In case any of you have forgotten, my friend Jill submitted this post today to remind us of the horrific scene that played out in Washington, DC two years ago today. Look at the pictures, whether you want to or not, and be grateful that what very nearly happened that day, didn’t. President Biden will be awarding the Presidential Citizens Medal today to twelve courageous people who stood in resolute opposition to donald trump and his mob. They did so at great personal sacrifice, up to and including their lives. This absolutely cannot, MUST NOT ever happen again. It’s on all of us to make sure it doesn’t. Larry
Trump
Republican Voices of Experience Speak Loudly — Filosofa’s Word
You, and everyone you know, and everyone they know, needs to read this. Thanks, Jill Dennison, for sharing it. Larry
It’s one thing for someone like me, a mere political observer, to say that Donald Trump must be prosecuted for his crimes, particularly the crime of inciting an attempted coup to overturn an election, to kill the voices of We the People. You and I can say it all we want, but our words carry […]
Republican Voices of Experience Speak Loudly — Filosofa’s Word
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Texas GOP Follies
donald trump lost the 2020 presidential election.
Period. Exclamation point. Double underline.
Despite atempt after attempt after attempt to challenge it, trump’s repeated denial of it, and the insurrection on January 6th, 2021 to try and overturn it, it remains a solid, incontrovertible fact.
Most of the United States has accepted that, though a certain segment has done so begrudgingly. A lot of folks don’t like it, but at least have the good sense to admit it.
Which brings us to last weekend’s convention of the Texas GOP, the living embodiment of what Forrest Gump’s mother told him:
Stupid is as stupid does.
These guys adopted a party platform at their convention in Houston that, upon reading, left me in shock, disbelief, horror, disgust, and just outright anger.
You’ve heard of the Five Stages of Grief? I think I went through the Five Stages of Pissed Off.
Not to mention, utter embarrassment for my home state. We already were a laughingstock, and this sure doesn’t help any.
To list all the outrageous things declared in this platform would take more than a single post – much more – but I’ll just mention a few:
Regarding the aforementioned 2020 election – which, I will remind you again, trump lost – the Texas GOP party platform includes a resolution stating, in part: “We reject the certified results of the 2020 presidential election, and we hold that acting President Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. was not legitimately elected by the people of the United States.”
Yes. It actually says that. Proving that facts that are inconvenient to these people are simply wrong. They’re kissing trump’s tookis so hard, they’re gonna leave bruises.
Not content with stopping there, the platform also issues a rebuke to the 10 Senate Republicans involved in the bipartisan talks on gun legislation — including Texas Sen. John Cornyn, who was booed during his speech Friday at the convention.
The platform states that “all gun control is a violation of the Second Amendment and our God given rights.”
I’m just gonna say this once. God never, ever gave anyone the right to carry a gun. You believe otherwise, you have no idea who God is.
Oh, and then, there’s this: the platform calls for a referendum “in the 2023 general election for the people of Texas to determine whether or not the State of Texas should reassert its status as an independent nation,” asserting elsewhere that “Texas retains the right to secede from the United States.”
Yep, secession fever is flaring up again. Won’t get anywhere, of course; the US Constitution, the US Supreme Court and legal experts all agree that Texas cannot do this. (Which will disappoint Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank, who wrote a piece titled, “Texas Republicans Want to Secede? Good Riddance.”)
And I haven’t even got to what this platform says about abortion, voting rights, gay and transgender rights, the World Health Organization, the Federal Reserve, the United Nations, education and oh, so much more. If you think you’ve got the stomach for it, read the whole thing here.
Now, of course, this is only the platform; none of it is policy.
Yet.
But it gives a clear picture of what’s on these people’s minds. And I don’t like it the least little bit.
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The RNC Could Use a Dictionary
“SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The Republican National Committee censured two GOP lawmakers on Friday for participating on the committee investigating the violent Jan. 6 insurrection and assailed the panel for leading a “persecution of ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse”…
“RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel denied that the “legitimate political discourse” wording in the censure was referring to the violent attack on the Capitol by supporters of then-President Donald Trump and said it had to do with other actions taken by the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection. But the resolution drew no such distinction.” (emphasis mine)
noun/ˈdisˌkôrs/written or spoken communication or debate.”the language of political discourse”
My jaw is still on the floor after reading the above last Friday. Just when I think nobody in the Republican Party can go any lower than has been gone, I am proven wrong yet again.
