I remember when January 6th happened. Living where I do I know quite a lot of people that are very pro Trump. Couldn't say what their politics are beyond that, probably none.
One such individual came crowing about how the civil war was right around the corner and how the tree of liberty was about to be fed with the blood of patriots.
I asked him to come with me to my basement and fired up my computer, proceed to start showing him photos I took on tour in all the places one might imagine. Soldiers have black senses of humor, so to call the images macabre might be an understatement. He was white as a sheet by the time I was done.
I explained to him that if I ever found out he had any part in bringing what he saw here to the doorstep where my children sleep, my first visit would be his.
People that want war have never fought one. People that want war where their children live don't understand what war is.
I can't imagine you hear many actual combat vets advocating it. Plenty of veterans, sure, but remember only 5% of the military is combat arms, and only a fraction of that fraction ever saw any real action.
It is so troubling to see this former President undermine the judicial system and at the same time, indicating he intends to weaponize it if he is re-elected. While we may have issues with some government decisions, it is the system we have and it is far better than a system that is only responsive to an authoritarian figure. as citizens, we must be cognizant that votes do count. Those that run on a fear agenda and espouse division as a way to attain power are ones we should not trust. Trump is a fine example of a divisive figure that has no agenda or moral compass. On a more local level, we (IMO) can look at locally elected politicians that run on a platform of better government --they argue something to the effect that the current government is not to be trusted and argue they/we will fix the systematic cover ups ...not singling out any facts that prompt them to argue that if elected they can solve the alleged bias ---and argue for more transparency yet, when elected, resist the transparency they promised and proceed to do as they wish despite the consequences. In short, whether at the federal or state level the rhetoric leads to a sense of fatalism and despair ... this IMO, is calculated and does that undermine a fragile system based on trust and competency, should run from those that insist all is bad and they are the solutions. Those people undermine democracy and faith. I hope those people are barred from running from office... and pray/ask that people vote and not allow these demagogues to hold office since they are not fit to govern.
Well said, Andre. I believe that a durable majority of Americans agree on all of this. I hope they vote in November, especially those in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania.
In the last election 37% of registered voters actually cast a ballot. It's no wonder we have the mess we have in government from the city council to the federal government. If we can't even get our local voters to vote, what chance do we have of keeping Trump away from the White House?
Our liberty and freedoms have been shaken. I hope the majority will vote to restore hope and strength in America. The alternative is horrifying to imagine. Thanks for your clarity.
Andre, thank you for perfectly summing this up. I wish every newspaper in the 3rd District ran it. Heck, every newspaper in America should run it considering each Congressional District has a deranged MAGA cultist running. We actually have two here, because let’s face it; there’s no daylight between Joe Kent and Leslie Lewallen when it comes to Trump.
And therein lies the problem; the MAGA rot has spread too far, and the damage to our Constitutional Republic is already catastrophic. Look no further than the House Speaker appearing on Fox News Friday morning after the verdict, saying, “I do believe the Supreme Court should step in.”
Mike Johnson is a competent attorney. He knows what he said is both absurd and profane to the rule of law. He can’t explain why Trump only cared about the world knowing about his extramarital affairs with sex workers ~because~ he was running for President, which itself is a heck of a thing for a supposedly devout “Christian” like Mike Johnson to overlook in the first place. But that doesn’t matter. He knows he must please the Fuhrer.
There is ~nothing~ Trump has done, is doing, or will do that Republicans will not accommodate, ignore, excuse or even enthusiastically support. From the 2nd in line to the Presidency and the blatantly corrupt Supreme Court he calls upon, to the Chairperson of the Cowlitz County GOP literally writing, “Vote for the Felon” on the walls of the former Kelso Library last week after the verdict; the Republican Party has utterly abandoned their fidelity to the rule of law, and undeniably replaced it with their fealty to the rule of Trump. America and the whole world are imperiled because of it. So it goes.
