All we have left is an illusion of a great society (#3257)

     Like all things that are well and good we cling to them with all we have. Even to the point of dismissing the authenticity of their questionable veracity. We want things so badly to be well and good that we keep ignoring the crumbling of those very same well and good paradigms. We are in such a dilemma today. We go about our usual business thinking that all is well when in actuality all is not well. Our democracy, that had been so comfortable and safe, is now in danger of being taken from us but many of us refuse to see the evidence of it. They tell us that no one in their right mind would ever destroy us especially ones who are a protector of it. Well that is not a valid argument, it is instead a false narrative.
     As we are seeing with trumps the allegiance they are supposed to have to America has shifted to an allegiance with Russia. The Russian sanctions bill sits on trump's desk for many weeks now and he still does not renew it. He never, and I mean never, criticizes Russia or specifically putin. He has said many times that he has had no business dealings with Russia yet Russian banks have financed him for decades. He calls out our allies for their stance against Russia and is quietly meeting wealthy Russian citizens on his properties during his "vacations". These are all obvious events and are not some conspiracy out of the blue. With trump he has done so many illegal and unprofessional acts that just keeping up with them is a massive chore. Especially his lying. He lies at such a rate that Joseph Goebbels, the hated nazi propagandist war criminal, would be proud of trump if he were still alive.
     But too many of us just go about our business like all is still well and good and nothing is too out of the ordinary for us to care about or even bother to vote for or against. Well I am here to call that illusion out and ready to break the glass of that illusion forever. Our society has been under attack since republicans gained control of our political process. The only ones who are fighting back are the democrats who hold dear our democratic values. The republicans have created this attack on our democracy and although they are fearful of the outcome they do not resist it's eventuality. So they must go and those who are still clinging to the illusion need to wake the hell up and stop playing the ostrich and become the democracy defending patriot they should always have been.
   
     

We all need some validation but do good to get it (#3256)

     That in a nutshell is the problem with trump. He could have fulfilled all his delusions of grandeur simply by doing right by the American electorate. But instead he has chosen to all that is wrong for the American electorate and he cannot understand why we hate him for it. He could have been beloved if he had chosen to do the opposite of what he has done. He brought all his own shattered dreams of being heralded in a positive way on himself. I do not feel sorry one iota for his personal tragedy but I do feel bad for us Americans who are left to bear the brunt of his insufferable decisions. So on it goes with him making devastating choices to harm us while he his ego continues to be unfulfilled.
     He has crossed the Rubicon River as did Caesar so there is no turning back for him or for us when it comes to redemption and forgiveness. He has wielded his reality on us and he must be punished for the cause and its effects. He has lost his chance to be stronger than he is himself by absorbing our strength for him to lead us as he could have. He chose the wrong fork in the road and we are now somewhere else other than where we should be. Even if today he reversed all that is possible the damage has already been done. He cannot now change his confirmation for the Supreme Court. He cannot undo the effects of the horrible tax giveaway bill he signed into law. He cannot undo his associations during the election campaign that have the stench of colluding toward treason.
     He is left with his validation from us today and it is of a negative nature. He will forever have to live with his shame and guilt if it were possible for him to feel those emotions. He can feel his narcissism so maybe he isn't completely immune to emotion. I personally need to be validated from time to time but I do it by helping others somehow and not myself as a rule. My validation is when someone says thank me for doing something I didn't need to to for any other reason than to help another human being. I feel validated as a human being by being a human being and letting my compassion and curiosity flourish. I rein in whatever ego I have and remember how fortunate I am through the good deeds that were given as a gift to me. Oh if only trump could understand that!

Keep him playing golf... (#3255)

     If trump is on the golf links he is not at his desk plotting to kill off more Americans. If he spends the rest of his days in office playing golf we may just survive his cruel and simple mindedness. I can't believe I just wrote that but it is easier to think of him doing something else than breaking our democracy. How vulnerable we have become to manipulation of our voting process. How we ever ended up with a complete narcissistic man baby as president can only be deduced through fraud. Somewhere along the way the truth will come out about how this fraud was perpetrated but in the meantime we must survive the days he has left in office, either through him fulfilling his term, his resignation, his conviction or his expiration.
     Keeping him away from the levers of power is a strategy that has much merit. If we can hold him to his tweets, which by the way have been a major factor in building the coming blue wave, and let him play golf whenever the urge strikes or we can manipulate him there then good work on our part. We the resistance will be most effective if we can keep him from thinking about how best to kill us. The rest of the republican party has done their worst with this tax bill and it seems to be the limit to the damage they can legislate. There is minimal citizen agreement to further destroy medicare/medicaid and social security so we may have yet stemmed the worst of what trump can whip up against us. In a few days it will be 2018 and that number has a definite psychological end to it.
     The midterms begin the first day of January for the rest of us because for us it is just a countdown to the inevitable crushing of the republican party in November for their anti working middle poor class agenda. When I can say that in the midterms "this year" even I will feel the enormity of the coming event. So let's give trump all the free tee times he wants and let him absorb all the easy living the golf course represents while we continue to grow our resistance to a point yet unheard of in American politics. His Waterloo is nearing and the more significant the pounding he takes the more we will neuter his design to destroy us. He has this coming so let us be mindful of not losing sight of it over the next ten months as surely he and his despicable republican party seems to have done with their eagerness to pass the regressive tax law.

New Years resolution same as always, fight to end republicanism (#3254)

     There is something to be said for being consistent. In this case there is more than something as well. The greatest danger to democracy and an enlightened society is the republican party and their destructive candidates and policies. Never before in the history of our modern nation have so few dastardly souls worked so hard to convince so many utter fools that they are the future. What is at stake is the way we define equality, fairness and justice among us human beings. The republican party is working overtime to split us on the subjects of race, gender and religion. They know that to win for them is to take on the greater many of us and divide us along lines that engender negative emotion.
     Well the cat is out of the bag so to speak and we know that this is what republicans have to offer. Only division so when we see them attempting to divide us it is well for us to remember that not only are they offering division but their end product steals from us our rights and dignity. I myself will stay vigilant and point out the feeble attempts by republicans to distract us from their nefarious intent, as well there are many others doing the same. We have been the victims of their playbook of deception so we know what to expect. What I see as crusical is our continued lifting up of the values we democrats aspire toward. Inclusion, equality of opportunity and a fair justice for all. It cannot be overstated how important it is for our citizenry to prevail against the institutional anti-democracy attacks by the current republican majority.
     It is now or never for our American nation if we are to survive the trumps and the republican party that gave them power and control. So as the new year approaches I can say unequivocally that this next year of fighting against what the republican party represents will be an all out focus of many of us and the will to see it through until the republican party is null and void is paramount. Good luck to us who care about our American dream of inclusion and the effects that melting pot ideal has on our overall evolution. When we stop the racial nationalism, the degradation of women while putting aside the maliciously interpreted religious dogmas we will find that all of us within the human race are far superior together than we ever could be divided and angry with each other.

Protecting our National Constitution from trumps (#3253)

     It is painfully obvious that trump has a putin crush and wishes he had the same authoritarian power as his master. However trump got to be the protege of putin, either through blackmail, envy or some other nefarious reason it is clear that our Constitution here in America is in danger. The stories of trump keeping a copy of Mein Kampf on his bedside nightstand tell the tale of his current outlook on race and power. So any illusion that trump is just being a good steward of democracy is false. What we see with the power grab of trump is his wholesale undoing of democratic principles. His disdain for representing all the American electorate is petty and self serving while instigating tension between his blind followers and the rest of us who hold democracy dear.
     Our Constitution makes it clear well over 200 years of evolution that we the people are the power behind our nation and not our representatives. Yet the trumps do not see it as so. Instead they have taken on the conclusion that us voting for them gives them license to lord over us with their brand of a selfish vision. We have become pawns to them and as long as we adhere to our place in the trump scenario we will be left to struggle without any help from our government. What is really appalling is the loyalty oaths and butt kissing trump demands form his subordinates. It is embarrassing and as well demeaning to us Americans watching those weak cabinet members who have bent their knee to suckle the ego of trump.
     So what can be done to reverse this growing nightmare of a reality? We the people have to find it within ourselves to not only vote them out when the voting time comes but to obstruct anything and everything that republicans are trying to do. If it means going the distance to protect our Constitution can we do any less? I for one have no qualms with calling out the trumps every time I see the damage they are intentionally inflicting. I have no reluctance about my feelings or my actions when needed as to being a patriot for our Constitution. There is no less debt I owe to our mighty Constitution and anyone who would take her and bend her to their will will find that I am merciless in my focus to protect our precious national governing document.

