Remember When … ???

Posted on by under education, Election 2022, Environmental Issues, Free Press Issues, guns, Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Social commentary

Remember when mid-term elections were boring, almost non-events?  Remember when the media took their job seriously to inform the public rather than entertain?  Remember when candidates running for public office were educated, had read the Constitution, and actually had policy platforms?  Not in the year 2022!  This year’s mid-terms threaten to be a turning point in election protocol in the United States and many have dubbed it the single most important election in our lifetime.  I don’t know about that, but I can honestly say I’ve never seen an election featuring as many unqualified candidates and as much vitriol as we are seeing in the lead up to the election.  Never before have there been as many conspiracy theorists on the docket and in my 71 years in this country, never before have I heard of a candidate saying they will not accept the election results if they lose.  People … this kind of crap is exactly what you see in a banana republic (and no, I am not referring to the clothing store).

A portion of the blame falls on the shoulders of the media for giving more attention and amplifying the voices of those who behave more like characters in a slapstick comedy than serious politicians.  But the media acts according to the desires of the people … if it bleeds, it leads.  The more outrageous, the more likely it is to be devoured by the public.  The more lies they can tell, the more coverage they will likely get.  The more coverage they get, the more likely that people will recognize their name when filling out their ballot on November 8th.  A large portion of the people in this country pay zero attention to the issues, to what a candidate says vs what is realistic, but come time to fill out that ballot, they will gravitate toward the one whose name they have heard the most often.  And that, in today’s media culture, will be the least qualified, most unhinged candidate.

The bulk of the blame, however, belongs to those very candidates who don’t belong anywhere near a political office.  They are the ones telling lie after lie after lie, indulging in conspiracy theories that they know are bullshit, and in some cases even inciting violence.  It is a slap in the face to the people of this nation when someone like Kari Lake or Herschel Walker, Mehmet Oz or Doug Mastriano lies to us and expects us to be either so stupid that we will believe their lies, or so uncaring about the future of this nation that we will throw the future away for the excitement offered by the candidate’s campaign.  They don’t talk about the real issues, for they cannot … they don’t understand nor care about the issues facing the people of this nation.

Those candidates who have turned their campaigns into a three-ring circus like the aforementioned four and others will not seriously address such issues as climate change, wealth inequality, the gun culture, education, human rights and more because they don’t know a damned thing about them, and don’t care.  Their only concern is their own power and wealth.  Worse yet, they will lie, cheat and steal to ensure their win at the ballot box.  And they have plenty of help, thanks in large part to the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in 2010 on the case of Citizens United v Federal Elections Commission.  Oh yes, billionaires like Peter Thiel are donating millions … billions … to support candidates who they can use as puppets to ensure that there will be no raise in the federal minimum wage, that there will be no tax increases on the wealthy, that there will be no reduction in the prices We the People pay for our life-saving medication, for our rent, for our food.

This election has turned into a political circus and there is no “well, both sides do it.”  Nope, my friends, between the media and the Republican Party, this is the election of the century and not in any good way.  It is sickening, disgusting, stressful and dangerous when one of the two major political parties is willing to hold their nose and rally behind a ‘man’ who lied about how many children he had and with how many women, who lied about being in the FBI (he wasn’t), who lied about graduating from college (he didn’t), and who is perhaps the biggest hypocrite this side of the Atlantic Ocean.

I don’t know about you, but I am literally sickened by it all.  In one sense, I just want it over, but in another sense I am deeply concerned about the days following the election.  All you have to do is remember January 6th, 2021 to know that extreme violence is a very real possibility in the days both leading up to and after November 8th.  I once thought we were better than this.  And many of us are, but we are the silent majority.  Remember when honesty, integrity, and values mattered?  Yeah … sigh … so do I.

41 thoughts on “Remember When … ???”

  1. I am sometimes blogging with a true Republican called Citizen Tom who still believes the election was stolen and the mob that attacked the Capital were an orderly group of people even after the contrary videos and the evidence. He even quotes idiots like Tucker Carlson, but by his writings he appears to have a clever brain and he would be the sort the Republicans would want to get into politics His clever attributes however are Trumped to use an appropriate term by his stupid willful ignorance. What makes people who are clever and utterly stupid at the same time?

