tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1797875972831999598.post4856577839842758716..comments2023-11-22T04:27:07.521-06:00Comments on glen brown: The Republican Disgracegbrownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13435049339082622611noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1797875972831999598.post-23204548333359569482020-02-02T11:54:31.012-06:002020-02-02T11:54:31.012-06:00What have the oligarchic Republicans done to our d...What have the oligarchic Republicans done to our democracy thus far? They have weakened our labor unions; they have passed right-to-work laws to keep workers powerless; they have shut down the federal government; they continue to deny climate change in both the executive and legislative branches of government. They are funded by ALEC who creates and funds bills to restrict minority voting, scapegoat teachers, attack retirees’ and public employees’ pensions, maintain the deprivation of university and college adjunct faculty, dismantle public ownership and services, privatize the exorbitantly-priced American healthcare system, and rewrite the tax code to benefit the wealthiest Americans. <br /><br />Are we going to allow the continuing Republican deregulation of our environmental protections; the continuing privatization of our public schools; the eradication of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid; the transformation of the U.S. courts and the privatization of the justice system; and a reinterpretation of the U.S. Constitution to successfully oppress the majority of Americans?<br />gbrownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13435049339082622611noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1797875972831999598.post-65661109106182836462020-02-01T12:22:06.223-06:002020-02-01T12:22:06.223-06:00I remain hopeful, despite the ongoing chaos. The o...I remain hopeful, despite the ongoing chaos. The only explanation is that there is a form of collective brainwashing going on among his followers, spurred on by the far far right media. There doesn't seem to be the same reaction to immoral and unethical actions that most of his non-followers see. As for Christian supporters, it's a mystery how they can say this is okay. He is not chosen by God. I, for one, am very spiritual and my belief in God and what he stands for, doesn't excuse this behavior in a Christian leader.<br /><br />It's not unlike any other nation whose people follow a "charismatic" leader, condone the leader's words and actions based on religious beliefs, and dismiss and forgive actions and words that are offensive to the majority of others. We saw how many Americans reacted to his rhetoric and character when he was first elected. I cried and wondered how he could have won. Now some of those same people have been turned around, to support him and his agenda. Very confusing and mind-boggling. I often think about what my parents would think of the White House administration today. Two very different realities, we are living in. okeeley11https://www.blogger.com/profile/08767280495524399016noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1797875972831999598.post-1412454611364765112020-02-01T11:33:29.930-06:002020-02-01T11:33:29.930-06:00"...Where else than in the Senate could have ..."...Where else than in the Senate could have been found a tribunal sufficiently dignified, or sufficiently independent? What other body would be likely to feel CONFIDENCE ENOUGH IN ITS OWN SITUATION, to preserve, unawed and uninfluenced, the necessary impartiality between an INDIVIDUAL accused, and the REPRESENTATIVES OF THE PEOPLE, HIS ACCUSERS?..." -Alexander Hamilton, The Federalist Papers : No. 65.<br /><br />Hamilton did not foresee that a corrupt Senate like ours could exist in the 21st century: "Sufficiently [dishonorable] or sufficiently [controlled by a malignant and dangerous narcissist]": a Senate that is assuredly corrupt, neglectful of their duty, and egregiously partisan. gbrownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13435049339082622611noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1797875972831999598.post-33281176598275553142020-02-01T11:02:36.691-06:002020-02-01T11:02:36.691-06:00Pity the Nation by Lawrence Ferlinghetti
(after Kh...Pity the Nation by Lawrence Ferlinghetti<br />(after Khalil Gibran)<br /><br />Pity the nation whose people are sheep,<br />and whose shepherds mislead them.<br />Pity the nation whose leaders are liars, <br />whose sages are silenced,<br />and whose bigots haunt the airwaves.<br />Pity the nation that raises not its voice,<br />except to praise conquerors <br />and acclaim the bully as hero<br />and aims to rule the world <br />with force and by torture.<br />Pity the nation that knows <br />no other language but its own<br />and no other culture but its own.<br />Pity the nation whose breath is money<br />and sleeps the sleep of the too well fed.<br />Pity the nation — oh, pity the people <br />who allow their rights to erode<br />and their freedoms to be washed away.<br />My country, tears of thee, <br />sweet land of liberty.<br />gbrownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13435049339082622611noreply@blogger.com