It is truly scary what the majority of the Republican Party has morphed into with Trump as the figurehead. He’s made it okay for the overtly racist to hold a megaphone. Mind you I’m not saying they didn’t exist before him but he allowed them to flood into the mainstream and overtake a major political party.
You can reduce your worry by asking everyone you can if they are registered to vote. If not, encourage them to do so, and talk to them about how their lack of a vote is a vote to take away the freedoms they enjoy (and possibly take for granted). Be firm, be serious, and be kind. It works for me, Ed.
I'm MILDLY worried. Kansas has PROVEN that Americans are indeed PROGRESSive, not REGRESSive like 130,000% of the obsolete _rumplican party. I am confident it shall disappear like the Whig party by 2050 at the very latest.
Kansas happened because of a huge, well organized campaign on the ground. It was not spontaneous combustion. We need everyone's time. Please volunteer on phone banks to register voters and to get voters to the polls.
In one case only and not the final count. Republicans have stacked the field so much in their favor with lying, cheating, gerrymandering - I would still be worried
Some more are coming: Michigan, Kentucky, Georgia. If Kentucky rejects an abortion ban, too, prospects look good on that & related issues all over the country.
But a very major concern is republofascist attempts to let state legislatures under Republican control overturn election results & pro-Trump election deniers winning their primaries for secretary of state (or attorney general) in charge of monitoring elections.
It would've disappeared long ago if not for the infusion of tremendous sums of money by billionaires like the Kochs, Mercers, Murdochs, Adelsons, Waltons, Thiel, etc. & their huge network of "think tanks" & well-developed, sophisticated propaganda media.
It is important to acknowledge that eugenics was practiced in the United States with the sterilization of the developmentally disabled, mentally ill, and deviants of other striped, Our practice in the early 20th century gave Nazis the impression that they had cover for their early practices.
The Republican Party should be declared a subversive terrorist organization & banned. I know that won't happen, but that's what they've become. They're now a giant version of the Ku Klux Klan, & the parallels with the German Nazis in the early 1930s are striking.
I don't know if you're saying that therefore he can't be selectively racist, or can't be using racism and generic fascism to make the US a one-party nation (which is what I was trying to say), which I would disagree with. He has been laying his plans from before, but most flagrantly during, Obama's presidency.
I know McConnell. IMHO he has always thought he is the second coming of Jefferson Davis, and I know he believed the Karl Rove one party BS and he obstructed Obama and I don't like him but that's an example of a false syllogism.
Dogs are animals. Cats are animals. Therefore dogs are cats. False.
Pity the folks in Kentucky who are suffering from the devastation and death caused by climate-change generated floods. Hope they come to their senses soon for their own good and get rid of McConnell who has no plan--like the rest of the extremist, radical republicons--to deal with climate change.
I'm sorry if I'm being dense but I still don't understand the point of your original post: were you perhaps saying that his practices are hurting him too, but he feels compensated for that (and presumably she does too) (hence the 'team sports' reference) or do you mean that he isn't a racist at all but is just following party lines? I defer to your personal knowledge of him (though seeing the bigger picture is not really a false syllogism) but find it difficult to see him being that passive.
Politics, however, IS a sport to many of it's players and so long as it's other peoples' lives, they don't seem to care much about that.
McConnell perches on top of the church steeple, constantly running whichever way the wind blows, so he'll be standing in front of the weather vane, and claiming he steers his party. He lets others, like Cheney, martyr themselves to handle his dirty business. He got his wife in TheRump's cabinet to help spy on him, but she resigned, rather than invoking the 25th Amendment. Sadly, McCain was the only GOP Senator willing to say the would-be emperor has no clothes
I worked for Elaine Chao when she was the AntiSecretary of Labor under GWB for 8 years.
McConnell and I share a common alma mater.
Both of his daughters are registered Democrats.
Both McConnells allegedly have ties to foreign money. Once upon a time, he had a MAGA like challenger in the primary. If you listen to the Bevanites, McConnell sold them out. He allegedly has been tied to Igor Derespaska, described as a Russian agent in the Mueller Report.
McConnell's motives are not necessarily race based. He just doesn't like democracy or equality. He prefers a feudal plutocracy where the rich & well-connected have all the money & power.
I see that, but I was writing about him running the GOP takeover (as I had to clarify later as the halyards-figurehead metaphor wasn't as obvious as I thought).
I do think he uses racism when it suited him. Even if he's not personally racist - I don't know him - I feel that has put him in the racist's camp. Either way, he's clearly an enemy of the democratic process.
Hey Daniel, Yes, McConnell's wife has been a target as have most Asian-Americans, but McConnell himself, has done very little to ease the burdens of the survivors of racism.
Name any Republicans who have. All politics is local.
McConnell filibustered the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act in the Senate, both of which Democrats are continuing to push to challenge what they see as strict new voting laws in Republican-controlled states.
Forget about Tucker Carlson, it's not him the focus should be upon. It's those who own and fund the network - go after them. Tucker Carlson is a muppet, a dope, a stooge whose role is to merely fan the flames. The divisions are wide in your country. The only answer is for that part of America that is sane and tolerant to get out and vote.
Down in Baghdad By the Sea, we don't have many Magyar Huns, but we do have Proud Boys of like mind running for office and co-opting the Republican party.
Theil is a walking contradiction as these folks would condemn homosexuals to the final solution. Wastes his money on JD Vance, whose theme is Stand By Your Man.
In Heinzland, my homeland with 57 varieties, all the Hungarians I know are Democrats. I am told ex-MAGA Ukrainians and Slavs have chosen Zelensky over Putin, and thus light over darkness.
Non-white Americans, American women and non-straight Americans will NEVER understand that the _rumplican party will NEVER accept them. Ironic considering a large majority are gay pedophiles.
Yes, Larry G. Carlson is a puppet, but he thinks he has control of the strings. He spews hate and distrust as though he fully believes it all, which I suspect he does. It works better for the puppet masters to work someone who is already a believer. Fox Not Really News does need to be checked for its lying and support of the insurgency. We have free speech, but that does not mean your lies shouldn't be challenged and limited.
Aug 5, 2022·edited Aug 5, 2022Liked by Robert Reich
these white christian nationalists and trumpets forget that the original americans are brown-coloured indigenous peoples who arrived here AT LEAST 37,000 years ago (according to a brand-new New Mexico find of a mammoth mother and her calf whose bones showed evidence of butchery by humans, read here: https://edition.cnn.com/2022/08/04/world/mammoth-fossils-early-humans-scn/index.html ). they forget that white european colonialists are the actual invaders, having arrived only a few hundred years ago. trump's own grandfather, Frederick Trump, was an immigrant (invader?) from Bavaria (Germany) -- TO AVOID CONSCRIPTION -- to the USA, where he earned his family fortune by running a brothel in Alaska.
but of course, we are talking about white christian nationalists and trumpets, which means facts are, at best, inconvenient to their perceptions of the world. as doctor who said way back in the late pleistocene (1977): "the very powerful and the very stupid have one thing in common. they don't alter their views to fit the facts. they alter the facts to fit their views."
Another thing they forget, there is only ONE human species, Homo sapiens. There are no sub-species. Like domesticated cats and dogs, we come in different sizes and colors, but, there are no essential differences among us (maybe in the ability to reason, but that's individual, again like cats and dogs)
Fay, you are so right about humans being one species. If Republican type white people acknowledge that, they must also acknowledge that their parents, grandparents, great grandparents, etc. treated human beings of their same species horribly: slavery, lynchings, police brutality, redlining, segregation in all its forms. That is why so many of them in power want all but positive white stuff purged from history. They are the descendants of pretty bad people and it is easier for them to pretend it never happened.
I agree, Ruth, but we have to keep saying it loud and clear. We are not unique. While we are more populous than many mammal species, rats, and mice may out number of as do a number of insect species. We just seem to have a greater ability for self-destruction and habitat destruction than most of the other species o planet Earth, a fact in which I take no pride.
I am not suggesting that other snimals do not kill each other, as a biology major and teacher, I would never suggest such a stupid thing. What I said and meant was no other creature of any species has done as much to destroy its own habitat. For all our intelect and accomplishments, I don't think Homo sapiens are a superior species.
Hey Science Girl! Thanks for the reminder of how long the indigenous peoples of these continents have been here. Alas, white supremacists don't care about dates. Many of them still think the world is 6,000 years old. They think that because their weapons and diseases were more powerful than those found here, they were a superior species. Republicans of today believe that too. It's BS, of course, but I guess they feel they need to boost their egos by harming others and feel more secure in groups. Yes, and most claim to be Christian. Ugh!
Some of the first North-Eastern settlers were refugees rather than simply immigrants (though there was no accord for such, at the time).
Plus of course much of the Southern US was Spanish - and Texas was forcibly supplanted by Northern and Western Euro-Americans (the next 'acceptable' GOP demographic?). It's just another case of dressing-up 'Do what I say, not what I do'.
Plus trump's fast-tracked in-law immigrants!