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    • My best guess about your blogging buddy Citizen Tom is that if he is clever, he knows the truth, knows it was a violent mob intent on murdering Mike Pence and Nancy Pelosi, and knows as well that Joe Biden won the election fair and square, but he enjoys taunting, enjoys the argument and has fun taking the side that is most likely to draw attention. I think that anybody with even half a brain in their head knows the truth, but denies it either because of the attention it gets them, or because they really want to see Trump elected again and turn this nation into an autocracy.

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  2. You put blame in a lot of places, Jill, but I think you missed the biggest group to blame in the present circumstances — the voters of America. We the People! The citizens of the United States of America.
    I know you, and most Americans, will disagree with me, so I will tell you why I say this.
    For a number of elections now, I would suggest since 1980, Republicans have stopped caring about 90% of American citizens, and cared only about the wealthiest 10%. Maybe you (general pronoun, for the rest of this comment, meaning Americans in general) have not noticed it, or looked deep enough into what direction American politics has taken, but I think this is clear to most outsiders. Your goverments, even the Democratic-led governments, have been catering more and more to the wealthy, and less and less to average Americans. AND NO ONE HAS DONE A DAMN THING ABOUT IT!
    I will state it might not have been obvious from the start, but it was happening just the same. And with every subsequent election the tide has been turning against average Americans.
    Yet you all, or a large number of you, kept playing the game, and prided yourselves on playing the game. You were voting, so you believed you were were in the right, and that all non-voters wete wrong to not participate. Now, I do not know why other Americans did not participate, but it would not have mattered if they did. Sometimes Democrats won, sometimes Republicans won, but average Americans were the losers every time, and rich Americans were ALWAYS the winners.
    When did unions start to fail? When did the workers stop getting good raises? When did the number of homeless people start to rise? All of these were indicators that YOU THE PEOPLE were losing your power. But still no one did anything. Still you kept playing the game.
    Now your chickens are coming home to roost. Because you did nothing, one party in particular took notice, and they felt contempt for the average American. They gave the wealthy more and more tax breaks. The owners moved their businesses offshore. They thumbed their noses at American workers, and while they did that they started to raise profit rates. When did wealth inequity first get noticed? I don’t know myself, but it has been at least 10 years. Probably 20 years, if not more. AND STILL NO ONE DID ANYTHING! Oh, people started bitching, slowly, then louder and louder, but no one HAS DONE ANYTHING ABOUT IT YET! Wealth inequity is probably at its greatest width right now! And while people complain more, still that gap keeps growing. And growing. These are the chickens that are coming home to roost.
    Your Supreme Court is taking away your rights and freedoms, but no one is doing anything yet! Politicians are taking away peoples’ rights to vote. And while a few people are trying to do something about that, not much is being accomplished. How many eligible voters will not be allowed to vote this year? How many in 2024! If there is a 2024!
    I should apologize for allowing myself to run off my mouth, but I cannot. Every thing I said is true, whether anyone agrees with me or not. I will not apologize for stating the truth.
    This election, 2022, you have a chance to do something about the dIrection politics is heading in the USA. And it very well may be your last chance! The game is still afoot, so play it to its fullest. Maybe, just maybe, you can still make your voices heard. Crush the GOP flat! Tell them in no uncertain terms you will not abide by their arrogance anymore. Defeat them, before they can take control.
    I do not want to ever have to say, “I told you so!”

    Liked by 1 person

    • Most everything you say is correct, and I have said the same in one way or another, at one time or another. Unfortunately, the eyes of far too many remain closed … perhaps even more so with all the vitriol that is surrounding this election. You are right … too much rides on this election for anyone to just sit it out, but some will. And by your own admission, you don’t vote, so would you sit it out if you lived here, or would you vote? No, I don’t want you to have to say “I told you so” either. However … sigh.

