OK, I’ve pointed out over and over here that individual 1 uses the “Big Lie Theory” of the Nazi’s in order to cause people to believe demonstrably FALSE propaganda is true. By repeating his LIES over and over again people start to believe he MUST be telling the truth. In the case of the upcoming election our IMPEACHED so-called president is attacking our election process as fraudulent to the point where I don’t doubt many of his supporters are believing the only way he can lose is by a rigged election. This is pure Nazi propaganda and he uses it because it works with his uneducated voters and the help of his sycophants on Fox “news” like Sean Hannity – who is volunteering for a place in the History book I often talk about where individual 1 and his supporters will sit, right next to Benedict Arnold.
I’ve been pointing out the parallels between individual 1, the republican party, and the Third Reich back in the 1930’s in Germany for the past couple of years, and the one which bugs me the most, I suppose, has been the “base” of evangelical “Christians.” That was the “base” of Adolf Hitler which you can read about in the biography of (Dietrich) “Bonhoeffer” by Eric Metaxas (a great book, in my view) if you don’t believe me. I’ve often lamented my difficulty in understanding how any “Christian” could support individual 1, but I’m coming to understand my own naivete and “forgetfulness” in my understanding of American History. I’m presently reading “White Too Long” by Robert P Jones – a book studying “The Legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity.”
What was I thinking? – White Christians were the force behind slavery, Jim Crow, Lynchings, Segregation, and the battle to prevent African Americans from voting among other “deplorable” things all throughout our history. Me, thinking conservative “Christians” couldn’t possibly be supporting a neo-Fascist like individual 1 was, well, pure “poppycock.” In my naivete I keep thinking we’re reading the same Bible as I struggle to understand how so many “Christians” could interpret it in such a “dark” way. In my view, individual 1 is encouraging the violence engulfing our major cities which, to me, is due to a continuation of the LYNCHING of Black Americans by the police – and, then, our IMPEACHED so-called president uses the protests which result from the MURDERING of one Black man after another to suggest this is what America will be like under a Biden presidency. Of course, the TRUTH is, this is how it is in individual 1’s America, under his OWN administration. This is projection, pure and simple!
The reality is “Christians” have been the force behind “White Supremacy” for generations upon generations. We saw the emergence of the so-called “Tea Party” once “we the people” chose a person of “color,” Barack Obama to be our president. Anyone who watched the gatherings of the “Tea Party” back then would be deluding themselves if they fail to accept, as reality, the “Tea Party” was founded on racism. Today’s racists in America seem to go out of their way to shroud their racism in a way they consider giving them deniability. But, it’s undeniable individual 1 got his “footing” in the 2016 election via his pushing of the “birther” movement against President Obama – a “strategy” republicans are “dusting off” because we now have another person of color on the upcoming ballot.
Sadly, many of these racists are part of various denominations of Christianity – it’s undeniable. And, let me assure you, the fact individual 1 can get Black football players to stand in front of the republican convention and say, “individual 1 is not a racist” does not make it so. As those who’ve said, “watch what he does, not what he says,” in regard to individual 1 – by doing so, and examining his history – actual things he’s said and done – and you have to be delusional to believe he’s not a racist. I mean I just mentioned the “birther” thing – then there’s the refusing to rent to people of color, the “Central Park Five,” the “Mexicans are rapists, etc,” the “Shithole countries” comment, the references of multiple people listening to him using the “N word,” and on and on.
Again, my disappointment is caused by the FACT his “base” is made up of “Christians,” not that he’s a racist. This country is teaming with racists and many people like myself, who believe we’re NOT racists, actually have a lot of soul searching to do as we watch another UNARMED Black MAN shot by police – this time SEVEN times in the BACK as his three children were sitting in the car he was attempting to enter. Someone needs to tell police to STOP shooting unarmed Black Americans. I was raised by a person, my father, I considered a racist and when I went to college to play basketball and found myself on a team with Black teammates I instantly realized I had been TAUGHT to fear people of color and it was shameful.
The reality, in America, is that segregation is NOT a thing of the past. While I believe there have been many advances since I was a young person the obvious reality is there’s a LONG way to go. Just listening to the republican convention where there have been multiple people warning “housewives” about what will happen to the “suburbs” in “Joe Biden’s America” confirms we have a LONG way to go – this is being said in a national political “convention.” Of course, that’s a “dog whistle” to warn White people about – well, I’ll let you fill in the blank – what’s going to happen to their neighborhoods if………… Individual 1 started this “deplorable” line of fear mongering – and, it’s been picked up by others making it a key part of the republican party’s 2020 agenda. Yikes!!!
