One Final Experiment With AI

Posted on January 15, 2023 by jilldennison under Bits 'n Pieces, cartoons, Good people doing good things, Humour, Political commentary, Random, Social commentary

A few days ago I posted about my experiment with Artificial Intelligence and concluded that it’s not something I have any desire to use. But, since I had a 5-day free trial, I figured I’d play around with it just a bit for kicks. David wondered what it would give me if I asked it to write a ‘good people’ post for me, so I asked it to …

Write a blog post about good people doing good things

And this is what it gave me …

In today’s world, it can be easy to get caught up in the negative news stories and forget all of the good people out there who are doing great things. We often hear about all of the bad going on around us, but we don’t always take time to recognize those individuals who have taken it upon themselves to make a difference in their communities and beyond. From everyday acts of kindness to extraordinary feats that change lives, there are countless examples of good people doing good things everywhere. In this blog post, we’ll highlight some inspiring stories from around the world that will remind you just how powerful one person can be when they decide to make a positive impact.In the midst of all the chaos and negativity in the world, it’s easy to forget about those who are making a positive difference. Whether it’s through small acts of kindness or greater efforts that have an impact on many lives, there are countless stories of good people doing good things everywhere. This blog post will highlight some inspiring examples from around the world that prove just how powerful one person can be when they choose to make a positive contribution to their community and beyond. From single individuals taking action for causes close to their heart, to groups working together towards a common goal – these stories show us what is possible when we come together with love and compassion as our driving force. So let’s take a moment to recognize these amazing individuals and celebrate the power of human connection!

Introduce the story of a good person who has done something remarkable

Describe why their actions are inspiring and how they have impacted others

Provide examples of how this individual has made a positive difference in their community, country or even the world at large

Explain what we can learn from this person’s example and how it could help us make our own contributions to society

Conclude by emphasizing that one person can make a powerful impact when they choose to do something for the greater good with love and compassion as their driving force

Ummmm … not quite as inspiring as reading about an actual person or people doing good things for others, is it? Perhaps I should have been more specific? Hmmmm … so next I asked it to …

Write a blog post about Republicans vs Democrats

And the result was …

The two main political parties in the United States are the Republican and Democratic Parties. Republicans are generally associated with conservative values, such as reduced government spending, lower taxes, and stricter immigration laws. Democrats tend to advocate for more progressive policies like increased social services spending and environmental protections.

Both parties have their strong supporters and detractors, but there is no denying that each party has a distinct set of beliefs that sets them apart from one another. While both believe in democracy and capitalism, Republicans often prioritize fiscal responsibility while Democrats are known to be proponents of social justice initiatives. Furthermore, when it comes to foreign policy, Republicans typically take a more hawkish approach than Democrats do.

One major area of disagreement between the two parties is taxation. Republicans generally advocate for lower taxes, while Democrats tend to support progressive taxation systems that raise taxes on wealthier individuals. Similarly, the two parties hold opposing views when it comes to spending. Republicans are typically in favor of austerity measures and reducing public services, while Democrats believe in investing more resources into social welfare programs and infrastructure projects.

On the environment, Republicans often oppose regulations aimed at curbing climate change. In contrast, most Democrats are fully behind implementing policies that ensure a sustainable future for generations to come. From immigration to healthcare reform, there is no shortage of issues where the Republican and Democratic parties differ significantly from one another.

The differences between these two unique political ideologies can be seen across all aspects of American life. Ultimately, the choice of party affiliation is an individual one, and often based on a person’s core beliefs. As time passes, both parties are consistently working to address the issues that matter most to American citizens. In this way, Republicans and Democrats continue to challenge each other in order to ensure the best possible outcomes for the country as a whole.

No matter which side of the aisle you may be on, it is important to recognize that both parties ultimately have shared goals—namely, delivering a better life for all Americans. Working together towards these common objectives is essential if we want to see continued progress made in our society. After all, no one political ideology has all of the answers; it’s only through mutual respect and dialogue that we can arrive at the solutions that will truly benefit our nation as a whole.

Okay, that’s a pretty fair assessment of the two parties, or of the way they were a few years back, anyway, but it lacks that personal touch, lacks fire. Still, a decent primer for someone who genuinely doesn’t know what the two parties, at least in theory, stand for.

I did one final experiment with it that I probably won’t bother to post, and now my free trial has run out. My conclusion is that … it may be factually smarter than I am, but it lacks the personal touch that I think sets each of our blogs apart. So, rather than spend $490 to let this AI thing do my work for me, I shall just keep writing my own posts, for better or for worse!

No, Folks, It Isn’t ‘Both’ Sides

Posted on October 31, 2022 by jilldennison under Election 2020, Election 2022, Free Press Issues, Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Social commentary

The current environment of political violence is untenable. It is destroying us, destroying the democratic foundations of our republic, turning even the most mild-mannered among us into something we don’t want to be. If it continues … well, let’s just say it cannot continue. I turn to Max Boot, writing for The Washington Post, to assess and analyze where this incitement is coming from, and to destroy those false equivalences that are being so glibly put forth.

Don’t blame ‘both sides.’ The right is driving political violence.

