democracy.

Biden is a danger to himself.

Trump is a danger to the republic and the freedom for which it stands.

Do I think Joe Biden is too old for the presidency? Yes, I do. But that problem will eventually take care of itself, as it does for all of us.

We must stop thinking about 2024 as a contest between two men, one who has clearly lost a step, the other hell-bent on lying his way back to the presidency.

The 2024 election is not about Biden or Trump; it’s about good versus bad ideas.

It’s about whether we move the country forward or backward. It’s about whether we expand rights or restrict them. It’s about whether we try to bridge our gaps and differences or widen them. In 2024, either we embrace and promote the ideas of western Democracy, or we don’t.

Trumpism – the metastasizing malignancy of malevolence and malfeasance has taken root in the Republican party. Trumpism is less of a political platform and more of a manifesto of intolerance, anger, fear-baiting, and grievance. And that’s today’s GOP.

To move the country forward and to trigger a “re-set” for the Republican party, we need to bury it under an avalanche of votes that screams DEMOCRACY MATTERS!

Today, banning books, demonizing “the other,” promoting one religion over others, and protecting unfettered access to weapons, even in the face of mass shooting after mass shootings, are Republican ideals, but they’re not American ideals.

While Republicans bitch and moan about pronouns, wokeness, and drag show readings, broken parents relive the scene of janitors mopping up the blood of their children from the hallways and classrooms in schools.

Most Americans are tired of nonsense in the face of real-life challenges and hardship.

The 2024 election, more than any other past election, is about ideas. Foundational ideas. The ideas upon which America will stand or crumble.

MAGA Nation

Culty MAGA members sing

they bend their knee, they kiss the ring

deny they see a naked king

Banning books and fanning flames

toting guns like Jesse James

thoughts and prayers to stop the bleeding

screaming at a drag show reading

Stripping healthcare, mining coal

pushing myths about the soul

damning those who don’t obey

denying women of their say

Casting stones, suppressing votes

grab our country by the throat

locked into a MAGA craze

they pull us back to darker days

Drinking Kool-Aid from a cup

yelling up is down!

and down is up!

spinning lies and crafting fables

twist the truth to turn the tables

Deny the facts and praise the liar

collectively they all conspire

to set democracy on fire

Culty MAGA members sing

they bend their knee, they kiss the ring

deny they see a naked king

Be woke and …..

According to a new poll, America is pulling back from the values that once defined it, such as patriotism and religion. One might look at the poll results and think, “Damn, that’s not good,” — but maybe we should look at the results as an awakening.

A Growing Disconnect

There’s a growing disconnect between the values Americans traditionally associate with religion and patriotism and what we witness behaviorally in society regarding religion and patriotism.

Christ is no longer Christianity’s messenger.

Instead, rich and powerful opportunists weave narratives that intertwine cherry-picked aspects of Christianity with firmly held socio-political beliefs. Deep pockets allow these opportunists to promote that narrative through lobbyists, who feed it to money-grubbing, power-hungry politicians.

Christianity isn’t about love and charity anymore. Instead, it’s transparently transactional – and more Americans (especially the skeptical and educated) view politically infused transaction-based religion with disdain. When you combine transparently transactional religion with the equally transparent absence of God in our lives, people will pull back from religion as a value.

The function of religion in American society has moved away from the individual and towards a political collective. This shift has transformed religion from a set of beliefs for coping with a chaotic and hate-filled world to a political directive that disrespects marginalized communities, restricts rights, and promotes hate.

Our Patriotic Divide

Concerning patriotism, America is split between the loud crowd of MAGA-hat-wearing Republicans hell-bent on transforming the country into a dystopian America-First Christian Nationalist society and progressives who want to expand rights and freedoms to everyone.

For patriotism to take root, citizens must agree on what it means to “be patriotic.” If there’s disagreement, the unifying knot of patriotism begins to fray. For example, millions of Americans view the assault on the capital as an act of patriotism and the protests against systemic racism in our justice system as un-American – while just as many (if not more) Americans hold the opposite view. Until most of us can agree on what is and isn’t patriotic, we’ll continue to retreat from patriotism as a value.

So, it’s no surprise Americans are rethinking the values around religion and patriotism. We’re woke to religion and patriotism being hijacked and manipulated by individuals and entities for political or personal gain, altering the meaning of both fundamentally.

Being aware is the first step to instituting change.

Democracy on the Ballot

Price hikes and inflation are cyclical and are tied to global events – things will return to normalcy regardless of which party wins the majority in Congress.

Your democracy (and the freedoms it provides) is tied to local events – specifically, election day voting.

If you fail to vote against the party that espouses nationalistic and fascist views, your democracy will disappear.

If you fail to hold politicians accountable for supporting a former president’s attempts to overturn a free and fair election, your democracy will disappear.

If you vote for a party that wants to restrict freedoms and rights rather than expand them, democracy and the freedoms it provides will disappear.

Don’t be short-sighted this coming election.

Rise Up

Don’t you ever get so tired

of all the bullshit in the air

Politicians always wired

pretending that they care

Don’t you long to get inspired

get this train back on the track

Aren’t you sick of being mired

in never forward always back

We’re in need of revolution

a youth-led promise towards a day

when our leaders represent us

without their interests in the way

Aren’t you tired of being berated

your world twisting on a string

all the truths interrogated

while the lies go on to sing

Band together to form your power

march into the voting booth

Turn the day into your hour

cut down the lies and raise the truth

The Belled Tiger and the Bull in Democracy’s China Closet

‘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 a Dime

Flipping between channels this morning.

Ja Morant dunk highlights and Ukrainians struggling for their lives.

NFL Draft teasers and Russian Cruise Missiles blasting into apartment buildings.

