What kind of crazy, fucked-up country do we live in where Republicans can't even admit Trump's tweets were racist?
One in which the right is functioning like a Mafia family, where it's not about right or wrong, but protecting its members. This is like asking a parent or sibling to turn in a family member for criminal behavior. The Unabomber's brother turned Ted Kaczynski in, but I don't think you're gonna see that altruistic behavior these days.
And today Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens died. 99, that's a pretty good ride. But despite being labeled a liberal, Stevens said he was consistently a conservative, he didn't move left, the country moved right. By today's standards, Nixon was a Democrat, and Clinton verged on being a Republican.
And there will be a day of reckoning. You don't want a formal record of egregious behavior. Today everything's tracked, there's evidence everywhere, so heinous choices will surface, to your detriment. You know the old saying, "It wasn't my fault, the boss made me do it!" And the truth is today many bosses do require shady behavior, or else you get fired, but if you're a Congressperson aren't you held to a higher standard? Shouldn't you be guided by morality?
Oh, you right wingers, don't parse the language, that's what's wrong with our nation, Bill Clinton saying he didn't have sex with that woman. He should have just admitted it and gone on. Hell, that's Trump style, and it's been working for him, but it seems he finally stepped over the line.
How do I know this?
His tweets are headline news on Fox and the "Wall Street Journal." Most of the time Trump's bad behavior is buried in these right wing outlets, if it appears at all, but this is too big a story to ignore.
Then again, if you're racist, you take Trump's side.
Meanwhile, the above news is eclipsed by the efforts of Al Green.
No, not the singer/preacher, rather a House member, who filed articles of impeachment Tuesday night.
Who do we blame? NANCY PELOSI! Because she's lost control of the narrative. I don't see how we impeach Trump for his racist tweets, but this is what happens when you don't impeach him for his law-breaking evidenced in the Mueller Report.
Oh, don't get your knickers in a twist you righties, don't you know the left isn't listening to you? Well, that's not completely true, the left is AFRAID of Republicans, that's why Pelosi has held back on the "I" word. Supposedly if Trump's impeached, the Democrats will lose all elections going forward. But that's a misreading of the tea leaves, one thing's for sure, the left's base wants action, ergo the high flying campaigns of Sanders, Warren and Harris. You win through action, not inaction. Defense is important, but only with a good offense can you emerge victorious.
Pelosi's been in D.C. for so long that she's become myopic, she's got no idea how the rank and file feel. She's a good politician, her heart is in the right place, it's just that she's rolling like it's the last century, and it's not.
Pelosi needed to lead, keep her constituents in line. But she waffled so much on impeachment, she lost control of the narrative.
And as far as hating on the Squad with Maureen Dowd, this is like Connie Chung telling Barbara Bush that it was just between the two of them, even though the whole country was watching on television. Pelosi thought she was playing inside baseball and no one was watching, but today every statement is parsed, and if it's got an edge, the ball is batted back and forth online, in a virtual pinball machine.
That's the problem with Pelosi. She knows Congress, but she doesn't know Twitter, she doesn't know online, which Trump has used to great effect and the Squad has too. Nancy thought she could keep the Squad in line by saying no one else was on their side, she was too old and out of it to realize she was starting a Twitter war. And those with high profiles rarely do this, you end up blowing up the opinion of your opponent. Yup, the story has been about the Squad, not Pelosi.
She doesn't know how to play in the modern world.
The pace of the Mueller investigation is so slow, it feels like "Heaven's Gate," which failed at the box office. Expectations were high, but the film was so caught up in the look it sacrificed story.
You can't let Trump continue willy-nilly, saying we'll get our chance in 2020. No, this gives the executive branch too much power, Stevens feared that. He said no one was above the law.
But somehow Trump is.
He's as crazy as his buddy Kim Jong Un.
Meanwhile, Trump's base is lovin' it, his poll numbers have gone up!
And the Dems just keep complaining to no effect.
It's not about convincing Trump's base not to be racist, it's about seizing control and taking action. Trump keeps saying his team can't testify. And almost no one has. They're afraid of being blown up if they do.
So what do the Democrats do? They just yell. That someone took their ball away and won't give it back.
We can argue all day whether Trump is a racist.
But one thing's for sure, those were racist tweets. Anybody who denies this doesn't understand English.
But so far, this is just another instance where Trump controls the debate and the Democrats end up on the losing side. They keep saying their hearts are in the right place, but that doesn't deliver any change.
You fight fire with fire. When they go low, you go low. Michelle Obama might have a best-selling book, but she knows little about today's politics, Hillary either. Hillary thought no one was paying attention, when the aforementioned digital record means that you're liable for everything you ever said or did in your life, big or small. It's war.
And the DNC killed Bernie Sanders, saying he was too far left and unelectable. But Bernie is singing the song of the public. The rank and file. Who believe their elected officials don't understand them and don't deliver for them, despite their impassioned pleas.
Bernie may be too old.
But he certainly knows what he's talking about.
Medicare for all? Until you're on Medicare, you don't realize how great it is. As for the cost...we always hear about this from the right, which keeps giving tax breaks to corporations and the wealthy and increase the national debt, but when they're not in power they complain about it.
That's right, up is down and down is up.
And I'm not writing this for Republicans. They're part of the family. They're not gonna change their minds. And they think if they just work the refs I'll change my mind.
But that ain't never gonna happen.
I'm speaking to the Democrats, all Democrats, in Congress and on the street. Unless we articulate our positions, unless we explain them, unless we stop fighting with each other while we're busy protecting every individual, we will lose sight of the big issues and lose the next election.
The big issue right now is not the racist tweets, but impeachment.
It's your ball Nancy.
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