A Crucial Pivot Point
This is a political post.
If interested, please scroll down.
Note: I have previously posted much of the following.
I was born in 1957. In a few years the Cold War would reach its zenith and, as a student in elementary school, I was taught to “duck and cover” in the event of a nuclear blast from the USSR. However, I was never scared for I knew that if the USSR attacked us, we would attack them, and we would all be dead. And Russians, I thought, can’t be that stupid.
So, I never feared for the very survival of my country.
And as I grew into adulthood, there were political candidates I loved which won elections. And lost elections to candidates I loathed. I sometimes voted Independent. Mostly Democratic. And occasionally Republican.
Never though, in all these years, did I fear for the survival of my country, no matter who was in charge.
In 2020? I am terrified for my country.
I am not joking. I have a fear inside my body which is intense.
Since January, 2017, I have watched, horrified, as the man in the Oval Office has endlessly attacked the media, the truth, his political opponents, America’s allies, and America’s judicial system; all the while embracing dictators across the globe. In short, I am watching, horrified, as fascism pushes against Democracy.
How is this happening?
.
When I talk with Trump supporters, one of the things they like about Trump is “he restored our global standing. We weren’t taken seriously under Obama”.
As with everything I hear from Trump supporters, this is a lie.
Since January, 2017, I have watched, horrified, as the standing of my country plummeted post-Trump. During the Obama years, the global standing of America rose sharply after collapsing during the George Bush years. Today, only two countries have a largely favorable view of America: Russia and Israel. Compare this to the Obama years, when America was largely admired around the world.
When I talk with Trump supporters, one of the things they like about Trump is “he’s protecting our borders. Democrats want open borders!”
As with everything I hear from Trump supporters, this is a lie.
There is not a single video online of any Democratic candidate, or any Democratic member of Congress, advocating for open borders.
When I talk with Trump supporters, one of the things they like about Trump is “he’s protecting our right to have guns. Democrats will take away our guns!”
As with everything I hear from Trump supporters, this is a lie.
There is not a single video online of any Democratic candidate, or any Democratic member of Congress, advocating that all guns to be seized.
This is the GOP playing its voters, because they claim this every election. Every time. But…but…neither Bill Clinton or Obama seized guns. Nonetheless, Republicans voters fall for this line every time. Even here in Kansas, the Republican currently running for the Senate claims his Democratic rival “will take all your guns!” That this is a lie does not get through to GOP voters. That GOP voters are being endlessly played by their own party also does not get through to them.
Me? I get really pissed off when my party tries to play me.
When I talk with Trump supporters, one of the things they like about Trump is “he’s protecting us from socialism!”
As with everything I hear from Trump supporters, this is a lie.
There is not a single video online of any Democratic candidate, or any Democratic member of Congress, advocating the transformation of democracy into socialism.
And, those Republicans terrified by the idea of socialism? They seem ignorant that all these things, which they mostly enjoy, are socialist:
- Guaranteed public education
- Public transportation
- Fire departments
- Police departments
- Public libraries
- Every branch of the US military
- Roads & highways
- Social Security
- Medicare/medicaid
- Public, not private prisons & jails
- Public hospitals
- The Veterans Affairs Administration
- Public universities
- Public parks
- Public toilets
- Public drinking fountains
- Public parking
- Public everything.
Oh, how terrible of Democrats to support all these things. Terrible! Things though which Republican voters are only too happy to enjoy while loudly proclaiming how terrible socialism is.
In 2018, I did a post detailing why I was a proud Democrat. It is simple: ONLY the Democratic party has a long history of helping the American people.
So, yes, I am a proud Democrat. Because my party has worked hard to enhance life for people across the land. The Democratic Party:
- Created social security.
- Created Medicare.
- Created Medicaid.
- Created a minimum wage.
- Created a 40-hour work week.
- Created subsidized housing for people with very low incomes.
- Created food stamps for people in financial trouble (for several months in the late 1960s, my own family was on food stamps while my carpenter father struggled to find work in an economic downturn).
- Create meals-on-wheels.
- Created the Civil Rights Act.
- Created the Americans with Disabilities Act
- Desegregated the military.
And here is what my party supports:
- Stopping global warming.
- The LGBT community.
- Equal right for everybody.
- A woman’s right to choose.
- A free press.
- Science.
- America’s long-standing allies. Democrats do NOT support dictators.
My party has also:
- Created more jobs than the other party (Between 1939 and 2011, the Democrats created 58 millions jobs, verses 26 million Republicam-created jobs). And Trump created fewer jobs in his first three years than Obama did in his last three years. (I’ve left 2020 off the table because of Covid.)
- Been fiscally more responsible than the other party. Twelve years of Reagan/Bush tanked the economy and the deficit soared. Bill Clinton fixed that mess, and created the largest surplus in my lifetime. George W. Bush destroyed all that, and it was up to Obama to fix the mess, creating the longest period of economic expansion in history, while significantly lowering the deficit. And Trump? The deficit has skyrocketed, the last GDP quarter was the worst in history, and unemployment had doubled.
