Turns out this is about more than the GOP just embracing policies that lead to disease and death - those same policies also win elections while making their morbidly rich campaign donors even richer
On the flip-side of this, everything that has made my life bearable has been fought for by big "D" and little "d" democrats: child welfare, public education, women's rights, labor laws, financial protections, Social Security, and Medicare. The list goes on, but most importantly they have and continue to fight for human rights and civil rights.
We didn't know we lived through a "golden age." There seemed more to aspire to, but now the whole list is being rolled back, with "fifth column" Manchin and Sinema as place-holders so that the reactionary momentum won't be seriously interrupted.
Good connections, though as I used to say in my statistics class, "Correlation is not causation." It is entirely possible that many of the poorest, sickest and least educated populations who are still able to donate money and are willing to vote were that way before the GOP went crazy. By a likely combination of accident and cynical design, Republicans found that they could whip up such people by pretending to be their friends and also blaming "The Other" for their ills. The fact that they have done nothing for them--in fact made their situations worse--is irrelevant to marginalized folks looking for scapegoats. You would think that they would figure this out, but it's easier to stay in denial than admit you've been had. It also leaves you with no one to blame, and that's something most people don't want to accept.
Isn't there a Bible passage about "...falling on fertile soil...?" Yup, the Rep. P. rooted its opportunistic snout into the deepest, manure-fertilized bottomland of America. So many of the core rotten instincts are the eternal worst of humanity: it's a long list, but reverse snobbery against the "pointy-headed" is particularly interesting because it is so connected to anti-semitism. But your point about how hard it is to admit being wrong is so crucial. Especially with the intensity that has been whipped up by the exploiters, it's hard to have hope that many of the victims could possibly find the courage to re-assess.
I agree, which is what confidence crooks hope for, "Just a little more money will release the funds." And I'm think of a lady I know, a lovely woman but extremely conservative. She said she wanted the low income taxes of the Eisenhower era to come back. When I replied that they were quite high she paused and then said, "No they weren't." You can't argue with that sort of logic.
Oh, dear, go to my reply to well-intentioned "Teach1" below. I guess the colloquialism is "conversation-stopper." Just think what the lady would have thought if you'd told her the rates on high-earners! You would have morphed into that crazy ol' "Purple-People-Eater!"
Forty years Thom? I think you meant to type 245 years of greed and racism: these are exactly what America was founded on, not Christianity, as some would have you believe.
Possibly we should use "so-called" or "self-styled" as modifiers of the word "Christianity" more habitually. A notorious preponderance of the authoritarian cultists who "founded" America certainly thought they were "Christians." They truly believed that they were God's chosen to take over this continent and destroy the "heathen" natives. How often has Thom pointed out the gruesome anti-Christ-ness of this or that holy roller among us today? I would be embarrassed to call myself "Christian" for fear of being misunderstood, since I read the Book of John, and that divorces me from far and away most of those who claim to be (so-called, self-styled) "Christians."
The eternal war on truth, history, the scientific process, and just plain old thinking... These casualties are a deathblow to the foundation of actual, practiced freedom. I don't think the Generators Of Psychosis constituency are aware of their peril. That one word slogan - "Freedom" - used as often and with the same level of respect afforded toilet paper, has been reduced in meaning to a mangled puff of wispy smoke. This spells the death of more than a word. This fundamental tenet of a productive, functional, and largely peaceful society atrophies quickly to nothing more than a "heil" when it is co-opted by a powerful few in their quest for a perverse form of Lordship.
Always grateful to Thom for his levelheaded and tenacious effort in accurately ordering and disseminating the truths that brought us to this otherwise nonsensical present.
Every once in a while, Trump vomited up a load of truth at his pep rallies, and none was more honest than when he said that he “loves the poorly educated.” They are his base and Thom’s history of how America has spawned a critical mass of poorly educated folks is spot on. Once someone has learned to be bad at learning and craves membership in a tribe, they are easily manipulated with fear and anger. They are persistently frightened by whatever “other” that the oligarchs’ propagandists tell them to be scared of, and their fear is solidified by the ever-present threat of eternal damnation if they don’t follow their “Christian” leaders. Trump and his followers (“Putting the “cult” in culture wars since 2015”) make a seductive prize for the sociopaths that crave the power of public sector decision-making, especially those who are too busy to get a Covid test. Our poorly educated citizens will continue to be bamboozled into thinking that people of color, or women, or Muslims, or Jews (or fill in the blank) are the enemy, while all the time they’re just getting played by the same assholes that fund and generate the propaganda. The best remedy for poorly educated citizens is a role model public education system available to everyone, unfortunately, as John noted in this great observation (sometime last year), “We will never convince the truly indoctrinated of their plight.” I believe the best we can do for Trump’s cult members is forgive them for their stupid decisions and offer them the opportunity to gain a role model education. Since they are mal-educated victims of the big grift and if there's one thing reality TV fans love is to bask in their victimhood, maybe we exploit that to reach the atrophied part of their brains that engages critical thinking.
