Category Archives: Politics

September 22, 2024

Reflections

By Joe

Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom.

-James 3:13

 

When you take a selfie, is the person you portray in that image the real you or only the person you want others to see? Likewise, when you look in the mirror, do you see a person who follows God’s word? James 1:22-24 tells us, “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.” We can talk about being Christians. We can proclaim from the rooftops our Christian beliefs. We can be open and honest about our faith, but if we do not follow the teachings of our faith and are doers of our faith, then we nothing.

Ephesians 4:29 says, “Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.” When Christians proclaim their beliefs yet do not follow those said beliefs, they are only speaking corrupt words. A friend and I were discussing yesterday how often the loudest of those condemning the LGBTQ+ community are a part of the LGBTQ+ community behind closed doors. For example, Lt. Governor and Republican nominee for governor of North Carolina Mark Robinson has been exposed for his unchristian behavior that goes against his professed beliefs. Identified by media outlets as a right-wing or far-right politician, Robinson has promoted various conspiracy theories, denied sexual allegations against various prominent figures, and has frequently made various inflammatory homophobic, transphobic, racist, anti-atheist, Islamophobic, and antisemitic statements, including engaging in Holocaust denial. However, CNN unearthed posts Robinson left on a porn site’s message boards in which he referred to himself as a “black NAZI,” said in 2012 he preferred Hitler to then-President Barack Obama, slammed Martin Luther King, Jr. as “worse than a maggot,” and said he enjoyed transgender pornography. He is only the latest of many hypocrites that make political statements yet are doing the opposite under an assumed name and behind closed doors.

Politicians like Robinson will say and do anything to get elected and gain political influence and power. Philippians 2:3-4 tells us, “Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.” Hypocrisy is rampant in politics and always has been and has been present in all political leanings. If I were to name all the examples, the list would be endless. You could write an encyclopedia of hypocrisy and still not name them all.

Ephesians 5:1-2 declares, “Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.” When we vote we should keep this in mind. Are the people we are voting for following the word of God or are they perverting God’s word for political ambitions? The twice impeached, adulterous, convicted felon that is the Republicans nominee for President claims to be a Christian in public while mocking the beliefs of Christian in private. I have told my mother who is one of his supporters that he stands against every moral she ever taught me growing up. 

Ephesians 5:6 warns us, “Let no one deceive you with empty words.” Keep that in mind when you vote. It’s not just in the United States that this is a problem. So, wherever you are in this world, remember to keep in mind what James tells us and be “doers of the word.” The idiom the saying is “if you’re going to talk the talk, you’ve got to walk the walk” may be cliche, but it has many versions such as “actions speak louder than words” and “practice what you preach.” Another early form of the expression was “walk it like you talk it.” In Christianity we are commanded to let our actions speak louder than our words.

1 Comment | posted in Politics, Religion

September 11, 2024

The Debate

By Joe

“First of all, it’s important to remind the former president: You’re not running against Joe Biden. You’re running against me.”

Vice President Kamala Harris went into the debate with a clear plan: let Donald Trump defeat himself. Harris baited Donald Trump for nearly all of the 1 hour and 45 minutes of their first and potentially only debate on Tuesday night – and Trump took every bit of it. While Trump spouted lies, used his usual juvenile name-calling, and and had temper tantrums worthy of a two-year old, Harris sat back and laughed, quite literally at times. She used every trick to bait him into getting defensive, cause him to lose his temper, and calling Trump out on his lies.

Harris was occasionally mocking, but she didn’t resort to the name-calling and stuck to the truth. I thought her nerves got the better of her in the beginning. I could hear the nervousness in her voice. She needed to take a deep breath and not try to get her whole answer out in one breath. It didn’t take her long to do so, and she stayed calm but authoritative. She looked like a leader. She looked healthy, young, and sane. As much as I like Joe Biden, he looked sickly in the last debate, for good reason because he was sick. Trump looked like an old raving lunatic. If you’ve ever encountered one of those street preachers who rant about “the end is near,” then you’ve seen how Trump performed, but with much more juvenile behavior.

