"Instead, it’s because a small group of rightwing billionaires didn’t want to pay their taxes, wanted to get rid of their unions, and didn’t want regulation of the pollution from their refineries and other operations... They put billions of dollars over five decades into a project to seize control of the legislatures of a majority of the states, jam up the US Congress, and pack the Supreme Court — and it was all about taxes, unions, and regulation."
It's a global fight, and needs to be fought globally. The fate of democracy is at stake everywhere. We need a one decade project to prevail over the fascists.
Brilliant and comprehensive. I just want to add that there is one other industry besides gun manufacturers that enjoy immunity and that would be the nuclear industry.
I’m a Christian Pastor. Evangelicals Have to Be Defeated in 2022.
We won’t recover from the theocracy Evangelicals are constructing once it is established. If we fail in 2022, they will have a political power that will render every election null and void, and we will never have a voice again in our lifetimes. @JohnPavlovitz
The unholy alliance of the Republican Party and right wing evangelicals has taken over so many levers of government. I have known people who were sure Jesus was Republican.
In order for people to connect with the truth, they must disconnect from the lies. That requires repetition, so if you need to take the latest example of the result and give the history many times, THANK YOU THOM for doing that.
I've stopped zooming-in on any given election and focused back on the big picture. The harder they push to repress what people know is the right thing to do, the harder we will push back. They want people barefoot and pregnant or back "in the closet", THAT is so not going to happen. The court is not the only place to win your rights.
Think maybe I would have laughed at the clerk and told him to get me somebody to check me out that isn't afraid of condoms! Take what is yours and do it your way.
Thank you Thom for writing a very thorough explanation of what some of the right wing mega rich have done. I have one suggestion: please qualify that what was the top tax rate of 74% only kicked in on money "earned" over x amount. Some will interpret that billionaires had to pay that percentage in taxes on their entire income.
Right-Wing Think Tank Family Research Council Is Now a Church in Eyes of the IRS.
The FRC, a staunch opponent of abortion and LGBTQ rights, joins a growing list of activist groups seeking church status, which allows organizations to shield themselves from financial scrutiny.
Americans have swallowed the purple Kool-aid pedaled by the media that all of these disasters brought on by Republican policies are really the fault of Democrats!
I want to look a bit further back. Take a close look at christianity, change a few names and you have ancient Egyptian mythology. They were smart 2000 years ago. Don't invent a religion, copy one that has been refined for thousands of years and tested on millions of poor. It was smart, look at all the drones.
Thom, you're beginning to sound like a broken record, blaming everything on Reagan and the Republicans. Most of what you say is correct, but people need to be honest with themselves, and acknowledge that there are factions within the Democrats who would also take us to some extremes that would throw our society out of balance. The Jesus of the Scriptures (not of the church or the evangelist) is the common ground between extremes to the left or the right, between the violent and the pacifist, between the greedy and the pauper. Show me a politician who behaves as the character Jesus in the series The Chosen behaves, and I may actually become interested in politics again. The recognition of the importance of "the other" that overcomes the importance we place on self, specifically.
There are still people like that in America, who care for the other more than they do themselves; they just don't seem to be in the field of politics very much, sad to say.
“December 2015, Chris Vickery, an information technology specialist who hunted for data breaches as a hobby, came upon a massive database on 191 million US citizens. It contained data belonging to registered voters, from cellphone numbers to evidence of gun ownership. A second breach contained even more detailed information – including income levels, whether the person was a fan of Nascar, had a “Bible lifestyle”, or had an interest in hunting or fishing. After some sleuthing, Vickery thought he had a clear idea of where it all came from. It linked, he said, to Pioneer Solutions Incorporated, a company run by Bill Dallas. It also linked to a campaign titled “Champion the Vote”, run by UiP.
What we do is we track to see what’s going to make somebody vote either one way or not vote at all
But the real significance of Vickery’s discovery was the number of voters UiP had access to information on.”
For one, who believes all the NaziRepublican Party lies, it has made her withdraw into a fantasy world of psychotic paranoia, and it's rare indeed when something she is terrified of actually happened.
For the other, who lives in the real world and is enough of a liberal to think women should own themselves, it has made her unable to take sides.
Thom, this isn't just an American fight.
"Instead, it’s because a small group of rightwing billionaires didn’t want to pay their taxes, wanted to get rid of their unions, and didn’t want regulation of the pollution from their refineries and other operations... They put billions of dollars over five decades into a project to seize control of the legislatures of a majority of the states, jam up the US Congress, and pack the Supreme Court — and it was all about taxes, unions, and regulation."
It's a global fight, and needs to be fought globally. The fate of democracy is at stake everywhere. We need a one decade project to prevail over the fascists.
We need to talk. We must vote. Sometimes we need to protest. All fatal distractions if we don’t address the root causes. Humanity needs a Plan B. https://www.boombigideas.com/p/yesbut-we-need-to-talk-we-must-vote
Does this resonate at all? Or am I crazy?
Brilliant and comprehensive. I just want to add that there is one other industry besides gun manufacturers that enjoy immunity and that would be the nuclear industry.
