JaxPolitix

“Silence is complicity.

“We have to refuse to live in a country where fear and lies are packaged for power and for profit.

“We must all enlist in this great cause of America.

“This is work that requires all of us—presidents and politicians, commentators, citizens. None of us can stay on the sidelines. We have to resolve here in Buffalo that from .  .  .  this tragedy .  .  . will come hope and light and life. It has to. And on our watch, the sacred cause of America will never bow, never break, never bend. And the America we love—the one we love—will endure.”

”President Joe Biden, May 17, 2022, Buffalo, NY

That’s all about countering the purveyors of and the bad actors for White Supremacy, and Replacement Theory in particular. It’s the old, hate filled notion that “others” are coming to replace the deserving ones, the White, European ancestry Christians, especially the males. Those “others” include Blacks, Browns, Muslims, Asians, Native Americans and more, all of this orchestrated by Jews, they proclaim. The haters are motivated by their fear and rage and that leads to violence. These are the people against whom the rest of us must enlist in this “great cause of America.”

Whites in America will soon be in the minority due primarily to a differential in birth rates, plus some (but not much) immigration. So, it might be understandable for White Supremacists to be afraid and to hold their hateful views, because they know how shabbily we treat minorities in this country. It makes sense that they might fear how they will be treated once they are in the minority.

Just imagine if Black police hassled, beat and killed unarmed Whites at the rate of about 1,000 per year, 3 killed per day. It would be terrible for Whites to be removed from a place of power and be replaced by “others” and treated as Whites have treated those “others” for over 400 years. That just wouldn’t be right, right?

So, they’re chanting “Jews will not replace us” and “You will not replace us.” How very testosterony of them. These people, their leaders and their elected officials are who my friend Sheila Markin calls the Rabid, Religious, Right-wing Republicans.

There is nothing at all about today’s Republicans that resembles traditional Republicans. They are fear and anger stoked tribalists after only two things: power and money. And they are pleased to stomp on anyone and anything that stands in their way, including democracy, the rule of law and food shoppers in Buffalo.

So, we’ll replace them. Here’s a feet-on-the-ground example of why we must.

On May 18 the House voted on a bill to provide emergency funds to deal with the infant formula crisis. If you don’t believe there’s a crisis, check with any parent of an infant whose mom isn’t breastfeeding her child or a parent of an infant with medical issues who cannot tolerate any form of milk. Those kids need to eat; otherwise, they go hungry, and that’s very bad for infants.

Note that these babies are the same individuals that Republicans and Replacement Theorists and White Supremacists and Bible thumpers were vehement to protect when they were fetuses. Now that they’re born, these people just don’t seem to care too much about these kids any more.

So, 192 Republicans (and 1 Democrat) voted against the bill to keep these kids fed and alive. So much for their being pro-life.

It isn’t so much that the 192 Republicans hate babies, although that’s possible. It’s that they are slaves to the most hateful, extremist voters – like the ones who spew Replacement Theory and stolen election lies – and these legislators don’t have the spine to be a leader and stand up for what’s right. Welcome to HypocrisyLand.

But wait! There’s more!

The Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act of 2022 was brought to the floor of the House on the same day as Republicans voted to starve babies.  This is an act which is designed to combat domestic terrorism. Every Republican voted against it.

So, have a relaxed shopping experience, fellow citizen, at the mall or at Walmart or at the supermarket, knowing there may be a domestic terrorist waiting for you because 203 Republicans voted to do nothing to ensure your safety.

Republicans will not replace us. We’ll replace them. We must replace them. Our democracy cannot stand unless we replace them.

So, we end this piece where we began: “Silence is complicity.”

The Lies Have Been Here a Long While

From Inae Oh of Mother Jones:

“George W. Bush—whose administration, lie by lie, sold a deeply fraudulent and immoral case for invasion—apparently sees a bit of himself in Vladimir Putin. I wonder why:

“Former President George W. Bush: ‘The decision of one man to launch a wholly unjustified and brutal invasion of Iraq. I mean of Ukraine.’ pic.twitter.com/UMwNMwMnmX

— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) May 19, 2022

“I’m 75,’ Bush quickly offered, prompting laughter from the crowd.

“The gaffe, which came during a speech in Dallas on Wednesday, is sure to launch a bunch of thought pieces this morning. For some, it was cute, another Bush giving Michelle Obama candy moment. Others, like me, will recall his historic bait and switch that killed upwards of 200,000 civilians. Well, wherever you land, here’s your ever-relevant reminder that George W. Bush is still bad; please don’t let his never ending supply of dumb endear you. Now watch this drive.“

DO NOT give this guy a pass because he’s a cute old man or because you’ve forgotten most of his horribles, like failing to heed the warnings about 9/11 and ordering torture. This guy lied when he inhaled and he lied when he exhaled and hundreds of thousands died because of him.

Trump and his supplicants roll the same way and 40% of our citizens want to follow him to oblivion.

So, one more time: “Silence is complicity.”

Quote of the Week

• • “The racist, antisemitic Replacement Theory espoused by a right-wing extremist who murdered ten people in Buffalo might as well be the Republican Party platform.”
  • – Steve Sheffey

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The days are dwindling for us to take action. Get up! Do something to make things better.

Copyright 2024 by Jack Altschuler
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