Darcy, I hope you’re right. An eight point lead would put a smile on my face and warm my December heart.
OT, sorta: Is it ‘Alabamans’ or ‘Alabamians?’
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Presuming to know what your Supreme Being prefers to occur is delusional on its face.
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I’ve heard both pronunciations, three syllables and four. Let’s hope they don’t disappoint. Have many fond memories from living there. Played a lot of poker with the locals.
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What’s not a fake news story is the voter suppression going on in the State. What with the comments from the AG of the State and the closing of at least 23 DMVs in areas that are 75% or more African-American, it’s a study in how the system works against the voting rights of its citizens.
I read some of this history to my husband last night on Facetime. First he tried to explain it in terms of budget cuts. Then, after hearing more of the statements which made it clear that budget cuts weren’t the trigger, all he could say was ‘wow, welcome to Alabama’.
Why voter suppression isn’t getting a bigger bullhorn is shocking on the surface, but when I explained to hubby that the voting rights act was gutted by the Supreme Court a couple of years ago because ‘racism isn’t a thing anymore’, all of this becomes standard, accepted practice.
It will be interesting to see the demographics on this special election - not just the party affiliation, but the other demographics too.
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At the same time, his ‘loss’ with respect to the ten commandments was a legal loss. It endeared him to his base and they are determined to reward him for fighting the good fight.
Not unlike the push that I’m hearing from neighboring Minnesota as to how Franken should run for his seat in the next election. Let the voters decide, for better or for worse.
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If he was actually embroiled in a criminal trial, fending off charges of child rape, he’d probably win this seat in a landslide.
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Except that they don’t believe any of that happened, so it’s a wash.
A troubling trend, albeit one you can’t put a stop to. I don’t care for the nation coming around to a theory regarding behavior, criminal acts, immorality and character wherein getting voted into an elective office stamps previous depravities and bad acts on your part as acceptable, by virtue of being elected. Personal acts are no longer subject to sanction, or questioning, or disqualification from a position, merely because you prevailed in the polling booth. Short of committing crimes having no statute of limitations (murder, treason, kidnapping, arson, etc) whatever evil you’ve previously done and evaded punishment for is said to be wiped clean because the people have spoken and sent you to Congress or the Presidency. As if winning a Senate seat stamps you an upstanding citizen, evidence and past acts be damned.
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True, dat, but I think the idea behind the Franken run is because there is a serious question as to the sincerity of the allegations, given that one or two of the women making the call are political operatives on the Right.
No, I’m not saying they shouldn’t be believed, but that he didn’t get his day in the Ethics committee to confront his accusers is not sitting well with many of his constituents.
Moore had his day in court on the issue of the monument. Franken wasn’t given the same opportunity.
No doubt people have abandoned thoughtful consideration of things, such as books, by and large. I don’t think that makes them idiots, but dupes, shills and patsies for the garbage they swallow in the form of entertainment. I don’t think they’re any stupider than the rest of us, just much less informed and lacking any incentive to question what isn’t automatically spooned into them because for some reason entertainment is seen as sacrosanct and actually a little taboo to discuss.
As far as fascism, I wonder about that. I’m not sure that wherever we’re going is going to be something as overt and easy to describe as fascism. I mean, if they repeal the 22nd amendment and Trump stays in nominal charge are we automatically a fascist state? He doesn’t seem to fit the definition of a strong leader. If that doesn’t happen and, through controls on voting, we enter a period of sustained Republican/oligarch rule, is that fascism? Also lacks the personality dependent charismatic leader component. So I don’t think either of these quasi-likely scenarios means fascism. I also don’t think movement white power will ever be more than a sideshow, and politically it will remain in the shadows at best.
We all have to watch our tendencies to think our side is in exclusive command of the truth. That tendency is actually what leads to believing exclusively in one-party solutions and eventually to violence.