By Max Boot

30 October 2022

It should not be controversial to say that America has a major problem with right-wing political violence. The evidence continues to accumulate — yet the GOP continues to deny responsibility for this horrifying trend.

On Friday, a man enflamed by right-wing conspiracy theories (including QAnon) entered the San Francisco home of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and attacked her 82-year-old husband with a hammer, fracturing Paul Pelosi’s skull. “Where is Nancy?” he reportedly shouted, echoing the mob that stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, at President Donald Trump’s instigation. This comes after years of Republican demonization of the House speaker, a figure of hatred for the right rivaled only by Hillary Clinton.

The same day as the Pelosi attack, a man pleaded guilty to making death threats against Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.). Two days earlier, three men who were motivated by right-wing, anti-lockdown hysteria after covid-19 hit were convicted of aiding a plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D). In August, another man died after attacking an FBI office because he was so upset about the bureau’s search of Mar-a-Lago. “We must respond with force,” he wrote on Trump’s Truth Social website.

Then there are all the terrible hate crimes, in cities including Pittsburgh, El Paso and Buffalo, where gunmen were motivated by the kind of racist rhetoric — especially the “great replacement theory” — now openly espoused on Fox “News.”

This is where any fair-minded journalist has to offer an obligatory “to be sure” paragraph: To be sure, political violence is not confined to the right. Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) was shot in 2017 by a gunman with leftist beliefs, and in June, a man was arrested for allegedly plotting to assassinate Supreme Court Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh after becoming incensed about court rulings on abortion and guns.

Republican leaders cite those attacks to exonerate themselves of any responsibility for political violence. “Violence is up across the board,” Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said on Sunday, arguing that it’s “unfair” to blame anti-Pelosi rhetoric for the assault on Pelosi’s husband.

Violence is unacceptable whether from the left or right, period. But we can’t allow GOP leaders to get away with this false moral equivalency. They are evading their responsibility for their extremist rhetoric that all too often motivates extremist actions.

The New America think tank found last year that, since Sept. 11, 2001, far-right terrorists had killed 122 people in the United States, compared with only one killed by far-leftists. A study from the Center for Strategic and International Studies last year found that, since 2015, right-wing extremists had been involved in 267 plots or attacks, compared with 66 for left-wing extremists. A Washington Post-University of Maryland survey released in January found that 40 percent of Republicans said violence against the government can be justified, compared with only 23 percent of Democrats.

There is little doubt about what is driving political violence: the ascendance of Trump. The former president and his followers use violent rhetoric of extremes: Trump calls President Biden an “enemy of the state,” attacks the FBI as “monsters,” refers to the “now Communist USA” and even wrote that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has a “DEATH WISH” for disagreeing with him. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) has expressed support for executing Nancy Pelosi and other leading Democrats. Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Tex.) has tweeted that “the America Last Marxists … are radically and systematically DESTROYING our country.”

That type of extremist rhetoric used to be confined to fringe organizations such as the John Birch Society. Now it’s the GOP mainstream, with predictable consequences. The U.S. Capitol Police report that threats against members of Congress have risen more than tenfold since Trump’s election in 2016, up to 9,625 last year.

The sickness on the right was on display after news broke about the attack on Paul Pelosi. While leading Republicans condemned the horrific assault, the MAGA base seethed with sick jokes making light of the violence and insane conspiracy theories. (Filmmaker Dinesh D’Souza suggested that the attack was “a romantic tryst that went awry.”)

There was, alas, no sign of the GOP taking responsibility for fomenting hatred. Kari Lake, the GOP nominee for governor of Arizona, blamed “leftist elected officials who have not enforced the laws.” Naturally, Republicans accuse Democrats of being “divisive” for citing Republican rhetoric as a contributing factor to political violence.

It’s true that, by calling out GOP extremism, Democrats do risk exacerbating the polarization of politics. But they can’t simply ignore this dangerous trend. And it’s not Democrats who are pushing our country to the brink: A New York Times study found that MAGA members of Congress who refused to accept the results of the 2020 election used polarizing language at nearly triple the rate of Democrats.

So please don’t accept the GOP framing of the assault on Paul Pelosi as evidence of a problem plaguing “both sides of the aisle.” Political violence in America is being driven primarily by the far right, not the far left, and the far right is much closer to the mainstream of the Republican Party than the far left is to the Democratic Party.

Note to Readers: Typically, I include links that are a part of any post I reblog or copy, but the number of links in this piece would have required an extra hour that I didn’t have to format, so if you’re interested in seeing some of Mr. Boots’ links, you can do so on his original OpEd.

Who do you trust?

Posted on October 25, 2022 by jilldennison under education, Election 2022, History, Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Re-blogs, Social commentary

Here we are, exactly two weeks from election day. Have you cast your ballot yet? The girls and I mailed ours on Saturday. We usually use a drop box, but in today’s violent political climate I thought the U.S. Postal Service to be the safer, more reliable venue, even despite Louis DeJoy.

Our friend Brosephus responds to a recent ABC News poll and asks the question: “Who in the hell are they polling?” Let’s have a look at what he has to say …

The Mind of Brosephus

Here we are, less than 16 days away from election day, and a major news outlet is putting out information like this.