Plus an extra "Like" for the Dr. Who reference : )
Ned, there is another challenge. As the British/Germanic white people diminished in percent of the population, they had to look for other "white" people. Irish, Russians, Italians, Greeks, all kinds of Eastern Europeans, and others became white despite the hatred directed at them in their past. White Hispanic folks like Ted Cruz are gradually worming their way into the "white" category along with a developing hatred for people whose skin is darker than their own. I am wondering who will be next. So much for superiority. I guess calling them all European works, but what about the Cubans and others who look white?
Sadly true (and it's no surprise that they are embracing Russians now that the one-per-centers enemies are not so much defined by economics (but still by race and religion). I think that historically it's been about taking advantage of the 'us and them' defence mechanism in the dark core of humans, but working through status, e.g.: the Roman Empire's "Romanus est!" citizenship goal; privilege under ownership, such as (some) 'house slaves' looking down on 'field slaves' in the South or via class, as in, more light-heartedly, the Frost's Report's 'Class sketch', as well as many other fields, no doubt. Quislings and collaborators they would be called in times of war. Ironic that American fascists use a term, "race-traitors", for those of their own who collaborate.
To be fair, this isn't a 'white' thing but an imperialist/colonial thing - peoples all over the world have done it, including to their own (though I don't know if the Inuit family have?).
Talk about reparations! We stole the entire country from the Native Americans. We stole the other half from Mexico and Spain. Think of Irish immigrants who died building the Trans-American railroad. Old American, white, protestant Americans took horrific advantage of starving Irish to exploit them. Blacks and all others should be given reparations by wealthy upper class . If reparations were paid it would be working class having to foot the bill. Have victims compensate other victims. Let ruling class off the hook.
Ah, Lee, The Chinese were used and abused but the rich and powerful white world could never see them as "white," as they came to see the Irish. None of this makes any sense, at least to thinking people, but Republicans and white supremacists don't need to think. They are fed explanations for their superiority every day by their culture, community, friends, and mass media like Fox Not Really the News.
since i am a scientist, i write (mostly) about science. but robert reich kindly provides me the opportunity to more fully explore writing about politics on his substack.
Immigration, it is just a subset of a larger problem, too many damn people. Everything is just going to get worse and worse as we grow by billions more, and it is pretty easy to understand why: More and more people chasing after fewer and fewer resources will cause like minded people to band together to fight for what they have come to beleive they are entitled to. Go anthropocene!
Agreed! It's about competition for scarce resources. On the other hand, it drives wages down. Revisit "Soylent Green," and focus on the condition of the society portrayed as the >context< of the story, rather than just the story. The whole "right to life" bullshit is among the most cynical of capitalist ruses to come down the pike yet.
The other side of "right to life" is about giving them all a chance to become useful and discarding the rest. Consider the magnitude of the prison population. How long before they come to be seen as a captive labor force? Prison space-stations appeared in sci-fi long ago, for example.
Slavery by another name! You know the La. state prison make big money off their prison population. The prisoners raise beef to sell and they eat potatoes and baloney.
DZK.....How do we non-prisoners sleep at night knowing thousands are locked up in State Farms where they are slaves. In La. and other southern states they have a population of "Lifers" who are slaves. The prisons known as Angola and Parchman are giant plantations where mostly blacks slave away picking cotten and raising crops for their masters.
DZK....one false move and any of us might end up in jail. I would not last two weeks being disabled and being a leftist. When I was a teenager I did things that would get me a prison sentence today. What would my fate have been? I escaped into the Army like a thousand other guys to escape so-called justice.
John. Yes, our prisons are a kind of slavery and our 13th amendment permits it. Then, we have privatized for profit, our prisons so we can think, out of sight, out of mind, let someone else take care of it. It is so wrong but no one in power seems too interested in stopping it. There's too much money involved.
Did you read Freakanomics? In it a University of Chicago and MIT econemists theorized that the a drop in crime in the ninties was due to Roe v. Wade being passed twenty years earlier, their numbers looked good to me.
There's vintage video somewhere that I've lost track of, where Calhoun personally discusses the experiment and its findings. I'll keep chasin' it, though. I hate losing track of a resource! However, as I recall, the findings involve exponential rise in what we'd consider violent crime when population increased beyond a certain critical density, along with other social issues we see today.
There is Pro-Life and Pro-Choice, but there should be a third, Pro-Qaulity. If it was up to me, anyone that had a felony conviction for a crime that victomized a child, they should be spayed or nuetered.
Careful. There be dragons and sea monsters goin' that direction! Ever heard of "eugenics?" That's old news, and was a cornerstone of Nazi doctrine. It invariably expands to include ridding society of others "not worthy of life," who were considered unproductive "eaters."
I would argue that taking someone's reproductive rights away for being short is eugenics, while taking those rights away because they are a pedophile is euthenics. Almost idenitcal words, they both end with better humans, but the difference between the two is the difference between good and evil. We are healthier, live longer and our taller, and that is becaouse of better food and medical care, euthenics. It would make anyone's life better not to born to someone that would molest them.
And when unproductive eaters are considered evil, and they have been, what then? "Conservatives" almost invariably consider the flotsam and jetsam of society evil - and will bang on a holy book to justify themselves. To them, the "social outcasts" are >always< thieves, drug dealers, and murderers - even if they haven't ever been shown to participate in that kind of activity.
It drives me crazy when some Wall Street guy goes off on what he calls the moocheer class, what with him being part of the parasite class. Give me a moocher over a parasite any day.
Wow DZK! It is a pretty bleak look at our future. Yes, "pro-life" is a purely cynical position to hold because it is about control, not life. I wish we could put that whole BS position down permanently. Everyone, even the pro-lifers would be better off. It lets a lot of people think they have some kind of moral stance that makes them holy. It doesn't. Now, how do we get the message to them!
It’s already terrible here in California and we have no water, but no, we have to build more houses and apartments. Here we go again with the stupidest possible course of action rather than actually admitting that the land can’t support this many people.
And what does Nestle do with that water, quench people's thirst, meeting a human demand. This notion that corporations are responsible for all our problems divert from the real fundamental problem, there are too many people.
But if you make comments like this the overpopulation deniers will label racist. I live in San Francisco, and the city has grown by a hundred thousand since 1999. With those additional people San Francisco's ethnic diversity has actually diminshed, black and brown people cannot afford to live here. There was even a movie it, "The Last Black Man in San Francisco."
We absolutely have to fix the inequality situation—I’m a big supporter of tax fairness and a host of other remedies—but if there’s less and less water and more and more fire, *everyone* is going to leave, regardless of their race and financial standing.
Nelson, yes, that's a pretty depressing view, but our government has done a lot to keep those babies coming with its stupid anti-abortion, anti-contraception, and anti-honest information programs going for our country and the world. Pretty near-sighted for conservatives!
Curious - don't you think - that the very folks who are prepared to cry "unamerican" at the drop of a hat, at the mere suggestion of taking a more European, a more social democratic approach to the economy, are taking their lead from a Hungarian concerning immigration and race ‽
DZK, it will soon be time for the EU to rethink its connections among countries and what makes a nation eligible to be a member. Hungary and Poland are moving more and more toward autocracy and their leaders spout Nazi tropes. That is not what the EU claims to stand for. The EU is heavily supporting those autocracies. Maybe, there should be some requirement that if the EU gives money, there must be a strong element of freedom within the country, and the funds drop off as autocracies rise. Worth a try!
Agreed. I'm >particularly< mystified by Poland. Seems they should've come to know better after what they went through in WWII. At one time, the were among the most welcoming nations in Europe. Hungary, not so much. This current clown is really showing us all "The Hun" in Hun-gary!
If the present Republican party 'wins', you might find yourself in the 'other' category and have a different viewpoint towards those who really do care about helping those in need.
In this country, "those who really do care about helping those in need" have unfortunately signed on for burdens which they are unable to carry themselves, and which they are now trying to unload onto the rest of us.
What is your suggestion? Just push everyone away (unless it,'s you or yours)? We must have limits, of course. There are probably 2 billion people in this world who want asylum and that would be unsustainable. Any ideas? Mr. Handsome?
Mr. Handsome ; Your glibness makes me wonder how sincere you really are. You seem good at attacking, but offer no ideas for remedy. There are lots of displaced people and it is not a cakewalk to integrate and care for them. If you lived near the Mexican border, you might see how difficult it is. You target Social Democrats. How do you identify politically? Can't help but wonder.
He >could< be a real Socialist. He attacks a bit like they do on the WSWS. The real Socialists don't seem to have much use for >any< Western democracies. They frequently seem to attack union leadership, as well, although they >do< tend to make and support grass roots labor issues. Neither do social democrats - note, all my references are consistently lower case - totally reject capitalism, per se. That accounts for his attack on the Social Democrats - not social democrats or social democracy. Real Socialists sometimes sound a lot like the Republi-wankers, which sometimes makes me wonder how the Republi-wankers arrive at the positions they do. >That< can be a bit confusing. Real Socialists aren't really Democratic allies, regardless of what the Republi-wankers would have everyone believe otherwise. Note that I specify US citizens in my responses to his attack - just in case. Something about his use of the phrase: "the established white population" that sets me on alert.
