There’s a weird trend now. You’ll find a short list of some ways this Republican or that made the wrong choice between being a decent person who represents their constituents or a greedy, reckless yes-man. At the end of the list, a relentlessly positive or downright naïve person brings up one not-completely-horrible-thing that Republican has done. Our trusting person then uses that one act as a reason to profess faith in them.
How can we forget so easily and so quickly that one of our political parties is at the least trying to take as much of our money and retirement benefits as possible or at the most, trying to kill us? The sooner the better because they want the rest of our stuff, too.
All the crap that is going on in the last few days has me too frustrated to spend much time in company. The stupid is just way too high for my tastes. I’ll stay in, thanks. Maybe see if this green guy would like to meet for a beer because I’m pretty sure we’d get along just fine.
Senators who voted for the BS “tax reform” bill – for what all the bill does to us – were in such a hurry they passed a bill without reading it. Seriously. They had ONE job. Instead, they had lobbyists shit out everything they could by 2 AM, shoveled it all mostly into a pile, and then they voted to pass it as “tax reform.”
As of 5 December 2017, this “tax reform” gives a fetus – a clump of cells growing inside a host that, if the host is willing and able, might eventually grow into a human and be born – that fetus gets the rights of a person. If that fetus ends up having the genitals of a female, do they take the rights back before or after it’s born?
As of 4 December, this “tax reform” bill (both House and Senate versions) removes the individual mandate which will fuck health insurance for millions, and eventually, for everyone. The latest figures I heard were 13 million straight up lose their insurance, and premiums for all (who can still afford health insurance) rise approximately 10%.
This “tax reform” bill also repeals the “Johnson Amendment” giving churches their say in government, tax-free. Awesome, huh?
Make no mistake, there is tax stuff in there, too. None of it is good unless you’re one of the few bajillionaires who, along with the N.R.A., own the GOP. You see, the GOP says they heard we want change, and by golly they’re going to give it to us. Ready for something new? Okay, it’s not new, but it’s deeper and harder than we’ve ever had before.
Bend over.
“In a span of hours Friday, Senate GOP leaders secured the final few votes they needed, from Sens. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine).” – from The Washington Post
There is a bit more detail in the post on this from November when I discussed the GOP not even trying to hide the scam anymore and what I’d do if I could help decide what to do with cash like that (starting with NOT adding $1.4 trillion to the nation’s deficit for the sole purpose of gifting it all and much more to the wealthiest).
Right in the middle of this post, I’m including this link to set up where I’m going: “The G.O.P. Is Rotting” – by David Brooks for The New York Times. While I think this guy is giving Republicans of my lifetime much more credit than they have earned – for instance, “honorable” is not a word we’ve been able to use for more than two or three of them for a very, very long time – David Brooks is right that the GOP is rotting. They’ve been rotting for much longer than he thinks. And this fool thinks, seriously, that the Republican party has a reputation for fiscal conservatism. I laughed OUT LOUD. Some in this article is obviously silly, and this “middle ground” thing has been covered. Even by me. (see Vityazes at a Fork in the Road). Maybe he hasn’t been paying attention. We knew what Trump was before he was elected. To vote for a known bigoted, sexist grifter, a liar and a fraud, a sexual predator, was to choose him and align yourselves with him. Period. You’re adults; no excuses.
Also, as far as I’m concerned, “starting with Sarah Palin and the spread of Fox News, the G.O.P. traded an ethos of excellence for an ethos of hucksterism” is also silly. I’m only 50, and I know that’s wrong because I can trace it back before that, probably back to the “trickle-down” and lies of the Reagan years and, importantly, when the FCC killed the Fairness Doctrine (which lead to all kinds of filth including, but not limited to, Fox “News”).
The point of all that is that this David Brooks person is trying to convince me, the reader, that he is just now understanding what a colossal ignoramus Trump is, how utterly corrupt and racist and sexist this fraud of a man is. Brooks is pretending we didn’t know that Trump had raped at least one child before, pretending that Roy Moore is the first known child sexual predator in this administration, and how he’s shocked – shocked, I tell you! – that Trump expects us to get behind Moore.
And that guy, Moore, is a bigot, too?! (at least he’s not a Democrat, right?) Whatever will we do when Republican Jesus wants us to choose the racist pedo? /facepalm
They.Knew.Who.He.Was.
The list of transgressions by Republicans against America is long and includes shutting down the government for shits and giggles, numerous attempts to remove affordable health insurance options, and appointing the WORST “judges” they can scrape off the floor and put in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee. But the “tax reform” bill that just got jammed through the Senate as an example is fresh in our minds.
