Tag Archive: GOP


On the Death of the Grand Old Party

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August 17, 2022

The Grand Old Party is dead.

It’s been steadily heading in that direction for years now. But last night’s primary defeat of the most conservative member of Congress has proven, that whatever democratic values the party still held, they’re gone now. The Republican Party would be unrecognizable to it’s founder, if he could see what’s become of it today.

The party of Lincoln ceased to be ‘the party of Lincoln’ when Richard Nixon welcomed in the Dixie-crats (read: White Supremacist members of the Democratic party who felt left out once the Democrats became the pro-Civil Rights party).

The party of Reagan died when Donald Trump became the GOP standard holder.

The last true patriot (whether you agree with her policies or not – I absolutely do not), in the Republican party was given the boot yesterday.

Liz Cheney’s defeat marks the end of any notion that the current iteration of the Republican party has anything to do with what most people, regardless of party affiliation, have held to be “American” values.

What is left within the ranks of the GOP is a group of White Nationalists whose policies are not in line with anything that remotely resembles the aspirations of the founding of this country.

There was a time when I was firmly considered ‘in the middle,’ politically. I used to look at candidates from both sides of the aisle and voted based on what I believed would be best for either the city, the state or the country (based on which position they were running for).

And yes, I have, in the distant past, voted for Republican candidates in local elections, because I either felt they were more qualified, or had better ideas, than whoever they were running against. But I haven’t had any confidence in any candidate the GOP has presented in decades.

But there is no “middle” anymore. You are either pro-Democracy, or pro-Fascist Theocracy.

You either want to live your life freely, or you want to have every part of your life dictated to you by the government, based on your race, religion, sexual orientation, and ethnicity.

You don’t have to believe me. Go and listen to them. Hear what they are saying

They’ve made no secret of their goals. They are all shouting their desire to turn our country into a majority white Christian nation, where any man who isn’t a member of their religious, nationalistic, cult, is a second class citizen, and any women, regardless of race or religion, has no rights at all.

If you vote Republican, that is what you are voting for.

They have no helpful fiscal plans for the country, (unless you consider tax breaks for the wealthy and the eradication of Social Security and Medicaid helpful to you).

They are no longer the “old school,” “reasonable” Republicans willing to come to the table to make a deal that can help the citizens. They want to rule based on their bastardized version of their religion (their version of “Christianity” doesn’t remotely resemble anything I’ve ever learned about Christ or the religion he inspired).

What’s best for the citizens of this country is irrelevant to their goals.

I know many folks who hate the Democrats.

I am also aware that much of the abject hatred stems from the erroneous beliefs about the Democrats cultivated after years of listening to them being demonized by a propaganda machine created specifically to indoctrinate people who felt left out, into believing they were losing something when others gain anything.

These propagandists knew, as they all do, that people who were feeling insecure about their prospects in life, would cling to any lie that would lay the blame at anyone else’s feet other than their own.

It’s a tactic used by power hungry fascists throughout history.

Sadly, the audience at which these propaganda tools are often aimed, has rarely been curious enough to check the validity of the hateful claims being made.

The fear mongering was very effective, I’ll admit.

But now we really are in a dangerous place in this country.

We can either defeat the liars, thieves and grifters who have taken over the Republican party, or we can allow them to win and watch our country lose its core values and us, any semblance of ‘life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness’

There are many people in my life who I disagree with politically. But many of these people came from countries, or rather, they escaped, the countries with the very kind of policies today’s GOP wishes to install here.

I truly hope those people see what is happening. That they notice the parallels of propaganda being fed to them on a daily basis. That they actually hear what the members of the GOP are saying, and that they understand, we don’t have many places we can run to if the people currently running the Republican party ever gain power.

You’re either an American Patriot, or you are a Republican voter – You can no longer claim to be both.

