When did Missouri become part of Iran or the Taliban?

It's not just Missouri. This has been happening over the past year in the red states. Fascism. Control of anyone not a white male Protestant.

Focusing just on the Missouri House for a moment, there is a new dress attire just for women. I don’t think it has become the rule yet, but it was proposed that female legislators would have to make sure their arms are covered. I mean, WTAF? Women must be controlled and not allowed to make choices in dress for themselves now.  This is still the United States, right? Well, for white misogynistic men, but wait! A woman introduced this. Now my mind is truly blown.

This was the total rotten cherry on top of toxic icing on a poisonous cake called GQP Gone Wild.

Look at all the red states that have restricted or outlawed a woman’s right to choose. They were champing at the bit to do it even before the corrupt Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. I just read a heart-breaking story of a pregnant mother who, learning that her baby was going to be born without a skull, was told she could not end the pregnancy. She was sent home to endure a heart-breaking pregnancy and to bid her baby goodbye at birth because he or she would either be born dead or die within minutes.  She’s not the only one that has to endure a pregnancy with the outcome of delivering a dead or dying baby. It’s cruel and inhuman.

And what about the mothers who begin to miscarry, but it’s not completed? In these red states, doctors’ hands are tied, and they are unable to help these mothers. Many of them develop life threatening complications and the doctors are still not supposed to intervene. Inhuman. Cruel.

Then there are the women and children who are raped and are now forced to carry their rapist’s child. Nowadays, said rapist can sue for visitation. That adds insult to injury.

“It’s a man’s world.” That’s the Rethuglican point of view. We are stuck with them for the next two years.

It isn’t only women the Rethuglicans seek to oppress. It’s also children, people of color, members of the LGBTQ community, non-White-Anglo-Saxon-Protestants, the elderly, and the physically/mentally challenged.

Children? They are being denied correct knowledge. They are forbidden to learn the country’s true history. This is ridiculous and pathetic: Gov. Ron DeSantis of FL had math books scoured for anything that might remotely be related to CRT. CRT isn’t taught in any public school anywhere in the country, yet Rethuglicans yell and scream about it all the time. Death Santis proudly proclaims that CRT comes to Florida to die.

Not just Florida. In Ohio, a third-grade teacher was reading Dr. Seuss' book The Sneetches to her class. Do you remember that story? The star-bellied Sneetches were elite. They got the best of everything and looked down their noses at the plain bellied Sneetches. The two groups were the same except for the stars. Plain bellied Sneetches suffered bigotry and discrimination from their star bellied brothers and sisters.

And so, the plain bellied Sneetches began to wear stars on their bellies so that they could be treated equally, with respect. Did that happen? No, the star bellied Sneetches had theirs removed and continued to ostracize the others. A gentle lesson in what racism can do.

One of the little ones figured it out. He raised his hand and when called on, saw this is how the white people were treating the Black people. This kid was astute and totally right on. If only his little mind continues to expand with exposure to books like this and classes taught with true history, not whitewashed, he would grow into an open-minded young man.

But no. There was a school district official sitting there, and now she jumped up and stopped the discussion. What was she afraid those kids would learn from an open discussion? Her excuse for stopping the discussion was because the teacher was supposed to focus on the economics in the story. Who decided economics and racism couldn’t be discussed together? I think the students of Ohio are about to be as cheated as the ones in Florida and the other red states that moved to have any discussion of slavery, Jim Crow, Japanese internment, and so many other topics removed from school curriculums.

That’s not what America’s about. Presidents from Abraham Lincoln to John Kennedy to President Joe Biden have emphasized the importance of a quality education. But the Rethuglicans would like to keep everyone stupid and swallowing their Kool-Aid. Now the GQP-Rethuglicans are running the House.

In addition to some of the most ridiculous posturing and vindictive bills they’ve been introducing (which won’t pass the Senate or President Biden and so are wasting time), they have no legislative agenda other than to force the US to the brink of defaulting. Why would they do that? They want to extort the Senate and President so that they can make massive cuts into Social Securityand Medicare.

