I don’t think most people are particularly happy about political correctness or cultural appropriation, as they are imperfect solutions to a problem. But the problem it’s trying to address, racism, is the real source of these tactics. If American would have a reasonable, rational discussion about race and start implementing solutions, I don’t think political correctness would be that big of a deal. PC culture exists BECAUSE racism has been resisted by those in power in America. So yes, these social strictures are annoying at times, and prevent people from freely speaking their mind and expressing their ideas, but they only exist because there seem to be few effective options for regular people to address racism. Protests aren’t causing change. Boycotts aren’t doing it. Community organizing isn’t either. There seem to be no good solutions. So let’s address racist policing, and then maybe we won’t have to police language and behavior.
The USA seems in chaos. Over the past two weeks from July 27 to August 9, the US has confirmed deaths of 15,727 from COVID-19, according to google. Over the same period, Germany had 79. France: 132. Japan: 46. United Kingdom: 828. When you combine the populations of these four countries, supposed equals on the world stage, the population is approximately 343 million people to 328 million people in the USA, based on 2019 population figures, so a reasonable comparison. That total is 1085 deaths vs 15,727 over the same time period for those counting with me. The USA is far richer than any of them, yet look at that disparity, an entire order of magnitude higher, and then some. How can this be? Much of this has to do with right-wing propaganda that infects much of middle america, which is now experiencing an extended first wave. First the virus was a hoax, then nothing to worry about, it was just the flu, then after being forced into lockdown, re-opening without a scientifically-backed method of action to contain the virus. Then, the anti-maskers, the ultimate trolls, undermining scientific advice meant to reduce the spread.
It becomes harder and harder to see it as simply negligence, and more and more due to malice or disregard for human life. Combine that with the deaf ears on which desperate pleas for police accountability fell on, the story becomes clearer and clearer every day: this is extermination. Incarcerate them, making it impossible for them to get normal jobs. When they are forced to make a living in the street, intimidate and kill them, and let the taxpayers pay the significant financial penalties they will be assessed, while holding no LEOs criminally responsible. And then when the oppressed rise up in the streets by the millions, deny their legitimate calls for reform. Rinse and repeat until you have a cowed, fearful and unstable black and minority population. The backup plan? Starve the poor and minorities by denying them FOOD in the richest country in the world. Deny them healthcare. Let food companies exploit their human physiology without oversight. Decrease funding to their schools by redirecting it to private charters. Prevent them from getting bank loans, and thus, permanent housing. Let credit card and payday loans companies exploit them mercilessly. In short, keep them a subordinate class whose life is always worth less. This is not negligence, this is policy. And as such, it is mass murder.
Around the world right now, right-wing politicians have risen to power, in places like the USA, UK, and Brazil. Russia could also be called right-wing, but it doesn’t appear to be a full democracy. But look at these numbers of cases:
Brazil and USA lead the world in number of cases, with the UK in the top 5. What do they have in common? Right wing governments are in power, and they continually talk about how the coronavirus is fake, or that it’s not fake but their political enemies are using it to harm them, or whatever other nonsense billows from their angry nostrils.
And on a state-by-state level in the United States, a predictable pattern emerged: Republican-led states, in lockstep with Republican leadership in the White House and the Senate, refused to acknowledge the reality and severity of the situation, refusing to mandate mask-wearing, and rushing the re-opening of the economy without meeting the guidelines necessary to slow the spread. To be fair, some Democratic-led states like California tended to rush back too quickly, but likely under intense pressure from the business community. And, these red states are trying to spin the latest frightening figures, with Governor Ron DeSantis saying the spike is caused by “young people” or “hispanics”, as if those somehow weren’t citizens or constituents.
