Mary J. Melange couldn’t have spoken for me any better if I’d dictated her entire post myself.
I hate that I’m too old to go stand, walk, march in all the demonstrations sweeping the country but I can still type. If in the past the pen was mightier than the sword, today a keyboard might be mightier than those so-called representatives in Washington …
Right
I keep hoping that the longer this nonsense in DC continues, the more the mid-term votes against it pile up.
Exactly.
We all have keyboards!
The thing is, if one is intent on changing minds and affecting positive change, perhaps one shouldn’t start with:
“You are a party that is racist, bigoted, homophobic, narcissistic, hateful and only seem to care about your own power, wealth and status.”
Especially since — if one believes that — what’s the point of appealing to them?
Personally, I’m not optimistic about either party. But if I were to offer advice to Democrats, it would be to be less cock-sure about one’s perceived high horse; per my count, many of the monikers in that sentence easily apply to Democrats (all but one).
So, again, until I see an actual effort — by either party — of reaching out to the other side, I hold no hope for the near future. Because asking others to change without admitting one’s faults has been, and will continue to be, a recipe for disaster.
And so, I’ll repeat my advice to both Democrats and Republicans . . . before you vilify the other side, clean your own house. Or, since we’re quoting Bible verses: John 8:7 and Mark 7:3.
This is sadly true: Obama used to speak about the need to reach out.
But more to the point is your quotation, and I feel as if only those like me, living outside the US, are sufficiently distanced as to understand that.
For even the intelligent and thinking American, it’s all just getting to be too much.
For the intelligent and thinking Australian (she said modestly), your entire electoral and even justice system is mind-boggling. I mean, the gerrymandering ????
Well, Melange speaks for me in that she expresses my outrage and indignation about the chaos raging in Washington and across the country. But if I were to actually write to someone, I’d certainly be more, er, diplomatic? restrained? with my language. And yes, both parties are at fault — the Republicans for electing Donald “I am your retribution” Trump and giving him free rein, and the Dems for not doing more to constrain him. I like to think (dream?) that every passing day means more mid-term votes against the do-nothings in Congress. I’m hoping the Dems will retake the majorities — big ones! — in the House and Senate, put a stop to the insanity, and get back to doing the country’s business.
I completely understand what you said about me not starting this post as I did, but I wrote this post never intending to email it to anyone in the GOP. It was a day I simply had to “let it all hang out.” There are days when I’m just plain angry and if I don’t find an outlet, the anger eats at me all day. On the other hand, Trump and the GOP have no issues about calling people names on X (or Twitter during his first term), on social media or on Fox News. Trump had no issue with gassing black protesters so he could hold up a Bible in front of a church. He calls himself Christian, but acts and speaks like the devil. He is anti LGBTQ+ and sends American citizens off to a Venezuelan prison without checking credentials or having due process. He wants to ruin our land for profit. So, what I say, I stand by. Trump and the GOP are all of those things and sometimes I have to say them out loud. I have been meeting with my pastor from time to time because the thoughts in my head are overshadowing the heart that wants to love and forgive. He is also upset by what is going on, but always gives good advice about leaning on Jesus and prayer. I’m not sure how any of us are going to get through these times, but I promise that when I call or email my representatives, I will not be calling them names, but following online scripts that are respectful.
Oh, Mary, believe me, I SO understand!! If I wrote down what runs through my head every day, it would look just like what you wrote. But I’d also include most of the Democrats who for the most part seem to be doing nothing. Bless Cory Booker for his speech. I wanted to reach through the screen to hug him. I’m just so wound up by the utter insanity of Trump and Musk, I can hardly stand it.
Susan, just ask, and I’ll be happy to bow out of this and future discussions.
Nope, I’m good as long as we all challenge the ideas, not the individuals. I’m happy to provide the forum.
I don’t know if you want to hear this, nor do I know if Susan will like what I’m about to write. That said, I’m hoping this helps you think more deeply about stuff you say bothers you.
First, you are rationalizing. The statement “never intending to email it to anyone in the GOP” is proven wrong by the title. As a reminder, the title is, “An Open Letter to the GOP”.
It is absolutely aimed at GOP and for Trump supporters to read. Heck, you call out other Christians who don’t agree with you as not being True Christians. Oddly enough, that’s exactly what Trump’s Christian base is saying about Christians who vote voted for Harris.
So, how about leaving religion out of it? It obviously can be used to argue either side and praying to Jesus apparently is not helping.
Had you just wanted to vent, you could just express your thoughts (https://dispersertracks.com/2024/11/12/tiny-thoughts-21-one-week-later/) without specifically calling for the attention of a particular group, or, in my case, both groups.