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About that 14th Amendment…

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May 31, 2022

On May 7, Mitch McConnell, all but admitted that his goal, if the Republicans re-gain power, was a complete federal ban on abortion, if Roe V Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision that ruled that the Due Process clause of the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution protects a pregnant woman’s liberty to choose to have an abortion without excessive government restriction, is overturned.

Now, you may not think this affects you, particularly if you aren’t female, or if you’re one of those women who can’t get past the religious propaganda long enough to understand that this “complete” ban would include no abortions, even ones that are medically necessary to remove an unviable pregnancy, such as an ectopic pregnancy (up to 16% of women), or a miscarriage  (up to 20% of women), pregnancies that would not result in a baby, but are more than likely to kill the mother if not removed.

You may not think this affects you because you see women as nothing more than baby incubators, so you will force a 12 year-old who gets pregnant after having been violated, to further be violated by not allowing her to start the healing process, and forcing her to carry to term the product of her rape, which will can cause her physical damage as her body hasn’t completed the growth needed to withstand pregnancy and birth, and will absolutely cause her psychological damage because she’s fucking 12, and should be still playing with dolls and not popping out babies to, as Supreme Court Justice Amy “Aunt Lydia” Comey Barret, stated “to provide the US with a “Domestic Supply of Adoptable Infants.””

Fine.

But just in case you were wondering, Roe v. Wade isn’t the only thing the GOP are coming after.

– Griswold v Connecticut: This 1965 decision ruled that the 14th Amendment (Due process clause) of the constitution protects the liberty of married couples to buy and use contraceptives without government restriction – Marsha Blackburn, Republican Senator from Tennessee, has signaled that overturning Griswold, is on the GOP Agenda. (Some states have already added certain forms of contraception, those that prevent a fertilized egg from turning in to a pregnancy, like IUDs and Plan B, to their anti-abortion bills)

-Loving v. Virginia: This 1967 decision ruled that laws banning interracial marriage violate the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment to the US constitution. – Mike Braun, Republican Senator from Indiana, has signaled that overturning Loving, is on the GOP Agenda

-Obergefell v Hodges – This 2015 decision rued that the fundamental right marry is guaranteed to same sex couples by both the Equal protection and Due Process Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment to The US Constitution – John Cornyn, Republican Senator of Texas, has signaled that overturning Obergefell, is on the GOP Agenda.

In case you were wondering, this is the text of Section 1 of the Fourteenth Amendment of the US Constitution:

“No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”

So, be warned, you may not give a crap about the rights of women to decide, when they should become parents, or even when they should have sex (if you’re one of those incredibly shitty people who are pro forcing a rape victim to carry a product of rape to term), but it won’t end with just robbing women of their bodily autonomy.

The 14th Amendment is under attack and that Amendment has been critical in allowing everyone -men and women, and children (Brown v Board of Education) – to enjoy freedoms and equality, not previously specified in the Constitution, which was originally written by white men, for the benefit of the freedom of white men, and has always been a living document meant to be amended to reflect the changes society is destined to go through.

You may want to pay attention. Because the next freedom they will go for, may actually affect you personally.

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The Kids are Alright…

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March 15, 2018

“And these children that you spit on
As they try to change their worlds
Are immune to your consultations.
They’re quite aware of what they’re going through”

“Changes” – David Bowie

In response to yesterdays “walk out” by HS Students all over the country,  protesting gun violence in schools, and the refusal of legislators to do anything to prevent another school mass shooting, some folks decided that kids should have, instead, had a “walk up.”

The idea was, instead of walking out to protest the fact that adults have failed them, the same adults who elected a bully into the oval office, believe that kids should have walked up to kids who were bullied, or who were loners, or otherwise ignored, and befriend them.

It’s a nice notion, and should definitely be promoted by schools on a daily basis. The fact that bullying is wrong and harmful should be taught all the time, not just as an expedient distraction from a recurring national tragedy.