Our Universe and the Multiverse it exists in (#3252)

     To state that our planet Earth is just a little bit insignificant is overstating the truth. We are so insignificant that even using the word insignificant is being boastful, https://www.facebook.com/jcvanzijl/videos/1874660179512097/?hc_ref=ARRjShrB6dePy_ze_8p6tLCeM4yMDFvpQHcqfd_uENWiTQSZlid7veDA5D47X6ANe4o&pnref=story. So any life form that thinks that they are all that is just showing foolishness and ignorance. We humans are amazing in the sense that there is nothing like us in the known realm of our understanding but to think that we are more than what we really are is arrogant. We are like little children just born who look at all things around and wonder what is this? That is who we still are when we are 100 years old.
     Another aspect of our life forms is that we are vulnerable to just about anything within the order or chaos of our own Universe. We cannot control whether we continue to exist or not on our own. Which is somewhat hilarious in a morbid way since we cannot even logically control that which we can control. There are too many of us who think that we and our little speck of a planet are all that. Well we are just not that at all. But we have the potential to be something more than nothing. As I look back at our recorded history I see glimpses of potential that give me hope that the species I am part of has something more to it than elimination in our future. Yet we can't seem to get out of our own way. There are too many of us who are consciously less than strong and valiant.
     Because being strong and valiant is what can get us beyond our own little tiny miniscule insignificance and possibly to a greater awakening of our knowledge and imaginations. We have time right this moment but we do not control the clock. So every wasted moment is one more moment closer to our end than it is to our chance of avoiding our end. As we diddle our time away with people like the trumps running things we are moving further from where we were when the Obamas were in charge. Which is regrettable since moving forward into a more enlightened era is always the goal not moving backwards into disruption and the worst of our natures like with the trumps. Hopefully some relief will come soon and this current mistake of fear and hatred will pass soon.
     

When ignorance is the most common factor... (#3251)

     The test of a society is its ability to debate issues from the standpoint of logic and common sense. The outcomes can be reasonably anticipated based upon the greater good. Not in today's America however. What we have today is an abundance of ignorance infested with greed. A sort of demigod belief in that nothing makes sense except wealth and power. Where even those who have no success in economics still look down on others because of a faulty value system of judgment. A fevered mindset that has a greedy outlook to it that undermines all logic and integrity. Even to the point of breaking the law are they forgiven their actions and thoughts as long as they continue the dichotomy of wealth acquisition based upon privilege and advantage.
     The worst of what we Americans have created over the past many decades is now in control of our national government. Through deceit and deception they have altered the course of democratic principles previously held dear. By the use of racism, sexism and disenfranchisement, the republican party, yes the republican party is the home of these creatures, our society is now rife with the most undesirable of souls in leadership positions. Where the fact of wealth, however earned, whether through manipulative theft, unfair practice or outright law breaking, these unsavory souls have hijacked the honest and decent aspects of economic fairness and equality, among other paradigms.
     The thing that they all have in common is their lack of knowledge and their insistence that they know all they already need to know. So how do you debate such souls? They have already judged themselves right and correct so all the evidence to the contrary is null and void to them. In their small circles of interaction there is nothing left for them to debate except how to deal with those who keep telling them they are wrong. When ignorance is the driving force there can be no debate as such so what is left is either do nothing or to apply a reactionary force against their motion. This is not a friendly interaction where thoughts are respected and proven through facts and truths. This is a battle of wills as to who will force whom to do what and if you are not part of this effort to right the wrongs then you are living in their ignorance and part of the problem.

Yes I am optimistic that we will now survive trump (#3250)

     I know, how foolish of me to think we will survive trump. He has shown no ability to think critically and even worse he is a hot head. Which is a perfect recipe for causing a major war where nuclear weapons may well be involved. Yet I find that there is enough evidence of trump's inability to be rational that others who can will step in and stop any madness coming from the want to be king. We have enough alarmed republican lawmakers that despite their greed and disregard for the working middle poor class of Americans are worried about their own miserable hides. So if trump was going to set us off on a mission of no return he missed his window for doing so already.
     If he had done it by the first months of his petty administration he likely would have been able, but not now that we know his insecurities. So a deep breath of fresh air is in order. All trump can do now to us is make our lives miserable, which compared to being dead is an improvement. However, the making us miserable is his last hurrah because we are not dead we can still do something about him. We can obstruct his congress any way possible from incorporating, haha, his agenda while challenging his every move in court if necessary. We can protest and strike where needed to keep his agenda from moving forward. We must do so for at least until the next election and then we must be the ones who kill off any hope republicans have of maintaining their majority in congress.
     So I am optimistic that not only will we not all be killed by trump's stupidity nor will we be punished as bad as he wants us punished. We can make trump fear us by continuing to confront him with facts and proofs while also exposing the intent of his lies. As long as his poll numbers continue to stay low and we keep registering more and more new voters the die will be cast for a tsunami level democratic wave come November 6th, 2018. There are some more small elections between now and then and if the margins of the vote continue to trend toward democrats the time it takes us to get to November will not be as much a factor. I am optimistic that trump will lose his congress and then he will, barring action from Mueller, be subject to impeachment, as he richly deserves.

America's infrastructure isn't the only thing crumbling so is our political process (#3249)

     I am not saying anything new here but that I am saying it is an important thing. It cannot be stated enough so that as many people who don't know it hears it and says to themselves this is wrong and I must help to correct this. Last election cycle in November 2016, 46.9% of eligible voters did not vote. Did you hear me? 46.9% of eligible, that's those who are registered and able to vote, did not vote, http://www.cosmopolitan.com/politics/a8265143/almost-half-eligible-voters-did-not-vote-election-2016/. Now we democrats are the only political party that is trying to register new voters and we have done a reasonably good job of it given the obstacles to voting the republican party keeps erecting. Yet when almost half of registered voters don't bother to vote that appears to be only half the solution. We need to help them understand why voting is essential to their lives.
     Well we democrats should have no problem now giving examples for the necessity to actually vote. With the trumps and most all republicans legislating policies that hurt the majority of us while giving much more to the wealthy should serve as a catalyst to get registered voters to vote. Make it personal to them and they will respond. We are not talking about hypotheticals or inconsequential actions by republicans, we are talking life or death decisions that negatively affect most all of us non wealthy. So making our points about how this has come to happen and the complete culpability of the republican party is how we do this. If our democracy is to survive all of us need to help to revive it. The revival is in voting so if we vote against those who are robbing us of equality of opportunity, fairness and justice then we will begin to reverse the physical and the intellectual crumbling of our nation.
     Much damage will be done to our democracy by republicans before we can excise them from our politics and that is unfortunate but before too long we will be voting again and this time there cannot be 46.9% of us eligible voters not voting. There has to be close to all of us voting if we are to create the type of democratic wave needed to arrest the republicans from doing anything more to harm our nation after November 6th, 2018. The republican party has given us the impetus to rise up and vote them out and we must do just that. If not we will suffer far more than we need to given that we know republicans will keep destroying everything that is not a benefit to the wealthy. We democrats are a mighty force for democracy and for the working middle poor class so get informed and make sure that when the voting time comes you are part of the great democratic wave that crushes the greedy thieving republicans from public office.
     

All I want for Christmas is a neutered trump! (#3248)

     There were few Christmas gifts I got that I really wanted and this is no exception. However if I don't ask I have no chance right? So this is me asking Santa for an irrelevant trump for 2018. Just long enough for us to change the majority in Congress and the state houses throughout America. Then the continued neutering of trump, if he survives Mueller, will be on us and not because of some wish to Santa. So for the next ten months or so if we can keep the little baby bully from destroying anymore of America we will be in decent shape to begin reversing his greedy thievery of our treasure and our honor. Never before like this has America been in such low esteem worldwide.
     I know that bush the younger was awful but even he wasn't as despicable as trump. We have seen from what is left of 2017 just how bad trump can be when he gets his way. He is a narcissist of the nth degree with a god complex wreaking from his every pore. So the true test of America's will will be to thwart the man baby at every turn right up until the vote on November 6th 2018. We can do this now that we have discovered that mass protests are just effective enough to sway some republicans from giving away America to every greedy corporate interest in America and outside America. With the Mueller investigation ongoing the fear that that strikes in the guilty republicans also serves to freeze their otherwise blatant march to destroy any semblance of a working middle class.
     I am not one who believes in religion or myths as facts but I will give in to making wishes and asking for help from the universe if that is all I have for hope. Well, it is all I have and if I thought the Easter Bunny could help I would ask him too? But I know that things like wishes and prayers are useless and the only real hope we have is our determination to stand tall when the trumps come to take what is left of our dignity and American pride. I am ashamed at what we have become and if it takes me giving my life to protect us from the likes of trumps I damn sure will make that sacrifice. I won't live in a world dominated by trumps and neither should any red blooded defender of democracy!