As for your anger issues . . . try putting yourself in the shoes of people who you hate (there’s something in the Bible about that). For instance, not all Republicans voted for Trump, just like not all Democrats voted for Harris. Sure, the GOP is the current party in power, but there’s plenty of dissent within the ranks.
And let’s be honest about how much of the current situation is due to the DNC, Biden, and Harris.
Like the GOP, Democrats listened — and put more weight — to the opinions of their batshit crazy faction, with the bulk “going along” out of fear:
– Open Borders are a good thing (not only wrong-headed, but massively unpopular)
– Men are the same as women (factually wrong, and massively unpopular)
Those are the two main gifts Democrats handed Republicans, but there was much more.
Add things like Defund the police, condoning riots and violent demonstrations as long as it’s BLM or the pro-Palestinians/Hamas factions, denigration of all Caucasians as inherently racist, preferential treatment for POC both in the marketplace and in the courts, preferential treatment of *illegal* immigrants even when committing crimes, and you should at least see why people were looking for an alternative.
Was Trump the answer? Obviously not. He was — and is — a terrible vehicle to address and solve issues we face . . . but that’s the thing; we only had two choices, and Harris wasn’t even the Democrat’s choice, having been foisted on us at the last minute.
And, certainly, their message wasn’t on point. In fact, there was no message. The big deal for some voters was refusal to acknowledge profoundly unpopular policies, and concentrating, instead, on denigrating the opposition. The Harris campaign doubled down of the very things Trump was using to gather support.
Look at how many people defected and the record number of minorities (the people you say the GOP is targeting) who voted for Trump. Are they just stupid? Tell me about Blacks and Latinos, and LGBTQ+ voting for Trump . . . are they also racist and hateful?
What happened is what always happens in US elections; the pendulum swings, and it will swing again, hopefully for the better. It swung because enough voters lost confidence in Democrats and their message. It will eventually swing again because Republicans will overreach, claiming a mandate they don’t have.
Things might then improve, but not if the motivator is hate. Not if your opinion of a large and diverse group of people, people who voted a particular way for more reasons than we can enumerate, is to lump them all in as “racist, bigoted, homophobic, narcissistic, hateful”.
Especially since that makes you bigoted and hateful, and thus more prone to blindly follow the misguided policies of the DNC instead of trying to reform them (Democrats show no signs of having done any soul-searching and are dangerously close to doubling down on all their bad policy ideas).
Look, I don’t know you, and you don’t know me, but what we say, what we write, is either espousing what we believe will improve things and an expression of our passion, or it’s performative. So, which is it?
You say you had to post that to vent . . . vent to whom? You speak directly to Trump Voters. Are you just seeking confirmation for your views? Judging from the comments you received, you got it.
Want to know why I posted here and not on your blog? Because I perceive you and your readers to be closed to discussion.
Are you trying to better the political arena? Not by my view.
Not without asking this basic question: assuming not all the people who voted for Trump are scum of the Earth, what did they see in his message? What resonated with them? What did they vote against? Never mind that Trump lied and manipulated feelings and opinions. There was obviously something facilitating the manipulation of those feelings and opinions. You can either assume — as you did — that it’s just racism and hate, or you can consider that it was triggered by Democrats and their policies.
Understanding is the key. But beyond that, it’s also acknowledging and offering something addressing people’s concerns. Anything else is just a different version of what we’re seeing playing out right now; self-righteousness and retribution.
You call for resistance and opposition without one mention of self-reflection, understanding, and an honest assessment of underlying issues.
THAT is what’s not going to end well for this country.
It appears we both have our own opinions and the ways in which we deal with the current situation. I do not say I HATE anyone, have never said that about anyone, even my ex. I’m angry, sad and disheartened. I will agree that I am bigoted toward Trump and the GOP at this time, and I have lost friends over his shenanigans and their name-calling of me. No, you do not know me, it’s obvious, so I will say nothing further and perhaps we can agree to disagree and end this conversation. Have a nice week.
You know, when it got right down to me and my ballot, the issue was reduced to the two names in front of me and what I knew about those two people. Harris, a woman I barely knew and whose record I barely knew, if there even was one. And Trump, a man I’d known about for several decades, a businessman for whom I’d developed nothing but disdain, a man who routinely cheated on his business deals, went bankrupt several times, didn’t pay his workers, started and perpetuated the “birther” movement, a misogynist and extreme narcissist, and then, to cap it all off, organized the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. I thought the choice was a no-brainer.
@Susan
Just to be clear, I’m not defending Trump, nor the GOP . . . nor Harris or the DNC.
Let’s quickly dispense with something I don’t like . . . voting for or against a person.