All these GOP assholes, including the three who came through that one time when Congress tried to screw the ACA, voted to fuck their constituents in ways even that ACA repeal wouldn’t have. That bill was seriously bad, and they said “no.” But this one? All the Republicans except Corker voted yes for a bill they hadn’t read and that’s even worse than that ACA repeal. And that’s saying something. We won’t know just how bad until someone reads it. And scores it. Of course they voted before any of that was done.
Republicans keep doing these things to all of us, and we pretend they behave like other human beings. We assume since we elected them that they work for us. They do not. That is why they have NO shame. That is why reason does not work with them. They lack empathy. Over time, the GOP has devolved into what it is now: a greedy, racist, sexist cesspool of all the worst possible traits humanity has to offer, writhing and festering, swallowing up a good person here and there, spitting them out as another rotten appendage, another tool in their army of hate and control.
They’re still pushing their “faith-based economy” and “trickle-down” because If You Build It, They Will Come. Having supply does not create demand. No matter how many times and ways you say it, if people can’t afford and/or don’t want your widgets, the warehouse is going to fill up. And stay full.
And we still have people who want to suck up to the people who are screwing us over because Flake takes a picture of a donation to Doug Jones literally days after Flake voted to FUCK THEM ALL for profit. The check was a publicity stunt, and it probably didn’t cost him a penny. Stop praising him.
Collins, who supposedly cared so much about her constituents that she couldn’t vote for the ACA turned around and voted for this travesty in the wee hours. McCain did, too, but that was no surprise. Don’t praise them. They just voted to FUCK YOU (not in the fun way) so long and so hard your kids will feel it, too.
We don’t want to think we’re dumb suckers like those people who voted for Trump, so why are we acting like them? We’re good people, and we keep wanting to see the good in others, but there is no good to see there. The GOP sold whatever they had left for their shares in this kakistocracy, hoping for a cushy post when their fascist government is installed. They are not behaving like normal people. They are not going to change. Shame doesn’t change them. Praise doesn’t work. They aren’t listening so reason isn’t going to work.
“My donors are basically saying, ‘Get it done or don’t ever call me again,'” Chris Collins (R-NY) told reporters at The Hill. There. He said it. Out loud.
They are doing what their bosses tell them to. Period. Their bosses are not you and me; their bosses are their wealthy donors, Donald J. Trump, and Vlad Putin. Period. Unfortunately, they chose a weak and stupid man as their dictator. He will fail, sooner rather than later.
Never trust a Republican (again, if you ever did). Never. Ever.
I am not going to stop calling and writing my elected representatives, but I am sick and fucking tired of groveling to members of the Grabby Old Pervs, lavishing praise on them just for refraining from doing one shitbag thing in the midst of the piles of shitbag things they do all the time. This is a disgusting way to run a country. I’m aware we’ve always been a plutocracy, but it’s shit. Shit.
The Republican government is doing the opposite of everything this country needs now, and we can’t sail by on Obama’s budget much longer. All of this stuff is intentional. Now they are trying to rob the country using this “tax reform” scam. That’s setting up the problem, the deficit, so they can “fix” it by taking our Medicare and Social Security and by cutting welfare. Seriously.
They know exactly what they’re doing. Not Trump, obviously, but the rest of them do. Never trust a Republican.
A note on our collective frustration lately. We can’t just be frustrated that members of our government aren’t thinking before they speak/type. We need to take responsibility for our own stupid, check our facts, all that (I know I’m guilty, too):
I’m only now starting to truly understand why old people get so crabby. Are all young people this ignorant?
I have been dealing with these silly, stupid or naïve people professing faith in these Republican dirtbags over one not-completely-horrible claim or act all week. We’ve seen it before-Jeff Flake’s check prank was a big one. A lot of well-meaning people went for that one, hook, line, and sinker. Hell, even I fell for a bit of it, not the Flake thing – that was painfully obvious – but I did honestly think that Collins might care a little bit for her people. Shame on me.
They’re looking at a horrid, selfish, greedy Republican person saying something not horrible or pretending to do something (like wash a clean pot – Paul Fucking Ryan) generous when there is a camera nearby, and suddenly our naive observer’s brains fall out. Forget all the heinous things this person stands for and does to other humans. Forget it all. This looks real. It feels real, and I want so badly to believe. It must be real! Unicorns and rainbows. . . I’m so proud of my naive positivity! Aren’t you proud of me for using my emotions to make important choices instead of my brain?
