Dog Whistling

Dog whistling is a political ploy used to communicate something insidiously to a target audience that is bent to react to your comment. When a political campaign uses the dog whistle strategy it is often without any basis of fact and is used only to get a visceral reaction to garner support.

Chris Christie accused Trump this weekend using the dog whistle when he used Hitleresque comments regarding immigrants. (more on that later). Christie’s comments were accompanied by his own dog whistling when he said the border is broken and the economy is failing. Both of these comments are blatantly untrue and were only meant to gather his own support for his failing campaign. He won’t talk about his own failures or his actions with Bridgegate that cost millions of dollars because he effectively shut down the George Washinton Bridge or when he shut down a local beach so he can enjoy it with his family. He has no foreign policy experience and had not revealed a platform for his potential presidency.

Living in the Adirondacks and a stone throw away from the Vermont border, our local television stations come from Vermont and are also broadcast in nearby New Hampshire. Because of this we have been inundated with political ads from Niki Haley this week. Her dog whistling this week reeks with ageism and outright falsehoods. She claims our cities and college campuses are in chaos, she outright said “Biden is too old and alludes to the fact that younger candidates should be elected. She even states in her ads that she wants competency tests without saying for who. Does she mean only elected officials based on age, or the public in general? How do you measure competency? Whose definition of competency is she willing to use? She too claims the economy is in shambles. 

We should talk about her competency as our Ambassador to the United Nations during the Trump administration. She pushed Trump’s agenda that alienated our allies, almost destroyed NATO, abandoned our Kurdish allies and effectively handing them over to Putin controlled Assad’s Syrian forces. Not to mention abandoning Ukraine, while threatening the world to take down names that did not support Trump’s agenda.

Trump’s dog whistling this weekend mirrors Hitleresque propaganda that ran rampant in the 1930’s. Not only in Germany, but in this country as well. The Nazi Party tried to establish themselves here with many fascist loving individuals forming groups with names such as the “Silver Shirts” promoting antisemitism. Back then they often pointed towards individuals of means as the “Jewish enemy”. Much like Trump does today when he mentions George Soros.

When he mentions that immigrants are poisoning the blood of our nation, this dog whistle is clearly a message to those who thrive on hatred, another Hitleresque move. They forget that most of us have the immigrant blood in our veins from our own ancestors.

2024 will become a turning point for our nation. Do we fall for the dog whistle and run towards this hatred with our tails wagging and saliva dripping or do we as a nation ignore it and focus on what makes our nation the envy of the world. Do we move forward or do we retreat to the 1930’s? Don’t answer the call of the dog whistle!

The Puppet Master

We must recognize that the Puppet Master has firm control of the Republican Party. Don’t assume that the Puppet Master is Trump. The real Puppet Master has a firm grip on Trump and in turn the MAGA Republican Party. Sometimes we need to step back and look behind the curtain.

Putin is the real Puppet Master. He has firm control of the oligarchs that are running authoritarian regimes. He salivates at the prospect that we may be controlled by our own authoritarian regime. It is no secret that Putin wants Trump as President and will do anything to get him reelected. We all know he had a hand in Trump’s last term.

Remember when he shared classified information with Russia when the Russian Ambassador was in the Oval office?

Remember when Trump said he believed Putin over our own intelligence community?

Now we have Republicans in Congress that are doing Putin;s bidding. Today the passed a resolution to continue an Impeachment Inquiry into President Biden. Yesterday they refused to fund Ukraine or Israel. Both of these refusals support Putin’s agenda. They were even applauded by a Putin back television show for their inaction. They are sewing doubt in our own government’s capabilities. They are complicit in Trump’s plan of insurrection. They are attacking our schools, and universities. They are beginning to question the resolve of NATO. Why just today Marjorie Trailerpark Greene said that if Trump wins, we will most likely withdraw from the World Health Organization (WHO).

Today this was the AP headline , Russia’s Putin is visiting the UAE and Saudi Arabia, seeking to bolster Moscow’s Mideast clout. Let’s not forget, Trump’s son in law, Jared, was given Billions of dollars as an investment by the Saudis immediately after Trump lost the election.

Last week Congressional Republicans met with Putin’s closest European ally, Hungary’s Orban. In a closed door meeting they discussed ending US support for Ukraine. Trump himself is calling for the end of the Ukraine war, saying he could settle it within 24 hours. We could only imagine how.

