Republican Race to the Bottom Nears the Home Stretch

This is not real hard. This is not a heavy lift. 

Here are the facts:

The evidence of Trumps collusion with the Russians just with what we already know is overwhelming.

[Source]

The evidence of Racism among the Trump administration and at least 2/3 of the Republican base is quite obvious and cannot be denied. 79% of Republican voters are still with him even after his response to events in Charlottesville and his pardoning of Joe Arpaio. His whole campaign was one racist litany after another.

[source]

The over 1000 documented falsehoods and lies he has told in his seven months in office.

[source]

Close to 44 million Republican voters are still behind this incompetent, dangerous, clown of a human being. This number represents 79% of Republican voters. 79%!!! The majority of the base of the Republican party is so radical, so racist, so un-Christian, so un-American. The Republican party is not a party for conservatives. It is not a party for the common American worker. If you think it is please share for me in the past 20 years anything this party has done for you.

What this party has done in the past 20 years is...

• Take us into a war based on the falsehood that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. We now know that they knew this not to be the case at the time but did so anyway. 

• Took a balanced Federal Budget where we actually had surpluses and were on the way to eliminating our Federal debt and gave us a tax rebate that really only helped the wealthiest Americans.

• Took us to the brink of economic calamity in 2008 based largely upon their decision to repeal Glass–Steagall and to not oversee and regulate the housing, credit, insurance, and investment markets.

• Spent the better part of 7 years telling falsehoods about the affordable care act. Yet when they finally had the opportunity to repeal and replace it could not.

• Privatized much of our Federal prison system (with the assistance of some Democrats) and created a system of injustice for minorities.

• Created systemic voter suppression, and gerrymandering of districts as a means of staying in power as they have a shrinking base and no real ideas for governing.

• Continue to deny climate science as Houston sits under 50 inches of rain, and the planet moves closer to the point of no return. 

• Continue to trash and discredit the media.

A Question and a Reality Check

With 2/3 of Republican voters still behind Trump what exactly do you think Republican politicians are going to do?

The current Republican party is not dangerous because of Donald Trump. They are dangerous because we now are acutely aware of what 45 million people in their base believe and stand for. 

This should rock you to your core. This is a party that is self-destructing. Unfortunately they are doing so in a manner that is going to take all of us down. 

If you are a conservative with your head in the sand... pull it out and take a stand. History is judging you and your silence as we speak. 

The good news is that 45 million racist Republicans only represent 20% of the electorate.
The bad news is 50% of the electorate is too busy to vote.
The good news is we still have this thing called the Constitution.

Get active

Get involved

Get off you ass and do something

It is time to end minority rule in America. 

The Struggle Americans with a Moral Compass Face

On Oct 16, 2016 I wrote a piece about what real political courage looks like.
This courage led to the loss of a block of southern states to the Democratic for more than a generation.

You see, Americans do not care much for history. When Americans do recite history it is generally a sanitized, milk-toast version written in a voice that is coma-inducing. We really do not know how many racists there are in America. It is just not something most Americans will own up to being. Being an overt racist has not been politically correct. That is until now.

We had overwhelming evidence long before the election that Trump was a racist. We have the dog-whistle racism of birtherism that no one on the right would denounce. When I say the "Right", I refer to both politicians and voters.

Today we do have an idea of how many racists or people that do not mind racists there are in America. The number is about 50 million. This is the number of loyal Republican/Trump voters that are still with him. Still with him in spite of the overwhelming evidence that he colluded with Russia in influencing our election. In spite of the overwhelming evidence of his ties to organized crime, to Russia an adversary and hostile foreign power, to criminal activity that includes money laundering.

Money laundering is something already on Trump's curriculum vitae. In 1998 Trump's casino ended up paying the Treasury Department a $477,000 fine for charges of money laundering he was facing. The plea bargain allowed him to pay without having to admit any liability under the Bank Secrecy Act. "Yes, little Mary and Kyle, poor Black and Hispanic men get hard time in Federal prison for simple possession of marijuana while rich people get fines that do not even amount to fair taxation for their crimes."

Anyhow, enough of Trump's litany of moral and ethical failures and back to our originally scheduled program. History overwhelmingly supports the following narrative.

• The Democrats were the party of Slavery, this is a fact! 
• A Republican led President ended slavery. This too a fact, as are all items that follow. 
• For 100 years, until the civil rights act we oppressed African Americans. 
• In the 1960's Democrats did the right moral and ethical thing and stood up to the actions of other racist Democrats. 
• Republicans used this opportunity to take control of a large block of southern states. 
• Since the civil rights era of the 1960's we have continued to practice a form of dog-whistle racism that we have politically institutionalized from our prison system to our system of education.

