Rebirth

 One of the direct results of Donald Trump being in office for the past 4 years is the destruction of the current Republican Party.  It is not hard to understand why.  All one has to consider is what the party as a whole has stood for during this time and the actions it has taken, or not taken, in support of the need for Donald Trump to demand and insure loyalty from his party and his supporters.  

The current Republican party has lost the characteristics that made it a viable Center/Right 'loyal opposition'.  It used to be a party of ideas and could offer alternative policy positions to the Center/Left Democratic policy initiatives.  Now, there are no ideas from the Republicans.

 

What is their platform?---whatever Trump wants, and he can't even articulate what he wants.  Maybe 'Build a Wall', that's about it.  Their concept of governing has fallen in line behind the ideology of Trump--complete obstructionism; no oversight; grabbing power with no moral compass.  Their mantra in this election is 'prevent as many people as possible from casting a ballot'.  Look at how many instances of Republican actions to suppress balloting are taking place, from actions by Louis DeJoy and the post office; to Texas Governor Abbot only allowing one ballot deposit box per county; to Republican poll watchers with guns showing up at polling places to intimidate voters; to squeezing the eligible days for early voting to a bare minimum; to purging voter registration rolls; to naked intimidation by social media and the mail.

 

The Republican's actions in the Congress for the past four years can only be described as those of a self-

serving, power-hungry gang.  They have consistently betrayed their oaths of office, sacrificing their integrity and honor.  They have eschewed the ideas enshrined in the concept of checks and balances in the Constitution, and failed to even honor the necessity of following the time-honored structure of a fair trial for the impeachment of Trump, parroting Trump's exhortation that the whole impeachment investigation was an 'illegitimate hoax'.

 

Channeling Trump's rantings, Congressional committee chairman have spearheaded investigations into Trump's fictional adversaries conducting hearings at taxpayer expense to try to 'expose' all sorts of 'deep state' egregious practices without being able to bring forth any evidence to support their efforts to expose the supposed corruption of Joe Biden, his son, and others.  It seems that their prime motivation was to investigate anyone who opposed Trump in any way and damage any political opponents.

 

So that is today's Republican Party.  Assuming that the Democrats might ascend to power both in the Presidency and the Senate, it is fascinating to watch as Republicans panic and scramble to salvage their reputations.  Sorry, too little too late!  History will remember all of them as enablers of Trump's failures and his corrosive effect on our democratic institutions.  So, it is reasonable to ask what will happen to all these people and the Republican Party. 

There are many in the party that think that with 4 or even 8 years to nurse their party back to health, they can make a reappearance in the current mold.  There are others who think that the party as it is today should be scrapped and re-imagined, jettisoning those bad actors that have brought the party to its nadir.

 

I can imagine a different scenario.  With the demographic changes that are inevitable in our population

and the inevitable disappearance over time of the white power-hungry men and women of the current Republican party, there is already a budding neo-party structure growing out of conservatives who are heartbroken and incensed over what has become of their party:

The Lincoln Project; Republican Voters Against Trump; Mitt Romney; 43 Alumni for Joe Biden PAC; Never Trump movement; Michael Steele; Joe Scarborough; David Jolly; and many others.  In the aftermath of the election, hopefully these people and organizations will take the initiative to redefine the Republican Party to embrace the Center/Right concepts that made them a party to be reckoned with prior to the arrival of Newt Gingrich on the scene in the late 80's, which is when the Republican party began its slide into white grievance, retaliation, and obstructionism.

 

Our democracy needs a robust two-party system with respect for majority rule and minority rights.  What we have now is minority rule that needs to be protected by lying, cheating, power grabbing, accusation and division.  We have all been the victims of it for the past many decades.  Perhaps the pendulum will swing in the other direction after November 3.

 

VOTE!

                    

Future Shock

This arrived in my mailbox last night......

 

Proud Boys

Vote

To: Larry Lancit

Laurence Lancit We are in possession of all your information You are currently registered as a Democrat and we know this because we have gained access into the entire voting infrastructure. You will vote for Trump on Election Day or we will come after you. Change your party affiliation to Republican to let us know you received our message and will comply. We will know which candidate you voted for. I would take this seriously if I were you. 4241 5th AVE SW - good luck ;) https://dl.orangedox.com/TQ7K1cj9RVVfKRAfL6

 

 

Welcome to the new police state.  This sickening intimidation technique will be the calling card of the re-elected Trump administration.  Of course this is illegal, but that has never gotten in the way of Donald Trump.  His encouragement of this kind of activity will be a standard feature of a re-elected Donald Trump.  This is what we have to look forward to.

