Is It Too Late For Democracy?
Republicans are playing with a fire that could burn down our nation & Democrats must get control of the Senate now and nuke the filibuster so they can pass the laws that will protect our democracy.
Republicans in the US Senate just filibustered a January 6th bipartisan commission, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer failed to take the opportunity to call for a vote on a rules change in the Senate to end the filibuster. That’s a disaster.
People think the January 6th insurrection against our republic was over that evening; the truth is that it never really stopped, and is now spreading across our nation like a virus that’s infected the GOP.
Let’s just speak the truth: the people who’ve taken over today’s Republican Party hate democracy. And now they’re doing everything they can to destroy democracy in the USA and replace it with a full-blown fascist oligarchy.
This is no longer Dwight Eisenhower’s Republican Party. Instead, it’s become the party of racists, fascists and oligarchs: the question is if it’s too late to stop them.
They kicked off the Reagan revolution with the Big Lie that the American government was, itself, the core cause of society’s problems rather than the cure for society’s problems. Reagan put down that marker in his first inaugural address on January 20, 1981.
Then they tweaked and changed and sometimes just ignored laws to allow an avalanche of anti-democratic big money to flow into their party from right wing billionaires, massive corporations and conservative foundations.
They sought to exploit democracy’s weaknesses by exacerbating racial tensions and shouting out encouragement, first in code and now explicitly, to our country’s white racists. As a result, white supremacist groups are erupting all over the country.
Every Republican administration since Reagan’s has made a practice of putting lobbyists and other special-interest advocates in the highest positions of power within government.
As Gillens and Paige documented so brilliantly in 2014, Republican obstructionism has been so successful since the beginning of the Reagan Revolution that the vast majority of laws passed over the past 30 years are not only not what the majority of Americans want, but they are what the majority of Americans explicitly don’t want.
As these researchers said, in academic-speak: “The preferences of the average American appear to have only a minuscule, near-zero, statistically non-significant impact upon public policy,”
Republicans have now introduced over 400 pieces of legislation in 47 states to make it more difficult for people to vote and, in most cases, to give Republican elected officials the ability to decide which ballots to count and which to throw out.
As President Biden said, “What I'm worried about is how un-American this whole initiative is. It's sick. It's sick.”
And now they’ve launched an attack on an almost “pure democracy” process available to the citizens of about half our states: the ballot initiative.Just this year, over 144 laws have been introduced in 32 states to make it harder for average citizens to get issues on the ballot.
Republicans watched as everything from medical marijuana to increases in the minimum wage were voted into place by citizens in Red states, and they are over it. Never again, they say, should average voters be able to get a law on the books through the ballot box.
That’s why, of those 144 bills to block ballot initiatives, 19 have already been signed into law by various Republican governors.
Democracy in America is being hacked to death by a thousand blows from dozens of different directions, all originating with the GOP and their billionaire and corporate owners.
And they’ve been so successful at selling it that when Republican voters were asked if “changes to voting rules” will set things up in America so more Republicans “will win once those changes are in place,” more than half of the Republican voters said they’d go along with it.
As my colleague David Sirota notes:
“But now, another Overton Window has shifted. Super Pac and dark money spending flooding elections are the norm, and voter suppression tactics and legislation are considered by many to be just another totally permissible aspect of the political competition.”
The bottom line is that Republicans have chosen to embrace a form of government generally referred to as oligarchy rather than democracy and this is extraordinarily dangerous for a major party in a democratic republic.
There are now sitting congressmen openly calling for armed rebellion against our country. A third of Republicans believe in Qanon conspiracy theories that Democrats drink the blood of children, a libel that has historically been used against Jews, while the most-Q GOP congresswoman, Marjorie Taylor Greene, pushes the idea that wearing masks to stop Covid is the same thing as Hitler’s Holocaust.
Meanwhile, Republicans are pretending to negotiate things to run out the clock, and a small handful of Democrats are playing along.
They are playing with a fire that could burn down our nation, and Democrats must get control of the Senate now and nuke the filibuster so they can pass the laws that will protect our democracy, like the For The People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, that have already passed the House.
As Senator Bernie Sanders warns us, “The American people want action, not never-ending ‘negotiations’ and obstructionism… This is an unprecedented moment in American history. … Yes, the future of the country is at stake.”