Keeping the democratic wave surging (#3247)

     If the elections were held today all would be wonderful tomorrow but we are not so fortunate. The election isn't for another 10 plus months, November 6th, 2018, so to keep our enthusiasm alive on the democratic side we must continue to hammer republicans on their drive to dismantle the social safety net and their eagerness to make the working middle poor class suffer economically while enriching the wealthy. The republicans will give us many more opportunities to attack their agenda when they start out next year to weaken social security and medicare/medicaid. It is as if they don't care about the midterms coming up.
     Well that is good for us since they think they can get away with their dastardly agenda without much of a whimper from the vast majority of us who are negatively affected. They think we are weak and more subservient than reality dictates. Well good, let them think we will cave when the next election comes. Let them be blinded to the tsunami wave that is about to crush them to irrelevance. Once that occurs we can then begin to undo the filth this Congress and trump has implemented into law. That is the beauty of America, we can undo the greed and selfishness of those who would steal from us to enrich themselves and their cohorts. Not only that when we gain the House and Senate, we can start prosecuting the criminal republican politicians who gained from their time swindling America.
     So keeping our focus on registering new voters, helping eligible voters get their voting rights up to date and to the voting booths and working hard to campaign for those democratic candidates who are now eager to take on the republicans everywhere they hold public office will be required of us. This next 10 months will be the most crucial months of our now floundering democracy. We need to make a profound statement so the wave election must be humongous. Nothing else matters at this point outside of us surviving long enough to get our votes tabulated. We must remain on guard against tampering of our votes from outside and within. With the previous election in mind we know that republicans will cheat where they can and collude to let outside forces help them deceive us. It is on us now to deliver the death knell to the republican party and I am just itching to do my part!

I would rather be writing fiction (#3246)

     I have a passion for reading spy novels with all the intrigue, romance and action but I cannot seem to find a way to do that and also stay up with keeping a record of how badly our democracy is being destroyed from within by the trumps and republicans. It seems all my waking hours are focused on keeping up with the despicable strategy they have to enrich themselves and disenfranchise the rest of us. It is absurd the era we are living in now and for that I have such ill will toward all that is republican. Whatever just desserts they get will trigger no empathy within me. They are foolish if they think they can bend the will of our nation toward their greedy selfish murderous agenda. Patrick Henry's stirring speech about "give me liberty or give me death" reminds me that we are greater than the threats to our democracy!
     So as plots for possible novels keep coming and going in my head I sigh and just move on to the next news of how our nation is responding to the continued onslaught of the republican disease. It is my part in life to be with those who are not as well opportune as myself. I don't come from any privilege or advantage except one important one, being white. However being white and poor is not much of an opportunity yet I tried to make the most of what I could. I have a conscience and because of that I could not join the ranks of those who would lie, cheat and steal as a way to enrich themselves. Instead I chose the path of educating myself as best I could. Learning how to think critically was always something I possessed so with that and unlocking new paradigms of perspective I forged a new enlightenment from my previously easily influenced, disconnected past.
     Yet here I am in the most ridiculous of realities trying to cope and brace against the ill of the trumps and the republican party. I cannot satisfy my own ambitions of freely writing about fantastical adventures with excitement and virtuous appeal. Instead I am forced by the wrong and painful reality of diagnosing and explaining the corrupt nature of an American republican political apparatus. By forced I mean it is my duty to put my nation first before myself. Not unlike Nathan Hale's last words of “I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.” but of course nowhere near his sacrifice. I just sit and think and then type what I know to be the truth of things without prejudice. It is the nature of my life during this era and eventually in less time ahead than behind we can begin to recover from this if we survive and I can then find the peace of mind to actually write the things I might very much enjoy.

The looming tax bill will undo the republican party (#3245)

     The republican party will not be able to run from this coming disaster of their own making. They see this tax giveaway to the wealthy as their great accomplishment, but the rest of us sane folks know it as a disaster for our national economy and a suffering burden placed on the heads of the vast majority of Americans in the working middle poor class. Much pain and despair will be brought about through this theft from our society that the very real anger and frustration the majority of Americans will feel will be aimed directly at the culprit republican party. A purging from politics will be the reckoning on the horizon for those republican politicians running for public office in 2018.
     Not only will republicans be thrown out of office come the next election but it will be en masse. A democratic wave election is now much more likely since this tax giveaway to the wealthy is no doubt sure to pass and be signed by trump this week most likely. The anger I feel just typing this is real and if anything like what I am seeing throughout social media it is not an anomaly. What could have been a wave large enough to take the majority in both houses of Congress is now starting to feel like a wholesale slaughter of republicans. If we keep this same momentum going it could well be a wave election that pushes our coming democratic majorities much higher than ever dreamed of just a few months ago. It seems that we cannot stop the horrendous tax giveaway to the rich that takes from the working middle poor class but what we can do is mitigate it starting on November 6th 2018.
     Yes in 2019 a new Congress will convene and a new budget will need to be passed that can reverse many of the worst parts of this current budget. Because we democrats will have the opportunity to pass a budget that interdicts many of the perks instilled within this current tax giveaway budget of the republicans. What I hope is even more significant is that if the Mueller investigation goes on for the next year we will be in position to elevate a democrat to the presidency in early 2019 if the allegations of treasonable actions by trump and pence are exposed as facts. What was a total disaster at the end of 2016 and even more so 2017, can be reversed now given the greed the republican party has shown and tried to implement. The giant democratic nature of America has been awakened and the dirty thieving cowards of the republican party will feel the wrath they have mistakenly underestimated from us.

The wealthy tyrants in America, with the help of republicans, are trying to starve the rest of us (#3244)

     The filthy Citizen's United judgement is killing off our democracy. It has allowed the scheming wealthy to infiltrate our government and change policies from democratic and constitutional to autocratic and what we now see as fascist. Our Supreme Court, conservative majority, is complicit and has done this to us in order to help the republican party in its strategy of taking over our country. If we were what we should be, a public financed electoral process, we would be getting candidates competing for our votes based upon ideas and policies. Instead we have the wealthy flooding our airwaves with disinformation and lies in order to confuse voters into voting for them.
     This is what unlimited wealthy money does, it floods us with a narrative that the wealthy create in order for their candidates to be elected. Now if it were that the wealthy were flooding the airwaves with truths and policies that helped all of us it would still be wrong in that one segment of our society would still be controlling the narrative. We need no private money out there controlling the narrative and instead we need human beings who are candidates who are not beholden to any special money group except the citizenry of America. Then the ideas of the candidates would be what we were debating not some narrative supplied to keep us from advancing our society.
     Never in the history of our democracy has the idea of a wealthy group put the interest of all Americans first before themselves so they need to stay out of narrating our politics except as individual citizens with equal influence as any other voter and no more than that. So when our nation finally does reverse the massively erroneous Citizen's United decision and returns our politics of elections to the public sphere where all legitimate candidates get the same resources and no more then we can continue to build our democracy with the intent of one person one vote based upon logic and enlightenment instead of confusion and diversion. We are better than what we are currently showing and those who are working at destroying our democracy will get their due when the rest of us get tired and say enough of being left with table scraps!

Still feeling great over the victory in Alabama (#3243)

     When I think of that night when I was on my computer watching the live updates on returns coming in from Alabama the smile on my face after the final results is still lingering. It is one of the few bright spots where an actually good feeling has persisted with me in this otherwise horrible political year of 2017. The elections across the nation with Virginia and New Jersey specifically were uplifting and created hope but they were not what brought a smile to my face like this victory in Alabama. I find it hard still to type this about the state of Alabama. But the long odds of winning were achieved and that in itself would normally be enough but there is another aspect to the win in Alabama that is even more satisfying. That being if we democrats can win in the deep red state of Alabama we can win anywhere in the nation.
     So now we are not just thinking about defending our senate seats this coming November 6th, we are also thinking about going on the offensive and taking seats from otherwise safe republican control. Not only does this give our democratic party great hope for taking majorities in both houses but it puts the fear in republicans that they have not felt for nearly a decade. They are now on the defensive hoping to salvage what they can from their decision to align themselves with the highly unpopular trumps. They will be in full damage control while we democrats will be taking the fight to them and exposing their working middle poor class condescension.
     This unlikely victory in alabama was accomplished in several ways. Our vote came out and their vote didn't. The enthusiasm is definitely on our side since we democrats are the only ones who care about and are willing to legislate to improve the lives of the working middle poor class. They ran a horrible candidate and we ran a great one. Although the margin of victory was small it was enough and to keep things in perspective we know we got the best of what was available to pull off this monumental upset where practically no one thought it would be possible. We democrats cannot take anything for granted and must keep the pressure on the republicans so that they don't make us much worse as a nation before we can vote them out. We must remember that hard work got us the victory in Alabama and hard work will keep getting us victores going forward and for that I am smiling a big smile.

