Day 639 Wednesday October 17, 2018 942 Days to Go
Somethings have hit me as stunning realizations. Wait, I’ve had some realizations. Yeah, that’s better. They are the kind of things that when I say them out loud or write them out have a dual nature. One is that of course that’s the way it is, and it’s obvious. The other is wait a minute; that shouldn’t be. It’s not right. But there it is.
We have come to a sad place in our social, political, and cultural life. There were a number of things that happened recently that made me realize this.
One was the Spanberger Brat debate I attended Monday night. Dave Brat is appealing to a group of people within the seventh district; Spanberger wants to represent everybody in the district. You might say Spanberger is a throwback to the way politicians used to be. They used to try to represent everybody. Before the age of divisiveness there was that sense that a politician, even one from the party you didn’t favor would look out for you. If you called up their office and asked for help, they would respond. They would do their duty. Now? I haven’t had that sense in a long time.
Another thing has been the blatant and ongoing attempts by the Republican party and people within the party to limit people’s ability to vote that the party believes won’t vote for them. There isn’t the idea of “a free and fair election.” It’s “How can we win at all costs?” In Montana they are going after two counties that vote heavily Democratic. In Georgia the Secretary of State, who is running for Governor, has thrown 676,000 people off the voting roles, was sued and lost when he refused to register 33,000 new voters and is now holding up 56,000 applications for voters. The lawyer who is suing him also sued Harris in Florida. Harris was the county supervisor that not only used a whole array of voter suppression tactics but ordered pre-punched ballots that don’t run through machines properly and hence the “hanging chad” problem that led to Florida going for W.
The Republican party wants to foment chaos and confusion around an election. It occurred to me that this is exactly what the Russians want to do. The Republican Party has more in common with the Russians than they do with the rest of us who want free and fair elections, and who believe everybody should be able to vote and should have equal access to registering and voting.
It has also come to light that the 15 man hit team the Saudis sent to Turkey to kill the Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi included the head of the Saudi forensic division and he was carrying a bone saw. I don’t know what a bone saw is but I’d have to say that if you got that kind of equipment in your bag it’s kind of hard to say this wasn’t pre-meditated.
Trump and the Saudis are trying out different excuses. From “We don’t know where he is” to “It was rogue agents.” Nine of the fifteen have been independently identified. One of them is frequently seen with the crown prince. Trump has more in common with despots than he does with prime ministers. He has more in common with the super rich than the average Joe. It’s no wonder he gravitates toward this kind of behavior. Somehow I’m not really saying anything that is new with this, but it is stunning to say it out loud and realize how far away from the principles this country was founded on and the things that I’ve always thought set us apart from others. Not set us apart in a “we are better than you” way, but in a “lead by example” way. That has evaporated.
I travel around the world. I go to places many people don’t. Wherever I go I run into folks who tell me their dream is to come to America, and by that they mean the USA.
I wonder if that will still be true?
Who wants to come to the land of cheaters, deniers, and Donald Trump?
942 Days to Go
PS What are you doing? (Signing up for The Race for The Cure.)
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