Imagine If...

Where hate, lies and ignorance converge:

“All house Democrats are evil and will kill unborn babies all the way up to birth and then celebrate.” – MTG shouting to Debbie Dingell on the Capitol steps.

Margie Greene forgot the part where Dems celebrate by dancing naked around the fire they roast the dead babies on.

Seriously, this along with the “Left hates America” style convergence of hate, lies and ignorance will get the semi-literate, irrational, dupes and true believers thinking we literate and rational objectors are the enemies of the United States.  We’ve seen this fascistic level of hate and lies before.

This madness is exactly how they will justify killing or imprisoning those who disagree with the man who said this:

“Like it or not, we are becoming a communist country. That’s what’s happening. The radical left democrat communist party"

This convergence of hate, lies and ignorance is fascism. And it is deadly to democracy and humanity.

The Radical Right has shown they have an outlandish imagination in their fantasies about their opposition. No accusation is too far-fetched or detached from reality. They readily embrace crazed conspiracy theories and disinformation from the likes of Alex Jones and Q-anon. They regurgitate Trump’s everyday lies as well as his Big Lie.

They imagine BLM as evil racist commie Marxist hordes. They imagine Critical Race Theory, and every other study of the history and effects of slavery and racism, as “Marxism”, and should be banned in educational settings. (Say didn’t Nazis and Commies ban education on subjects they didn’t want taught?)

They even see public education as “commie indoctrination”. They imagine Democrats are all socialists and Marxists, coming for their guns, desecrating their churches, running pedophile rings, and seeking to emulate Venezuela. They imagine the free press is the "enemy of the people”. They even imagine Trump was sent by Jesus, or he’s His choice for president.

Yes. Putin and Jesus agree on that.

But amazing as their imaginations are, there are many things they seem unable to imagine.

They can’t seem to imagine...

...If President Obama or President Biden had threatened an opponent with imprisonment.

...If President Obama or President Biden had bragged about grabbing women’s genitals without their consent.

...If President Obama or President Biden had illegally paid off a porn star for her silence before an election.

...If President Obama or President Biden had invited Russia to hack opponents emails.

...If President Obama’s or President Biden’s campaign met with Russians for dirt on his opponent.

...If President Obama or President Biden had betrayed the US and sided with Putin on the world stage in Helsinki.

...If President Obama or President Biden obstructed FBI investigations of election interference.

...If President Obama or President Biden had declared, “You have people who are very fine people on both sides”, when one side had white supremacists, marching Nazis, and a murderer.

...If President Obama or President Biden had called the free press the “enemy of the people”.

...If President Obama or President Biden had withheld aid approved by Congress on condition of a foreign leader’s political attack on his opponent.

...If President Obama or President Biden had whined about the “fascist Republican Party”, as Trump whined about the “socialist Democrat Party”

...If President Obama or President Biden had said, “Hitler did a lot of good things”.

...If President Obama or President Biden had complained he would only lose if the election was rigged.

...If President Obama or President Biden had lied about a “stolen election” if he had lost.

...If President Obama or President Biden had complained about a “rigged election” even if he won.

...If President Obama or President Biden had accused a secretary of state of being a criminal if he didn’t "Just find me 11,780 votes."

...If President Obama or President Biden had pressured the acting  attorney general to "Just say the election was corrupt, and leave the rest to me."

...If President Obama or President Biden had incited a mob to overturn an election, to march to the Capitol, and to “fight like hell” and “stop the steal”.

...If President Obama or President Biden had watched his supporters storm the Capitol on TV and refuse to order them to stop.

...If President Obama or President Biden had praised that mob of terrorists as “very special” and told them he loved them.

...If President Obama or President Biden had chosen the day Congress was to follow its constitutional mandate to certify an election, and had said this to an agitated violent mob:

“Our country has had enough. We will not take it anymore and that’s what this is all about.

We’re going to have somebody in there that should not be in there and our country will be destroyed, and we’re not going to stand for that.

You’ll never take back our country with weakness. You have to show strength, and you have to be strong.

I like Bill Barr, but he changed, because he didn’t want to be considered my personal attorney.

Make no mistake, this election, stolen from you, from me and from the country.

If we allow this group of people to illegally take over our country.

We fight like Hell and if you don’t fight like Hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore.

We’re going to try and give them the kind of pride and boldness that they need to take back our country.”

They can’t seem to imagine how anyone saying these words could incite a mob to violently storm the Capitol.

They can't seem to imagine how much they’d screech and howl, “Impeach”, “Traitor”, “Liar”, and “Commie!”, if President Obama or President Biden had done or said exactly what Trump did and said.