Thom, Thanks again for a logical, concise summary that shows the historic underpinnings of our current situation. In this case, the manipulation of the masses by the few, to the detriment of the many.
I think you've got something with the "reality tv" angle. Truly. False grievance gives way to truthful tellings of being had. We all love to air our victim status. It would be a fascinating human interest production and a great debut to the healing of those punked by Trump.
That's brilliant, Dave. Every part. I agree - if I'm understanding correctly - that we need a moral reckoning which bypasses the landmines of political bitchery.
The infrastructure of religion is vast and well-entrenched. Time for new leadership.
John, that made me think that after all our country has given the religions and religious leaders in America, perhaps it’s time that we enlist them in the fight to make our democracy into a role model for countries that want to be democracies. What would happen if the pastors, ministers, priests (and the rest) actually taught The Golden Rule to their flocks using literary references that they might better relate to. I suggest that they use Children’s Highlights classic (and my favorite) feature, Goofus and Gallant. They could show how Goofus would do shit like storming a library with other Goofus comrades while menacing the librarian, of course, without masks. Or they could tell the story of hundreds of Goofuses colluding in a treasonous insurrection. The Gallant counterpoints would write themselves. My belief is that the vast majority of Trump cultists would claim to be Christians (regardless of the choices they make). Therefore, their religious leaders should have a pretty good chance of influencing their behavior by shaming them with their stupidity and frightening them with Hell. Since we lack a sufficient number of progressive leaders, we need our religious leaders to help lead our poorly educated into at least thinking about the other guy before they do something else stupid. Owning the libs is not how to get to Heaven.
A lot our professional politicians behave completely irrational, rant, rave and call everyone names, if they don't happen to believe in the same political, psychological or philosophical slogans.
"Senator Marco Rubio says he won’t attend the State of the Union address because it requires a Covid test and he’s too busy to swab his nose. Rubio’s bizarre behavior is right in line with the GOP’s embrace of poverty, disease, and death."
The solution is fairly easy: Don't keep re-electing any of these politicians.
Somehow we need to figure out how to look across the Divide before it gets too wide and too big; otherwise America as a United Nation simply cannot continue to exist: We will have a very real repeat of the Civil War. Sure we have had 40-50 years of super conservative elected leadership in the US, but, somehow voters kept electing these people, and somehow money kept buying up all our newspapers. And corporations became country-sized monsters. But, we were lazy and allowed the world's best democracy to collapse.
As an independent voter I think both liberals and conservatives, as well as Mr. Hartman, will gather more consensus by sticking to respectful, polite and factual discussion of issues with all the people we think we disagree with.
At this moment the we have over 30 million registered independent voters in the US, and probably 20 million swing voters, with 10 million on each side of the divide. Most of us are sick and tired of both the Democratic Party's brand of liberalism and the Republican Party's brand of support for only the top 1%. People in the South of the US are, in general, pretty decent people, but they will never embrace the liberal politics of California, Oregon, Washington or New York. However, they sure can agree on quite a few common sense public policies. Perhaps if we focused on what we can agree on we might regain control of the Commons in America. Most US citizens can agree that we need Healthcare for All, and most agree that the pension system of old has disappeared in the US- thus most people will agree to lift income limits on Social Security to capture more contributions from people making more than $147,000 (2022 limit). Most people would probably also agree that the costs of pharmaceuticals have become ridiculous and would agree the pharmaceutical corporations need to be reigned in, have full liability for their remedies and should be prohibited from advertising. All the other extreme liberal, or conservative issues simply can't muster enough consensus to become national policy, and mostly serve to keep us from moving forward in any manner. Personally, I pray we will try very hard to become better listeners.
You have bequeathed a new definition of "futility:" ...Respectful, polite, and factual discussion of issues..." If you haven't noticed that the, let's call them "true believers" will not allow such discourse, you haven't been trying to talk to them, "respectfully, politely and factually" or otherwise. At the slightest, most diplomatic hint of a quibble, they aggressively cut off the interaction and metaphorically "brand" you. If you have not experienced this, I respectfully and politely suggest you are in a sweet bubble, which is OK, I've given up, god bless us everyone.