Of COURSE we should do everything we can to prevent bullying. That should be a no-brainer. But it is a discussion completely separate from the mass-shootings we, as a country, have experienced over the past few years, in schools, churches, malls and movie theaters.

Shootings that had very little, if anything, to do with people who were bullied in school.

Put it this way, none of the school shooters were victims of school bullying.

– The guy in Florida was expelled for threatening violence against his classmate, and he beat his ex-girlfriend. He was actually a bully.

– The guys in Columbine bullied all the classmates they later killed.

– The guy in Sandy Hook was diagnosed with emotional issues and instead of seeking medical assistance for him, his mother took him to a gun range and gave him virtually unfettered access to her stockpile of guns.

Clearly, bullying is a problem, and it needs to be addressed. But the fact is, most bullied children end up committing suicide. They don’t kill others.

Mental illness is also a problem, and it definitely needs to be addressed. But it is only part of the problem, when folks with mental illness, or violent backgrounds, are still able to purchase guns with little to no background checks. And the fact that the current President, in his effort to get rid of any progress made by his predecessor, got rid of the regulation that would have helped prevent those with mental illness from purchasing guns, doesn’t help.

And then there’s the Second Amendment – The NRA’s favorite tool by which to instill fear in gun enthusiasts. But have any of these ‘protectors’ of the Second Amendment ever read the whole thing?

“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed”

Regulation IS a part of the language, and since most states don’t have a “well regulated militia,” (The National Guard is as close as most states have to anything that qualifies) all you gun owners are subject to the laws of the individual states. It’s not your God-given, or Constitutionally-given, right to own a gun without anyone regulating said ownership. Sorry. Read it. Read it over and over and over again until you let it sink into your brain.

Just like my First Amendment rights don’t allow me to shout “fire” in a crowded theater, your Second Amendment rights aren’t absolute.

And that should be common sense, no?

We live in a society made up of people and laws made to protect us from those among us who may not have the best of intentions, or who may not have the mental capacity or responsibility needed to carry something that, in the wrong hands, can be dangerous to innocent people around them.

What most people, including most responsible gun owners, want, is for some form of unity in the law that would make it equally as difficult for, say, a mentally unstable 18 year old to get a gun in Virginia as it would in New York.

And, for the record, I really don’t give a shit about the semantics or the differences between guns and rifles and semi-automatic, or high caliber blah blah bullshit. A gun is a fucking gun and every single one of those things was created to kill a living being. So before you give me some bullshit about cars, or whatever distracting, irrelevant, nonsense argument you’re about to try and throw at me, shut it.

Seriously. I’m done debating this shit. It’s all a bunch of semantics and deflection. And doing nothing about the issue hasn’t helped anyone except the NRA and gun manufacturers.

I’m sure that if someone really wants to get a gun, they can. Just like someone who REALLY wants to buy drugs, will always find a way. Just like someone who REALLY wants to rob your house, or your place of business, will find a way.

So we should make it easier on them by not even TRYING anything to stop them?

Why bother having any kind of laws at all if everyone who wants to do a bad thing will find a way to do it?

And please, give me a break with the nonsense about needing the Second Amendment so we can rise against tyranny. Are you kidding me? Does that mean, by your definition, you should also be able to buy a tank, or a nuke? Because you’re not going to do much damage with your AR-15 against the full force of the US Military.  Besides, that is exactly what the National Guard is for.

The kids who marched yesterday said it. Adults have failed them.

And those ‘adults’ who are coming up with every excuse to disregard or discredit these kids, guess what?

Roughly a quarter of HS kids will be eligible to vote in the mid-term elections this year.

Roughly three-quarters of todays HS kids will be eligible to vote in the 2020 election.

So please, do continue to disregard their concerns.  Maybe they’ll finally make the changes we need to truly make this country great again – Starting with ridding us of the plague of NRA-purchased legislators in DC, and then ridding us of the pestilence currently spreading his vile, putrid, stench throughout the White House.