Safe in my power recliner, sipping hot coffee, my snoring dog at my feet.

Just a few weeks ago, like me, Ukrainians lived their lives peacefully.

I imagine my Ukrainian counterpart sitting in his apartment, watching TV, petting his cat, enjoying life’s simple pleasures.

Life can turn on a dime, especially after 4 years of an American president heaping praise on autocratic dictators – softening the ground for anti-democratic movements around the globe, lauding dictators for their “strength” while bashing long-standing alliances.

If you think what is happening in Ukraine today can’t happen in America tomorrow, you’re kidding yourself.

There are anti-democratic forces in congress, and the de facto leader of the Republican party continues to praise and refuses to denounce a murderous thug’s invasion of Ukraine.

Keep this in mind when heading to the ballot box in 2022 and 2024.

Protesting the protestor

Extending gloved hands skyward in racial protest, U.S. athletes Tommie Smith, center, and John Carlos stare downward during the playing of the Star Spangled Banner after Smith received the gold and Carlos the bronze for the 200 meter run at the Summer Olympic Games in Mexico City on Oct. 16, 1968. Australian silver medalist Peter Norman is at left. (AP Photo)

Flags and songs aren’t people. They don’t have feelings or emotions.

The American flag and the national anthem are not capable of “feeling” respect or disrespect, any more than a dishcloth or AC DC’s “Highway to Hell.”

So, when some Americans say in anger, “He disrespected the flag” or “She disrespected the anthem!” what they’re actually saying is, “They disrespected my feelings for the flag and my feelings for my country.” I don’t deny the authenticity of their anger or their right to express it.

What I do have a problem with is their presumption. The presumption that everyone’s feelings for America should be the same – or the same as theirs.

The American experience is not uniform (and never has been). For example, as a white American male, I haven’t felt the sting of systemic racism. But just because I haven’t felt it doesn’t mean it’s not there; it simply means I didn’t experience it personally. So systemic racism did not shape my American experience, the way it shaped George Floyd’s family or the experience of millions of other African Americans.

For me to understand something that I haven’t experienced, I need to listen and employ empathy. And if there’s one thing in short supply in America, it’s empathy.

Many Americans don’t want to hear about someone else’s experience, especially if it does not mirror their own. So, when they see an Olympic athlete protest, they immediately dismiss the protester as ungrateful, selfish, and un-American. They never pause to consider that individual’s experience – they don’t want to know why the person is protesting – they simply point a finger and condemn or compare the protesting athlete to one who did not protest.

But when Americans see an aggrieved citizen of a communist country stand up for their rights, we (almost uniformly) celebrate their protest as brave and heroic. Demonstrating that even though empathy is in short supply, there’s an abundance of hypocrisy in the USA.

America was not born perfect. In the past, women and blacks could not vote, gay people could not marry, and civil rights were a pipe dream. And so, Americans (including Olympic athletes) fought, protested, and marched against these injustices.

And even though we stand head-and-shoulders above most other countries when it comes to freedom and opportunity, we are not yet that “perfect union” – that’s always going to be a goal. It’s always going to be America’s journey. And along the road to that more perfect union, Americans (and American athletes) protest or march or fight to shed light on things like racism, sexism, and voter suppression.

That’s been our history, and it has served us well.

In a Democracy, Criticism is Love

A lot of people mistake criticism of America by citizens as hate towards their country. I would argue the opposite is true – that criticism is love when it comes to democracy.

American democracy is an ongoing experiment, one that remains in pursuit of a more perfect union. And so, America consistently tries to live up to the ideals on which she was founded. And when the government that represents us does not live up to those ideals or starts to stray away from democratic principles, we must correct America’s course, through constructive criticism, through dissent and protest, and through the vote.

In America, the citizens are not static witnesses to democracy – we don’t sit idly by when our representatives behave in ways that contradict American ideals. We don’t sit on our hands or keep our mouths shut when we see systemic racism and an unfair justice system. We don’t just go along with a president who inspires and praises a violent insurrection against our country. Instead, we speak up loudly and condemn lies and the deplorable actions that spring from those lies, and we do so because we love America, not because we hate America.

As citizens, we are not parented by our government. We are not obliged to remain silent in deference to government officials when they go afoul of democratic principles and American ideals.

In a democracy, the citizens are the parents or the controlling authority, and when you see your child behaving poorly, you don’t ignore the behavior because you love them. Instead, you criticize the behavior, demand that they change the behavior. . . . because you love them.

Somehow, our understanding of the relationship between the government and its citizens has gotten totally twisted. So many of us view our President or government as infallible parental figures that should be obeyed and respected at all times. We think that speaking out against either means you don’t love or respect America.

In a democracy, criticism is love. In a democracy, criticism is our responsibility, especially when we see America straying from the principles on which she was founded.

Fake Patriotism – Blech!

Republicans all over Facebook are trying to hijack patriotism with fake-ass outrage at an Olympic athlete protesting. These are the same people who turned a blind-eye to a lying ex-president who inspired and praised an insurrection against the United States of America.

“Look at me supporting the flag wavers, the anthem standers, the pledge sayers – I’m a true blue American!!”

Blech!

Posts of proud and talented athletes draped in the stars and stripes, don’t make you “patriotic.”

Posts showing disdain and disgust towards the American athlete who protested, don’t make you a “true American.”

And all the patriotic posts in the world won’t erase the un-American act of supporting a President and a political party that tried to overturn a free and fair election and destroy our democracy. That dark, dank, stank envelops you. It sticks to you like white on rice, and you can’t “patriotic-post” your way out of it.

You want to be a true blue American? Speak out forcefully against the big lie, protest voting laws that make it harder for your fellow citizens to vote, and show your outrage at the refusal to investigate a politically-motivated insurrection against your country.