On the flip-side of this, everything that has made my life bearable has been fought for by big "D" and little "d" democrats: child welfare, public education, women's rights, labor laws, financial protections, Social Security, and Medicare. The list goes on, but most importantly they have and continue to fight for human rights and civil rights.
It's very clear to me who is pro-life.
We didn't know we lived through a "golden age." There seemed more to aspire to, but now the whole list is being rolled back, with "fifth column" Manchin and Sinema as place-holders so that the reactionary momentum won't be seriously interrupted.
Good connections, though as I used to say in my statistics class, "Correlation is not causation." It is entirely possible that many of the poorest, sickest and least educated populations who are still able to donate money and are willing to vote were that way before the GOP went crazy. By a likely combination of accident and cynical design, Republicans found that they could whip up such people by pretending to be their friends and also blaming "The Other" for their ills. The fact that they have done nothing for them--in fact made their situations worse--is irrelevant to marginalized folks looking for scapegoats. You would think that they would figure this out, but it's easier to stay in denial than admit you've been had. It also leaves you with no one to blame, and that's something most people don't want to accept.
Isn't there a Bible passage about "...falling on fertile soil...?" Yup, the Rep. P. rooted its opportunistic snout into the deepest, manure-fertilized bottomland of America. So many of the core rotten instincts are the eternal worst of humanity: it's a long list, but reverse snobbery against the "pointy-headed" is particularly interesting because it is so connected to anti-semitism. But your point about how hard it is to admit being wrong is so crucial. Especially with the intensity that has been whipped up by the exploiters, it's hard to have hope that many of the victims could possibly find the courage to re-assess.
I agree, which is what confidence crooks hope for, "Just a little more money will release the funds." And I'm think of a lady I know, a lovely woman but extremely conservative. She said she wanted the low income taxes of the Eisenhower era to come back. When I replied that they were quite high she paused and then said, "No they weren't." You can't argue with that sort of logic.
Oh, dear, go to my reply to well-intentioned "Teach1" below. I guess the colloquialism is "conversation-stopper." Just think what the lady would have thought if you'd told her the rates on high-earners! You would have morphed into that crazy ol' "Purple-People-Eater!"
Forty years Thom? I think you meant to type 245 years of greed and racism: these are exactly what America was founded on, not Christianity, as some would have you believe.
Possibly we should use "so-called" or "self-styled" as modifiers of the word "Christianity" more habitually. A notorious preponderance of the authoritarian cultists who "founded" America certainly thought they were "Christians." They truly believed that they were God's chosen to take over this continent and destroy the "heathen" natives. How often has Thom pointed out the gruesome anti-Christ-ness of this or that holy roller among us today? I would be embarrassed to call myself "Christian" for fear of being misunderstood, since I read the Book of John, and that divorces me from far and away most of those who claim to be (so-called, self-styled) "Christians."
Expose them for their greed & lies ! Their daddy is Lucifer
The eternal war on truth, history, the scientific process, and just plain old thinking... These casualties are a deathblow to the foundation of actual, practiced freedom. I don't think the Generators Of Psychosis constituency are aware of their peril. That one word slogan - "Freedom" - used as often and with the same level of respect afforded toilet paper, has been reduced in meaning to a mangled puff of wispy smoke. This spells the death of more than a word. This fundamental tenet of a productive, functional, and largely peaceful society atrophies quickly to nothing more than a "heil" when it is co-opted by a powerful few in their quest for a perverse form of Lordship.
Always grateful to Thom for his levelheaded and tenacious effort in accurately ordering and disseminating the truths that brought us to this otherwise nonsensical present.
Every once in a while, Trump vomited up a load of truth at his pep rallies, and none was more honest than when he said that he “loves the poorly educated.” They are his base and Thom’s history of how America has spawned a critical mass of poorly educated folks is spot on. Once someone has learned to be bad at learning and craves membership in a tribe, they are easily manipulated with fear and anger. They are persistently frightened by whatever “other” that the oligarchs’ propagandists tell them to be scared of, and their fear is solidified by the ever-present threat of eternal damnation if they don’t follow their “Christian” leaders. Trump and his followers (“Putting the “cult” in culture wars since 2015”) make a seductive prize for the sociopaths that crave the power of public sector decision-making, especially those who are too busy to get a Covid test. Our poorly educated citizens will continue to be bamboozled into thinking that people of color, or women, or Muslims, or Jews (or fill in the blank) are the enemy, while all the time they’re just getting played by the same assholes that fund and generate the propaganda. The best remedy for poorly educated citizens is a role model public education system available to everyone, unfortunately, as John noted in this great observation (sometime last year), “We will never convince the truly indoctrinated of their plight.” I believe the best we can do for Trump’s cult members is forgive them for their stupid decisions and offer them the opportunity to gain a role model education. Since they are mal-educated victims of the big grift and if there's one thing reality TV fans love is to bask in their victimhood, maybe we exploit that to reach the atrophied part of their brains that engages critical thinking.
