Make America Better Again

 

The evolution of human history generally means that conditions of life improve over time.  The BBC produced a wonderful segment featuring Hans Rosling's "200 Countries in 200 years" that graphically shows how civilization has progressed from 1820 to 2020  (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbkSRLYSojo)  This demonstration supports the idea that improvement of the human condition should keep accelerating into the future.  That kind of improvement depends on progressive thought, invention, scientific discoveries, and the maintenance of human rights.  America has been at the forefront of that curve for the past 200 years.

 

We like to think of our progress as being the result of, and dependent upon, the maintenance of personal freedom and liberty, and promulgation of the rule of law and majority rule.  

 

Something has happened over the past several decades, however, that has thrown a monkey wrench into the gears that have been reliably churning out societal improvement in our country.  Somehow, we have missed a beat in the evolution of positive societal change in America.  In our country's 240-year history we have more or less successfully battled the scourges of slavery, disease, racism, misogyny, income inequality.  To be sure there were, and are, battles royale over issues like health care, voting rights, marriage rights, gender rights, and abortion rights.

 

But at the heart of all these battles there was a belief and adherence to

fair play, the rule of law and majority rule, meaning that whatever the majority of our citizens wanted would ultimately steer evolution toward progress and the betterment of American society.

 

That has changed....  and that change is not a good one.  

In America we now have a political party that has morphed into a religious, zealous, theocratic minority that wants to enforce their beliefs and tenets upon all of us, even though they are a minority of our citizens.  They all believe that fair play is not as important as winning.  Deceit is OK.  Lying is OK.  In fact, whether they deny it or not, they do not believe in democratic principles any more.  Representative government is only good if they have the power.  Elections are only fair if they win.  Rules that were set up with the founding of our country are only important when they support this party's desires.  Otherwise it seems OK to use raw power to shape American society their way.

 

The result of this transformation is that the majority's rights are ignored and become less important than the tyranny of minority power.  Effectively this system then becomes an autocracy of the minority.  The result is that society begins to stagnate and crumble.  Inalienable human rights can be abridged because this party does not honor them.  Voting rights, which are the fulcrum of democracy, can be suppressed or ignored.  Theocratic harnesses on personal freedom can be enforced by a lopsided non-representative judicial system.

 

We are living through a period where our progress and evolution as a free society is in retrograde.  So, the obvious question is, "How did this happen?".  What are the reasons for this movement backwards, and how can we fix it?

 

This unhappy result is partly because the forces of progressive thought have been hibernating.  They have allowed Christian Nationalism/autocracy to be ascendant.  The Christian nationalist far-right movement in the US has taken it upon itself to force its morays upon the majority in this country thanks to the archaic Electoral College.  The fundamental tenet of separation of church and state has dissolved.  Some might blame its name brand leaders, but in reality it is the minions of their voters who have bought into the Big Lie, conspiracy theories, and notion that their righteousness supplants anyone else's beliefs or desires.  This ignorant zealousness and deification of its leaders has pushed their rabid leaders to do whatever they deem necessary to maintain their power.

 

The other major reason we find ourselves in this predicament is that the quality of our education has been degraded by the consistent effort to control and attack historical fact, like the effort to reject the 1619 project; to ban books and information from students in our schools, like the efforts in Tennesee and Florida; to promote conspiracy theories like Critical Race Theory; and other red herring issues that support Republican efforts to mold society into their image of what American society should be with no regard for the majority's wishes. 

 

We are witnessing the corruption of the American experiment.  With the impending Supreme Court decision regarding Roe v. Wade, those regressive forces clearly demonstrate how the majority's wishes and rights on the matter of abortion are being abrogated by unelected politically motivated Supreme Court justices appointed by Presidents who have not garnered the majority of the popular vote.  They are out of step with the majority of American citizens.  This decision might finally awaken the hibernating majority to the precarious danger to our democracy. 

 

Let's hope so......

Resurrection

Hello friends!  It has been a while since I have posted, mostly because my Facebook account was hacked in early January when someone posted some porno on my site and Facebook shut me down.  I have just now gotten back on, which is why many of you have been getting friend requests as I try to rebuild my little network.

So, what have I been thinking about lately?  Well, you all are probably familiar with my predilections for topic choices, so maybe I can be a bit more circumspect in my choices and take a perhaps a less strident tone.  But there is no denying the fact that our country is going through a dark time with regard to truth, conspiracy theories and political comity.