When I find someone falling for a GOP scam I have to ask them to rethink it. This guileless waif is being set up for disappointment because, obviously, this crooked Republican is scamming them. I’m much more diplomatic than that, of course. More than once, they come back with something so stupid that it cannot be ignored. (Right after acknowledging that it’s probably unwise to put faith in this dirtbag but they’ll do it anyway, telling me she makes bad choices, one actually said that she’s used to disappointment.) Look, I get that some people are into pain or mistreatment, some thrive on conflict no matter how they can get it – whatever it is, to each his/her own – but this crap hurts us all. I could have been more kind with one of them. I was too kind with the ones who came before this week. But damn it, I don’t owe anyone anything especially when they’re telling me they know better and are doing it anyway. These are adults FFS. We cannot keep putting trust in people who have already violated it repeatedly. To do so is insane, and it’s a huge waste of positive energy and effort.
No wonder we’re all so frustrated and disappointed now. They’re not only making the bad choices, they’re telling us they are and standing by the bad choice knowing full well it’s bad. What happened to learning from mistakes? What about fool me once. . .? This is how we got Trump, FFS.
We all make mistakes, post something without thinking it through, etc. We all screw up. All I’m saying is when you post something silly and naive and then say you’re used to the consequences of being silly and naive because you prefer the silly and naive option. . . don’t be surprised when someone is sarcastic. If I say something stupid, I should probably be called on it. Best way to learn and/or consider changing my mind. Keep strong opinions, loosely held.
And this is fun – we have excuses for being foolish lately. Bad ones. They’re all variations on “I’ve had a hard life.” I’m not saying terrible things don’t happen to people; they’ve happened to me, too. The fact that you’ve lost your spouse, are a victim of sexual abuse, or you’ve lost unborn babies, etc. are not excuses for standing firm in your ignorance. That, my friends, is a choice. These awful things that happen to us are also not weapons to use against other people.
Pain and loss are horrible. Horrible! They are also an inevitable part of life unless you sequester yourself on a desert island with nobody to talk to but a basketball. That would also be a choice (unless, you know, there’s a ship wreck). Do not wrap yourself in your pain, your victimhood, and then hide behind your pain shield, using it as an excuse to be rude or ignorant or to tell other people how to be or to make them your personal punching bag. Pity only goes so far, and abusing people’s sympathy is exactly the problem. If you throw your (unrelated) horrible life experience at me to get me to show pity and help you make excuses for bad choices/behavior/stupidity now, you’re no better than these politicians with their publicity stunts. You want me to feel pity for this one thing and ignore that other terrible/stupid thing you’re consciously doing? and you want me to feel bad about it? Forget it.
Just because you can’t see someone else’s pain doesn’t mean it’s not there. As adults, most of us don’t share it with just anyone until we have a good reason to do so. Don’t just walk around in an adult’s body. Grow up. Learn empathy. Take responsibility.
I tend to look for the best in everyone, too, but this is our lives and our children’s lives at stake. We must be realistic. See what is there, not what you wish to see.
We’re all tired. We’re all frustrated. Many of us are momma bears trying to protect our cubs from the things our government is doing, things that will screw our kids and possibly their kids. As I work to protect the future, I promise to try to be more patient and kind with ignorance; I hope people will try to be patient with me, too. We can all hope others will make an effort to educate themselves, to pursue knowledge and keep their minds open to new ideas, make informed decisions, etc. Also, keep calling me out on my stupid. I learn so much from everyone. Being wrong is an awesome opportunity, but once again, when you tell me I’m wrong, don’t just insult me. Tell me how/why I am wrong, and back it up. Use reputable sources. Help me learn.
*hugs*
Call your congress people: 202.224.3121. Email them. Often. Even when you know they’re not listening. Call/write, anyway.
Link: “GOP eyes post-tax-cut changes to welfare, Medicare and Social Security” – by Jeff Stein at The Washington Post
Link: “Is Citizens United to Blame for the Disastrous GOP Tax Bill?” – by Andy Kroll at Mother Jones. So what if the “party fractures?” As they are now, the Republican party exists only to help a handful of people who are already wealthy get richer at the expense of all the Americans who are the workers, innovators, builders, and thinkers of the country. Maybe it’s time for that disgusting relic to fall. Something good could be born from the ashes.
When I can, for posts like this I like to use links from resisters, regular people fighting for our lives and for our government.
Link: Vityazes at a Fork in the Road – by E. Brooks at Gray Matters
Link: Thank You. Sincerely, Me. – by E. Brooks at Gray Matters. I can admit when I’m wrong.
Link to original tweet from The Incredible Sulk.
Link to original tweet from Dakota Cherry.
Link to a “Moment” on Twitter from Will Brown. “Trump’s supporters are NOT happy about his tax bill: ‘you betrayed us'” by @williamlegate
#NeverTrustARepublican #NeverMoore #GOPTaxScam