Tuesday, November 5, 2024

My God, THIS Really IS America

NOTE: This is a post I wrote in 2020, when it looked like Trump would beat Biden. Fortunately, he didn't. Since that time, Trump has been found liable for sexual assault and business fraud, convicted of 34 felonies, lied about the 2020 election and participated in a scheme to overturn it, incited an insurrection and then did nothing for 187 minutes while his supporters pummeled police officers, ransacked the Capitol, and chanted to hang his Vice President. Astoundingly, it looks like Trump will be our next President.

(Originally published November 3, 2020)

My country has voted for a vile and evil man. My country has voted for a man that pushes conspiracy theories and bullies anyone that doesn't metaphorically worship the ground he walks on. My country voted for a man that PURPOSELY lied and deceived the country about the transmission and severity of a deadly virus (230,000 fellow Americans and counting). My country voted for a man who has told the American public more than 22,000 lies in four years.  My country voted for a man that encourages militia groups and voter intimidators. My country voted for a man whose party wasn't saying we need to unite the country, but rather that said his party needs to squash the other.  

I could excuse it four years ago, because people didn't know really who Trump was. Many hoped he would grow into the role of President. 

But he didn't. 

And now, they know who Trump really is. He is vile and evil.

So there's no excuse for it. None. 

And sadly--terrifyingly--my fellow Americans think this is the man they should have voted for.

This is my country. And THIS is what they think our country is?

Oh, my God.

Heaven help us all.

Monday, November 4, 2024

If Trump wins, US will survive--but it will change

Each side bemoans the end of our country if its candidate doesn't win.

They're both wrong.

The US will survive.

Harris will uphold democracy, Trump won't
If Harris wins, though, the US will NOT be overrun with "insane asylum" criminals. Nor will Marxism usurp our capitalism and system of government. Even if Harris signs policies that Trump supporters don't agree with, Harris and the staff she chooses will uphold the tenets of democracy. They will actually believe in--and follow--the rule of law. They will honor the Constitution, just as US Presidential administrations have done for almost 250 years.

If Trump wins, however. things will change.

And I'm not referring solely to the results from policies enacted by a Trump administration.

Sadly (and terrifyingly so), the foundations of this country will change a lot.

Trump promises retribution if elected

You see, Trump DOESN'T believe in the rule of law (reminder: he sat for 187 minutes on January 6 doing nothing while his supporters pummeled cops, ransacked the Capitol, and chanted to hang his vice president). He talks about retribution. He says he will direct his DOJ to pursue those that have challenged him (btw, GOP, Biden did NOT do that). He has floated the idea of military tribunals and treason charges for political opponents.

And Trump DOESN'T believe in the Constitution. He actively worked to overturn an election (reminder: "I just want to find 11, 780 votes, which is one more than we have"). Contrary to the First Amendment, he openly elevates one religion over another and has trashed the idea of free speech by threatening to imprison reporters and strip networks of their broadcasting licenses for unflattering coverage. He decries the Fourteenth Amendment that grants US citizenship for all born on US soil.

And, of course, Trump DOESN'T believe in democracy. He praises dictators. He disparages and undermines our Congress and our Courts in our three-branched government. He sent to the Capitol an armed mob of his supporters to stop the certification of a free and fair election.

But it won't end after Trump's four years.

A Trump win would be affirmation that his anti-American views--his MAGA views--are the way this country wants to go.

Already, GOP members that excoriated him for inciting an insurrection on January 6 have rewritten the violence of that day (and Trump's role) as no big deal. They wave away his comments threatening opponents or violating Constitutional ideals as hyperbole or him just being Trump.  They love the power of his rabid (and, in many cases, deplorable) MAGA base, believing it allows them to exclusively push their white, Christian views.

The GOP spreads lies about migrant workers
And it has already changed the country. The GOP now willingly pushes lies to divide the country and push its agenda (be it lies about immigrants eating pets in Ohio or that the federal government doesn't help hurricane victims). They've used Trump election lies (which many had previously decried) to shove unnecessary voting changes down the throats of states, supposedly to stop (non-existent) voter fraud, but really designed to disenfranchise voters of disadvantaged communities.  They see that being coarse and uncivil and a bully--and uncompromising and unwilling to work together--equal toughness in the eyes of their MAGA constituents, so that's how they act.

That has pushed out more-principled GOP members of Congress that just can't stomach the lies and the coarseness and the acrimony--some because they feared losing reelection after alienating the MAGA vote, and likely many who feared personal harassment from Donald Trump, which often leads to actual threats of physical violence towards themselves and their families.