The racism we are experiencing today is not some new phenomena. Racism is baked into the fiber and being of American culture. A culture that so many on the right practice. A culture many on the left deprioritize and often work politically with Republicans to create legislation that serves to further server to oppress minorities.

It is time to throw away this cake and once and for all end the civil war. This does not need to be a war of violence though there has been and there will continue to be violence. This is a struggle for decency and what is just and moral. In this fight we are taking on about 50 million of are fellow citizens. Many are homophobic, racist, and really do not care much for Democracy.

Though I think darker days are still ahead we will prevail because we are the majority. I want you to burn this day into your memory. 59% of the Republican base agreed with Trumps comments comparing Neo-Nazis to protestors against Neo-Nazis. This is 40 million Republican voters. That number is sobering but should not come as a surprise to anyone if we examine history.

History will judge each and every one of us as we struggle through these times. Struggle to fight for the principles of decency and the foundation of our Constitution and Bill of Rights. The choice is yours. Be wise. Be decent. Be just. Do not be afraid to speak the truth.

Automation - What say you?

One of the favorite shows this pessimist likes to watch is CBS News Sunday Morning. It is usually a nice mix of positive and uplifting stories. This morning they did a story on automation. They showed a company that has already drove a driver-less truck across Colorado. They sat in the cab of a long haul semi-truck that was being driven by a robot cruising down the interstate. They showed the Amazon store in Seattle that you can go into, shop, and never encounter a store worker.

Sound cool?

Today we have 3.5 million truckers, 600,000 Uber drivers, 180,000 taxi drivers. We have millions of grocery store workers. Automation and AI is here today. It is estimated that close to 50% of our jobs could be lost to automation by 2025.
[source]

We also have millions of people working in part time retail jobs trying to make ends meet. These were jobs back when I was a young boy that were full-time and allowed a person to work and support an entire family. What happened?

In 1870 50% of people worked in agriculture. By 1900 this number was 33%. 20% by 1950. Today 2% work in agriculture. [source] Ironically there is a trend back to small farming operations.

Manufacturing and mining jobs have been largely been replaced by automation.

When computers came on the scene there was great concern that jobs would be lost. Word processing led to the end of typewriters. Streaming video has replaced video stores that did not have a long lifespan to begin with. But, since the advent of the computer millions of jobs and many new occupations have arrived.

It is hard to predict the macro movements of our civilization. Change is inevitable.

What is certain is that change impacts our lives. What is a 45 year old that has spent the bulk of their life as a driver supposed to do if their job is lost to automation? Throughout the rust belt we can find communities that have adapted and changed with the times and our thriving. We can find other towns that have not been able to adapt where a large percentage of people live in poverty and despair.

Society is "the aggregate of people living together in a more or less ordered community." Our society is seemingly becoming more and more survival of the fittest. The response to all this change is what we have typically done throughout history... try to redirect and blame those that do not look like us. Redirect and deflect blame where it does not belong.

What is the true measure of a society? What is the true measure of a person?

We are Witnessing the Downfall of the Republican Party

...either that or the end of Democracy as we know it. ...

Trump is and has been behaving like someone that is guilty. This is most likely because he is. His connections and behavior to Russia is overwhelming and we have not even gotten to what the Grand Jury will reveal. Many people will likely be going to prison including Trump himself.

There are going to be enough Republicans that ultimately vote to impeach Trump. His Presidency has been a disaster. Trump is out for Trump and the reality is that 62,984,825 people voted for this guy. 16 people ran for President in the Republican party. He crushed them all. What does this say about the Republican Party?

For 8+ years the Republican party has sold their base a line of total horse shit and lies about the ACA. They now own all 3 branches of government and they cannot repeal the ACA because they realize that the ACA has done and is doing good for 16 million of our fellow Americans. They have nothing to replace it with.

This is party with no vision and not a single good idea I can point to (leave a comment for any good ideas they have that I may have missed. I won't be holding my breath)

Whatever this party does they will likely lose enough of their base that their demise is inevitable. I take no solace in saying this. America is at its best when we have our two political parties healthy and thriving.

Frankly, the Republican party needs to stop appealing to haters and racists and the segment of immoral religious zealots masquerading as Christians. I am not speaking about all evangelical Christians. Many are friends of mine and they are fine people with good moral values. I am talking about people like Pastor Kevin Swanson, Ralph Reed, and other leaders and followers that preach a false gospel of hate.

While this party is getting its shit together or another party emerges to replace them some of the elected leaders could switch over to the Democratic party. Alabama Senator Richard Shelby was once a Democrat. People in the same party do not need to agree with one another on every policy matter. Compromise is key in any Democracy.

I cannot speak for Democratic voters embracing some of these people to join. Over in Democrat land there is a movement brewing to replace the old guard with a more progressive group that is more in tune with where the base of this party wants to go.