WHO DOES THAT!

by Ruth A. Sheets

Lately, I find myself gritting my teeth and muttering  or shouting aloud a 3-word phrase.  The phrase, “who does that!” or its sister “who says that!” tumbles out before I have time to acknowledge that I already know, and it is nearly always one of 3 men who are in the news every day on nearly every newscast.

The three men, as if you have not already guessed are Donald Trump, Mitch McConnell, and, currently, Lindsay Graham (or one of their surrogates).  These 3 men have no curb on their tongues and feel entitled to say whatever comes to their mind at the moment.  Their white male privilege allows this and pretty much forces us to listen to their brain dumps presented by our media, because they are currently in positions of power, and the media are enthralled, they might miss one of the lies, perhaps hoping for a profound statement?

None of the three displays significant intellectual thought.  They have latched onto an ideology that sees themselves at the top of everything while everyone else is a minion who must do as they say or should be forced to.  They are among the “ruling elite” in the United States right now, but have little or no sense of the needs of the American people.  They are nearly completely obsessed with what they want and what they will do to retain power, even to dismissing any integrity they might once have had. 

They have the privilege of lying and cheating at will.  They can insult people, even citizens of this nation and international leaders with impunity.  Most people know this, but one aspect of male privilege in general and white male privilege in particular is they believe they have the right to say what they want, free speech of course.  In the United States, we have the right to free speech, but the “Three” want that right only for themselves.  They insult and never apologize while they demand apologies of anyone who even slightly questions their actions?  WHO DOES THAT! 

they can cheat, getting all kinds of taxpayer money for their pet projects  (hotels, contractors, campaign money), often for themselves, but want others who do that or are even accused of that, “locked up.”  WHO DOES THAT!

All three are excellent gloaters.  They  cheat and lie to get something they want, like the huge tax cut for the very rich and for corporations, then they brag that they pulled off this wonderful assistance for our workers.  WHO DOES THAT!

Their racism kicks in regularly as when President Obama was not permitted to nominate a Supreme Court justice after Justice Scalia passed away, yet gloat now that when another justice, Ruth Bader Ginsberg, has died, their rules then, (which of course were a lie) are now changed so a new justice will be nominated before Justice Ginsberg is in her grave and less than 40 days until the election.  Last time they whined about 9 months being too short.  WHO DOES THAT! 

And, of course, they must slap women in the face by nominating a woman who dismisses other women, does not feel women should have the right to make decisions about their own bodies, does not feel people have a right to health care, and on and on.  Just as Justice Clarence Thomas was a slap in the face to African-Americans when he was nominated to replace Thurgood Marshall, a civil rights icon, Amy Barrett is a slap in the face to women as she is nominated to replace an icon of Women’s rights. WHO DOES THAT!

We have been hit with a pandemic.  Scientists know what a pandemic is and basically how we could have protected ourselves from the worst of it, but our “three” could not care less.  “It will be over soon, like a miracle” Donald chirped and Mitch decided that poor people were just getting too much money so the Senate simply couldn’t pass more rescue bills.  “It doesn’t matter if you wear a mask.  All kids better go back to schools or they’ll lose their money.”  WHO DOES THAT! 

The “Three” and their crew blame the current economy on everything and everyone but their own incompetent, thoughtless management of the pandemic, and a lot of their poor followers believe it and so are OK with hating Asian Americans and people who are not suffering as much as they are.  The “Three” just love the divisions this causes and are trying to use it to their advantage with the election coming up.  WHO DOES THAT!

Voting by mail is extremely safe and has had over these past few years almost no voter fraud instances (except some Republican ones), but the Three, on every possible occasion preach that this way of voting is horrible and will give the wrong side the election because of fraud.  In reality, the “Three” are cheating through voter suppression and lying about the safety of vote by mail, then they undermine the US Post Office to be sure there are problems with mail-in ballots.  They sue states who have mail-in ballots on demand using our tax money again.  WHO DOES THAT!

I am sure you get the picture.  The “Three” are not people who should be in charge of anything, but they are loud, rich, white, and male and the media bends over backward to listen to them and make sure they are in front of us every day, even when they are not doing anything worth mentioning.  Their courage comes from their positions of power and their willingness to drag everyone who works with them in their party down to their level, and they go, with nary a peep.  WHO DOES THAT! 

Election day is nearly upon us.  We need to stand up against the “Three” and demand better.  Our climate is changing so rapidly we are only beginning to face its effects and we need leaders who will care about that, but “Climate change is a hoax.” WHO SAYS THAT!

We are finally looking at our systemic racism and crying out for something better while the “Three” call protests riots and dismiss police brutality AND nonaccountability as nonsense.  WHO DOES THAT!

Our economy can no longer sustain the huge corporations who manipulate our representatives for their own gains.  We need better, but we see the EPA and Department of Interior changing regulations to allow more pollution, give breaks to fossil fuel corporations, continue the gap between employers/owners and workers.    WHO DOES THAT!

We need to reestablish our relations with the other nations of the world as equals facing the world’s challenges together, yet, the Saudi dictator is permitted to kill a US journalist with no response, Russia is allowed to interfere in our elections, and Russia and others are paying bounties to Afghan insurgents to kill Americans and no official protests are made. WHO DOES THAT? 

Alas, the “Three” are just too busy soaking in their own money, whiteness, and power to see any of the needs even though occasionally they may brag that they are the “best president on the economy, have done more for Black people and other groups than any other president,” and other equally ridiculous lies.  WHO SAYS THAT! 

It’s time the “Three” and their followers be made to step down through our votes.  WHO DOES THAT!  We do, We the People!  It’s time!