Mitch McConnell's Shameful Behavior

It is absolutely amazing that Mitch McConnell, the Senate Majority Leader, can find a way to fast track the appointment of a Supreme Court Justice but can't find the time or wherewithal to pass a much needed Covid-19 relief package. That's right, he and it would seem most of the GOP Senators, are fine with rushing the Supreme Court appointment while some 20 million people are unemployed, countless small businesses are waiting for much needed help and millions of people worry about mortgages and rent. 

How is it possible that a man and his party are so tone deaf to the needs of fellow citizens? Power and control of the courts seem to be the answer. Obviously there are people in this country who have wanted and worked for this control of the courts for a very long time. Who knew that it would be at the expense of fellow citizens to this extent.

Rushing this appointment will have many long term percussions. The Senate and the Court will suffer long term consequences. The Senate has always been a place where processes and debates have been slowed to make sure some bipartisan solutions can be reached. The Court has been viewed as a place where the law vs politics has been the preference. But now as millions of Americans are suffering economic difficulties and millions of others stay home in fear of their health and lives, we see the worst of political gamesmanship.

Mitch McConnell is a multimillionaire who seems to care little about everyday folks. He has accumulated power and wields it over a nation. I doubt that he recognizes how much anger his actions and inactions have generated toward him and his party. We shall see if he pays the price. 

This Is Not A Drill

Yes, we are in serious trouble and no, this is not a drill. 

In case you haven't been paying attention we have a leader who is an authoritarian, antidemocratic and a demagogue. His belief is that if he doesn't win the upcoming election, it is rigged. His latest moves are to threaten that he will ignore the tradition of a peaceful transfer of power if he doesn't win reelection on Nov. 3. No matter what you think about voting, elections, candidates or process, the peaceful transfer of power is what separates democracies from dictatorships. 

The President of the United States says his power and authority are "total". They are not. He has made it clear that he will do anything to keep this fictional power and authority. He touts how well he has managed a health crises that has killed over 200,000 Americans.  In the middle of a highly contagious pandemic he invites his own supporters into arenas where no masks or social distancing are required. Yes, he is putting people's lives in danger by not following guidelines from his own administration. Recently he has threatened to override a decision by the Food and Drug Administration relative to the release of a vaccine for Covid-19 building more distrust in national health policy. He has ordered and used force against his own people. He praises violence against journalists. He has called for "able-bodied" pole watchers. He will create and use enemy lists to punish citizens and opponents. He will pack the courts to make sure he remains in power and that his policies will continue for years. He will not act in the best interests of his country. He has confused people about mail in ballots and instilled fear in people about the institution of voting.

What do we do? Certainly people need to vote. People need to think about how and where they vote. This year more than ever, every voter needs to find out and understand what the local rules are relative to mail in voting as well as in person voting. We need to talk to each other and support each other as voters, families, friends and neighbors because this Presidency and election have put people at odds. The tension, fatigue and exhaustion is being felt by everyone. We're facing things like western forest fires, hurricanes, a pandemic, unemployment and educational struggles. People are stressed and looking for some type of answers and relief.

When fascist leaders appear on the world stage they are sometimes ignored. At other times they are challenged both internally and externally. People will put up with a lot it seems, but at a certain point, people of conscience begin to speak up and act. Conscience is an interesting thing. We all have it. We all struggle with it at some point in our lives. Sometimes we are able to ignore it or tamp it down. There are other times when it screams out at us and demands action. War, violence, injustice, dishonesty, hurtful actions to minorities and damage to the common good are the types of things that make a conscience stand up and act. For many people the criteria for conscientious witness has been met.

There may be more difficult things that people need to be prepared to do. Massive civil disobedience may be required. People like to talk supportively about peaceful protests but let's be clear, civil disobedience and mass arrests may be a necessary response to the actions of a dictator. If it comes to that, these protests will not be pretty. Noncooperation as a response to authoritarianism has a long and valued history in resistance movements around the world as well as in this country. Study up.

Understand The Outrage

The fact is, there are people who don't understand the outrage people are feeling from the latest justice failure in Louisville, Kentucky. All of us, yes all of us, should step back for a moment and understand the reality of why people are outraged.

Breonna Taylor was a young Black woman who's life was erased by the Kentucky Attorney General and the Grand Jury that looked at the incident leading to her death. She isn't the first Black woman or the only Black person whose life has been erased by various Police Departments, States, and Grand Jurys. Think about that. Her life was literally erased from the incident that occurred in her apartment so many months ago. Her name didn't seem to appear anywhere in the indictment that was issued by the Grand Jury. People dwelling in other apartments at the time of the incident were named, but Breonna Taylor, shot as a bystander was not mentioned. 

That in itself is a major part of the outrage. The pain that Breonna's family must feel is incomprehensible to me. A young woman, an EMT and first responder in her community, shot six times and killed in an incident where the actual facts of the warrant and process continue to be under investigation. Yet her name, her person and her being are erased from the entire affair. 

So yes, we can condemn violence and condemn looting but in the end that will make little difference if we don't begin to understand the injustice of a judicial and investigative process that erases people from receiving any justice. This is why we have to say her name - Breonna Taylor - over and over, until more people associated with administering what is supposed to be equal justice begin to understand. The justice system has to change. There has to be transparency when police officers are involved in the death of citizens. Until we have those kind of changes, there will continue to be righteous outrage and anger and people will continue to say her name - Breonna Taylor......Breonna Taylor shot and killed as a bystander with no justice.

He Knew That It Was Deadly & Airborne.......

We are witnessing crimes against our own citizens. Call it what you will - negligent homicide, crimes against humanity, stupidity - the fact is that most likely 100,000 people in the United States have died unnecessarily. They were doctors, nurses, first responders, people of color, mothers, fathers, sons and daughters. They were people of means as well as middle-class, the poor and homeless. They all died of Covid 19 during a time when the President of the United States knew that this virus was deadly and airborne, a virus that all of us could be breathing and passing on to one another. What a tragedy, and what a waste of human life this has all been and sadly it continues.

It has to be said. Donald Trump is a fascist and an authoritarian. Do not be fooled. He is not pro life. He has caused these deaths through inaction and for his own selfish purposes - his re-election and the protection of his power. He has continued to downplay this virus right up to the present moment. He mocks the use of masks. He has controlled messaging from scientists.

It's asked many times what people would have done during Hitler's time, when atrocities were being committed on a daily basis against Jews and others? People have always been quick to point fingers against those who stood in silence or worse yet, those who supported those actions. Well our time has come. We can stand by, lower our heads and ignore the facts. We can cheer him on as many have, or we can stand up to this horrific administration and its leader. We can speak out. We can stand up to his power. We can help remove him from office.

As with anyone in power like this, there are many around him who bare responsibility. They knew from both intelligence reports as well as from medical information and projections exactly what was going on and what was happening. They were there from the beginning of this crises and remain today. They should be ashamed and should also be held accountable.

His excuse is that he wanted to avoid panic. This is just not believable from a man who tries to instill hatred and panic on an almost daily basis as he talks about caravans, the second amendment, dangers in the streets and in the suburbs, law and order, and racism. He has separated families and put children in cages. He has incited hatred in his followers. The only panic he was concerned about was in the stock market and the economy.

Justice demands that Donald Trump is removed from office and that he and his administration are held accountable for causing so much death and hardship for tens of thousands of Americans. These injustices can't be allowed to stand.