I’m a Christian Pastor. Evangelicals Have to Be Defeated in 2022.
We won’t recover from the theocracy Evangelicals are constructing once it is established. If we fail in 2022, they will have a political power that will render every election null and void, and we will never have a voice again in our lifetimes. @JohnPavlovitz
https://johnpavlovitz.com/2021/06/05/im-a-christian-pastor-evangelicals-have-to-be-defeated-in-2022/?fbclid=IwAR23H_imozVeK1juGwy0jJjqm9B4WxtPSa37gXVHcnC6DlgAVNU57SGd9Ys
Realist60 @BGN960
Ever notice how conservative Evangelicals obsess over 'Religious Freedom', but don't want anybody else to have any?
The unholy alliance of the Republican Party and right wing evangelicals has taken over so many levers of government. I have known people who were sure Jesus was Republican.
In order for people to connect with the truth, they must disconnect from the lies. That requires repetition, so if you need to take the latest example of the result and give the history many times, THANK YOU THOM for doing that.
I've stopped zooming-in on any given election and focused back on the big picture. The harder they push to repress what people know is the right thing to do, the harder we will push back. They want people barefoot and pregnant or back "in the closet", THAT is so not going to happen. The court is not the only place to win your rights.
Think maybe I would have laughed at the clerk and told him to get me somebody to check me out that isn't afraid of condoms! Take what is yours and do it your way.
Thanks again Dear Thom for your help in understanding the nuttiness and danger of Republicans destruction of America
Thank you Thom for writing a very thorough explanation of what some of the right wing mega rich have done. I have one suggestion: please qualify that what was the top tax rate of 74% only kicked in on money "earned" over x amount. Some will interpret that billionaires had to pay that percentage in taxes on their entire income.
Right-Wing Think Tank Family Research Council Is Now a Church in Eyes of the IRS.
The FRC, a staunch opponent of abortion and LGBTQ rights, joins a growing list of activist groups seeking church status, which allows organizations to shield themselves from financial scrutiny.
https://www.propublica.org/article/family-research-council-irs-church-status
Americans have swallowed the purple Kool-aid pedaled by the media that all of these disasters brought on by Republican policies are really the fault of Democrats!
I want to look a bit further back. Take a close look at christianity, change a few names and you have ancient Egyptian mythology. They were smart 2000 years ago. Don't invent a religion, copy one that has been refined for thousands of years and tested on millions of poor. It was smart, look at all the drones.
Thom, you're beginning to sound like a broken record, blaming everything on Reagan and the Republicans. Most of what you say is correct, but people need to be honest with themselves, and acknowledge that there are factions within the Democrats who would also take us to some extremes that would throw our society out of balance. The Jesus of the Scriptures (not of the church or the evangelist) is the common ground between extremes to the left or the right, between the violent and the pacifist, between the greedy and the pauper. Show me a politician who behaves as the character Jesus in the series The Chosen behaves, and I may actually become interested in politics again. The recognition of the importance of "the other" that overcomes the importance we place on self, specifically.
There are still people like that in America, who care for the other more than they do themselves; they just don't seem to be in the field of politics very much, sad to say.
Ellen Roofe Kuykendall
How a data-backed Christian nationalist machine helped Trump to power.
With help from a vast evangelical network and data on almost the entire US voting population, the Christian right may have found the boost it needed.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/mar/03/bill-dallas-christian-nationalist-right-donald-trump?fbclid=IwAR158kAYS7O59K6jb6zhYKS2Uk2nYF4eIMC7dglUuJkbx740O6uZ2l-oFS4
Ellen Roofe Kuykendall
See what #GinniThomas was up to in 2015. Just WOW!
theguardian.com/... /bill-dallas-christian...
“December 2015, Chris Vickery, an information technology specialist who hunted for data breaches as a hobby, came upon a massive database on 191 million US citizens. It contained data belonging to registered voters, from cellphone numbers to evidence of gun ownership. A second breach contained even more detailed information – including income levels, whether the person was a fan of Nascar, had a “Bible lifestyle”, or had an interest in hunting or fishing. After some sleuthing, Vickery thought he had a clear idea of where it all came from. It linked, he said, to Pioneer Solutions Incorporated, a company run by Bill Dallas. It also linked to a campaign titled “Champion the Vote”, run by UiP.
What we do is we track to see what’s going to make somebody vote either one way or not vote at all
But the real significance of Vickery’s discovery was the number of voters UiP had access to information on.”
Well, this is disturbing, but what else can you expect from the new land of Modi baloney:
"Hindutva pop: The rise of India’s hate music scene"
https://english.alaraby.co.uk/analysis/hindutva-pop-rise-indias-hate-music-scene?utm_source=newsletter_381&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=music-world-news
My sisters are religious.
For one, who believes all the NaziRepublican Party lies, it has made her withdraw into a fantasy world of psychotic paranoia, and it's rare indeed when something she is terrified of actually happened.
For the other, who lives in the real world and is enough of a liberal to think women should own themselves, it has made her unable to take sides.