Harris got under former Trump’s skin with a mocking comment about the attendance at his campaign rallies during Tuesday night’s ABC News presidential debate in Philadelphia. “I’m going to invite you to attend one of Trump’s rallies because it’s a really interesting thing to watch,” Harris said, looking straight into the camera. “You’ll hear about Hannibal Lecter, how windmills cause cancer, and what you’ll also notice is that people start leaving his rallies early out of exhaustion and boredom. The only thing you won’t hear him talk about is your needs, your dreams and your desires.”

The vice president had prepared extensively for their debate and peppered nearly every answer with a comment designed to enrage the former president. She told Trump that world leaders were laughing at him, and military leaders called him a “disgrace.” She called Trump “weak” and “wrong.” She said Trump was fired by 81 million voters – the number that voted for President Joe Biden in 2020. Trump was often out of control. He loudly and repeatedly insisted that a whole host of falsehoods were true. The former president repeated lies about widespread fraud in the 2020 election. He parroted a conspiracy theory about immigrants eating pets, and lied about Democrats supporting abortions after babies are born – which is murder, and illegal everywhere. 

3 Comments | posted in Politics

August 16, 2024

Irritable 😠

By Joe

I try to be a pleasant, congenial person with a smile on my face, even when I don’t feel it. Sometimes, though, I find it difficult to keep up an affable façade when I’m not really feeling it. Usually, the irritability I can’t hide is because of not feeling well. For the past week, my migraines have been a bit worse than usual. I’m not for sure if it’s the seemingly ever changing weather or wildfire smoke passing over Vermont. Since Sunday, our air quality has been worsening.

Then again, my irritability may be because I’m just fed up with hearing people complain. Some people are going to constantly complain and nothing will satisfy them. This is especially true when a person is a martyr narcissist, i.e., a person who constantly acts as if their every action is a personal sacrifice. People like this don’t want their complaints satisfied because they can’t keep receiving the sympathy they crave. Then, there are those people who are just miserable human beings who want others to suffer the way they do, even when they aren’t actually suffering.

Also, politics in the United States right now are fucking annoying, and if I watch even ten minutes of the news, I can’t get away from it fast enough. Why can’t politicians be positive in their campaigning instead of always negative? I think partly because anger drives people to vote, and the angrier a politician can make voters by denigrating their opponents the more likely they’ll get their votes. Too many Americans are voting out of hate and fear instead of voting for peace and hope.

It’s probably the combination of all three that have me so irritable today. Thank God, I’m working from home today and won’t have to deal with people. I’m not sure I could put a smile on my face today. Yesterday, I just buried my head in a project and tried to ignore everything else. I think I just need some alone time to recenter and reset.

5 Comments | posted in Health, Miscellaneous, Politics, Weather

July 25, 2024

Quotes to Ponder

By Joe

I have always been fascinated by the 19th century transcendentalists. Ralph Waldo Emerson’s (1803 – 1882) philosophy often aligns with my own. He was seen as a champion of individualism and critical thinking, as well as a prescient critic of the countervailing pressures of society and conformity. My favorite piece of his writing is his 1841 essay “Self-Reliance.” It contains the most thorough statement of one of his recurrent themes: the need for each person to avoid conformity and false consistency, and follow his or her own instincts and ideas. It is the source of one of his most famous quotations:

“A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines.”

However, this is not the quote that inspired me to write this post. This one was written in his journal on November 8, 1838:

“Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted.”

Emerson’s words retain relevance today, particularly in the age of the 24-hour news cycle when outrageous sound bites that command the most attention and elicit the highest amount of clicks is heard over and over. It is especially relevant when we have a presidential candidate who loves to portray himself as a persecuted (and prosecuted) martyr. 