We can reverse the trumps starting next year (#3242)

     Not all is lost with the changes that the trumps are making. Most all of them can be reversed the day a new democratic president is in office. The others like the legislation he may pass will take a bit longer but with an overwhelming blue wave coming it won't be hard to get the votes to do that as well. As for the judiciary we just have to wait them out of their lifetime posts. But that can be done by never electing a republican leader or majority Congress in America again. We have learned our hard lesson of letting republicans have control. They were liars on the campaign trail and liars in office. They can never again be trusted by those who didn't do their due diligence in vetting them before voting for them.
     I am buoyed by the fact that 2018 is just over 2 weeks away and then the campaign for the midterm elections gets real. With the wind at our democratic backs there is nothing to keep us from sailing on top of this coming wave election while crashing into and crushing the defenseless republican shore. Our momentum is real as attested to by the recent major elections Virginia, New Jersey and Alabama. Every special election since the ascendency of the republican party to leadership has shown that we democrats are getting more votes, while republicans are getting fewer votes since trump's controversial victory. The swiftness of the change in direction of the mindset of America is palpable. Not only has the rejection of trump policies been born out but the siding with democratic candidates has been resurgently resurrected.
     When we Americans make it through to the election on November 6th, 2018, the reversal begins. I suggest that it is quite logical that we democrats will hold the majorities in Congress, both House and Senate, so that trump will have little wiggle room to do any more damage while we force him to start backtracking on some of his most egregious decisions. 2020 is still aways off but it is the final nail in the coffin of the worst representative president in modern history. He will be dumped from office if he makes it through to his first term and then the new democratic president and a democratic majority Congress will have the makings to right the horrific wrongs in no time at all. Repairing the damage of the trump years will have set us back but it won't be too far back and then we can shoot into our future with a greater hope and a more guarded defense of our democracy from within and without.

Regaining Net Neutrality (#3241)

     First and most important is the electing of democrats into public office. Since we are the party that wants to keep and protect Net Neutrality. The reason the FCC was in a position to end Net Neutrality is that the senate headed by republicans refused to seat the two open seats on the commission. Now that trump is president republicans jumped at the chance to fill the FCC with republican acolytes willing to end Net Neutrality. Since the commission is now filled with it's 5 members, 3 of which are trump followers, for 5 year terms it isn't likely that the commission will be the answer to reversing their decision to end Net Neutrality. So it is now up to Congress to pass a bill that makes Net Neutrality a matter of law and takes it out of the hands of the FCC.
     Of course there are lawsuits piling up by providers and states against the ruling but the process of going through the courts is long and arduous. However an unlikely scenario might be that a federal judge puts a stay on the FCC decision to end Net Neutrality while the lawsuit works it's way through the courts, https://qz.com/1156146/ajit-pais-fcc-just-voted-to-repeal-net-neutrality-but-here-are-the-two-ways-it-could-still-be-saved/. But the best hope is that this current Congress, although a republican majority, has some republicans members questioning the decision. If we can put enough pressure on them it is possible to get a bill passed through both the House and Senate that would need trump to sign off on. Surely a bit of a longshot but what other option do we have at this time? With providers and states pressuring it's US representatives it is maybe more than just possible, http://www.sacbee.com/opinion/editorials/article189764739.html.
     What may be our only real hope is for the election of 2018 to be a landslide for democrats and the majority control of congress. With possibly enough members close enough to veto proof thresholds, while getting some remaining republicans to help push past a veto if trump is so inclined. We need to keep our Internet traffic regulated so that the large corporations are not in charge of how we use the Internet and what traffic is available to us. Our democracy demands it and for the large corporations to take our public domain and make it theirs is theft in my way of thinking and not to be allowed!

The threat of trump continues... (#3240)

     We liberal progressives won a great victory Tuesday evening and for that I am humbled and grateful. We, all over America gave of our time and our limited resources to help the Jones campaign come out on top. The next day was a sort of basking in the glow of our triumph while resting our souls from the continued onslaught brought about by the apparent victor for president last year. But now that we have had a chance to recharge our batteries with a quickening in our step provided by our improbable win, it is time to hit back at the trumps for the next crisis they are planning. The closure of a free Internet and the massively horrendous tax bill giveaway to the wealthy from the working middle poor class.
     There is much to do but we have to be ready to roll up our sleeves and get to work because what republicans are finding out is that they cannot turn back from their ideological efforts. They are all in on blowing up our democracy so we need to be all in on stopping them anyway we can. Like the focus of the African American community in Alabama, we need to keep our focus on every little thing republicans are doing and to call them out for it when they expose it. Because we know one thing for certain, the republican party is not the friend of a vast majority of Americans. Instead they are rapers and pillagers and now more than ever are condoning molesters of children. The stench of the republican party is thick with a disgusting appeal to our worst natures, not our best. For this they will pay dearly before and then after the next general election.
     So as the trumps continue to try to undermine democracy we must not let them no matter how hard and difficult it becomes. Because we know from what happened in New Jersey, Virginia and now Alabama a reckoning is going to be coming down on their heads like the fiercest punishment equivalent to their crimes. I have nothing but disgust for anyone and everyone who is republican or who votes for them. It is an abomination on the decency and respect that democracy demands of all of it's citizens. No one is perfect and when we are troubled or need help we can ask for it with a humble heart. But what we get with republicans is a boorish brutish condescension that shows they feel they are above the law and a class of people greater than any other. Well they will get what they deserve and it won't be clean. It will be messy and it will hurt but we have to keep our vigilance on them so that no matter their attempts we block them and then give them their just deserves when the just deserves time comes!

Upset accomplished :) (#3239)

     Well well well, a night to remember. the democrat, Doug Jones, has proven to be a formidable candidate and has won by over 20,000 votes in the previously deep red republican state of Alabama. In his acceptance speech he talked about Dr. King and his enlightened use of the phrase, "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice", as a rallying cry for the future of not only Alabama but for America on whole as well. Senator elect Jones said that Alabama has come upon many crossroads and has unfortunately chosen the wrong path but not this time. On this and on many other statements and issues I am in full agreement with the improbable senator elect.
     What a wonderful evening last night was in watching the returns come in in real time and seeing the early lead of the republican candidate slowly dwindle down toward the end of the vote count until at the very end Doug Jones surged ahead to a fairly comfortable margin. The republican as of yet has not conceded but the inevitability of the large gap in votes between the two should make his resignation speech come sooner than later. But like his character and behavior in the past this republican candidate cannot seem to do the right thing when the right thing needs doing. However he exits this election though he will not be the victor, that belongs to the vote winner Doug Jones.
     Going forward now we have one less senator in the majority for the republican party and their lead in the senate is now down to 51-49, as soon as Doug Jones is sworn in. However that will probably not be until after the senate takes up voting on the horrendous tax bill. Regardless though, republicans will also find that passing that tax bill by the end of this month will be more than they can accomplish even with their current 52 votes in the senate. As last night should have been clear to them but we know it wasn't is that the American electorate is not on their side and the further they push to go against the will of the people the further they will find themselves being unceremoniously dumped into the trash bin of history. If you don't believe me just ask Roy Moore.

Upset in the making? (#3238)

     That we even have to call this a possible upset is mind boggling. Based upon the fact that the republican party is running an multi accused pedophile and US Constitution destroyer it seems ludicrous that this republican is still the favorite. It says more about Alabama, its politics and it's citizens being closed off to moral and enlightened thinking than it does about the good man running as a distinguished democrat who fought against the workings of the KKK in the judicial system. Be that as it may however, the idea that this deep red state would elect a democrat over a republican given the current voting traditions there it is encouraging that Alabama and its voters may well give the majority of their votes to the democrat. How those votes are tabulated is now in question given the late night decision by the Alabama Supreme Court to stop recording paperless ballots for double checking results.
     Yet despite that little twist the voters of Alabama may be ready to shirk the republican party for having gone too far in nominating a candidate so full of the bad behavior and democracy destroying thinking. A win here for democrats would be monumental. However even if the democrats and Doug Jones loses it is still a victory of sorts in a couple of ways. First it will be a close race and that in itself is a victory given the large margins attained by previous republican candidates. Secondly though is the appearance of the republican in the senate if he wins. Given that and the anti-republican sentiment now it would further strengthen the case for a democratic wave in the 2018 elections. Most every democrat would be campaigning against the republican perverted party and their proof of the perversion would be the new republican senator from Alabama.
     So either way it is going to be a good night for democrats. I would prefer that the democrat come out with the win and keep our senate from being further polluted by the republican party and as well take a seat that republicans desperately need to keep. But if not the election in 2018 may well be one of the most lopsided democratic victories in recorded history. The republican party has done this to themselves by standing with the dirtiest of politics while advancing legislation that hurts the most people. If republicans feel that kowtowing to the wealthy is their only goal they will soon find out what we all know, the wealthy will survive with or without them but the republican majorities will not when the voting time comes around in November 2018.

