Category Archives: Racism & Bigotry

Taking Sides against Dictators

Posted on by under Election 2020, Environmental Issues, Global Issues, Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Re-blogs, Social commentary

Sometimes we are so mired in the muck of our own troubles that we cannot, as the old saying goes, “see the forest for the trees”. Our friend David in the UK, however, has a quite clear view of the state of our nation today, and I’d like to share it with you this afternoon. Thank you, David, for your clarity and also for caring.

The BUTHIDARS

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I  quite openly admit to having pinched the piece above from my friend Scottie of  https://scottiestoybox.com/, when I read it in the context of the elections due in the U.S.A in November 2020 I thought to myself surely most of these are basic human rights that should be granted rather than fought for these days..Surely we have enlightened Government if not enlightened management over our major businesses.

Not so here. Following the end of the Obama era Government, one of enlightenment and the attempt to establish a National Health Service for everyone which was bitterly rejected as being Socialism, the election was won by the joke.There was a groundswell of reaction against his opponent  for having the temerity to be a woman but in the end Hillary Clinton still polled 3,000.000 more votes than Trump but lost on Electoral  College votes.

Trump himself has a base of Evangelists who see…

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YOU’RE FIRED!!!

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, Election 2020, Environmental Issues, Global Issues, Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry

 

We the People
Sea to Shining Sea
United State

Mr. Donald F. Trump
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, D.C. 20500

29 March 2020

Dear Mr. Trump,

We the People regret to inform you that your services will no longer be needed.  We understood in the beginning, more than three years ago, that you were inexperienced and new to this type of work, and we decided after your first big mistakes that you would need time to grow into the job.  We have given you that time … more than three years of time … but instead of growing into the job, you have become increasingly inept and incompetent.

It would take more than this letter to list all the many mistakes you have made, but let us clarify a few of the worst:

  • Constantly demeaning citizens of this nation who are, technically, your employers. This has included lying about them and name-calling reminiscent of a junior high student.
  • Unprecedented racism and bigotry that is far beneath the dignity of your position and damaging to the continuity of this nation.
  • The terrible things you have allowed to happen to immigrants who came here seeking asylum, seeking to make a better life for their families. You tore their children out of their very arms, threw them in cages, and thus far six of those children have died as a result.  Not only was this in violation of the laws of this country, but it qualifies as international ‘crimes against humanity’.
  • When you were hired, it was made clear to you that you must step away from your own businesses for the duration of your employment with us, but instead, you have used our money to fund your own businesses, with nearly-every-weekend visits to your Florida resort, requiring your staff and Secret Service protection to pay you for the “privilege” of traveling with you.
  • A man is judged by the company he keeps, and to date a number of your companions and associates are in prison, or soon will be. This speaks volumes to us about your character, or rather lack thereof.
  • On at least eight occasions you have directly incited violence, calling on people to attack those who criticized you. In addition, you have made utterly ridiculous videos of yourself that you posted on Twitter … again, something we would expect of a 13-year-old boy, not a public office-holder.
  • One of the most important aspects of your job is honesty and integrity, and you have failed miserably in both. It would take a book to enumerate every instance, but suffice it to say that your employers no longer trust or believe a word you say.
  • Your negligence cost nearly 3,000 lives in Puerto Rico in 2017-2018 after Hurricane Maria. In addition, your bungling and mishandling of the situation with the coronavirus pandemic has already cost thousands of lives and we cannot even begin to estimate what the ultimate death toll will be.  Many of those lives would have been saved if you had not allowed your greed and ego to get in the way of taking appropriate action.
  • Your predecessor implemented some excellent regulations to, along with every other nation on the planet, work toward reversing the damages caused by years of burning carbon-based fossil fuels. Within a matter of weeks after accepting your job, you destroyed almost every one of those regulations and have contributed significantly to the decline of the air we breathe, water we drink, and the safety of the food we eat.  It is almost as if you are willfully attempting to kill your employers.
  • You have acted without dignity or compunction toward our friends and allies, and as a result we no longer have the respect or trust of the very friends who we may someday need to be able to call on for help. Meanwhile, you have cozied up to our enemies and acted without the oversight of Congress, which we mandated when we hired you.

All in all, Mr. Trump, you have been given more than ample time to prove yourself up to the task, and in every single instance, you have failed.  You have abused your power, and devalued the office you hold. As a result of your failures, we are left with a debt of more than $25 trillion and a large number of terrible messes that will take decades to clean up.  Therefore, we are requesting your resignation, effective immediately, to be submitted in writing to We the People in care of The Washington Post.

You will have exactly one week, until Sunday, April 5th, to remove your family and personal belongings from the residence we provided you at the above address.  Your possessions will be closely checked by White House security to ensure that you take only that which belongs to you and your family.  Any damages found after you have left will be billed to you through your attorney.

