Post 1,005
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Congressional Republicans have pseudo-patriotic, brain damaged explanations for not supporting Ukraine. Of course, they’re either making up “alternative facts’ or clutching their boundless ignorance to their chests, the place where courage should reside but obviously does not. The reality is that Ukraine is fighting our fight for us. It is the fight for Western civilization, for our values and for democracy everywhere. Now why would these elected congresspeople oppose fighting for our values and our democracy? The answer to that question is the first dot for making a picture.
There was an active shooter at a middle school in the Milwaukee suburb of Germantown, WI on Monday the 23rd. The only casualty was the shooter, killed by police, who arrived quickly and acted immediately. We sure could have used those folks at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, TX last year.
On Wednesday the 25th there were what the experts call “spree shootings” at a bar and grill and at a bowling alley in the towns of Lewiston and Auburn, ME. The suspect, now dead by his own hand, was a former military firearms instructor. He had been committed to a mental health facility last summer. He is reported to be “hearing voices” and made threats against others, including against the National Guard base in Saco, ME.
He was in possession of a military style rifle designed not for deer hunting or target shooting, but to kill lots of people at a really fast rate. Plus, he was apparently carrying a large supply of ammunition. The shooter killed 18 people, injured 13 others and broke hearts throughout the state and our country.
The alleged shooter legally owned that assault rifle, all that ammunition, a hand gun and whatever other killing implements he carried. Why do you suppose he was able to do that?
One of the senators representing the people of Germantown, WI is Ron Johnson (R-WI). He’s a steadfast opponent of any and all legislation that might have kept a gun out of the hands of both of those alleged shooters. There are many dozens like him in Congress. Now, why would so many of our nation’s senators and representatives oppose safety in that way, especially when the overwhelming majority of We The People want it? The answer has nothing to do with originalist Constitution notions or even bravado and chest thumping about the Second Amendment. The answer to that question is the second dot for making a picture.
It took the majority Republican House 22 days to find a replacement for Kevin “Cut Mine Off’ McCarthy. He gave away nearly everything, so it took only eight flaming radical congresspeople to dump him. Matt Gaetz (“he who partied with under-age girls”) led that attack on McCarthy, pretty much only because after McCarthy gave away everything to become Speaker for less than 10 months, Gaetz wanted what was left of his dignity, this in order to please Trump. That’s the third dot.
The extremists supporting their second nominee for speaker, Gym Jordan (R-Hell), threatened other Republicans and their families with violence if they opposed his nomination. That’s thugocracy. Those threats deeply divided the Republican caucus and resulted in a complete standstill in the House during a worsening crisis in Ukraine and the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel.
Without the Republican paralysis of Congress they would have been able to take action. But the flamers blocked that and all other congressional action for over 3 weeks. Some are promising to ensure that the government is made to shut down just before Thanksgiving. Now, why would they do any of that? Consider that the fourth dot.
Now they’ve elected Mike Johnson (R-LA) as the new Speaker of the House. He’s the guy who led the effort in the House to overturn the 2020 presidential election. He’s an election denier. A Big Lie guy. A Trump toady. A fanatic. A legislative insurrectionist. Yes, every Republican voted for him.*
“To sin by silence when we should protest makes cowards of men.” – Ella Wheeler Wilcox (Many thanks to MG)
He’s a God-invoking hypocrite who is guilty of attempted destruction of our democracy and our Constitution. Perhaps you remember the Constitution as that thing to which Johnson swore his solemn oath, hand on the bible he thumps, to protect and defend our Constitution from all enemies, both foreign and domestic. Then he enthusiastically led Republican representatives to violate it in legislative insurrection. Consider Mike Johnson guilty of dereliction of duty, a breaker of his word, unfit to serve and the fifth dot.
We could go on, but all the dots inevitably become a picture of destruction, of American terrorist attacks on our nation. These people are robotic acolytes of Trump and Steve Bannon. Doing what is best for America is not their motivation. What they want is to “tear it all down.” They want to demolish our government, our institutions, our rule of law, our notions of equality, our Declaration of Independence and Constitutional guarantees that no person, no race, no nationality, no religion is above others. Our 234 years of laws make clear that White Christian men have no claim of dominion and power over the rest of us. But that’s no obstacle to these extremists. Doubt that?
