Conservative state legislatures and governors are now openly and unapologetically doing all they can to make life more difficult and dangerous for people of color and people mired in poverty. In many cases, the same people they are screwing are the ones who perpetually vote Republican so they can ‘own the libs’.
They would see everyone lose; to destroy the country, rather than engage in reasonable discussion about compromise positions.
Texas, already the state that has the most restrictive voting laws, is trying to make it even harder to vote. And to minimize the political objectivity of the state voting authority so they can overturn election results at will. In Texas, anyone can now carry a gun whenever and wherever they want. No permit or training required. Imagine that. Any bar or restaurant you walk into, just know that probably 50% or so are carrying a gun.
Governor Abbot recently signed legislation to block state agencies’ from conforming to federal efforts to combat climate change. There is a new law to prevent cities in Texas from cutting police budgets. There is a $1,000 fine for anyone requiring masks to be worn in public schools. Republicans would rather see people die than follow sound medical advice. Again, try to imagine just a few years ago such childish and irrational behavior in our Congress.
That’s just Texas. Most southern states are refusing the extra $300 per week for unemployment benefits, even though they have the highest rates of childhood poverty in the nation. 9 states, including Texas, have passed laws banning enforcement of federal firearms statutes that are designed to address gun violence.
They simply don’t care. They are so obsessed with their own power and of protecting their own distorted version of reality, that they will allow more people to die from violence, hunger, & extreme weather due to climate change and cement these regressive policies in place by suppressing votes of anyone who opposes them.
The modern Republican Party will go to any extreme it seems to block sensible governance. There is no lie they will not perpetuate. No one they will not hurt or minimize to push their regressive and repressive agenda.
They are monsters.
Facts are irrelevant to these zealots. Reality is what they choose it to be.
I wonder what it means now to be an American. What is my responsibility here. I vote. To be sure. I consume information to educate myself. I chat with friends, like-minded friends, about my political beliefs. When I bump into Trump supporters or conservative Republicans, it is immediately clear that there is no chance either of us is going to give an inch. They will say Trump won the election and was forced out due to a massive conspiracy. That he was the greatest president of all time. That COVID is not real and mask mandates and vaccination programs are an infringement on civil liberties. That more guns on the streets is the answer to reducing gun violence. That climate change is either a hoax or completely natural phenomenon with no connection to human behavior. That we must build a wall around our country.
It’s surreal. The level of self-deception is truly beyond belief.
But for most of us who try to be thoughtful about our role and responsibilities as citizens, it seems our option is are limited. The right is arming themselves, taking dramatic steps to lock themselves in power, hunkering down to fight efforts to reduce our carbon footprint, encouraging and empowering police to use harsher and more brutal tactics even than the extremes we’ve been witnessing.
What can we do? As long as my family is here, I need to be here. Otherwise I would leave America to the idiots and find another place.
One of the Republican Party’s go-to strategies to counter a Democratic president’s campaign promise to bring the country together is to obstruct everything the president attempts to do, working night and day to keep their people as angry and unhappy as possible so they can call the Democrats a failure for being unable to fulfill their promise.
Heather Digby Parton – writing for Salon magazine
The Martini Tales 