Democracy

Well it looks like democracy has survived to fight another day, but I still ain’t going back to Twitter. That’s it. That’s the post. 

Something else entirely...

 Today's Republican Party really is the party in favor of a Confederate States of America - but as a gateway drug to something entirely else now. The realignment of the old Dixie Democrats happened almost three generations ago, right around the time LBJ signed the civil rights bill. This Republican party is NOT the party of Lincoln. Not even close. I used to say it was the party of Stephen A. Douglas, and it was, for a time. And then, more recently, I used to say that it is the party of Jefferson Davis. That is much, much closer to the truth. But with the rhetoric coming out now from their "leaders," - lets put it this way: There are movies out there - pick any one of them, and you used to draw direct parallels to the German third reich. Search your feelings. Is that still the first thing you think of when you re-watch these movies now? If you're like me, you're thinking of today's republicans (small "r" from this point on, as they are the RINOS, not those these neo-fascists call RINOs). The people in charge of this party will make sure you do not have the right to vote in a meaningful way forever, if they have their way. Think of the sham elections autocratic governments run out there now. Hungary, China, Russia, et al. This is what you will get if today's republican party gets real power. They are close. Oh, so very close. Don't say I didn't warn ya. I said back in August of 2015 on twitter that Donald Trump was a horrible human being, and anyone who votes for him is also a horrible human being. I was wrong then about Donald J. Trump. He's no human being. He's something else entirely. 

Balance

I know it’s all the rage to take the extreme position nowadays in some kind of fucked up leveraging strategy, but balance is the thing. Except that I’m not trying to balance far left with far right. What’s considered far left these days used to be a lot closer to the center. You can’t balance common sense with fascism. This is why I am probably closer to the far left these days than left of center. But there are some positions and statements that I consider too extreme or poorly worded. Defund the Police is a prime example. You won’t win any elections with that demand or statement or slogan or whatever you want to call it. You can stake that position in the actions you take while governing but you will not win one single election outside of a handful of congressional districts if that is your mission statement. Democrats in general, and leftists in particular - are terrible at framing. We shoot ourselves in the foot, time and time again. And we end up with the extreme right winning elections that are otherwise winnable by liberals with common sense. I said this a while back - but most school privatizers don’t run on the slogan: Defund Public Schools. They use Trojan horse tactics and frame them with words like choice.  

Quitter

Someone called it - maybe it was the Rude Pundit, someone I first discovered all those years ago here on blogger, where I first started ranting and raving about politics some time in 2004. So many people are leaving the platform, they’re calling it “Quitter.” I wouldn’t know, as I have taken that platform out of my rotation since “the takeover.” It’s been great for my mental health. I don’t need the daily outrage. For the moment, my Instagram and Facebook feeds seem to be devoid of daily outrage. And I’m okay with that. I’m weary of daily outrage. I know I’m not supposed to say that. Aren’t I a political animal? I studied political science, after all. Right? I also studied English Literature but I tend to read non-fiction. I once played in bands but I barely pick up an instrument these days. I used to drink and make new friends bonding through drinking. So many things I’ve given up in these recent years. I can certainly do without Twitter. My number one priority right now is to make sure I am there to help my daughters grow into healthy, happy human beings. Don’t get me wrong - people will always know where I stand - and that stands for real freedom, not the fascist, nationalist, pro-confederate terrorist death cult that calls itself the Republican Party (in name only, get it?) today. 

While I am hopeful the conventional wisdom of the current media and pollsters are underestimating the chance that people like us, who are sick of all the relentless bullshit and lies that are spewing out of seemingly every corner of the airspace and webspace (and traditional media like the NYTimes and NPR - Nice Polite Republicans, as I hear them called these days), let’s just say I have serious doubts and am not hopeful that we are about to narrowly avoid two out of three branches of our government falling to fascism this time around (with the third soon to follow). As the right have been crying about how the last round of elections are rigged, in so doing they are masking the fact that they are the ones who have been doing the rigging. And I’m afraid things are going to get a whole lot worse before they ever get better. And things have certainly been bad over the course of the last five years - with a slight respite these past two - breathing room, you might say. I don’t feel the need to patronize the likes of Elon Musk, one of many robber barons on steroids that the progressives at the turn of the last century worked so hard at to begin to eliminate. I mean - duh, lower the taxes on the rich, the rich keep that $ largely to themselves, making $ off of $ until they consolidate power, at first an oligarchy until, eventually, if left unchecked, and through wars, at long last, aristocracy and monarchy. Common sense right? Don’t bother telling that to the GQP and their stupid ass followers. 

We’ll see. Casting my ballot some time this week. And then - pray? Hope for the best? Expect the worst?