A Few Thoughts From My Rambling Mind

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, Election 2020, Election 2022, guns, History, Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, religion, Social commentary

I never thought I would see the day that I considered this nation to be anti-humanitarian, a nation that cares more for wealth than for people, but today I believe we have reached that stage in the development … or rather un-development … of the country.  We can no longer hold our heads up proudly and say, “I am a U.S. citizen”, or as some would say, “I am an American.”  Nothing to take pride in there, thanks largely to fanaticism – gun fanatics, religious fanatics, and wealth fanatics for whom billions of dollars is still not enough.

Literally the only thing that matters to Republican members of Congress today is re-election.  When I read that Republicans running for re-election in states or districts where the majority voted for Democrats in 2020 refuse to comment on the outcome of the Dobbs v Jackson decision, then I think it’s obvious they have little interest in anything but their own political future.  How can we vote intelligently if the candidates will not tell us their beliefs, hide what they stand for except when they are amongst those who they know for certain share their beliefs?

Today’s Republican Party is in shambles with its members desperately trying to cling to power.  They vilify their own, but not for genuine reasons – simply because some of their own are straying from the party line, straying from the blind loyalty to the former guy.  They do not care one whit what you or I want our government to do … they care only that they are on the ‘right’ side of Donald Trump.  I would except a few from this, but the number is very few.  Obviously, Adam Kinzinger and Liz Cheney deserve the highest kudos for proving their willingness to put law & order, to put the people of this nation above their own political careers.  Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Mitt Romney and a few others occasionally step up to the plate and consider their oaths of office, but they do so far too infrequently.

Now, some reading this will go for the moral equivalency view that the Democrats do the same.  Sometimes that is true, but today … in 2022 … the Republicans are the face of autocracy, the face of – in my book – evil.  Their ‘ideology’ is based on hate, violence, and bigotry in all its forms.  The Democrats I see in Congress are also working toward their re-election, but I don’t see them shirking their duty to We the People in the same way … they are showing up for work, trying to pass legislation that would protect our rights and our very lives … while the Republicans are mostly out on the campaign trail ranting about how the Democrats just want to take away your guns and kill babies.

It’s too damn bad that Republicans don’t work as hard at doing their job as they do at campaigning for re-election … if they did, we might actually have a functional legislative branch.

Certain elements of the U.S. Supreme Court have made it perfectly clear over the past month or so that they would gladly force religion upon us all (their own bigoted religion, that is), that they have zero respect for women, and that they only care about a child up to the point it leaves the mother’s body.  Until very recently, I had tremendous respect for the U.S. Supreme Court … it seemed to truly operate as a non-partisan branch of the government.  Nobody would ever agree with all their decisions, but overall they ruled fairly, in keeping with the U.S. Constitution and to the benefit of the nation and its people.

Today, they said that it’s okay for teachers, coaches, etc., to force religion on school children.  Last week they told women to sit down, shut up, and go make more babies to help further destroy the environment and the economy.  Also last week they indicted that the 19 school children brutally murdered in Uvalde, Texas, were merely collateral damage and no, they will not allow any state to pass gun legislation.  Gun freaks are, after all, more important to our Court than the lives of children.

And to add insult to injury, and I’m sure we will find out more about this soon, Justice Clarence Thomas’ wife, Virginia, has been found to have played an even larger role than was first thought in attempting to overthrow the government of this nation.  Where I come from, we call that treason and Justice Thomas should have immediately been removed from the bench if he refused to leave voluntarily.  But no … he is already plotting to remove rights from LGBTQ people, more rights from women, and who knows what else?  Justice Thomas, like four of his cohorts in the Court, is a clear and present danger to the democratic foundations of this republic.

I no longer have an ounce of respect for the U.S. Supreme Court.  Justices Thomas, Kavanaugh, Gorsuch, Alito, and what’s-her-name have destroyed an institution that has withstood the test of time for more than two centuries.

Respecting and believing in your country is important.  We work hard to support our government and when our elected officials fail to even try to do the job for which we elected them, the job for which we pay them, we lose faith in our nation.  When those elected officials mock and denigrate the very people they are supposed to represent, then I don’t know about you guys, but I have completely lost faith in this nation, not only the government, but the people as well.  It is a bleak feeling, one that makes one wonder … why bother anymore?  The Independence Day/July 4th holiday is just around the corner … I, for one, will NOT be celebrating, for there is little left to celebrate.