Be careful of the "ist" part. The socias-ist generally rejects capital-ism, which a social democratic view doesn't - to my understanding. A rule of thumb I observe is be wary of all "isms" generally and "ists" in particular.
It is difficult to impossible to have a 'genuine' Socialist/ Democracy in America, since we have neither. Electoral College, for one, in addition to Citizens United, gerrymandering and other tricks really make it impossible. When 'representatives' do not actually represent the ones who vote for them and can be bought and paid to do the bidding of a wealthy 'donor', we have the Krysten Sinemas and Joe Manchins who work against what we need and want, and must be thrilled with 'compromise'. Then the Democrats get blamed when things go awry.
I was thinking something more along the lines of universal healthcare. Of course, you knew >exactly< what I meant. Thanks for the article, though, although it's over a year old and says nothing about the outcome or the current status.
Welfare policy and immigration policy are not along separate lines, they are both questions about which people you want to share your resources with. The reason America does not have universal healthcare is because the established white population does not want to share their resources with needy immigrants and black people.
Also, if you read the article you would see it's a plan proposed for 2030--you're welcome to wait around for a follow up article.
Well, all you're really saying is that is that "the established white population" - whatever that's supposed to mean without suggesting a certain bigotry inherent in the saying it - aren't social democrats, while social democracy in Europe is corrupted. I agree. The kind of US citizens you're talking about are usually Republi-wankers and Republi-wanker sympathizers - like Manchin and Sinema, for example.
Otherwise, regardless of what the article says about 2030, it's still not current, and you've still provided nothing on the current status of all that, which you could have done instead of suggesting I didn't read the article. R U 4 Real?
This is what worries me the most, Gen X & Millennials not caring enough about their country to get interested in politics enough to be an informed voter! Because too many don’t care I believe they will deserve the Country they inherit. By the time they wake up to Climate Change disastrous results, the lack of ability to take care of the seniors & disabled folks, & their non-ability to get a fair taxation standard in place will push the Country toward Authoritarianism dictatorship! Heaven help them then!!
I’m deeply offended by your remarks about Gen X and Millenials! I’m a Gen Xer and have been deeply involved in politics and voting my entire adult life. Many of my friends are from the Gen X and Millenial generations. We are all deeply involved and voting Blue across the board! How easy it is for your generation to forget that Gen Xers encountered the beginnings of mass layoffs, not being able to stay at a company for 30 years, not having pensions, not cheap health care benefits, etc. The work force that Boomers supposedly said would be available to us was ripped out underneath us! Luckily for GenX, we are a tough and resilient generation not backing down, not from shitty Republican policy born from the voodoo economics during the Reagan years, nor from the work force bound and determined to make my generation and others after me work for slave wages and not being able to afford proper housing. It is my generation, Millenials and Gen Z who are backing unions, refusing to work for slave wages, bringing the astronomical cost of education to the forefront and fighting for our civil rights. We inherited this entire mess from the Boomer generation that is still clinging to power in Congress: Feinstein, Grassley just to name a few are well above the age of 80! What’s the average age of people in Congress? 68? I would say to you, let the younger generations fix these problems your generation created and get out of our way. We know what to do to get America back on track!
Heart (my phone won’t do it). There is no point denigrating people because of their age, sex, race, etc. Everyone is an individual and should be judged on what they do, not lumped in with some stereotype. That’s true of us older people too. (I’m 72 and have always been a progressive.) Feinstein was terrible when she was thirty. She hasn’t changed. Bernie was always terrific. He hasn’t changed either. We know who the bad guys are. Let’s go after them, not each other.
The rethuglicans want us at each other's throats, fighting each other and blaming. Divide and conquer is as old as the hills. We need to focus on and call out the Greedheads who pay our 'representatives', senators and even judges to block things like the elimination of the only tax loophole on the very wealthy. they have filled her (Krysten Sinema's) pockets and bought her vote. Disgusting!
Rita, Yes! we are counting on you, whether or not we realize it. How very short-sighted and self-serving to blame GenX , GenZ and Millenials for the forest that we Boomers allowed to take root and flourish over the last 50 years. Like others, I am afraid. Just the same it is difficult to see how blaming and shaming our own might possibly pay off in the desired way.
Shirley Roberts—I've worried for years that abortion rights would be whittled to zero because young women non-voters didn't understand what they were losing. If they do lose it they deserve it, I reasoned. Who could have predicted that Kansas would be the state to dispel my fears? And kids are leading the charge to reverse climate change. They voted! The obstacle has been their elders as represented by pols from Joe Manchin to Dianne Feinstein to—dare one say—Joe Biden.
You could see the end of Roe a thousand miles away over the last few years. The organizations supporting abortion rights seemed incompetent to me. The young women had to lose their rights to see how important they were.
How about the Biden Administration showing some spine and declaring Viktor Orban "persona non grata" and preventing his return to the US to prevent his making even more horrible comments!!
The "White Christian" concept (except as a demographic) is clearly un-Christian, and when Jesus returns will they fight against Him for being Semitic? On reflection, I think they'll have to, because these sort of politicised, abusive 'Christians' will be the enemy.
: D There're too many candidates for that post and its precursor!
If trump is jailed but then comes back somehow, I suppose that would count as a 'mortal head-injury'; not that the Goppites wouldn't twist it around to avoid facing it.
I've always considered it a perspective that raises such a leader , rather than any particular leader. It's not just "some guy." It's a whole, deviant subculture.
I won't pretend I have more than a clue, but a belief in Revelation has to consider individuals, even if they're part of a seven-headed entity, and/or the opposing armies of Armageddon.
Good point, though whether a perspective raises the leader, or he/she/other/none raises a perspective or some permutation, the hypocrisy is usually the giveaway.
As a further thought, you mention a belief in Revelation. I'm assuming you mean a >fundamentalist< belief in Revelation. There's the rub. Interpreting literature written in virtually unintelligible allegoric language - replacing the word "allegoric" with "coded" would not be inappropriate - as fundamental reality is fundamental err. It's only revelation to those who understand when and why it was written, and who can decipher it. Broadly speaking, it was written in the Roman Empire in a time of persecution, and it's allegoric to the Roman Empire and the struggle against the persecution. I think if you read it that way you'll find it makes more sense.
Actually no, I meant a broad Christian belief, which also demands that it is generally unclear until much nearer the time.
The Roman Empire allegory is only one viewpoint (and a rather poor one IMHO). Also, it's not about making sense to fit current understanding, but thank you for your thought. As an example, the idea of everyone knowing something simultaneously, which is mentioned, would have been ludicrous or supernatural back then, but with radio communications and the internet that's now quite mundane. This is of course based on a desire to reject any religious or spiritual premise.
It'll make more sense if you see it as a self-fulfilling prophecy. Consider: ol' Tweety - and his wank-publcan clones - would be non-entities if they were doing anything other than regurgitating the views of those who support and vote for them.
I bet if today's white Christian nationalists saw the real Jesus, they would not approve of him, because he was a Middle Eastern man, and therefore, not white. Racism is against our laws; that is ;discrimination based on race is against the law, isn't it? So Viktor Orban, Tucker Carlson, tRump, et al are going against our laws.
Most likely, especially if he was uppity and interfering with their agenda, like telling working people they deserve better working conditions or unions or medical care. Or going after the 'moneychangers' who rob the workers.
More than 20 years ago, Popular Mechanics magazine “reconstructed” the face of Jesus using recently discovered genetic material from a 1st century tomb. Result: the face resembled Yasir Arafat, not Max von Sydow (shocking!). The USA’s Christian nationalists are living in a theological dream world of their own creation; they are not following the words of their God, Jesus.
The concept of "Middle Eastern" did not exist 2000 years ago. Jesus was born in a territory of the Roman empire, and Romans are racialized as "white" today. Furthermore many "Middle Eastern" people are classified as "white" on the US census.
But how do we know what he looked like? There are many references to Judea and Jerusalem and other middle eastern areas. Bethlehem was supposed to be his birthplace. Hey, we were not there . It was long ago and far away as the universe goes, Mr. Handsome!
These so -called Christians purport to follow a brown-skinned, brown-eyed, dark-haired Jew of radical leftist tendencies. They wouldn’t sell him a ticket to their CPAC conference.
Mr. Handsome Loves To Laugh ; As a long time refugee from Catholic school and church, I have seen many images of 'Christ' that feature a blond or light brown hair and very light (caucasian) complexion of his image. I sold cards and images to fund raise door to door in the 50's.
That's because it's a fairy tale. A dangerous one. One that encourages the worst in human kind. The true believers look forward to death and enjoy the thought of those they disagree with burning in hell for eternity. It's sick.
Yet there is a secular liberal version of eternal damnation, a dangerous one, with which they frequently threaten those they disagree with. This is "the wrong side of history".
"saddling their offspring with the outcome of their faulty logic". You mean punishing the son for the father's crimes--racial reparations and CRT come to mind. How Biblical of you!
