Republican “Ballot Box Treason” vs. Voter “Turnout Pandemic”

“Democracy failed in Europe in the 1920s, ‘30s, and ‘40s, and it is failing not only in much of Europe but in many parts of the world today. It is that history and experience that reveals to us the dark range of our possible futures.A nationalist will say ‘it can’t happen here,’ which is the first step toward disaster. A patriot says that it could happen here, but that we will stop it.”- Timothy Snyder, On Tyranny

“…the substitution of rhetoric for thought, always a temptation in a national crisis, must be resisted by officials and citizens alike.”- Wendell Berry, In the Presence of Fear, from #XIV

“Corporations, particularly in the United States, are piling up debt. This will cause problems of biblical proportions sooner or later, but this is largely ignored by the public. Regulatory agencies that should act -- look the other way or reassure themselves that everything will be fine, just as during the run-up to the financial debacle that unfolded in the summer of 2007. This is dangerous for us all.”- Edward Lotterman, Bismarck Tribune, 7/12/20

“‘A myth,’ as Ashley Montagu observes, ‘is something which is in fact not true, but in which we believe and act upon as if it were true.’ Myths later become canons—that is, rules, regulations, and laws, the correct and accepted ways of doing things. We build our cultures on myths; indeed, myths are necessary for the stability of a culture. All of us live by myths and canons, taking them for reality. And for certain myths that man has held dear, he has become involved, frustrated, paranoid, and even vicious.”- Gentles and Steinfield, Hangups From Way Back

“A powerful preoccupying factor in the history of this country since its founding in the seventeenth century has been the matter of color. Color and race have never been far below the level of awareness, even anxiety, on the part of white Americans.”- John Hope Franklin, The Color Line: Legacy for the Twenty-First Century

“Lady, if you go into politics, leave the men alone. Don’t run to them for everything you want to know. Don’t swallow all they tell you. Post yourself first, establish your own opinions—don’t be a gull. Build your own knowledge and confidence—and do it by yourself.”– Minnie Craig, Speaker of the North Dakota House, 1933 [perhaps a surpriseto pundits who can’t tell North from South Dakota, nor that North Dakotans have owned their own Bank for 100 years: fiscally sound “socialism” that other States badly need, thanks to Trump.]

“Let America be America again. Let it be the dream it used to be.
Let it be the pioneer on the plain; Seeking a home where he himself is free.”- Langston Hughes

Tucker Carlson’s unhinged hurling of stones from his glass house in FOX News studios, at the patriotism of war hero Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), in defense of ongoing treasonous behavior of his buddy, President Donald Trump, strikes a new low for “yellow journalism.” Since Tucker and the Donald are connected at the ear of their iPhones, this eruption indicates how badly things are going for Trump’s failed Presidency, and the morally and mentally bankrupt Republican Party, despite Tucker’s high ratings among his rabid consumers.

Like President “Bonespurs,” Carlson hasn’t served in the military, and also doesn’t have a sense of honor.But Tucker and the Trumpster have just a picked a fight with someone who has and who does, and is fighting back in a way that neither of them can handle. Trump’s idea of “revenge” is a one-way street, but he’s now on the receiving end of power he can’t control.

Senator Duckworth is not engaged in revenge, however.She is holding a dictatorial President accountable in a manner that he could not imagine when he began his systematic insulting of our military and other federal agencies committed to our national safety.Now that Colonel Vindman has resigned his position due to constant harassment from “Trump and Tucker toadies” in the Defense Department, Tammy Duckworth might as well continue to hold up President Trump’s promotion of other officers, as long as his treasonous self is still in office. I hope so; at least until she gets answers from the Pentagon about who was willing to do Trump’s dirty work.

Trump’s dallying with America’s sworn enemy, Vladimir Putin, on cyber and covert military battlefields, fits historical, and possibly, legal, definitions of “treason,” since, as President, he is Commander in Chief of our Armed Forces.Republican “Ballot Box Treason” defines their consistent betrayal of the democratic process over the past forty years, and vehement opposition to democratic progress in the areas of voting rights in State and local elections.Not to mention, violation of human rights on our border with Mexico (see Jacob Soboroff, Separated) and in the streets of America (re: the fate of George Floyd and his many brothers and sisters).These filthy crimes against ideals and practices of the American experiment in democracy, which have risen to levels of Crimes Against Humanity, defined at Nuremberg in 1945-1946, make me wonder if there will be enough “legislative Lysol,” using “Robert Mueller” scrub brushes, to clean up their residue when Trump is gone.I asked my KGB friends how America could sink so low.