Let’s face it, Trump is Putin’s puppet, and I am starting to realize that MAGA Republicans are just too plain stupid to realize that Putin is pulling their strings as well. Just a couple of days ago, Trump admitted he will be a dictator if elected and yet he continues to get support. He is not covering up that he is Putin’s puppet.

The problem is a many of our neighbors have been fed raw meat that feeds into their wrongly held beliefs. They feel that their beliefs have been validated. Their hatred is encouraged even if there is no rationale reason for it. They have also become puppets of the Puppet Master.

I don’t know how long it will take us to cut those strings. But we must, otherwise our children and grandchildren will pay the price of being controlled by the Puppet Master.

Avoidance is Not an Answer

Avoidance is never a good choice, especially when there is much at risk. Our nation has seen the dangers of avoidance in the past. Appeasement before WWII, slavery, and Native American genocide, are 3 examples of how a large segment of our population looked the other way, buried their collective heads in the sand to avoid issues that demanded our attention. Not taking action always has consequences.

Today, our nation has a large segment of our population that is choosing to avoid important issues. Ukraine, Israel and the Palestinians, immigration reform are just a few examples. Hard Right Republicans want to avoid funding the war to preserve Ukraine, they ignore the need for a peaceful 2 state solution between Israel and the Palestinians, and they just think shutting the border is a solution.

Folk’s our democracy is in danger. We now have an avoidance movement that is spreading across our country. Many voters are now stating that they won’t vote for Trump or Biden. Some are choosing an alternate candidate that has no chance of winning. They wrongly think that their protest vote will accomplish something.

Let’s face it, unlike some other countries our elections provide generally two choices, Republican or Democrat. Voting for a fringe candidate, or not voting at all, is avoidance. It puts our democracy at risk, it is throwing your vote into the wind and hoping all will be well. That’s playing into the hands of those who thought appeasement is a good idea.

Biden is the clear-cut choice. Saying you won’t vote or voting for a fringe candidate only provides an opportunity for Trump. This is what happened in 2016. Clinton was a poor choice, and even though it was a small number of voters that refused to vote for her, it was enough to give Trump a win. And our nation paid dearly for that.

So, to you who claim you don’t have a choice, get your head out of the sand, or better yet get your head out of your arse!

Don’t look at us!

Republicans have been engaged in a “look over there” strategy. They will do everything they can to distract us from the reality that they can not and will not govern. They throw out accusations in an effort drive a false narrative so that the media will report on their false accusations thereby cutting into coverage on what is the truth.

They do it everyday. Here are some of today’s examples.

They continue to attack Biden, when documentation reveals Hunter was paying back his dad for a truck loan his dad helped him with when he was on hard times, when Biden was NOT IN OFFICE.

Here is another one from Ted Cruz today.

According to AAA todays average gas price is $3.24.

And here is a classic..

Bidenomics has been a huge success. We see it everyday. Lower prices at the pump, less unemployment, restaurants booming, retail is up, the CPI is down, airline ticket costs are down, infrastructure projects are all around us, just to name a few.

So why do they try to make us look away??

They don’t want us to see Trump has been indicted for over 90 crimes, he has been rules by the courts as a rapist, his lawyers are heading to jail one by one, and his son in law is involved in a shady deal with the Saudi prince who had a journalist murdered and hacked to pieces.

They want us to forget when the country ran out of toilet paper, baby formula, and used semi trucks as morgues. They want us to not watch the Republican controlled House of Representatives fail to govern as they fight with each other and launch sophomoric attacks rather that actually govern.

“A sucker is born every minute” is often attributed to the showman P.T. Barnum, when actually a banker named David Hannum from Syracuse, New York said it in response to suckers being duped by P.T. Barnum.

Today’s lesson is don’t be that sucker, don’t look the other way. Follow the truth and don’t let them distract your view of political discourse.

Gagging Trump or Us?

Trump having to comply with a very limited gag order is only half of today’s story. The other half is how Trump’s allies in the Republican party are causing us all to gag as we witness their disgusting strategic lying.

Today the partial gag order in Trump’s civil trial in New York was reinstated by New York’s Supreme Court. New York’s Supreme Court is an appellate court that heard Trump’s appeal on the original gag order. The question now is what will the consequences be when Trump ignores the gag order? We shall see.