My initial response is, “Who in the hell are they polling?” I also want to know in which alternative universe the polling responders reside.

Why would anyone outside of the wealthiest Americans trust the GOP with the economy? They’ve already said they’re going to cut Social Security among other programs. They’re threatening to default on the debt limit again to extract concessions from Biden. Now ask yourself, if these financial endeavors were so damned important, then why didn’t they do them when Trump was in office and they controlled Congress?

Face it America, if your net worth doesn’t include at least three commas in front of the decimal point, the GOP doesn’t care about you or your families. All they want from you is a vote to give…

View original post 284 more words

Just A Bunch Of Random Thoughts

Posted on October 25, 2022 by jilldennison under Bits 'n Pieces, education, Election 2020, Election 2022, Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Social commentary

It’s been a rough few days in a couple of ways, and tonight my mind is all over the place. I suspect it may be this way for another two weeks or so, and after that … who knows. Anyway, tonight I’m just sharing some of the thoughts that have been keeping me awake nights of late. Random thoughts … no necessary path from one to another … just things that are disturbing the peace in my head.

I have to ask a burning question: What exactly do Republicans want??? I mean, the list of things they don’t want is as long as my arm, but I don’t hear anything they do want other than tax cuts for the wealthy. What is it they don’t want?

They don’t want women to have rights of autonomy over their own health
They don’t want disabled and retired citizens to have healthcare
They don’t want retired citizens to get back part of the Social Security they spent 50+ years funding
They don’t want the government to help those with staggering student loan debt
They don’t want to raise the minimum wage rate
They don’t want to aggressively address climate change or other environmental issues
They don’t want corrupt politicians to be held accountable for their crimes
They don’t want to educate children, but rather to mould them to be good little peons
They don’t want to honour the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution that calls for what Thomas Jefferson coined a “wall of separation between church and state”
They don’t want to allow LGBTQ people to marry
They don’t want a more equitable distribution of the wealth in the nation
They don’t want any form of gun regulation

And that’s just a few of the things they are against. But what, exactly, are they FOR? Best I can figure from listening to the things they don’t want, what they do want is to turn this nation into some dystopian place akin to Orwell’s 1984 or Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale or Huxley’s Brave New World. I’ve read all three of those and quite frankly they are the stuff nightmares are made of – nobody would willingly live in such a world.

More than once, I’ve heard Republican politicians praise Hungary’s autocratic leader Viktor Orbán. If they so love his way of governing, love his policies, perhaps they would do well to relocate to Hungary and help him further destroy his nation, rather than staying here and destroying ours, too!

If a parent knowingly puts a child’s life in danger, such as leaving a loaded gun lying around, or leaving the child by himself for an extended period of time, or locking him in his room for 3 days without food, that parent will have their child(ren) taken away from them, and the parent may also see the inside of a jail cell. And yet … if a parent knowingly puts a child’s life at risk by refusing to have that child vaccinated, the parent is applauded. Anybody care to ‘splain this one to me?

Just over a year ago, current candidate for the U.S. Senate from Ohio, J.D. Vance, appeared on a podcast where he said that if Trump were to win another term in 2024, he should “seize the institutions of the left,” fire “every single midlevel bureaucrat” in the US government, “replace them with our people,” and defy the Supreme Court if it tries to stop him. No way in hell should anybody with half a brain even consider voting for this lunatic! Again … it appears that today’s Republican Party no longer values democracy and would prefer to live in a nation ruled by a dictator and populated by automatons who were once human.

Supreme Court Justice Virginia Clarence Thomas should be impeached. It isn’t bad enough that his wife is an insurrectionist who had a role in the attempted coup on January 6^th. It isn’t bad enough that he is against women’s rights, against LGBTQ rights, and apparently against the Constitution he is supposed to be upholding. Yesterday, Justice Thomas blocked a judge’s order that Lindsey Graham must testify as to his role in the January 6^th attempted coup. It’s largely thought that it is a delaying tactic to delay Graham’s testimony until after the November 8^th election. Thomas’ order is temporary, pending a review by the full court, but Graham begged for an “emergency” order to keep him from having to testify … at least for now. I say impeach Justice Thomas … this is not the first time he’s shown his partisanship, shown that he is not interested in justice.

Last, but not least, as most of you know by now, President Biden’s student loan debt forgiveness plan is already accepting applications. Courts had thrown out filings in a number of states that were opposed to the program, and it looked like it was good to go, but then … alas … yet another court, a federal appeals court, decided to halt the program … temporarily. Please take a look at this video showing a number of politicians arguing against the program while they themselves … well, just take a look and be prepared to growl …

And on that note, I leave you with just a bit of humour to balance out the bleakness …

Ask Not For Whom The Bell Tolls …

Posted on April 7, 2022 by jilldennison under Election 2020, Election 2024, Law and justice, Political commentary, Social commentary, voting rights

It tolls for Democracy

Hyper-partisanship is likely to be the death of the United States. It used to be that each of the two major political parties stood for something. The Republican Party stood for fiscal conservatism, the Democratic Party stood for government helping people, but at the end of the day compromises were settled on. Today, the word ‘compromise’ might just as well be written out of the dictionary.