If the Democrats — and Chuck Schumer — fail in this, democracy in this country won’t survive past 2025.
While my “daily rant” will always be free, with no advertisements, you can support our work by upgrading to a full subscription:
Ask Thom Anything: Meet with Thom and other paid subscribers in a private, zoom chat at Noon-ET/9am-PT on the first Saturday of every month. No question is off the table, and no FCC rules!
I’m also now recording my “daily rant” as an audio podcast; it goes out every day to paid subscribers just after the daily free written version is published, and can automatically push out to your podcast player.
Plus, paid subscribers, in addition to supporting our work (thank you!), can post comments on my daily rants. It’s a great way to hear from people who actually care, while keeping out the trolls and spammers.
If you’d like to do a deeper dive on these topics, I’ve written a series of small, quickly-read books breaking them down.
The Hidden History of Guns and the Second Amendment describes that Amendment’s roots in the Southern Slave Patrols and how American policing grew out of that and is used today as a violent system of control against marginalized people.
The Hidden History of the Supreme Court and the Betrayal of America lays out how a corruptly-stacked Supreme Court is the principal instrument that brought us here.
The Hidden History of the War on Voting describes the processes through which oligarchs corrupted the Republican Party and the American political system.
The Hidden History of Monopolies describes how the oligarchic class, exploiting weaknesses within our political system, managed to seize control of virtually our entire economy, giving them massive political power.
The Hidden History of American Oligarchy reveals the two previous times in this country when we almost tipped over into oligarchy [the Civil War era and the attempts to overthrow Franklin Roosevelt] and exposes oligarch efforts to pull it off again today and how we can stop them.
And The Hidden History of American Healthcare shows how the most important and central function of government — maintaining the health and well-being of its people — has been co-opted and seized by a small group of “healthcare oligarchs” and how a Medicare For All system can overthrow much of their power and end their plunder of the American middle class.
All are available through your favorite bookseller.
Assuming humanity's self-civilization process gets back on track, people may someday look back at this period as a less-than-fully-civilized time when the biggest investors were allowed to sue corporate officers for missing an opportunity to increase profits even if doing so would break the Golden Rule in some big obvious way.
There's now no better way for corporate officials of large corporations to increase profits than to pay people to bribe or threaten government officials into becoming minion-puppets (much like those very corporate officials).
To Mr.
Have you ever wondered why the words “equal and people are not included in The Pledge of Allegiance?
This is a copy of the letter I sent to President Biden. I will be sending it to Vice President Harris also.
To President Biden
Not only do we have to build our economy “back better” we need to rebuild our society back better!
Together we can decrease the hate and increase the unity of the middle class and the working poor!
Think about this. If we improved the message of The Pledge, wouldn’t our children mature with a better perspective of their fellow citizens. They would support government legislators that support full citizenship for all American citizens so these policies would become the basis of our economy and society.
To improve racial justice and racial equality we must confront our history.
The Marketing Of The Pledge Of Allegiance (Link)
https://priceonomics.com/the-marketing-of-the-pledge-of-allegiance/?fbclid=IwAR0-NRZrqeuibZsksLSvTHJI-zzBdhAFUCzQ7cGJOnVNmNJ2U0Z6BvLHI4A
Why I wrote the 21st-century version of The Pledge of Allegiance.
If you read the writing history of The Pledge, you will realize The Pledge supports white male supremism, which goes against everything I believe what America is about.
The following is a paragraph copied from the article “The Marketing Of The Pledge Of Alegiance.
“A socialist, Francis Bellamy, the
author of The Pledge of Allegiance, wanted to include the words “equality” and “fraternity” in the pledge, but his editors rejected the idea on the basis that state superintendents opposed the idea of equality for women and African Americans.” (Therefore the state school superintendents would not buy flags for the thousands of American public schools. The primary reason why The Pledge was written was to sell flags to all the public schools around thee world)
Bellamy acquiesced, and on September 9, 1892, the original version of the Pledge of Allegiance made its debut in The Youth’s Companion: “
The 1892 version of The Pledge Of Allegiance.
"I pledge allegiance to my Flag and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all"
After reading the writing history and adoption of The Pledge of Allegiance into our schools and government over the years I knew something had to be done to correct the travesty that had been done to America in 1892 when The Pledge Of Allegiance was written.