 

Reading this made me so angry, especially since I let it take up space in my head for two hours after

I saw it.  Only after I started doing research on the web did I see the extent to which this tactic was deployed in several states--Florida, Alaska and Missouri.  I wanted to strike back with a vituperative response immediately, but thought better of it.  If, in fact, this was a legit  nefarious campaign by the Proud Boys, it would only serve to identify me singularly out of the perhaps millions of people these scum were trying to intimidate.  I can't imagine a less appealing result than a bunch of thugs showing up at my doorstep with AR-15s to terrorize me and my family.

 

So this is where we have arrived, fellow citizens!....to a place where we are threatened by domestic terrorists if we don't vote for Donald Trump....and you ask whether this sorry excuse for a human being should be given 4 more years?  If you listen to him, he even sounds like Beelzebub if you close your eyes and imagine.....

 

What do you think it means that over 30 million people have already voted and have stood patiently for hours to do it in person to make sure their votes are counted?  I hope that whatever the polls say, they are possibly wrong.  The surge of citizens to vote and get their choice counted is overwhelming.  Nicole Wallace on MSNBC asked her panel last night whether everyone is over-thinking what the possible results might be for this election.  Everyone sort of paused and reflected that almost all the people that have given personal opinions to them about Trump off the record had said simply, "I've had enough of him."  Or "I can't stand to look or listen to him anymore."  Or "He disgusts me."  Or "Can't wait until he is gone."

And these responses were from both Democrats and Republicans.  Is it possible that we might have a November surprise.....

 

So what is Trump spewing from his corona virus laden lips at every stop on his 'rallye tour'?

"Bill Barr should arrest Joe Biden now before the election!  He has 47 years of corruption as his resume!  The pandemic is over!  The debate commission favors the Democrats!  Masks are useless!  Everyone should catch the virus!"  The country has an increasing list of 'Red Zone' states (Identified by the White House, no less!), but that's not going to stop Donald on his Super Spread tour to infect as many people as possible during his campaign.  He just jets into the #1 most infected state of Wisconsin to hold a public rallye where most of his lemmings don't wear masks and where we can expect virus surges two weeks after his event there.  Is this someone who was elected to protect the Americans who voted for him?

 

Trump is in panic mode now, and there is no statement or accusation too bizarre for him to hurl at

his sycophantic followers to rev them up into a frenzy.  "Lock him/her up!" is his rallying cry for anyone who doesn't support him.  Sounds a bit bananas, as in 'banana republic' to me!  Our country is now an example of corrupt countries we used to 'call out' for election intimidation and voter suppression.  What have we become?

 

I think all of us need to think about what kind of people we want to be when this is over.  I know that I am ready for some balm in my politics from a team of people who are intelligent and honest, and who want to do things to bring us together.  Isn't it time for us to solve problems instead of waking up each morning afraid to see what invective is being aimed at respected scientists and public servants?  I am ready for a rest.  Let's give America a chance to breathe again. VOTE!! 

 

The Arc of Justice

As I sit here and listen to the questioning of Judge Amy Coney Barrett, dread and grief wash over me in waves.  The genesis of these feelings is not so much because of Judge Barrett's admittedly arch conservative positions or judicial philosophy, but rather the motives of the people who are trying to jam her nomination through.  In listening to the Republicans accuse the Democrats on the committee and Democrats in general of attacking her on the basis of her religion, or claiming that the opposition is intent on insulting her misses the point.   Even assuming Judge Barrett is qualified, and she is certainly qualified, the motives of the men who have inserted her into this maelstrom for their own seeking of power and political benefit are perhaps the main issue.  Their naked power play to destroy the Affordable Care Act, Roe v. Wade, and set up a sham Supreme Court decision on a falsely contested election is a sad final act to the sordid drama we have endured for the last four years.

 

To listen to the Republican members of the Judiciary Committee wax on and on about judicial independence and how their motives are purely in pursuit of their Constitutional duty makes me gag

when I look back at the recent history of all these men when it comes to the hypocrisy so apparent by their forcing this confirmation process now.  Their word means nothing.  They all demean the integrity of the Constitution because they twist it to their own benefit. 

