October 13, 2019

The Republican powers that be aren't crazy, at least not in a clinical sense.

Howard Dean indicated that William Barr is "mentally unbalanced." I understand the temptation to refer to the likes of William Barr as mentally ill (given his speech about the ills of secularism and his contributing to the Deep State narrative), especially when so much of the rhetoric is increasingly 'unhinged', in addition to being just plain cruel. While there are mentally unbalanced people within the ranks of the powers that be, including narcissistic Trump, and most definitely within the electorate, the likes of Barr and Bannon and Miller and Pompeo and Mulvaney and McConnell are - make no mistake - driven by a specific ideology. They aren't "crazy" in any clinical sense, and some of them are quite intellectual. They're self-interested fascists out to undermine all democratic institutions. Most are racists, sexists and Christian supremacists themselves, or - at the very least - have no problem fomenting and exploiting racism and sexism and religious bigotry, which have proven for a long time to be highly effective tools for realizing their version of fascism (for which the Powell Memo served as an early blueprint).

They've seen the writing on the wall (social progression, increased secularism, changing demographics, etc.), so their tactics have become increasingly extreme (intense voter suppression and gerrymandering, extreme deregulation and privatization, full-throated attacks on science and public education, persistent attacks on the "liberal media" in the interest of shifting the Overton Window, stealing a Supreme Court seat and packing the judiciary with right wing ideologues, aligning with dictators who share the goal of undermining democracy for personal enrichment, replacing the dog whistle with a bullhorn, and so on). They take comfort in a tyranny of the minority system which, paradoxically, makes major structural reform nearly impossible to bring about for the very reasons why such reform is so desperately needed. Still, they have reason to fear and thwart the impacts of social evolution.

We can't afford to simply dismiss these monsters as mentally ill, even if they all happen to be sociopaths. It's vital that we understand that with which we're dealing.

October 12, 2019

Question for all those who are confident Trump is a goner.

Do you think he'll resign?

Do you think he'll actually get convicted by the Senate?

Or do you just think he'll lose his re-election bid?

October 10, 2019

My poem on racism

Fellow "white" people, please hear me out
We've been bamboozled, let there be no doubt

When divided, we're conquered, too
There's a sickness worse than any pandemic flu

A tool used to suppress wages and pollute our common air
A tool used to keep us all from affordable health care

Convinced of who's deserving and who's not
Willing to die so long as "they" don't get what's sought

Told we're better and given just enough more
Sold a bill of goods to keep us poor

Blinded to injustice, corruption and lies
Numb to hypocrisy and all those caged cries

To save your family, you'd cross any arbitrary border
But we aren't in those shoes, so we talk of law and order

Police brutality is disproportionate we know
We were told he's dead but there stands Jim Crow

The disease can be cured but only if we unite
It infects systems and structures, we're needed in this fight

There are no people of "white" descent
That's made up capital that we've done spent

Du Bois referred to our "psychological wage"
We're long overdue to redirect white rage

Genocide and enslavement formed the foundation
Upon lacerated backs was built a nation

Trillions worth of unpaid labor
Reparations wouldn't be some favor

No, simply put, a massive debt is owed
A construct, a lie and hatred was sowed

Dehumanization to justify families torn apart
And that, dear friends, was just the start

Rape, mutilation and the taking of life
The 13th did not end the strife

Convict leasing, lynchings, a phony drug war
New Deal for some, others shown the door

Housing denied with a simple red line
My ancestors given access, no question what's mine

Access to colleges another omission
No fuss, though, over legacy admission

I trust you can see the wealth gap was not fated
It was methodically, viciously, intentionally created

The same can be said of the ghetto and reservation
Don't be fooled by media misrepresentation

Hannity and Carlson, they're not your friend
They profit off keeping us bitter til the end

The media asks candidates if Trump is a racist
They ask if water is wet and pretend he's not also a rapist

We've been exploited and used
To ensure we overlook the abused

Cast off the chains, let's be free
Not us vs. them but an ethic of we

Equality sounds nice but equity's the goal
Find your humanity and play a vital role

October 3, 2019

What would it take to get a conviction?

Let's say Dems turned up audio of Trump saying to Putin, "If you promise to not release the videos of me raping children, I promise to do your bidding for as long as I'm in office."

Would that be enough to remove Trump from office? Or would Republicans argue that it was fake audio, or that it's concerning but not impeachable?

Seriously, what would it take?

October 3, 2019

Dems, repeat after me, transparent illegality is still illegality.

It's quite obvious that Trump and Republicans are using the strategy of "If I'm open about asking foreign governments to help me politically, then it can't be wrong." Trump did it in 2016 with "Russia, if you're listening..." And then there's Trump's comment to Stephanopoulos, his released call summary with Zelensky, Barr and Giuliani not really hiding what they're doing in places like Italy, Trump's open remarks about China investigating Biden, and so on.

If Dems don't constantly beat back that narrative, it will dominate. If there's one thing Republicans understand, it's establishing the dominant narrative.