Remember, the republicans chose to shred any semblance of a “platform,” ceding the republican message to whatever comes off the top of individual 1’s head. And, members of the “Christian” community who’ve “hitched their wagons” to individual 1, are, essentially, approving so many things which, at least to me, are contrary to the teachings of Jesus. Obviously, we’re all “sinners,” but we also have the ability to process information and choose between what is clearly a challenge to the issue of “right and wrong.” Individual 1, as I’ve been saying for years now, is creating DAMAGE to this nation which will take years, maybe decades to “fix” – especially, if he CHEATS his way into another term in office.
I’ve pointed out for years the bedrock of this nation, for example, is the Justice Department. Americans believing in the apolitical administration of Justice is the foundation of our republic. Obviously, if you’re a Black person you have a completely different picture of whether our Justice Department is “fair,” and now ALL of us are seeing the department politicized into a “weapon” by William Barr serving the whims of our IMPEACHED so-called president. To “throw” his disregard for our belief that this is a “nation of laws and not men,” individual 1 is ENCOURAGING a new level of lawbreaking during the republican convention of all things. (Why am I not surprised?)
Clearly, individual 1’s supporters say they believe in “law and order,” but they could care less when our IMPEACHED so-called president is “flipping off” the constitution and our system of laws. For example: The Hatch Act was passed back in the late 1930’s to prevent members of the executive branch of government from mixing politics with their official duties. Many people are upset by the blatant abuse of that Act during the republican convention, but when you do a little research you see members of individual 1’s administration have been routinely violating the Hatch Act since the early days of the administration.
Kellyanne Conway has announced she is leaving the administration at the end of August, with her final official act being a speech at this republican convention, but the Office of Legal Counsel long ago said she SHOULD have been relieved of her duties because she was routinely violating the Hatch Act. There have been NUMEROUS violations of the Hatch Act by others during individual 1’s term in office and, as far as I can tell, there has been not ONE instance of accountability so it should NOT be a surprise to see blatant middle fingers at the LAW during this convention. Yes, they’re violating the law and NO nothing will come of it. They believe their supporters don’t care, and I believe they’re correct – sadly.
For example, I tried to watch part of the “convention” on the last night and – I guess I haven’t been paying attention to the “news” lately, but there were surely OVER 1000 chairs situated on the lawn of the “White House” where individual 1 was holding his “convention” – after being spurned by North Carolina and Florida due to the pandemic. (And, of course, republicans were making a point of NOT “social distancing” or wearing masks) Here’s the rub – virtually EVERY one of individual 1’s surrogates, including his daughter, who spoke on the “White House” grounds was violating the Hatch Act. That’s the “people’s house” and it’s a violation of the law to do any political campaigning on Federal property – period, full stop! This is our “law and order” IMPEACHED so-called president in action.
November 3rd can’t come soon enough for me and I hope progressive Americans vote in even greater numbers than they did in 2018 when they first repudiated individual 1. Yes, he’s got a cult following and he’ll get 40% of the vote, but it’s up to “we the people” to put an end to this nightmare. And, it’s going to be difficult to recover from the DAMAGE individual 1 has inflicted upon America, but the sooner we start the sooner we can get beyond it. The sad reality is the DYING from Covid-19 will continue at a pace which was unnecessary had we a national plan to deal with the pandemic and the reality of over 20 MILLION Americans out of work is depression level unemployment which is being “covered up” by the Fed pumping TRILLIONS into the stock market to keep it from “tanking.” Who knows what the numbers are for people “under employed” like my son who’s been called back to work, but for only 9 – 10 hours per week. Essentially, he’s still unemployed. (He works in a restaurant) 50 MILLION Americans have filed for unemployment since March!
Individual 1 continues to project his own failures on to Joe Biden. He’s assuming “we the people” are completely stupid. I’ve been saying for years the republican party is turning America into a corporatocracy where the “rich get richer and the poor get poorer.” I believe the “statistics” since the days of Ronald Reagan bears this out. At this point in time the issue of “income inequality” is suffocating this country – unless, of course, you’re in the class of people above the poverty line. Most of us in the “Baby Boomer” generation have benefited from the best of this country – yet, many of us are turning our backs on those less fortunate. To me, individual 1 has exacerbated this problem. His ONLY legislative “accomplishment” is a tax cut (scam) for those who ABSOLUTELY didn’t need it and, as he leaves office, this country will be bleeding debt like it never has before.
And, while Joe Biden is campaigning on a message of “unity,” I can guarantee you the remnants of what’s left of the republican party after this election – should Biden win and the Senate be turned “blue” – will be returning to the days of the “deficit hawks” and the only way we will see unity in America is if “we the people,” after the election, stay “connected” and demand the change which MOST of us understand is necessary if we are ever to be “united.” We need to face up to our problems, HONESTLY. We need to face up to our history, HONESTLY. And, we need to choose whether we want to be a country of “haves and have nots” going forward. It will take what republicans (and some democrats and independents) consider radical changes to get America back to where we have a flourishing middle class.