For the first time in 15 months, I see a light at the end of the tunnel.

Ms. Houston said it best… The children are the future. And the best thing we, as adults can do, is either get on board and help them make a better world for them, or get the hell out of the way.

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Sex, Lies and Audiotape – Why now?

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October 11, 2016

On an old tape from 2005, Trump was caught saying a whole lot of nasty stuff about women. Lewd, crude, and well, downright disgusting.

But, didn’t we already know he was a disgusting misogynist?

Why are folks so overwhelmingly outraged with this new evidence of old news?

This is a man who has said worse things in public. He’s hinted at assassination of his opponent; Said that a respected POW who dedicated his life to public service wasn’t really a hero because he got caught; Started off a debate defending the size of his hands and, ‘other’ things; Called women who opposed him pigs, and dogs; Made baseless accusations claiming that the father of another opponent had something to do with the JFK assassination (and now has me defending Ted Cruz); Intimated that another female opponent was too unattractive to be President (seriously, has he looked in a mirror, ever?); Has been accused of sexual misconduct by former female employees; Spent a whole week blasting a former Miss Universe, even invited us to go check out a sex tape (one that didn’t even exist, btw).

The list goes on.

So why are we all up in arms about THIS tape. Why is THIS the excuse folks in the GOP are using to distance themselves from him? Why did his poll numbers drop significantly after THIS tape got out? Why did it take this tape to finally make even the rapists’ biggest advocate, Paul Ryan, say “enough”?

I’m not sure. I can say, from my point of view it’s not what he said, it’s what he claimed he could get away with. But then again, even this wasn’t really news.

I am not a prude and I understand “Locker Room Talk.” As a woman who was often the ‘sister’ to many a non-related male friends, I’ve heard some of the stuff guys say when they find a woman attractive. So, lets for the sake of argument say he was talking about what he would like to do to women. He was having a private conversation with his buddy, during a break in the taping of a segment for TV, that just happened to be caught on a mic that was accidentally not shut off, during which they both were engaging in “Locker Room Talk” – Fine. If that had all it had been, no harm, no foul.

It was that he bragged about groping women without their consent that bothers me. It is the very fact that he claims that his celebrity will allow him to do whatever the hell he wants to women, that bothers me. Was it a private conversation? Sure. Then again, I’d say that Robert. Durst would have had even more of an expectation of privacy when he was talking about murders he committed while taking a leak, but I digress.

The fact is, this man who is running for President of the United States, admitted, whether it was in private or not, (and there’s a case to be made that he was talking to a ‘journalist’ and that they were taking a break between ‘takes’ – and the mic hadn’t been turned off.. but then again, please see Robert Durst) – to groping women without their consent is the part that folks like me can’t seem to wrap their heads around. Bragging about violating women’s personal space kind of goes beyond simple “locker room talk” – doesn’t it?

We have supposedly evolved, no? I mean, I get it, folks are all pissed off about the whole “PC” culture, and how we can’t say anything without offending someone, and I understand that. But even that outrage should have some limits. There’s a difference between “PC” and common decency, isn’t there?

This isn’t a man who kept the “locker room” talk to private moments with his buddy. This is a guy, who, on national television, leered at a woman while telling her that the image of her down on her knees was a pretty sight. This is a guy who went after a moderator during the primary debates, calling her a bimbo, and claiming she was “bleeding out of her wherever” because she had the audacity to confront him about his history of mistreatment of women. This is a guy who told Howard Stern it was okay to call his daughter, Ivanka, a “piece of ass.”

What I’m saying is, Trump has always been a misogynistic douchebag – Always. So why all the sudden outrage over this current proof of something we all, both his supporters and his detractors, already knew?