No I am not a foreign troll. I am an American citizen that is concerned about the 1892 Pledge of Allegiance’s message of inequality and exclusion which The Pledge is teaching our children.
To understand what I am talking about and what I am wanting to accomplish, you would have to read the articles I read. The two best articles were ” The Selling of The Pledge of Allegiance ” and ”The Ugly Truth Of The Pledge of Allegiance and why it matters”
Also read the articles I wrote and posted on my Leonard C. Tekaat Facebook page.
A lot of people think that racism and sexism are wide spread now. Racism and sexism were much much much worse in the 1890s. Racism and sexism of the 1890s is why Francis Bellamy, the author of The Pledge Of Allegiance, did not include the word ”equal” before the words Liberty and Justice.” It is the same reason he did not put the word ”people” after the word ”all.” .
I want to eliminate the racist/sexist problem of The Pledge and improve the message of our Pledge to our beloved Flag and Republic, that is why I added the word “equal before the word “Justice” and the word “Everyone “after the word “For.”
I included the sentences ”Guided By The People, It’s Constitution and Goodness. I also added the sentence ”Responsibility and Opportunity For Everybody ” in the 21st Century Pledge of Allegiance. These sentences empower our children, giving them hope for a better future, with more opportunities, if they mature as responsible people. The other sentence reminds our elected government representatives, who gives the government it’s ”just powers” as outlined in the Declaration of Independence.
The 21st Century Pledge Of Allegiance.
I Pledge Allegiance To The Flag Of The United States Of America And To The Republic For Which It Stands. One Nation, Indivsable, Guided By The People, It’s Constitution, and Goodness, With Equal Justice And Liberty for Everyone. Responsibility And Opportunity For Eveybody!
When you read the writing history of The Pledge Of Allegiance you will understand why The Pledge needs to be Improved and updated.
Read “The Marketing Of The Pledge Of Allegiance” and “The Ugly Truth About The Pledge Of Allegiance and Why It Matters.” Search the web.
Using the wisdom of Abraham Lincoln for updating and improving The Pledge Of Allegiance
Our guidance for the improvement and updating of The Pledge Of Allegiance should be an updated version of President Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address.
On July 4, 1776 our nation’s fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Equal Liberty and Justice and dedicated to the proposition that all people are created equal.
Now we are engaged in a great civil debate, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure, shall have a new birth of Equal Liberty and Justice, Responsibility, and Opportunity for Everyone —and that the government shall be of the people, by the people and for the people guided by it’s constitution. and goodness.
PLEASE SIGN THE PETITION TO IMPROVE AND UPDATE THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO RID IT OF IT’S RACIST/ SEXIST HISTORY!!
Don’t just ”like” the changes. It only takes 1 minute to sign the petition. I appreciate the many ”likes” but we need many voices to make change happen. Do it for your children and future generations. Together we can heal and improve the future of our divided United States of America 🇺🇸
Sincerely
Leonard C. Tekaat
More info on my Facebook page
Please sign and support the people’s Petition for a better future for your children and our nation.
Make history. Be one of the founding 100. Thank you!!! Tap the address below to approve and sign the petition. The updated 21st century version of The Pledge of Allegiance is becoming more and more popular every day.
http://chng.it/kSN4jzwk
President Joe Biden add the words: Constitution, Goodness, Equal, Responsibility & Opportunity to The Pledge Of Allegiance.
The 21st Century Pledge Of Allegiance
I Pledge Allegiance To The Flag Of The United States Of America And To The Republic For Which It Stands. One Nation, Indivisible, Guided By The People, It’s Constitution, And Goodness, With Equal Justice And Liberty for Everyone. Responsibility And Opportunity For Everybody!!
PLEASE SIGN THE PETITION TO IMPROVE AND UPDATE THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
Don’t just ”like” the changes. It only takes 1 minute to sign the petition. I appreciate the many ”likes” but we need many voices to make change happen. Do it for your children and future generations. Together we can heal and improve the future of our divided United States of America 🇺🇸
Sincerely
Leonard C. Tekaat
More info on my Facebook page
Please sign and support the people’s Petition
Make history. Be one of the founding 1000. Thank you!!! Tap the address below to approve and sign the petition.
http://chng.it/kSN4jzwk