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  5. Pingback: Reblog: Remember When … ??? – This, That, and the Other

  6. Pingback: Remember When … ??? — Filosofa’s Word | Ned Hamson's Second Line View of the News

  7. Unfortunately, Jill, “I am sick of it!,” though wholly understandable, is part of the playbook of the extremists. (I’m speaking of the sentiment; I know you’re well-informed and you’ll do your civic duty.) With all the lies and conspiracy theories, too many Americans have withdrawn from politics, from finding out the truth, from seeing past the increase in the price of a box of Wheaties (thank you, Putin!) to the serious danger to our democracy that lurks in the presence of the Big Liars.

    I am hoping that today’s January 6th Committee hearings will break through the fatigue and apathy and remind a substantial number of voters that the imperfect democracy we have now must be strengthened by candidates devoted to it–not quashed under the heels of power hungry politicians and the dark money zealots who fuel them. As Liz Cheney has said: voting for Democrats this year is essential to save our democracy.

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    • Keep on repeating that every chance you get, Annie, and as loudly as you can! And help as many people get to the polls as you and your friends/associates can help. The candidates running for office need to hear from as many voters as possible that the majority wants the same thing.
      And, as a Canadian outsider, I believe most Americans DO NOT WANT a Republican majority in any House. 40% of American voters may want the crazies in charge, but if at least 6 of every ten voters, INCLUDING IN THE RED STATES, take the time to voice their opinions, many more Democrats will win in this election than will Republicans.
      And if I am correct, not many Repughs will win, even in Red States.

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    • Yes, I do realize that in far too many cases “I’m sick of it” will mean that people won’t vote, that they will simply throw their hands up and say “to heck with it”. I won’t do that, but I truly am sick of it … my heart issues have gotten worse again and I can only point to the stresses surrounding this election as the cause. As much as I am disgusted by the politicians, especially those who licked Trump’s boots to win their primaries, I am more disgusted with those people in this nation who choose not to read, not to seek facts, but rather to follow the snake oil salesman and hang on their every word, who will do violence at the bidding of the politicos. But never fear … I will continue to use my voice and my vote!!! I’m not dead yet!

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  8. Jill, for the last 10-15 years during mid-term campaigns/runoffs and Presidential campaigns I completely ignore ALL media advertisements and political propaganda fed to gullible American viewing audiences—I WILL NOT TOLERATE any of it! Period.

    When possible, all I do is go to ProCon.org to input my own values and the fine, non-profit research staff at ProCon match-up my personal values on all sociopolitical issues to the best, closest candidate. Done! 😁

    However, after the 2016 elections and 2018 mid-terms when ONE particular party went way, way, WAY radical and with no honor or dignity used unfettered misinformation… I did what I thought I’d NEVER do in my entire voting life:

    I was FORCED to vote strictly party-line in order to stop the cancer from spreading! And I assure you, the party I voted for—in less than 1-minute—at my booth was NOT Red and represented by a damn elephant, nor the Orange Orangutan!!! 😠

    It worked then, but will I have to do it again? Geezzz, what a sad state of affairs and extremes we Americans have been pushed to. 😔

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        • Mom is worse over these last couple of months. Just to give you a small hint of my daily/nightly life… I have 9-10 containers outside on our/her front patio of geraniums, pinks, deep reds, and a hybrid reddish-pink pot. I always encourage her to get outside, active either walking or at least caring for these geraniums—more for her mental & physical health than the plants really. Unfortunately, she forgets the constant non-stop instructions NOT to dead-head the green leaves, but to dead-head only the pedals/buds which have died. No matter how many times my sister and I have told her this over this past spring, summer, and now fall… she lops off way too many leaves with even the SLIGHTEST yellowing on their edges! Grrrrrrrr! 😑 Now all of the geraniums look like dayum sickly Japanese Bonzi-trees!!! JEBUS H. CHRISTMAS! I’m not kidding Jill. 😒

          Second example. Already three times this year I’ve had to TAPE OVER tightly the refrigerator thermostat knobs!!! Why? Let me give a hint. When someone stands in front of the OPEN fridge door (Mom) with a slow or blank stare for about 4-5 mins cuz she can’t think clearly or remember what she wanted… the temperature in the fridge goes up way too warm! Hence, moisture gets into most everything, ESPECIALLY the produce I’m TRYING to keep fresh & long-lasting cuz of god dayum inflation prices on groceries!!! 😠

