Boomer Thoughts Day After Election Day

The first story I looked at regarding the election made me sick.  I will say this: both parties expected either a big red or a big blue wave. Traditionally, the Thugs should have beat out the Dems because that always seems to happen in a President’s first term.  I phone banked for Andy Kim, for AOC, for Call 4 Change and for the Democratic party. All the volunteers worked their hearts out. The problem was the Dem’s plans of action. They didn’t go far enough calling out the Thugs’ bad behavior.  The leadership was very subdued, even when Paul Pelosi was brutally attacked.  When Thugs laughed and joked about it, no one in the party stood up and shouted, “Have you no shame?”

The biggest mistake the Repugs made was underestimating just how much they’d pissed off women and Gen Z voters.  They celebrated and rejoiced over SCOTUS’ overturning of Roe v. Wade until they began to see and hear the backlash. They backed off the joy and some even scrubbed anti-abortion language off their websites.  But then they began to get the mistaken idea that abortion was an old issue that no one cared about anymore. They were bigly wrong. They also didn’t expect the enormous turn out by young people, Gen Z and Millennials.  There were so many young people voting that the Thugs in Congress are talking about raising the voting age from 18 to 21.  It’s just more voter suppression.  It’s OK for an 18-year-old to buy and carry an AR-15 and to be drafted but not to vote? Come on. Are you fucking kidding me? I am so impressed with Gen Z, the kids who range in age from teen up to around 25 or 26. They are not the lazy, uncaring bunch of youths Thugs would like us to think. These young people are very much aware of the hazards in their futures and are actively working to make changes so it’s not so awful. I remember young people from the 60s and 70s. Gen Z reminds me of them. But WTF has happened to Baby Boomers? Half of them have lost their damn minds and sold out to the Establishment.  Don’t they remember marching to protest injustice?  There are still Boomers who actively participate in trying to make change but the ones who’ve sold out are giving us a bad name. That brings me to the disgust I felt this morning.  The most fascist, vile of the vile have been re-elected by the sheeple: Ron Death Santis as Governor of FL, Marco Rubio, Senator; Marjorie Taylor Greene, reelected to the Senate from Georgia; Kemp re-elected Governor of Georgia; Abbott re-elected in Texas; AZ, NV and GA in Senate races so close they can’t be called. What’s worse in those five states: FL, TX, AZ, NV and GA? Some very fine Democratic candidates ran against them. Just to name a few: Beto O’Rourke, Mandela Barnes, Val Demings, Tim Rice, Stacey Abrams, and Charlie Crist. There are so many. The Dems failed some of the candidates with lack of enough support. That’s what happened to Tim Rice and he was beaten by election denier GQPer J.D. Vance. Georgia and Florida and Texas! What the fuck is wrong with the voters there? In Texas, millions didn’t bother to vote. WHY? Beto O’Rourke would’ve made a wonderful governor; instead, people went with the man who utterly failed them during repeated power outages and still hasn’t addressed the issue, Greg Abbott.  Abbott and his partner in crime, Death Santis of Florida, also had the bright idea to kidnap immigrants waiting for legitimate hearings to stay in this country and fly them to blue states. I guess the white supremacists in Wisconsin preferred to re-elect Ron Johnson, another right wing tRumper who promises to get rid of Social Security and Medicare.  I think the reason that doesn’t scare older voters as much is because they figure they won’t live too much longer anyway. Could that be? Well, what if they live to 90 and discover they aren’t covered by Medicare anymore?  There's no thought given to people coming up now, edging closer to eligibility.  Tough luck? Hey, when social security and Medicare came into being, they weren't handouts. Workers have been paying into social security with every pay check. When the program began, people knew they were paying in to HELP THEIR ELDERLY NEIGHBORS. And the idea was, when they were old enough to collect, younger people had been paying in long enough to support the ones going to retire. It's NOT an entitlement. We paid into it. Seniors have to get mad about people losing their rights. It's not just women who lost the rights to control their own bodies in these increasingly fascist red states. It affects ALL of us.  Once the red fascists gain more power, they'll be looking to eliminate other fundamental rights. Think they won't? Get your head out of your butt and read what these people having been saying over and over.  They know no one is really paying attention or are too dumb/gullible or too preoccupied with their own financial struggles to care. People have to care. Hard times come and go. We are all riding a roller coaster of good times and bad times.  But we have to focus on what these politicians are saying. And DO SOMETHING. Georgia’s another one that boggles my mind. Senator Rev. Raphael Warnock is a preacher, a family man, a man with values. You’d think that would appeal to the Georgians.  Don’t they value those things? No? Oh, half of them (the whites, not surprisingly) prefer to support an immoral man who says the stupidest things anyone could possibly imagine.  The Hershel Walker supporters may think he’s a moron but they also know that he’s a mouthpiece for tRump. I seem to remember reading about a situation like this before. I’ve always been interested in history and learned much from historical fiction. Well, the topic I’m thinking of is the years leading up to the Civil War. At that time, there was a violent “militia” type group called the Know Nothings that ran around committing violent acts against immigrants and people of color because they believed “white is right”. Tensions were rising between the North and South. Here we go again. Texas has made some noises about seceding. To be honest, my gut feeling is: “good riddance to bad cess. And take Florida and Georgia with you.” We’re here because we don’t learn from history. I don’t think we ever will. That’s one of the flaws we’re gifted with. It’s genetic. It’s not just us. I remember the Sunday School stories about how God’s chosen people were banned and punished over and over because He’d say “Do this” and they’d be like, “Ok” and then go off and do as they pleased, following their own stupid ideas because they figured they knew better or that they understood what God really meant to say, see? So, this behavior is ok…until it wasn’t. Sometimes I wish I hadn’t learned all I did over the years. Ignorance is bliss, right? But that’s ok. Life is just one big roller coaster ride. We go up, we go down. I’m remembering all those young people showing up to vote and I see a better future in them.  They’re smart, they’re savvy, they’re diverse, they’re passionate, they’re angry and they want to do the right thing. Once we were all like that, weren’t we?  Some of us still are like that, aren’t we?