I understand that hearing him say “you can grab them by the pussy” may have been shocking. His admission of being sexually aggressive with women, whether they were willing or not, in my mind, is criminal, and absolutely perpetuates the social norm of “boys will be boys” that would allow a star athlete to get away with rape, despite being caught red handed in the act. But, what is so different with this tape? He’s ALWAYS been this way… He didn’t just wake up one morning in 2005 and decide to go all “Mad Men” meets “Jabba the Hut” with Billy Bush.

Maya Angelou once said “The first time someone shows you who they are, believe them.” Did any of us actually NOT believe that he was a disgusting misogynist?  All this audio recording did was re-confirm everything we already knew about Trump. He’s a vile pig.

Where was all the outrage back when Ivana accused him of spousal rape? Where was all the outrage back when he actually did grope women, or violate their rights? Where were all these females suddenly coming out to discuss his disgusting behavior before he ever even started his campaign? (On that last note, I’ll guess they were afraid of violating the disclosure forms they had to sign upon being hired, but at this point? Come on. This is a little bit important, no?)

And to the GOP folks finally pulling their support of this asshole – Why now? Why didn’t you throw this disgusting mother fucker out of the race before it ever got this far? This is YOUR fault –  100%. You could have nominated a decent member of your party – hell, I wouldn’t have voted for any of them, but fine, I’m a lefty liberal – but I’d have respected the decision. NOW you’re pissed off? NOW you believe women need to be championed? Fuck you. Seriously. Yes, Paul Ryan, I’m looking at you, you whiny, wimpy advocate for the rights of Rapists. Fuck you sideways.

My favorites are the members of the GOP who though they could change Trump, or mold him into someone remotely resembling a human being fit to lead the country.

There is no ‘taming’ Trump. There is no ‘changing’ him either. He’s a 70-year-old man whose formative years were spent watching his mother cater to his father’s every need, and who grew up at a time when it was okay to smack your secretary on the ass, call her ‘sweetheart’ and speak openly about how much you’d love to bang her and admit  that her appearance was why you hired her in the first place. He never evolved beyond those cave man tendencies. He never will. Have you ever seen the way he hugs his daughters? The little taps he gives them right on the hips, touching  their butts? He’s GROSS. Even those people who STILL support him realize what they’re dealing with here.

And yeah, I don’t understand how any female, or anyone who respects females could defend him, or support him. But whatever, I’m not going to judge. I can’t. Judgement comes from a far higher entity than myself. I don’t understand it. I never will. I would like to lash out at every woman who supports him. But it’s not my place, and God knows if they’ve supported him this far, they won’t change their minds now. Like he said, he can shoot someone in the middle of 5th avenue, and his supporters will still be there for him. So why bother? And why bother calling names or losing my shit over folks who I feel are misguided. It’s their business who they vote for. If their conscience can deal with it, then that’s their issue, not mine.

So, again, I ask, to those so suddenly outraged by what this guy said on tape? Why now? Nothing’s changed. He’s still the same old douche bag he always was.

I almost have to wonder at the timing of the leak. Suddenly, the debate is about his ‘locker room’ talk, and not about his unreleased taxes. Suddenly, we’re not talking about the fact that the NY Attorney General is investigating Trump’s fraud of a charity. Suddenly, Trump has, at least in his warped brain, an excuse to bring out all of Bill Clinton’s dirty laundry.  Suddenly, we’re not talking about the truly evil things that Trump has done – his failure as a businessman; husband; human. No, now we are talking about a tape, where he says a lot of vile shit, but a tape that reveals nothing that anyone didn’t already know about him.

Trump has some brilliant strategists on his side (Roger Ailes, for example, the inventor of the Trump we see today, and the guy who made you believe that everything bad, including your paper cut, is somehow Obama’s fault). They knew this tape thing would distract us… So before we go all ape shit on Trump supporters for their acquiescence in his misogyny, bigotry, homophobia and xenophobia — maybe we need to figure out “Why now?” And, “What’s different?” And “What are they trying to distract us from this time?” Because this is more than just about an audio of  an old misogynistic asshole talking smack about women.

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