Posted in Culture, Politics, tagged Biden, presidential politics, Trump on 23 Jan 2021| Leave a Comment »
As the last four years enter the realm of memory, one image is strong in my mind:
=================
Guardian of Forever : TIME HAS RESUMED ITS SHAPE. ALL IS AS IT WAS BEFORE. MANY SUCH JOURNEYS ARE POSSIBLE. LET ME BE YOUR GATEWAY.
Lt. Uhura : Captain, the Enterprise is up there. They’re asking if we want to beam up.
Capt. Kirk : [softly] Let’s get the Hell out of here.
=================
Indeed, Captain.
k
Posted in Politics, tagged election 2020, election fraud, GOP, national security, SCOTUS, Trump on 10 Dec 2020| 2 Comments »
It’s one thing for my rabid right-wing-nutter Uncle Earl to run about in his tin-foil hat and go on and on about stolen elections and massive fraud at the polls. It’s entirely another thing when elected officials do the same. Crazy Uncle Earl didn’t take an oath of office to protect and defend the Constitution. Elected officials did.
If, at this point, they do not admit that Biden won the election, then they must believe that:
In short, they are willing to believe the fabulists who concoct stories that support their fearful wishes, rather than accept the evidence that surrounds them, to wit:
The behavior we’re seeing from these elected officials:
This should hang around these politicians’ necks like a dead albatross.
But I’m sure we’ll forget all about it.
This is why we can’t have nice things.
k
Posted in Culture, Politics, tagged american culture, autocracy, Biden, election 2020, presidential politics, Trump on 05 Nov 2020| 3 Comments »
As I write this, we are all caught in this liminal condition, this “state between states,” as votes that have been cast continue to be counted. Regardless of which campaign is eventually judged the winner, though, there is a clear loser: America.
Posted in Culture, Politics, tagged Biden, election 2020, third-party, Trump, vote 2020, voting on 01 Oct 2020| Leave a Comment »
This damnable year has taught me two things, the most recent of which is.:
A few times, now, I’ve attempted to convince non- and third-party-voters to cast a meaningful vote in this year’s election. In those posts, I have avoided anything that might be construed as bullying or “shaming.” I haven’t cast aspersions or indulged in ad hominem attacks. I haven’t in any way implied that Americans don’t have the right to disenfranchise themselves.
In discussions, I’ve striven to be firm but not belligerent, hoping persuasion would prove more effective than incivility. I’ve expressed my sincere understanding for each person’s reasons for eschewing both Dems and GOP, but have simultaneously pointed out that there are more important aspects at stake here than just one voter’s preference (or lack thereof) for a particular candidate. I’ve stressed that unity is our strength, and that e pluribus unum is even more true today, in our diverse and multicultural society, than it was in the much more homogenous 1776. I’ve argued that how we vote in this election will affect many people beyond ourselves.
And still, I’ve been accused of bullying and shaming. I’ve been told I have no right to judge. I’ve been unfriended, disinvited, and (I suspect) blocked.
Well, since my last post here on the topic, our current POTUS has moved to replace a liberal icon of the SCOTUS with an arch-conservative, has laid the groundwork for nationwide voter intimidation and nullification, and has found it impossible to utter the simple phrase, “I denounce white supremacy in all its forms.”
Despite this, I still refuse to engage in public shaming of those who have chosen to sit this one out and/or vote for a non-viable candidate.
That does not mean I won’t try to convince them, though.
Because this isn’t about me or about being “right.”
It isn’t about me. It isn’t about you. It isn’t about any one of us.
It’s about all of us.
It’s about my friend’s kid, who’s struggling with their gender identity and fears violence perpetrated by emboldened bigots. It’s about my neighbor whose furlough just turned into a layoff, and who’s worried that the ACA won’t be there for him and his family. It’s about my LGBTQ friends who are fearful of what the new SCOTUS will do (or undo) regarding their marriage. It’s about my friends up and down the West Coast, suffering under smoke and evacuation orders, and those on the East Coast buffeted by one hurricane after another. It’s about the parents I know, worried sick about their kids going to school during a pandemic, worried about when and if life will ever return to something reminiscent of what it was like just a year ago.
We all know friends in similar situations, fellow citizens who are negatively affected by this administration’s actions (or inactions). And we all know this election is a turning point. We can all see the two paths that lie ahead, clearly and starkly delineated. The difference before us is impossible to deny: two paths, two futures.
But which future? Which path?
This election decides, and it is our civic duty, our responsibility as citizens, to take it seriously. Sitting it out or voting for a candidate with zero chance of winning is a total abdication of that responsibility. It does not move the needle. It does not have an effect. It does not make a difference. And, judging from the strident, sometimes vitriolic, often knee-jerk responses I’ve received from third-party acolytes and non-voters, they know it, too.
But here’s the other lesson I’ve learned from 2020:
And if we do not join together to fight the obvious threat, things will get worse.
Our nation, our democracy, our institutions, and our norms, need you.
k
Posted in Politics, tagged Biden, election 2020, presidential politics, protest vote, third-party candidate, Trump, voting your conscience, write-in candidate on 19 Aug 2020| 3 Comments »
If Trump is your first choice, keep scrolling.