I'm going to check which of my investments involve Peter Thiel. As well as planning to vote Democrat, from President all the way down the ballot to Dog Catcher, for the rest of my life.
This election is for which party will have the majority is Congress and not individual races for Representatives and Senators. It is a national election to decide is McConnell will be Majority Leader and whether Jim Jordan, Josh Hawley, Ted Cruz, MT Green, and their ilk will be committee chairs and decide which bills to bring forward. The campaign messaging should make clear that at this time their isn't a single good Republican candidate as the real issue is which party will have the majority, the racist party of Orban and Carlson and Trump, or the party of democracy and equality. Even our current hero Liz Cheney, is one more person on the side that may give McCarthy, Jordan, Boebert, MT Green, et al, control.
I wonder how many white Christian nationalists would like to live in Hungary where ONE MAN would have total control of their lives? Where in the Bible does it say the white race is Superior?
I think it may have been Mark Twain who said something about Southern Americans being very discomfited by the idea of there being so many black people in Heaven - and unsegregated.
My parents escaped the Nazis and now here I am facing the same speeches that I heard as a child, but the huge difference is that the world witnessed the Holocaust and now it seems that in our country we have leaders who preach the same philosophy while Americans applaud them. If we do not stop this, we will go the way of all the other authoritarian governments and we will live to see another holocaust. Wake up America.
It’s a sad day for America when viktor orbán has the ear of most of the gop/flunkies. The fact that his policies are regressive and his white wing evangelical conservative christian values are the “rule of law.” What saddens me most about our country, is that most people trying to cross the southern border, are fleeing from US policies that affected their countries. Or traveled from other countries that are in crisis due to world powers intervention and/or the color of their skin. Just an upset ramble.
Every country you mentioned has some involvement by the US, in the last 75 years +. Immigration to the US, has been to escape a horrible government, supposed religious freedom and the opportunity for a better life. No different today than it was when the third group of Europeans landed from England and the eventual creation of the US. So much for so-called replacement theory. As the original English colonizers had begun to replace the original indigenous peoples. Sad to think this isn’t going to be taught in public schools. As the Spanish, French and Dutch colonizers also replaced the indigenous peoples.
I may be spreading a conspiracy theory but I think several disparate groups are sending us their problems. I can go country by country. For example thousands of Cubans are at the southern border. In seven months, from October to April, close to 115,000 Cubans have been processed at the border.
In April, that number was slightly more than 35,000, drastically higher than October when it was just above 6,000.
How did they get there? Ans. In part these are "gusanos", worms that the Cuban government thinks are liabilities. Instead of a Mariel boatlift, they can get visas in Mexico, Nicaragua and other countries and are sent to the border. In part these are the same people who are "balseros" who think that our streets are paved with gold.
Are you saying that the Cuban government is pushing these people out of the country? Or that the government is making it easier for them to leave? If we had improved relationship with Cuba and eliminated the economic embargo, we most definitely not have so many Cubans coming across the border. These people are leaving out of need. I know many hard-working Cubans that left the Island out of economic need. No, I am not Cuban. Cuba has a scarcity of medical drugs, and limited food just to name two basic needs. I know Cubans that sent items to Cuba, that we take for granted here. I for one feel the embargo is hurting the common man in Cuba, not the politicians who run the country. I guess if you have never seen or care how people on the other side of the track live, you will not understand what drives these people to do what they are doing. Are you aware of the Dry foot wet foot law that apply to the Cubans? Have you followed how many Cubans and Haitian immigrants die at sea trying to get to our shores?
Wet foot dry foot ended with the Obama Administration.
Those numbers are fact. They have had civil rights demonstrations, mass arrests, and the easy way to eliminate dissent is to let them leave. The US doesn't have control of the situation. Here in Baghdad By the Sea we had demonstrations and rancor. The right wing opposes immigration. This is hard to take foe the local Cuban community, many who are MAGA. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/15/us/florida-immigration-cuba-pedro-pan.html
" I know many hard-working Cubans that left the Island out of economic need." What they meant is that we had a program to give them more in US government benefits in a month than they could make in Cuba in a year. The bipartisan Cuban Adjustment Act, signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson on November 2, 1966, granted work authorization permits and lawful permanent residency (green card status) to any Cuban native or citizen who settled in the United States for at least one year. Obama ended the initiative in 2017. After that time Cuban natives and citizens were required to seek legal entrance into the United States before being eligible to become permanent residents. Trump policy was back to the future.
BTW I am the author of Breaking Up with Cuba, other books and papers.
I oppose the embargo but be advised that if there are 11 million remaining on the island, 10 million probably want to move to Miami.
The US gov't works to destabilize as they rape other countries for whatever it has of value. They will lie to get in, will destroy life for the everyday person (literally & figuratively), and then move on to the next. It's called US history.
America, as per the words on the Statue of Liberty, has almost always eventually accepted those who emigrated here. It’s frustrating that teaching about the issues that American intervention, either covert or acknowledged, has affected numerous countries in Central and South America. I don’t have a solution for handling the border situation. I would hope that Texas will finish acting childish and work with the federal government in a professional manner. May cooler heads prevail
Kevin "the words on the Statue of Liberty" come from a 1883 poem written by a Sephardic Jewish immigrant as part of a propaganda narrative to gain entrance into this country.
I thought otherwise. That propaganda didn’t stop FDR from turning away 900 Jewish people who were denied entry, and eventually ended up back in Germany/Europe. At least half those onboard ended up in concentration camps. I’m trying to figure out where you’re coming from. The author Emma Lazarus didn’t seem to think she was writing propaganda.
It is truly scary what the majority of the Republican Party has morphed into with Trump as the figurehead. He’s made it okay for the overtly racist to hold a megaphone. Mind you I’m not saying they didn’t exist before him but he allowed them to flood into the mainstream and overtake a major political party.
Then people of sound minds need to stay focused and make this "party" a thing of the past. VOTE THEM OUT.
I’m worried
You can reduce your worry by asking everyone you can if they are registered to vote. If not, encourage them to do so, and talk to them about how their lack of a vote is a vote to take away the freedoms they enjoy (and possibly take for granted). Be firm, be serious, and be kind. It works for me, Ed.
And volunteer on phone banks all over the country to register voters and get them to the polls.
I'm MILDLY worried. Kansas has PROVEN that Americans are indeed PROGRESSive, not REGRESSive like 130,000% of the obsolete _rumplican party. I am confident it shall disappear like the Whig party by 2050 at the very latest.
Kansas happened because of a huge, well organized campaign on the ground. It was not spontaneous combustion. We need everyone's time. Please volunteer on phone banks to register voters and to get voters to the polls.
In one case only and not the final count. Republicans have stacked the field so much in their favor with lying, cheating, gerrymandering - I would still be worried
Some more are coming: Michigan, Kentucky, Georgia. If Kentucky rejects an abortion ban, too, prospects look good on that & related issues all over the country.
But a very major concern is republofascist attempts to let state legislatures under Republican control overturn election results & pro-Trump election deniers winning their primaries for secretary of state (or attorney general) in charge of monitoring elections.
It would've disappeared long ago if not for the infusion of tremendous sums of money by billionaires like the Kochs, Mercers, Murdochs, Adelsons, Waltons, Thiel, etc. & their huge network of "think tanks" & well-developed, sophisticated propaganda media.
It is important to acknowledge that eugenics was practiced in the United States with the sterilization of the developmentally disabled, mentally ill, and deviants of other striped, Our practice in the early 20th century gave Nazis the impression that they had cover for their early practices.
The Republican Party should be declared a subversive terrorist organization & banned. I know that won't happen, but that's what they've become. They're now a giant version of the Ku Klux Klan, & the parallels with the German Nazis in the early 1930s are striking.
And McConnell pulling the strings/halyards from long ago.
Not for too much longer! The evil demon is literally turning to a puddle of goo before our very eyes.
Yea he is with his lips and fingertips turning purple that's the evil in him glowing like conaldtrump with his sick HUE
He physically looks that way.
Mc Connell's wife has been a target for racists.
But of course she has, that's what they do.
I don't know if you're saying that therefore he can't be selectively racist, or can't be using racism and generic fascism to make the US a one-party nation (which is what I was trying to say), which I would disagree with. He has been laying his plans from before, but most flagrantly during, Obama's presidency.
I know McConnell. IMHO he has always thought he is the second coming of Jefferson Davis, and I know he believed the Karl Rove one party BS and he obstructed Obama and I don't like him but that's an example of a false syllogism.
Dogs are animals. Cats are animals. Therefore dogs are cats. False.
He plays team sports. Exclusively.
Politics is not a sport. Lives are on the line.
Pity the folks in Kentucky who are suffering from the devastation and death caused by climate-change generated floods. Hope they come to their senses soon for their own good and get rid of McConnell who has no plan--like the rest of the extremist, radical republicons--to deal with climate change.
I'm sorry if I'm being dense but I still don't understand the point of your original post: were you perhaps saying that his practices are hurting him too, but he feels compensated for that (and presumably she does too) (hence the 'team sports' reference) or do you mean that he isn't a racist at all but is just following party lines? I defer to your personal knowledge of him (though seeing the bigger picture is not really a false syllogism) but find it difficult to see him being that passive.