 

Election Day Eve

 

I was thinking I should write something about the election tomorrow. My thoughts are coming and going at a hundred miles per hour. Sometimes I feel worried and very anxious, and then I think about the huge number of people—especially young people and women—who have already come out and cast their ballots.  Early in-person voting ended or will be ending and those who haven’t voted yet or mailed/deposited in a designated drop box will have to vote in person.

In some states, that can be a scary experience.  There’s already been reports of vigilantes geared up and carrying weapons showing up at drop boxes in Arizona to “make sure everything is done right.” The first response was to restrict these vigilantes from carrying their weapons etc., which was appealed and then a seniors group filed for a restraining order. A federal judge, Michael T. Liburdi denied the request.  He didn’t think armed vigilantes constituted a threat to voters dropping their ballots into drop boxes.  Great decision.

Every day, someone in the Rethuglican party says or does something that is increasingly disgusting, misleading, deflecting, inciting, or outright declaring the fascist policies they want to institute if they regain control of Congress. Important swing states are Pennsylvania, Florida, Georgia, Wisconsin, and Nevada.  Michigan could go either way. Even our own representative, Andy Kim, has gone from basically no-contest to toss-up.  A lot of it is because of Rethuglican gerrymandering. How they got away with that is a puzzle to me.

Rethuglicans have been very clever at placing their followers into positions of authority on school boards, as election agents and secretaries of state.  Red governors and red secretaries of state could throw out or contest votes that go against them.

Then there’s the violence that just sickens me. A twisted tRumper broke into Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s house.  He didn’t find her there and, instead, brutally attacked her husband, Paul Pelosi, with a hammer.  Instead of condemning the act or sympathizing with the Pelosis, Rethuglican legislators chose to mock and joke at what happened.  I only saw messages condemning the violence from Senator McConnell and Rep. Kinzinger.  There were just crickets from everyone else.  Where is the morality?  Have these MAGAs flat out sold their souls to tRumpism?

I knew that members of the January 6^th committee had to have protection and also needed protection for their families.  I knew that other people were being threatened either because they wouldn’t fall in line with tRumpism or to scare them to the point they wouldn’t speak out against what MAGAs were doing.  Now MAGAs target the families. 

When Paul Pelosi was attacked so brutally and Rethug legislators chose to either mock or keep lips zipped tight, I felt like my mind was blown.  I remember a time when the R’s and D’s would work together to find common ground in spite of their differences.  What’s happening now is absolutely horrifying.  How do you begin to connect with soulless people like that?  The ones who object but are too afraid to speak up are complicit too.  By not condemning what MAGAs are doing, these cowards are supporting the violence, the outright lies, manipulation, and terror tactics employed by their party.

Some of them claim to be “Christian” nationalists but they aren’t at all.  It makes me so mad to see them proclaiming to follow the teachings of Christ…but are doing the exact opposite.  The awful policies they want to instate are anti-Christian.  Jesus wouldn’t approve.  Obviously, these “Christian” nationalists aren’t reading the New Testament.

And what is this nonsense about the United States being a Christian country? It’s not and never was intended to be.  Obviously these MAGAs also haven’t read any of the quotes by John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, or even Ronald Reagan.