In the quote, Emerson condemns those who are so ridiculously devoted to the righteousness of their own ideas that anything which poses a contrary opinion must inherently be dangerous. Republicans, especially Trump, consistently complain that they are being persecuted when anyone disagrees with them, and they have several 24-hour news stations that back these false claims of persecution often with misleading or inaccurate information. They use these tactics because, like the Republicans they prostrate themselves to, want everyone to conform to their way of thinking. They claim they want people to be self-reliant, but they demand everyone conform to their small minded ideas. 

Over many years, I have learned that my happiness doesn’t come from conformity but depends on embracing who I am. The world would be a boring place if we all acted and thought the same way. It would be nothing more than mindless drones. I tend to believe that those people who conform to what others think they should are often the most unhappy and often angry. Our country was founded on the ideals communicated in the Declaration of Independence and the belief that all are created equal and are able to pursue “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

So those are my thoughts of the day. Now, here is your picture of Isabella for the week:

Leave a comment | posted in Isabella, Politics, Quote

July 22, 2024

Monday Thoughts

By Joe

I’m not looking forward to this week. Work has been emailing me all weekend, and I have largely ignored it. This morning, I have to deal with it. The emails have been about something that I do not find to have so high of a priority that any of this couldn’t wait until today. It’s all for a committee I’m on, and some of the recent decisions made and how the committee chair has acted recently has me angry and apathetic.

Furthermore, on a grander scale, I’m sure you all know that Joe Biden dropped his reelection bid. I find this sad and worrisome news. Yes, Biden had a bad debate night, but I don’t agree with so many Democrats pulling their support from him and calling for him to drop out of the race just months away from the election. They should have either thrown their tantrums before we went through the primary season and allow people to actually choose a candidate, or they should have rallied behind him after the debate. I’m afraid it’s too late. 

Biden has endorsed Harris who has shown a very different personality since she started her presidential election campaign in 2019. She did not and has not since then projected a likable personality. I hope she shows the warm personality that has occasionally come out and also the fight and fervor she showed as a Senator. She can certainly run rings around Trump not only in debates but also in the campaign process. I just hope she chooses a great vice presidential running mate.

The fact is, I’m feeling kind of hopeless at the moment. I’m aggravated at work, and I’m scared for my country’s future. The problem at work will soon be out of my hands, and while I’m sure I’ll still be angry, I can at least move on. As for the United States, I can only pray that we can preserve democracy. Whoever the Democratic nominee is, I will vote for them. At this point it’s all we can do. 

I just hope the Democrats can put aside internal dispute and rally as one united front against whoever is Trump’s opponent. If Democrats get out and vote for the nominee, whoever it is, Trump does not stand a chance of winning. Trump is a candidate for a party that has become an increasingly desperate party hoping to hold onto power through unfair, undemocratic, and often illegal means. They are a minority party, but that’s true only if the Democrats unite and get out and vote!

Time will tell with all of this. I hope everyone has a great week!

3 Comments | posted in Miscellaneous, Politics

July 4, 2024

Independence Day 🇺🇸

By Joe

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness…

In the United States, the Fourth of July commemorates the ratification of the Declaration of Independence by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, establishing the United States of America. The Second Continental Congress declared that the Thirteen Colonies were no longer subject to the tyranny of British rule under King George III and were now united, free, and independent states.

Resistance to British rule began in 1765 with Parliament’s passage of the Stamp Act that became a catalyst for a group colonists to convene the Stamp Act Congress to articulate a response. Its “Declaration of Rights and Grievances” argued that taxation without representation violated their rights as Englishmen.

In 1767, tensions increased following the British Parliament’s passage of the Townshend Acts, a group of new taxes and regulations imposed on the thirteen colonies. In an effort to quell the mounting rebellion in the colonies, which was particularly severe in Massachusetts Bay Colony, King George III deployed troops to Boston. An  altercation with these British troops resulted in the killing of five protesters in what became known as the Boston Massacre on March 5, 1770.

