Sorry to sound like a broken record, but Monday July 16 was a day like no other in American history, and it represents a turning point.
My gut feeling is that we’re already in too deep to stop Trump and the GOP from causing significant harm to American democracy. I’m not saying it’s too late to save ourselves, but I do believe that we’re on the verge of a major national crisis of our own making. I think the Republicans are going to attempt an unprecedented power grab that will simultaneously be foreseeable yet nevertheless breathtaking and shocking when it happens.
The question – the – question is, will the Republicans be able to consolidate power among all of the branches of powers and will they be able to concentrate institutional power and control over the government BEFORE the public backlash. If not, then the people can unite against them in a show of mass (peaceful) protest. But as the example of Venezuela and Russia show, and as I think the example of Turkey will now begin to show, once you enable a government to concentrate power, then they can keep fucking up right and left, and it won’t be so easy to call them out on it.
When I read the following, I cried. We have to have LEGISLATION to fix this?? And BTW thump/Putin has kicked this topic off the front page, and it will probably soon be forgotten. (My bold.)
I remember learning in school how folks used to think that the Earth was the center of the universe and that the sun and all the planets revolved around it. As more and more new data would come in, the “scientists” of that day would construct more and more elaborate attempts to reconcile that new data and make it conform to the preexisting theory rather than abandon that theory in favor of the truth that the Earth revolves around the sun. Reminds me a lot of that. Yeah.
The Trump people clearly have no interest in making next week’s deadline for reuniting kids over 4 with their parents. They got away with failing to reunite the 4-and-under kids with their parents, after all.
And they just as clearly believe that ‘let no brown people in the country ever again’ is a winner for them.
Will this motivate Democratic voters to send Trump a message about the actual essence of America–a nation built by immigrants, a nation that has prided itself on providing asylum for the victims of persecution? We shall see.
Well, not forgotten. I see a lot of posts on Twitter, many containing new reporting. Lots of people are remembering the plight of those kids and parents every day.
But the front page is strained to bursting with the never-ending monkeyshines of the deranged six-foot toddler. Inevitably some stories have to wait for larger developments, to make it back to the top.
Here’s what scares me, something I just now realized.
There is a political science term for our type of government - a government with elected leaders, political parties, a Constitution, separation of powers, and checks and balances.
That term is liberal democracy.
It’s a political science term. It has nothing to do with being liberal. Or being a Democrat.
But President PeePee could get half the country to join him on a quest to destroy liberal democracy with just one tweet. Just because of the way the term sounds. Scary.
I was watching Colbert the other night, and he had Anderson Cooper on. After the Helsinki debacle, AC said, “one of the most disgraceful performances by an American president at a summit in front of a Russian leader, really, that I’ve ever seen”, and my first thought was, “And how will he top it next week?”
I think a lot of the problem would be solved if the Republicans took some time to talk to these immigrants. I have. I chat with them when they are working in construction. I chat with them when they are working as housekeepers and gardeners for my clients.
In general, they are very religious and family oriented. And VERY conservative on issues like gay marriage and abortion. Especially abortion.
And a lot of them ( not all but a lot ) are racist towards African Americans. I’ve heard the n-word. They feel they are lazy, they feel they abandon their children. They have a strong work ethic and HATE the idea of welfare.
They are really a tailor-made Republican constituency. Except for their skin color. And except the Republican Party is trying to drive them away. I think some of the Bush style conservatives understood this. But the Trumpers don’t.
And a lot of “whites/Anglos” do, too. The point is, Latino is not a separate RACE.
“Race” is not what the Census Bureau says it is. In-depth discussion here. Ethnic group =/= race. Too big a topic to go into here.
ETA: According to the link above, Jews are also Caucasian. Note that Aryans and Semites are in the same group. I’d say “ha!” but it’s not funny.