I remember when January 6th happened. Living where I do I know quite a lot of people that are very pro Trump. Couldn't say what their politics are beyond that, probably none.
One such individual came crowing about how the civil war was right around the corner and how the tree of liberty was about to be fed with the blood of patriots.
I asked him to come with me to my basement and fired up my computer, proceed to start showing him photos I took on tour in all the places one might imagine. Soldiers have black senses of humor, so to call the images macabre might be an understatement. He was white as a sheet by the time I was done.
I explained to him that if I ever found out he had any part in bringing what he saw here to the doorstep where my children sleep, my first visit would be his.
People that want war have never fought one. People that want war where their children live don't understand what war is.
I can't imagine you hear many actual combat vets advocating it. Plenty of veterans, sure, but remember only 5% of the military is combat arms, and only a fraction of that fraction ever saw any real action.
Insightful as usual, Andre. I do however disagree with your use of the words " just about" in the last sentence.
It is so troubling to see this former President undermine the judicial system and at the same time, indicating he intends to weaponize it if he is re-elected. While we may have issues with some government decisions, it is the system we have and it is far better than a system that is only responsive to an authoritarian figure. as citizens, we must be cognizant that votes do count. Those that run on a fear agenda and espouse division as a way to attain power are ones we should not trust. Trump is a fine example of a divisive figure that has no agenda or moral compass. On a more local level, we (IMO) can look at locally elected politicians that run on a platform of better government --they argue something to the effect that the current government is not to be trusted and argue they/we will fix the systematic cover ups ...not singling out any facts that prompt them to argue that if elected they can solve the alleged bias ---and argue for more transparency yet, when elected, resist the transparency they promised and proceed to do as they wish despite the consequences. In short, whether at the federal or state level the rhetoric leads to a sense of fatalism and despair ... this IMO, is calculated and does that undermine a fragile system based on trust and competency, should run from those that insist all is bad and they are the solutions. Those people undermine democracy and faith. I hope those people are barred from running from office... and pray/ask that people vote and not allow these demagogues to hold office since they are not fit to govern.
Well said, Andre. I believe that a durable majority of Americans agree on all of this. I hope they vote in November, especially those in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania.
In the last election 37% of registered voters actually cast a ballot. It's no wonder we have the mess we have in government from the city council to the federal government. If we can't even get our local voters to vote, what chance do we have of keeping Trump away from the White House?
Our liberty and freedoms have been shaken. I hope the majority will vote to restore hope and strength in America. The alternative is horrifying to imagine. Thanks for your clarity.
Andre, thank you for perfectly summing this up. I wish every newspaper in the 3rd District ran it. Heck, every newspaper in America should run it considering each Congressional District has a deranged MAGA cultist running. We actually have two here, because let’s face it; there’s no daylight between Joe Kent and Leslie Lewallen when it comes to Trump.
And therein lies the problem; the MAGA rot has spread too far, and the damage to our Constitutional Republic is already catastrophic. Look no further than the House Speaker appearing on Fox News Friday morning after the verdict, saying, “I do believe the Supreme Court should step in.”
Mike Johnson is a competent attorney. He knows what he said is both absurd and profane to the rule of law. He can’t explain why Trump only cared about the world knowing about his extramarital affairs with sex workers ~because~ he was running for President, which itself is a heck of a thing for a supposedly devout “Christian” like Mike Johnson to overlook in the first place. But that doesn’t matter. He knows he must please the Fuhrer.
There is ~nothing~ Trump has done, is doing, or will do that Republicans will not accommodate, ignore, excuse or even enthusiastically support. From the 2nd in line to the Presidency and the blatantly corrupt Supreme Court he calls upon, to the Chairperson of the Cowlitz County GOP literally writing, “Vote for the Felon” on the walls of the former Kelso Library last week after the verdict; the Republican Party has utterly abandoned their fidelity to the rule of law, and undeniably replaced it with their fealty to the rule of Trump. America and the whole world are imperiled because of it. So it goes.