The most glaring example I see is the response to the events of January 6^th, when a group of (mostly Republican) men and women attempted, with the blessings of the then-president, to overthrow our votes, to tell us that our voices do not matter, and to crush the democratic foundation of the nation. The biggest problem is that it doesn’t take a majority to accomplish what the January 6^th insurrectionists were trying to accomplish … all it takes is a relatively few radicals who believe their voice is more important than ours, and a handful of corrupt politicians planning from behind the scenes.

I was astounded to see the latest poll showing that while the majority of people do not support those who implemented the attempted coup on January 6^th, some 19% of people actually do support it! 26% of Republicans support the insurrectionists … no real surprise there, I suppose, since it was the Republicans who were the planners behind it … but even 16% of Democrats support the actions of those who attempted to silence our voices, to murder this nation, to turn us into another Hungary or Russia! And 8% of Independents support the insurrectionists. What the Sam Hell is wrong with people???

The same poll asked people how they view each of the parties in regard to certain behaviours. Turns out that Republicans are more known for creating violence and undermining election integrity, while Democrats are best known for protecting voting rights and democracy.

To add insult to injury, just yesterday a judge acquitted one of the insurrectionists of four misdemeanor counts: entering and remaining in a restricted building, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building, violent entry and disorderly conduct in a Capitol building and parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building.

In my book, each and every person who illegally entered the Capitol on that day is guilty of attempting to overthrow an election and thereby a legitimately elected government. There should be no acquittals, no light sentences or slaps on the wrist … there should be time spent in prison, no excuses! Nobody … not one single person … who entered the Capitol on that near-fateful day, came there in peace to support our free elections. No, they came with one purpose only … to kill democracy by overthrowing the results of a free and fair election. That was the goal and not a single one of them care about the police officers who died as a result of that day, or the trauma that some will never outlive.

It shouldn’t matter, but the judge in this case, U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden, was among the first round of Trump appointees in mid-2017. It shouldn’t matter, for judges take an oath swearing to judge cases on merit and without partiality. But perhaps it did matter in this case, for no impartial judge could have simply acquitted Matthew Martin. No doubt, though, the 19% of people who support the insurrectionists are doing a happy dance over Martin’s acquittal while the rest of us lose sleep wondering how many more will be released into society to complete the destruction of democracy in the next few years.

One bright note today: I have no less than 5 ‘breaking news’ updates on my phone telling me that Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson has been confirmed in a senate vote, 53-47!!! Welcome to the U.S. Supreme Court, Justice Jackson!!!

It Should Be Humanitarian, Not Political!

Posted on August 27, 2021 by jilldennison under Election 2022, Free Press Issues, Global Issues, History, Political commentary, Social commentary

The 24/7 press about the situation in Afghanistan wears on one’s psyche, especially in light of all the finger-pointing, mud-slinging and everyone putting their own coat of varnish on the situation and its political ramifications. I am a forever supporter of a free press, but … in return, I expect them to be responsible in their reporting. This responsibility seems to be largely lacking at the moment.

Nobody can sum up a situation quite like New York Times’ Frank Bruni, so I shall leave it to him to unpack the current chaos …

Stop Politicizing the Misery in Afghanistan

By Frank Bruni

Opinion writer

26 August 2021

Democrats are panicked that the debacle in Afghanistan will shake American voters’ confidence in not only President Biden but also the rest of the party, potentially costing it control of the Senate and the House in 2022. They’ve said as much — to me, to other journalists, to anyone who will listen.

I wish they’d stop, because their political fate is nothing next to the fate of Afghans on the wrong side of the Taliban. And every time they communicate as much concern with the party’s near future as with Afghanistan’s, they inch toward the very destiny they dread.

To review: There were explosions today outside the airport in Kabul, underscoring how gravely dangerous the situation there is. Afghans have been crushed to death in stampedes to that area. Many who took considerable risks to help us now justifiably fear brutal reprisals from the Taliban and cannot count on us to get them to safety. Refugees have traded one hell for another: fetid, sweltering, rat-infested camps unfit for even fleeting human habitation. And some of our allies have struggled to rescue their own citizens and lost yet more faith in the United States.

But, sure, let’s talk about domestic politics and the midterms — which, mind you, are more than 14 months away.

I’m not minimizing the stakes of those elections. Given the Republican Party’s capitulation to conspiracy theories, its contempt for democratic norms, the paranoia of Marjorie Taylor Greene, the depravity of Matt Gaetz, the cowardice of Kevin McCarthy and the stubborn pull of their orange overlord, a Republican takeover of Congress would likely be disastrous.

But you know how Democrats and the media can increase the odds of that? By framing too much in those terms. By conspicuously keeping score: This event works to our advantage, that development works in theirs, we drew blood here, they drew blood there. When everyone seems equally political, everything is reduced to politics, and voters have a harder time seeing who’s on their side. They see only a contest with contestants out for themselves.

Republicans are goading Democrats, that’s for sure. Donald Trump is mocking them and Fox News taunting them — by politically weaponizing the misery in Afghanistan and casting it as an illustration of Biden’s and Democrats’ unfitness to govern.

