There are some hopeful signs.
1) The Trial in Minneapolis. The honesty and integrity displayed by the Chief of Police in taking the stand as a prosecution witness and then testifying in a straightforward manner without equivocation was a welcome respite from the Blue Wall of Silence and from the excuses made for the bad conduct of police officers in other instances. Likewise, the testimony of health professionals and by-standers had the impact of emotional truth-telling behind their words. Of course, the plain truth of video tapes of the killing of George Floyd brings to bear the truth of seeing for oneself what happened on that fateful day. The truth-telling by the Chief has been continued by trainers and policemen who have come forward to testify that Derek Chauvin’s use of force was not within policy guidelines and was inappropriate. Dr. Tobin (Pulmonary Specialist) gave us the most understandable concise view of the cause of this killing (asphyxia) that we have witnessed so far. His testimony was riveting.
2) The truth of saying you will do something and then actually carrying it through to fruition is what President Joe Biden is doing with his projects, plans and proposed legislation. We are seeing vaccinations administered beyond numbers originally proposed. We are seeing individual relief checks distributed, and strapped-for-cash states and cities are receiving monetary subsidies. Most recently, with the able assist from Leader Chuck Schumer, an infrastructure/jobs bill may even get past the Republicans in the Senate. Forecasts of job possibilities from this project are yet to be proven, but that truth will come out in reports of job growth. Having bold things accomplished with illustration of accomplishment, rather than made-up excuses and accusations of blame and conspiracy theories for distraction, are a welcome return to truth-telling and truth-making that has been absent during the Trump years.
3) One has to be impressed as well with the information and transparency coming out of the mouths of new Department Directors in the Biden administration. They are not hiding from the public but are presenting their goals and aims and difficulties to us as valued citizens who not only want honest information but deserve it as well. There is a sense that ordinary people do matter, and that we are being heard and respected.
4) Openness to other points of view than one’s own is a form of honesty that can’t be forgotten. Conservative Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin has been listened to and given some concessions on legislation, and it appears that will continue. Even the Republicans have been consulted but their deep-seated opposition to Democrats on every issue and every project has limited their input and made bipartisan legislating a far-out proposition. They have no one to blame but themselves (and Mitch McConnell) for being the Party of NO and blocking every piece of legislation with forward-looking investments or monetary support involved. What they want you NOT to recall is that every modern Republican President has left behind a budget debt or deficit that has affected not only the economy, but the successive administration. Government has been the victim of Republican misuse of funds for decades and we are still paying off those deficits. Giving tax breaks and special favors to the wealthy does not make for balanced budgets nor for economic growth. It makes for an unyielding chasm between rich and middle class and a grand canyon of difference between the rich and the poor.
5) Let us also not forget the official responses
of corporations like
Coca Cola, Dell, several Airlines and others who stepped up under consumer
pressure to issue amended and stronger statements of
support for voting rights in Georgia and other states like Texas. Those corporations decided to caution states
that new Jim Crow laws are not to be tolerated.
Support calling for the MLB All-star game to be removed from Atlanta
because of new Georgia restrictions on voting gained enough momentum to become
a reality. Truth sometimes takes time
and effort but prevails in the final stage. Corporate support for equal voting
rights will be decisive in states where their presence and support are
substantial.
However much
these incidents and examples push Truth forward in word and deed, there are
still those darker places that remain hidden from full light. The perversion of truth-telling as a
principle that brings order and calm (‘tranquility’) to our government and
society at large is still under attack.
And here are just a few examples:
1) One major obstacle to the return of
Truth, of course, is the BIG LIE behind new voting restrictions, i.e.,
that they protect the voting process rather than hinder the voter, is pure
propaganda and is profoundly untrue.
Every restrictive law is aimed directly at voters who favor Parties
other than the GOP. The passage of these
laws is a major method of stopping any truth from the full complement of
voters.
2) Donald Trump steals from his backers
by fraudulent means
online. How easy it was. Just put a checkmark in a box by a bold-type
statement followed by smaller natural type that says, “make donations
monthly.” And then you have the donors
return their card with what they think is one-time donations but are
pre-checked as monthly donations. And
the con man Trump receives millions in donations that (it is reported) he
proceeds to transfer to an account in
his name, not to a PAC or RNC account.