Politics, however, IS a sport to many of it's players and so long as it's other peoples' lives, they don't seem to care much about that.
McConnell perches on top of the church steeple, constantly running whichever way the wind blows, so he'll be standing in front of the weather vane, and claiming he steers his party. He lets others, like Cheney, martyr themselves to handle his dirty business. He got his wife in TheRump's cabinet to help spy on him, but she resigned, rather than invoking the 25th Amendment. Sadly, McCain was the only GOP Senator willing to say the would-be emperor has no clothes
More complicated.
I worked for Elaine Chao when she was the AntiSecretary of Labor under GWB for 8 years.
McConnell and I share a common alma mater.
Both of his daughters are registered Democrats.
Both McConnells allegedly have ties to foreign money. Once upon a time, he had a MAGA like challenger in the primary. If you listen to the Bevanites, McConnell sold them out. He allegedly has been tied to Igor Derespaska, described as a Russian agent in the Mueller Report.
The Number 2 contractor for the Department of Transportation is Elaine's family's business. He supported the infrastructure bill that enriches her family (and his). https://www.americanoversight.org/investigation/elaine-chaos-family-business-and-kentucky-favoritism
McConnell's motives are not necessarily race based. He just doesn't like democracy or equality. He prefers a feudal plutocracy where the rich & well-connected have all the money & power.
I see that, but I was writing about him running the GOP takeover (as I had to clarify later as the halyards-figurehead metaphor wasn't as obvious as I thought).
I do think he uses racism when it suited him. Even if he's not personally racist - I don't know him - I feel that has put him in the racist's camp. Either way, he's clearly an enemy of the democratic process.
You could very accurately call him a racist enabler or abettor.
Clarence Thomas himself is a white Christian racist. How’s that for crazy?
Hey Daniel, Yes, McConnell's wife has been a target as have most Asian-Americans, but McConnell himself, has done very little to ease the burdens of the survivors of racism.
Name any Republicans who have. All politics is local.
McConnell filibustered the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act in the Senate, both of which Democrats are continuing to push to challenge what they see as strict new voting laws in Republican-controlled states.
But he had a Nazi challenger, and took him on. https://www.politico.com/story/2017/08/16/mitch-mcconnell-neo-nazi-trump-charlottesville-comments-241696
Well said. Thank you
Forget about Tucker Carlson, it's not him the focus should be upon. It's those who own and fund the network - go after them. Tucker Carlson is a muppet, a dope, a stooge whose role is to merely fan the flames. The divisions are wide in your country. The only answer is for that part of America that is sane and tolerant to get out and vote.
Yes, the spotlight needs to be on people like Peter Thiel, who bankrolls the racist, eugenics cabal.
Down in Baghdad By the Sea, we don't have many Magyar Huns, but we do have Proud Boys of like mind running for office and co-opting the Republican party.
Theil is a walking contradiction as these folks would condemn homosexuals to the final solution. Wastes his money on JD Vance, whose theme is Stand By Your Man.
In Heinzland, my homeland with 57 varieties, all the Hungarians I know are Democrats. I am told ex-MAGA Ukrainians and Slavs have chosen Zelensky over Putin, and thus light over darkness.
Non-white Americans, American women and non-straight Americans will NEVER understand that the _rumplican party will NEVER accept them. Ironic considering a large majority are gay pedophiles.
https://www.zeroabuseproject.org/victim-assistance/jwrc/keep-kids-safe/sexuality-of-offenders/
None of those people are real Americans
Linda...these pols take the money even it came from Satan himself.
I’d give my eyeteeth to analyze his DNA. Hypocrite, I’m sure.
Yes, Larry G. Carlson is a puppet, but he thinks he has control of the strings. He spews hate and distrust as though he fully believes it all, which I suspect he does. It works better for the puppet masters to work someone who is already a believer. Fox Not Really News does need to be checked for its lying and support of the insurgency. We have free speech, but that does not mean your lies shouldn't be challenged and limited.
Will you say Murdoch. Like This MURDOCH.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/08/04/dana-milbank-republican-destructionists-book-excerpt/
on the money to win SCOTUS https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ym9fc1bovlk
these white christian nationalists and trumpets forget that the original americans are brown-coloured indigenous peoples who arrived here AT LEAST 37,000 years ago (according to a brand-new New Mexico find of a mammoth mother and her calf whose bones showed evidence of butchery by humans, read here: https://edition.cnn.com/2022/08/04/world/mammoth-fossils-early-humans-scn/index.html ). they forget that white european colonialists are the actual invaders, having arrived only a few hundred years ago. trump's own grandfather, Frederick Trump, was an immigrant (invader?) from Bavaria (Germany) -- TO AVOID CONSCRIPTION -- to the USA, where he earned his family fortune by running a brothel in Alaska.
but of course, we are talking about white christian nationalists and trumpets, which means facts are, at best, inconvenient to their perceptions of the world. as doctor who said way back in the late pleistocene (1977): "the very powerful and the very stupid have one thing in common. they don't alter their views to fit the facts. they alter the facts to fit their views."
Another thing they forget, there is only ONE human species, Homo sapiens. There are no sub-species. Like domesticated cats and dogs, we come in different sizes and colors, but, there are no essential differences among us (maybe in the ability to reason, but that's individual, again like cats and dogs)
Fay, you are so right about humans being one species. If Republican type white people acknowledge that, they must also acknowledge that their parents, grandparents, great grandparents, etc. treated human beings of their same species horribly: slavery, lynchings, police brutality, redlining, segregation in all its forms. That is why so many of them in power want all but positive white stuff purged from history. They are the descendants of pretty bad people and it is easier for them to pretend it never happened.
I agree, Ruth, but we have to keep saying it loud and clear. We are not unique. While we are more populous than many mammal species, rats, and mice may out number of as do a number of insect species. We just seem to have a greater ability for self-destruction and habitat destruction than most of the other species o planet Earth, a fact in which I take no pride.
Animals of the same species kill each other all the time. Stop trying to appropriate biology for your agenda.
I am not suggesting that other snimals do not kill each other, as a biology major and teacher, I would never suggest such a stupid thing. What I said and meant was no other creature of any species has done as much to destroy its own habitat. For all our intelect and accomplishments, I don't think Homo sapiens are a superior species.
Actually I think Republicans are a subspecies, Fay. Mutants.
Thanks for the good laugh (:-)
Why does that matter? Would it be OK with you to oppress other races if they WERE separate "species"??
Of course not. I am pointing out that bigotry, the inference that skin color, gender, shape, size, belief systems, etc. is stupid
Yes ; 'Alternative Facts'
Hey Science Girl! Thanks for the reminder of how long the indigenous peoples of these continents have been here. Alas, white supremacists don't care about dates. Many of them still think the world is 6,000 years old. They think that because their weapons and diseases were more powerful than those found here, they were a superior species. Republicans of today believe that too. It's BS, of course, but I guess they feel they need to boost their egos by harming others and feel more secure in groups. Yes, and most claim to be Christian. Ugh!
https://academic.oup.com/book/39270/chapter-abstract/338835305?redirectedFrom=fulltext
I’m sure they feel the indigenous people were in their way and *they* were entitled to the land and its resources.
Some of the first North-Eastern settlers were refugees rather than simply immigrants (though there was no accord for such, at the time).
Plus of course much of the Southern US was Spanish - and Texas was forcibly supplanted by Northern and Western Euro-Americans (the next 'acceptable' GOP demographic?). It's just another case of dressing-up 'Do what I say, not what I do'.
Plus trump's fast-tracked in-law immigrants!
Plus an extra "Like" for the Dr. Who reference : )
Ned, there is another challenge. As the British/Germanic white people diminished in percent of the population, they had to look for other "white" people. Irish, Russians, Italians, Greeks, all kinds of Eastern Europeans, and others became white despite the hatred directed at them in their past. White Hispanic folks like Ted Cruz are gradually worming their way into the "white" category along with a developing hatred for people whose skin is darker than their own. I am wondering who will be next. So much for superiority. I guess calling them all European works, but what about the Cubans and others who look white?
Sadly true (and it's no surprise that they are embracing Russians now that the one-per-centers enemies are not so much defined by economics (but still by race and religion). I think that historically it's been about taking advantage of the 'us and them' defence mechanism in the dark core of humans, but working through status, e.g.: the Roman Empire's "Romanus est!" citizenship goal; privilege under ownership, such as (some) 'house slaves' looking down on 'field slaves' in the South or via class, as in, more light-heartedly, the Frost's Report's 'Class sketch', as well as many other fields, no doubt. Quislings and collaborators they would be called in times of war. Ironic that American fascists use a term, "race-traitors", for those of their own who collaborate.
To be fair, this isn't a 'white' thing but an imperialist/colonial thing - peoples all over the world have done it, including to their own (though I don't know if the Inuit family have?).
Yep. And his so-called Jewish daughter. If she’s Jewish then I’m a caterpillar.
okay, you're a caterpillar. but which species?