John Adams said: “As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion,—as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquility, of Mussulmen [Muslims],—and as the said States never entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mahometan [Mohammedan] nation, it is declared by the parties that no pretext arising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries.”

Thomas Jefferson said: ““If, therefore, from the settlement of the Saxons, to the introduction of Christianity among them, that system of religion could not be a part of the common law, because they were not yet Christians; and if, having their laws from that period to the close of the common law, we are able to find among them no such act of adoption; we may safely affirm (though contradicted by all the judges and writers on earth) that Christianity neither is, nor ever was, a part of the common law.”

And this from former President Ronald Reagan, a Repub hero: “We establish no religion in this country, church and state are, and must remain separate.”

In this country, people practice many different religions.  How dare the MAGAs think they can force us all into one?  That’s really scary.

MAGAs are against anything that would serve people, including social security, Medicare, Medicaid, reproductive rights, the right to love and marry whomever you want, and to blatantly discriminate against people of color, different religions, and different sexuality and gender identity.  What they propose to do is absolutely brutal to the already badly damaged middle class.

Why do people vote against their own best interests?  It continues to boggle my mind.

I don’t even know what point I’m trying to make. That’s how frazzled I feel and how fired up my brain continues to be, protesting against all this evil.  I write and post and tweet but it doesn’t seem like I’m heard.  I do feel engaged and positive when I phone or text bank. I am connecting directly with voters and I feel as if I’m doing something useful and helpful.

Tomorrow is Election Day. If we voters really love the US and the Constitution, then we’ll all make sure to vote blue.  I already did.  I’m praying for good news when all the results are counted.

Here are newsletters where I get trustworthy information:

Voter Intimidation by Dan Rather

Political Violence by Dan Rather

Dispatches From A Collapsing Nation

An Unsettled Time by Dan Rather

Musk, Trump, and the Demeaning of America by Robert Reich

Tsunami of Truth by Michael Moore, the latest in an ongoing series

Sheeple Panic/"New Normal" No Way

After deleting a bunch of junk mail, I came across History’s “This Day In History” newsletter.  On October 30, 1938, a very young Orson Welles and his Mercury Theatre group decided to air an updated version of H.G. Wells’ book The War Of The Worlds.  They didn’t realize or expect the extreme panic it caused.  More details here.  I learned about it in an independent reading sometime when I was a teenager and my reaction was: how dumb could people be to fall for this?  A few years ago, I saw and episode of Cold Case called World’s End that gave an accurate depiction of the panic.

It seems what happened was radio listeners tuned in to the show late because they’d been listening to another show first.  They thought it was real and totally freaked.  I still wonder about it.  How could so many people not recognize the story?  How many could possibly ignore the parts of the show that clearly indicated this was fiction?

Well, then I thought about tRumpers.  Not the radicalized violent followers, nor the we-know-we’re-lying-but-we-don’t-care Rethuglicans.  I don’t mean them.  I mean your average voter.  They remind me of the people who freaked and panicked in 1938 because they believed what they were hearing.  These voters are swallowing The Big Lie because it’s been repeated to them  so many times it must be true.  They are drinking the Kool-Aid and are wearing blinders as well.  They don’t hear or see the truth and they happily vote against their own self interests. 

They don’t seem to mind when their representatives and favored famous idols say or do something cruel or commit acts of violence. They’re either celebrating over what happened or are silent.  They'll happily accept the "new normal" behavior from their representatives and heroes.

There are not even cricket sounds from our Rethuglican representatives and senators after the vicious attack on Paul Pelosi.  I saw something from Mitch McConnell that condemned the violence but not a single word from the House Rethug leader, Kevin McCarthy.  Some of those folk even have the nerve to mock what happened or, even worse, to celebrate it.  It was a horrifying attack against an innocent victim who just happened to be married to Speaker Pelosi.

The threats against Speaker Pelosi have been increasing.  There are threats against the members of the House Special Committee on January 6^th.  All of them need protective detail…but family members don’t qualify for that protection.  That’s how that tRumper was able to break in and injure Paul Pelosi.  Now family members are being targeted? Even organized families had an understanding to leave spouses, kids and grandkids alone.

Election officials and workers are being threatened.  Armed tRumper violent militia extremists have shown up to intimidate voters.

Is this America or is it AmeriKKKa?

And are we going to accept this as the new normal?  I would think that every Democrat would be loudly condemning this political violence that tRump and his cronies are inciting.  I am so not impressed with the lack of strong responses from the Democrats. 

I am not going to stand for this.  I will get up on my pedestal and holler from my laptop.  What’s happening now is NOT OKAY.  I know there are others who feel as I do.

Here are other columns that I read that tie in to all of this:

Dispatches From A Collapsing State

Raw Story

Michael Moore

Dan Rather