It's a very good day for America

I wish the pundits would stop saying that this is a sad and/or sorrowful day for the country, as I think it is the exact opposite.  As I've posted about recently on this, the rule of law is precisely what makes the United States of America truly great.  It isn't the only thing yet it is one of the bedrock, foundational things that is actually quite special about us:  no person is beneath the law, or above the law, and that includes the POTUS.

So, if the POTUS is a treasonous, traitorous, law-breaking, constitution-flouting... I could go on, but you get my gist:  if the POTUS commits crimes, it would be a sad and sorrowful day for our country if he or she were to NOT get indicted and then, today, arraigned.

I personally am celebrating.  I am so relieved.  When the indictment first came down, I felt a sense of relief for my country that I haven't felt since before the day after election day, 2016.  On that day, I learned that 45 had won--45 had become 45.  On that day, I felt a sense of peril and terror that I've never, ever felt before for my country.  I clearly saw 45's potential to do all of what has since unfolded.  I clearly saw that our democracy, our constitutional republic, was in great peril.  With this indictment, and now arraignment (but I first felt the following with this indictment), I now feel RELIEF.  We made it.  We survived 45 (<--omg, I want a teeshirt that says that!).

We have a lot of pathology going on in our country.  I'm not saying we are in a state of perfect health as a country.  But I'm saying that the foundations, the bedrock, is still standing, and still strong.  I was not sure there, for a while.  And it was, and is, not guaranteed.  Had 45 won in 2020, for example, I do not believe we would have made it through another 4 years of 45.  I believe we would have descended all the way into fascism (we were well on our way, with babies in cages...  the damage that man did can never be undone, but we--our democracy, our constitution, our separation of powers, we, the people, VOTING, our free press, all of it--have SURVIVED.

So is today a "sad" and/or "sorrowful" day?  No, today is a beautiful and awesome triumph.  A healthy day for the rule of law.  Today is a happy day!

Oy Vey

What the? Imagine if this basket of deplorables had been in charge (read: in chaos) a two years ago tomorrow. Think about it.

You would think I would be relishing the Republican Party imploding right now, unable to elect a Speaker of the House, seeing as how I DETEST said party and most of those who comprise it, but, as a patriotic American who wants my country to be healthy--or at least functional--this is NOT good.  At all.  Yes, it is delectable that the complicit treasonous traitor known as McCarthy is not getting the power reward he expected for his betrayal of our constitution and people, but any satisfaction I would be feeling from that is totally eclipsed by these despicables paralyzing our country.

Just thank goodness (and all of us who VOTED in 2020) that their sociopathic leader (45) didn't win a second term.  The ripple effects of all he unleashed are horrendous enough without him still at the helm.  At least there have been some very healthy signs of hope for recovery for our country recently.  But this?  This spectacle going on as we speak in the House of Representatives?  This is totally the inmates taking over the asylum.  Only they can't even do that--they can't even effectuate the takeover off the asylum.  So how are they going to run things, IF they ever elect a Speaker?

Short version of my above post:  oy vey.

VOTE this time, or there may not be a next time...

Every American who cares at all about America, as in, everything that TRULY makes us special and great when we are at our best, and is truly worth fighting for (our democracy, the right to vote, the rule of law, stuff like that), MUST watch at least the first 27 minutes of tonight's The Rachel Maddow Show (link below). As my mom would say: "Yes, that's a direct order."

Watch it. And then VOTE. And don't let anyone stop you, because the coup is still in process and those in the bright red caps who may or may not have guns with them as they wait to write down your license plate at the drop box are going to try. Do not let them stop you. Do not let them stop our democracy. Too many have fought too long and sacrificed everything for our right to vote and for all that America truly does stand for and truly can be at its best. That best, that ideal America which, yes, we've many times in our history fallen waaaaaay short of, yet other times have dazzled the world by being, and which is still worth loving and fighting for making reality in the present and future, is completely dependent on YOUR vote.