Alabama's candidate who wants to abolish citizen's rights within our constitution (#3237)

     The republican candidate in Alabama for that open senate seat is a many times accused pedophile, that much when there are that many who accuse the man of indecency and unlawful behavior toward our children should be enough to disqualify him from the get go. But no, republicans are so hell bent on keeping their senate seat republican that they are willing to sweep his many lascivious acts under the rug and vote for him. Despite that shameful and despicable behavior there is another reason not to vote for the child molestor, republican Roy Moore's stance on our national constitution. He has said in the not so distant past, 2011, that if we Americans would do away with all the constitutional amendments after the first ten we would have fewer problems, http://www.cnn.com/2017/12/10/politics/kfile-roy-moore-aroostook-watchmen/index.html.
     Generally speaking many of the rights that we take as absolute would be eliminated. So no 13th Amendment where the slavery was abolished. No 14th Amendment where birthright in America guarantees citizenship. No 15th Amendment that guarantees that race cannot be a factor in determining the right to vote. No 17th Amendment that gives us the citizenry the right to vote for our senators. No 19th Amendment that gives women the right to vote. No 22nd Amendment whereas the president may not be elected to more than 2 terms. No 24th Amendment where poll taxes were declared illegal. No 25th Amendment where presidential succession is formatted in case of death or severe disablement. No 26th Amendment where 18 year olds were given the right to vote. These are some of the highlights of what the republican candidate for senate tomorrow in Alabama would destroy.
     So not only is the man a morally bankrupt despicable human being causing irreparable harm to many young teenage girls but his outlook on our democracy is one that is akin to stealing the rights and freedoms of our nation and asking us to allow him to do so. How badly does the republican party want to keep a republican in that senate seat when the candidate who wants it is the most vile of persons and is willing to destroy democracy that actually allows us to vote for him? It isn't incredulous for the rest of us to ask what the hell are you doing Alabama republicans when what you are doing is supporting a lecherous man who hates democracy? Well what are you doing Alabama republicans?

The republican party must pay for it's reckless attitude toward humanity, animals and our planet (#3236)

     I don't know how to say this but I will try because it must be said. Somehow either through direct or indirect means the republican party must pay for their agenda of killing us and destroying our planet. Whether through the short term or a longer term the debt must come due. I am not one to sit idly by and watch these nefarious souls work their harm without an inversely proportional response. The republican party must learn that cause and effect are directly linked to thought and action. There will be no dispensation for those who think they are above and beyond the law. There is always a way in an imperfect world for justice to be served. No amount of planning can keep the wolves from the door when the wolves have been abused.
     I know this principle well since I have been it's victim at times in my growing years. I learned that the cost of my thinking and acting had a price and that price was paid. So I learned that no amount of subterfuge or hidden actions were immune. I became a better man because I understood the logic of karma and also of a conscience that is within the boundary of normalcy. Only psychopaths and sociopaths are devoid of a conscience so they have to learn a much harder lesson. Which dovetails with who makes up a lot of the republican party. People who have no regard for others unless they can be used as a resource or a fool. Ignorance to complex thinking is another characteristic of the republican voter and follower. But there is no defense to being ignorant since it is a choice and we all are responsible for our choices.
     So somewhere today or tomorrow a reckoning will be coming to those who push the republican agenda of harm and destruction. Those who enable those who push to harm and destroy will also be included in the reckoning as it is a choice as well. No excuse that was from choice will be acceptable to avoid the coming punitive cost. We human travelers are not without the means to think, plan, and execute justice when it is sorely deserved and despite the perception that we liberal progressives are weak and fearful I have another concept to swap out with that perception. We are vengeful as well as filled with an anger that must find its fulfillment. That fulfillment is a determination to crush the ideas that spawn from the greedy and selfish republican party into the dustbin of history with no remorse or regret.

Alabama is already a moral victory for democrats (#3235)

     I say this without even mentioning that the democrat, Doug Jones, could win this senate seat. But if Jones doesn't win, look at the vote and the turnout. Traditionally this election should have gone to the republican by a vast majority of the votes. Something of at least a 25 to 30 percentage point margin. But no, it is tight with the democrat with a real shot at actually winning. That right there is the moral victory. The coming elections in the near future are going to be a referendum on the trump administration and the republican majority congress and if this senate seat election in Alabama is any indicator then the democrats will do well going forward.
     Our nation has had enough time to see now the trump and republican agenda so there is no doubt as to their intent. If this election in Alabama had been in a purple state we would be talking about a thumping of the republican candidate. Yet even in Alabama we can see the shades of blue and purple coming out. It is because the trump/republican agenda and candidate are not up to the standards of moral decency nor democracy's values. The republicans may well win and hold onto this senate seat but by no stretch of anyone's reasoned imagination can this be considered a republican affirmation. If not for the stubborn and bull headed conservative voters in Alabama, the argument and debate about who is best served to meet the needs of Alabamians would have been won handily by the democrat candidate, Doug Jones.
     Hell, the republican lecher wouldn't even debate Jones. How fearful the republican party must be of the thinking voter for the republican to not even condescend to mingle with the intelligence of Alabama and the whole of America. The republican spews his vitriol at other Americans and pays homage to the Russian leader. Yet his base in Alabama is nearly ready to coronate him with the prestige of being a despised leader in the US Senate. But the voting time is still not yet so the case against the republican can continue to be made while the case for the democrat Jones can still be shouted out to all who would listen. Moral victories aside, I am greedy when it comes to electing democrats who are liberal and progressively oriented. And as a new beginning I would like to see enough of Alabama democrats, Independents and moderate republicans come together and give us something greater than a moral victory, we want a stinging rebuke of the trumps and the republican lackeys that support him.

The weekend before the storm! (#3234)

     Suffice it to say, this weekend is the last one we have before we find out if the alleged pedophile in Alabama is elected to our United States Senate. Yes, the question remains as his polling numbers try to suggest that he may well be. I see this as a moment in time where the right and good of our nation will overcome the ignorance and bias of party politics. It is my hope that the better man will be elected to serve us both in the state of Alabama and the United States on whole regardless of party. That the better man is a democrat who wants to improve the lives of Alabamians is something else that must be factored in as well. The republican has no such agenda and in fact is willing to deny rights to Alabamians as well as to the rest of the United States through his votes in the senate if he is elected.
     It would seem rational and logical for the democrat to win this election just based upon the policies and agendas for leading yet we don't have that clear cut paradigm at play here in a deep red state that has for decades followed the republican mantra without much question. But a convergence of realities have struck home with the electorate on the idealism that was supposed to be a republican staple based upon their previously held rhetoric. The family values identity cannot now be attached to the republican party any longer given the nature of their current candidate and his appetite for lechery. As well as his addiction for young girls is the fact of his social program ending philosophy. How can republicans say they are for the working middle poor class when all their policies are aimed at destroying programs enacted to help the working middle poor class?
     So this weekend is the final one before next Tuesday when the test of ages for Alabamians comes to fore. Will they say enough with the entitlement of advantage and privilege the republicans demand for themselves and the abhorrent behaviour they are willing to accept or will Alabamians do as they have done since the before my time and just accept their destiny as tied to whatever republicans say. I find it hard to think that a morally attuned and educated electorate in Alabama would allow itself to be forced to accept the dregs of what is antithetical to their religious and enlightened upbringing and vote for a man who has no interest in them beyond their vote. This calm weekend before that judgement on Tuesday is a good time to reflect Alabama on just what your and our future holds.

Like with sports, it takes a team to accomplish great things (#3233)

     What the crowd who think they did it all and pulled themselves up by their own bootstraps fail to acknowledge is that everyone in our lives has helped get us to where we wanted to be. We didn't do it alone like the republican party likes to propagandize. What sports has shown us numerous times over and over is that the sum is greater than the parts. I watched a basketball game last night where the opposing team was heavily favored with many all star players going against a team without much accolade as to their individual abilities. Yet the team with the all stars was beaten fairly easily by the team of players who were arguably of lesser individual talent. The reason being is that the team that won had a cohesiveness to them that played as a team instead of individuals.
     My point is that by ourselves, from the day we are born until the day we die, we are part of something greater than ourselves. Now many teams of lesser talent that play teams of greater talent eventually do lose the game? Most all based upon statistics. That is mainly because the team with lesser talent couldn't find it within themselves to play as one unit instead of separate parts. This is life as I know it. When I was in school at the 8th grade level I was taking a pre algebra course. I couldn't wrap my head around how to find the solution for the closest values for x and y. Yet a friend of mine in the same class spent 5 minutes with me on it and as if a cloud had moved on and the sunshine burst through, I got it. I was barely getting a C in the class and after that 5 minutes with my friend I ended up getting straight A's for the year in that class.
     Which goes to show that I wasn't the brainiac I wanted to be without the help of someone who cared enough to explain to me in a very simple fashion I could relate toward. Now I will say that I have ambition and a will to perform and accomplish but without all the other helping hands along the way I would have gotten very little of what I have now both in material and understanding. I say this because this is why we need our society to work together for each other so that we can fill in the holes we all have in our lives as best we can. We humans are amazing but we are also vulnerable so together we can share our strengths while also girding up our weaknesses. We democrats want a society that works together for all of us with equality and fairness so why would you support those who don't. Let's win together or most likely we will lose separately!