The real news however in that most of us have been subjected to the repulsive actions and statements that have reached a fever peak rom Trump’s allies in the Republican Party. When we observe what our democracy is being subjected too it certainly makes me gag. Often these hard Right morons spew hatred, vitriol and vomit on the House floor or in committee meetings that makes us all want to retch.

Lindsey Graham directly called on Governor Abbott to send thousands of immigrants to the states of 10 Democratic Senators. https://twitter.com/i/status/1730047017886290267 Graham calls himself a Christian and yet wants too ship migrants that are legally seeking asylum as if they were cattle.

Josh Hawley is now saying the Biden Administration is using tactics straight out of the Chinese Communist Party’s playbook. Without any facts he is attacking Biden and calling him a Communist. Hawley has no idea what communism is, he is just vomiting hard Right talking points.

Clay Higgins is regurgitating talking points that the FBI was driving the attack on the Capitol on January 6th. He claims the FBI agents dressed up in Trump gear and incited the insurrection.

Moms4 Liberty has been attacking school Boards and school libraries over content. This news story broke today. Here is an except from Mother Jones. https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2023/11/a-florida-gop-leader-a-moms-for-liberty-founder-and-allegations-of-group-sex-and-rape/

The investigative journalism outlet Florida Center for Government Accountability has a story today alleging that Christian Ziegler, the chair of the Florida GOP, sexually assaulted a woman. This would be enough to attract attention, but this woman was allegedly having a ménage à trois with him and his wife Bridget, the erstwhile crusading chair of the Sarasota school board and a co-founder of the parents’ rights group Moms for Liberty.

These are only a few examples of how low these Right Wing Morons are dragging our Nation. We need recognize their actions for what it is…pure vomit.

Let’s focus on today’s positive news, which is much easier to swallow.

New stats show annual inflation fell to its lowest level since March 2021 and that monthly inflation was zero. This comes after yesterday’s news that the U.S. economy grew by more than 5% last quarter. These are strong indicators that Biden’s economic vision is working.

All 4 National polls released this week have President Biden leading Donald Trump.

New reports show 52% of 18-29-year-olds say they will vote for Joe Biden over Trump. This is a higher percentage than any other age group. For all the stress about where Gen-Z sits, it should be noted that Biden drove record youth turnout in 2020 & will again in 2024.

813,000 student borrowers received an email Tuesday from President Biden saying their debt had been forgiven because of the Biden-Harris Administration’s loan forgiveness plans. This is a huge deal that will relieve a significant burden for countless Americans.

New economic analysis has been done and shows that shipping backlogs are now at a 25 year low. Most economists are attributing this success to President Biden’s insistence on creating a more resilient and sustainable economy following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Rubbernecking and the Media

On this holiday weekend many of us take to the roads and eventually we all do it. We all have the tendency to want too see the accident, fire, or other emergency that has caught our attention. Even though we know we shouldn’t we rubberneck. On the road this often causes a traffic jam on the side of the road unaffected by the accident. Rubbernecking often results in another accident. When on the scene of another emergency our rubbernecking often mean that the first responders must divert some of their attention to the emergency at hand and safeguard the scene from us rubberneckers. Rubbernecking is often fed by our curiosity or desire to be a witness and often can create a problem for us as well.

So how does the media figure into rubbernecking? Let’s be honest, in this age of instant news, CNN, MSNBC, Fox, “X”, Facebook, Tik ToK and other forms available through the internet and cable TV, dramatic events drive viewers to seek more information. Lately when a Trump or his MAGA minions story hits the news cycle, many flock to see what this is all about. And just like the rubberneckers on the highway, those that flock to these media stories often get caught up in their own traffic jam of news that often blocks out the real news of the day.

When Trump or is MAGA minions actions get viewers to these media outlets it often drives their programming because it drives their revenues. Therefore, Trump’s words or actions actually help the revenues of these media outlets.

We saw this in 2016. Trump’s outrageous behavior was reported on all day, every day. Not only did it drive revenues , the constant exposure drove minions towards him. They heard someone who validated their most outrageous ideas everyday. The media’s constant coverage is what helped spawn the mass MAGA movement and all the evil baggage that came with it.

So just as rubbernecking on the road can cause problems for those who are on the other side of the guide rails, wanting to see what Trump has said today causes problems for those on the other side of his political spectrum.