 

As I listen to the Democrats, who are apparently powerless to stop this confirmation juggernaut, the sheer helplessness of any effort to influence events that are being manipulated by a President and Senators who lie without any remorse and who do not represent the majority of opinion in the United States is debilitating.  Instead of working to mitigate the suffering of a population that is weary of a pandemic that has caused over 215,000 deaths and is stressed by the economic mismanagement of the administration, they are focused on ramming through a nomination that is the ultimate hypocrisy.  What motivates these people?  God only knows.

 

I feel the powerlessness of not being able to do anything.  As I listen to the reporting of incident after incident of voter suppression that is being practiced in plain view nationwide by the Republicans in state legislatures and statehouses I just have to ask whether this is America? How do these people think what they are doing is OK?   And because the Republican controlled Senate has been on a laser beam mission to install conservative judges nationwide for the past 4 years (under the single minded efforts of Mitch McConnell to the exclusion of almost any other business!), the judicial appeals that attempt to stop those suppressive activities are being dismissed, and the egregious disenfranchisement goes on unabated.

 

I am left with the understanding and realization that legislative and judicial morality have been compromised in our country to an extent that could actually mean the end of our democracy.  The coup-de- grace for all this will be the dismissal of the election's results by President Trump's claim that the election is rigged, and his effort to thwart the results by drowning the true outcome in weeks or months of litigation--by the Republican stacked state judicial systems and the Supreme Court.

 

This has all been a plan.  It started in earnest with the Citizens United decision in the Supreme Court and

the arrival of all kinds of dark money into our politics.  Undoubtedly it started way before that, but the Citizens United decision was the real victory for sinister forces who believe that only they should be making decisions about the future of the United States.  Those who seeded all this activity with their wealth by virtue of that decision, and their unrestricted financing of these odious plans have 'bought' the politicians; the legislation; the gerrymandering; the voter suppression--all of it.   And now, you and I are left with the dregs of what used to be a democratic ideal that has been tarnished and destroyed by greedy men whose only pursuit is power and money.

 

I am not sure what the outcome will be.  At this point in time, I am encouraged by the robust turnout apparent in early voting.  Maybe 'we the people' actually sees the danger and are going to provide a decisive stop to this madness, but I will be skeptical until January 20, 2021.  The man who holds the Presidential powers right now will stop at nothing to remain in power, and I expect him and his supplicants to deliver continuing evil upon our country until somehow they are stopped, voted out, or convicted of some crimes and put in jail.

 

My biggest unhappy surprise is the loss of any moral compass by all our countrymen who unflinchingly support this corruption.  How can they not see what they are doing?  How is it that they have no inner guide that sees the inherent evil of what is going on? 

 

Ah well, at the end of the day, I can only insure that my immediate circle is filled with honorable people.  We all commiserate  about the state of affairs, and we all are doing what we can to maintain the ideal of what our country is supposed to be.  Let us pray and hope that the arc of justice will finally turn our way.  Brace yourselves, my friends, the end game is near.

Government of the People, by the People and for the People

 My anger rises like an inexorable flood that is impossible to stop.  How DARE Pence not affirm that he is willing to accept the will of the American people if he and Trump lose the election.  We are entering a period with unlimited fraught-ness.  The 'crazy' outrage of the Republican party rejecting perhaps the most sacred tenet of a democratic republic--the acceptance of the will of the people--is the action of despots.  We have now heard the denial of that principle stated in no uncertain terms by the President and Vice President of OUR nation!  This is too much. 

Also, there is widespread voter intimidation and suppression going on right now.  We are seeing it in North Carolina, Wisconsin, Texas, Pennsylvania as well as a Trump administration effort to scare prospective voters from going to the polls.  The President is unceasing in his decrying mail-in voting; his urging of his 'soldiers' to go to the voting locations and intimidate as they 'watch for fraud'; his manipulation of the USPS to slow voting down.  Republican governors and local officials are doing everything they can to make voting difficult, from reducing the hours for voting to reducing the number of voter ballot drop boxes in some counties.  Why are they doing all this?---they are scared.  They know they are losing and the only action they can take is to reject democracy and practice suppression.  Why would they try to take people's right to vote away?---because they know it's the only way they can win. Essentially Republicans do not believe in democracy.

 

These actions are reason enough to reject all these people.  If the only way you can win is to cheat, then you don't even deserve to be on any ballot.

 

All Americans have to be steadfast.  We must all calmly push forward and reject these efforts to thwart democracy.  We don't need to be loud about it, the inherent core strength of the mission of integrity embodied in true democracy is our guide.  It is a quiet, simple sword of truth.  