We’ll just have to imagine that for them.

 

The Marginalized Majority

 

Maybe you’ve noticed a few things about our nation's current political landscape.

Nobody complains more about being marginalized than conservatives.

Nobody complains more about their voices being unheard than conservatives.

Nobody demands to “take our country back” more than conservatives. 

Nobody claims to be “real Americans”, and vilifies opponents for “hating America” more than conservatives.

Nobody howls about “rigged elections” more than conservatives.

Nobody believes Trump’s Big Lie about a stolen election more than conservatives. This will encourage the radical Right to deny the results of every election they lose.

But what are the facts, besides the obvious one that Biden won the election?

The facts tell us who really are the truly marginalized Americans in our so-called representative democratic republic.

They are not conservatives. And they are not the minority.

The majority of Americans voted for the Democrat in 7 of the last 8 presidential elections.

Through wild and convoluted gerrymandering, Republicans have been in the majority in the House of Representatives for four of the past six congresses, despite the fact Democrats have won more total votes in four of the six past midterm elections.

50 Democratic Senators represent 40 million more Americans than the 50 Republican Senators.

The Electoral College has a built in bias for mostly white conservative rural states.

These facts tell us who actually are the marginalized victims of disproportionate, unfair and reduced representation in our government.

Blacks, other minorities, women, and Democrats.

It’s no coincidence, or quirk of demographics, that the Republican Party and its elected officials are overwhelmingly conservative white men.

No wonder their fear of democracy and equality drives the radical Right into fits of lies, false accusations, demonization, and denials of election results.

To hold power they STILL need to cheat, suppress voter rights and seize partisan control of elections.

Elections are rigged all right. In favor of Republicans.

What, Me Gullible?

 

From the Washington Post:

DIHYDROGEN MONOXIDE: UNRECOGNIZED KILLER

The chemical compound dihydrogen monoxide (or DHMO) has been implicated in the deaths of thousands of Americans every year, mainly through accidental ingestion. In gaseous form, it can cause severe burns. And, according to a new report, "the dangers of this chemical do not end there."

The chemical is so caustic that it "accelerates the corrosion and rusting of many metals, . . . is a major component of acid rain, {and} . . . has been found in excised tumors of terminal cancer patients." Symptoms of ingestion include "excessive sweating and urination," and "for those who have developed a dependency on DHMO, complete withdrawal means certain death."

Yet the presence of the chemical has been confirmed in every river, stream, lake and reservoir in America.

Judging from these facts, do you think dihydrogen monoxide should be banned?

Seems like an open-and-shut case -- until you realize that this chemical compound is plain old water (two hydrogen molecules bonded to one oxygen, or H 2 O, which can drown you, scald you or make you go to the bathroom.

In 1997, Nathan Zohner, an enterprising 14-year-old student at Eagle Rock Junior High School in Idaho Falls, Idaho, conducted his science fair project on just this theme. Nathan distributed a tongue-in-cheek report that had been kicking around the Internet, "Dihydrogen Monoxide: The Unrecognized Killer" (from which the quotes above are drawn), to 50 of his classmates.

In the end, 43 students, or 86 percent of the sample, "voted to ban dihydrogen monoxide because it has caused too many deaths," wrote Nathan in the conclusion to his project, adding that he "was appalled that my peers were so easily misled. . . . I don't feel comfortable with the current level of understanding."