And the dominoes from a Trump reign will continue to fall. The unprincipled will soon take control of the GOP. Unprincipled Democrats will then spring up to get their own slice of the deplorable GOP base. And the incivility and the coarseness and the acrimony of Trump's legacy will continue to travel down along its dark road, until the pendulum (hopefully soon) will swing back towards decency and hope and unity.

Vote for decency and hope and unity
And that's where we are now.

Decency and hope and unity (via Kamala Harris) are on the ballot.

The US will survive, even if this country chooses otherwise.

But it will be a whole lot different.

Vote Harris.

Wednesday, October 30, 2024

For any Presidential fence-sitters out there...

If you know someone out there who is still on the fence about the Presidential election, please implore them to take the time to read/listen to each of the candidate's “closing argument” speeches.

Trump gave his at NYC's Madison Square Garden on Sunday.

Harris gave hers at the Ellipse in Washington, DC, yesterday.

Logically, the "closing argument" speech is that which each candidate would think defines their pitch--their reasons--to be elected President.

I won't offer recommendation or condemnation here of anything that was said. I will simply let the words of the candidates speak for themselves.

But there were some things I specifically looked for, that I feel are important in a leader, and for our country.

I looked for specific policy details, truthfulness, coherence, civility, and the candidate speaking about the country rather than speaking about themselves.
I also looked for that which gave me a feeling of belief in/hope for this country working together.
Have the fence-sitters experience the speech, looking for that which is important to them, whatever that would be.

And please remember to remind them to vote next Tuesday.


Fact-checking Kamala Harris’s "closing argument" speech at the White House Ellipse: Politifact: Fact-checking Kamala Harris’ ‘closing argument’ speech at the White House Ellipse
Fact-checking Donald Trump’s "closing argument" speech at Madison Square Garden, NYC: Fact check: Debunking 16 false claims Trump made at Madison Square Garden | CNN Politics

Saturday, October 26, 2024

Sigh, nothing I write will matter

If you're reading this, you're likely in the Harris camp for this presidential election.

The felon and the prosecutor
And there is likely nothing I could write (or she could do) that would change your November vote.

If, on the off chance, you're reading this as a Trump supporter,

um, there is likely nothing I could write (or he could do) that would change your November vote.

Sigh.

Trump, the candidate who once famously say he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and still not lose his supporters, continues to push the boundaries of convention and decency every single day.

And he's right. He doesn't lose support.

In the last couple weeks, Trump purposely spread lies about immigrants eating pets and taking over a Colorado town. And another woman (of about two dozen) has come forward describing being sexually assaulted by Trump--the man who says he likes to just grab women by the genitals.

No problem.

It's been revealed he's praised Hitler. And claimed he was a better President than Lincoln.

Again, no problem.

Members of his own GOP--staunch, party faithful, even the vast majority of HIS OWN ADMINISTRATION who Trump had vetted and touted as "the best people"--have refused to endorse him, calling him everything from "fascist" to "unfit" to serve as President.

Still, his supporters don't care.

I should have seen this sooner.

Trump shamelessly sold merchandise
 emblazoned with his mugshot
I mean, he's already been convicted by a jury of 34 felonies connected to hush money he paid a porn star with whom he had an affair. He's been found liable by a jury of sexual assault. He's been found to have committed business fraud (along with six bankruptcies and failed business ventures such as Trump steaks and the deceptive Trump University).

And the support didn't waver.

Trump was charged with trying to overturn an election--including by helping concoct a scheme of fake electors and pressuring Georgia elections officials to cheat ("I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have"), and he's been charged with hoarding top-secret documents, too. These actions he really no longer even denies, instead, he celebrates and cloaks himself in the literally unbelievable Supreme Court ruling of "presidential immunity"--under which his lawyers argued (successfully, it appears) that Trump could have Seal Team 6 assassinate his political rivals with no repercussions.

And the support needle didn't move.

And, of course, he's been impeached twice--once for improper withholding of Congressional military assistance for an ally, and once for inciting an insurrection--for which his own party members in Congress even called him directly responsible.

And the needle still didn't move.

Eventual House Speaker McCarthy once
 said Trump "bears responsibility" for Jan. 6
Even his party members that decried his insurrectionist rhetoric have changed their tune, perhaps because of their own desire for power and what Trump's MAGA army could do for them, or perhaps from the fear of political retribution via Trump's tweets or from the fear of physical retribution from the violent faction of Trump devotees.

And Trump voters still support Trump.

And I don't get why they still do.

But they do.

And after all that, Trump was right, especially in light of everything else he's done, him shooting someone on Fifth Avenue certainly wouldn't matter at all to them, either.

Sigh.









