Republicans – bendingtheneedle

Uvalde, Buffalo, El Paso, Pittsburg, Las Vegas, Charlston . . . . .

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.

Vote. Them. Out.

Support the Voting Rights Act

Republicans not supporting the John Lewis Voting Rights Act is an act of self-preservation.

Republicans know that making it easier for black and brown people to vote, makes it harder for Republicans to hold on to their job.

So, rather than engaging black and brown voters and trying to understand issues from their perspective, Republicans are supporting legislative barricades that restrict access to the ballot box and make it harder for black and brown and poorer people to vote.

In America, the gap between “the haves” and “have nots” has a racial element to it and the gap grows wider every day. The truth of the matter is that Democrats are proposing programs to try and stop the gap from growing, while Republicans are fine with the current trend. To put it more bluntly, Democrats are more likely to support programs that help level the playing field, while Republicans long for the good ole days when black and brown people worked in a field.

America’s population is browning.

Republicans see this tinting as a threat to their vision and version of America.

To Republicans, this feels like an ominous fade to black scenario.

And the only way Republicans think they can prevent this from happening is to hinder black and brown people from voting — and that’s what they’re doing by blocking the John Lewis Voting Rights act, while supporting state laws that make it harder for black and brown people to vote.

Republican attacks on voting rights are another shameful assault on our republic and a further tugging on the thread that holds our democracy together.

Trumpocrisy

Concept, american flag on cracked background

The other day, I watched former President Trump praise his relationship with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Ill in a televised interview.

I listened to the former disgraced and seditious-prick-of-a-president say how well he got along with dictators and autocrats and how he admired their strong leadership.

None of this surprised me.

Trump is an easily manipulated, egotistical fool. Leaders like Kim Jong-Ill and Vlad Putin simply blew a little smoke up the orange one’s undies to court favor with Trump.

What disheartened me most about the interview was the applause from my fellow Americans in the audience.

When did getting along with murderous dictators become a praiseworthy trait in an American president?

Had President Obama or candidate Clinton said anything remotely like this, they would have been crucified by the very same people who were applauding. As Forest Gump would say, Trump supporters and hypocrisy go together like peas and carrots.

Republicans and Democrats have always differed on policy. But when it came to condemning brutal dictators and autocrats, we stood together.

That used to be common ground.

Why is this no longer the case?

What changed?

Well, for one, we had four years of being led by a self-absorbed, morally corrupt, and intellectually vapid president. Trump rose to power by tapping into many Americans’ grievances and fears around race and then, with purposeful malevolence, sold them a solution based on a warped definition of Americanism.

Trump understood that a divided country was his only path to power. So, from the onset of his candidacy, all the way through his presidency, he divided this country.

Five years later, we see the result in a fact-resistant confederacy of MAGA-hat-wearing morons and the cowering politicians who fear them.

Trump and his supporters are the blood in the boner of an alt-right movement in America — and you can’t reason with a boner.

But usually, over time, it subsides on its own.

Hopefully, that happens here.

Have you heard enough?

After five years of crap, I keep waiting for the tipping point.

I keep waiting for my Trump-supporting friends to say they’ve had enough. I want to believe in their humanity. I’d like to think that after listening to yesterday’s testimony from the officers who defended the capitol on January sixth, they’re saying to themselves:

“You know what? I’m a proud Republican and a conservative, but what Donald Trump and members of congress promoted in the lead-up to January sixth – and the lies they continue to spread today, are despicable. I can no longer support Trump or any other politician who continues to espouse those lies. I’m fucking done with Trump.”

That’s the humane response that people who care about this country hunger for. And we keep waiting for it. We long for the days to argue and differ on politics, not humanity, not democracy, not on basic human decency and integrity.

For more than 5 years, there’s been no normalcy around our politics, and that’s because America voted into office a sociopathic fascist with low-level intelligence. And even though he’s no longer President, Trump continues to control the Republican party.

For more than 5 years, more than half of the country sat bewildered at the number of people who went along with the Donald Trump shit-show, cheered him on, and sent him money. For most us, it was a deflating realization that America was not what it claimed to be.