Take the recent Supreme Court hearings for Ketanji Brown Jackson, as
an example.  We saw a broken system of hearings where selection has become completely partisan.  This is really tragic and worrisome.  What used to be 'advise and consent' with a nod toward acceding to a sitting President's right to nominate and confirm a candidate he or she chooses, has turned grossly partisan, into utter disrespect for the President's choice and the nominee's credentials.  What was so insulting in the end to Jackson's confirmation, was the Republican party's choice to snub the newly confirmed Justice by walking out of the chamber when the confirmation vote was affirmed.  How rude.  How tawdry.  How completely indicative of the degenerative failure of political comity and respect by a US Senator.  What seems so hypocritical is that almost to a man, with the exception of people like Cruz, Hawley, Graham, and Blackburn for whom there is no hope for any kind of unifying instinct, all other Republicans spoke only highly of the candidate, extolling her credentials and character.  Then they all proceeded to vote against her, and then in a final demonstration of their lack of character, simply walked out on her and sullied the moment.

I consider myself politically an Independent.  But as I survey the landscape of our political choices that are coming into focus for the 2022 midterm elections, I am amazed by the apparent dichotomy between the parties' motivations and objectives.  Is it just me, or does the Democratic party seem to be behind all kinds of measures and policies that the majority of the public approves and basically are in support of people, and trying to find ways to help them, while the Republican party seems to be against all of that and really doesn't have any policy initiatives that are in support of people but only seem to be trying to restrict opportunities to help people and promoting fear and slander? (Did I imagine that many Republicans labelled democrats as pedophile lovers if they voted to confirm Jackson?)  

Republicans support denying women's reproductive rights, voting rights, trying to restrict medical support and enhancement of the Affordable Care Act.  They vote against environmental initiatives, climate change initiatives, child care support, pharmaceutical industry controls on pricing.  And, they vote as a bloc on all these issues with rare independence as exhibited by Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski and Mitt Romney.  Democracy seems to be an impediment to this political party.

So as the upcoming election comes into view, I would urge all of you to look at the individuals who are up for election.  Do they still espouse the Big Lie that the election was stolen?  Did they stand in the way of our democratic process for electoral decision making?  Did they reject the peaceful transfer of power?  Are they supportive of measures that help the common folk and try to reduce tax burdens on them and restrictive regulations?  Are they interested in trying to reduce adverse climate trends?  

If you are deliberate in your own attempt to analyze the candidate's moral center and belief in our system of government, then perhaps our republic will last several more years.  If you blow it off and subscribe to 'fear, suspicion, and conspiracy' theories which seems to be the only real policy of one of our parties, then we are headed down a dark alley for sure.

     

Gasping for Air!

 

I have simply lost patience with the minority in this country that reject basic science in the name of ‘personal freedom’.  I am watching videos of the most ridiculous emotional outbursts in school board meetings and other public forums of people who won’t wear masks or protect themselves and their families from fatal disease with a tested vaccine.  As I watch these people make fools of themselves I get angry because they are putting me and my family at risk.  They are selfish, rude, and just plain stupid. 

There is legitimate concern or fear if a person has no proof of effectiveness or simple fear of getting a shot or having a physical reaction to an injection, but there is simply no excuse for stupidity in the face of proven science.  The most egregious of these fools are the governors and leaders who should know better.  Look at De Santis of Florida or Abbot of Texas.  These two are evil personified.  Each of them illegally put roadblocks in front of parents who want to protect their children!.....or promote disinformation about some perceived threat of a conspiracy to implant electronic spy devices in our bodies, all in the name of some perceived violation of their freedom!

 

Really???

 

Haven’t children been vaccinated for measles, mumps, chicken pox, smallpox, whooping cough diptheria,

flu, etc. for years as a prerequisite for school entry?  Haven’t we all been vaccinated against polio, pneumonia, shingles and other diseases voluntarily and never complained about surrendering our ‘freedom’ by getting that protection?    What is the conspiracy of these scientific achievements?  Now, all of a sudden, the idiots who claim to be leaders are misinforming and abusing their power simply for political gain or self -aggrandizement.

 

And of course it is no surprise at all that 95% of the victims of the Delta variant are unvaccinated.  These lemmings are the ones clogging our hospitals and sucking up our medical supplies, preventing all the rest of us from emergency care or treatment of chronic disease that is vital to our survival and health.  They are selfish, self-righteous, and just plain dumb.  And they are suffering for it.  They and their family members are needlessly getting sick and dying.  Grief and anguish is the product of their stupidity. 