It doesn’t matter that those dependent on Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security can barely support themselves. It doesn’t matter that they want to take away money we’ve been putting into the system for years and years. It doesn’t matter that seniors already are on the verge of losing their homes because prices have gone so high, they have to decide between paying the rent or mortgage or food. The gas and electric bill or prescriptions. Once again, it’s cruel and inhuman.

I feel a heavy weight on me. Every day the news is full of just awful stories. If it’s not this, it’s about the corrupt tRump, unscathed and living the life of Riley, thumbing his nose at justice. It’s more white cops killing more innocent black men. 2023 seems to be a continuation of 2022, a year filled with GQP evil. Now I must go lie down and pull the covers over my head.

 

Social Security and Me

It was on this day in 1935 that Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act into law.  It was a part of his New Deal, which brought sweeping changes to how federal government dealt with its citizens.  People were suffering dreadfully during the Great Depression and these programs saved many from homelessness and starvation.  My mother was just 5 years old then so, of course, I have no memory of it.  But Heather Cox Richard’s Letter From An American provides a great background on how and why Social Security came about.

I started working full time right out of high school in 1973.  I thought I’d be making an awesome check, so I was pretty taken aback when I saw how much I actually made after federal and states taxes and whatever this “FICA” was.  I wasn’t overly bothered by it, however.  I was still living at home and although I gave my parents part of my salary, I still had a lot left over for myself.  When I lived on my own, though, I did grumble a bit.  I was young; what did I need Social Security for?

I learned over the years that I am ever so grateful for it.  By paying into Social Security, I was guaranteed at least a small monthly income when I retired.  Over the years, I learned that it was beneficial in so many other ways.

My first husband died in 2001 when he was only 40.  Our three kids were 14, 12 and 9 at the time.  Suddenly, half our income was gone and so was our health care coverage.  I was working as a freelance interpreter and while I had taxes and FICA withdrawn, I had no other benefits.  Social Security pays a ridiculous, almost insulting, sum of $255 to a surviving spouse.  I learned, though, that the money Rich had put into Social Security would be available to support our dependent children until they were 18.

What a relief!  I could continue to keep our home and get whatever the kids needed:  food, clothes, school supplies and expenses, and—most important of all—health care coverage.  If not for survivors’ benefits from Social Security, I shudder to think what would have happened to us.

I became disabled and unable to work.  I applied for disability benefits and was awarded on my second attempt.  Again, without that benefit, I don’t know what would have happened trying to survive with just the kids’ benefits.  They were aging out of them too.  I was too young to retire so SSD was a life saver for me.

Those benefits came because I’d contributed hard earned money into the Social Security account.

For some stupid reason, Repubs and now Rethugs/GQP have always viewed Social Security as an “entitlement” program.  No, it is NOT an entitlement program.  That fund, which is constantly raided by the Repubs, comes from money contributed by workers all over this country.  It is OUR money.

Now the Rethugs and GQP are making noise about gutting Social Security if they get control of Congress again.  That can’t stand.

Too many seniors support them, and I cannot for the life of me understand why.  Part of it, I know, is because of denial.  “That’ll never happen,” they say.  Well, we thought Roe v. Wade couldn’t be overturned and it was.  We didn’t think the Civil Rights Act would be gutted and it has.  Nothing is impossible with the GQP/Rethug legislators and Supreme Court.

My mind is boggled because these seniors were activists and protesters in the ‘60s and ‘70s.  Well, I know not all were but many were.  Now they all seem to be on the front porch, rocking in their chairs, and placidly watching the world go by.  It’s really past time for seniors to speak up and say forcefully, “Hands off our social security!”

I am retired now.  I don’t want the hassle of having to beg for my money from Congress every year.  Even if Ted and I are “grandfathered” in when the Thugs take away Social Security, there are still my adult children and growing grandchildren to worry about.  I will fight the Thugs every step of the way and hope and pray other seniors wake TF up and get involved.