But it also highlights a feature that has been obvious for a long time, but could be hidden behind political statements until now…the inherent cruelty of the Republican Party. There is one King in the GOP, and that is money. If anything comes in the way of money, health and life for example, they are pushed aside so that people can make money. It shows every time they try to kill any type of health care reform. It shows when they refuse to raise the minimum wage. It shows when they fight civil rights, LGBTQ rights, and women’s rights. It shows in the treatment of prisoners. It shows in the brutality of the police. It shows when meat processing plants are forced to stay open even during a massive outbreak. It’s baked in to everything. And now that once again, they have denied science and government suggestions on how to re-open safely, they are reaping the fruits of this cruelty. The US is now very close to 130,000 lives lost since March. The only war the US has ever fought with more casualties was the Civil War, and it looks like those numbers will be surpassed. How can citizens remain in power? It is important to tie the millstone of these deaths around their necks. They must always be burdened with the fact that they didnt’ do all they could to save lives. And they must never be allowed to lead again. A new political movement needs to spring up from what surely are the ashes of what passes for right-wing conservatism, and that movement can still be conservative, but it must value life and health and liberty above money.
In this article, the National Review stresses the importance of law enforcement regaining control of the protests raging around the country. After I read article after article from the conservative news media and pundit world, I keep coming back to the same thing…none of it is based on principles of anything. Not one word was written about WHY people are protesting. Nor is there a mention that the very people enforcing the protests are the same people who are being protested against. And the statute they site is the “Insurrection Act” which allows the President to intervene in state affairs with the US military by violently putting down any disturbance. So the “conservative” National Review is calling for the US Military Armed Forces to attack its own citizens. This after 2 or 3 days of rioting. It seems like it isn’t real. Do they want a Kent State II? Yet these same people giddily go after the FBI or any other federal law enforcement agency as being corrupt whenever they feel like it. “THIS police is corrupt but THIS police is not” doesn’t seem like a very effective backdrop for a call for military putdowns of protests of that very power.
It all just feels convenient. It seems that the end is never what is being stated, “Law &Order” in this case. Law and order has a definition that means something, it’s not just a term you can throw around. One of those concepts is equal treatment under the law. OK we’ve got the “Order” part, now where’s the “Law” part? The order part should only be necessary if the law part isn’t working. Well, is the law part working? After fighting for order, are they then fighting to better the law? No, they are not. In almost all cases, these calls are just efforts to keep power consolidated. Any threat to that will be put down with the resources that consolidated power control, and they will be used against their own citizens, without hesitation.
Senator Ron Johnson (R, Wisconsin) recently said, in reference to the novel coronavirus, “maybe no more than 3.4 percent of our population” will be affected by the disease and that “We don’t shut down our economies because tens of thousands of people die from the common flu.” First of all, let’s do the math. There are approximately 329 million Americans, so 3.4% of them is 9 million. So, says the venerated senator, 9 million lives should not prevent us from making money. This blows open what hasn’t been much of a secret anyway: they don’t care about you, at all. To them you are just a number, your life is a meaningless statistic on the way to making money and amassing power. It showed when Republicans fought gun control reform after dozens of small children were murdered in cold blood. It showed with their pathetic attempts to address opioid addiction, a circumstance made possible by lax government oversight of corporations and doctors. This is the same people and party that broke the Constitution by not allowing a sitting president to name a Supreme Court vacancy. And yet, these same people have the audacity to claim to be pro-life when it comes to fetuses. It’s all a sham, and Ron Johnson is just another example of the undeniable proof of it all.
Since the first case appeared in November, and especially since the subsequent flare of cases leading to an unprecedented lockdown in China, the world has known about the coronavirus pandemic for months now. Legitimate fact-based journalism has been reporting on it for months, but the right-wing media, emanating from Trump, have declared it a democratic hoax, impeachment part 2, the flu etc., and refused to acknowledge the gravity of the situation, calling it overhyped and fake news, likely because it would be bad economically, and therefore politically, for Dear Leader. The administration has been intentionally conducting fewer tests so as to “keep the numbers down,” saying that it’s ok for people to socialize and work freely, and generally dismissing concerns about the virus.
But after enduring weeks of brutal losses on the stock market, watching governments around the world conduct emergency shutdowns of the vast majority of activity, and seeing the number of cases double every three days, and reported deaths nearing 100, the right-wing media is slowly starting to change its tune. And these rising numbers are despite the practically criminal lack of tests and a concerted effort to limit the reports of positive tests. And I’m furious. As long as there are no consequences for lies, Trump and his sycophants continued to tell them over and over. Deep State. Impeachment Hoax. Russian Witch Hunt. These were all lies to cover up illegal or immoral behavior by himself and his cronies. But there were no consequences. The Mueller Report, aided and abetted by the Deep State, had its slam-dunk findings misrepresented by Trump’s handpicked attorney general, a report that credibly accused the president of obstruction of justice and found evidence of but was unable to conclusively prove that the President knowingly conspired with Russia to win the 2016 election. Trump also was proven, and was admitted to by Republican senators, to have extorted Ukraine for almost $400 million for damning information on his sure-to-be political opponent.