You will receive one month’s severance pay, but we cannot provide Secret Service protection once you are gone, as we have done for all of your predecessors, as you have bankrupted the country and we simply cannot afford it.

Best wishes for your future endeavours,

We-the-People

Diversity Strengthens; Xenophobia Weakens

Posted on by under Global Issues, Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Re-blogs, Social commentary

Xenophobia is the fear or dislike of people from other countries. In this nation, it has always been said that we welcome all, but do we really? Or, should I say, do we still? Take a minute to read and think about Jerry’s words here … I think our nation is richer for the diversity that we have, don’t you?

On The Fence Voters

The arrival of coronavirus has many on Americans edge, and rightfully so. While most focus on what they can do to protect themselves and their loved ones from the virus, others are pointing accusing fingers at whomever they believe to be responsible for the virus’s outbreak and spread. On Fox News shows one can listen to various Trump-inspired conservatives accuse the Chinese, North Koreans, and even liberal Americans.

Yes, we need careful screening of international travelers and, at times, even temporary travel bans. But the truth is that no one knows for sure where or how the coronavirus began its invasion. We may never know for certain. At this point, all we can know for certain is that on a planet dramatically contracted by modern travel methods, viruses hitch rides and quickly attack even remote locations. Localized virus outbreaks are a thing of the past.

But that won’t stop modern-day…

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What’s It Going To Take?

Posted on by under Election 2020, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Re-blogs, Social commentary

Jeff’s post this evening reflects my own feelings perfectly. When are Americans going to grow up and shed their bigotry, judge people by who they are rather than what gender, race or religion they are? My best guess is … never. Backward country this has become. Good post, Jeff — thanks!

On The Fence Voters

I’m a 58-year-old white male, and I think it’s time we had a woman president. There, I said it. On Thursday, amid Senator Elizabeth Warren suspending her campaign, I watched a panel on MSNBC discussing the Senator’s exit from the race. Democratic strategist Zerlina Maxwell was the lone woman at the table.

She said something to host Craig Melvin and AP Reporter Jonathan Lemire, the two males at the table, that resonated with me. “I think it’s way past time that we started to hear from men. We need to listen to them say, ‘It’s time for a woman president.’ Men need to step up to the plate and speak out.” I may be paraphrasing a bit here, but I heard her proclamation loud and clear.

What’s it going to take, folks? In 2016 we had one of the most qualified individuals, in Hillary Clinton, to have ever run for…

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Discord & Dissension – Part IX – The Courts

Posted on by under Election 2020, Jeff & Jill's Project, Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Re-blogs, Social commentary

Today, Jeff has outdone himself on Part IX of our project, Discord & Dissension — The Courts. Many people don’t give much thought to the courts as a rule, but Jeff shows us just why it is so very important to consider the impact a president can have on the Judiciary. Thanks Jeff … this one is a real eye-opener!

On The Fence Voters

Now that Super Tuesday is behind us, and we’re down to a two-person race between Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden, it’s time to start thinking about what it’s going to take to get out the vote. If yesterday is any indication, with massive turnout all around the country, it’s apparent that defeating Donald Trump is on everybody’s mind. But it can’t be the only reason.

Jill and I began our project several weeks ago, and it’s still evolving. But, we’ve indeed entered a new phase in the campaign to defeat Donald Trump in 2020. And today, with Part 9 in our series, I’m going to discuss a subject that rarely gets covered, especially in Democratic circles: The Courts.

And, in my view, it’s time for both of our Democratic candidates to start addressing how important it’s going to be to not only win the presidency but also take back the…

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We Cannot Go Back to the Future

Posted on by under Environmental Issues, Global Issues, Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Social commentary

Jerry over at On the Fence Voters has put some things into perspective for us today, like “the good ol’ days”. I think you’ll find his analogies to be quite apt. Thanks, Jerry!

On The Fence Voters

When my sons entered their teen years, we had “the talk.” No, not that one. Well, we did have that talk, too. But the talk I refer to now is the one about expensive products generally, and about cars in particular. This was my mantra-like advice to them: “Repairs are cheaper than replacement, and maintenance is cheaper than repairs.” 

Fiscal Prudence Pays

My advice to them continued along these lines: “If you properly maintain a car—and pay for the occasional necessary repairs—you can expect it to get you where you need to go for at least 200,000 miles. And that means that if you drive the average number of miles Americans drive per year—13,500—you can expect to get nearly 15 years out of your car. Then, if your auto loan was for six years, that means you will have nearly nine years of payment-free driving. If you are fiscally responsible…

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The Bernie & Joe Show

Posted on by under Election 2020, Free Press Issues, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Social commentary

While there remain four candidates in the running for the Democratic nomination, it is obvious that there are really only two viable ones.  Tulsi Gabbard should have dropped out long before, as she never stood a snowball’s chance.  Mike Bloomberg, who won not a single state last night, announced he is dropping out this morning, and will be supporting Joe Biden.  And, much as I hate to see her go, the time has come for Elizabeth Warren to remove her hat and announce her support for either Bernie Sanders or Joe Biden.  Yep, folks, for the next four months it will be the Bernie & Joe Show.

