Tag: Jan6

Posted in Philosophy

What have we become; what are we afraid of?

Posted on by simplebender

We have witnessed and experienced a lot in the last year, as individuals and as a country.  However, the capitulation and implosion of the Republican party maybe the most shocking.  The Grand Ole Party which once championed global influence based on principles and global trade has become a Group of Patsies wallowing in self-delusion, fearful of shining the light of truth, and idolatry.  The party, in my lifetime, faced down the tyranny of Soviet Russia now embraces its own form of tyranny, race-based caste system, and isolation.  It is now a party which advocates hiding behind walls rather than tearing walls down.

The party, which once proudly advocated for fact-based decision making, is now advocating hiding from the investigation of the January 6th insurrection.  Burying their collective head in the sand trying to make believe it did not happen.  That a mob; flying the flags of a corrupt defeated dictatorship, the flag of racism and slavery, and those of idol worship; did not attack the Capital, did not assault Capital Police and the foundations of our Constitution.  Nope, didn’t happen.  It is fake news and was a group of peaceful, law abiding citizens exercising their freedom of speech and having a ‘tour of the Capital’.  Denial does not mean it did not happen.  Denial does mean it will happen again.  How many members of Congress will stand up for the Constitution and this country and try to determine what happened on the days before and after January 6th.  And how many will prove they are panderers and patsies only vying for votes from those who are too afraid to seek truth.

What are we afraid of?  As we consciously and unconsciously practice our unique form of race-based caste system.  What are we afraid of?  Are we afraid of losing some of our race-based privileges?  Are we afraid of equal rights, equal treatment, and equal access?  Are we afraid, that on any given level playing field, we can no longer compete?  That maybe, just maybe there are those who are better who have never had a chance to show just how good they are?  If we consider ourselves a team; TEAM USA is failing.  It is failing to play the best the players or even to let them try-out for the team.  We must look forward and recognize everyone has more talents and more to offer.  Exclusion based on race, gender, creed, orientation, nationality, education, or anything else succeeds in maintaining a false based caste system and inhibits all of us from moving forward toward greater goals.  It succeeds in allowing those who strive to see us fail drive wedges of misinformation into the fabric of our nation.

The principles of fiscal discipline, personal responsibility and accountability, global leadership and trade, and social compassion have been cast aside.  Cast aside for denial, scapegoating, isolation, and radical racial divide.  The Republican Party I was a part of for more than half a century has been displaced by a cult, worshiping a demigod in the hopes of maintaining a failing direction and whose leaders care more about being re-elected than taking a stand for the principles of the country.  The Party was bigger than one person and now is as small, and as shallow, as one.  The party, whose leaders, once stood in defiance of tyrants and dictators now embrace them rather than standing for freedom, truth, and democracy.  The idea of ‘truth will set you free’ can only come to reality if we actually seek the truth. 

#NeverFeartheDream #GOP #Jan6 #BigLie

Posted in Political

Flags of Insurrection….

Posted on by simplebender

Reflect for a moment on the flags and banners shown proudly flying in the hollowed halls of our Nation’s Capital during the insurrection and attempted coup.  We all saw the flag of the Confederacy, ‘Trump 2020’, ‘Jesus 2020’, the flag of South Vietnam, the flag of Christianity, and ‘Q’.  At best, only one of those may have some contribution in ever ‘Making America Great Again’.  What was represented were failed, defeated, and debunked causes, and corrupt regimes.  The banners of a cult not the banners of a proud representative republic.  So, as we watch the collapse of a once grand old party let us hope we aren’t also witnessing the rise of an unrestrained cult.  A cult without moral guiderails or a grand vision, just corruption and power. 

To those who follow this blog; thank you…to those who have stumbled upon it, please consider following….And please share with a friend or two……

Stay well.

#NeverFeartheDream, #BigLie, #Jan6

Posted in Political

Be very careful what you ask for…..