Nathan's project, which won the grand prize at the Greater Idaho Falls Science Fair, was titled, "How Gullible Are We?" But ninth-graders aren't the only gullible parties. I'm sure that, if Nathan tried the same experiment on adults, he'd find at least as many would want to ban DHMO.

 ~~~~~~

So we can see the Trump era’s use of facts, and of course lies, to lead a scientifically, historically, sociologically or politically ignorant public to a false conclusion is not new.

Karl Marx developed Critical Theory to address the oppressive symptoms of class divisions under 19th Century capitalism. As we know, Marx and Lenin are the philosophical founders of communism.

Britannica informs us:

Critical theory, Marxist-inspired movement in social and political philosophy originally associated with the work of the Frankfurt School. Drawing particularly on the thought of Karl Marx and Sigmund Freud, critical theorists maintain that a primary goal of philosophy is to understand and to help overcome the social structures through which people are dominated and oppressed.

Hmm. This sounds dangerous! 

Now Black and Brown sociological researchers, universities, educators, and other liberals are employing Critical Race Theory to study the history and effects of slavery and racism.

Given the Marxist origins of Critical Theory, should Critical Race Theory be banned?

We know what happened.

That’s exactly what Republican legislators have done.

When Trump lied about a rigged and stolen election, Republicans launched a nationwide crusade to restrict voter rights, and enacted efforts to enable their partisan control of elections.

Critical Race Theory, hydroxychloroquine, Ivermectin, anti-maskers, anti-vaxxers, and the Big Lie about a stolen election reveal the symptoms of the same human malady. It is popularly known as gullibility.

And it is quite evident which sector of the population is most afflicted with gullibility.

 

Fanning the Flames

Too bad Trump’s cult loves their Dear Leader more than America.

They believe in his Big Lie over every state certification board, every poll worker, every recount, every court, and every elector.

This blind acceptance and obedience fits the definition of a cult. They attacked our Capitol, believing they were following Dear Leader’s orders.

All that matters to these terrorists and their sympathizers is they hate the same people, those of us who know Trump is a dangerous liar.

And they are foaming at the mouth for more insurrection. Another Fourth Reich style rally and possible Putsch are in the works for September 18^th.

Washington (CNN) Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe said Monday evening that law enforcement needs to take the upcoming right-wing rally in support of jailed January 6 rioters "very seriously" as concerns mount about more potential violence on Capitol Hill.

Law enforcement members in Washington are steeling themselves against possible unrest at the "Justice for J6" rally -- planned for September 18 -- which aims to support the insurrectionists charged in the riot.

Homeland Security Intelligence chief John Cohen told CNN last month that online extremist rhetoric is strikingly similar to the buildup to the January 6 attack, with increasing calls for violence linked to conspiracy theories and false narratives.

Still, McCabe, who served as the FBI's deputy director from 2016 to 2018 including a period as acting director, said Monday that law enforcement has "a few factors leaning in their favor" this time. "You don't have a sitting President actively fanning the flames and trying to get people to attend the rally," he said.

Sorry Andy. They have an ex-president fanning the flames. He is still their Dear Leader, and he's still pouring gas on his fire.

Trump recently mixed in more hate and blame with his Big LIE.

Just last week he told his new “spokesperson” and fellow serial liar Liz Herrington "We had it perfectly -- perfectly -- in control. We could have taken our time. It was after I got out with a Rigged Election, as soon as I got out [the Taliban] started taking over. Those 13 incredible people would be alive today."

Why do Trump True Believers eat that crap up so willingly? Is it the hate? 

I see no other reason for rejecting truth to this dangerous degree. This radical cult is attacking our country's democratic process, voting rights, and elections as well as the truth.

All on the word of Donald Trump.

No shame. No decency. No honor.

Just loyalty to the Big Lie of "Honest" Donald Frickin Trump. No wonder so many brainwashed dupes think wearing masks and vaccinations do not mitigate a pandemic. Many still think covid is a hoax.

Only hate can explain their brainwashing, fascist demonizing, scapegoating, and hate mongering like, "Leftists hate America", and every damn thing they say about socialism and Critical Race Theory.

This cult of lies and hate is what is really tearing our country apart.

It took six months after being legally voted out of office for the big jerk to finally recommend getting vaccinated.

His cult didn't like being told that, either.

How many cultists will continue to embrace his Big Lie, even if after he finally recants the most dangerous lie known to the republic?

Trump may back off on his Big Lie if he starts to feel the heat of justice closing in. He’ll probably try to weasel his way out by saying, “That’s what people were saying”.

He’d better start rehearsing.

He and Lindsay Graham are under investigation for interfering with the Georgia election.

This is exactly what he said.

"Just find me 11,780 votes."

"Just say the election was corrupt, and leave the rest to me."

They are criminals and enemies of democracy. Period.

Happy Labor Day

Happy Labor Day.

Today we honor the working men and women of America.

They who built it, maintain it, preserve it, continue to build it, and improve it.

They serve in the public sector, and labor in the private sector.

We honor those before us who worked to build unions, and to strengthen labor rights, and to achieve collective bargaining and representation.

Their contribution to the American middle class was immeasurable. At times the price was paid in blood.

The 1886 Haymarket Riot helped bring about the eight hour workday. A hundred years ago miners revolted against horrible working conditions at Matewan and the Battle of Blair Mountain.

And we should honor their work and sacrifice through efforts of our own, to similarly assure our well-being.

Just as we should remember the sacrifices of our service members on more than just Memorial Day, we need to remember the American worker on more than just Labor Day.

For all practical purposes, Tuesday begins the next 364 days of “Management Days”.

This is indicative of neither a thriving economy for workers nor of a functional democracy.

We the people also need to work to preserve what remains of our democratic republic.

We all have to defend our freedoms, our rights, our safety and well-being, if we all want to be free.

Free from bigotry, lies, hate, and fear.

Free from corporate economic power over government, free from injustice, free from civil unrest, free from foreign and domestic terrorism.

We want to be free from those who want to dismantle or undermine our constitutional public education, social safety nets, and public health.

We want to be free from those who want to dismantle or undermine constitutional equal justice under law, fair representation, voting rights, reproductive rights, free speech and a free press.

This is what patriots want for a more perfect union.

But freedom isn’t free. Rights cannot be taken for granted. Consent of the governed must be a guiding principle of our government, or we have a failed republic. 

Private interests are dictating public policy. Public policy should serve the public interest, not that of the privileged and economic elites. Our constitutional general welfare and our Individual freedoms and rights become suppressed by private control of public policy. Constitutional regulation of commerce and fair representation for the general public are not in the interests of private wealth and corporate power. 

As the wealthiest of Americans enjoy greater tax cuts, the greater burden falls upon the workers’ shoulders. Too many corporations pay a lower federal income tax than school teachers or truck drivers.

It’s up to the working men and women of the country to claim fair and livable wages, and to demand freedom as our birthright, as well as the means to defend our rights from all threats. We of the working class need to vote in greater numbers and participate more in self-government, or others will do it to suit their own political purposes and economic ends.

Only the American working class can restore and preserve our democratic republic.

We face the most urgent and critical job of preserving the republic.

Now, and from now on.

"Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if Labor had not first existed. Labor is superior to capital, and deserves much the higher consideration." - Abraham Lincoln

Courage of Conviction

Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

W.B. Yeats

 

Democrat Lindsey Simmons challenged Republican U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler for Missouri's 4th Congressional District seat. Her insight and experiences are important in understanding the radical Right’s embrace of terrorism in its war on democracy and equality.

She also notes the fatal weakness in intimidated and corporate-owned institutional Democrats. Their meekness shows they lack the courage of conviction found in the pro-democracy fighters in red states.