Tensions continued to rise with further taxes imposed on the colonists by Parliament resulting in various protests and boycotts, such as the Boston Tea Party on December 16, 1773. In 1775, King George III declared the Massachusetts Bay Colony to be in a state of open defiance and rebellion. In April 1775, the first battles at Lexington and Concord resulted in the first major military campaign of the American Revolution.

In July 1776, the Second Continental Congress denounced King George III as a tyrant who trampled the colonists’ rights as Englishmen, passed the Lee Resolution for national independence on July 2, and on July 4, 1776, adopted the Declaration of Independence, which embodied the political philosophies of liberalism and republicanism, rejected monarchy and aristocracy, and famously proclaimed that “all men are created equal.”

From that point on, men and women of the United States have fought and died to resist tyranny and authoritarianism. While the Declaration of Independence stated that “all men are created equal,” the United States have not always lived up to those ideals, but in each subsequent generation, Americans have worked towards making all men and women equal.

Sadly, the Republican Party has veered away from freedom into the realm of authoritarian rule. Because they have become the minority party in the United States, they have tried to curtail the rights of Americans in an effort to solidify their power under an oligarchy of the rich who have systematically begun brainwashing Americans with news media such as Fox News and Newsmax, bought Supreme Court justices and members of Congress, and have solidified seemingly wholeheartedly behind a bombastic buffoon who seems only able to spout lies and grievances.

We must continue to fight tyranny, oppression, discrimination, and authoritarianism at every turn. We cannot become complacent and allow wealth, greed, and hatred rule this nation. Furthermore, for all the people calling for President Biden to step aside and allow the Democrats to choose another nominee need to realize that it’s too late for a course correction and must consolidate behind Biden’s reelection campaign. If they change course now, I firmly believe it will irreparably damage any hopes of the presidency or Democratic gains in Congress. We have to support Biden with the same fervor as Republicans are supporting Trump.

It’s too late to change our minds now, but it needs to be a lesson that we need younger leadership in this country. Generation X needs to step up and replace the aging Baby Boomers. We need to learn our lesson. We will not be able to progress as a nation and continue to resist tyranny, if we don’t look to younger generations. We need to work to be a nation where all people are created and treated as equals.

LGBTQ+ Americans are especially at risk of losing hard fought gains for equality. Conservatives in this country are intensifying their plans to dismantle the framework that guarantees our freedoms.  They are advocating to infuse the government with elements of their warped version of Christianity. They want to criminalize pornography, remove legal protections against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, and terminate diversity, equity, and inclusion programs.

In this Independence Day, we need to think about what freedom means to us. Is it the freedom to think for ourselves, be equal, and rejoice in our freedoms, or is it freedom from thinking independently, allowing for legally sanctioned inequality, and the celebration of tyranny. Do you want democracy or tyranny? It’s a simple choice. We must choose freedom!

Happy Independence Day, America! Let’s truly be the “land of the free and the brave.”

Leave a comment | posted in History, Politics

May 31, 2024

34

By Joe

The picture above has no relation to this post except I thought his facial expression fit the subject.

People in the United States were mostly either happy, sad, or angry when the guilty verdicts of 34 counts of falsifying business records was announced. I am mostly in the sad camp, not because I don’t think Trump is guilty ( I think the man is a fraud, a cheat, a liar, and has no regard for the rule of law), but I’m sad that a former American president was convicted of not just one felony but of 34 felonies. It was a dark day in American history. A former American president and the current Republican nominee for president (officially he won’t be the nominee until after the Republican National Convention) was convicted of 34 felonies.

November 8, 2016, when a minority of Americans and a majority of the Electoral College was chosen to elect this fraud of a man president. January 6, 2021 was an even darker day when he called on his followers to try to stop the Democratic process from certifying that he’d lost the 2020 presidential election. In the past eight years, Donald Trump has been the cause of many dark days in American history.