Revolt if Mueller is fired! (#3232)

     I cannot say this in strong enough terms. If trump fires Mueller we all must take to the streets and force trump out! I don't care if we have to sacrifice our work and pleasure to make our point but we must not let trump steal our democracy and avoid the criminal acts he has committed. There is only one way we are going to get at the truth of things and that is with the Mueller investigation. We cannot count on the republicans who have the majorities in the House and Senate to do the right thing and hold trump accountable. The republican party has already shown that they would rather elect a pedophile to high office instead of having moral convictions. They will not impeach trump as long as he continues to support their agenda of destroying the middle class.
     We each must look inside ourselves and determine just how much our democracy is worth to us. If it is just trivial to you then do as you will. But I warn you that democracy is much better than an authoritarian regime like what will happen if trump is able to fire Mueller without a backlash from we the electorate. If you do hold democracy dear then you have no other choice but to join the rest of us in the streets demanding that trump be removed from office. If we allow trump to fire the man who is investigating him for malfeasance of the highest order then we are allowing trump to dictate the terms of who gets justice and who doesn't. Much like dictating things is the provenance of dictators.
     Many of us have taken democracy for granted and even now while it is under attack it is hard for our minds to wrap around the idea that American citizens would be out to destroy our national sacred trust. Yet we had better wrap our minds around it because it is happening right now! So the sooner we all get on the same page and protect that which we need to have equality and fairness in our society the better chance we will actually be able to save it. Time is running short on trump now so him firing Mueller is a very real possibility. If he does we need to be prepared to go to all lengths to stop trump from securing a power base within our government and making it into the form he desires with his little demented demigod mind. That trump must be made to face the consequences of his crimes is crucial and allowing him to thwart those consequences is what he will get if he fires Mueller and we do nothing about it!

The republican party made us poor and now they want to do away with us (#3231)

     Keeping wages low and destroying unions are just two examples of how republicans like to keep us the American working class poor. If republicans were able they would strip our nation of minimum wage laws in the guise of the free market altar they so brazenly misinterpret. It is one thing to give the owners of production all the benefits but it is quite another to deny those same rights to the workers who actually do the producing. The free market also benefits the workers equally when not being denied by the rapacious republican party. Without the backing of government nor unions that right to bargain in fair negotiations has been destroyed to favor the owners of production. Not so much a free market principle here when measured as equal and just.
     By keeping us poor the republican party has assured itself that the wealthy will get wealthier while the poor get poorer. However, the other side of the coin is that if we the majority are poor; who will buy the commerce that the wealthy are trying to sell? Will their products be as alluring to the other nations of the world? Another pitfall is that while we still have the right to vote, at least for now most of us do, will we realize that voting for republicans is not a good long term strategy for our own benefit? Will the social issues that republicans have successfully divided us with remain our first priority when deciding to vote of will our wallets and purses finally rise to the top of our priority list? It is evident that a chaotic period is surrounding us and how we come out of it will determine the success or failure of the republicans strategy to keep us poor.
     Not only does the republican party want to keep us poor they want to limit government as how it can help us through our poverty. The republican party does not see government as one to help it's citizens unless those citizens are rich. The wealthy get all the subsidies and benefits while the poor get nothing. That is the republican agenda and it is playing out right before our eyes so no amount of denying it will work even in the era of the "fake news" propaganda being deployed by republicans. With the republican success of destroying the middle class well under way it is only a short time now before the vast majority of we American citizens will become the poor and our poverty will destroy the futures of our children much like the republican party has planned.

America is on life support and republicans are pulling the plug! (#3230)

     The republican agenda to end government care for the vast majority of Americans who are victims of unfettered capitalism is a death knell to us. Somehow republicans have put into their heads the illusion that everyone has an equal shot at being successful when in reality very few do. There are only so many opportunities for the non wealthy to gain access into the upper echelons of economic success and that it is nearly impossible even for those few who do get far enough along to have a chance. The wealthy protect their club of wealthy in ways that prohibit most of us from ever being able to have great economic success. The system is rigged against the many of us who are not starting out with wealth in that gaining access to capital is brutal and legalized theft in my mind.
     With everything having a cost attached to it makes becoming wealthy for a poor person an impossible dream. Even when the capital is gained those supplying the capital worm their way into the innovation or creation such that it rarely remains the property of the initial creator. Yes, intellectual and mechanical theft of opportunity is what the wealthy supply as their contribution to society. Now all wealthy are not such manipulators but the vast majority of the wealthy are just opportunists looking for a mark. So the idea that anyone can be wealthy if they only try is ludicrous and just a tease for those to try so the wealthy can carpetbag their effort. Capitalism is a good thing in theory when it is subject to social needs and societal norms. But that isn't what republicans are selling. They are selling the philosophy that capitalism on it's own is what we need. No social programs, no governmental regulation of retirement systems or overseen health care.
     The days of dog eat dog are just what republicans want and the fact that many will suffer and die because of their callous greed is inconsequential to their agenda and the stone coldness of their hearts. They don't want to have a society that is available for all to participate in, on the contrary they want a society that is beholden to them in a privatized way without government protections of equality and fairness. To republicans justice is whatever suits the needs of the wealthy; and the poor, sick, old and children are unnecessary resources that need to just go away. Instead of maintaining the greatest democracy on Earth and improving it's efficiency and effectiveness, republicans are trying to prematurely bury our society in the hope that democracy will die and a privileged and advantaged form of aristocracy will be born from it's ashes.

The stripping of our rights (#3229)

     The republican party is doing a thorough job of denying us citizens the rights we have come to expect. From making voting harder to now working to limit the free expression of ideas on the Internet. They don't believe that an open society is right for us and have been taking the steps to close down our society and purge our numbers where they think we are a danger to them. It isn't just the attacks on social security and our health care it is a combination of voting rights, Internet rights and our social programs that they are going after. When you consider the motive for this withdrawal of rights for our citizenry it always boils down to them being afraid and their fear dominating their actions. They are cowards and for good reason because they treat people harshly and would rather lie, steal and cheat their way through life then to let life be fair for all.
     So as long as we let them stay in power the sooner they will accomplish their goals of destroying our democracy in it's intent and move us toward the cowering bully type who is threatening the us and the world with harm. We may already be too late to change their end game as they still have at least one more year in power before the next election and given how elections seem to be infallible these days who knows what will happen to the final vote count as it is. That is their agenda, to manipulate whatever is necessary to keep their power in tact. This is not about representing America as a democracy, this is about republicans representing the destruction of a fair and equal democracy.
     I occasionally hear the same old excuses about how each party is guilty of some colluding effect to keep power yet it always is the case that democrats are trying to open up society with their reach for power while republicans are always trying to shut down society with their lust for power. Two different motives, not equivalent, not equal. We democrats want a society for all of us and that is why we fight to lead our nation at every level. That is much different from what republicans are doing in their power lust. The republican party wants power to make life hard and harm where they think they can. If you don't get that then we are doomed to become the next great democracy that eroded from inside.