Those better-than-the-rest-of-us straight (they claim), White Christian (they claim) men – no women – would be pleased to enslave you if you are not one of them. We know that, because that was the very essence of the South before the Civil War and that is what the present day domination seekers promise. They want to dominate you. They want to own you.
The Republican picture is one of destruction, domestic terrorism, hatred, fear mongering and subjugation of the great masses of us by a privileged class that believes they are above us.
That’s what people voting Republican are voting for.
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When the dots are connected they reveal a democracy and freedom apocalypse, a picture that you and I will deeply dislike.
Quotes Of The Week
From Sheila Markin in The Markin Report of October 27, “The Coup Caucus Won:”
The extremists don’t want government to work. If government doesn’t work then Biden can be blamed and democracy can be seen as a failed form of government. The goal of GOP extremists is to trash the system and crash our government . . . For them, chaos IS the goal.
In a webinar on Friday Rep. Sean Casten (D-IL-6) answered my question about what the magic pill is to get the right people into Congress who will pass legislation that delivers what We The People want, like democracy. He made some insightful comments and ended by focusing on hope. It’s not in robust supply in these politically dark times. Here’s his final comment:
“The magic pill is us.”
That rather smacks of then-candidate Barack Obama declaring what was so plainly true:
“We are the people we’ve been waiting for.”
They are both right. It’s up to us.
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* From Steve Schmidt’s The Warning on October 26:
Perhaps the best way to understand this point [of difference in Speakers] is by appreciating how cynicism can fuel fanaticism. Kevin [McCarthy} believed in nothing but power, while [Mike] Johnson sees power as a means to impose his fanaticism.
Today is a good day to be the light
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- Our governance and electoral corruption and dysfunction and our ongoing mass murders are all of a piece, all the same problem with the same solution:
- Fire the bastards!
- The days are dwindling for us to take action. Get up! Do something to make things better.
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3 Responses to Connecting Dots
Kirk Landers October 29, 2023
When I was a young magazine editor, our sales guys were killing themselves to get a Texas entrepreneur to start advertising with us. He was a forerunner of today’s so-called “Christian conservatives”–so moral he put bibles but not ashtrays in his vehicles.
My first exposure to Evangelical hypocrisy came when we were getting ready to test one of his products. The vehicle was too heavy for the weight rating of the chassis it was built on. When we brought this up with him, he invited us to fudge the data or live without his ad schedule. We lost the account…
A year or two later, at a trade show, a salesman who had just joined our magazine happened to occupy the telephone next to this gentleman (this is back in the days of banks of pay phones–you can explain the coin thing to your kids). It turned out, he was arranging for the services of a prostitute… and, yeah, he was married, no doubt by a fellow righteous blowhard on the sacred grounds of a church built by an army of righteous believers.
To me, the next of kin to the Evangelicals is the NRA, which I’m sure has a champaign and caviar celebration every time another one of their insane acolytes goes forth and murders Americans. It’s just so good for business….
David L Lindgren October 29, 2023
Yes, Jack, you are right, right, right, right, right! Love how you put together radical condemnation of Trump and the Right Wing dummies.
But, aside from that, what are we constructively going to do about it?
Remembering how we stood across the street from a plethora of Trump supporters in Northbrook before the 2020 election, as our small contingent waved Biden’s flags. And how those idiots far out-numbered us.
The question is whether we can build enough steam to demonstrate and take-on those f…ers publicly. And when can there be some, if you will, rebellious support for Joe Biden.. Getting him reelected may be the most important movement of our time. But outside of “print”, there needs to be demonstrations in favor of our democracy. Or some demonstrations counter to Trump and his disciples.
Jim Altschuler October 29, 2023
All my life I have been proud to be American, proud of our Constitution, laws and regulations. I’ve always felt that, even if I disagreed with a given president’s views, our system of checks and balances would ensure that our rights and lives would be safe from tyranny and oppression.
A really pretty picture. It’s just a shame that virtually all of it is being torn to pieces by the fanatical Republicans, aided & abetted by the weak-kneed Democrats who don’t have the spine to fight the Republicans’ destructive intentions.
The only way that I can see to avoid the inevitable conclusion of our government’s current direction is to VOTE every one of those so-called representatives out & replace them with honest people who genuinely want to act as the will of We The People.