 

I am aghast at the unvarnished zeal that these fools exhibit as they proselytize their peers to reject science and oppose reason….all in the fallacious pursuit of some perceived threat to their ‘freedom’.  The reason that this pandemic is thriving is because of them.  They are fertile ground for new infection and the possibility of a new mutation of the virus into something virulent that might kill us all! 

 

Our country is so twisted into a knot of hatred at each other, that this has become a political/tribal banner they wave, not based on rational thought.  That, in itself, is a disease that we might not be able to cure at all!   I am tired of all these fools and I have no tolerance for their ignorance.  They need to start thinking and reasoning like semi-intelligent human beings!  Maybe what all the rest of us should do is encourage all the ‘non vaxxers’ and ‘non-maskers’ to gather for a giant rally; hope they all super spread the virus to each other and simply die out.

 

Oh, and watch out!!!  Many of them are running for office and might at some point pass legislation that will ‘legitimize’ their denigration of science and reason and leave all of the rest of us gasping for air!

Suffering Fools

For the life of me I cannot understand why there are millions of people who simply do not understand or believe the statistics concerning the effectiveness of coronavirus vaccines.  One must totally reject any truth provided by science to continue to deny the effectiveness of the vaccines in preventing horrible disease and death.  How does a person simply reject facts that are undeniable?  People do that because they are just plain STUPID.

There is no other rational explanation.

 

One would think that the FACT that 99% of those who are getting infected are unvaccinated would have some sort of impact on those who continue to refuse to get the shot.  It doesn't--because they are STUPID.  I know all this crap about 'freedom of choice' and 'worry about authorities' seems to be the rationale these people parrot from social media disinformation, and exhortation from the dubious authorities at Fox News and other right wing media outlets, but at the end of the day it is simply because they are STUPID.

 

Perhaps the most egregious play here is by the Republican Party as a whole.  They have made vaccine

protection a political issue when it is simply a public health issue.  This Delta variant pandemic of the unvaccinated is primarily present in "red' states.  Anyone have an explanation for that?  And where is the former President who should be encouraging all his followers to get a shot, otherwise he could be accused of wishing them dead, but of course that is congruent with his disregard for over 600,000 dead so far.  One would think that rational human beings would realize at some point that their cult leader is not giving them any guidance on how to avoid the virus, when in fact he is doing all he can to create a result of increased disease that he can somehow blame on Biden.  It is all so sick. 

 

Finally with the death toll rising, hospital admissions spiking and the number of new cases soaring out of control among the unvaccinated, even the STUPID people are rushing to roll up their sleeves.  Sadly, for many of them it is too late...and it is too late for all the rest of us too.  It is we who must suffer overloaded hospitals, overwhelmed health workers and a virus free to seek out other juicy victims who will help to evolve new and deadlier variants.

 

And now we see all the Republican naysayers belatedly finding 'religion' and recommending vaccination.  However, there are still holdouts like Ron DeSantis in Florida or Christie Noem in South Dakota who throw bouquets at themselves for standing up for 'personal freedom' by rejecting the science of masking as a first line of defense in stopping the infections.  Yeah, you guessed it, they are STUPID (as well as being crassly ,self-aggrandizingly, politically selfish).

 

I suppose we will stumble across the finish line at some point and reach 'herd immunity' in spite of all the STUPIDITY, but what a senseless burden of tragedy for families, and waste of human life when it is all so unnecessary.  We are all 'suffering fools', but certainly not 'gladly'.

The Video Doesn't Lie

I just finished watching the New York Times investigative video report on the terrorist attack at the Capitol on January 6th.  I implore all of you to watch it.  The link to see it is:

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/30/us/jan-6-capitol-attack-takeaways.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage#commentsContainer

 

My initial reaction after seeing it was simply one of anger.  The New York Times has done an absolutely brilliant job of piecing together all the fragments of video that were shot by hundreds of sources to weave a real time explanation that clearly and graphically displays the events of that day.  Using detailed computer renderings of the Capitol and surrounding grounds and matching it with the footage offers a comprehensive and coherent narrative that shows how the event unfolded.