A lot of Republicans will claim that Trump’s conviction on 34 felony counts is/was politically motivated. However, I want us to keep in mind that the New York district attorney took these charges to a grand jury who indicted Trump, a grand jury made up of ordinary Americans who were doing their civic duty. Then, during the trial, a jury agreed upon by both the prosecution and defense heard the evidence presented and the district attorney and a defense put forth by Trump’s lawyers found Donald Trump guilty of 34 felony counts. 

Whatever anyone might believe about political motivations, a jury doing their sworn civic duty found him guilty because the prosecution’s case, the testimony of witnesses, and evidence of crimes was convincing and the defense’s refutation, the defense of these crimes, and the repeated claims of innocence was not convincing. This was the American judicial process at work, not a kangaroo court or a show trial, but the justice system in the State of New York working as it should.

Is this conviction likely to sway Republican opinions about Trump or cause them to admit he committed crimes? No, at least for the majority of Republicans, it won’t. As both Biden and Trump said yesterday, the true judgement will come on November 5, 2024. The ultimate judgement will come in how history remembers this period of American history.

Republicans have said over and over that the Biden administration is using the courts as a weapon. The Biden administration had nothing to do with this conviction. Furthermore, for the past four years Donald Trump has proclaimed that he would use the courts as a weapon to punish those he sees as his enemies. He has repeatedly said he would get retribution and revenge against those who have not supported his political witch hunts against his enemies, have not supported his criminal activities, or his fascist rhetoric.

November 5, 2024 will decide whether America is a democracy or if  people would rather see this country turn to fascism. I pray that the majority of Americans choose Democracy. We can only do that by exercising our civic duty and voting!

P.S. Possibly only two other American president have committed crimes that could have led to convictions: Warren G. Harding and Richard M. Nixon (both were Republicans). Harding had the good grace to die of a heart attack before his involvement with the Teapot Dome scandal and the “Ohio Gang” could be fully investigated. Nixon was pardoned by another Republican president, Gerald Ford, of any possible crimes he might have committed during the events surrounding the Watergate scandal. Harding and Nixon never faced a trial. Donald Trump has, and he has been convicted. Like Trump, Harding’s and Nixon’s criminal associates have been convicted of numerous crimes.

Because politics can leave a nasty taste in your mouth, I give you a beautiful palate cleanser, Isabella pic of the week:

Even she knows she’s beautiful. Before I put my collection of DVDs in this cabinet, she would spend a lot of time looking at her reflection in the glass. Granted, she kept walking around the cabinet trying to find the cat staring back at her, but she knows she’s a queen.

3 Comments | posted in Isabella, Politics

May 8, 2024

Understanding

By Joe

“The painful part of being a queer kid is not in the knowing you’re queer, it’s in the not knowing. You know you’re different but you don’t know why. The other kids know you’re different too, in fact, they never let you forget it. But no one gives you a language for it. No one gives you a mirror. And so you just sit there, quietly, being different. Not fitting. Trying to be invisible. And so you are, truly, alone.”

I recently saw the above quote, and sadly, I don’t know who said it. However, if you grew up LGBTQ+, and I know most of you did, you can probably identify with this. I didn’t understand how I was different when I was young, I just knew that everyone said so. I also knew I was attracted to guys, but I “knew” I wasn’t supposed to be and kept telling myself that I just admired how they looked or acted and wished I was the same way. I had no words for it because either no one spoke about gay people or it was such an awful thing that it never occurred to me that I was that way too. 

Growing up, there was never even the slightest question as to whether I would go to college. No one could imagine I wouldn’t. The same was true about being gay. It was never something that I contemplated I could be. Kids used to call me gay, a fag, a queer, or a sissy, but I never thought any of those words pertained to me. They were just insults and hurtful. They made fun of the way I talked, walked, or moved my hands. Other kids made all of this sound so awful. I knew I was different, but I didn’t have the words to express how I was different. I think I knew that I didn’t want to be gay, a faggot, a queer, or a sissy. I also didn’t know how to change the way sound of my voice, how I walked, or my hand gestures. I tried, but to deepen my voice, it hurt my throat. Trying to walk more “manly” or not be expressive with my hands were done so unconsciously that it was a struggle to concentrate on not moving the way I moved.