Not a position, not an issue, but a person. But that’s not what should happen, although too often it does.
What we should be voting on is issues.
Are you for an open border? Vote DNC.
Are you for a closed border? Vote GOP.
Are you for a reasonable legal immigration and asylum policy? Well, you are SOL.
So then, which do you think is worse for the US? Open or closed border? Which do you think can be persuaded to move from their extreme positions?
And that’s just one issue. Multiply that by, arguably, many complicated issues requiring nuanced conversations and you see the scope of the problem.
Serious people with reasoned arguments made their choice. But, many more just voted the name, with only a vague idea about the depth of the issues, or even the totality of the issues.
By admitting you are voting for the person, you are buying into what is, essentially, a personality cult. Worse, you’re buying into a perversion of our system of government. Our representatives are meant to debate and enact laws, not our President. That’s who we should be sanguine about.
Ask me why I didn’t vote (not that it would have mattered if I had)? Because per the examination of multiple factors, I could not tell who would have been worse.
Sure, I could tell you who was (and is) a scumbag and who was a vapid political figure with no stated policies. But I could not tell you which would be worse for the long run. And by the long run, I mean a time when I will no longer be alive. And neither can you.
So, yes, I now raise my voice in disapproval of what Trump is doing . . . as I did with Biden, as I did in the first Trump term, as I did with Obama, and so on. And I also raise my voice in disapproval of Democrats still taking what they see as the easy path: Trump bad, vote for us.
For many people — much like in 2024 — it will take more than that, and so far, I’m not seeing it.
If the GOP lose the Midterms, it will be because Trump screwed up, not because people found any value in what the Democrats offer. And never mind 2028; there isn’t a singular figure that will capture the middle and some of the Right in the way the GOP did in 2024. Unless, maybe, Democrats change their tune.
Of course, I could be wrong. Plus, I’m inconsequential. Plus, I’m a Naturalized citizen, so I’ll likely be deported to some country I’m not from.
@bikerchick57
Thank you, likewise, and no worries . . . this is the last you’ll hear from me.
@disperser
Sadly, the issues don’t appear on our ballots. We only get to vote for the people who represent them, or come closest to representing them, or that we hope will represent them as we would like. So that’s what I do. I vote for people based on what I know about them. That’s all I meant to say. If you look back through my posts over the last few years, it will be pretty clear where I stand on the issues. (And if it isn’t, just ask me.)
(Hope this comment lands where it’s supposed to.)
Lots of people (when running) speak of uniting and representing everyone. Heck even Trump said it.
. . . then they get elected.
The thing is, irrespective of the current clown show, it is my opinion the US has a potential for freedom other countries lack. The Bill of Rights is unique (as far as I can tell), and while there are hiccups along the way, I’m still hoping the underlying framework for government will resist attack on . . . much like it has in the past.
In that regard, as much as the system tolerates a fair amount off slop in accepted norms, so far, it has held. I’m hoping it will hold during this extreme test, but I fear it might take a while to correct.
As for gerrymandering, it’s not a guarantee because people have the ability for independent thought. Sure, there is a core of mouth-breathing non-thinkers in both the Left and Right, but there’s a sufficiently large portion of the electorate who is not blindly following this or that party.
Oh, they might for a bit, but — if history is any indication — not for long.
I don’t worry that much about gerrymandering. What I’d like to see is an abandonment of the Electoral College in favor of the popular vote.
Like you, I hope the Constitution and Bill of Rights survive through all this. In my lifetime, this is the first time I’ve been seriously concerned about it. And I am very concerned.
Indeed, Colorado: the Electoral College is an awful thing ! Without it, electoral results would be far, far more true.
But why on earth don’t you worry about your regular gerrymandering ? – boundaries being drawn at will ?
I know gerrymandering occurs but there’s little I can do about it. In Colorado an independent commission draws the district lines and they must be approved by the state supreme court.
I have my fingers firmly crossed regarding the worth of the state supreme courts – are they any better than SCOTUS ??
I don’t know much about any of them. Some seem willing to stand up to Trump and call him out on certain things, although I have no idea how they expect to enforce any of their rulings. Certainly can’t get by expecting him to obey every court decree. Here in Colorado we voters get pick’em or at least vote whether or not to keep them in their positions. The only way I know to make my choices is to look at the governor who appointed them and go with those appointed by democrats which is most of them.
That’s definitely a plan, mate ! 🙂
Excelente blog 💯
Good luck 💯
I hope you’ll also follow mine and we’ll read each other and grow together. Thank you so much 🫂 Blessings 🌈🙏🌎🇪🇦
Thank you, and welcome to Pied Type. I’ll come visit you soon