71 thoughts on “A Few Thoughts From My Rambling Mind”

  1. Pingback: Rp A Few Thoughts From My Rambling Mind – Unexpected Objects

  2. Hello Jill. What I found interesting about the Gorsuch written ruling on the coach praying case was in order to make his ruling he had to lie about what was happening. He made the claim the poor coach was just minding his own business and doing a little private praying then the mean secular school found out and made him stop but still fired him Sonia Sotomayor explain why that was a lie and included pictures that showed bunches of kids with him, that he in truth never applied for his job after his contract was up so he could sue, and that kids felt if they did not go to the prayer / sermon events he put on they wouldn’t be allow to play which seemed to have happened but the 6 still pushed that secularism is itself discrimination. And as one of the Supreme Court Justices said discrimination against religion is the worst form of discrimination. Hugs

    Liked by 2 people

    • I absolutely agree. This ruling, coupled with your post about the two who were fired from their jobs for refusing to attend mandatory prayer sessions, sends a cold chill down my spine. As I commented on your post, “and so it begins.” The irony … one of many … is that they accuse us of “indoctrinating” children if we teach them about such things as LGBTQ issues, systemic racism, and more, and yet … isn’t shoving religious beliefs an even more vile form of indoctrination??? And now … we don’t even have fair and just courts to turn to. Sigh. Hugs

      Liked by 1 person

  3. All these years I invested my political capital in defending the USA in spite of its flaws (the same ones as any other nation folks).
    Frib!!
    Well here’s to hoping in the long run The House Select Committee and the 70,000,000+ who voted for Biden have the last words

    Liked by 3 people

  5. Pingback: A FEW THOUGHTS FROM MY RESEMBLING MIND. |jilldennison.com | Ramblings of an Occupy Liberal

  7. As fellow Americans, we may not agree with everything the Maga right represents, still…. we must try to understand their motives, their rationale and practice tolerance, temperance, restraint. After all, they may be our neighbor, family member or even spouse!
    Hell, if ultra conservative Kellyanne Conway can stay married to uber liberal George Conway, i guess there’s no reason why we can’t all just get along – to quote Rodney King.
    Please try not to get too upset, and enjoy the holiday, u deserve a break from this current lunacy!

    Liked by 2 people

    • I think that, while you are being very reasonable, for me at least we have passed the point of trying to find common ground, to be tolerant. When people can support a crazy bigot and defend him with lies, lies, and still more lies, then I’m done. Nope, no holiday on 4 July for me … just another day. I wish we had never gained our independence and were still under the Queen of England! Sigh.

      Liked by 3 people

      • At this rate, i can see liberals moving to pro-choice blue states and gun toting Trump supporters respectively red. I have to believe we’re stronger together like in the good old days, that’s what truly made America GREAT… not cheap empty slogans propagandized for cheap votes.
        Of course ur right, if Trump wins he’ll simply do away with voting and declare himself emperor for life! Ppl just don’t see clearly when emotions run hot, with a con man constantly stirring the pot.
        My thought about the upcoming midterms, if everyone would just take a timeout, drop the vitriol, and start thinking rationally… it’s clear that the emperor has no clothes!

        Liked by 2 people

  9. Jill, on the good side, the House select committee has conducted itself with seriousness of purpose. And, those testifying have largely honored their oaths, very unlike the former president and his allies. Today, I was very impressed with Cassidy Hutchinson. And, Mick Mulvaney the former Chief of Staff said he knew her and believed her. Conversely, people who know Mark Meadows and Donald Trump would not say they believed them.

    Since SCOTUS seems to have read Margaret Atwood’s “The Hand Maid’s Tale” I guess we need to go find religion. But, it cannot be any religion, it has to be evangelical Christian. Now, I am a Christian, but have concerns with the more zealous branch. Being Jewish or Sikh or Muslim or Unitarian or Hindu won’t cut it. Call me crazy, but our forefathers had a separation of church and state for a reason.

    Keith

    Liked by 5 people

    • Oh yes … I am SO proud of the way the committee has handled its investigation and the hearings. The question now, though, is will AG Garland act on the evidence they have presented, and I sadly have no high level of confidence there. Today’s hearing was, for me at least, a jaw-dropper and like you, I was very impressed with Ms. Hutchinson and her ability to stay on topic and to present the facts as they happened. More than ever, after listening to her testimony, I am convinced that Donald Trump can NEVER again occupy the Oval Office … he is truly a maniac.

      One of the things that most bothers me about the Supreme Court (and others) trying to inject religion into schools and other areas of government is just what you mention. Whose religion? Which religion? Who gets to decide? I’m not an evangelical Christian, not even a Christian … so do I lose my voice? Lose my right to vote? Lose my … right to exist in the U.S.? Isn’t this the same thing as 200 years ago when Black people were considered to be only 2/3 of a person because of the colour of their skin? Sigh.

      Liked by 1 person

      • Jill, I did find of interest the 25th amendment was discussed by some members of the cabinet that day. They truly should have pulled the trigger. What is sad is folks around him know he is unstable, yet do nothing out of fear. Keith

        Liked by 3 people

        • Yes, I had heard that before but wasn’t sure who was doing the discussing or how seriously it was being discussed. Like you, I find it deeply disturbing that people who KNOW what he is and what damage he is capable of, still support him. That, in my book, is treasonous!