Don’t “rubberneck” when Trump’s actions are shown over and over. Glance at it and move on, after all we still need too know. Perhaps these media outlets will realize that their viewers are not interested in wall to wall coverage of Trump and his MAGA minions and will no longer provide the means for us to get bogged down in Trump traffic.

We can only hope.

Our Fork in the Road

We all know that we have “red” and “blue” states. We also have states competing with each other for needed supplies. We have armed protesters trying to intimidate their state’s legislators. We have Nazi , Confederate, and KKK flags flying side by side with Trump 2020 banners. We have immigrant kids taken from the mothers and fathers and locked up. We have almost 70,000 dead in the last 2 months. We have some saying it’s ok for some to die but we need to open up our economy. Thousands are dying in nursing homes every week.

We have states saying they now need federal financial help in amounts we have never experienced in our nation’s history. We now have a president who has said he will block any financial assistance to individual states unless they agree with his immigration policies.

Last night we had Trump doing a “Town Hall” on Fox news inside the Lincoln Memorial. With the statue of Lincoln as a backdrop he said that he is being treated worse that Lincoln ever was.

This series of events should send shivers up your spine. Think about history, think what went on during the time of Lincoln.

MAGA my ass, this is an attempt to drive an ideological disease that the Trump family has carried with them for several generations. Do your homework understand what history mandates we learn or else we will repeat the same mistakes of the past.

Folks we have reached that fork in the road. Which one will you take?

Get over it? No freaking way!

We have  been told over and over again  “get over it!”   I won’t get over it, I won’t sit back quietly, I won’t stand idle while our country is in trouble.

How can we stand by when our illegitimate Commander in Chief puts our nation’s standing in the world at risk every day? On Thursday, his  Ambassador to the United Nations told the world representatives at the UN that she will be taking names.  Our national security is at risk due to his traitorous  appointment to protect our nation. His continued attack of the press corp threatens the very fabric of our national identity. His appointments to his cabinet are direct attacks on our environment, workers’ rights, regulatory protections, our judicial system, and many of our God given human rights. Even his latest selection to be our National Security Adviser turned down the important job. It’s reported that he refused because, as he put it, this administration is a real “shit sandwich.”

Trumps response to these concerns consists of lies, repeated lies of his election, attacking the questioner, and holding rallies. Folks, when asked about the uptick of antisemitism and the growing violence to Jews, he responded by telling the reported to sit down.  When questioned by a black reporter if he is willing to meet with the Congressional Black Caucus to discuss violence in the inner cities, he acted as if he didn’t know what the CBC was then asked the reporter to set up the meeting with her friends.Trump is mentally ill!

His appointment of Betsey DeVos should raise alarms across the nation. Do Trumpkins really want children with special needs to go without needed services? Do they really believe evolution is made up science fiction? Do they really believe schools should be privately owned ventures that are funded with taxpayer monies and that these schools should not be held accountable for these funds or the success of their programs?

Do Trumpkins really believe that 100’s of thousands of National Guard troops should go door to door, school to school, office to office, hospital to hospital as a deportation force? Are we ready to hid our neighbors in our attics, hidden rooms, barns, and basements? Is that what we are about to become?

Are Trumpkins prepared to live in a nation, where there will be no protections on the job site, where basic employee rights will be stripped, or where they will not be able to negotiate a collective bargained agreement that would protect the company as well as the employee. Are they prepared to return to the workplaces of the late 1800’s where they have no choice but to owe the company store?

Are Trumpkins prepared to watch people die due to the lack of healthcare? Will they be willing to return to the era of only those with money get treated and watch others suffer or  die? Is this making America great?

Folks I will not get over it!  Trump and Pence needs to be impeached. I am not willing to sit back and watch this egomaniac systematically destroy our country. I won’t sit in the corner, I won’t sit quietly, I refuse to accept this blatant attack on our national conscience.

Join me at rallies, join me at organization meetings, join me making calls, join me on social media. Don’t get over it.. get organized. Resist!

 

 

 

 

We are becoming the America I know, not the America I want!

We are becoming the America I know, not the America I want.

The America I know is a nation with a checkered past. Yes, we are the greatest nation on the face of the earth! Yes, I love our nation and honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice to protect our guiding principles of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. As true Americans and true patriots we must always strive to make our great nation a place where those guiding principles apply to all.  Unfortunately, the America I know has not been that place.

