Yesterday while texting with a friend, we bewailed the sad state of America. I told her in no uncertain terms the events that I believe have brought us to this place. Her silence afterward could've been indicating it was nearing her bedtime and the subject was too complicated for that time.
More likely, her silence indicated disagreement. Despite her occasional attempts to portray herself otherwise, my friend's opinions during the discussions we have had about politics reveal her to be quite Conservative. Which is not a bad thing to be. Also rather unaware of alot of the nuances and small details of American History from the past 75 years, which, while understandable, is a bad thing to be. Ignorance begets more ignorance, which frequently begets more misunderstanding, fear and ultimately, sometimes violence. At very least, ignorance has what I call the Earhart Effect, after Amelia Earheart and her final journey, which ended in her disappearance, and that of her navigator, Fred Noonan. Though I and many others through the years have entertained ourselves with conspiracy theories surrounding Earhart and Noonan's disappearance, most likely the responsibility belongs to Earhart and Noonan. One small navigating mistake of Noonan's was built upon by another, and when combined with Earhart's ignorance of radio communications, most likely resulted in their deaths. Just so, in politics, as in life, small mistakes and ignorance frequently lead to other kinds of death -- spiritual death, death of rights, etc. Compound that with the busyness of making a living, raising children, well, a person has to be very motivated to keep up with the facts and changes. But this blogger submits that this is exactly our duty:
Submitted for your consideration, are, in my opinion, the factors that have led to the US being in the state it is in now, culminating with the final one, which just transpired today:
1. The Southern Strategy - Republicans ginning up support by appealing to racist tendencies of some voters, which is really just a continuation of racist policies from the very birth of this nation. America has an Original Sin against Native Americans and slaves. They have compounded this Original Sin with Forty Acres And A Mule (a promise promptly broken), placing Native Americans on reservations, and Japanese internment camps being some of the most glaring. Our sins against our black brothers and sisters represent some of our lowest moments as a country. Besides slavery and the broken Forty Acres promise, there were burnt crosses, lynchings, being forced to the back of the bus, separate drinking fountains/lunch counters/hotels rooms, etc., redlining, and even now cops and white people torturing people for Living While Black.
2. The election of Richard Nixon, which birthed Watergate and arguably, the beginning of toxic mistrust of the government. (And as aggregious as Watergate was, the sins of Donald J Trump pale it in comparison, which is really saying something).
3. The marriage of the Republican Party and Evangelical Christianity. This point is beyond the scope of this blog post, but something I will be dealing with in a more detailed way in the future. I urge you to click on the link to get a gander at the myriad of ways this contemptible tactic was used to sneakily gain power. I can see the possibility of a divorce in this marriage, though, as I have been hearing frustration from true conservatives with the expansion of what used to be their quite reasonable, principled party into the Tea Party of the Aughts, and today's MAGAs and Qs.
4. The election of Ronald Reagan - yes, Reagan, the "Great Communicator", but remember, he was an actor, and though forever a B-lister, his finest acting role was the firm, but kind and grandfatherly President Reagan. It is hard to tell how much of the evil that accompanied his presidency was due to Reagan himself and how much was due to his cabinet, political associates and minions. I did not know this, but "The presidency of Ronald Reagan in the United States was marked by numerous scandals, resulting in the investigation, indictment, or conviction of over 138 administration officials, the largest number for any president in American history."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reagan_administration_scandals?wprov=sfla1
The article mentions Iran-Contra, the HUD Rigging Scandal, Lobbying Scandal, EPA Scandal, Savings And Loan Crisis, Operation Ill Wind, The Wed Tech Scandal, and Debategate. (Jeez, even I, who am no Reagan fan, only remember Iran-Contra and the Savings And Loan Crisis. Who knew?).
These are the beefs I have with Uncle Ronnie:
A. Trickle-Down Reaganomics - (Surprise! Prosperity, unlike shit, does not roll downhill). We are still afflicted by Trickle-Down and Supply-Side, and though they may work short-term, i.e., getting a country out of a recession, in regular times, not so effective. And surprise! FDR got us out of the Great Depression by creating opportunities to put us back to work that led to more than 25 years of prosperity. Biden tried to combine this concept with a much-needed infrastructure rebuild in Build Back Better, which the Republicans blocked, and then had the nerve to call a failed plan! But I digress. Point is, Trickle-Down does not.
B. Reagan let gays and bisexuals die of AIDS because in the beginning of the AIDS epidemic the vast majority of American people who acquired HIV were gay/bisexual men. Reagan did not want to risk losing the support of the Evangelical branch of conservatives, (for so many of whom the LGBTQIA community is a whipping boy), so he did a Nero and fiddled for four years while Rome burned instead of being presidential and protecting his gay and bisexual citizens. If he had taken a good look around, he would have seen that only in the US and Canada had AIDS primarily struck gay and bisexual men at that stage. In other countries AIDS was a human problem, striking down people of all stripes equally. I lost a good friend and several acquaintances to HIV. I hold Reagan and his advisors partly responsible.
C. Reagan switched from LBJ's and Carter's focus on social programs that benefitted the most vulnerable citizens, including the mentally ill, to a focus on the fiscal that benefitted Big Business and the wealthy. And proper treatment of the mentally ill was set back, de-prioritized and shrouded in shame and misunderstanding, and continues to be to this day.
D. Reagan's environmental record was abysmal, and he spent alot of energy undoing Carter's admirable legacy.
E. Reagan worked to repeal the Fairness Doctrine, which in turn led to the rise of Fox "News", which led to Newsmax, OANN, et al. And the rise of Rush Limbaugh, Alex Jones and that goofy effing My Pillow Guy. Not to mention the out-of-control campaign ads we must suffer through periodically, currently continuously for 11 months since before Christmas. Give me a break!
To me, there is very little more responsible for the dumbing-down and misinformation of America than Fox ("Not a news channel!"/"No reasonable viewer" would believe Tucker Carlson), except for
5. Toxic social media, by way of the internet
And today's evil:
6. The takeover of Twitter by Elon Musk. Why is Musk acquiring Twitter evil?
A. Musk will fire a substantial amount of Twitter employees. As in 75%. Oh, yeah, Musk tried to walk that number back, but he's already fired the CEO and other prominents and hello! The paperwork he filed with the SEC cites approximately that figure.
B. Musk will probably reinstate the accounts of his ol' buddies Donald J Trump and Kanye West. Trump is delighted at the deal, saying Twitter is "finally in sane hands". Well, that's the highest ringing endorsement this acquisition could bring, isn't it?/s. And boy, isn't Kanye West just full of love, joy and mirth these days?/s. Hurt people hurt people, I get that. I feel for both Trump and West. But they don't have the right to spread their poison for many others to consume.
C. Musk is pretty cushy with Putin, and thinks we ought to just let him have Crimea and Ukraine. Awww, well ain't that sweet? Anyone remember the last time...wasn't it Neville Chamberlain, Prime Minister of England, recommending appeasing Hitler? Well, we all know how that turned out, don't we? Yes, I know, Musk isn't in charge of a government, but a man that rich in charge of that big of an "information" exchange bank should give us all pause.
D. I have my doubts that Musk the "free speech absolutist" understands the concept that for every right or freedom we enjoy, we must pony up at least one responsibility. Seems like a few other prominent folks share my concern. Truly, this dude reminds me of another "stable genius", his buddy Trump, (yep, birds of a feather). Only we can't vote Musk out. Think about it.