Posted on by simplebender

The calls for Trump’s resignation, impeachment, and maybe eventual trial and incarceration may not be what you really want because what you might get you really don’t want.

You do not have to be much of a student of history to recognize a dangerous pattern.  Imprisonment and exile of charismatic, cult, leaders has not proven to be successful means of silencing them or their supporters.  A few examples which come to mind include Stalin, Hitler, and Napoleon.  In these cases, the imprisonment only made them, and their followers, more radical and extreme.  Too many in the ‘establishment’ stood idly by, in their own political miscalculations, and did not act upon the reemergence which climaxed in the succession to absolute power.

Think this through carefully.  Recognize the anger.  Position yourself to be prepared to stand fast because the next wave will be more fanatical and less restrained.

If the goal of impeachment is removing him from office, then at this juncture, it is more political theater than substantive.  If the goal is to banish him from future political office; then, the impeachment conviction must include clear language which forbids him from holding office again.  If it does not, we will probably be repeating this cycle with a more radical perspective.  Be prepared……

To those who follow this blog; thank you…to those who have stumbled upon it, please consider following….Stay well.

#NeverFeartheDream, #BigLIe, #Jan6

Posted in Philosophy, Political

The Thucydides’s Trap of our own making

Posted on by simplebender

Thucydides, the ancient Athenian historian and general, claims the fifth-century BC Sparta and Athens war was inevitable because of “the rise of Athens and fear that this instilled in Sparta.”  More simply, war is a likely outcome as tensions increase between rising powers and those who are currently ruling and in power.  Are we on the precipice of our own Thucydides Trap and is it one of our own making?

Our trap has taken generations to build.  A failed and misdirected reconstruction, Jim Crow Laws, congressional district jerrymandering, ongoing voter suppression efforts, the Civil Right Act, and the Black Live Matter movement have collectively shored the frame of the trap.  The Republican party controls both the executive and legislative branch in twenty-four states and legislative control in thirty-one; clearly distinguishing it as the ruling party.  And yet we are a country divided.  The past Presidential election and the slim majorities held by opposite parties in the U.S. House and Senate are manifestations of our divide.  The open hostility based only upon race, gender, and /or sexual orientation is played out in the news, and our streets every day.  We, collectively, find ourselves struggling with how we got here and how we get out.

Some of the more significant findings of the 2020 American Values Survey by PRRI (Public Religion Research Institute, https://www.prri.org/research/amid-multiple-crises-trump-and-biden-supporters-see-different-realities-and-futures-for-the-nation/) sheds insight and may clearly imply we are stepping on our own Thucydides Trap.  It shows Republicans are the only political organization which believes whites and Christians are being discriminated against more than any other ethnic or racial group.  More granularly, out of nine groups comprising multiple religious and racial affiliations, only white evangelical Protestants, shockingly, maintain whites and Christians are more discriminated against than Blacks, Hispanics, or Asians.  And then, not surprisingly, the white evangelical Protestants maintain the Confederate flag and monuments are symbols of Southern pride and not symbols of racism. Those currently ruling feel they, and their beliefs, are under siege.  The spring of the trap is being pulled taunt and the trigger about to be set.

The corollary from the survey is that in total, Americans, collectively by a large margin, believe Blacks, Hispanics, and Asians are discriminated against on a daily and systematic manner.  Americans believe Whites and Christians are the least discriminated against and the symbols of the Confederacy are racist.

We can escape the Thucydides Trap of our own making by strongly standing together as Americans rather than subsets of the whole.  The country’s direction has never been straight and true.  We have grown, matured, and changed with the times.  We should not feel threatened by change but embrace it and help mold it to benefit the majority of us.  The political tents have to be big enough for all of us.  The trap is built.  The spring is taunt.  The trigger set and probably tripped unless we, collectively, decide to recognize the trap for what it is, step away and have the faith and strength of character to determine the best way to dismantle it and do so.           #NeverFeartheDream

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#BigLie, #Jan6