A few of my own thoughts …

I am sometimes saddened and sometimes angry that the people of this country, even some who are supposedly liberal-minded and forward-thinking, are still too cowardly to actually elect a woman as president.  Why did Hillary Clinton lose?  Sure, Trump with the assistance of Russia, Julian Assange, and FBI Director James Comey sabotaged her campaign.  Sure, she had some baggage and she was lacking the ‘warm, fuzzy’ persona that people expect from a … woman.  Despite the Trump/Russian interference, despite the Bill Clinton debacle, and even despite her faux pas when she referred to republicans as ‘deplorables’, Hillary Clinton won the election by nearly 3 million votes.  If Hillary Clinton had been a man, if she had been “anatomically correct” for a presidential candidate, she would have swept the election and the electoral college, for she had experience, decorum, and intelligence.  All she lacked was a penis.

And it disgusts me that on the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment that gave women the right to vote in this nation, we still cannot pass an Equal Rights Amendment to legally give women equal rights under the Constitution.  Then again, we haven’t managed, after all these years, to pass an anti-lynching bill, either.  We still refuse to place a woman in the Oval Office.  Some churches in this country still teach that a woman’s place is in the home, barefoot and pregnant, subservient to her husband.  Elizabeth Warren would have made a great president.  Perhaps in another hundred years or so, the people of this country will accept that women are as capable as men of being leaders.  Obviously, it isn’t going to happen in my lifetime.

Another thing that disgusts me about the Democrats this year, or perhaps I should say about the Democratic Party, is that they are so determined to squeeze Bernie Sanders out.  Now, don’t get me wrong … I like Joe Biden just fine and will be happy as a lark if, by this time next year, we are talking about President Biden.  However, I don’t like the hatchet job that the Party is doing on Bernie Sanders.

There may be good reasons that Bernie is not the ‘best man for the job’, as our friend Gronda notes in her post this morning.    But, it should not be up to the Democratic Party to decide, nor the media.  It should be up to We the People.  That, my friends, is one of the principles upon which this nation was founded … that the people have the right to choose their leaders.  Will the people sometimes make mistakes?  Sure … that much is painfully obvious from the result we’ve lived with for over three years now.  But, it is still the people’s right to choose, not a handful of people who control the Party.

I would very much like to see the media use their loud voices to educate and inform, rather than to try to tell us what is good for us.  I’m willing to bet that more than half the people who are either registered Democrats or Independents don’t know the actual platforms of either Joe Biden or Bernie Sanders.  They hear that label, “democratic socialist” and that’s all they want to know.  They form their opinions directly from the opinions of whichever media personality they most like or most often watch.  The media could play such an important role, but instead they pander to gossip and emotion.

I strongly suspect that Joe Biden will be the Democratic nominee, and as I said, I’m fine with that.  I would love to see him pick Elizabeth Warren as his running mate, but I doubt that will happen.  My next best hope is that he will choose Senator Kamala Harris, who is an intelligent, well-spoken woman who I might have even voted for, had she not dropped out of the running early on.  It is time, folks, to drop those preconceived notions that a woman is “too emotional” or somehow just not qualified to sit in the Oval Office.  If Biden selects Harris, perhaps in time she will be our first woman president.  And about damn time, too!

So, folks, fasten your seat belts and prepare for the next four months of … The Bernie & Joe Show!

America Needs Integrity, Not BS

Posted on by under Election 2020, Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Re-blogs

Just the title of this one says it all … integrity … the thing that is most missing in our government today. Even Trump’s own sycophants cannot deny it, cannot justify or excuse it, so their latest tactic is to simply tell us to “get over it”. B.S. Thanks, Jerry, for the reminder of what we’re missing. I still say somebody must’ve drugged ol’ Tucker! 😉

On The Fence Voters

“Donald Trump is a salesman. He’s a talker. He’s a boaster, a booster, a compulsive self-promoter. At times, he’s a full-blown BS artist.” If you assumed a liberal or even a conservative “never-Trumper” made that statement, you’d be wrong. Tucker Carlson, one of President Trump’s most loyal and vocal supporters, said that on his Fox TV show in late November of 2019. Carlson openly admitted what everyone knew, but that 35 percent of Americans still deny.