Let them. They look parochial at best, callous at worst and opportunistic through and through. They’re right to demand more of the country and its president than what we’ve seen in regard to Afghanistan, and it’s fine to discuss that, but not in a tone so nakedly partisan and not with a memory so audaciously selective.

Trump would have done us prouder? Hah. The United States was humiliated repeatedly and spectacularly under his, um, leadership, as he gleefully trashed our most cherished ideals. What’s more, there was nothing in his magnitude of ignorance, self-consumption and neglect to suggest that he would have accomplished a withdrawal from Afghanistan — which, mind you, he was insistent about — with more grace. Any assertion otherwise charts the confluence of runaway revisionism and pure fantasy.

But if Democrats want to be sure to beat Republicans, their best bet is to be not like them: to focus on the substance of problems rather than their political implications, to talk about solutions without calculating their political benefit. In these jaded times, a little genuine earnestness could go a long way.

That holds true for the media as well. In an excellent column in The Washington Post recently, Margaret Sullivan rued the fact that reporting on government has become reporting on politics, although the two aren’t — or at least shouldn’t be — the same. Her prompt was the fight between Democrats and Republicans over a congressional investigation into the events of Jan. 6. She implored journalists to “stop asking who the winners and losers were in the latest skirmish. Start asking who is serving the democracy and who is undermining it. Stop being ‘savvy’ and start being patriotic.”

Amen. A similar plea has a place in the coverage of Afghanistan. I’ve pretty much given up on Republicans for the time being, but I’m still rooting for better from Democrats, who should focus on how the United States honors the promises we made in Afghanistan, limits the suffering there and reclaims a place of honor and reliability in global affairs. I don’t want the handicapping of the 2022 horse race, at least not right now.

I Bet You Didn’t Know …

Posted on May 11, 2021 by jilldennison under Election 2020, guns, Law and justice, Political commentary, Rants, Social commentary

I bet you didn’t know that there were nine mass shootings in the U.S. last weekend. NINE!!! I bet you didn’t know that last month alone, 1.81 million guns were purchased in the U.S.

Nothing wrong with this economy if that many fools can throw away money on that many guns! If your senator or representative is a Republican, odds are good that he/she has an ‘A’ rating with the NRA. Only one Democrat, Minnesota’s Collin Peterson, has a NRA ‘A’ rating. Last year, Mr. Peterson declared that, “If I hear the words ‘common-sense gun legislation’ one more time, I’ll throw up.”

In the 2016 election cycle, the NRA spent $52.6 million buying Republican candidates. Imagine how many children could have had healthy meals for a year for that amount of money. Instead, some of those children will likely be shot dead by guns because of the NRA and members of Congress.

The only one of the weekend’s minimum of nine mass shootings to make widespread headlines was at a birthday party in Colorado. Six people were killed in that one, and the suspected shooter—believed to be the boyfriend of one of his victims—also killed himself.

In other mass shootings, three were killed and one injured in Woodlawn, Maryland, in a bizarre incident that involved a man shooting and stabbing his neighbors, setting fire to his own home, and ultimately being shot and killed by police. Two people were killed and three injured in St. Louis County, Missouri, when a truck pulled up and bullets started flying. In Compton, California, two people were killed and two injured, while one person was killed and five were injured in a Los Angeles shooting. One person was killed and at least seven were wounded in an altercation at a Phoenix hotel. Four people were injured in each of three mass shootings, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Newark, New Jersey; and Citrus Heights, California.

We have apparently become so complacent, so inured to it all, that these weren’t even widely covered in the press.

Never again, as long as I live, will I vote for a single Republican and I will work to see as many as possible defeated next year. I don’t wish to live in a country where lunacy is supported by the government, where it is no longer safe to even shop in the grocery store or walk down the streets.

Note to non-U.S. readers: I welcome any of my readers who live outside the U.S. and would be interested in writing a guest post about how our gun culture is viewed in your country.

The Republican Party’s End Goal

Posted on March 6, 2021 by jilldennison under Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Social commentary

This afternoon, the Senate actually managed to pass the pandemic relief bill, with no help from the Republicans. Not a single Republican voted in support of the bill, which passed, 50-49, after an hours-long impasse over competing partisan proposals for the massive bill’s boost to weekly unemployment benefits for those affected by the pandemic. This, it seems, is to be the state of affairs for the foreseeable future … Democrats vs Republicans, bills taking ten times longer to pass through Congress than they should, especially those that help real people, not tailor-made to make the wealthy wealthier. What is the end goal of the Republican Party, I’ve often asked?

Dana Milbank, writing for The Washington Post, summarized the Republican’s end goal quite well. Take a look …

Republicans aren’t fighting Democrats. They’re fighting democracy.

By Dana Milbank

MARCH 5, 2021

On the conservative Bulwark podcast this week, two admirable never-Trumpers marveled at what has become of the Republican Party since President Donald Trump’s attempt to overturn the election.

“I am a little amazed by the willingness to go just authoritarian, to really go anti-democratic,” Bulwark editor-at-large Bill Kristol said.