And, finally, we need to DEMAND that White police officers STOP shooting Black unarmed Americans. Thanks to cell phone videos we’re seeing what has been going on for years (centuries?) as Black Americans keep getting MURDERED (Lynched). I watched the latest example in horror as Jacob Blake was shot SEVEN times in the BACK by a police officer as he was entering a car full of his children – clearly unarmed. I watched in horror as George Floyd was MURDERED on the streets of Minneapolis – suffocated to death with one police officer’s knee on his neck and another with his knee on the middle of his back and another on his legs. Rayshard Brooks was killed by police in Memphis and it was caught on video. And, Breonna Taylor, there’s no video and how many others have been killed with no video? Was this even mentioned at the republican convention?
I could only stomach so much, but I didn’t hear anything – other than a couple rich White people who aimed their automatic weapons at protesters walking PEACEFULLY through their neighborhood being asked to speak despite being under indictment – confirming individual 1’s warning about “housewives” in the “suburbs” which would suggest republicans still don’t “get” that “Black Lives Matter.” The encouraging part of all this, to me, is there are MANY White Americans standing arm in arm with Black Americans who’ve finally said “enough already.” I’ve always said government should work from the “bottom up” NOT from the “top down” – as it has since the days of Reagan. And, of course, it’s not just people of “color” who are at the “bottom,” and, to me, our focus as a nation should be how we can make things more equitable for everyone, how do we “lift” people up? And, while republicans will cry out “socialism, socialism” I believe there is a balance place between “socialism” and a regulated capitalist society.
For those who say they believe in “free markets,” I say, that is, “free markets” that are set up (regulated) to their interests. I don’t believe there have EVER been “free markets” in America during my lifetime. The disconnect between Wall Street and “Main Street” today is the perfect example of what I’m talking about. If we had “free markets” we would be totally in the middle of another “Great Depression.” When you watch the Fed manipulating the markets – meaning Wall Street – it’s hard to suggest we have “free markets.” In 2008 Wall Street was bailed out on a much smaller scale than what is happening right now – but, my point is, America does NOT have a “free market” economy. It’s got an economy which is skewed toward the wealthy, period! That’s what “we the people” want to see changed – a fairer “playing field.”
Final Thought: Try to picture what it’s like to be a Black person in America. It seems, to me, a bit outrageous listening to our IMPEACHED so-called president listing “Antifa” as a “terrorist organization” – when Black Americans consider the Police to be a terrorist organization. And, of course, when you read about our history, you can see why Black Americans would FEAR those in the Churches who’ve participated in the systemic racism over the years – which has morphed into official “LYNCHINGS” by the police where, back in the early to mid twentieth century, the LYNCHINGS often materialized right from the pulpit of various churches. It really is TIME to deal with this issue and those who identify with White Nationalism, in my view, need to be encouraged to retreat to the rocks they were hiding under prior to Obama’s election.
And, do you find it a bit of “deplorable” irony that individual 1 and his supporters are basing their campaign on claiming what is happening in our streets RIGHT NOW is what you can expect from “Joe Biden’s America.” These people are such LIARS that they’ve evolved to the point where their LYING is referencing their OWN failures. I’ll say it once more, the saddest part in all this is, to me, the FACT it’s the “Christian community” – and, I should say MOST “conservative Christians” – who form the “base” of our IMPEACHED so-called president. I’m a, I guess, LIBERAL Christian and I find little to NOTHING coming from the “White House” which comports to my understanding of the Bible. Stay tuned………………
OK, speaking of “Antifa,” the dreaded “terrorist organization” according to individual 1 and William Barr. There have been many arrests, so far, in the demonstrations for “Black Lives Matter,” regarding those creating vandalism and violence, and, as far as I can tell, not ONE of them has been someone affiliated with “Antifa.” The other night in Kenosha there was a group of self proclaimed “militia” walking the streets carrying automatic weapons and one of them, a young 17 year old boy, killed two people and wounded a third – then walked right out of town past police cars and vans without incident. Do you think they let him walk out because he’s White? Later, the police, who had earlier tossed him a water bottle and thanked him for being there, (picture if there was a group of Black men carrying AR15’s at the protest – would the police been tossing them water bottles???) arrested him and charged him with two felony homicides – and, this young man is a strong supporter of individual 1 – NOT Antifa! Additionally, of all the others arrested across the many protests in America (that is, in individual 1’s America), from what I’ve read, many have been affiliates of the group calling itself “Boogaloo.” They converge on protests in order to instigate violence and destruction – attempting to put the blame on the peaceful protesters and, of course, “Antifa” – whatever that is. Sad!