😀
Well said. You should write more
Talk about reparations! We stole the entire country from the Native Americans. We stole the other half from Mexico and Spain. Think of Irish immigrants who died building the Trans-American railroad. Old American, white, protestant Americans took horrific advantage of starving Irish to exploit them. Blacks and all others should be given reparations by wealthy upper class . If reparations were paid it would be working class having to foot the bill. Have victims compensate other victims. Let ruling class off the hook.
You left out the Chinese who were instrumental, essential builders of the railroad.
Really, what percent of American railroad tracks were built by Chinese labor?
Quite a lot, but your name says all.
If you don't know the number, just say that.
Ah, Lee, The Chinese were used and abused but the rich and powerful white world could never see them as "white," as they came to see the Irish. None of this makes any sense, at least to thinking people, but Republicans and white supremacists don't need to think. They are fed explanations for their superiority every day by their culture, community, friends, and mass media like Fox Not Really the News.
Well said. You should write more
thank you for your kind words.
since you brought it up, i do write. a lot. here, for example: https://www.forbes.com/sites/grrlscientist/
since i am a scientist, i write (mostly) about science. but robert reich kindly provides me the opportunity to more fully explore writing about politics on his substack.
Science Girl, good for you! Reason should still work with politics too.
Heart.
Immigration, it is just a subset of a larger problem, too many damn people. Everything is just going to get worse and worse as we grow by billions more, and it is pretty easy to understand why: More and more people chasing after fewer and fewer resources will cause like minded people to band together to fight for what they have come to beleive they are entitled to. Go anthropocene!
Agreed! It's about competition for scarce resources. On the other hand, it drives wages down. Revisit "Soylent Green," and focus on the condition of the society portrayed as the >context< of the story, rather than just the story. The whole "right to life" bullshit is among the most cynical of capitalist ruses to come down the pike yet.
The other side of "right to life" is about giving them all a chance to become useful and discarding the rest. Consider the magnitude of the prison population. How long before they come to be seen as a captive labor force? Prison space-stations appeared in sci-fi long ago, for example.
Slavery by another name! You know the La. state prison make big money off their prison population. The prisoners raise beef to sell and they eat potatoes and baloney.
>EXACTLY!<
DZK.....How do we non-prisoners sleep at night knowing thousands are locked up in State Farms where they are slaves. In La. and other southern states they have a population of "Lifers" who are slaves. The prisons known as Angola and Parchman are giant plantations where mostly blacks slave away picking cotten and raising crops for their masters.
By trying to stay out of prison ‽ ];-)>
DZK....one false move and any of us might end up in jail. I would not last two weeks being disabled and being a leftist. When I was a teenager I did things that would get me a prison sentence today. What would my fate have been? I escaped into the Army like a thousand other guys to escape so-called justice.
John. Yes, our prisons are a kind of slavery and our 13th amendment permits it. Then, we have privatized for profit, our prisons so we can think, out of sight, out of mind, let someone else take care of it. It is so wrong but no one in power seems too interested in stopping it. There's too much money involved.
You are 100% right. Out of sight, out of mind.
Did you read Freakanomics? In it a University of Chicago and MIT econemists theorized that the a drop in crime in the ninties was due to Roe v. Wade being passed twenty years earlier, their numbers looked good to me.
I'll put it on my list. Thanks for the reference. On the other hand, https://cosmosmagazine.com/science/mathematics/calhoun-rodent-experiments/
There's vintage video somewhere that I've lost track of, where Calhoun personally discusses the experiment and its findings. I'll keep chasin' it, though. I hate losing track of a resource! However, as I recall, the findings involve exponential rise in what we'd consider violent crime when population increased beyond a certain critical density, along with other social issues we see today.
There is Pro-Life and Pro-Choice, but there should be a third, Pro-Qaulity. If it was up to me, anyone that had a felony conviction for a crime that victomized a child, they should be spayed or nuetered.
Careful. There be dragons and sea monsters goin' that direction! Ever heard of "eugenics?" That's old news, and was a cornerstone of Nazi doctrine. It invariably expands to include ridding society of others "not worthy of life," who were considered unproductive "eaters."
I would argue that taking someone's reproductive rights away for being short is eugenics, while taking those rights away because they are a pedophile is euthenics. Almost idenitcal words, they both end with better humans, but the difference between the two is the difference between good and evil. We are healthier, live longer and our taller, and that is becaouse of better food and medical care, euthenics. It would make anyone's life better not to born to someone that would molest them.
And when unproductive eaters are considered evil, and they have been, what then? "Conservatives" almost invariably consider the flotsam and jetsam of society evil - and will bang on a holy book to justify themselves. To them, the "social outcasts" are >always< thieves, drug dealers, and murderers - even if they haven't ever been shown to participate in that kind of activity.
It drives me crazy when some Wall Street guy goes off on what he calls the moocheer class, what with him being part of the parasite class. Give me a moocher over a parasite any day.
Wow DZK! It is a pretty bleak look at our future. Yes, "pro-life" is a purely cynical position to hold because it is about control, not life. I wish we could put that whole BS position down permanently. Everyone, even the pro-lifers would be better off. It lets a lot of people think they have some kind of moral stance that makes them holy. It doesn't. Now, how do we get the message to them!
It’s already terrible here in California and we have no water, but no, we have to build more houses and apartments. Here we go again with the stupidest possible course of action rather than actually admitting that the land can’t support this many people.
Nestle STEALS all of the water, being helped by the shoddy, criminal politicians, of course.
And what does Nestle do with that water, quench people's thirst, meeting a human demand. This notion that corporations are responsible for all our problems divert from the real fundamental problem, there are too many people.
This is absolutely true! 😡
But if you make comments like this the overpopulation deniers will label racist. I live in San Francisco, and the city has grown by a hundred thousand since 1999. With those additional people San Francisco's ethnic diversity has actually diminshed, black and brown people cannot afford to live here. There was even a movie it, "The Last Black Man in San Francisco."
We absolutely have to fix the inequality situation—I’m a big supporter of tax fairness and a host of other remedies—but if there’s less and less water and more and more fire, *everyone* is going to leave, regardless of their race and financial standing.
Nelson, yes, that's a pretty depressing view, but our government has done a lot to keep those babies coming with its stupid anti-abortion, anti-contraception, and anti-honest information programs going for our country and the world. Pretty near-sighted for conservatives!
We have forsaken our children's future by having too many of them.
Curious - don't you think - that the very folks who are prepared to cry "unamerican" at the drop of a hat, at the mere suggestion of taking a more European, a more social democratic approach to the economy, are taking their lead from a Hungarian concerning immigration and race ‽
DZK, it will soon be time for the EU to rethink its connections among countries and what makes a nation eligible to be a member. Hungary and Poland are moving more and more toward autocracy and their leaders spout Nazi tropes. That is not what the EU claims to stand for. The EU is heavily supporting those autocracies. Maybe, there should be some requirement that if the EU gives money, there must be a strong element of freedom within the country, and the funds drop off as autocracies rise. Worth a try!
Agreed. I'm >particularly< mystified by Poland. Seems they should've come to know better after what they went through in WWII. At one time, the were among the most welcoming nations in Europe. Hungary, not so much. This current clown is really showing us all "The Hun" in Hun-gary!
Whether it's science, the Bible or the Constitution, it's all about cherry-picking with extremists.
Ah, like the Social Democratic approach to immigration:
"Denmark plans to limit 'non-western' residents in disadvantaged areas
Interior ministry’s proposed limit of 30% part of bill to crack down further on poor neighbourhoods" https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/mar/17/denmark-plans-to-limit-non-western-residents-in-disadvantaged-areas
If the present Republican party 'wins', you might find yourself in the 'other' category and have a different viewpoint towards those who really do care about helping those in need.
In this country, "those who really do care about helping those in need" have unfortunately signed on for burdens which they are unable to carry themselves, and which they are now trying to unload onto the rest of us.
What is your suggestion? Just push everyone away (unless it,'s you or yours)? We must have limits, of course. There are probably 2 billion people in this world who want asylum and that would be unsustainable. Any ideas? Mr. Handsome?
Laurie, why do both your comments appeal to personal consequences:
"you might find yourself in the 'other' category"
"What is your suggestion? Just push everyone away (unless it,'s you or yours)".
I want to do what's right for the common good. But this way of thinking seems alien to you.
Mr. H. ; I guess I'm trying to see if you have any empathy, Mr Loves to Laugh.
Mr. Handsome ; Your glibness makes me wonder how sincere you really are. You seem good at attacking, but offer no ideas for remedy. There are lots of displaced people and it is not a cakewalk to integrate and care for them. If you lived near the Mexican border, you might see how difficult it is. You target Social Democrats. How do you identify politically? Can't help but wonder.