High Plains Reader:How could the United States have declined so badly in just one term of one terrible President?We’ve survived stupid and weak ones before, but we’ve never had to cope with a toxic moron like this one.Trump is trying to do us all in, and he’s doing a bang up job of it.And I don’t understand pundits whining about folks objecting to racist statues as “cancelling culture,” while Trump supporters, packing heat and spouting Covid-laden hot airabout “freedom,” are living examples of what culture is not, never was, and never will be.

Putin:Trump’s just the last straw to break your “camel’s back” of complacency by venal corporate leaders’, Republican, and even some Democrats’, past ignorance, arrogance and obliviousness to problems of ordinary Americans, even male, white ones.Nature allows for devolution of dummies as well as evolution of the educated.

Lena:You need women in charge for a change, especially ones that don’t want or need men’s approval for its own sake, but expect it and demand it if they deserve it.Women like (House Speaker) Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), (Senator) Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), (Representative) Val Demmings (D-FL) and (Mayor) Lori Lightfoot (D-Chicago).

Mr. Swamp Fox: And you need more African American, Asian American, Latin American and Native American leadership in charge of things: people like Senators Cory Booker (D) and Kamala Harris (D-CA); Representatives Karen Bass (D-CA) and Joaquin Castro (D-TX); (Democratic presidential candidates) Andrew Yang(D-CA) and Julian Castro (D-TX), (North Dakota State Representative) Ruth Buffalo, and (Senatorial candidate) Paulette Jordan (D-ID).

HPR:But we had great diversity under President Obama’s administration.

Chicago Dog:One non-white Chief Executive like (President) Barack Obama wasn’t enough to overcome a “scorched earth,” white male supremacist Republican Party that is brain dead from too much inbreeding of imbecilic and jaded bigots.You need a rainbow of executive, legislative, and judicial leadership to replace the mental and moral morons in charge under Trump; just like FDR brought in Catholics, Jews, women, and children of recent immigrants to serve in the New Deal, much to the horror of bigoted WASPs in both political parties in 1933.

HPR:Is that what Joe Biden is going to do if he is elected President?

Ms. Recovering Republican Lap Dog:He’d better, if he wants to save your democracy from suicide by dint of idiocy.His process of vetting women candidates for his Vice Presidential running mate is a preview, actually, of exactly that.Dozens of outstanding and competent women of color are being pored over by the media, as the speculation game goes on.

Corporal Kangaroo:Biden may already have made his decision, but it is clear that these kinds of women will comprise leadership at all levels of U.S. government if he gets in.At this point, it doesn’t really matter what woman the breathless media feature as their female “heiress apparent” to the Presidential crown, just that it keeps up. It is quite a sight, and a very, very refreshing one.

Mr. Crying Wolf:Trump and Tucker Carlson are chauvinist pigs, so they think the VP pick is a beauty contest, like Ms. America.They can’t wait for a “woman of color” to be picked so that they can rev up their hate machine.Old white guy, Joe Biden, is not a very lucrative target.

Lena:The longer that more and more of these amazing women are pushed to the forefront of media attention, the worse it gets for Trump’s tender male ego.The joke on Trump and the Republicans, of course, is that these brilliant women are all qualified, right now, to step into the Presidency and do a much better job than anyone the GOP can muster from their pathetic crowd.

Chicago Dog:Male resistance to women being in charge in 2020, is like their resistance to women getting the vote 100 years ago.It’s irrational in the extreme, but very deep. Joe Biden’s staff knows this, and is in no hurry to give Republicans a VP target; especially as Trump’s open mouth, closed brain, criminal negligence, and inexcusable inaction on behalf of public safety at home and abroad, is digging an even bigger hole for Republican candidates in November.

Mr. Swamp Foxth power) are seething at the deeper and deeper holes Trump keeps digging for the Republican Party and their efforts to turn the Department of Justice into the “Department of Injustice.”Americans in all voting categories are waking up to Barr’s and McConnell’s treason against democratic procedures and assumptions, and its effect on their very lives.My alligator allies, once again, overheard these bad boys whining about their fates.

Moscow Mitch: Why couldn’t you make that Trump woman (Mary L. Trump Ph.D., Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man) shut up?