Every election cycle since I came of age, I've been saying, with increasing urgency each time, "Your vote matters." This election cycle, I'm saying: if you do not vote this time, and vote BLUE, next time your vote may not matter. As there may not be a next time.

Watch the 1st 27 minutes of tonight's (10/24/2022) The Rachel Maddow Show

Democracy is a Verb

We must resist the fascist Trump with all our might, to save America. So many before us sacrificed so much for the highest ideals of America, the idea of America, and the very real democracy and rights and pluralism that we enjoy. My parents were the WWII generation. That generation fought fascism in its ugliest possible iteration. My generation protested (and many of us still are) in the streets for peace, civil rights, and the environment. We can do that here. We can peacefully and powerfully take to the streets. Let's keep it that way. It's up to us.

#resist

Get a Piece of It

Sanders just tore it up on "State of the Union" with Jake Tapper!

Bernie is SO great: Tapper asked the question that the press just seems obsessed with, namely: why don't you get out, why don't you NOT go to the Convention? You've gotten some concessions on the platform this week, why not just endorse Hillary and get out?

He said "Nope, no." He said that yes, we did make some progress on the platform this week, but in two weeks, the platform committee meets in Orlando and we still don't have--and, emphasis mine, we ***NEED***--single payer health care, a carbon tax, an anti-fracking plank, etc. So we go to Orlando and we fight, and we go to the Convention and we fight for what America needs.

Why is the press and why are Hillary people so incapable of understanding that we are in a democratic PROCESS right now, and Bernie has built a movement behind him, so why oh why on earth would we just quit now?! WE ARE GOING TO THE CONVENTION.

Get used to it, Hillary supporters. Get used to it, media. We are the base of this party. If you would turn your eyes from wooing the 2016 iteration of the so-called "Reagan Democrats", which don't even exist and never have, and which are actually called REPUBLICANS, and also turn from wooing your corporate masters, you would see that you have a yuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge base that is waiting to embrace the party if the party would only embrace US. Embrace the PEOPLE instead of the 1%, and the clueless voters (a.k.a., most Republicans) who support the interests of the 1% because they are easily confused.

Your base, on the other hand, is NOT easily confused. We are HERE, we have been here all along. All the decades that you have tried to be Republican Lite, Reagan Lite. WE DON'T WANT THAT. And we are not going to stand for that anymore without a fight.

As Bernie said during this campaign season: "democracy is messy". We're in there and we're scrapping. Like successful baseball hitters, we don't give up when we are at the plate! We just keep trying to "get a piece of it"! It ain't over 'til it's over: we are still trying to get hits and hopefully a home run...we are, to borrow a phrase from Clinton's 2008 campaign, in it to win it. What is "it"? Well, ideally the whole enchilada, platform-wise, PLUS the nomination, but we definitely are in it to win the "it" of getting what this country desperately needs on the Democratic platform!

‪#‎SeeyouinOrlando‬ ‪#‎SeeyouinPhilly‬ ‪#‎Getapieceofit‬!

Sanders is About the Opposite of Violence

For the love of God. Now CNN is trying to spin Sanders' for saying "democracy is messy", trying to twist that into some sort of call for violence. He was simply saying that, in a democracy, there is diversity of opinion, there is DISSENT, there is debate, there is passion. It isn't all about UNITY, all the time, especially not at a party convention, which is about picking candidates and hammering out a party platform. If we were just about UNITY, we would be a staged parade in North Korea, not a democracy.

CNN is so obviously--ever since Nevada--trying to give legs to a narrative of Sanders and his supporters being some sort of violent mob. I think it is, indeed, taking off as a narrative with some, because people fear the real change that Bernie represents. However, Bernie condemns violence. In fact, the real change that he represents is about undoing the violence of the last 36 years. The violence that is what I've always called the "Robinhood in Reverse" effect of Reagan's trickle-down economics. The violence of corporate welfare. The economic and social violence by the 1% against the 99%, carried out via the Reaganomics we've all been forced to endure since 1980. Bernie is about UN-doing violence, and bringing about a fair, healthy economy and society that works for the people. So put that in your narrative, sit and spin on it, CNN!