We are not we the people anymore, we are we the sheeple! (#3228)

     If there was any doubt left after last night's vote to strip the rights and economic protections from the vast majority of the working middle poor class, then those doubts have been shattered. We now know that the republican party doesn't care for 98% of the American populace. That tax giveaway to the wealthy and middle poor class ripoff bill that the senate passed with only republican votes shows us unequivocally that we, the nearly whole of the American electorate are not being represented by our elected republican officials, but instead they are only representing the wealthy. So the slogan of we the people so absolutely enshrined in the preamble of our American Constitution is now we the sheeple who will be told what we can do by those whom we elected.
     Consider that for a moment please. Our elected officials who are supposed to represent our prerogatives are telling us that we don't matter and that they somehow are magically gifted to know what is best for us. Do you understand what is happening and that we are now under the control of those we elected to represent our wants and needs? It is as if we hired someone to do a job for us and they said in return no, you do what I want you to do! Instead of being beholden to the voters the republicans are only beholden to the wealthy. If we as a nation cannot find it within us to shout at the top of our lungs and mobilize our feet to action that this will not be tolerated then they will continue to grow in power to the point where we will not even be considered when republicans force their power beyond our democratic structure.
     A coup was performed last night by republican senators to our process for advancing democracy in our nation and for us to just sit back feeling hurt without doing anything about it will only empower them to do worse for us and more for their wealthy base. The time is right now for us to stop what little trivial thing we are doing and focus on disrupting, protesting and obstructing every step the republican party hopes to take going forward. There cannot be any mercy for them in the form of compromise nor collegial association. They have shown their stripes and those stripes are earned on the backs of the American middle poor class. If we do not focus our attention and put up our fists and prepare to defend our way of life then it will be taken from us despite all the shock of what is happening and the incredulity that it is actually real.

Republican party, lying is okay, child molestation is okay (#3227)

     How can anyone who is a republican hold their head up and be proud? I suppose when you have the morals of a psychopath it is possible but for the rest of us who have a conscience this is not only criminal but it is morally bankrupt. It used to be a well known fact that we lived up to our values as a prime example to teach our children what it is to be an honorable humane person. But it seems that republicans don't believe that being an example of what is good about our species is of value. They seem to think that fulfilling their own needs and desires trumps all that is respectful and dignified with the rights of others in our society. It is as if they see themselves as little gods who are not subject to the same rules as others who are not them.
     They justify their actions and beliefs with anything handy that confuses or misdirects from their behavior. Even bastardizing religion to fit their narrative. What is most shameful to me though outside of the lying is their penchant to satisfy their abnormal attraction to children for sex. It is a demented mind that lets the lust of one's thoughts actuate into action where stealing the innocence of children through power and sex is acceptable. Yet the republican party condones this demented behavior and even defends it through a disgusting interpretation of religion. That we live in a democracy where the rights of all citizens, young and old are protected, religion is not the arbiter of those rights. Our laws are and no amount of justifying molestation of minors is acceptable despite claims of religious approval.
     Is the hatred of knowledge and an enlightened mind so terrible that we have to destroy intelligence to make ourselves feel better? Is it really the goal of the purposefully ignorant and lazy wastrels to drag intelligence down to our lowest common denominator so that they can feel better about themselves? Instead of picking up a book and informing themselves they would rather burn all the books. So that we fall back into a society that does not protect all of it's citizens but instead leaves it's citizens vulnerable through a survival of the fittest policy to fall prey to those whose conscience is lacking in empathy and remorse. The republican party is the worst of who we Americans are and their attempts to overpower our democracy so that they can continue to lie without consequence and molest and rape our children is abominable and must be stopped or our nation will fail from within.

The all or nothing republican party (#3226)

     Using the reconciliation process to pass major legislation, like the current disingenuous tax bill, is the proof of the republican party's concept of "my way or no way at all". Reconciliation allows for the republicans to pass legislation through the senate with only 51 votes. In case of a tie, 50-50, the vice president gets to cast the tie breaker and since the vice president is a republican all the senate needs are 50 of the 52 republican senators to vote for the decimating tax bill for it to eventually go to trump. Instead of using a bipartisan approach on tax reform that makes good economic sense and does not destroy the working middle class recovery, republican have chosen to hurt the working middle poor class so that they can give the wealthy even more tax breaks they don't need.
     Income inequality between the wealthy and the non wealthy is enormous as it is but this tax bill by republicans will make the disparity even worse, http://money.cnn.com/2016/12/22/news/economy/us-inequality-worse/index.html. We democrats can and do recognize that the tax code could use a refreshing and would have worked with republicans to modify some glaring problems within it. Yet no, republicans wanted more and the more is the great tax cut for the wealthy that they don't need but want anyway. So if it hasn't been obvious to you yet that the republican party represents the wealthy and not the working middle poor class then you have been living in an illusion. So since we American working middle poor class are the 95% majority in the United States it makes me wonder why we cannot nor will not support the democrats who are for the American working middle poor class?
     What I find is that many who still support republicans are hung up on social issues. They put their belief systems ahead of logic, education and science because they are afraid to learn the truth about all things real. The republican party takes advantage of that while also dividing us against each other with smoke and mirrors that play to our biases and prejudices. Using subjective emotional tactics republicans have effectively taken our objectivity and replaced it with a survival of the fittest, cause harm where it feeds your selfishness attitude philosophy. Even the religious community has now evolved into a sort of white supremacy platform that accepts the cruel brutish sins of their leaders over the morality of their non republican opponents.

Putting the pressure on republican senators (#3225)

     Today, tomorrow and the day after are crucial to us democrats if we want to salvage what is left of our society. The senate republican tax giveaway to the rich and burden to the American working middle poor class is about to become law if we don't make it too hard as possible for some moderate republicans to vote for it. The moderate republicans in the past have helped us stay the destruction of Obamacare for the moment and now we need them to do the same for this horrendous economic redistribution to the wealthy. The koch brothers, longtime right wing donors, are threatening the republican party with withholding their massive annual funding for republican politicians. The kochs want this tax break so bad that they are willingly letting everyone know that if their lackey republican senators don't pass this bill that they will make it harder for any defecting senator to be reelected.
     So the only way we democrats have as a path to defeat this bill is to make sure these republican senators will lose their reelection no matter what the kochs do if they vote for this bill. It is the only way we can make them understand that the people of the United States are in charge here, not the koch brothers. There are enough republican senators who are already reluctant to vote for this disgusting bill but we need to put all the pressure in the world on them to keep them from caving to the trumps and kochs. All we need are 3 votes to defect and the bill will go down to defeat. It is especially important because like the Obamacare destroying bill, republicans only have a small window left to them to pass this despicable bill with only 50 votes. I don't mind doing some tax reform in general but not under the conditions republicans have forced into being and not under the guise of a wealth redistribution to the top 1%.
     Our focus has to be hard and continuous on the disreputable republican bill so that it is not passed in the dead of night while we were otherwise engaged. Stopping all things trump for now is all we can do until either the Mueller investigation disrupts our political landscape or until the next election in 2018 and we can wrest control of Congress from the current republican majority. Either way we need to stay on top of all that we can do through protest and resistance. We cannot allow distraction from keeping our vigil on blocking the trump agenda. We can do more than one thing at a time as so I have been reminded but I also know we liberals tend to get hung up on the outrageous while letting death defying legislation pass by without much obstruction. We have to keep tour priorities sharp and clear and with the short term crucial problems as well as the long term crucial problems. Either way we need to keep our nerves on edge for the next year unless the Mueller investigation changes that dynamic.

Defeating Moore in Alabama (#3224)

     There is nothing more important for any of us at this moment in time. A convergence of the worst candidate republicans could field and a very unpopular president and despicable republican led congress has given us democrats a chance to overcome an impossibility unprecedented just two months ago. There is little doubt that there is a democratic tide coming in 2018 to sweep under many previously held republican seats in congress but the tide couldn't be more appropriate if it started it's trajectory here in Alabama, roll tide! I know that the state is a deep red state with no statewide office held by any democrat. But with a great democratic Alabama son running with a moderate tone and a willingness to work with all Alabamians to make a real difference in their lives the chances of this senate seat turning blue becomes somewhat probable.
     If this becomes a watershed moment for democrats in 2 weeks time the idea that the south is beginning to turn it's back to republicans gives us democrats a chance to offer a moderately progressive agenda aimed specifically at improving education, health care and opportunities for employment that would lift the south up in more general ways. Focusing on tabletop issues of economics, education and health care would go a long way toward renewing a democratic partnership with the south. It can all start here in Alabama culminating in the next 14 days. But we cannot sit back and expect Alabamians to learn this on their own. We must get our resources out to the democratic candidate Jones so he can make his case in the most effective way, loudly and often.
     It will take an inundation of advertising and message focus to get Jones over the hump of the traditional knee jerk voting for republicans in the south. That Moore is a dastardly alternative to Jones will help and highlighting Moore's penchant for young girls can only deepen the mistrust and dislike many Alabamians already feel toward him. Jones is a candidate that has shown that he is tough on those who harm while wanting a more prosperous and enlightened future for his Alabama constituents. The time is now for all of us nationwide to get on board with Doug Jones and help him get his message out there with a flood of support over the next 336 hours. The time is now and the tide is ready to roll!