And now, after lying for years to cover up this behavior and to ensure their political power, and after months of lying to their at-risk supporters about the severity of this disease, now they want to change their tune and say that all of a sudden, it’s real. Well, now is not the time to be ok with that. Now is the time we should call their reversal “fake news.” We should be re-posting their former memes comparing it to swine flu and disparaging Obama. Maybe don’t share misinformation, but don’t help them either. Once they see each other dropping like flies, maybe they’ll begin to again appreciate facts. And you know that as soon as you help them, and they get better, they will turn around tomorrow and stab you in the back. We’ve got to stop encouraging this kind of reckless behavior by acting like everything is ok. It’s not ok, and I’m furious.
It’s actually pretty funny to watch now that the USA is in a full-blown coronavirus epidemic. The administration is asking for trust from the public after it has spent the last three years telling 15000 lies and dismantling or reversing the purpose of every government organization they could get their hands on. The entire Republican party says that government is the problem, until they need the government.
What I mean is that the two parties work under different rules. Whereas Democrats are punished if they adhere to “norms”, Republicans seem to be rewarded. For example, Republicans constantly launch political investigations into Democrats with the sole purpose of damaging a Democrat’s ability to get elected, the Democrats seem unwilling or unable politically able to do the same against Republicans. Only when the evidence is overwhelming as in the impeachment do they proceed. And this fact is unchallenged as the Republicans who were in charge of investigating Hillary Clinton made it clear after the fact that the investigations were purely political and meant to harm her chances to win election. The same now with Joe Biden, or his son. No illegal activity has been alleged against either, other than profiting off his father’s name, yet the current president has his FAMILY running parts of the government, WHICH IS ILLEGAL, and gets no pushback. It feels like a Batman and Joker situation, where Batman, as the good guy, is constrained from all the dirty tricks that the Joker does because of his moral code. Yet that moral code puts him at a distinct advantage to the Joker, who manipulates Batman’s unwillingness to kill to continue his immoral behavior. Because Democrats still feel the need to be moral, the Republicans, who by and large have no morals these days, do not have a problem opening baseless investigations into their political opponents. And thus, the Democrats appear “weak” in comparison to Republicans because they are adhering to a moral code. And with American evangelicals embracing Christian Nationalism as opposed to what’s written in the Bible, the Republicans are free to be as immoral as they please, since their base of voters no longer cares about morality.
It seems pretty clear, anyway. One must have an ideological basis for coming together, whether it’s social or economic policy or whatever. The Republicans have, as I see it, two principles left: tax cuts and Donald Trump. I can’t think of any other threads that run through all Repulicans. They showed they are not the party of:
fiscal responsibility
law & order
morality
integrity
the constitution
I didn’t mention abortion or guns because I don’t think Republicans agree on those issues.
But even though Republicans are dead, they live on through moderate Democrats. They display the same wishy-washy nature about democratic policies, hoping to reel in some hypothetical moderate Republican single-issue voter. Politics has moved into the modern age and I don’t think moderation is the answer.
It seems that anyone who wishes to argue in good faith in the future would need to possess some sort of code of ethics that can be used to explain and defend one’s position. This applies to anything. And by supporting this amoral president, it seems that Republicans are selling much more than their current soul, they are also giving away any semblance of arguing in good faith on myriad subjects in the future if their party is no longer in the White House. You couldn’t say, impeach a future President for obtaining foreign help in winning election. You couldn’t argue against the selling of pardons. You can’t be opposed to a future president making money off the office. You can’t be opposed to a future president hiring just their family members. You can’t argue against deficit spending or debt reduction. It seems endless the number of things that can’t be argued against in good faith. And I guess that’s the key. — none of their arguments were ever in good faith.