If Biden is your first choice, keep scrolling.
If, however, you find yourself in some middle ground, unhappy with either choice and thinking of giving your vote to a third-party candidate, writing in a name, or not voting at all, let’s talk.
The phrase I hear most often from people in this situation is, “I’m going to vote my conscience.” This is a laudable sentiment. Our conscience should factor into our choice of elected officials. Our ideals and our precepts of morality and good governance, these are important elements in a decision this consequential. After all, the actions of the person elected to be our president will affect us all, be it for good or for ill.
So let’s talk about our conscience.
What is our conscience telling us? What is it really telling us?
Obviously, it’s unsatisfied with either of the two major candidates. This one’s too radical (or not radical enough), and the other is too destructive. Too much change. Not enough change. Too boring. Too not boring. In short, we’re frustrated because neither candidate is what we really want, and that third-party (or write-in) candidate is a much closer fit.
Or, perhaps our conscience is just so fed up with the two established parties—both so entrenched and hidebound, both so habituated to finger-pointing and obfuscation—that voting for a third-party candidate (or sitting the election out altogether) seems the only way to register our anger and disapproval for the established two-party system.
Sound about right? Yeah, but I think our conscience is also telling us something else, something we’re not hearing because those other, top-of-mind aspects are too loud. If we push those to the side a bit, try to mute them, I think we might hear the other thing, the small but nagging truth our conscience is whispering in our ear:
We’re in trouble.
Deep, deep trouble.
Our conscience knows, without question, that where we are, as people and as a nation, is a bad place, and that where we’re headed (should the incumbent be given another term) will at best be more of the same chaotic slide into ignominy, and may quite likely be worse. Our conscience knows that despite any perceived boons from this administration, on balance, regular folk are suffering mightily. Our conscience knows that America is less respected, our reputation has been tarnished, and our economy and security eroded.
Our conscience also knows, at its core, what we need to do. We need to band together, unite around a common cause, face a common foe, just as we’ve done before when, as people and as a nation, we faced a Depression, two world wars, and other national crises.
So, as satisfying as that protest vote would feel, as attractive as that third-party candidate might appear, our conscience knows that we need to be smart, to see the larger picture, and form an unbeatable coalition by combining our votes to defeat Trump. We cannot afford the risk of four more years of this. We need to vote the incumbent out.
Let’s work together, let’s help one another survive, as people and as a nation.
Let’s join forces, combine our votes for Biden, so we can tell Trump “You’re fired.”
For the good of everyone.
k
Posted in Culture, tagged activism, culture wars, domestic terrorism, racism, speaking up, Trump, white nationalism, white supremacy on 07 Aug 2019| 2 Comments »
I have relatives who are racists.
There. I said it.
It’s true. I have, in my extended family, people who are racist. More than that, one in particular is undoubtedly a white nationalist (my label, definitely not hers). I wouldn’t go so far as to call her a white supremacist, but that’s only because she’s too lazy to get that involved. Were she younger, healthier, and possessed of a little more disposable income, oh yeah, she would have been marching down the streets of Charlottesville, torch in hand, chanting vile slogans.
Immigrants. Democrats. Liberals. Jews. Muslims. Mexicans. Blacks. The poor.
AOC. Bernie. Chuck. Hillary. And the King of the Leftist Hill: Obama. (more…)
Posted in Culture, Politics, tagged immigration, muslim ban, refugee, Trump, vetting process on 31 Jan 2017| Leave a Comment »
In 1889, my great-grandfather and his brothers left their home in Lucca, Italy and traveled to the port of Le Havre, France, where they boarded a ship bound for New York. They left their homeland to escape the economic misery and political chaos that typified the Kingdom of Italy in the late 1800s. They came to build a new life in a new land.
For them, the immigration process was not long. They were asked a few questions, were inspected for disease, and were allowed to enter.
Upon entry, they were met by a populace that despised and denigrated them for their peasant background, their Catholic religion, and their cultural differences.
Yay, America.
Today, the immigration process is a good bit longer. Without American relatives or sponsors, an immigrant can wait up to six years for a visa, only then to begin the months-long process of background checks and vetting. Refugees fleeing the chaos and upheaval of war-torn regions such as the Levant may actually have a shorter wait-time, but their vetting process will take up to two years and includes interviews, background checks, screenings, security checks, cultural orientation, and registration with an American resettlement agency. Even getting a tourist visa — a requirement for most people outside of Europe and the Far East — is a relatively long process.
And when these immigrants finally enter the U.S. — if they are allowed to enter — they’ll now be met by a government that despises and denigrates them for their background, their religion, and their culture.
Yay, America.
Unraveling Time
Desert Wind
Ploughman's Son
Ploughman King
The Year the Cloud Fell
The Spirit of Thunder
Shadow of the Storm
The Cry of the Wind
Beneath a Wounded Sky
Cryptogenesis: A Memoir
Kurt R.A. Giambastiani 