Friday, October 25, 2024

Trump, of course, will cheat again

If Trump loses in November, is there any reason to believe he won't whine, and lie, and cheat, and try to steal the election just as he did in 2020?

Nope. Of course he will.

Team Trump is great at blaming others
 for what their fearless leader actually does
Because HE'S a cheater.

As a matter of fact, Trump has already been carefully orchestrating such a possibility with continual projection such as, "We have to make sure that we stop them from cheating, because they cheat like dogs."

One of his voter-fraud scapegoats appears to be off the table. Trump and his campaign, after claiming copious cheating from mail-ins (and early-voting) in 2020 and even calling such balloting "corrupt" just days ago have now embraced the practice after realizing it may benefit Trump ("We got to get out and vote. And you can start right away. You know that, right?" he implored at one of his rallies).

And following his infamous popular vote loss to Clinton in 2016, his ludicrous claims (including my favorite: "Sometimes they go to their car, put on a different hat, put on a different shirt, come in and vote again") were quietly ignored as the Trump-created "Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity" disbanded after only a few months--without any findings of voter fraud.

So, who is the voter-fraud boogeyman this time around? MAGA's ever-popular, ever-feared, ever-reviled, undocumented migrants. It's a great strategy, instead of the scattershot (and disproven) fraud accusations of 2020--Dominion, dead voters, voting twice, ballot dumps, etc.--just blame the group you've already villainized--immigrants.

Trump and Vance have already spread (and their followers have eagerly embraced) lies about immigrants, especially those in Ohio and Colorado. They say migrants are terrorists, and criminals, and they push the Hitleristic threat that migrants are "poisoning the blood of the country."

It's a seamless transition to Trump and his minions to baselessly (of course) promote that undocumented migrants are being let into the country so they will cast their votes for Democrats.

State GOP legislatures (including a proposed Constitutional amendment in my state of Wisconsin) are seeking to add xenophobic language to existing statutes to explicitly--and unnecessarily--say "only" citizens can vote (which, um, is already the law), and which may eventually require specific "citizen-proving" documentation that may be difficult to obtain and thus further disenfranchise voters. (There's a great piece from NBCNews here).

And, it appears, Trump's obedient and gullible devotees are already sowing the election fraud soil--claiming, for example, voters registered to an address don't exist (but, say the nuns, it's their home), or working to cast a dozen fraudulent ballots in Colorado.

You can bet that Trump's voter fraud megaphone will amp up considerably between now and election day (even longer than that if he loses). 

Why?

Because he cheats.

Vote Harris.







Wednesday, October 9, 2024

3 undeniable reasons to not vote for Trump

Donald Trump should never again be in a trusted leadership position.

This isn’t about his harmful policies, or his felonies, or his impeachments or his disparagement of immigrants, the disabled, US Vets, POWs, fellow Americans (friend and foe alike).

Nope.

It’s because Americans simply can’t trust him.

Obviously, anyone with more than 30,000 lies over four years as President--even including "altering" a hurricane's path with a Sharpie, for heaven's sake--shouldn't be trusted, right?

ANY of these would be a good reason
NOT to vote for the untrustworthy Trump
And anyone who was first elected on since-broken promises of "building a wall and having Mexico pay for it," or replacing Obamacare with his better plan, or eliminating a federal debt and deficit which soared, " or vowing to improve infrastructure (the comically continual "Infrastructure Week") shouldn't be trusted, right?

Or a candidate who knowingly spreads lies about immigrants eating dogs or FEMA not helping hurricane victims shouldn't be trusted right?

Of course not, but I've zeroed in on three--just three--undeniable reasons Americans should never trust--and never vote for--Donald Trump.

1)      He purposely lied to Americans to downplay Covid (statistics show Trump’s dismissiveness may have engendered 40% more US deaths).

2)      He continued promoting election lies despite knowing (as did his lawyers, courts, GOP officials--even Ivanka!) such claims were false, in an apparent attempt to bypass the Constitution.

3)      On January 6, the supposed “law and order” president abandoned his presidential duties—doing nothing for 187 minutes while his supporters pummeled police, ransacked the Capitol, chanted to hang our Vice President. Even if one falsely believes January 6 was the fault of Pelosi/FBI/antifa/etc., Trump was the one who did nothing while allies pleaded he stop the rioters—which he finally did by saying he agreed with them and calling those that destroyed property, attacked police, and threatened to kill government officials “very special.”

If you can’t trust a politician to be honest about deadly pandemics, to uphold the Constitution, or to not abandon his presidential duties, how could you ever trust him to lead the country?

You can't.

Vote Harris.

Thursday, September 5, 2024

Enough already! Ban these weapons NOW!