Knowing I was different resulted in a few things that shaped my life. It made me incredibly shy and quiet, two things I’ve somewhat grown out of, though I can still be shy and quiet with people I don’t know. Being different and bullied caused a lifelong struggle with depression. It also encouraged me to hide in the world of books and to bury myself into studying. I read constantly, and I always made sure I got the best grades. Being smart though was a blessing and a curse. It was praised by some, but others just used it as another way to prove I was different. However, being smart was going to be my ticket out of my small hometown. They could make fun of me for being smart, but I never felt ashamed of that.

I didn’t begin to understand how I was different until college. I was able to do research on the internet. I could read books in private that helped me understand. I think one of the turning points was when I took an “Intro to Psychology” class. I can’t say I learned a lot from that class, but the professor allowed us to submit anonymous questions that he’d take time at the end of class to answer. Someone, and it was not me, asked, “How do you know if you’re gay?” The professor said that the subconscious mind can tell us a lot about ourselves, so think about what you dream. He said to ask ourselves what we dreamed at night. When we dreamed about a romantic partner or sex, was it about someone of the opposite or same sex? It made me think and to realize that I had never once in my memory dreamed of being with a girl. It was always a guy.

Many southern states are enacting “Don’t Say Gay” laws which prohibit teachers in elementary (and sometimes secondary) schools to discuss anything LGBTQ+. They are also banning books in libraries that discuss diversity. They are removing any of the resources kids need to understand why they are different and so alone. LGBTQ+ kids are more likely than straight kids to take their own life. If they could have a teacher they could talk to, adults who discussed with kids the diversity of sexuality, or the library had books a kid could read to help them understand, then maybe they’d realize they weren’t alone. If they saw that “Gay Is Ok,” then maybe they wouldn’t be so distraught and take their own life once they figured out why they are so different. I’d say that I don’t understand why homophobic politicians can’t see that they are killing kids by censoring what they can learn, but they wouldn’t care. These politicians tell themselves that if they keep kids ignorant of who they are, they can prevent them from being different. It doesn’t work that way. Instead, it harms these kids because they don’t understand or have the words to understand their feelings. I wish they would understand that this causes kids to harm themselves, but I also realize that these same politicians don’t care. If LGBTQ+ kids take their own life, then it’s one less person who doesn’t conform to their narrow minded beliefs.

Education, empathy, and understanding are some of the most important needs of young people. Those who are different and are forced to hide their true selves need to know that there is nothing wrong with them. 

1 Comment | posted in Coming Out, Education, Politics

March 21, 2024

Disgustingly Shameful

By Joe

Yesterday, the governor of Alabama made ignorance a requirement at public universities in her state. Gov. Kay Ivey signed SB129, known as the “divisive concepts” bill, into law Wednesday. The law will become effective Oct. 1, 2024. The law lists eight so-called “divisive concepts,” with most covering topics related to race, ethnicity, sex, religion and national origin. 
A dumbass Republican state senator from Pike Road, Alabama, Will Barfoot, introduced the bill. (By the way, Pike Road is not even a real town. It fought to be declared a city because a bunch of rich racist white people didn’t want to be part of the city of Montgomery, so the took Montgomery to court to keep from being part of a city that was as diverse as Montgomery.) Barfoot stated nothing in the legislation prevents the accurate teaching of history. Educators who knowingly “compel” students to believe certain banned ideas, however, could be terminated or disciplined at the discretion of college and school board leaders.
In other words, any professor could be fired for teaching diversity, education, and inclusion, or DEI. That being the case, no public institution in Alabama should be allowed to call themselves a university. The word university (from the Latin universitas meaning ‘a whole’) is derived from the Latin phrase universitas magistrorum et scholarium, which roughly means “community of teachers and scholars.” How can any institution have a  “community of teachers and scholars” without teaching diversity? It’s insane, ignorant, and, above all, hateful. 