We should be drawing on our checkered past to protect and practice those guiding principles not bastardize them. Our Founders knew we had flaws and they knew our nation would be facing challenges that would threaten our guiding principles. They created our guiding document, The Constitution, that would ensure our nation would always be governed with those guiding principles. They knew times would change and the Constitution should be a “living document’ that would be amended and changed as needed to ensure the maintenance of our nation’s guiding principles

Unfortunately, we now have a nation that is deeply divided and is at a very dangerous ‘fork in the road”. Will we go down the road towards the America we all know, or towards the America we want?

Will we return down the road of racism, ignorance and fear? I fear President Trump and his supporters are driving us down the road towards the America we know, not the America we should be.

Within a week of taking office we have seen a return towards  taking Native American sacred lands. We have seen an “America First” policy that has closed our welcoming door that repeats our pre WWII actions. We have seen an executive order that has institutionalized discrimination based on religion, much like the Puritans did. We are seeing a return to the Gilded Age where corruption and greed overshadowed the needs of the masses. We are seeing Trump’s Cabinet shaping into a group that will try to shut down the press, create an enemies list, seek retribution for those who dare disagree, funnel public revenues to their own, and destroy the concept of public education for all.  Their early actions and statements have  signaled that they will be changing our guiding principles, much like Andrew Jackson did, when he ignored a Supreme Court ruling and murdered thousands of Native Americans.

We cannot escape our past. We need to confront it and learn from it, not repeat it. The America I know is far from perfect. Let’s go down the road that draws upon our past successes. The Road that embraces the “wretched refuse to our teeming shore.” Let’s go down the road that leads to our guiding principles of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all. No matter who you are, what you are, or what you worship or not.  That’s the road we should be on, not the road towards our dark past with the toll gate controlled by the gilded class.

The way to get on the right road is to resist. Resist every attempt to go down that toll road towards our dark past. Hold your elected representatives accountable. Protest, call, write, run for office. Do whatever you need to do. Do not let them drag us down that dark road. Resist, resist, resist.

Not This Year

Nine and ten-year-old children are a curious bunch. They are on the cusp of adolescence and are just beginning to get a grasp on the outside world. Their minds are like sponges, soaking up everything that is around them. This is a very special time in their lives where they have opinions based on their own schema.

As a fifth grade teacher I have always looked forward to election season to introduce the concept of opinions, fact and fiction. I particularly always enjoyed introducing my young students to presidential campaigns, the Electoral College, and the importance of debate in our democratic process.

Not this year.

In the past, my students looked at candidates, discussed their campaigns, looked at the issues, and debated themselves. We always had mock elections and looking at the results were often an interesting exercise. My students usually began by parroting what was heard at home or they would disagree with what they heard at home. I encouraged them to read the news and watch news channels. We often discussed the different viewpoints presented. We read opinion pieces and discussed that opinions were worthless unless backed up with real facts. I also encouraged them to watch the debates and be prepared to discuss them the next day in class.  Yes, we did that in fifth grade!

Not this year!

How can I? This year I cannot discuss the issues with children. In addition, I am faced with families that are so polarized on the candidates that any discussion is viewed as an attempt to indoctrinate children. So how am I supposed to explain Trump saying he and other rich men have  the privilege to grope women when some think it is ok?

I see pictures of high school students in very diverse schools wearing Trump hats saying “Make America Great Again” and I want to weep because I know their parents love it.

I would love to discuss the issues of the campaign, with my students, but not this year. I just can’t!

I can’t discuss Trump rating women, calling them pigs, calling immigrants rapists, saying POW’s are not heroes, or saying Muslims are our enemy. Trump has brought our nation into a dark hole.

How can I? How can I with fifth grade students?

I will teach them history.

I will teach them about the peoples’ history!  I will teach them why our nation is the greatest in the world and about the mistakes we have made in the past. I will instill in them the importance of learning from the past. I will prepare them to create their own opinions based on facts not rhetoric. I will teach them about respect and the rights and responsibilities we all have as citizens.

As teachers we touch the future every day as we teach our students. We need to ensure our future is bright and we need to prepare our students so our nation never ever has to return into this very dark hole politics has brought us into.

So not this year! This year we look to the future. We ignore Trump and we defeat this ugly narrative by educating our students to learn from the past. And hopefully our great experiment will survive. We will survive not through fear and intimidation. We will survive through knowledge. Because, knowledge is power. And once we have the power, America will continue to be great.