In an earlier life, I was one of two members of the “Republican Committee” of Malvern, PA, a town of just under 3,000. Committee people choose candidates for public offices, from local to state to national.
That was PT – Pre-Trump – when Republicans and Democrats respected each other and were respected by voters.
Although the seeds were there. When County Republican Committee people met to vote, the outcome was pre-ordained. Most Committee people voted as they were instructed (most – hint hint). It was very disillusioning.
One time a Democratic Committee friend snuck me into a County Democratic Committee meeting. It was one long night of bloviating. No decisions, just talk, talk, talk, talk… Also very disillusioning.
Sound familiar? The only difference now is PTSD – Post Trump Stress Disorder. The anger and hatred generated by PTSD-ers is now threatening democracy itself.
What we are witnessing from Republicans in Washington and around the country today, from McConnell to Abbot, is the sophisticated and ruthless accumulation and abuse of power. What we are seeing from Democrats in DC and around the country, from Schumer to Wolf, is brain-numbing debates – like fleas arguing over who owns the dog, as a friend recently put it.
Republicans are all about accumulating power – to the detriment of the country; democrats are all about articulating the intellectually superior argument – to the detriment of the country.
West Virginia’s Manchin and Arizona’s Sinema are DINO’s – Democrats In Name Only. They’re torpedoing Biden’s entire agenda because they don’t like parts of it; for Manchin, what it does his coal country and cost, for Sinema, cost. Now Progressives and Moderate Democrats in the House are torpedoing it by fighting amongst themselves – spoiled children leaving the playground because they didn’t score all the goals.
It’s sickening.
You know what else is sickening? Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito’s calling the Court’s recent decision to avoid ruling on the Texas anti-abortion gambit a philosophical choice. Six of the nine justices, including the last three McConnell jammed in, are Catholics, appointed by Republican Presidents. They subscribe to a religious philosophy that prohibits women from positions of power in the church, as well as the power to choose whether to have a baby or not. That’s bias, Judge, bald-faced, philosophical bias.
Remember Separation of Church and State? Not any more. It’s the Merging of Church and State.
Alito also joined Barrett and Thomas in calling criticism an “unprecedented efforts to intimidate the court.” Hmmm…Crying foul when criticized… where have I seen that before?…Oh yes, Trump, McConnell, Cruz, Jordan.…
It’s sickening.
You know what else is sickening? Polls show 58% of Republicans refuse Covid vaccines vs. 15% of Democrats. Republicans have politicized something as apolitical as a vaccine.
The country just set a new record: over 700,000 people dead from Covid. That’s more than died of the 1918 flu. It’s more than the population of Boston. Vaccines prevent or minimize Covid. That’s the reason for the mandates, whether they’re issued by governments, local restaurants, airlines, or hospitals. Yet these people are afraid of vaccines. They think vaccines don’t work. They think mask and vaccine mandates are unconstitutional. So they attack restaurant workers, flight attendants, health care workers – anyone who requires them to wear masks or prove they’ve had the vaccine.
How many of those 700,000 men, women, and children died because of these “patriots”, who don’t know the difference between freedom and selfishness, who wrap themselves in the Stars and Stripes and give Covid to others?
I have an idea. Let’s give them the benefit of the doubt. Let’s keep them away from the rest of us, but let them refuse masks and shots. If these people don’t care about giving Covid to others or the consequences of doing that, I don’t care if they give it to themselves or the consequences of doing that.
Think of how healthy that will be for the country.