He >could< be a real Socialist. He attacks a bit like they do on the WSWS. The real Socialists don't seem to have much use for >any< Western democracies. They frequently seem to attack union leadership, as well, although they >do< tend to make and support grass roots labor issues. Neither do social democrats - note, all my references are consistently lower case - totally reject capitalism, per se. That accounts for his attack on the Social Democrats - not social democrats or social democracy. Real Socialists sometimes sound a lot like the Republi-wankers, which sometimes makes me wonder how the Republi-wankers arrive at the positions they do. >That< can be a bit confusing. Real Socialists aren't really Democratic allies, regardless of what the Republi-wankers would have everyone believe otherwise. Note that I specify US citizens in my responses to his attack - just in case. Something about his use of the phrase: "the established white population" that sets me on alert.
DZK ; real Reubs are certainly not supportive of of any 'socialist' ideas, as far as I know. Independents might support socialist Democracy.
Be careful of the "ist" part. The socias-ist generally rejects capital-ism, which a social democratic view doesn't - to my understanding. A rule of thumb I observe is be wary of all "isms" generally and "ists" in particular.
It is difficult to impossible to have a 'genuine' Socialist/ Democracy in America, since we have neither. Electoral College, for one, in addition to Citizens United, gerrymandering and other tricks really make it impossible. When 'representatives' do not actually represent the ones who vote for them and can be bought and paid to do the bidding of a wealthy 'donor', we have the Krysten Sinemas and Joe Manchins who work against what we need and want, and must be thrilled with 'compromise'. Then the Democrats get blamed when things go awry.
I was thinking something more along the lines of universal healthcare. Of course, you knew >exactly< what I meant. Thanks for the article, though, although it's over a year old and says nothing about the outcome or the current status.
Welfare policy and immigration policy are not along separate lines, they are both questions about which people you want to share your resources with. The reason America does not have universal healthcare is because the established white population does not want to share their resources with needy immigrants and black people.
Also, if you read the article you would see it's a plan proposed for 2030--you're welcome to wait around for a follow up article.
Well, all you're really saying is that is that "the established white population" - whatever that's supposed to mean without suggesting a certain bigotry inherent in the saying it - aren't social democrats, while social democracy in Europe is corrupted. I agree. The kind of US citizens you're talking about are usually Republi-wankers and Republi-wanker sympathizers - like Manchin and Sinema, for example.
Otherwise, regardless of what the article says about 2030, it's still not current, and you've still provided nothing on the current status of all that, which you could have done instead of suggesting I didn't read the article. R U 4 Real?
Not only that, but Republicans in general sneer at Europeans. Methinks there’s some hypocrisy going on here.
The world is now littered with would-be Hitlers and the majority of the people don't even recognize (or care) what is happening to them.
This is what worries me the most, Gen X & Millennials not caring enough about their country to get interested in politics enough to be an informed voter! Because too many don’t care I believe they will deserve the Country they inherit. By the time they wake up to Climate Change disastrous results, the lack of ability to take care of the seniors & disabled folks, & their non-ability to get a fair taxation standard in place will push the Country toward Authoritarianism dictatorship! Heaven help them then!!
I’m deeply offended by your remarks about Gen X and Millenials! I’m a Gen Xer and have been deeply involved in politics and voting my entire adult life. Many of my friends are from the Gen X and Millenial generations. We are all deeply involved and voting Blue across the board! How easy it is for your generation to forget that Gen Xers encountered the beginnings of mass layoffs, not being able to stay at a company for 30 years, not having pensions, not cheap health care benefits, etc. The work force that Boomers supposedly said would be available to us was ripped out underneath us! Luckily for GenX, we are a tough and resilient generation not backing down, not from shitty Republican policy born from the voodoo economics during the Reagan years, nor from the work force bound and determined to make my generation and others after me work for slave wages and not being able to afford proper housing. It is my generation, Millenials and Gen Z who are backing unions, refusing to work for slave wages, bringing the astronomical cost of education to the forefront and fighting for our civil rights. We inherited this entire mess from the Boomer generation that is still clinging to power in Congress: Feinstein, Grassley just to name a few are well above the age of 80! What’s the average age of people in Congress? 68? I would say to you, let the younger generations fix these problems your generation created and get out of our way. We know what to do to get America back on track!
Heart (my phone won’t do it). There is no point denigrating people because of their age, sex, race, etc. Everyone is an individual and should be judged on what they do, not lumped in with some stereotype. That’s true of us older people too. (I’m 72 and have always been a progressive.) Feinstein was terrible when she was thirty. She hasn’t changed. Bernie was always terrific. He hasn’t changed either. We know who the bad guys are. Let’s go after them, not each other.
The rethuglicans want us at each other's throats, fighting each other and blaming. Divide and conquer is as old as the hills. We need to focus on and call out the Greedheads who pay our 'representatives', senators and even judges to block things like the elimination of the only tax loophole on the very wealthy. they have filled her (Krysten Sinema's) pockets and bought her vote. Disgusting!
Agreed. And now we’ve lost lower drug prices too. Grrrr.
Rita, Yes! we are counting on you, whether or not we realize it. How very short-sighted and self-serving to blame GenX , GenZ and Millenials for the forest that we Boomers allowed to take root and flourish over the last 50 years. Like others, I am afraid. Just the same it is difficult to see how blaming and shaming our own might possibly pay off in the desired way.
Right on GenXer !
We passed all these problems onto the Gen X and Milllennials. What did we do about it?
Shirley Roberts—I've worried for years that abortion rights would be whittled to zero because young women non-voters didn't understand what they were losing. If they do lose it they deserve it, I reasoned. Who could have predicted that Kansas would be the state to dispel my fears? And kids are leading the charge to reverse climate change. They voted! The obstacle has been their elders as represented by pols from Joe Manchin to Dianne Feinstein to—dare one say—Joe Biden.
You could see the end of Roe a thousand miles away over the last few years. The organizations supporting abortion rights seemed incompetent to me. The young women had to lose their rights to see how important they were.
Jonell Galloway ; But look at 'conservative' Kansas! I think a lot of people care!
How about the Biden Administration showing some spine and declaring Viktor Orban "persona non grata" and preventing his return to the US to prevent his making even more horrible comments!!
The "White Christian" concept (except as a demographic) is clearly un-Christian, and when Jesus returns will they fight against Him for being Semitic? On reflection, I think they'll have to, because these sort of politicised, abusive 'Christians' will be the enemy.
You have defined the "Antichrist."
: D There're too many candidates for that post and its precursor!
If trump is jailed but then comes back somehow, I suppose that would count as a 'mortal head-injury'; not that the Goppites wouldn't twist it around to avoid facing it.
I've always considered it a perspective that raises such a leader , rather than any particular leader. It's not just "some guy." It's a whole, deviant subculture.
I won't pretend I have more than a clue, but a belief in Revelation has to consider individuals, even if they're part of a seven-headed entity, and/or the opposing armies of Armageddon.
Good point, though whether a perspective raises the leader, or he/she/other/none raises a perspective or some permutation, the hypocrisy is usually the giveaway.
As a further thought, you mention a belief in Revelation. I'm assuming you mean a >fundamentalist< belief in Revelation. There's the rub. Interpreting literature written in virtually unintelligible allegoric language - replacing the word "allegoric" with "coded" would not be inappropriate - as fundamental reality is fundamental err. It's only revelation to those who understand when and why it was written, and who can decipher it. Broadly speaking, it was written in the Roman Empire in a time of persecution, and it's allegoric to the Roman Empire and the struggle against the persecution. I think if you read it that way you'll find it makes more sense.
Actually no, I meant a broad Christian belief, which also demands that it is generally unclear until much nearer the time.
The Roman Empire allegory is only one viewpoint (and a rather poor one IMHO). Also, it's not about making sense to fit current understanding, but thank you for your thought. As an example, the idea of everyone knowing something simultaneously, which is mentioned, would have been ludicrous or supernatural back then, but with radio communications and the internet that's now quite mundane. This is of course based on a desire to reject any religious or spiritual premise.
It'll make more sense if you see it as a self-fulfilling prophecy. Consider: ol' Tweety - and his wank-publcan clones - would be non-entities if they were doing anything other than regurgitating the views of those who support and vote for them.
In my book they *are* nonentities.
🤣🤣🤣
Is Jesus coming back? I better go back to church right away. Can I beat the rap for past sins?
: ) In the context of their avowed beliefs, yes.
I believe so, but it's not my call, sorry : D
I bet if today's white Christian nationalists saw the real Jesus, they would not approve of him, because he was a Middle Eastern man, and therefore, not white. Racism is against our laws; that is ;discrimination based on race is against the law, isn't it? So Viktor Orban, Tucker Carlson, tRump, et al are going against our laws.
They would crucify him all over again!
Most likely, especially if he was uppity and interfering with their agenda, like telling working people they deserve better working conditions or unions or medical care. Or going after the 'moneychangers' who rob the workers.
Heart.
More than 20 years ago, Popular Mechanics magazine “reconstructed” the face of Jesus using recently discovered genetic material from a 1st century tomb. Result: the face resembled Yasir Arafat, not Max von Sydow (shocking!). The USA’s Christian nationalists are living in a theological dream world of their own creation; they are not following the words of their God, Jesus.