I hope my undergraduate institution, which is in Montgomery, will find a way to fight or ignore the new law. It was always a liberal institution, and a core aspect of my history degree was studying the Civil Rights Movement which began in Montgomery. It’s a sad and depressing day when a university is no longer allowed to teach the “whole” of the knowledge available. Censorship like that found in SB129 is one step closer to a dictatorship. 

I am ashamed of my home state. Vermont isn’t perfect either, but at least it is welcoming to all kinds of people.

And now, to bring a little levity to this discussion, I wanted to show you that at least Isabella is not scared of a little knowledge.

4 Comments | posted in Education, Isabella, Politics

January 24, 2024

Nostalgia?

By Joe

Is it nostalgia for a time when America was “great” or a return to a time when hate was the driving force in American politics? I’m talking about the Republican Party, or at least those who blindly follow the Cult of Trump. These cultist, and let’s face it, it is a cult, at least a cult of personality, want to turn back the clock, not just to elect Trump to the presidency again, but to spread their belief in hate against immigrants, the LGBTQ+, women, etc. They keep saying that they want to go back to a “more innocent time” and “Make America Great Again,” i.e. MAGA. The problem, there never was a “Great.” What they mean is to go back to oppression, back to a segregated America, back to a time when only white, “Christian” (Protestant, not Catholic) men were in charge of oppressing those they deem unworthy of freedom and prosperity. Instead of being horrified by Trump using the same words as Adolf Hitler in the 1930s, they celebrate it. Maybe they would not go as far as genocide, but they do want to force their cruelty on others. There were many Germans who claimed not to know what the Nazis were doing or had no knowledge of the Holocaust. The only way this claim could have ever been true is through willful ignorance. They did not want to know, so they ignored all the signs.

Leni Riefenstahl, a German director, producer, screenwriter, editor, photographer, and actress known for producing Nazi propaganda, is a prime example. She followed Nazi ideology and was one of its most effective promoters of its ideology with her propaganda films Triumph of the Will (1935) and Olympia (1938). After the war, Riefenstahl was arrested and found to be a Nazi “fellow traveler,” but she was not charged with war crimes. Throughout her later life, she denied having known about the Holocaust, and was criticized as the “voice of the ‘how could we have known?’ defense.” Shortly before she died in 2003, Riefenstahl voiced her final words on the subject of her connection to Hitler in a BBC interview: “I was one of millions who thought Hitler had all the answers. We saw only the good things; we didn’t know bad things were to come.”

Like the Trumpists of today, Riefenstahl hid her head in the sand because as long as Hitler was effective in his oppression, she believed his lies, or at least wanted to believe. The same is true of the MAGAts who follow Trump. He continues to spread lies that he won the 2020 election, when he did not even come close to winning. He had claimed he had a huge victory against Hillary Clinton in 2016, when in 2020 he lost to Joe Biden by the same number of electoral votes as Clinton was defeated by. Any rational person knows, Trump did not come close to winning, yet they stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021, to follow Trump’s pleas for an insurrection because of “widespread voter fraud.” The only cases of voting fraud that have been discovered were actually committed by Republican voters. 

Their willful ignorance is making Trump the leading Republican presidential candidate. There are dissenters in the Republican Party, or Nikki Haley would not have done as well as she did in yesterday’s New Hampshire primary, but the majority are blindly following Trump’s lies and hateful speech. If (God forbid) Trump is elected again, how many will one day echo the words of Riefenstahl and say, “I was one of millions who thought Trump had all the answers. We saw only the good things; we didn’t know bad things were to come”? It will never excuse their campaign of hate and bigotry in their false claims of “making American great again.”

2 Comments | posted in Politics