B-6^th power:Tough.Trump screwed that up by defrauding her in the first place, so her book is legally unstoppable.Since Trump doesn’t read, he figured that slapping a gag order on his niece would keep her message about his derangement from getting out.I just put Mike Cohen back in the slammer, in case that fool thinks he is going to get a book out before the election like she did.

Moscow Mitch:We know that Donald isn’t very bright when it comes to real strategy.Mary Trump’s surrogate friend is already on TV.Book sales are through the roof as more and more Americans have little to do but read during the pandemic.Talk about the book’s revelations, with all juicy parts spilling out, will continue.As for Michael Cohen, despite what will be wretched prose, your move makes him a literary martyr, like Alexander Solzhenitzyn.

B-6^th power:I know that, but Trump doesn’t.With the Supreme Court guaranteeing Donald a bright future with New York State’s DA for Manhattan being given access to his tax returns, it looks bad.Springing Roger Stone will only save Stone, not him.My talents are being wasted here.Maybe I can find work with (Turkish Dictator) Erdogan next year.Beaches there are nice.

Moscow Mitch:You won’t find legitimate work in the States, that’s for sure, and with friends like Stone and Vladimir Putin, who needs enemies?Trump’s deliberately making things worse for Americans, because they are rejecting him.This damned democracy is in danger of working.

B-6^th powerayback is a “bitch” as you know.And, if we can’t shut down the Post Office,Republicans are going to be “paid back” big time in November.Can’t you do that?

Moscow Mitch:There are too many white voters in Kentucky who still might be dumb enough to send me back to the Senate, Bill.But they’re not dumb enough to give me a pass on shutting down their only path to inexpensive painkillers through the mail.Sorry.

B-6^th power:Why the hell would you want to go back to the Senate as Minority Leader?You know you’re going to lose it don’t you?And you won’t even get re-elected, if voters find out that your real voting address is the Cayman Islands.You, (Treasury Secretary Steven) Mnuchin, and (Fed Chair Jerome) Powell are helping Wall Street pile up debt, using Covid 19 relief money and other ill-gotten gains to purchase CLOs (collateralized loan obligations) this time, just like CMOs (collateralized mortgage obligations) for the 2008 crash.Joe Biden’s people know this.

Moscow Mitch:I don’t know what else to do.The power game is the only game I know. Doing favors for dark money boys, and handing out pork everywhere but China, is fun. Trump, like Dubya (former President George W. Bush), doesn’t know a CLO, or a CMO, from a UFO.

B-6^th power:But Harvard’s Liz Warren does.And right now she is likely beating the crap out your corporate suck up mole inside the Biden campaign, Harvard’s Larry Summers.She has the voters, not Wall Street, and her voters are more reliable than Bernie’s (Senator Sanders, [I-VT], who disgraced themselves in 2016.And when, as 2021 Senate Banking Committee Chair, she gets her hands on the throats of your Wall Street buddies, they’ll rat you out in no time.

Moscow Mitch:Not a chance.I’ve got too much dirt on them.

B-6^th power:Maybe so.I could care less at this point. The real problem is how do we survive Trump for the next four to seven months, if we can’t get him to quit and turn things over to the idiot from Indiana (Vice President, Mike Pence)?

Moscow Mitch:That’s a tall order. We’re like a baseball field with only a 1^st base, since Trump has burned himself with women of all colors, more and more old folks, even rabid right wingers who are losing family members to his Covid-19 denial.Voter turnout by the Democrats is going to be insane, no matter how much we cheat.Older Republicans are going to stay at home if we inhibit their ability to vote by mail.Other than the “death wish” vote, we are sunk.Our “ballot box treason” will avail us nothing, if we cannot stem the tide of a voter “turnout pandemic.”

Mr. Swamp Fox:As before, my alligator friends found a note from D.C. swamp creature, Prudence Possum, memorializing miseries of the once and future dynamic duo, Bill and Mitch:

Playing Ball without Bases……………………………………………..The B/M Brothers

“If Trump cannot defame a single race;
He feels he cannot ever build a wall
To keep out all who seek his final fall,
And keep his ever faithful, shrinking base.

He’s lost most decent women who are white
And living in suburban comfort now;
Except for unclear conscience on their brow
And in their hearts and souls, both day and night.

He’s even lost the older folks as well;
That he has not killed off by his neglect
Of basic science, and of common sense.
The voters who are anti-Trump will swell
And beat us.Soon, Trump’s toadies will defectExcept for fools like us, and poor Mike Pence.”