Goodbye Temporarily, Liz Cheney

Last night there were election primaries in Wisconsin and Alaska.  Liz Cheney lost, sadly to a tRump based right wing nut Harriet Hageman.  Liz Cheney has been an outspoken, almost lone Republican, trying to stop TFG.  She voted to impeach him and is serving admirably on the insurrection investigation committee.  TFG still has an unbelievable stronghold on the Rethuglicans and backed the screwball who ran against Cheney. 

In fact, any Repub who opposed TFG faced his wrath and either lost their primaries or decided to retire.  Adam Kinzinger, the other Repub on the committee, also voted to impeach and wearied of the threats on his life and on his family, deciding not to run again.  In Alaska, Senator Murkowski went up against TFG’s candidate.  TFG had a boner for her because she voted to impeach him.  What saved her is that, in Alaska, the top four contenders advance to the general election.  She was one of the four.

All of this goes to show how much influence TFG has among his party and his voters.  After all he’s done, people are still entranced with him.  It’s mind boggling.

I wanted to focus on the environment today but it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen.  There is just so much about Liz Cheney and her possibilities for the future.  What could they be?  After her loss, Cheney told NBC that she wanted to do whatever she could to see to it that TFG is stopped with “whatever it takes.”  For the now, she formed a new PAC and donated what was left in her war chest. 

The new PAC is called “The Great Task.”  It is great in more than one sense of the word.  To begin with, because tRump’s tentacles are so deep and because other quivering GOP members are too chicken shit, it’s not going to be easy to stop tRump unless he’s finally indicted.  It’s also a great task in that we need to get rid of the tRump malignancy sickening this country.  Maybe the other quivering GOP chicken shit members will join her in the effort.  It would be nice.

And what about running for the Presidency in 2024?  Cheney says she’s “thinking about it.”  Robert Reich mentioned that possibility in his column today.  Personally, I hope she does run.  She is just what the old “Grand Old Party” needs to bring it back to a sane, more humane track.  Or, the party could split in two: GOP and GQP/Thuglicans.

Would I vote for her?  Nope.  The reason why is this: she has voted with the rest of the Rethuglicans against every single piece of legislation that would help the American people.  She didn’t need to be loyal to them.  After all, after TFG disowned her, the party basically tossed her out on the street.  She was stripped of her powerful title in the House.  The fact that she still voted lock-step with the Rethugs says to me that she is just as cold bloodedly capitalistic as the rest of them.  Her family is rich and powerful in Wyoming and I don’t get the idea she knows anything about being in the middle or lower class.

So, no, I would never vote for her.  However, I think she’d run a more ethical campaign than TFG ever did.  I still admire her dedication for and determination to protect our Constitution.  So goodbye to the House, Liz Cheney, but I know this is not the end for you.

 

The Country of "What's Happenin Now?"

Every time I go to sit down and write out a blog post, like a memory of Woodstock (the concert which began on August 15, 1969), something new and exciting happens.  I am trying to figure out in which direction I should go next.

TFG’s passports have been confiscated and he is whining and screaming about that.  They’re supposed to be returned today, I think Mainstream media and TFG want to see the affidavit that went with the search warrant.  This time, DOJ said nope because release of the affidavit would put witnesses at risk and because it might compromise the investigation.

There’s a lot of information going around that TFG is being investigated for espionage with regard to those files.  I have a column I’ve set aside that explains about an espionage charge.  It’s not always about actual spying.

The threats against the DOJ, FBI, the judge who signed the search warrant, and the entire House Select January 6^th investigation committee are on the rise.  There’s so much civil war/violent chatter going on that there’s a warning out for people to be aware and on the lookout.  TFG sent AG Merrick Garland a vaguely worded threat that the country’s on fire and what can TFG do to turn down the heat?  It’s like he’s saying, what do I get if I call off my killer dogs?  Already there have been attacks on the FBI offices.

The judge who signed for the recent search warrant is Jewish.  In addition to all the other hatred going on, there’s a sharp uptick in anti-Semitism too.  I have a column by Dan Rather addressing that.

Rudy Giuliani now is a “person of interest” in that coup plot scheme to steal votes from Georgia by pressuring the Secretary of State.  Senator Lindsay Graham failed again to get a subpoena for him to testify quashed.  He’ll probably keep on appealing until he has nowhere else to go, although if it gets to present day SCOTUS, he’ll get off the hook.

So, it seems like the shit is about to hit the fan for TFG and his merry band of cutthroat coup plotters, but not just for them.

There is a bunch of violent white ultra conservative supremacists who are foaming at the mouth for civil war.  I don’t go on any of those right-wing platforms but I’ve seen reports about their posts showing up on Twitter and in the news.  If (and probably when) TFG is indicted, all hell is going to break loose.  I hope that we’re prepared for it.  By we, I mean all the loyal police and military still in existence throughout the country.  Things could definitely be worse than what we’ve seen on January 6, 2021.

Having said that, we definitely should not look the other way or be more forgiving in order to keep the peace.  If we did that, there’s no question that vigilantism would rule.  It would mean that our democracy would die a not-so-long or slow death.  Times are very scary right now but the ultra-right-wing poison has been spreading for years now.  Sometimes such a crisis has to get worse before it gets better.  We have to hang in there and hope and pray we have enough democracy-patriots to stop any violence caused by violent ultra-right-wing groups.  Saying my prayers and crossing my fingers!

 

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.