          Pfffft! Doesn’t matter, when she gets utterly determined to (re)make items cold or colder, forgetting WHY they got too warm in the first place, she gets angry at ME for trying to “control her life”! 🤦‍♂️ More often than not Jill, I can never win with this effin disease…

          …that is approaching full-on Alzheimer’s in the next several months or Fall of next year. 😢 And just this past year (since Aug 2021 when I moved in with her) has taken a MAJOR toll on my health. I’ve had only two breaks/respites from full-time Caretaker: 4-days & nights in Dallas in early May for my best friend’s triple-bypass heart surgery then his sudden death… and then again 4-days/nights for his funeral service this past August. Otherwise, I have been with Mom and her severe dementia for well over 386-days & nights straight, no break whatsoever.

          Aren’t you thrilled you asked? BWAAAAA! 🤣

          Nonetheless, thank you kindly Jill for the sentiment and asking Madame. ❤️

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          • Yes, my friend, I AM glad I asked. I feel so sad for your poor mom … my own mother-in-law suffered from Alzheimer’s for a year or more before her death and it was heart-breaking to watch. One day, I would walk in and she’d be all cheery, ask me if I’d like a cuppa, but then the next time she’d look at me with blank eyes and ask “Whose girl are you?” But for you, Professor, my heart also breaks, for you have perhaps the toughest role … watching your beloved mother lose her mental acuity, and having to be constantly vigilant to ensure she doesn’t hurt herself or destroy something (the geraniums can be replaced, but other things could be a much bigger problem). It must be so wearing and wearying, my friend. I know all I can offer is words, but … I care. You are a friend and my heart goes out to you. If you ever just need to ‘chat’, feel free to email me, but meanwhile I do hope you have a close friend or two nearer in distance who you can confide in sometimes. Take care of yourself, Prof … the world needs you. Hugs from me to you.

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    • Unfortunately, PT, in a two party system, and considering the present condition of politics in the USA, what else can you do but vote the party line? Even if you try to vote for a good independent candidate you are running the risk of splitting the vote, and allowing a Repugh in through the back door.
      As you probably know, I am a total non-voter. I do not believe in voting for the lesser evil, and even in Canada that is all we can do these days. If I do not have someone completely positive to vote for, I refuse to take part. I last voted in about 1975.
      But this year, if I was American, I would have to vote for the lesser evil, just because the bigger evil cannot be allowed to take control of either House.
      Since about April I have been advocating for Americans to get out and vote, to show a decisive majority. I believe that if at least 80% of eligible voters get to the polls, the Repughs will be crushed. And that is what needs to happen.
      Jill suggested this may be the most important election this century. Viewing this election as an outsider, I say this is the most important election ever held in the USA. IF the wrong party wins, this could be the last election ever held in America! And nothing is more important than that!

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      • This 2022 election then 2024, if the orange orangutan is allowed to run, is absolutely the most important elections for this century as well as our descending generations and American posterity! Honestly, the outcome scares me to the bones! What scares me worst of all is that around HALF of Americans still love the 6th-grader and their current MAGA-Repub party despite what it has destroyed in this country! That fact is way beyond disturbing. 😟

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    • I, too, ignore the propaganda … always have … but lately even the reliable media have engaged in propaganda-like rhetoric. I didn’t know about ProCon, but I generally make my decisions based on some combination of a candidate’s experience, education, and past choices/decisions. I judge based on honesty/integrity, on whether he/she is a humanitarian or a bigot, and whether he or she is more interested in people or in power & wealth. I’m an independent, have never registered with either party, and I don’t vote the party line per se … I have voted for both parties in the past. Today, however, it is a long stretch of the imagination to think that I would vote for any Republican, for in order to even get on the Republican ticket they must be adept liars and lick the boots of you-know-who. Yes, my friend, we are being pushed in a direction none of us wished for, and my fear is that it will get worse before it gets better. Sigh.