~~~~~~~~~~~

I launched my campaign for Congress in 2019.

I was harassed. My home was vandalized, multiple times. I received violent threats. My car was followed by active Klan, with my 2 year old in the car.

We fought a righteous fight out here.

And the Dems in DC don’t give a damn.

Volunteers and activists from Columbia to Cass County, between Moberly and Marshfield and Lamar to Lebanon—these people endured the same + worse.

On their own property, close to their homes, people had signs burned to the ground, stolen, or shot up by passers-by. 

I called it terrorism as it happened. Because that’s what it is.

Violence + intimidation against civilians for a political purpose.

January 6th wasn’t a shock to us out here. It was a larger finale to a season’s long episode of aggression. 

When you stand up in a deeply red district in a deeply red state, you do it because lives depend on it.

You do it because democracy depends on it.

You do it because the future you want for your kids + grandkids depends on it. 

That future included:

▪ a new voting rights act
▪ ending gerrymandering
▪ universal healthcare
▪ codified Roe v Wade
▪ anti-lynching laws
▪ ending qualified immunity
▪ equal rights amendment
▪ prosecution of the crimes we watched unfold before our eyes the previous 4 years

 And Democrats in Washington, DC who have a seat at the table—they’re playing a dangerous game.

They’re betting our entire country’s future on this notion that if they don’t rock the boat too much, things will calm down, and they can get re-elected and do more “next time”. 

This is a damn fairytale.

We are in the eye of a storm.

And what we do now dictates whether democracy survives after 2024.

You cannot make bets with the underlying assumption being that you will win another election. 

The autocrats aren’t trying to win. They aren’t trying to beat you.

They are actively dismantling democracy such that the American people willingly hand it over.

We won the White House.
We won the House of Representatives.
We won the Senate.

Let’s act like it. 

The days of gentlemanly handshakes and agreeing to disagree are long-gone.

Nine months ago sitting Members of Congress invited terrorists to murder the Vice President and their colleagues.

They have stolen seats on the Supreme Court. 

These are not people who care about decency or precedent or the law.

They care about control.

And we need to care more about doing the hard things instead of looking bad on cable news. 

This week you have Members of a Congress threatening telecom companies if they comply with subpoenas—that’s obstruction of justice.

You have Texas subjugating women.

You have multiple states hellbent on limiting our right to vote.

You have California facing a recall. 

School board meetings are full of parents denouncing science and history.

Politicians are using that chaos to defund public education.

Our nation is in crisis and we’re pretending our hands are tied.

We lack not options for moving forward, but the courage to do so. 

There is no doubt in my mind that our nation is in safer hands with President Biden.

But there’s also no doubt in my mind that if the “political consultants” had the backbone + experience of pro-democracy fighters in red states we’d be a lot more prepared to survive this storm.