It's like our 'own' 'laws'. Interpretation (and who can do it), is everything.
Cool! ; Popular Mechanics Magazine!, way to go!
Kim Jong Un has his own 'creation story'. 'Nuff said!
It's really their 'tool' Stan of Stanistan, I think. How many of these 'Christians' really believe Jesus's teachings. Who really wrote them?
He certainly did not look like Fabio!
The concept of "Middle Eastern" did not exist 2000 years ago. Jesus was born in a territory of the Roman empire, and Romans are racialized as "white" today. Furthermore many "Middle Eastern" people are classified as "white" on the US census.
He could have been a complete fabrication/construct!
But how do we know what he looked like? There are many references to Judea and Jerusalem and other middle eastern areas. Bethlehem was supposed to be his birthplace. Hey, we were not there . It was long ago and far away as the universe goes, Mr. Handsome!
These so -called Christians purport to follow a brown-skinned, brown-eyed, dark-haired Jew of radical leftist tendencies. They wouldn’t sell him a ticket to their CPAC conference.
There is NO description in the Bible, or any other historical source, of Jesus as "brown-skinned, brown-eyed, dark-haired".
Is there a description of Jesus being light skinned or 'fair' as they called it (even today).?
Who said there was?
Mr. Handsome Loves To Laugh ; As a long time refugee from Catholic school and church, I have seen many images of 'Christ' that feature a blond or light brown hair and very light (caucasian) complexion of his image. I sold cards and images to fund raise door to door in the 50's.
There is no physical description of Jesus's complexion, so different communities are free imagine him in whatever way they choose.
So many images I have seen , with few exceptions, are Caucasian. That can reinforce the White Supremacy thing. It's in movies, too.
That's because it's a fairy tale. A dangerous one. One that encourages the worst in human kind. The true believers look forward to death and enjoy the thought of those they disagree with burning in hell for eternity. It's sick.
Yet there is a secular liberal version of eternal damnation, a dangerous one, with which they frequently threaten those they disagree with. This is "the wrong side of history".
Wrong side of history denotes saddling their offspring with the outcome of their faulty logic. Not at all religious.
"saddling their offspring with the outcome of their faulty logic". You mean punishing the son for the father's crimes--racial reparations and CRT come to mind. How Biblical of you!
Sure, trollman-- whatever you say.
I'm going to check which of my investments involve Peter Thiel. As well as planning to vote Democrat, from President all the way down the ballot to Dog Catcher, for the rest of my life.
This election is for which party will have the majority is Congress and not individual races for Representatives and Senators. It is a national election to decide is McConnell will be Majority Leader and whether Jim Jordan, Josh Hawley, Ted Cruz, MT Green, and their ilk will be committee chairs and decide which bills to bring forward. The campaign messaging should make clear that at this time their isn't a single good Republican candidate as the real issue is which party will have the majority, the racist party of Orban and Carlson and Trump, or the party of democracy and equality. Even our current hero Liz Cheney, is one more person on the side that may give McCarthy, Jordan, Boebert, MT Green, et al, control.
Here is a good example of a misguided editorial from ST Louis Post Dispatch
https://www.stltoday.com/opinion/editorial-missourians-should-encourage-schmitt-to-return-to-his-moderate-middle-roots/article_607f4e15-f44d-5cbd-808e-946cce8a8a3d.html
we need to start calling it what it really is: "white anti-christian nationalism obsession", or WACO. nationalism..
The terms christo-fascism and christo-fascist capture it pretty well and are gaining currency in some places.
More like whacko
I wonder how many white Christian nationalists would like to live in Hungary where ONE MAN would have total control of their lives? Where in the Bible does it say the white race is Superior?
I think it may have been Mark Twain who said something about Southern Americans being very discomfited by the idea of there being so many black people in Heaven - and unsegregated.
My parents escaped the Nazis and now here I am facing the same speeches that I heard as a child, but the huge difference is that the world witnessed the Holocaust and now it seems that in our country we have leaders who preach the same philosophy while Americans applaud them. If we do not stop this, we will go the way of all the other authoritarian governments and we will live to see another holocaust. Wake up America.
Lydia Saderman
It’s a sad day for America when viktor orbán has the ear of most of the gop/flunkies. The fact that his policies are regressive and his white wing evangelical conservative christian values are the “rule of law.” What saddens me most about our country, is that most people trying to cross the southern border, are fleeing from US policies that affected their countries. Or traveled from other countries that are in crisis due to world powers intervention and/or the color of their skin. Just an upset ramble.
I think "most people trying to cross the southern border" were sent there or convinced to go there to make us look bad.
More Cubans at the southern border than came during the Mariel boatlift. Ukrainians, Somalis, Nigerians.....
Every country you mentioned has some involvement by the US, in the last 75 years +. Immigration to the US, has been to escape a horrible government, supposed religious freedom and the opportunity for a better life. No different today than it was when the third group of Europeans landed from England and the eventual creation of the US. So much for so-called replacement theory. As the original English colonizers had begun to replace the original indigenous peoples. Sad to think this isn’t going to be taught in public schools. As the Spanish, French and Dutch colonizers also replaced the indigenous peoples.
The difference is they are SENT by those would undermine us.
How do impoverished people get the money to fly to Mexico?
Republicans want to make us look bad, rather than take care of the problem.
I may be spreading a conspiracy theory but I think several disparate groups are sending us their problems. I can go country by country. For example thousands of Cubans are at the southern border. In seven months, from October to April, close to 115,000 Cubans have been processed at the border.
In April, that number was slightly more than 35,000, drastically higher than October when it was just above 6,000.
How did they get there? Ans. In part these are "gusanos", worms that the Cuban government thinks are liabilities. Instead of a Mariel boatlift, they can get visas in Mexico, Nicaragua and other countries and are sent to the border. In part these are the same people who are "balseros" who think that our streets are paved with gold.
https://time.com/cuba-the-long-way-to-america/
I can go country by country, Ukrainians at the border. Somalis. Not just central Americans.
Are you saying that the Cuban government is pushing these people out of the country? Or that the government is making it easier for them to leave? If we had improved relationship with Cuba and eliminated the economic embargo, we most definitely not have so many Cubans coming across the border. These people are leaving out of need. I know many hard-working Cubans that left the Island out of economic need. No, I am not Cuban. Cuba has a scarcity of medical drugs, and limited food just to name two basic needs. I know Cubans that sent items to Cuba, that we take for granted here. I for one feel the embargo is hurting the common man in Cuba, not the politicians who run the country. I guess if you have never seen or care how people on the other side of the track live, you will not understand what drives these people to do what they are doing. Are you aware of the Dry foot wet foot law that apply to the Cubans? Have you followed how many Cubans and Haitian immigrants die at sea trying to get to our shores?
Wet foot dry foot ended with the Obama Administration.
Those numbers are fact. They have had civil rights demonstrations, mass arrests, and the easy way to eliminate dissent is to let them leave. The US doesn't have control of the situation. Here in Baghdad By the Sea we had demonstrations and rancor. The right wing opposes immigration. This is hard to take foe the local Cuban community, many who are MAGA. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/15/us/florida-immigration-cuba-pedro-pan.html
" I know many hard-working Cubans that left the Island out of economic need." What they meant is that we had a program to give them more in US government benefits in a month than they could make in Cuba in a year. The bipartisan Cuban Adjustment Act, signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson on November 2, 1966, granted work authorization permits and lawful permanent residency (green card status) to any Cuban native or citizen who settled in the United States for at least one year. Obama ended the initiative in 2017. After that time Cuban natives and citizens were required to seek legal entrance into the United States before being eligible to become permanent residents. Trump policy was back to the future.
BTW I am the author of Breaking Up with Cuba, other books and papers.
I oppose the embargo but be advised that if there are 11 million remaining on the island, 10 million probably want to move to Miami.
So "fleeing from US policies" means coming onto US soil? Do these people want to be oppressed more directly or something?
The US gov't works to destabilize as they rape other countries for whatever it has of value. They will lie to get in, will destroy life for the everyday person (literally & figuratively), and then move on to the next. It's called US history.
If the US gov't is so evil, why are these people so eager to be citizens of it? Are they evil too?
A lot of people protect themselves by siding with the bully. You probably know this from experience.
Ah then to weaken the bully we must stop all immigration.
America, as per the words on the Statue of Liberty, has almost always eventually accepted those who emigrated here. It’s frustrating that teaching about the issues that American intervention, either covert or acknowledged, has affected numerous countries in Central and South America. I don’t have a solution for handling the border situation. I would hope that Texas will finish acting childish and work with the federal government in a professional manner. May cooler heads prevail
Kevin "the words on the Statue of Liberty" come from a 1883 poem written by a Sephardic Jewish immigrant as part of a propaganda narrative to gain entrance into this country.
I thought otherwise. That propaganda didn’t stop FDR from turning away 900 Jewish people who were denied entry, and eventually ended up back in Germany/Europe. At least half those onboard ended up in concentration camps. I’m trying to figure out where you’re coming from. The author Emma Lazarus didn’t seem to think she was writing propaganda.