 

After watching it and thinking about all the commentary we have been hearing for months about how this event wasn't what we all witnessed that day, it is maddening to realize that we were lied to repeatedly and continuously since that day about what happened.  This video will undoubtedly be a centerpiece and roadmap for the further investigation by the select committee of the House as it digs into who the 'players' were in this conspiracy.  We will learn over coming months about the planning of this event and who was involved from the beginning.  I predict that our country will be surprised and ashamed of what happened that day.

 

To those who somehow believe this attack on our seat of government was benign and peaceful, you will be shocked and hopefully angered by what you see.  To witness the beatings and violence perpetrated by these people is so far beyond what could be called the "right of assembly and presentation of a redress of grievances" that it is breathtaking.  When we finally understand why additional defense was delayed, and by whom, perhaps those who masterminded this egregious attack will be brought to justice.

 

In the meantime, watch this and believe what your eyes are showing you so that you can reject all the obfuscation and misdirection coming from those who realize there is a nasty story that they would like us to never unravel. 

A Brighter Day for America

It is so demoralizing to sit here every day and read the news about the latest insult to our democracy being perpetrated by the Republican Party.    I am going to be 74 soon, so my time is limited, but I grieve most for my daughters, and for the youth of America and their hopes and plans for the future. 

 

In today's New York Times, Ezra Klein sums up the effort to establish a 'doom loop' for democracy by Republicans:

"The insurrection at the Capitol on Jan. 6 failed. Donald Trump is not the president. But at the state level, the Republican war on elections is posting startling wins. They are trying to do what Trump failed to do: neuter elections as a check on Republican power.

A new report by three voting rights groups found that 24 laws have been passed in 14 states this year that will allow state legislatures to “politicize, criminalize and interfere in election administration.” And a May analysis from the Brennan Center found that Republican-controlled legislatures in 14 states have passed 22 laws that made voting harder, with dozens of others currently moving through the legislative process.

This is an example of what I’ve sometimes referred to as the “doom loop of democracy”: highly gerrymandered Republican state legislatures in key swing states passing legislation that gives them more power to discourage Democratic-leaning groups from voting, throw out legitimate votes and overturn election results — all of it backed up by Republican-dominated courts."

 

I think that in a few years if these trends are valid, there will be a turn to authoritarianism in the United

States.  Voting will matter little since it will be significantly suppressed and election outcomes will be managed by legislatures that will ignore the results by simply deciding to invalidate the results without any reason other than maintaining power and control.  If, somehow, we are able to avoid an actual civil war (I think it's pretty likely as a matter of fact), our standard of living is going to inexorably decline.  The realization that we have failed as a democracy will increase crime, social dislocation, mental illness, drug usage, etc.

 

Those in power will turn from supporting the majority of our population, leaving the powerless to descend further into poverty, searching for healthcare, food, the simple things we take for granted.  Social safety nets will slowly be shredded by the further increase of inequality between social classes.

 

With regard to social unrest, do you actually think that when the first elections are invalidated by the new legislative cabal, the democratic majority in this country will sit idly by?  I think not.  Expect an increase in violence and a resistance that will be active and forceful.  America will not be a very nice place to live.  Rule by the minority is unhealthy.  Maintenance of power is the only thing important to those who will be in charge, and they will do whatever is necessary to keep it.  Freedom of the press will begin to be stifled.  We see it already in the efforts to pass legislation to restrict the boundaries of education by 'stopping  indoctrination' in our universities and other places of higher education.  In Florida, Gov. DeSantis signed legislation to mandate 'surveys' at the state universities to ascertain students 'views and beliefs'. He threatened to withhold funding if presumably the results are 'unsatisfactory'.

 

We are seeing an effort by the Conservative 'right' to mandate only approved curricula in our schools.  That will inevitably lead to restricted thinking and the further weakening of critical thinking skills.  This will result in the disappearance of innovative entrepreneurship and the eventual 'dumbing down' of America's youth.

 

The refusal of one of our major political parties to accept the results of an election, the refusal to discuss the causes of the insurrection at the Capitol, the refusal to consider any of the legislative measures to protect the right to vote, the refusal to accept the truth that our national election was without fraud, threatens to drive a stake through the heart of our democracy.

 

Never in the history of our country has such a major part of our population disregarded the truth and accepted the misinformation and lies of a former administration to the extent seen today.  Because such a vast portion of our citizenry is ignorant, uninformed, uneducated and subject to manipulation, we are careening down a rabbit hole that will be our undoing.  Civility, empathy, integrity and compassion are now apparently out of style.  Violence and greed are the pre-eminent social drivers.  The concept of 'one nation under God where all men are created equal' is now a quaint notion that has been bastardized by people who really don't subscribe to that lofty ideal at all....and where America lands because of the rejection of our fundamental moral ideal as a nation is a very dark and pitiful place.