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  9. Jill, sadly, even Republicans who have taken gerrymandering to a new art form since the 2010 midterms which coincided with a census year (meaning districts could be redrawn) are chagrin over the extreme voices that have won elections in primaries by turning out people. So, we end up with the very strident members of legislatures based on less than 10% of the voters who voted in a primary. What troubles me is they think they can manage these people, when it turns out they cannot. Democrats have gerrymandered to, but the precision of the GOP is state by state cookie cutter based on advice from ALEC. Keith

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    • PS – Jill, this ties in part into a post I made this morning called “Be mindful of what you say.” Some followers of these extreme voices say they like them because they say what they think. The problem is the veracity of what they think is not worth saying. Alex Jones says what he thinks, but it is mostly conspiracy BS which he is now paying a huge price for to the tune of multiple hundreds of millions of dollars. Donald Trump says what he thinks, but he is not conversant on many topics. He actually appears smarter the less he talks and types. The alleged Mark Twain line comes to mind, “It is better to let people think you are a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt.” Some of these strident voices should be mindful of this. Keith

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      • Oh I know … back in 2016 I got so tired of hearing people say, “He tells it like it is”, even though he really didn’t … he told it like he wanted them to believe it was. If he has a gift at all, it is knowing what people want to hear as opposed to what they need to hear. Or, perhaps, saying what he wants and then convincing people it was what they wanted to hear. A true-to-life snake oil salesman. That quote by Mark Twain comes to our minds a lot these days, doesn’t it? Sigh.

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    • Yes, gerrymandering is yet another slap in the face to We the People. If we could ever get rid of the Electoral College and process, gerrymandering would no longer be an issue when it comes to elections, though it would still penalize poorer, Blacker districts fiscally. One person, one vote. Majority wins. Or ranked choice voting. Somehow this partisan map-drawing must END!

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  10. Maybe it’s time for everyone to stop taking the newspaper, stop watching the news on TV, stop everything concerned with politics. Just have a nation wide sit in. Sit in at home and read a good book. Sit in wherever you are when the news comes on TV and wear ear plugs with your back to the TV and read a book or the menu, anything but watch another pack of lies being told as the only thing that passes for entertainment. Just what kind of entertainment is that? I stopped reading/watching/listening to the news after the riots that were being cheered on by the “man” (more like a slug) who didn’t have the grace to lose. He is the least graceful person in the world and the fact that there are people who still believe him and what he stands for — dictatorship with him as our mighty leader/dictator. The trouble is, the people who should be reading this won’t, and the people who are reading it already know what a slug the”Donald” really is. All televised and news covered campaigning should be banned. Let the candidates do the old fashioned road trips, meeting and greeting the people and talking about what THEY will do, not what they want us to think their opponents will or are doing.

    On a different note that is still the same thing, I finally got a letter telling me I am still eligible to vote after my move to this place. Should be getting my ballot soon.

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    • The only trouble with your suggestion is that then we have no understanding of the candidates, their values (or lack thereof), or their ideology. No, the better way is to stay abreast of the news and educate ourselves … learn about the candidates and what they claim they stand for versus what their past record shows. Find out whether they are intellectually qualified, whether they are bigots, whether they are truthful or not. It requires effort, admittedly, but if we don’t make that effort, then we will pay the price, and so will our children and their children.

      Glad to hear you got that notice! We haven’t received our ballots yet, but I check every day to ensure they are issued and ready to be sent out! Not gonna let this one get by me!

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  11. That, is how politics of ALL the countries in this world is right now, it’s all, a circus scene, and, after watching those IDIOTS kick themselves in the butts, we the voters, no longer, find that, entertaining anymore, and they still don’t get OFF that stage…and we the voters, are still, allowing them to run our lives, because most of us could either careless, or that we feel that our votes won’t do squat!!!

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  13. Well said here Jill. You’ve covered the whole swathe of messes and cracks in the system. All I can add is:
    ‘Do you remember the time’…. politicians made headlines in the media because:
    A) They were caught with their hand in the cookie jar.
    B) Were seen several times with one of their staff at a fancy restaurant and outside of offices hours.
    C) Were associating with unsavory people.
    D) Had to explain before their peers where that money came from for another fancy house, private jet, big yacht
    E) Had said something which everyone agreed was loopy and other members of their party began to distance themselves from them.
    Weren’t those good days? There were standards and there were lines they did not step over.

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