We’re living through times of great strife, but Americans are still united by their belief in a democratic republic with Congress playing its appropriate leading role.
Expecting Congress to save us is a fool’s errand. Here’s why.
Wealth has always been the key to social and political power. Despite the eloquent protestation that we’re all created equal, the reality is that right from the outset, there has been tension in the U.S. between those who have a significant degree of wealth (and hence power) and those who have little or none. The balance between the haves and the have nots has bounced back and forth over the years but during Reagan’s presidency the haves got a significant boost as much of the wealth of those in the middle was transferred to those already at the top. The transfer was sold to a gullible public by the “trickle-down” smokescreen which quietly ignored human selfishness. When I was a youngster the wealthy gave roughly 90% of their earnings to the government. By the end of the Reagan era and its aftermath, this had plummeted to where it is today, hovering just under 40%.
Once wealth became concentrated at the top the rule makers who set the tax rules were chosen primarily from among the wealthy, because they alone could afford to broadcast their candidacy more forcefully. Modern communication (television) magnifies the voice of those who can afford to pay for it. And so the average Joe and Jane have become mere pawns in a system the rules of which are set predominantly by those quite unlike themselves.
Until Trump arrived on the scene with the necessary skill and willingness to marshal the combined forces of concentrated wealth and widespread resentful ignorance, the country sailed along doing well enough that the great mass of people gradually forgot that the only true corrective lies in massive resistance by the public. The need and the will to confront tyranny has petrified over the years, and so we see ourselves succumbing to fascism without much more than a whimper.
"nearly 3 in 4 respondents (72%) would prefer a candidate who acts with respect for institutions and rules rather than ignoring the Constitution to act with greater speed and urgency"
Which raises the question of why so many of those respondents nonetheless voted for a presidential candidate last year who made his utter contempt for those institutions and rules abundantly clear during his campaign.
It will take literally a full generation of sane adults in the White House to undo the damage that Don the Con has perpetrated in a mere 8 months. And the odds of getting 50 straight years of sane adults in the White House are about as good as the chances that the sun will rise in the west tomorrow morning. I think we may have passed the tipping point of no return.
I have reached the sad conclusion that Red and Blue America are like a couple stuck in a bad, rapidly becoming abusive, marriage that’s ruptured beyond repair. We’ve reached the point where the best solution is a (amicable, I hope—but doubt) divorce.
Think of it—Blue America can set up a modern country, with a modern economy based on technology and information. There will be equal rights and representation in a democratic (small d) government. Everyone will have the final say in controlling their own bodies except where endangering others is involved (so we will have immunization mandates). There will be a strong social safety net so nobody goes hungry, un-housed or without health insurance. Nobody will impose their religious beliefs on anyone else, and everyone will be free to follow whatever religion they want, or no religion if they so desire.
And the bumpkins, morons, Yahoos, misogynists, bigots, racists, rubes and boobs of Red America can have their hearts’ delight setting up their very own Third World country, right here on the North American continent! The government will be authoritarian, with no free elections and with few rights. Women will be considered the property of their fathers (or oldest male blood relative if dad is dead) until they marry, and then they will be property of their husband. It will have a Third World economy, based on extraction (agriculture, mining, timber, heavy manufacturing) with a very few ultra-rich people who live apart from society and feel no responsibility toward it. They won’t be in the government because they don’t have to be—the government will be at their beck and call. There will be a small middle class, running ever faster on the economic treadmill just to stay even. There will be a good-sized working class, working several jobs, none of which have benefits, just to make ends meet. And there will be a large underclass, living in shantytowns, just trying to survive. There will be epidemics of (and deaths from) measles, German Measles (with its attendant lethal birth defectcs), Hepatitis A and B, and many other vaccine-preventalbe diseases so the morons can have their freedom to spread disease.
I don’t pretend that the divorce will be easy. First, all of us have been living high on the hog from other people’s borrowed money so we’ll need to split up the national debt. We’ll also need to divvy up Federal property. Even harder will be the fact that even in deep Blue states, rural areas are solidly red—like the Eastern Shore and Appalachia in Maryland. Similarly, in ruby-Red Texas, the big cities (Houston, Austin, San Antonio) are solidly Blue and even Dallas is competitive. The disruption will be akin to setting up India and Pakistan when British South Asia was partitioned in 1947. But we’ll work it out.
Today WeThePeopleSD.org in Sioux Falls, SD launched a nation-wide petition drive, a call to action, demanding that Senate majority leader John Thune honor his oath of office to uphold the U.S. Constitution. To learn more and to sign the petition, go to the website https://www.wethepeopleSD.org/declaration. You can opt to have your name and personal information remain anonymous.
Tyranny requires silence and abdication of our constitutional rights and responsibilities. Join us in our effort to stand up and do neither.
These suggestions largely depend on a Congress that works and thinks and decides and truly represents its constituents. Congress needs to face the truth that their decisions and loyalty are to Americans, NOT to the executive branch.
Expecting Congress to save us is a fool’s errand. Here’s why.