Typical Trump fraud just as he did with the casino in Atlantic City,
real estate in Florida, Trump University online, and other fraudulent maneuvers
like raising funds for vets that never got to them. With lying tweets, avoiding government taxes,
and producing irresponsible conspiracy theories, Trump has created the
atmosphere that he likes best – dishonesty that produces rewards for him and
his business. Those who lose out to his
schemes are considered losers by him. That
is the atmosphere in which he – and now too many (like Rep. Matt Gaetz of
Florida) – thrive and prosper.
The poison of dishonesty in the system of governing has consequences,
producing distrust of government and a
false belief that fraudulent claims, promises, pretense of authority and questionable
actions are all taken for the well-being of supporters. Unfortunately, fraudulent words and behaviors
bring consequences upon friend and foe alike. For instance:
a. Trump’s Health care con and
fraudulent legislation brought the pandemic to the doorsteps of supporters and
never-Trumpers alike. His neglect of a
universal plan to fight the virus ended up killing base supporters and
non-supporters alike in record numbers.
b. The buying-in to lies and
conspiracies by legislators and voters remains a threat to the ending of this
pandemic because blocking useful and helpful legislation will also fall upon
both never-Trumpers and Trumpers alike.
c. If the Minimum wage of $15 per hour
does not pass, both types are hit and will be hurt; no Medicaid increase, or
Medicare reform will fall on both; voting restrictions will eventually impact everyone
if Trump is re-elected in 2024 and becomes the first US dictator. No one will be safe!
d. Don’t underestimate the Republican dishonesty of putting gun-carry laws above the protection of voting rights. In both Tennesee and Texas, legislators were considering legislation that expanded gun rights while lowering the ability to vote without restriction. Texas Republicans are even considering legislation that will make it a crime to send out absentee ballots! That dishonesty will fall on Trumpers and non-Trumpers alike as uncontrolled gun use (like the Old West) begins to harm and kill people of both political persuasions. No one is safe when the priority is on the side of loosening gun restrictions while exacerbating the restrictions on voting.
3) Look at the hypocrisy now being
demonstrated by many of those Republicans who voted against the American Rescue
bill. They are now proclaiming the
wonder of the amounts coming into their states and trying to steal some of the
credit for it, even though they voted against it.
Perhaps more hypocritical is their reference to sections or provisions
they favor and their trying to play the role of rescuers in spite of the fact
they voted against the Bill! Hypocrisy
is a form of lying, and all those Republicans who voted against the Rescue Bill
have no business making up lies about their support for some parts. You can’t
be both for and against; legislating demands a final decision and these
hypocrites voted NO to all of it – against all of it including what they now
say they favor.
In other words, every Republican in Congress voted against the rescue of their people from the harm and devastation that the pandemic has caused! Every supporter of Trump and his Party should remember that when they vote. Stop voting for representatives who fail to rescue and relieve you when you most need their help.
4) By far, the most calamitous outcome
of the Trump dishonesty and fraudulent behavior is the toll it will take on the
entire society. We have already seen a
rise in criminal behavior; domestic violence; bullying; plus, unwarranted
vicious attacks on Asian-Americans, and a general increase in hate groups.
5) Last, but far from least, we have
witnessed an attack upon our Capitol and its inhabitants, our
Representatives. And even Trump’s most
loyal operative, Mike Pence, was not considered safe from being personally
attacked by the mob sent there by Donald Trump himself.
It needs to
be made clear that no one is immune from the consequences of autocratic
behavior because at the basis of that behavior is a fundamental distrust and
suspicion of everyone. A personal need to defeat and possibly destroy
anyone who somehow strays from, or criticizes the autocrat’s agenda, or anyone who
gets in the way of its momentum is one result (see my Blogs of 10/28/2018 and
2/8/2014 for further discussion). Trump
has taught his minions to distrust, to fight against, to use every dirty trick
available, and to look over their shoulders to prevent others from gaining any
advantage or recognition. His form of
dishonesty is meant to build power over others, never to help them or to heal
them or to enhance their lives.
