Dave is ba-a-a-c-c-k-k! In this week’s videocast Dave takes a look at the GOP. The GOP has over the last several years identified itself with white supremacists, big money, voter suppression, and an anti-government movement. How much longer can a political party supporting such an offensive platform continue as a viable force in U.S. politics.
Things aren’t always as they seem, particularly with definitions changing over time. Nowhere is this truer than in politics. Hardly a week goes by without a ‘no true Scotsman’ fallacy being hurled at one side of the aisle or the other. At least part of the problem is one of definition.
The modern understandings of ‘liberal’ and ‘conservative’ are, slightly bastardized, adaptations of neutral descriptors, as in a ‘conservative wager’ and a ‘liberal sprinkling.’ The former generally used to denote restraint and the latter excess. Whether it is positive or a negative depends on the situation, an excess of freedom generally considered a good thing. An irony coming into play when one considers that those calling themselves ‘conservative’ advocate for the excesses of a free market economy and those labeling themselves ‘liberals’ support restraint in terms of access to firearms.
Another example of conflict comes in the forms of identity politics and who it is ‘okay’ to criticize. My fellow liberals aren’t going to like to hear this but the idea of ‘protected classes’ shows restraint as reflected in functional conservatism. What we are saying in terms of merging social equality with protected classes is “we are all equal, except for them, don’t dare even criticize them.” An attitude very much in line with the most staunch monarchists who, at least historically, have been in stark opposition to those calling themselves liberals.
David Shadrick has a lot to say about the proposed $15 Minimum Wage. His points make sense, hear him out. Thanks for supporting CalamityNewsandPolitics.com
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“Don’t get so wound up, it’s just politics”, my son recently told me. Well, whether I’m saying it to my son, or to a potential reader, or to a neighbor, that is the wrong attitude. In the end, politics is policy, and policy effects everything in our lives. Schools, hospitals, parks, highways, airports, waterways, international trade, health care, military defense and social justice to name just a few. Nearly every part of our daily life is effected in someway by the policies that our elected officials enact in Washington, D.C., or our state capitols. Got it?
Redneck Revolt is an American far-left political group that organizes predominantly among white working-class people. The group supports gun rights and members often openly carry firearms. Its political positions are anti-capitalist, anti-racist and anti-fascist-Wikipedia
In this age of populism and division it can be easy to forget that there were once politicians who claimed to be uniters not dividers. The current political divide, which is exactly why there is a political divide, are driven by extremists on both sides. The refusal to even look for common ground and tear down and vilify everyone and anyone who disagrees is a greater threat to democracy than nearly anything else. The Trump administration is a manifestation of the problem not the source. A certain amount of partisanship is required for democracy to work. Otherwise we might as well be in Russia. Where one ruling party runs unopposed. People are a lot more complicated than that. As the Redneck Revolt shows.
Far from the banjo-plucking, cousin marrying, right-wing gun nuts of the cultural imagination, the Redneck Revolt presents a more nuanced view of Southern culture. Founded in Lawrence, Kansas, the group is a less militant and more political off-shoot of the distinctly leftist John Brown Gun Club. Some may cringe at the 2nd Amendment advocacy and that is fair. It should be kept in mind that guns really are a part of southern rural culture, and it is unrealistic if not unreasonable to expect that to change.
Words matter. Talk can be both cheap or expensive depending on the context. All words are arbitrary in their invention but also vital in terms of their function which is to help understand existence. Which is why people can get quite irritable about words being used correctly. Misuse of words quickly leads to miscommunication. Something the last four years of Trump has shown us.
A favorite word tossed at Trump is fascism. A much used and seldom understood word. This is at least a linguistic issue, the original word being the Italian fascismo, roughly translated as fastening or togetherness. The main symbolism of the time being a bundle of sticks. One stick can be broken, a bundle of sticks cannot. A nice idea undercut by the fact that by fastening together, the members of a fascist society also close others out.
There are mysteries that have yet to be revealed to mere mortals. Like, how do they get the caramel in the Cadbury Caramilk bar? Or, how much wood would, indeed, a woodchuck chuck, if a woodchuck, could, in fact, chuck wood? Another mystery of gargantuan proportions, is how someone as unabashedly baffoonish and obscenely unqualified as Donald J. Trump, could be elected to the highest office in the land. “Leader of the Free-World” a bit too arrogant and, well, bullshit, to be taken seriously. There are many theories. Some crack cocaine nonsense, while others more reality-based; though the reality may be much stranger than anyone ever suspected.
If you ask a Trump supporter why they like him, they are likely to say some version of “he’s a great businessman” despite him having gone through bankruptcy six times. Or, perhaps, “he’s an honest man in a den of thieves,” despite Trump agreeing to pay 25 million dollars to plaintiffs for seemingly illegal activities in the Trump University case. Common sense seems to have no effect on the electorate when it comes to Donald Trump. He has become a joke, and the joke seems to be on the United States. But who cares, at least he’s not a politician. The general distrust of “establishment politicians” goes back to the founding of America. Even George Washington, the pillar of Americana, as blasphemous as it may now seem, was often lambasted during his life. The cartoonists of his time, choosing to point their poisoned pens at him as often as at any other mortal man.
America has a gun culture. More than any other country, Americans love their guns. The only other place in the democratic world that has as many guns in civilian hands is Northern Ireland. Most of those weapons, are imported from the United States. Intended for use by the Emerald Isle’s alphabet soup of republican and anti-republican paramilitaries. ‘Republican’ in this case meaning to join the Republic of Ireland. Not that having more guns than an urban war-zone puts most Americans off.
America’s gun love is so strong it has led to a willful ignorance seen in few other cultures. John Lennon wrote a satirical song, directly mocking American gun culture titled Happiness Is A Warm Gun. Weirdly, that scoffing rebuke of the gun culture has been adopted by America’s horrifically powerful pro-gun lobby. An instance of sick irony rivaled only by the embracing of Tomorrow Belong’s To Me, a song from the famously anti-Nazi musical, Cabaret, by the American far-right as their rallying anthem.
Perception can be powerful. As Mark Twain said, give someone a reputation as “an early riser” and he can stay in bed until noon. Though, as with most things powerful, such perceptions can also be exceedingly dangerous. Like the “honest man” who turns out to be a con man or thief. Or the “quiet guy” who turns out to be a serial killer. Perceptions, especially unverified ones, make it very easy to deceive, particularly ourselves. Such is the case with American Isolationism.
The idea of American independence goes back to the beginning. Not only in terms of the country but with the individual states. At the time of founding, the United in United States was more wishful thinking on the part of the founders than expectation. The reality was less a nation than a loose collection of essentially independent British colonies, each with it’s own local government, and usually a militia group, the British being absentee landlords at best.
"If puppies and kittens don't make you smile, you might consider therapy." D. S. Mitchell 2015.
Self-isolating has forced us to turn even more to telecommunication and social media.
The Major Cause Of Sex Trafficking Is Poverty
Many great charities, here are a couple that I support: Sierra Club, World Wildlife Fund, ACLU, and Planned Parenthood.