Columnist Mona Charen was likewise puzzled. “The attraction of authoritarianism, I don’t know, Bill,” she said. “I’m really at a loss.”

And I’m at a loss to understand their confusion. The Republican Party’s dalliance with authoritarianism can be explained in one word: race.

Trump’s overt racism turned the GOP into, essentially, a white-nationalist party, in which racial animus is the main motivator of Republican votes. But in an increasingly multicultural America, such people don’t form a majority. The only route to power for a white-nationalist party, then, is to become anti-democratic: to keep non-White people from voting and to discredit elections themselves. In short, democracy is working against Republicans — and so Republicans are working against democracy.

You don’t have to study demography to see that race is at the core of the GOP’s tilt toward the authoritarian. You need only look at what happened this week.

On Monday, the Georgia state House passed a bill brazenly attempting to deter Black voters. The bill proposed to scale back Sunday voting — taking direct aim at the longtime “Souls to the Polls” tradition in which Black voters cast their ballots after church on Sundays. The bill also would increase voter I.D. requirements — known to disenfranchise Black voters disproportionately — and even would make it illegal to serve food or drinks to voters waiting in long lines outside polling places; lines are typically longer at minority precincts.

Georgia Republicans clearly are hoping they can suppress enough Black votes to erase the Democrats’ narrow advantage that gave them both of the state’s Senate seats and Joe Biden its electoral votes. But Georgia is just one of the 43 states collectively contemplating 253 bills this year with provisions restricting voting access, according to a tally by the Brennan Center for Justice.

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court’s majority signaled it would be open to more such voting restrictions. In oral arguments, the conservative justices indicated they would uphold two Arizona laws that would have the effect of disproportionately disqualifying the votes of non-White citizens. One law throws out ballots cast in the wrong precinct, a problem that affects minority voters twice as much as White voters because polling places move more frequently in minority neighborhoods. The other law bans the practice of ballot collection — derided by Republicans as ballot “harvesting” — which is disproportionately used by minority voters, in particular Arizona’s Native Americans on reservations.

Representing the Arizona Republican Party in Tuesday’s argument, lawyer Michael A. Carvin explained why the party supports laws tossing out ballots: “Politics is a zero-sum game.”

It was a stark if inadvertent admission that Republicans have abandoned the idea of appealing to new voters.

Then, on Wednesday, House Republicans mounted lockstep opposition to H.R.1, a bill by Democrats attempting to expand voting rights. The bill would, among other things, create automatic voter registration, set minimum standards for early voting and end the practice of partisan gerrymandering.

In the House debate, Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), sounding like Trump, made unfounded claims of “voter fraud” and asserted that the law would mean “future voters could be dead or illegal immigrants or maybe even registered two to three times.”

“This,” McCarthy said, “is an unparalleled political power grab.”

So, in the twisted reasoning of this white-nationalist incarnation of the Republican Party, laws that make it easier for all citizens to vote are a power grab by Democrats.

The foundation of a white-nationalist GOP has been building for half a century, since Richard Nixon’s Southern strategy, through Ronald Reagan’s welfare queen and George H.W. Bush’s Willie Horton. But Trump took fear of non-Whites and immigrants to a whole new level.

Researchers have repeatedly documented that racial resentment is the single most important factor motivating Republicans and Republican-leaning voters. They have also shown that White evangelical Christians, a huge part of the GOP base and Trump’s most reliable supporters, are highly motivated by appeals to white supremacy. By contrast, Democratic voters — White and non-White — are primarily driven by their favorable views toward a multiracial America.

President Biden’s victory reveals the obvious political problem with the Republican move toward white nationalism: When voters turn out in large numbers, Democrats win. And the odds will only get worse for Republicans as racial minorities become the majority and the young, overwhelmingly progressive on race, replace the old.

This is why Republicans aren’t really fighting Democrats. They’re fighting democracy.

Filosofa Ponders …

Posted on February 25, 2021 by jilldennison under Environmental Issues, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Social commentary

Filosofa means ‘philosopher’ in Spanish. When I first started this blog, my friend Herb suggested the name ‘Filosofa’s Word’ because he sees me as a philosopher of sorts. I rarely philosophize these days, but tonight I am in a reflective mood, pondering and feeling the need to opine a bit. Please bear with me.

Have you ever stopped and pondered the differences … the core differences, not the everyday cosmetic differences … between the two major political parties in the U.S.? Most people are lifelong members of one party or another, while a small percentage are recent converts and another small percentage identify as Independents.

If you ask most people, they will give you a few key talking points, such as Republicans are for smaller government, big business, and a balanced budget, Democrats are for inclusiveness, more government regulations, etc., etc. If you ask a die-hard republican what Democrats stand for, the first word out of his mouth will likely be: socialism.

I am neither a registered Republican nor Democrat, don’t label myself as either, though at this point, I see so much wrong with the Republican ideology that I suppose I’m far more aligned with the Democratic Party than the Republican. But it occurs to me tonight that perhaps neither side actually understands what the other is fighting for.