First of all, if you truly believe what happened on January 6, 2021 in our nation’s capital was “legitimate political discourse”, please raise your hand.
Come to think of it, make that a “Heil Hitler” salute. Same thing, in this instance.
The “two GOP lawmakers”, of course, are Representatives Liz Cheney of Wyoming, and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, the only Republicans who still remember what the United States Constitution means.
Now, for the benefit of you and the RNC, some definitions, courtesy of the Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
legitimate
(Entry 1 of 2)
1a: lawfully begotten specifically : born in wedlock
b: having full filial rights and obligations by birth // a legitimate child
2a: being exactly as intended or presented : neither spurious nor false // a legitimate grievance // a legitimate claim // a legitimate practitioner” … we are pretty good at separating legitimate pain from drug-seeking behavior. … “— Kenneth W. Fogelberg also : being an actual example of something specified // a legitimate threat to national security
b: genuinely good, impressive, or capable of success // And if he can fix his start … he is a legitimate contender for gold at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.— Sean Ingle
3a: accordant with law or with established legal forms and requirements // a legitimate government
b: ruling by or based on the strict principle of hereditary right // a legitimate king
4: conforming to recognized principles or accepted rules and standards // a legitimate advertising expenditure // a legitimate inference also : fair or reasonable : VALID // She raised some legitimate concerns.
5: relating to plays acted by professional actors but not including revues, burlesque, or some forms of musical comedy // the legitimate theater
Now, if the RNC is trying to present the Jan 6 insurrection as “being exactly as intended or presented : neither spurious nor false”, “being an actual example of something specified”, “genuinely good”, “accordant with law or with established legal forms and requirement”, or “conforming to recognized principles or accepted rules and standards”…
Uh-uh. Wrong. Not even close.
I will allow that it was actually “impressive”, for the utter audacity of it. And frighteningly, it was more “capable of success” than I care to acknowledge.
political
1a: of or relating to government, a government, or the conduct of government // b: of, relating to, or concerned with the making as distinguished from the administration of governmental policy2: of, relating to, involving, or involved in politics and especially party politics
3: organized in governmental terms // political units
4: involving or charged or concerned with acts against a government or a political system // political prisoners
Okay, I’ll give them this one. Kind of. Some people were actually there for political reasons, I’m sure, but I also believe a lot of them showed up because it was an excuse to raise hell. It was an opportunity for violence, and the MAGA mob was clearly up for it, as evidenced by all the weaponry brandished proudly by its members.
Which brings us to definition 4, above.
discourse
(Entry 1 of 2)
1: verbal interchange of ideas especially : CONVERSATION
2a: formal and orderly and usually extended expression of thought on a subject
b: connected speech or writing
c: a linguistic unit (such as a conversation or a story) larger than a sentence
3: a mode of organizing knowledge, ideas, or experience that is rooted in language and its concrete contexts (such as history or institutions) // critical discourse
Anybody see any of that happen on Jan 6? I sure didn’t.
There was plenty of “verbal interchange”, but I’m pretty sure there weren’t many ideas. Mostly the vehement hostility from the insurrectionists, and the forceful, desperate orders to stand down from the authorities.
And obviously, “formal and orderly…expression of thought” was a concept nowhere within miles.
So, what the f*** was the RNC thinking, making such a ridiculous declaration?
I’ll tell you what they were thinking: We’d sure better not piss off all those rabid, unhinged MAGA voters out for blood. They’ll come for us next.
I’m convinced that fear is driving everything the Republicans in office are doing, and have done since the insurrection. Even if they think TFG and his voter base are wrong, no way they publicly acknowledge that.
I mostly keep my opinions to myself on matters of politics, but after seeing this farcical announcement from the RNC, I just have to call it out for the absurdity it is.
I would suggest one more word for these people to look up, assuming they ever go near a dictionary:
Reality.
just drive, will you? 