The collusion of trumps and Russia appear to be true (#3223)

     From the end of the election until now I have suspected something untoward with our national election. The idea that trump could carry otherwise states that had polled against him right up until election night in November 2016 seemed implausible. I know that his message of hate and division was popular with a minority segment of our voting electorate but in no way was it as popular as it showed the night of the election. So something else had to be in play of a nefarious nature. The republican party has shown over the last many decades that is not above changing the rules of our elections to help themselves gain power. From gerrymandering absurd districts in order to secure representation to disenfranchising legitimate eligible democratic leaning voters.
     Now we are seeing the slow exposure of evidence that is making a case for treason against the trumps and the republican party. There were voting machines that were tampered with but those investigations were shut down by republican leaders. There were high level meetings with Russians by the trumps that were not disclosed or were lied about happening that have now been shown to have taken place. There was the warning before the election that the Russians were influencing the outcome of our election in order to get their favored candidate elected. But even worse were the republican leaders who refused to disclose this intelligence from our internal security services about Russian involvement, https://crooksandliars.com/2016/12/mitch-mcconnell-squelched-disclosure.
     With the ongoing Mueller investigation into the Russian connection most all of us still stunned voters expect the rest of the facts to come out. That the trumps colluded with the Russians in order to rig our election seems most likely now and for that there should be recompense made to the American people. As Mueller continues to acquire the necessary proof of the collusion we must stop all things trump that is possible in order to limit the damage the traitor to his oath of office made to protect and serve the United States of America. That he was even given the oath of office is an abomination and the punishment for the trumps and the Russian collusion should be severe and swift.

Accepting the truth of our past will help us put it behind us (#3222)

     The simple fact of being honest about who we are and what we have done is the first step toward growing into maturity. Otherwise if we lie to ourselves or refuse to admit the truth we will never grow beyond our own shame and fear. This is real simple folks. We cannot change the past no matter how we try to manipulate the truth of it. It happened and it will never change no matter how it is lied about. So letting the facts of what really happened be laid out for all, of at least someone, to see is the only way we will ever become a society that is evolving forward instead of staying still. Who am I kidding right? Who among us wants to spread the word of our past if it is ugly and disgusting? Truth is though that we have to tell someone who will listen and not judge us while informing us that our nature to be selfish and cruel is not acceptable in a civilized society.
     We are all guilty of bad behavior. Did you hear me? Every one of us is guilty not only once or twice or tenfold, but most all of us many times over beyond counting. So the idea that we would assume that we are the worst of what a human being can be is ridiculous. However some of our truths are much worse than others and that is where we need to find professional counseling that will help us overcome it and face the consequences of our hidden secrets. I had a problem with alcohol and most all of my dirty little secrets have a direct link to being inebriated. I have come to terms with that and first off quit drinking. Then came my remembering of the worst of what I did and making amends where possible and being open about it with another human being. This is the only way I know of as to how to let go of the past and actually change who I was into the better version of who I am now.
     What we see in our national politics with republicans is an equivalent manifestation of my own problem. Although it has little to do with alcohol it is still a vehicle toward expressing low esteem in a malicious and uncaring way. Politics, like the survival of the fittest dogma, is a virus that seeks it's comfort within us. When we humans treat each other with discriminating disrespect and indignation we are proving our own hatred and condescension without a blanket to break the fever. We live to instill the worst of who we are because we cannot get past the worst of who we were. We all change over time and that is our own personal evolution so letting go of the past by telling the truth of it is our remedy and our prize is a greater wisdom to live out the rest of our lives with.
     

If you want to keep breathing you better get serious about politics (#3221)

     That is correct. If you care that our planet has any breathable air left for the many of us you had better get involved in what politicians are doing. You can be safe with democrats since we want clean air and water. We democrats have worked to improve our atmosphere and water supply so that it is cleaner and more abundant since the onset of the industrial revolution. Yet the republican party politicians are working to dismantle the cleaning efforts of our water and air. Just as two examples look at the mess republicans made in Flint, Michigan with the water supply and have as of yet to repair that on going damage, http://www.cnn.com/2016/03/04/us/flint-water-crisis-fast-facts/index.html. Second look at the current trump administration and their efforts to dismantle the (EPA), Environmental Protection Agency, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/feb/02/donald-trump-plans-to-abolish-environmental-protection-agency.
     So if you are still using that same old argument that all politicians are the same you are not paying attention and in fact you are part of the problem by not being more informed. To continue to repeat falsehoods about how our politics operate you lessen the chance that we can save ourselves from our own ignorance on our part and greed on the part of the republican party. This is not a false flag warning. Those of us who have been witnessing this demolition of enlightened thinking since well before the Reagan era have seen enough events to know what each political party is doing. True, both parties have some minor quirks to them that make us all shake our heads but in the bigger picture it is only republicans who are actually reckless and uncaring about the future of our species.
     The republican party has decided that they will wean out humans they determine are unworthy of life. Yes, that is what I said! They feel the survival of the fittest concept is the best concept and they set the criteria for determining who survives and who doesn't. Of course that is outside their own dispensations for themselves through privilege and advantage. The republican party also would destroy our planet for most habitable life even if it meant that they were to die themselves. I know, how can I make that kind of statement? Simply by following their agenda. They would destroy without considering the consequences of their destruction and therein lies the problem. The republican party will only see what is in front of them and even then they will lie to themselves if it means they somehow can make a buck from it or to puff their chest out and say look at me aren't I special!

Democracy is an earned value otherwise it will be taken if we don't safeguard it (#3220)

     What we are seeing with republicans right now is a willingness to steal our democracy from us. From their winnowing of American citizens eligible to vote to their attack on our free society by instituting christian religious fundamentalism into our laws, it is plain for all to see and decide for themselves if we want a theocratic form of government or a democracy. This move to stifle voters in heavy democratic leaning areas is not hidden, it is well documented and by manipulating the laws republicans have been successful in their efforts. Although some court cases later may decide the fate of prejudicial gerrymandering by republicans other efforts to stifle the vote fall along the poll tax spectrum. Manipulation is how republicans proceed and there is little to stop them given their current command of our legislative, executive and judicial branches.
     But their blatant attack on the rights of citizens and the policies of government designed to help those of us who are not filthy rich have begun to stir the type of resistance we are going to need to grow in order to stop the republican advance toward a theocratic/authoritarian form of government. The republican party is not above going to the treasonous extremes of colluding and partnering with our enemies abroad to secure victories at home. Our national government has never been weaker and more susceptible to losing the battle to protect our democracy than right now. So the only other alternative to us the citizens of the United States is to take to the streets and airwaves to demand that our republican representatives back off their push to destroy our democracy, all the while preparing to vote them out come 2018.
     Many in our nation are ignorant to the happenings given the cognitive dissonance and their duty to their peers to follow along like good little sheep. So maybe we deserve to lose the greatest form of government if we are so cavalier about denying that it is under attack. But the many of us who are not ignorant and are calling out for the rest of us to get on board with crushing this attempt by republicans to take that which is the most profound from us, which is our open and free society, will find that we will not go quietly or silently into our future without forcing a showdown. I think of the patriots who have given all for our nation to have the great mighty democracy that is here right now and with all I have I will not dishonor my heritage as an American citizen by letting little punk thieves from the republican party destroy it.

Thankful for having a liberal progressive mind and heart (#3219)

     I am the best version I could ever be as far as trying to live a good honorable life. I do not accept the selfish bigoted view of conservatives who want what they want when they want it whether it is right or not. Their survival of the fittest mindset makes them think they can take without bearing any consequence of their taking. Well that is not me. I would rather do without even when it is mine to have if it gives someone else a more needed fulfillment. I do not see luxury or even beyond necessity as right for me when so many are just trying to survive. When children go without and feel the brunt of shame because of the hand me down clothes or the meager opportunities they can only muster. I do not blame the parents for the fate of their children I blame society for not giving the parents more opportunity to provide a more adequate upbringing for their children.
     Which is why I am thankful for being a liberal progressive. Because I see the path forward for a better society that annihilates the survival of the fittest selfishness and instead embraces a floor, beneath which no one may fall. From there we give opportunity to all and then allow for differences based upon creativity, innovation and merit. But first we must all have the beginning that is worthy of every human life. This is what I am thankful for because it takes those shameful moments of poverty and lack of opportunity and replaces them with an quality of life that leaves no one without the means nor opportunity to be the best version of who they are.
     The nuts and bolts of this ideal has to come from the considerations of many in order to get the most profound and efficient way for our society to treat each of us with the respect and dignity that we all need to begin with. Our society is built to include all of us otherwise what is the point of society? If all society is going to offer is only opportunity and respect for some through privilege and advantage then the ideal of cooperating in that society becomes disadvantageous to the many. So a rethinking to how we apply our society to all must evolve otherwise the society will fail. We are still in this discovery mode as to how to best formulate our society and when we all speak out about what the problems are and what solutions may be available we will then begin to grow our society to match the needs of our citizens while including us all with the best chance to be the best of who we can be.