Ok, excuse me for my ignorance, but when did it become unpatriotic to disagree, to dissent, to challenge the status quo in America? Last time I checked, and correct me if I’m wrong on this, but isn’t that at the heart, the very acorn of the countries founding? You know, throwing tea into Boston harbour, taxation without representation, bunch of angry landowners rising up against the tyrannical British overlords?
Seriously disturbing to watch as the right-wing MAGA mob and GOP members of congress, right wing media, rally round the whole notion that somehow chanting racist tropes at fellow citizens is now acceptable practice when that citizen who has a dark skin tone dissents, disagrees, speaks up, maybe says something they don’t agree with.
Well, not to mention the whole free speech thing seems to be gone with the wind.
I mean, certainly that dream of America was always a work in progress, a vision of something worthy, something that other nations themselves have been inspired by, that idea of WE the people, your tired your poor, all that and all those mythic tales told to tots to feather their dreams with hope.
Oh, but ok, only certain skin tones need apply? I don’t recall that part etched on that lady that stands in New York City harbour?
Reading comments from these same loyalists is generally even more disturbing, as apparently a good economy and trade wars are of far more significance to these loyalists than, oh, I don’t know, morality, equality, maybe freedom of speech.
Yet, I know, they are fed a steady diet of these ideas, over and over, and from their vantage point I suppose they feel they are looking out for their own interests, racist though they may be, putting more significance on their own financial gain, and let slide the presidents’ infidelity, racism, corruption, and that he stood by and watched as a foreign power interfered in the U.S. election. Well, certainly can understand that winning at all cost, and throwing out the window all the christian principles they are supposed to stand up for, winning is far more important.
Ok. Got it.
Now, kick me I know, but had a lapse and in a spurt of stupid this morning, read the comments section and came upon some loyalist. So, basically they were responding to an article from Macleans Magazine related to what the crooked Don is up to, and this was some commenters twisted evaluation – money over morality.
They went on about how important the economy, and blasting away trade deals with allies that they found distasteful, and believe, I suppose, that moral corruption and old racist chants are of little significance to them, or fidelity or corruption, or hanging out with pedophiles – or, maybe they just like all that stuff?
So they have no issue with his lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy, nor pride.
That right there should tell all of us what we need to know about these people who still support him. This is their framework, that they do not really care about morality, bigotry, misogyny, and corruption at the core of this administration, because the economies good.
That their loyalty to this man goes against every single Christian value many of them are supposed to uphold is hard to grasp. That is what I just don’t understand, besides lip service to that lord and Savior, and besides the daily quoted bible verses that I guess is somehow meant to white wash it all away, besides.
But I do still wonder if many of them really know what they are saying? Do they know how morally rotten they look? Do they care?
I mean, do they really understand that this whole situation with these four congresswomen, well, basically doing their job, serving their constituents, asking the difficult questions, the politically incorrect questions, and asking why the administration is treating fellow human beings as political fodder to incite division within his own country? Can you fault these four young women with this chance to change things, can you fault them for wanting to make the world a better place?
I remember when I thought I could change the world, difference being that these four women just might, not just for the few, or the rich, or just those with certain tones of skin, or certain beliefs.
Because, lets be clear, there are companies that are being paid big bucks to house and feed these children locked up at the southern border, at greater expense than it would cost if they had left the children with their parents, so there can be no denying that the point of this spectacle at the border is to profit from cruelty, a show for the MAGA mob.
But, we all know that the base likes their cruelty, they like how the administration is dealing with these desperate people fleeing gang war violence and insidious corruption at home. They like to see tear stained faces in filthy clothes on scared children, they like to see guards having to wear face masks from the stench of the overcrowded jail cells. They like the sight of big black uniformed ICE agents dragging away people with dark skin.
So, of course they like that he tells a fellow American citizen to go back where they came from, when that citizen has a skin colour they deem inferior and should just be grateful they allow them to stay. They like that the message he’s sending is that only white folks are REAL citizens, all the others are just insignificant peasants who need to keep their mouths shut and appreciate their good fortune to be allowed to stay in THEIR country.
Because, lets be clear, that is what this group seems to think, or that’s how it looks from up here in the Great White North sitting on the front porch of hell, sipping ice tea from a plastic cup in this heat wave.
Looking into the middle distance, the path ahead is unclear. The direction of the United States, and the place where all this is leading is unknown, and personally I find it is very scary, to stand by and watch as it unfolds, I feel a sense of helplessness… and so I write. And rant.
But up here in Canada we are not immune, as it seeps over the border just the same, in our very own right-wing extremest, Doug Ford, like a Donny-lite, but ours used to deal drugs. YAY Ontario.
What’s that saying? The road to hell is paved with good intentions? Well, maybe in this case not so much good as selfish and greedy power monopolies bent on twisting the fabric of the country to serve an elitist agenda.
Which in and of itself rather interesting since I thought THAT was essentially what these leaders are supposed to change. Wasn’t it? Did I miss something?
Instead, they infested the swamp with even more self-serving hustlers and predators of every stripe.
I mean, there is no planet B. But the MAGA mob doesn’t care, put more debt on the credit card, Donny boy, keep that economy chugging along.
We are at the point where there is no going back, decades of scientific research tells us, over and over again, that our ecological footprint on this earth is tipping the balance, and that there is no reason for us not to believe the word of thousands and thousands of scientists all around the world. There are many alternatives coming to market, many alternatives that are in many ways far superior to the ways in which we do things today, how we acquire energy, use our resources, dispose of our waste. But how would any of them know that? And would they care?
Economical alternatives that make sense, not just for the earth, but for us all, we the people, the beings who rely on the earth for our future.
Yet, with the twisting and turning of these four congresswomen’s words, the president has created just the atmosphere of hate and fear that fuels his base to hate and fear, in a cycle of chaos, amid a fractured dialogue, he perpetuates racist ideologies that many of his followers believe, because it serves a purpose – keeping him in the spotlight, controlling the narrative.
I hear people say, that she said this, or she said that, and none of it is true – words out of context, taken from a broader conversation on a piece discussing a larger issue that affects Americans in a direct and profound ways – but, whatever, they don’t care.
But I care.
Their courage to speak truth to power is frightening for the wealthy elites who fuel the republican tank with guns and gas and a few rubles on the side.
Its very clear that the republicans in Washington and beyond fear these women because they are actually doing their jobs, working for THE people, not some people, not people with a certain skin colour, or a particular religion, but ALL the people, and that scares them. Why? Well, maybe because they fear losing their cushy little cheque.
All about the money, honey.
by PaulaB 