The effects
of lying, bearing false witness and pretending one is something other than he
or she has demonstrated in the past – like Mitch McConnell who has incessantly invited
Big Business support for Republican legislation, projects, and candidates, but
now warns them to stay away from politics, especially from the voting rights
issue!
UN-TRUTH has
become a vicious tool to be used to gain power and control of government and
the voters -- of society a a whole. It has become a weapon of choice in a battle
to maintain white supremacy in all matters .
It is a propaganda device used to convince:
· a brain-washable base of supporters that Democrats are evil people/demons from a government just waiting to pounce on them, their guns, their religion and their race,
· them that their right to be free of government control (like their right not to wear a mask),
· that those liberal forces, are the
ones using the COVID vaccination process to enslave the electorate and to make
us all socialist automatons.
So, let us welcome efforts to bring back
truth-telling and truth-doing as seen in the less-than-hundred-days of this
Biden administration. And let us as
citizens climb aboard that train and ride with it in our own dealings of daily
life. Take a stand for truth-telling and
doing. Demand answers from businesses,
schools, organizations, and online vendors.
Don’t accept the lies that constantly assail you from false
representatives and vendors –boycott and abandon the worst of them. Don’t trade with, buy from, or support
anyone who is out to negate your well-being.
It’s time we stood up and shouted (like in that film of days gone by) –
“I’m fed up and I’m not going to take it anymore!”
Truth-telling
and truth-doing are not options – they are imperatives! As human beings, having been given the gift
of life, each of us has an obligation to others to bring truth to inform and
enhance that awesome gift. It is our
solemn duty to bring truth to life, for untruth does nothing but injure, maim,
denigrate and destroy the quality of existence.
That latter Truth has been known for centuries of human history. When truth is forgotten, or ignored, or worse
-- is used as a weapon to denigrate and damage others – it brings upon us the
chaos and confusion of wars and pandemics and a rise in crime and poverty; it
foments attacks upon the loving relationships that bind us together; it bends
the mind and creates mental fog and mental aberrations that affect our
well-being. It inflicts damage of many kinds.
That NO vote
by all Republicans in the Congress was not just on the rescue legislation. It was a resounding NO against doing what is right
for people living with the inordinate damage caused by a pandemic that was
exacerbated by the need to lie, dissemble, and to keep it under wraps so no one
would panic.
It was a
vote FOR untruth, for autocratic decision-making devoid of facts or scientific
research; it was a vote for made-up scenarios, illusions, delusions, and hallucinations---
known as ‘conspiracy theories’ in Trump-world.
Their NO was a vote against the will of the people expressed in more
than one poll – that favored the rescue legislation by up to 70%. And indeed, show that people across the
country want most o the changes in the Biden agenda by anywhere from 65 to 80%
In other
words, the Republican NO vote was a message to voters of all parties –we are in
charge; your needs and your opinions are not needed or wanted. Truth resides in us not in “WE the PEOPLE.”
The message
of this Blog is that the Trumpers have put lying, hypocrisy, and autocratic
decision-making – as well as the use of violence – in charge. They are the neo-Nazis of this culture. They are the anti-democratic Party of the
Right Wing. They are the destroyers of
Truth and Justice who are voting in a way that confirms their insurrectionist
intent. Those who continue to support
them are their puppets and the fomenters of the anti-democratic, pro-fascist
Party that calls itself ‘Republican.’
Stand for
TRUTH! And OPPOSE THE WEAPON OF UNTRUTH!
LIVE the
TRUTH VOTE for TRUTH INSIST on TRUTH REWARD TRUTH REJECT
BIG LIES
“To believe
or to assert something is not enough to make it true.”
Some believe
that Truth can only come from God or his messengers. Some that truth resides in certain unique and
special persons or objects- like a Pope or a Totem or a Dictator.
Many believe that there is a subjective truth
and an objective truth, the first dependent on a source, the second on a
process of discovery and experimentation.
Others like
Trump and his followers believe that truth is a set of “alternative facts,”
which amounts to made up “facts.”
One
dictionary definition: “the property of
being in accord with fact or reality.”
Truth is not
belief or supposition or wishful thinking; TRUTH is verifiable facts, proven
hypotheses, and the actual experience of doing what works for the benefit of
humankind.
