WHEN WILL ENOUGH BE ENOUGH?

By Ruth A. Sheets

I keep wondering when Republicans who claim to be patriotic Americans, are going to say "enough." 

• - It wasn’t enough when Trump pardoned all the January 6^th insurrectionists, people who threatened their own lives.  Trump and his handlers were just too lazy to determine who were the ones who had actually done the most violence, although that information was readily available.
• It clearly wasn't when Musk and his wrecking crew fired (without permission from anyone but Trump), thousands of the government workers who actually know how to make our government work and keep this nation safe. 
• It wasn't enough when Musk/Trump dismantled the USAID that helps protect the people of the world, including us from horrific diseases and to help people deal with war and poverty. 
• - It wasn't enough when the concept of a free public education for all children was maligned by Musk/Trump getting rid of about 50% of the Department of Education that provides funding and services for children with learning and functioning differences as well as scholarship money for college. 
• - It wasn't enough when Trump/Vance in tandem insulted President Zelensky of Ukraine and lied that Ukraine began the war, clearly started by Russia. 
• - It wasn't enough when the FAA was undermined and air travel was put at risk, now supposedly to be under the rule of Musk's Starlink or whatever other BS entity the ignorant greedy Musk illegally comes up with for his own benefit. 
• - It wasn't enough when Musk and his toddler troop began messing with Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, programs that have worked tremendously well for nearly 90 years for Social Security and 60 for Medicare and Medicaid, programs we pay for from our first jobs onward.  They are closing local offices so people can't go directly to get help, while requiring them to go to local offices to register.  Then they started taking some people off the roles, claiming the people are actually dead when they are not. Musk, a super-rich recent citizen knows nothing about Social Security or any of the programs he is working to destroy for the benefit of himself and rich white people and corporations. 
• - It isn't enough now when our military under a rapist, misogynist, racist incompetent, Hegseth removes the courage of people of color and women from their websites, pretending only white men did anything to protect America, a massive lie, of course. 
• - It wasn’t enough when immigrants were grabbed off the street, people who hold green cards and have done nothing illegal, unlike Musk and Trump and disappeared, 200+ of them sent to a torture prison in El Salvador, others to countries they have not lived in since infancy, not knowing anyone or speaking the language.
• It wasn’t enough when Trump declared there is no climate crisis, global warming isn’t real, and that “drill baby drill” will be the chant instead.  That is happening while Republicans and their constituents are dealing with terrible storms, floods, and wildfires made far worse by global warming.  The Republican states are being hit worst with little to no way to manage without government help.  Yep, those people voted for this to happen to them because their racism and misogyny couldn’t let them do anything else.
• It wasn’t enough when Trump and his clown show threatened judges and our courts, you know, the ones that oppose the illegal things Trump and Kump are doing. 
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• It is truly shameful that I hear no Republicans and few Democrats standing up and yelling "stop."  It must be something pretty powerful that Trump is holding over Republicans in Congress these days to keep them either mouthing just what Trump’s handlers want them to say or remaining silent.  They need to stand up. 
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• At this point, it seems to me that it should not matter what Donald Trump and his Goon Troops have on anyone in Congress because the harms being done to this country will overshadow anything else Trump can make up about them.  It seems living without a spine or moral compass works for Republicans, MAGAs, and some Democrats and Independents too.  Shame on them all.  I do wish there were a way to remove Trump/Vance/Musk from office without violence because none of them should be in charge of anything and may only be in power because they found a way to cheat in this past election using secret cheating algorithms, in the "{swing states" of course, somehow just barely taking every single one of them.  That really does stretch credibility.

THE THING WE WON’T TALK ABOUT

By Ruth A. Sheets

One positive thing that might come from the current Musk/Trump insanity is that we may force ourselves as a nation to take a serious look at the thing that can’t be mentioned. 

Many Americans voted for Trump and his crazies because of their embedded racism and misogyny, wrapped in sayings like "the price of eggs."  Maybe if we can be honest about that, people can see that voting for someone just because he is white, male, belligerent, and has a big mouth over a woman of color who unlike Trump, is actually more than competent will never save their lives, fortunes, or sacred honor.

I get it that by tradition, white and white wannabees , and many men are scared of anyone who is not them and will lash out at those folks who are more competent and skilled than any white male folks they know, but we don’t have to go along with it.  We the People keep pretending that racism and misogyny are things of the past, and they are, but they are also things of the present and future if we do nothing to call them out wherever we see them and bring it to the attention of the racists and misogynists who are using issues like the economy to cover their hatreds and bad behavior. 

Trump, Musk, and nearly every person nominated and approved of for high positions in our government, male and female are both racist and misogynist, yet our Senate Republicans and a few Democrats voted for them anyway.  A host of Republican representatives at all levels in our nation are racists and/or misogynists (usually both), but keep being elected because their opponents are not "supposed" to mention that, and it might not matter anyway since their constituents often share their racism and misogyny.  Those representatives though, are permitted to call THEIR opponents all kinds of racist and misogynistic names not only with impunity, but gaining them higher approval points. 

President Biden declared the ERA the 28th Amendment of our Constitution, which it should have been declared by Trump 5 years ago when Virginia became the 38th state to ratify, but I have not yet heard that the archivist was forced to actually see that it is printed in all copies of the Constitution, as she should have done since all of the requirements were met as described in our Constitution.  And, yes, women can be as misogynistic as men, often to please the men in their lives.

Where is the racism?  It is nearly everywhere if one takes a moment to notice.  The Washington, DC government as ordered a street mural for “Black Lives Matter” removed at significant cost because Trump threatened to cut their funding if they don’t, a minor but powerful instance.  The plans for cutting programs that serve disadvantaged communities as well as DEI are a much larger example.  In neither case has Congress stood up to stop the actions.

So, it is time we as a people fully acknowledge our complicity with the racism and misogyny rampant in our nation.  It does have economic costs since most of the billionaire class are white and male, just as one would expect and they intend to stay on top no matter what they have to do to maintain their position and wealth.  It really is up to all of us who recognize racism and misogyny when we see it to take a stand.

• We must demand better candidates and of a greater variety. 
• We need audits of our elections to see that people’s actual votes are being cast and tallied accurately. 
• - We need advertising that shows what racism and misogyny are and how they can be identified and challenged. 
• - We need more movies and TV programming to deal with racism and misogyny head-on, emphasizing the cruelty and evil nature of both as well as positive examples of communities where the people are effectively dealing with both. 
• - We need quality journalism at all levels from local to international, telling the truth regularly, about the impacts of racism and misogyny.
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We can do this if we really act as our Constitution claims to want to do, “form a more perfect union.”  That can’t happen when racism and misogyny reign.