The Republican party has NO history of helping people, save the richest of the rich paying less in taxes. It is true that Republicans care about every fetus. Furiously so. They just do not give a damn about humans.
In 2018, I did a blog post asking my Republican readers to name a single thing their party has done to help the America people, save lowering taxes on the super rich.
It has been two years. I never received an example.
Above, I wrote:
Never though, in all these years, did I fear for the survival of my country, no matter who was in charge.
In 2020? I am terrified for my country.
This is why I will be voting on Tuesday.
This is why I will be voting a straight-down ticket for the ONLY party which has improved life for most people in America.
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I early voted Biden/Harris last week in a very red county in North Carolina. It felt sooooo good.
Thank you for your service to your country!
Same here, RAinNC, in a very red county in California.
And thank you, Stephanie, for your service to your country!
Even better, Ross: my kids vote.
And I thank your kids! They were raised right!
I’ve never understood the whole fear of socialism thing. As an Australian if I get sick I can go to the hospital and get treated. No massive medical bill ensue. I live in community housing (ie government housing) and it’s quite nice. If you lose your job you can still feed your family. Everyone pays taxes and if you need it there’s a back up for you.
Right now if I have a concern that I may have covid I can go to a testing station, get tested for free and find out the results within 24 hours. It’s not perfect but for the most part it works.
I genuinely hope everything turns out for you guys after the election. Take care folks.
Thank you, Annette. I love hearing from readers across globe!
Liberal brains are hardwired differently than Conservative brains. With the latter, the part of the brain which responds to fear is much larger than with the former.
GOP operatives know this, which is why GOP candidates are always pushing fear:
They will take your guns!
Mexicans!
Blacks!
Hillary!
Pelosi!
Socialism!
Ebola!
ISIS!
So, even though none of this is rational, GOP voters respond to it.
And, as I wrote, they don’t see that they are being played. By their own party.
You know, Hitler used the same tactics. He pointed a finger, and made people afraid of something.
One of the biggest things I just can’t understand about (most) Americans is the attitude about guns. Why are they so concerned about having guns, or having their guns taken away from them? What do they need the guns for? How is it such a major issue for elections? So weird.
Hi, Karyn!
I would not say that most Americans are gun crazy.
Republicans are. But they are the minority party, a little under 30% of voters.
Gotcha! Then it’s a Republican attitude I don’t understand.!
We stood in light rain for about an hour and a half and voted for Biden/Harris and straight down the entire Democratic ticket. Felt great! Very well handled by our city of New Rochelle. Everyone wore masks and young and old both worked the polls. This is the way it should be. It made me proud.
You know I love it when you cite what Democrats have done for this country. Thank you for reminding us.
And I can’t leave without asking, how can Republicans be say they are “pro-life” and be pro guns” at the same time? It’s the biggest oxymoron…
Thank you, Karen, for your service to your country!
Republicans are NOT pro-life, as proved by their actions and policies.
They are just pro-fetus. Or, as I think of it, as pro-controlling-women.
Ross, your post is spot on. It always amazes me to see how many people are brainwashed by Trump (really by all Republicans since the 1980’s) Trump did nothing when Putin put a bounty on American soldiers heads, and if this will not change his supporters minds, then nothing will. I will be voting for Biden/Harris and all Democrats down the line on election day. Let’s hope we can turn the Senate blue.
Thank you, Cindy, for your service to your country!
I read this in 2016 and find it still true today: Republicans believe every lie about Hillary, while ignoring every truth about Trump.
Previously, I wrote about when Republicans lost their minds when Obama wore a tan suit. But, Trump doing nothing about Putin putting a bounty on American soldiers heads? Not a peep from any of them.
My fury grows ever greater.
Oh Ross, I don’t think anyone could have laid out the truth better than you! I was saying “yes!” all the way through.
Thank you for saying what we all know (although some aren’t aware enough to see it).
I fully agree…so very sad and worried for America the country that I love.
Yes! I live in the netherlands and the common thought here is: how did that guy ever get elected?! Even our most liberal political party is still pro public healthcare and pro protecting the environment. Which is pretty much the only way forward in my mind (and most europeans agree)
Thank you for putting this into words so clearly
Amen!
We voted by mail several weeks ago; something happened last night that, if I had any doubts about my choice (I don’t), would have settled it… our yard and the front of our house was vandalized. I have no doubt it was due to the Biden/Harris sign in our yard; we live in a historic district, and no other house in our neighborhood was hit. They were not satisfied with tearing up our sign; they also broke a concrete birdbath that was my great-grandmother’s, bent our flag pole at a 45 degree angle, and used neon orange spray paint to write TRUMP on our new sidewalk that we just had poured a few weeks ago…then sprayed a few shots of orange paint on our porch spindles and a newel post. Our neighbor called around 8:30 this morning to tell us, and I called the police out due to the paint damage; the officers seemed to think it was funny, one even made the remark about Trump’s name on the concrete “That’s gonna be there for a long time”… I replied that I would rather have the orange SOB on my sidewalk than running my country. Sorry for such a long comment, I am just pissed, so ready for Tuesday and at the same time, scared that something insane might produce a horrible outcome like in 2016.