Thom, Thanks again for a logical, concise summary that shows the historic underpinnings of our current situation. In this case, the manipulation of the masses by the few, to the detriment of the many.
Amen. Brilliant.
I think you've got something with the "reality tv" angle. Truly. False grievance gives way to truthful tellings of being had. We all love to air our victim status. It would be a fascinating human interest production and a great debut to the healing of those punked by Trump.
Now if we could also get them to replace their passion for cultic schadenfreude with a commitment to The Golden Rule (or equivalent).
That's brilliant, Dave. Every part. I agree - if I'm understanding correctly - that we need a moral reckoning which bypasses the landmines of political bitchery.
The infrastructure of religion is vast and well-entrenched. Time for new leadership.
The Golden Rule... All this madness and it really comes down to just that.
John, that made me think that after all our country has given the religions and religious leaders in America, perhaps it’s time that we enlist them in the fight to make our democracy into a role model for countries that want to be democracies. What would happen if the pastors, ministers, priests (and the rest) actually taught The Golden Rule to their flocks using literary references that they might better relate to. I suggest that they use Children’s Highlights classic (and my favorite) feature, Goofus and Gallant. They could show how Goofus would do shit like storming a library with other Goofus comrades while menacing the librarian, of course, without masks. Or they could tell the story of hundreds of Goofuses colluding in a treasonous insurrection. The Gallant counterpoints would write themselves. My belief is that the vast majority of Trump cultists would claim to be Christians (regardless of the choices they make). Therefore, their religious leaders should have a pretty good chance of influencing their behavior by shaming them with their stupidity and frightening them with Hell. Since we lack a sufficient number of progressive leaders, we need our religious leaders to help lead our poorly educated into at least thinking about the other guy before they do something else stupid. Owning the libs is not how to get to Heaven.
A lot our professional politicians behave completely irrational, rant, rave and call everyone names, if they don't happen to believe in the same political, psychological or philosophical slogans.
"Senator Marco Rubio says he won’t attend the State of the Union address because it requires a Covid test and he’s too busy to swab his nose. Rubio’s bizarre behavior is right in line with the GOP’s embrace of poverty, disease, and death."
The solution is fairly easy: Don't keep re-electing any of these politicians.
Somehow we need to figure out how to look across the Divide before it gets too wide and too big; otherwise America as a United Nation simply cannot continue to exist: We will have a very real repeat of the Civil War. Sure we have had 40-50 years of super conservative elected leadership in the US, but, somehow voters kept electing these people, and somehow money kept buying up all our newspapers. And corporations became country-sized monsters. But, we were lazy and allowed the world's best democracy to collapse.
As an independent voter I think both liberals and conservatives, as well as Mr. Hartman, will gather more consensus by sticking to respectful, polite and factual discussion of issues with all the people we think we disagree with.
At this moment the we have over 30 million registered independent voters in the US, and probably 20 million swing voters, with 10 million on each side of the divide. Most of us are sick and tired of both the Democratic Party's brand of liberalism and the Republican Party's brand of support for only the top 1%. People in the South of the US are, in general, pretty decent people, but they will never embrace the liberal politics of California, Oregon, Washington or New York. However, they sure can agree on quite a few common sense public policies. Perhaps if we focused on what we can agree on we might regain control of the Commons in America. Most US citizens can agree that we need Healthcare for All, and most agree that the pension system of old has disappeared in the US- thus most people will agree to lift income limits on Social Security to capture more contributions from people making more than $147,000 (2022 limit). Most people would probably also agree that the costs of pharmaceuticals have become ridiculous and would agree the pharmaceutical corporations need to be reigned in, have full liability for their remedies and should be prohibited from advertising. All the other extreme liberal, or conservative issues simply can't muster enough consensus to become national policy, and mostly serve to keep us from moving forward in any manner. Personally, I pray we will try very hard to become better listeners.
You have bequeathed a new definition of "futility:" ...Respectful, polite, and factual discussion of issues..." If you haven't noticed that the, let's call them "true believers" will not allow such discourse, you haven't been trying to talk to them, "respectfully, politely and factually" or otherwise. At the slightest, most diplomatic hint of a quibble, they aggressively cut off the interaction and metaphorically "brand" you. If you have not experienced this, I respectfully and politely suggest you are in a sweet bubble, which is OK, I've given up, god bless us everyone.
Because it's trickle down on the people's head & it ain't $$$
GQP depraved indifference.