Carlson also admitted, “One of the reasons progressives say they hate Donald Trump is because he lies a lot.” Whether progressives hate Trump or not could be debated, but that Trump is a liar is now a settled fact, as attested to by one of his most-dedicated defenders. In that same broadcast, Carlson further acknowledged that Trump’s boast that his inaugural crowd was the largest in history was a lie: “The crowd at the…

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Twelve Years of Bloomberg as Mayor: A New Yorker’s Perspective (Part Three)

Posted on by under Election 2020, Environmental Issues, Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Re-blogs

This is the third part of Brendan’s series on what he saw first-hand while living in New York City while Mike Bloomberg was Mayor. There are certainly some eye-openers here! Thank you, Brendan, for this excellent birds-eye view of the Mayor, and for your generous permission to share with my readers!

Blind Injustice

Those of you who’ve been on my blog during the last week or so will know that I’m doing a mini-series on what it was like to have current candidate for president Michael Bloomberg as Mayor of New York City. I explained in Part One why his record as mayor is relevant, and I explained in Part Two the multitude of problems he had with his treatment of others. Today is the third and finalpart of my mini-series, which will go into his record on some other issues, as well as where we should go from here with the Bloomberg candidacy.

One of the most important issues this campaign is that of trying to “save our democracy.” And rightfully so, because there is a genuine fear among many that President Trump is dangerous to American democracy. However, if Mayor Bloomberg’s record tells us anything, it’s that he would also be…

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A Few Mini-Rants

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, Election 2020, Environmental Issues, Global Issues, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Social commentary

I am past snarky and into full-blown ranting today.  You may want to cover your ears for this one.

NO NO NO NO NO!

I read this morning that Trump’s re-election campaign plans to fly this atrocity …Trump-blimp… over swing states between May and July of this year.  I do not need to step outside and see that piece of crap flying over my house!  I momentarily considered whether it would be possible for me to buy a rocket-launcher to shoot the bloody thing out of the air, but I despise all types of firearms, and there would be people aboard, so I won’t do that.  I do hope, however, it gets grounded by the FAA or sabotaged so that it never makes it off the ground.  This is certainly an affront to humanity!  Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

So much ignorance …

Don Trump Junior, aka Junior, is truly a chip off the ol’ block.  As ignorant and crude as his father, he seems to feel a need to prove his ignorance on a near-daily basis.  Last week, in an interview aired on Fox News, Junior made this claim about democratic members of Congress …

“For them to try to take a pandemic and seemingly hope that it comes here and kills millions of people so that they could end Donald Trump’s streak of winning is a new level of sickness.”

Say WHAT???

Nobody in their right mind … oh wait, it’s a Trump we’re talking about … forget the ‘right mind’ part.  But, even Mike Pence showed his extreme ignorance yesterday morning when, on CNN’s State of the Union program, Jake Tapper asked Pence …

“Can we agree that neither Democrats nor Republicans want Americans to get coronavirus and die from it? I mean, that does seem like very extreme rhetoric.”

But nooooo … Pence responded that Junior’s point was “understandable” in light of the criticism that has been directed at Trump’s handling of the coronavirus.  Pence said that now is not the time for politics …

“Responding to the kind of things that have been hurled is understandable, but what the president has charged us to do…is to set the politics aside on this and to work the problem.”

Say WHAT???Trump-scientistHe’s right that this is not the time for political gamesmanship, but WHO THE SAM HELL STARTED IT???  Trump.  It was Trump who claimed the whole thing was a hoax to “bring him down”.  There is so damn much ignorance in the Trump family and their cohorts that it’s mind-boggling.  Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

More about the anti-Greta …

I mentioned a few days ago that the GOP has found their very own teen climate denier, Naomi Seibt.  While Greta is fighting to wake us up to what is being done to our environment, Ms. Seibt is an extreme climate denier.  She spoke at the CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference) on Friday, where she said …

“Today climate change science really is not science at all. The goal is to shame humanity. Climate change alarmism at its very core is a despicably anti-human ideology and we are told to look down at our achievements with guilt, with shame and disgust, and not even to take into account the many major benefits we have achieved by using fossil fuels as our main energy source.”

Seriously???  Who coached this kid?

But wait … there’s more to love hate.  She’s also an apparent white supremacist at heart.  In a variety of YouTube videos and interviews, she has expressed support for Canadian alt-right internet activist Stefan Molyneux, a “cult leader who amplifies scientific racism, eugenics and white supremacism”, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).  Molyneux has made such statements as …

“I am an empiricist, and I could not help but notice that I could have peaceful, free, easy, civilized and safe discussions in what is, essentially, an all-white country.”

When asked at CPAC whether she still supports Molyneux, she replied that he was her ‘inspiration’.

This 19-year-old actress is no Greta Thunberg, is never going to make the cover of Time Magazine as Ms. Thunberg did, and I hope will never be taken seriously.  This, in my book, is exploitation, pure and simple.  Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Let’s end on a more uplifting note.  A couple of weeks ago, David sent me this video of a couple of people who have a great deal of good sense:  Greta Thunberg and George Monbiot … take a look …