I drew this conclusion after reading part of a statement issued by Florida Senator Rick Scott tonight. In his statement he makes some truly absurd claims …

At the very same time these far-left radicals are trying to remake America in their image, and lead us into a disastrous, dystopian, socialist future, we have a parade of pundits and even Republican voices suggesting we should have a GOP civil war. NO.

This does not need to be true, should not be true, and will not be true. Those fanning these flames, in both the media and our own ranks, desire a GOP civil war. No, we don’t have time for that: The hour is late, the Democrats are planning to destroy our freedoms, and the threat in front of us is very real.

Yes, we are up against powerful elites headquartered in Washington and on the coasts, and they endlessly try to lecture, bully, and intimidate us. But we can beat them. The Republican Civil War is now cancelled.

You and I are being called upon to rescue our nation from a socialist experiment that always has a tragic finale, an ending that involves loss – loss of prosperity, loss of freedom and loss of life. Let’s work together, let’s focus forward, and let’s get to work to create the America our families want and deserve.

Say WHAT??? ‘Far left radicals’ … is that what I am? What planet is this man living on? Dystopian socialist future? Destroy our freedoms? Socialist experiment??? Loss of prosperity, freedom and life? What the Sam Hell is he even talking about?

My first comment is that Rick Scott does not understand what ‘socialism’ is, and like so many in the Republican Party today is trying to use the word as a scare tactic. Socialism, as I have clarified before, is: a political and economic theory of social organization which advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole.

Nobody that I’m aware of is advocating that the means of production, distribution and exchange be owned and regulated by the government (the community as a whole, in this case). Regulations, yes … ownership, no. This is, for better or for worse, a market-driven capitalist nation. Personally, I think the U.S. has taken capitalism too far, to the detriment of the people of this nation, but nobody asked me. Regulations have only been imposed where corporations abused their freedom, such as in their treatment of employees, workplace safety, monopolistic practices, and most recently polluting the environment.

When Mr. Scott speaks of ‘loss of prosperity’, I have to wonder just whose prosperity he refers to, for the income gap in this country has been growing by leaps and bounds, leaving most of us scratching our heads when the word prosperous comes up in conversation. But see, here’s the problem … too many people don’t understand most of this and when somebody tells them that they’re going to lose their prosperity or their freedom if a Democrat is elected, they believe it! They don’t realize that they aren’t the ones with prosperity and freedom to begin with! It is the owners of the companies they work for who are prosperous, at their expense. It is the CEOs of the companies who manufacture the cars they drive, the appliances in their homes, the clothes they wear, and the food they eat that are prosperous.

The biggest difference between Mr. Scott’s Republican Party and the Democratic Party is people. The Republican Party still adheres to Ronald Reagan’s ‘trickle down’ economic theory … a theory that has been deposed and dispelled so many times, and yet they keep telling the myth over and over. And people believe it … over and over. The theory goes that if we don’t regulate big business, if we don’t expect them to pay their fair share in taxes, then they will make lots ‘n lots of money and they will then share it by paying their workers more, and by starting new factories to hire even more workers. It’s a lie. A bald-faced lie. But even today, people believe the lie. Even after Republicans have blocked a raise in the federal minimum wage rate for twelve years, people believe the lie.

The key difference in the two parties boils down to this: people vs profit. You’ve heard me use that term more than a few times but stop and consider it for a minute. The Republicans support big business, unfettered by such things as taxes, workplace safety regulations, or environmental regulations that might cut into their obscene profit margin. They believe that the working class should bear the bulk of the burden of supporting government and that government spending should largely be on such things as the military and show-stopping space exploration. Democrats, on the other hand, would rather see people’s wages increased, access to affordable healthcare for all, and taking care of those who, for whatever reason, are not able to take care of themselves. Yes, Democrats support what are called ‘social welfare’ programs that help people pull themselves up, help them feed, house, and clothe their families. Is that really such a bad thing?

The simple fact is that not everyone has the opportunity to earn a college degree and get a high-paying job. People have troubles, sometimes of their own making, sometimes not, but should they and their children have to die of starvation or a lack of healthcare, while others have billions of dollars stowed in offshore accounts? What, exactly, is wrong with equality, with everyone contributing so that everyone has an opportunity to live a decent life? This “I’ve got mine; you get your own” mentality is bullshit. And the ultimate irony is that most of those who identify themselves as Republicans claim to be ‘Christians’. I make no such claim, but I’ve always heard that Christianity was about sharing, giving, caring, helping. Perhaps not so much anymore.

Two Senators — Two Responses

Posted on October 22, 2020 by jilldennison under Bits 'n Pieces, Election 2020, Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry

You may remember that on September 21^st, I wrote a letter to the republican senator for my state, Rob Portman, regarding Trump’s nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to fill the seat on the Supreme Court vacated by the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. I also sent the letter to the other senator for my state, Sherrod Brown, a democrat. I posted the response from Senator Portman on September 29^th and today I received a response from Senator Brown. Compare the two letters and tell me which one seems to you to be more concerned about preserving the Constitution, the rights of We the People. For the purpose of comparison, I have included both here …

Senator Brown’s response …

Dear Ms. Dennison:

Thank you for contacting me about President Trump’s nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court. The process of appointing a Supreme Court justice is designed to maintain the separation of powers and ensure that the nominee is highly qualified for a position on the nation’s highest court. The Senate should not be voting on a nominee to fill Justice Ginsburg’s vacant seat on the Supreme Court until after the presidential inauguration in 2021.