 Another school shooting (the 36th, so sadly, in 2024 alone, down from 82 a year ago).

Yesterday, four people—two teachers and two fourteen-year-olds—were killed in Winder, Georgia’s Apalachee High School, by a student wielding an AR-style weapon.

Apalachee High in Winder, GA,
is the latest in the long, grim line
of assault-weapon shootings
The killer is a fourteen-year-old boy.

A fourteen-year-old boy who, for some reason, had access to a semi-automatic weapon that can fire up to 60 bullets per minute, bullets that fly at over 3200 feet per second, a terrifying velocity that can cause damage, as one trauma surgeon says, “like a grenade went off (inside the victim’s body).”

That the student obtained such a weapon is a matter for law enforcement (and why he would do such a thing is a matter for mental health experts), but the bigger issue is that such a weapon is available, at all.

There’s no argument, really. AR-style weapons should be banned.

The proof is evidenced by the heinous tally of death and destruction caused by shooters using the AR-style weapons.

That includes this—so horrifyingly—partial list of just some of the school shootings with an AR-style weapon:

Robb Elementary School, Uvalde, TX (2022): 21 killed

Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Parkland, FL (2018): 17 killed

Sandy Hook Elementary, Newtown, CT (2012): 26 killed

Student survivors from the 2018 Parkland
 shooting are evacuated from their high school
(The shooting at Sandy Hook—and the loss of those 26 lives—as you may remember, was despicably and falsely championed by many on the right as a “false flag” operation, a  fake and staged event meant to further gun control interests).

And now we add Apalachee (four killed), the deadliest school shooting since six people were killed just last year at The Covenant School in Nashville, TN, by a killer using AR-style weapons.

And that doesn’t even include other mass shootings that used an AR-style weapon, such as in an Aurora, CO, movie theater (2012, 12 killed), a Sutherland Springs, TX, church (2017, 26 killed), a Pittsburgh, PA, synagogue (2018, 11 killed), or a country music festival in Las Vegas (2017, 58 killed).

It used to be you'd remember the sad details of a mass shooting because it was a rare and shocking  event. Now, however, details are lost, place names are often jumbled or forgotten because now--although still shocking--they have, instead, become relatively commonplace.

Don’t scream “SECOND AMENDMENT!” You’d be wasting your breath and exposing your idiocy.

AR-platform weapons (the AR stands for ArmaLite, the company that first made them) are supposedly used primarily for hunting, target-shooting, and personal home protection.

I can’t imagine what sport there is in blasting a deer with a semi-automatic killing machine.

Or, for that matter, what would be the necessity (other than “Because it’s fun?”) of target practice using an AR-style weapon.

GA Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, for
some reason, apparently needs an
 assault-style weapon
And, as far as protection is concerned, guns in the home are rarely used for defensive purposes, but more likely used for purposes such as intimidating family members, with some analyses pointing to home protection with such weapons as about only 30 incidents over a 10 year period.

But AR-style weapons are wildly defended by Second Amendment lovers, who think, I guess, that NO weapons should be banned--although one can’t purchase automatic weapons or bazookas, for example.

And the AR-style weapons are not only defended, but they’re celebrated.

The National Rifle Association proudly calls the AR-15 “America’s rifle.”

Members of Congress have sported mini-replicas on their lapels to show support for their access. The pins were distributed by Georgia Representative and gun store owner Andrew Clyde—whose stake in his Clyde Armory store may be as much as $25 million dollars. By the way, the site of yesterday’s school shooting with an AR-style weapon, is about 20 miles from Clyde’s home and gun store.

Even Alabama GOP Rep. Barry Moore and Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert co-sponsored a bill to designate the AR-15 as  our “national gun” (Boebert also owned the now-shuttered gun-themed “Shooters Grill” restaurant in Colorado).

Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert
sure seems to love her assault weapons

To be fair, the vast, vast  majority of gun violence doesn’t come in mass shootings. Nor does it involve schools. Nor does it even include AR-style weapons.

But some of it does.

And it seems as though banning such weapons would be a relatively easy fix.

History suggests the same. Enacting a Biden-as-Senator bill in 1994 to prohibit “the manufacture, transfer, or possession of a semi-automatic assault weapon” (such as AR-style weapons) for ten years, saw “lower average annual rates of both mass shootings and death resulting from such incidents than before the ban’s inception.” A sharp and immediate increase in both started again when the ban ended in 2004.

So, isn’t it enough? Isn’t Apalachee High School or Parkland or Sandy Hook or Uvalde enough?

Or will we—or more specifically, the communities, the families, the schools, the kids—have to simply endure more of these horrific events year after year after year?