We kept hoping that maybe this was just an example of people being caught up in their personal and familial political history “I grew up in a Republican family, I support conservative values, I’ve always voted red.” We kept waiting for Republicans to have an epiphany; we kept hoping for that “lightbulb moment” where Republicans would wake up and see that Trump was not a Republican or conservative; he was only interested in politics in so far as it benefitted him.

Yesterday’s testimony should have been that moment for my Trump-supporting friends. If after yesterday you still support the former President, then please, just fuck off.

I’ve no space in my life for shitty human beings.

Mitt’s image problem

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Yes, I voted for Barack Obama in the last election.

Yes, I will vote for him again.

No, these two facts do disqualify me from, or make me incapable of, providing an unbiased assessment of what I perceive as Mitt Romney’s and the Republican Party’s image problem(s).

So here goes:

They both take too much direction from, and put too much credence in the far-right faction of their party. Rush Limbaugh calls a US citizen testifying before congress a slut – and Mitt Romney does not have the courage to take him to the woodshed. He looked weak and ungentlemanly.

They are out of touch with the American populace on almost every social issue of the day. I provide the following discussion with my kids to demonstrate :

Me: Do you think the government should stop Gay people from getting married?

My kids: They look at me, dumbfounded at the question itself. Why would the government try to stop people who love one another from getting married? That’s stupid (and TOTALLY unfair) Dad!

Why we are even talking about such silliness, when we have soldiers getting killed in Afghanistan, rioting and violence in the Middle East, and people out of work in America? Anyone?, Anyone? – – Bueller?

Me: Do you think people who are gay should be allowed to serve in the military and not have to hide the fact that they are Gay?

My Kids: Again, mystified at the ludicrousness of the question. They ask innocently (I think), “Does being gay prevent them from loving their country and doing a good job Dad?”

Me: Not that I am aware of boys.

My Kids: Then who cares Dad?

Me: Good point boys.

Me: Do you think that creationism should be taught alongside evolution in public schools?

Kids: What is creationism dad?

Me: I explain the concept and point them to a definition of the word.

Kids: But that does not sound like science Dad – that sounds more like a personal belief. I do not understand how or why you would teach something like this alongside evolution Dad.

Maybe they could teach this in a class about religion – “would that be OK Dad?”

You see, the kids do not want to tell people not to believe in something -but they are smart enough to know the difference between scientific theory and personal religious beliefs.

Kids: Hey dad, I heard in school today that we are falling behind other countries in math and science. Maybe those schools that teach creationism can drop that course so the kids can bone-up on real science and math. What do you think dad?

Me: I think that is a swell idea kids. Write the republican governor of Texas.

Me: Do you think immigrants should have a pathway to citizenship in this country?

Kids: Yes they say – almost immediately.

White, bright, and way too uptight. When the camera panned out at the audience at the Republican convention – all I saw was white people. Don’t get me wrong, I like white folks (hell, I am a white folk!).

However, my perception was that that the populace in that convention hall was not representative of America as a whole – instead, I saw it as a subset.

My perception is that the republican’s quilt is mostly one color – white (with maybe some dark stitching on the outer edge), while the democrat’s quilt is multi-colored and more representative of the “fabric of our country”.

My perception when Michelle Obama spoke about her and Barack’s early day’s was that she was being genuine – and that “genuineness” resonated with me.

When Ann Romney spoke about her and Mitt’s early days, my perception was that she was trying too hard to paint a picture – trying to strike a chord with a segment of the population that she does not have a lot in common with. My perception was that it seemed faked and rehearsed, almost like she was trying to be something she was not.

And (I know this is superficial) but the contrast of Barack Obama crooning an Al Green classic to Mitt Romney’s geeky and stiff rendering of “America the Beautiful” remains fresh in my mind. Basically, when I see Mitt Romney, I see a decent rich white guy who made his bones on making other rich white guys richer.

Who knows, maybe a predisposition towards one party over another makes you hear and see things differently. I suspect that my republican friends had a totally different perception.