Wealth has always been the key to social and political power. Despite the eloquent protestation that we’re all created equal, the reality is that right from the outset, there has been tension in the U.S. between those who have a significant degree of wealth (and hence power) and those who have little or none. The balance between the haves and the have nots has bounced back and forth over the years but during Reagan’s presidency the haves got a significant boost as much of the wealth of those in the middle was transferred to those already at the top. The transfer was sold to a gullible public by the “trickle-down” smokescreen which quietly ignored human selfishness. When I was a youngster the wealthy gave roughly 90% of their earnings to the government. By the end of the Reagan era and its aftermath, this had plummeted to where it is today, hovering just under 40%.
Once wealth became concentrated at the top the rule makers who set the tax rules were chosen primarily from among the wealthy, because they alone could afford to broadcast their candidacy more forcefully. Modern communication (television) magnifies the voice of those who can afford to pay for it. And so the average Joe and Jane have become mere pawns in a system the rules of which are set predominantly by those quite unlike themselves.
Until Trump arrived on the scene with the necessary skill and willingness to marshal the combined forces of concentrated wealth and widespread resentful ignorance, the country sailed along doing well enough that the great mass of people gradually forgot that the only true corrective lies in massive resistance by the public. The need and the will to confront tyranny has petrified over the years, and so we see ourselves succumbing to fascism without much more than a whimper.
Sic transit Gloria.
"nearly 3 in 4 respondents (72%) would prefer a candidate who acts with respect for institutions and rules rather than ignoring the Constitution to act with greater speed and urgency"
Which raises the question of why so many of those respondents nonetheless voted for a presidential candidate last year who made his utter contempt for those institutions and rules abundantly clear during his campaign.
It will take literally a full generation of sane adults in the White House to undo the damage that Don the Con has perpetrated in a mere 8 months. And the odds of getting 50 straight years of sane adults in the White House are about as good as the chances that the sun will rise in the west tomorrow morning. I think we may have passed the tipping point of no return.
I have reached the sad conclusion that Red and Blue America are like a couple stuck in a bad, rapidly becoming abusive, marriage that’s ruptured beyond repair. We’ve reached the point where the best solution is a (amicable, I hope—but doubt) divorce.
Think of it—Blue America can set up a modern country, with a modern economy based on technology and information. There will be equal rights and representation in a democratic (small d) government. Everyone will have the final say in controlling their own bodies except where endangering others is involved (so we will have immunization mandates). There will be a strong social safety net so nobody goes hungry, un-housed or without health insurance. Nobody will impose their religious beliefs on anyone else, and everyone will be free to follow whatever religion they want, or no religion if they so desire.
And the bumpkins, morons, Yahoos, misogynists, bigots, racists, rubes and boobs of Red America can have their hearts’ delight setting up their very own Third World country, right here on the North American continent! The government will be authoritarian, with no free elections and with few rights. Women will be considered the property of their fathers (or oldest male blood relative if dad is dead) until they marry, and then they will be property of their husband. It will have a Third World economy, based on extraction (agriculture, mining, timber, heavy manufacturing) with a very few ultra-rich people who live apart from society and feel no responsibility toward it. They won’t be in the government because they don’t have to be—the government will be at their beck and call. There will be a small middle class, running ever faster on the economic treadmill just to stay even. There will be a good-sized working class, working several jobs, none of which have benefits, just to make ends meet. And there will be a large underclass, living in shantytowns, just trying to survive. There will be epidemics of (and deaths from) measles, German Measles (with its attendant lethal birth defectcs), Hepatitis A and B, and many other vaccine-preventalbe diseases so the morons can have their freedom to spread disease.
I don’t pretend that the divorce will be easy. First, all of us have been living high on the hog from other people’s borrowed money so we’ll need to split up the national debt. We’ll also need to divvy up Federal property. Even harder will be the fact that even in deep Blue states, rural areas are solidly red—like the Eastern Shore and Appalachia in Maryland. Similarly, in ruby-Red Texas, the big cities (Houston, Austin, San Antonio) are solidly Blue and even Dallas is competitive. The disruption will be akin to setting up India and Pakistan when British South Asia was partitioned in 1947. But we’ll work it out.
Today WeThePeopleSD.org in Sioux Falls, SD launched a nation-wide petition drive, a call to action, demanding that Senate majority leader John Thune honor his oath of office to uphold the U.S. Constitution. To learn more and to sign the petition, go to the website https://www.wethepeopleSD.org/declaration. You can opt to have your name and personal information remain anonymous.
Tyranny requires silence and abdication of our constitutional rights and responsibilities. Join us in our effort to stand up and do neither.
As long as congress allows the felon to get away with being a fascist we won’t ever have another election.
These suggestions largely depend on a Congress that works and thinks and decides and truly represents its constituents. Congress needs to face the truth that their decisions and loyalty are to Americans, NOT to the executive branch.
That is why I wrote this new book - The Reform Democrat: A Plan for Clean Government and Common-Sense Change. https://a.co/d/2ivoVLz
Good luck! We need a Congress that works together. We need a true president. And a Supreme Court that judges by law.