I am probably striking out here, I think because I have not heard a bit of enthusiasm for my ideas concerning something akin to radical action in the form of a massive general strike or even a meaningful discourse toward action in the form of a push to find our way to becoming a humane society.  I know that there are already in place organizations and movements and there have been actions taken like the one I participated in when Jeff Sessions came to town but, really, I continue to see things getting worse very quickly and, no matter how bad things get, those who know how bad it is relying on the same old ineffectual reactions that didn’t save us from getting to where we now are.

I am not saying that my ideas for actions are necessarily best but I offer then at this moment in time because, if for no other reason, to provoke the kind of conversation that might get us somewhere so we can again be able to see hope for a better future.  For me, the current reality is intolerable and I feel like I am–and I am–contributing to the inhumane actions of an inhumane government.  Every time I withdraw from my retirement account, 20% is deducted.  That is my financial contribution to crimes against humanity.

Our collective contribution is our inaction or, at best, our mild response to a humanitarian crisis created in our name and payed for by our taxes.  Doing nothing or doing just a little–and that is what I am doing, a little–is, in my mind, complicity and I cannot stand being complicit in what is happening to real people as I sit here begging others to join me in doing something.

I alone am no good, no good in the sense that no action I take alone–well, I can think of some that have worked but I am not willing to sit on a street and burn myself to death–will have even the slightest chance of moving things in even the slightest of way.  I recycle because I believe that many others recycle and that this does make a difference.  I could refuse to pay taxes and go to jail and hardly anyone would much care let alone do something to get me freed.  I am not important enough that my arrest for civil disobedience would even make news.

I do not care to be a martyr.  I am not into martyrdom.  At all.  But I am wanting badly to be a part of some truly meaningful change bringing action that might have a chance to move us even a little step toward making things better.

I sincerely think that we need to strike out against the current order and I think this can only be done by bringing on disorder.  If we do not do such than the new order proceeds to do what it is doing in an orderly way and their way of doing things becomes the new and accepted normal.  Consider how daily body counts and huge the huge prison population have become just what happens here, no more, no less.  Or the taking of property by banks and loan companies after the banking industry with a helping hand from the government–the “people’s government”–destroyed the economy and made the people, not the banks, pay for what had been done.  We have accepted as normal low pay for teacher and the lack of access to decent medical care for many.  We still have the death penalty–who thinks it extraordinary to hear the some prisoner has been “humanely” executed?

Much that is bad has been normalized already.  Our president tried to make palatable the behavior of neo-Nazis and sexual predators.  I listened to MSMBC today and they did what they could to be properly objective and, in doing so, helped to normalize this president by treating him and his views with respect.

Things are not normal.  Or maybe they are and if they are than the normal needs to be seriously disrupted.

I have shared my ideas.

This is what Frank Cannon, the leader of the American Principles Campaign has to say about what principles mean to him:

After Justice Antonin Scalia passed away that February, President Obama swiftly nominated Merrick Garland to take his place on the Supreme Court. Scalia, a solid conservative, would be replaced by a progressive, and the makeup of the Court would be decisively shifted in the left’s favor. The media and progressive activists lauded Garland’s credentials and urged McConnell to confirm him immediately.

McConnell understood that he had a choice to make. In Article II of the Constitution, the Senate is granted the authority to provide “advice and consent” to the president on judicial nominations. Perhaps in a slight to Senator Harry Reid, who had eliminated the judicial filibuster for non-Supreme Court judicial nominees in 2013 and made the process much more partisan, McConnell decided to strip Obama of the Senate’s “consent” and hold off on considering a Supreme Court nominee until after the presidential election. 

McConnell drew fire from the media and outrage among pundits and activists on the left, but he held the line knowing the future of the Supreme Court — and the outcome of a number of issues conservatives cared deeply about, such as abortion, guns, and free speech — hung in the balance. His resolve helped drive incredible turnout among a Republican base that understood the election’s considerably high stakes. And based on exit polling, it is not an overstatement to say that McConnell’s decision to delay filling Scalia’s seat was a deciding factor in the election of President Trump.

This is why I do not think that we can either vote our way out of the mess we are in or write letter or conduct a thousand marches.  This is the mindset that must be changed but it is a self-serving mindset that has everything to do with those who have getting more–forever.  To accomplish this goal, anything is fair that moves this agenda along and anything that stands in its way destroyed including law that is fair and legislation that is truly for the common good rather than for the greedy.

THESE PEOPLE DO WIN ELECTIONS AND WHEN THEY DO NOT, THEY CHANGE THE RULES SO THAT IT IS THEIR PRINCIPLES THAT GUIDE LAW AND LEGISLATION.

The country is split by more than votes. Unity is impossible now without sacrificing a good amount of our humanity. It may be that a truly united United States has been made impossible and that pretending we are or can be is doing damage to great numbers of human beings.

And last night at one of his rallies Donald spoke about ending the anarchy occurring now and reinstitution “law and order.”  He respects dictators and other authoritarian rulers and praised Kim for his ability to do well the difficult job handed him.

By anarchy, what might he mean?   He seemed to be pointing his finger at demonstrators protesting HIS policies at the border and their terrible treatment by the demonstrators of law enforcement.  I haven’t heard of any incidents in which law enforcement people have in anyway been harmed by demonstrators.

Perhaps he is saying that some demonstrations need to be prevented or put down if he does not approve of the ideas behind the demonstrations, ideas he does not like?  I do not think he is referring to the demonstrations that are his rallies where he gets his followers to froth at the mouth with his nastiness, where he encourages his followers follow the leader in irrationality and hatefulness.

Policing ideas and controlling public speech.  Dictators do this.  Authoritarian leaders do this… Kim took on a very tough job and look at how his people love him for forcing them to think as he wants them too!  They love him and who more than Donald Trump wants just that kind of unquestioning love, right?

A tweet by John Nichols to add to the spew.

”

John Nichols Retweeted Merriam-Webster

And many in the democratic party will feel the same way.  She will “alienate the moderates.”  That is what they will say and they are probably right.  How do you think the party leadership is saying about her win?  Do you think they are celebrating or thinking the same thing Mitch is thinking

"So many people across the country are inspired by this win and inspired about this race because of what it represents. It represents possibility. … a potential future." – Ocasio-Cortez on Sen. McConnell's suggestion she's "a drag" on Democratic party https://t.co/K76qG8V2p1 pic.twitter.com/buNl6NgLPP

— CNN (@CNN) June 28, 2018

OU

With Supreme Court Justice Kennedy Gone, Abortion and LGBT Rights Are Next

So true.  Time to act.

The Daily Beast