 

It is hard to contemplate this kind of an outcome.  The optimist in me believes that the core of American idealism and its dream of an equitable multi-cultural society will inevitably emerge from this morass to provide a guiding beacon for the renaissance of the American experiment.  I may not be around to see it, but, somehow, I am confident of its arrival.  Our youth will bring it about because they are not afraid to ask the hard questions and have the energy to make much need moral corrections.  I believe the American dream and the opposition to autocracy will not just roll over and surrender.  There will be a brighter day for America. 

Are We Still A Democracy?

Webster's Definition of democracy

a: government by the people especially : rule of the majority

b: a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation involving periodically held free elections

 

If you consider Webster's definition, there are several elements which seem to stand out right away:

--government by the majority

--representation involving free elections

 

On both those counts if you look at current day America, one sees glaring contradictions in meeting those definitions.

 The heated discussions going on in Congress about the filibuster as it is being used today bring this contradiction into sharp focus.  Majority equals 'half plus one'.  What we have in the United States Senate is a bastardized mechanism that enables the minority to rule.  This 'rule' was never contemplated by the founding fathers of this nation.  This 'rule' thwarts the essence of democratic decision making.  This 'rule', which has nothing to do with democracy, has brought our decision-making process to a complete halt.  As a nation we are constipated by elected representatives who have distorted the meaning of democracy to embrace an anti-democratic rule to maintain minority rule.

 

In addition, our elected representatives have engaged in a process called gerrymandering which thwarts the concept of representative government.  Over the past several decades, Republicans have been creating voting precincts and districts specifically to enhance the voting power of a particular group: their own.  This is not the essence of true representation.  We are seeing continuing efforts by Republicans to create voting districts that favor their political party, creating hundreds of 'safe' Republican seats.  This makes representative government impossible since it creates election districts where a majority of its citizen's voices cannot be heard or represented.

 

In addition, we are seeing the Republican party, which is ascendant in a majority of state

legislatures, purposely passing new laws that give the legislatures of these states the power to simply disregard the results of an election if they decide for whatever reason that there is some 'irregularity' that they perceive, without the presentation of proof or evidence. How is that a 'free and fair election'?  The filibuster, of course, has no place in state legislatures since that would thwart 'majority rule', which is what the legislators will claim gives them the right to throw out the results of an election.  How ironic!  This is what happens in 'Banana Republics'!  Just look at the attempted shenanigans that we witnessed in the 2020 election in Michigan, Arizona, Georgia, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.  These new laws being passed will make it easier to disregard the voice of the voters with impunity.

 

 Additionally, these Republican state legislatures are systematically passing new legislation that has the effect of suppressing and restricting the voting power of specific minorities:  actions like reducing the hours for voting, limiting the placement of centralized voting boxes to collect absentee ballots, restricting who can get an absentee ballot, requiring stringent and unreasonable voter ID regulations, abolishing mail-in voting, etc.  All these efforts are actions that suppress voter turnout.  These measures are being passed in the name of 'election security' so that minority groups, specifically black and brown people will have more difficulty in successfully voting.

 

Democracy depends on accountability.  Unless a democracy can hold lawbreakers accountable, there is no consequence for wrongdoing.  What we have witnessed is a total disregard for the rule of law by the previous administration: denial of subpoenas, withholding of information during investigations, pardons given to personal friends of the previous President who are clearly criminals, lying to the American people, and now using the Justice Department to investigate political enemies, etc.  We all want to look forward and deal with the present and future challenges that face us as a nation, but unless we have some accountability for the emerging facts concerning actions of the previous  administration that clearly broke the law, we will be destined to see another executive who will do the same or worse than Trump.

 

I return to my first question:  Are we still a democracy?  I frankly don't think we are right now.  If we continue to harbor without consequence the bad actors who have led us to this place, our democracy will be a sham.

 The American people are not sufficiently aware of the peril we are in as a democracy.  Committing these egregious measures in plain view has desensitized the majority of Americans to the impending danger.  This is a slow moving but inexorable wave of anti-democracy that is relentlessly overtaking our republic.  I am not sure how to stop it, but I am convinced that if we don't, America will be a very different place to live in a fighteningly short number of years.