As our country faces a pandemic that has already killed 200,000 Americans, my top priority is keeping Americans healthy and safe – not packing the courts with judges that will side with corporations over workers and create a path to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) through the courts, kicking millions of Americans off of their health insurance. Instead of moving heaven and earth to rush through the confirmation process and install a justice that will put American’s health care and fundamental civil rights in danger, President Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell should do their jobs to help Americans struggling amid a pandemic.

I am already deeply troubled by the recent trend of Supreme Court decisions that strip rights away from Ohioans, including workers, voters, and women, and I have serious concerns over Judge Barrett’s ability to apply the law fairly and impartially. That is why I voted against her confirmation to the United States’ Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in October 2017. During her past three years on the Seventh Circuit, Judge Barrett has issued a number of opinions that have done little to assuage these concerns. Working people need justices who will put their rights first, not justices who will side with insurance companies over cancer survivors, financial scammers over customers, or massive corporations over American workers. The Senate should take the time necessary to explore Judge Barrett’s views on these issues, not adhere to a political timeline in order to confirm a nominee to our nation’s highest court, weeks before a major election.

While the President has the responsibility to select and nominate a justice, the Constitution requires that the Senate provide advice and consent on all Supreme Court nominees. As a result, the Senate Judiciary Committee and the full Senate must conduct a comprehensive review of Judge Barrett’s background, record, and qualifications. I am concerned by Senator McConnell’s attempt to ram this nominee through the Senate confirmation process. His compressed timeline, tailored to fit a political agenda, is not adequate to ascertain Judge Barrett’s views or consider the factors relevant to her nomination.

Ohioans and millions of other Americans across the country are already voting, and they deserve to have a say on the court that will decide the fate of their health care, workplace safety, criminal justice reform, and civil rights. In a matter of weeks we will know who Americans have elected to serve as president, and that person, given a mandate by the American people, should have the opportunity to nominate the next Supreme Court justice.

I will not support any justice who would take rights away from Ohioans. Thank you again for reaching out to me.

Sincerely,

Sherrod Brown

United States Senator

It goes without saying that I agree with him. And Senator Portman’s response …

Dear Jill,

Thank you for contacting me regarding the Supreme Court vacancy left by the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. I appreciate your thoughts on the matter and the opportunity to respond.

As the second woman in history confirmed to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court, Justice Ginsburg served our country in this important role for 27 years. Her death on September 18, 2020 created a vacancy on the Court. The U.S. Constitution provides that the President “shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint… Judges of the supreme Court.” Considering we are less than two months from a presidential election, there is controversy regarding whether the Senate should take up a nomination before the election. The Senate’s historical precedent demonstrates that when the same party controls the presidency and the Senate and a vacancy arises during a presidential election year, the Senate almost always confirms a nominee.

In the more than two dozen vacancies on the U.S. Supreme Court that have arisen during a presidential election year in our nation’s history, the sitting president made a nomination in every single case. Leader McConnell has said that he will hold a vote on any nominee President Trump sends to the Senate, and I intend to fulfill my role as a U.S. Senator and judge that nominee based on his or her merits. The president was elected in 2016, in part, based on a commitment to nominate men and women to the judiciary who would fairly and impartially apply the law and protect the rights guaranteed by the Constitution, not advance public policy goals by legislating from the bench. Likewise, in both 2016 and 2018, the American people have re-elected a Republican Senate majority to help President Trump fulfill that commitment.

In 2016, when the vacancy occurred following the death of Justice Antonin Scalia, I said “the president has every right to nominate a Supreme Court justice … But the founders also gave the Senate the exclusive right to decide whether to move forward on that nominee.” Since the 1880s, no Senate has confirmed an opposing-party president’s Supreme Court choice when the vacancy occurred in a presidential election year. In contrast, when the presidency and the Senate are controlled by the same party – as it is today –the precedent is for the president’s nominees to get confirmed. In the occasions that a vacancy has occurred when the President and the Senate are of the same party in a presidential election year, the Senate has confirmed the nominee and filled the seat in every instance but one where there was a bipartisan ethics concern. I look forward to seeing who President Trump plans to nominate and thoroughly assessing his or her qualifications for this important role.

Once again, thank you for taking the time to contact me. For more information, I encourage you to visit my website at portman.senate.gov . Thank you, and please keep in touch.

Sincerely,

Rob Portman

U.S. Senator

It also goes without saying that I considered this response to be a pile of crap … the Republican Party line, a load of b.s. Not relevant, but I did find it interesting that Senator Brown addressed me as ‘Ms. Dennison’, a term of respect, while Portman addressed me as simply ‘Jill’ … more familiarity than he is, perhaps, entitled to under the circumstances.

And now, I shall finish preparing to watch tonight’s bloodbath, otherwise known as a presidential debate. Wish me luck, please.

Filosofa's Word

Cogito Ergo Sum

Tag Archives: republicans vs democrats

Two Senators — Two Responses