          Liked by 1 person

  10. The US is definitely in crisis mode and us Canadians are looking at you with nervous attention as we often get heavily influenced by what happens.

    It’s sad when politicians – Republican or Democrat – put reelection chances as priority over what is right. Seeing far too much of this and this is only going to ramp up this Fall and when the Replubican primaries heat up.

    Liked by 3 people

    • I’ve half-jokingly said many times since 2016 that I was taking my girls and moving to Canada. But today, I must seriously consider such a move. You guys would be well-advised to start considering closing your border, for I think many may be of a mind to move north in the next two years or so. I think I could love Canada … I do love all my Canadian friends … just not Alberta, though! Too cold there!

      It is sad, and yes, it’s going to escalate as we approach the November mid-terms, but then between now and the 2024 election, I look for all hell to break loose at some point. Sigh. 😔

      Liked by 3 people

            • All of Canada has its own beauty, pretty much like everywhere in the world. It just takes looking to see. I remember a visit to Cuba, riding in a tour bus through the countryside, when the bus stopped in the middle of nowhere. In front of the bus two farmers had met, each with horse-drawn wagons. They were blocking the road as both farmers unhitched their horses from their respective wagons, and let them do what came natual to them. Some people on the bus were appalled, but most joined in with my partner and I as we applauded the performance. Once the horses were finished, the farmers hitched them back up, and went their separate ways. A totally unexpected beauty.

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              • Beauty is indeed in the eye of the beholder. Traveling opens up our eyes to the different customs and beauties of the world too! Cuba is a wonderful country and the people are naturally warm and inviting (horses too)!

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                • I don’t know if what I saw happened all over Cuba. I hope it did. But where the workers at the resorts lived it was like a block party every night. Singing and dancing in the streets, lively music, sharing of foods. The community was not a bunch of houses keeping people apart, but rather a place where everyone interacted with others nightly. There were no fences to separate people, they seemed to share everything. And I did not see any grumbling people bitching at their neigbours about noise or kids on their sacred property. I don’t know how truly happy they were, but they certainly had a joy about them I have never seen in Canada. And if they had TVs, they did not seem to use them. If you ask me,, television killed community in North America. I can go for weeks without seeing some of my neighbours. When I see thrm I can greet them, but many do not even say Hi.They go from their door into their car and never look to see if anyone is near! We live in a very sick society.

                  Liked by 2 people

                    • But who is willing to go eithout TV, now that we have it. The internet does as much harm as good. Phones, I refuse to csrry a phone sround with me unless I expect to need it, or in case of emergency. Modern society cannot keep up with the technologies we are given.

                      Liked by 1 person

                    • Heh heh … I could live happily with no television, for ours is only turned on during weekends when Chris is home. I find it more annoying than anything. Now, take my computer away and I might cry …

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                    • Oh, I wouldn’t be bored. I would write the old fashioned way, I would read, clean some of the corners of this house that I’ve neglected for far too long, then write some more.

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                    • But you would never reach the daily readership you reach without the internet. Unless you got a job with a media outlet, and I don’t see you doing that. Though if tomorrow you were offered such a position I expect you would take it, as long as you were free to write what you want how you want to write it.

                      Liked by 1 person

                    • Well, I wouldn’t have ANY readership without the internet, so I’d be writing … a book … the Great Novel! Or, the history of the U.S. in the post-Trump era. What I would miss most would be having access to almost any news story at the touch of a button.

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                    • We need help, Jill. It’s 3:38 AM where I am, answering this comment. We need serious help. If only someone would fill Trump’s body with 60 bullets. Not that I mean him any harm, but just so he can have the experience.

                      Liked by 1 person

                    • His demise would be the best sleep aide I can imagine, for it would put an end to at least one of the major worries! Sigh. And yep, it’s just after 2:00 a.m. and I’m just now getting around to comments … still going strong. I’m distressed now about the shooting of Shinzo Abe …

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  11. Those Republicans with a role in Government currently will at some stage have professed their beliefs on the issues of the day and should be judged on such. The biggest issue they should be judged on is the BiG LIE for that’s the issue that shows most disrespect to American voters and will try to return Trump to the White House in 2024 unless tthey go for De Santis instead which given his support of the BIG LIE is just as bad.Much better if the voters confirm Biden and the Democrats and give the Repubicans a chance to reevaluate their worth as a political Party from the boondocks.
    Hugs

    Liked by 3 people

    • Agreed. The Big Lie has been disproven in so many ways that only someone who is blind, deaf, and stupid still believes it. I think that supporting that falsehood should be an automatic disqualification for public office, but obviously my opinion means nothing. DeSantis would be every bit as bad as Trump, maybe even worse if that is possible. We simply MUST open the eyes of the public before November 2024. Sigh. I try looking into the future, and all I see is blackness … not even any stars to light the way.
      Cwtch

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