I Believe Her!
“I washed my brain, in the new-ews cycle
shrunk my mind in the media spin.”
Remember Brett Kavanaugh? He’s now busy making terrible decisions on the Supreme Court. (1)
Remember “I believe her” during the tragic farce of the Kavanaugh hearings? I certainly believed her, and I also believe the women who have accused Joe Biden of inappropriate touching. I find the response of the Democrats to the Biden accusations to be quite hypocritical. Granted, attempted rape by a now sitting Supreme Court justice is a far worse offense than “inappropriate touching”. But in the ‘Me, Too’ era, it’s very strange that the Democrats, especially women like Nancy Pelosi, seem to have chosen to give Biden a pass. The party system inevitably leads to “our guy good, their guy bad” sort of thinking. A kind of blindness, actually. Even a serial predator like Bill Clinton gets away with it— to the Democrats.
It may be that the powers-that-be in the Democratic party have pre-chosen Biden for the 2020 run, in the same way they had pre-chosen Hillary Clinton in 2016. If so, they are, again, making a big mistake. And not just because undemocratic primaries are hypocritical for the so-called Democratic Party. I think Biden will be a far tougher sell for them in the primaries than Clinton was, meaning more divisions within the party, and more undemocratic manipulations within the primary process.
A Biden nomination will push environmentally-oriented progressives like myself further from the party. I don’t know that I could be persuaded to vote for Biden, even with a progressive woman as VP. I encourage the Democrats to look harder at Jay Inslee. As I’ve written previously, I might be able to vote for him.
Hypocrisy in the Republican party is a built-in aspect of their philosophy. It’s not a bug, it’s a feature. Republicans can claim to be Christians or family values supporters and blithely defend a pussy-grabbing, atheistic, bullying mobster in the same breath. The Republicans call subpoenaing the Mueller report unfair while they use the so-called ‘nuclear option’ to install judges that can’t be voted in by normal procedure. (2)
Accusations of hypocrisy are always silly in politics. It goes with the territory. But when you have the Democrats trying to be “civil” and not wanting to be “divisive” and the Republicans going ‘nuclear’ it becomes pretty clear who is going to win. Bringing a flyswatter to a sword fight kind of thing.
The rumors and memes on social media, and even a few news stories, have begun focusing, once again, on whether Trump is mentally fit for office, rather than his policies or crimes. A Washington Post headline trumpets, “Trump is Unraveling Before Our Eyes.” (3)
I certainly don’t think Trump is mentally fit to be president. Never did. But unless there’s a serious attempt to use the 25th amendment, this sort of smear campaign is nothing but a new round of propaganda, aimed at distracting party loyalists from the failure of the Democrats to gain advantage from the Mueller report, from their cowardice around impeachment. I can’t say I mind it, actually. It’s fun to make fun of Trump’s mental state, which is obviously disturbed. But I don’t think it will work in any useful way.
Meanwhile, mob lawyer Michael Cohen is back in the news cycle, ready to cough up some more info on Trump if it keeps him out of prison. His recent round of questioning in Congress should have been plenty to start an impeachment process. Even the worst liar tells the truth sometimes. What do the Democrats think they need to impeach this crook-in-chief? Cohen is definitely not a good witness in a trial, given his character. But he was Trump’s lawyer for many years, and he certainly knows where the bodies are buried. So to speak…. It might be worth saving the taxpayers from paying for Cohen’s room and board for the next three years, to see what’s on those disks. Especially as part of an impeachment investigation. (4)
From the side, it’s becoming more clear to me that the party system is part of the problem. At least the two-party monopoly system as we currently practice it in America. Calling our system democracy is a bit like calling corporate oligarchy a “free market”. And it’s hard to see how to change that system from inside the parties. When the system is the problem, you have to change the system to solve the problem.
Personally, I hope the whole broken empire falls. When viewed from outside the USA there is a desire to demonize a country of people with customs and laws that allow vulnerable groups in that society to be thrown away. Maybe it is more obvious when one is not bombarded with American media and other perspectives are allowed to be voiced to see that most of the political shuffling is a smokescreen for hiding the corporate underpinnings that are manipulating the world economies and meanwhile the planet is being plundered and the “throw away” people and the “throw away” resources are being swept under the radar. The “I have mine and I dont care about your issue” mentality corrodes the basic tenet of community. It all seems so complicated but really it is the basics that are twisting around in us, yelling at us to go outside, turn off the TV, talk to your neighbor, let your community know that everyone is seen and heard. No one should be left behind.
I am not ashamed in any way to say we need a massive change. Don’t even bother to fix this broken system- just let it fail and start over. How you ask? I don’t know. Maybe start by not giving all the political crap any attention/energy. Lead by example. Be global. Break down all the boundaries and borders then start taking care of one another. The global resources are shifting and the problems of moving humans from where there is no water, let’s say, to where there is still clean water will dwarf whether or not the Republicans or the Democrats have power. I dont see enough difference in the two groups to really matter. Neither will have the fortitude to face the global issues at our doorstep.
Wow, Suzan! Really powerfully stated. The American empire has done so much harm, all over the world. Thanks for writing!!