Political Musings

 

Some thoughts on Thursday, January 7:

--White privilege was on full display at the Capitol yesterday. BIPOC protesters would have been slaughtered.

--This was clearly another battle of the Civil War, which has not ended in the minds of so many. I hated seeing the Texas flag along side the Confederate one, but not surprised. I was actually surprised there wasn't more Neo-Nazi insignia (though, there was the Camp Auschwitz shirt.) And the Vikings were there, too. It was a free-for-all for any white Christian Nationalist identity that appeals to 20-40 yo white males (and yes, some women.)

--25th Amendment for #45 and sedition charges for terrorists.

--Yes, terrorists.

--It's too little too late, Mitch McConnell. You get no points.

--Why are there videos of Capitol police opening the barricades to these terrorists? Were there some sympathizers? I'd like to see more about what happened. But clearly the Capitol police were outmanned and most did a courageous thing in trying to protect our Capitol.

--I imagine the win of the two GA senators and the idea of Garland for AG were fuel to the fire.

--It could have been so much worse and I expect we will see more violence around the country in the months ahead. Part of me believes that as a nation we are at or approaching rock bottom and that this violence will have turned some away from #45 and his ilk (and not just his wife's social secretary!) In many ways, I think the terrorists will have defeated their own cause.

--There's more swirling in my head but this will do for now.

Here, this morning, I am saddened but not shocked. I am angry and somewhat desirous of punitive, retributive justice. As a family, we had solemn discussions of white supremacy and racists systems, treason and terrorism, and my kids know more about government than I ever did. But day before yesterday, Bud spoke truth to power when one of his teachers used a slur for the virus and the teacher apologized. I have faith in the younger generation, but I'm sorry we've created so much mess and chaos and division for them.

My thoughts this morning, Friday, January 8, 2021:

--In the 21st century, we do not need 2 months between election and inauguration so people can travel by horse or rail to get to DC. Shorten the time! It was shortened before.

--All those resigning cabinet members who have been complicit in #45's misdeeds are only leaving so they don't have to invoke the 25th Amendment and betray their master. They are not having an attack of morals but the need to protect their own skins. No points for you, Elaine Chao. And buh-bye Betsy.

--Where are all of the arrests?

--You go, Nancy Pelosi. Impeach #45 again and disqualify him from further office or we will be facing his return in 4 years. And hearing about it everyday until then.

--Too little too late, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Especially Twitter letting him back on in 12 hours. Still, so far, these are the only repercussions he's faced for sedition.

--What to say about the terrorist who was killed? I am sorry for her family and friends. But, she was knowingly invading a government building in order to interrupt and prevent a Constitutionally required certification, which goes against her oath as a member of the armed forces to uphold the Constitution; this wasn't a question of first amendment protection here. And then she did not comply with orders from law enforcement. Isn't that what white supremacists always say about black people who are shot, suffocated, etc for driving, sleeping, walking, shopping while black? I don't know where it comes from, but I'm hearing a lot about "play stupid games, get stupid prizes." But you can't bring guns and bombs and Molotov cocktails to a protest and expect impunity . . . unless you're white, which is the only reason she was the only terrorist killed. I'm sorry there was any loss of life--particularly now that we are hearing that a police officer has died from injuries.

--I want #45 and all his bullies arrested and tried. And no self-pardons. I think he shouldn't be able to pre-emptively pardon everybody, much less himself. (In fact, the whole presidential pardon thing needs to be re-evaluated.) And I don't want Biden issuing a pardon to heal the nation like Ford did. Nope. I want hearings and I want justice. It's not on the same order of the Nazis, but the Nuremberg trials were important for justice being seen to be done, from the top officials all the way down to the guards. So, from the administration all the way down to complicit Capitol police and that newly-elected WV lawmaker.

Okay, that's my mental purge for this morning. And I haven't really even read the papers yet this morning.

Black Lives Matter

As a white woman of privilege and the descendant of Confederate slave owners, I am ashamed and horrified by the continued police murders of black men and women.  That peaceful protesters are being tear-gassed and attacked by quasi-military troops for the exercise of their first amendment rights is similarly disgusting.  I lay much of the blame at the feet of #45 and the cohort who bows to his immoral will for domination, including spineless and corrupt politicians, greedy billionaire and millionaire backers, and all the people who still believe these actions Make America Great Again.

I would love to say that this is not my America and he is not my president, but neither are true, unfortunately.  He was elected via the electoral college (though not the popular vote, because of GOP gerrymandering) and the racial hatred and violence spewing forth is at the very heart of the American idea of capitalism and exceptional individualism.  BIPOC activists and writers have said it better than me and we should listen to their words, not mine here. 

I write to acknowledge my own complicity in systemic racism as well as my personal incidents of acting from internalized racism.  I have clutched my purse when I've seen a black man at night on the street; I didn't go to the 8th-grade dance with a black friend because I worried what others would say; I've locked my car doors when pulling up to a corner with a black man on it.  But as a friend says, I know better now so I do better.  I am sorry for my thoughts and actions in the past.  I will do better.

I am staying in touch with the news, beginning to read Ta-Nehisi Coates's Between the World and Me, and protesting peacefully when the opportunity arises, as it did on Saturday in my town.

Enough is Enough.
If you're not outraged, you're not paying attention.
No Justice, No Peace.
Black Lives Matter.

Racism

"You wouldn't believe how bad these people are. These aren't people. These are animals."--#45

Sure, the argument has been made that this quote is taken out of context from a discussion of MS-13 gang members, but it will be embraced by people who believes it applies to anyone without "white" skin.  

There has been some discussion on the FB pages of my friends about racism, in light of everything happening in our country and around the world.  And this was before #45's comment (no, I don't say his name.)  A friend commented that she didn't think most people were racist.  And I posted this below because I disagree.

I think most people are racist. Not in the way of the KKK or white supremacists, but in the lock-your-car-doors-when-you-see-a-black-man-on-the-sidewalk way--they might not even recognize they do it. Recently, it was pointed out to me that hotel shampoo is for white people's hair; I'd never considered the implicit bias that hotels would stock that instead of something else (or even shower caps, which they don't do much anymore--I didn't know that shower caps were often used by African-American women.) It's just enough privilege and then racism that when Black Lives Matter started, people argued "all lives matter" or when violence happens, white people start saying "they" meaning black people (as in, "well, they commit more of the crime, right?") It's the racism that assumes that when it's just white people around, jokes, little asides, and such statements can be made ("slavery wasn't that bad in the North.") It's insidious and perhaps even more dangerous than the KKK because it goes unremarked. It's this racism that supports systemic racism in our society. I know I struggle with racism, having grown up in Texas where there were few African Americans in my neighborhood and none in our circle of friends. I come from a family with ancestors who fought for the Confederacy and, I believe, probably owned slaves in Louisiana. And sometimes I'm locking my car door before I even recognize the gesture. It's why I encourage a diversity and variety of friends and experiences plus trying to stay informed via media and education--to give me the understanding that I lack, to render visible my implicit racism and prejudice and so I can teach my children better. "You have to be carefully taught . . . "