It’s going to be one hell of a year. What shall we name it? American Democracy on life-support? America becomes a Banana Republic? How about a new TV show called: Dancing with Dictators?
With the primary season just a few weeks away, one thing is for sure: it is going to be a frightening time; it’s going to be a shit-show.
Before we try to figure out why the Civil War started, I want to weigh in on the recent decisions by Colorado and Maine to prevent The Don from being on their state’s ballots. Both states came to the conclusion that The Don violated Section 3 of the 14th Amendment which was created after the Civil War to prevent Southern Secessionists from holding political office. It kind of makes sense not having an insurrectionist in your government, don’t you think? And The Don was, and frankly still is, a straight-up insurrectionist.
The fact that The Don was banned from the ballot by two states (with more states being petitioned to do the same) is pretty exceptional stuff. Don’t you think? But with The Don, everyday seems to bring us to a place where we say: can you believe he did that, or that that happened? But as we have seen, a large swath of Americans, rather than be outraged by The Don (indicted on 91 felony counts, impeached twice, and found guilty of sexual assault in a civil case in New York) attempted to stay in power after he lost the election, fomented a riotous insurrection at the Capitol building and has stated that when he is president he will take revenge on any and all detractors and in his words will be a “dictator on day one” shrug their shoulders and say, “So what?”.
The Don has pulled off an incredible sleight-of-hand. By convincing people that he is the most persecuted man in the history of America, he has become a martyr and savior for millions. He is sacrificing himself for them. Only he can deliver them to the promised land, and save America from the darkness. How this malignant man has snowed so many into believing he is a modern day saint-if not Jesus himself- when he has such devilish designs on our democracy, is his most remarkable achievement. But the bottom line is that he is an insurrectionist! That should make him ineligible for office. That being said, I believe the Supreme Court should not allow states to take him off the ballot as that would just martyr him more. What I would like to see, when hopefully the appellate court rejects his plea for immunity from prosecution, is that the Supreme Court affirms this decision simply by not taking up the case, or siding with the Appellate Court. And it needs to weigh in on this quickly. Let the most persecuted man have his fate decided by prosecution. Let him come face-to-face with the rule of law that he will try to dismantle if he is elected.
So here’s a question: “What was the cause of the Civil War?”
A. Grown men wanted to play dress-up, and some people liked gray uniforms and some preferred blue ones?
B. Civil war was just a bunch of people getting together to have a political conversation over barbecue? After all, it was civil? I guess it was like January 6th was like for many Republicans.
C. Slavery.
When Nikki Haley was asked that question her response was “Well don’t come at me with an easy question.”
Then as she back-pedaled and decided how she would answer, she said the cause “was basically how government was going to run, the freedoms, and what people could and couldn’t do…. I think it always comes down to the role of government and what the rights of the people are…. And I will always stand by the fact that, I think, government was intended to secure the rights and freedoms of the people.”
I don’t know about you, but I lost her at “government.” Complete word-salad. She sounded like a paragraph from a revised textbook in Florida-you know, the one that claims it wasn’t all bad for slaves as they learned skills? She could have even saved herself at the end if she had added “secure the rights and freedoms of the people” and those people were Black slaves!
But you couldn’t do it, Nikki. You couldn’t say the word “slavery” out loud. When the question was asked, your “easy question” answer wreaked with sarcasm and quiet outrage; it was unfair, why would you ask me that? Then after your disingenuous word-salad answer the questioner said: “In the year 2023, it’s astonishing to me that you answer that question without mentioning the word ‘slavery.”” And your annoyed WTF retort was: “What do you want me to say about slavery? Try this: how about it was a terrible thing, and we as a country are still struggling to deal with our original sin?”. Instead you were irate and blamed the event on the fact that the questioner was a Democratic plant? So what if he was? Last I heard, town halls were open to all comers. I can imagine you after the town hall having a hissy-fit and yelling “Can you believe that asshole? This plant from the Democrats had the nerve to ask me a question about slavery? WTF? Was this guy on fucking drugs? Didn’t you vet the people that showed up to make sure none were Democrats? You’re all fired!”.
Nikki, weren’t you the Governor of South Carolina who took down the Confederate Flag adorning the State Capitol? Was that you? I’m sure you got a lot of blow-back from that, so that took some courage. But now things are different. If you were in that situation today you wouldn’t make that choice. What unfolded in that town hall was a shameful cowardice that should be an automatic disqualification for you to be president. But then again, we live in a world where places like Florida are rewriting and whitewashing the profound sin of slavery and banning books by Toni Morrison. To be a viable Republican candidate today means embracing White Christian Nationalism and railing against anyone that dares to talk about America’s not so exceptional past. The Republican denial and outright attempt to erase the reality of our past is at the core of its platform.
Instead of channeling our democratic principles into building a nation that embraces diversity and equality, Republicans view equality as a force that destroys a nation by welcoming immigrants, which undermines national purity, and by treating women, minorities, and LGBTQ+ people as less equal. It is a battle of two worlds: one which embraces true freedom and opportunity in the name of human rights and equality and the other, one that will tell us who gets to be valued and have rights. Like the Civil War, this is not a battle we can lose.
The Grand Offal Party 