In the meantime, the President is wildly erratic, tweeting in a torrent, dredging up every possible red herring from his time in office from Hillary Clinton's emails to Obama's purported bugging his campaign in 2016, to insisting that AG Barr arrest and indict Clinton, Biden and Obama.  The man is frothing at the mouth (and fingertips) trying to deflect and obfuscate the real issue which is his incompetence and unfitness for office.  With each whining tweet he demonstrates further that he is worthy only of rejection!

 

Trump's entire Covid adventure and boastful claims that his catching the virus is a blessing from God is just insane.  Every day brings us more outrageous claims of his self-proclaimed superior physical constitution overcoming his sickness.  He will not release any medical history and timeline to help understand what stage of the disease he is in.  Now he is claiming that his treatment has cured him.  We have a madman in office as our President.  It's always about him and never the American people.  Why else would he simply shut down Covid relief talks until after he is elected.  Is that his way of saying, "First elect me and then I will help you."  That is a clear "F"U to America.

 

There is nothing left for us to do but be single-minded about getting as many people to the polls as possible.  The only way to avoid chaos after the election is to have a resounding rejection of the Trump/Republican party.  It is hard to know what will happen because of all the lies and misdirection, but all each of us can do is keep our eyes trained on the beacon of free and fair elections as the bedrock of our democratic republic and VOTE.  We are the ultimate power here, and there probably has been no other time in our history when that is the consummate truth that will redeem us as a nation.

Lincoln had it right--we are entitled to, and will persevere to achieve a Government of the People, by the People and for the People.

Karma

The scourge has finally delivered its karmic revenge on perhaps the one human who so richly deserved it the most.  Trump is sick with the virus that he has downplayed and derided as puny and inconsequential.  His haughty attitude is finally crushed by the invisible force that he tried to lie to us about for the last nine months.  It would be so easy to just say, "Too bad, just desserts!"

 

One of my friends whose opinion I see from time to time on Facebook wrote, "To any of my Facebook friends who have had the insensitivity to make fun of our country’s President being diagnosed with Covid, you obviously haven’t known or lost someone from this disease. And if you are Jewish, and just asked Gd to sign and seal you in the Book of Life, it didn’t take you long to sin in the New Year, did it?!"

 

She is right.

 

However, I do not make fun of it.  I am saddened by it.  I am saddened by the collateral damage to so many caused by Trump's disregard for truth, public health guidelines, and sensitivity to the danger to others.  As I said, Trump's slap in the face by reality is richly deserved, but the possible pain in his future that will be experienced by his family and our country is a tragedy that wasn't necessary if only he had told the truth.  If he had had respect for the science, had done his job by preparing the country to fight this pandemic properly, we would not have over 200,000 families mourning the incalculable loss we are victims of right now.

 

His disregard for the safety of others was overridden by his own self-aggrandizement.  Nothing was, and is, more important than sublimating the truth about this public health emergency in the service of his lust for power and his rabid pursuit of re-election.  This entire drama we have been living through for the past three years is approaching a climax soon, complete with surprise events and plot twists and turns.  The past several weeks have given us a clear view of the choice we all must make on November 3rd.  The 'debate' the other night was the most clear example of what we have to look forward to with the re-election of Trump.  In the aftermath of that event, we are seeing who really has respect for the principles of democracy and who doesn't.  

 

I am so tired of enduring it all day after day.  As I have said many times, the biggest surprise since Trump was elected is that I was caught completely unaware of how big a portion of my countrymen were so ignorant and unaware of their own manipulation.  Either that or they are just simply corrupt.  Anyone who can support a person that separates children from their parents is not worthy of being an American (at least the way I define an American).  Anyone who supports the leader of our country who simply disregards the rule of law and bends the Constitution to serve his own selfish needs is not worthy of being an American.  Anyone who supports the leader of our country daily undermining the sacred privilege of voting and  constantly sowing the seeds of distrust in the validity of our electoral process with absolutely no evidence, is not worthy of being an American.  Anyone who supports our national leader not condemning violence and right-wing white supremacy militias is not worthy of being an American.

 

If those are the people who ultimately control our country after this next election, then I feel like a person without a country.  The country I belong to does not sanction minority rule obtained by rigging elections and sanctioning voter suppression.  However, the real losers here are our children who will be forced to grow up with these people as role models.  The moment of truth approaches......will you honor truth, empathy, humanity, integrity?  Somehow, to me, that is the antithesis of support for Donald J. Trump.