I’ve said more than once
since November that our current political situation doesn’t get serious until
people stop taking this as a joke. Somehow, people are still finding humor with
this administration and its daily gaffes, bloopers, and blunders. I have news
for you, idiocy is not funny. The motherfucker and his ilk are not clowns. Yes,
they are ridiculous. Yes, they are trying to pull the country even farther
backwards. Yes, they speak without thinking or regard for fact. And most importantly
the abuse of power and the lack of intelligence, intellect, and integrity are
absolutely fucking dangerous!
Over the weekend the motherfucker said that the
Constitution is an archaic document. That should frighten you. A man at the
head of the government says the document that his office is sworn to protect is
archaic. Now I’m not a Constitution is a living document guy. I’m not even a Constitution
is perfect kind of guy. I believe, considering it’s a document written over 240
years ago by mostly white, rich, slaveholding, men it puts forth the framework
for what, if not usurped and overstretched by rich, white men is a remarkably
equitable form of governing. That document didn’t start that way obviously. The
Thirteenth Amendment granted freedom to slaves. The Nineteenth Amendment
granted women the right to vote. There’s also the crazy Eighteenth Amendment
which banned the sale of alcohol and that took the Twenty-First Amendment to
repeal. If I could point out one more it would be the very thorny Second Amendment
which guarantees the right to bear arms and was written long before the advent
of automatic weapons. It’s also an amendment that when ratified, it was meant
to enforce slavery.
That document also gives checks and balances and distributes
them to three different branches which allows for no branch to exceed its own
power. That system is difficult to amend on purpose and as such change in this
country moves slowly. At this point in history, frustratingly slowly
considering our interpretations of it as a document still aren’t applied
equitably.
I say all this as the motherfucker issues executive order
after executive order. I say this after he mentioned in passing that they
should look at the First Amendment because he’s tired of people criticizing
him. I say this after his Senate took the nuclear option to confirm a
conservative Supreme Court judge with more than questionable ethics. I say this
after his Muslim bans have, fortunately, been struck down by lower level
circuit courts. I say this as he’s about to issue a religious liberty order
this week.
We are still laughing. We should be taking this
seriously.
We laugh at Nikki Haley who claims she was upset by the Muslim
ban because this country has never passed a law based on race or religion. We
laugh as Mo Brooks says people who lead good lives don’t have to worry about
pre-existing conditions. We laugh when the motherfucker says a strong leader
could have saved this country from the Civil War. We laugh when he invokes
Andrew Jackson who died sixteen years before that war even began.
By the way, Jackson was a bastard. He was a genocidal
maniac who was bent on the expansion of this country. He was a slaveholder. Let’s
pause here and throw out the good slaveholder narrative. If you owned another
human being, no matter how well treated (treatment can never be verified), you
still owned a human. If you owned a human you are depriving that human of the
fundamental right of humanity. So, fuck any talk of the wonder and culture of
the antebellum South or the “just” slave owner. Jackson was a “strong leader”
and that’s what the motherfucker identifies with. Strength. If there’s an
American narrative that needs dispelled, it’s strength, which is almost always
also defined as masculine. Strength qualifies you for nothing. When looking for
a leader, perhaps better qualities would be mental toughness without arrogance
or stubbornness, perhaps care and respect for the job you’re doing as well as
the people you are governing. Intelligence or thoughtfulness would be a
pleasant change, as well as a strong sense of history. The motherfucker has
none of these qualities and we’re long past the give him a chance honeymoon
period. I’m just digging a hole for an administration that’s vapid, shallow,
and concerned only with deregulation. Jackson would be proud.
“Our values around freedom, human dignity and the way
people are treated- those are our values. Those are not our policies.” Rex
Tillerson said that on Wednesday. Think about that statement for a few minutes.
Think about what you think America means to you. Think about what a government,
a democracy, as it’s supposed to be, means to you. Think also for just a moment
that your government is by extension representative of you as a citizen, a tax
payer and possibly a voter. Once you’ve thought about that I’m curious whether
that is congruent with your own belief system. Does that jibe with how you
treat other humans, or how you think other humans should be treated?
I’m not being alarmist at this point. Double Speak such
as this is dangerous. Simultaneously, that quote is possibly the best summary
of this administration. It’s a smack in the face, as if to say, “We’re rich,
you voted for us, well, less than half of you did, were gonna do whatever the
fuck we want, and you the people can go to hell”. The motherfucker said almost
as much on Tuesday when he claimed everyone should vote Republican in the
midterms if you want change, because the two-party system will not give you
that change (paraphrased, I have some grasp of the English language unlike our
president).
This administration is at war. It’s at war with
Afghanistan, which it intends on escalating (Mattis and his cronies asked for an
increase in ground forces which will be reviewed by the shite house next week).
It’s at war with terrorism, which could mean any number of countries,
organization,s or sects of Islam. It’s trying to start new wars and could very
easily do so with one of its impulsive tweets. This administration is also at
war with you.
The utter disregard this administration has for the poor,
women, persons of color, religious organizations that are not white and
European, and the LGBTQ community is an absolute fucking disgrace.
The religious freedoms order on Thursday will surely be
struck down in a circuit court before long, but let’s look at this piece of
shit legislation. The law itself means nothing. It seeks to repeal the Johnson
Act which allowed the IRS to tax religious organizations if they endorsed a
particular candidate (not platform). That law is not really enforced at this
point, and hasn’t been for longer than anyone cares to remember. The goal of
the law is to promote religious freedom, which is widely enjoyed in this
country so long as you belong to a white European religion. The one thing the
law aims to change is to allow religious groups to meddle in the sexual health
preference of anyone employed by them, as well as federal contractors who mix religious
beliefs with their business. Once again this is another attempt to apply some
archaic Victorian value on a nation that is as sexually permissive as it is
sexually repressed. The bigger question as it regards freedom is who the fuck
cares? I’m not asking this question to be callow. I’m honestly asking why does
someone’s sexual preference even matters? Contraception, as I see it, is a
public health issue, not a religious one. I think it’s beautiful that people
find solace in an invisible man in the sky who created this planet alone and
apparently only for the people in your particular religion, but seriously, what
does that invisible man or the book he didn’t write have to do with contraception
or sexual freedom?
The war on the poor and the war on women continued this
week when the Republican Congress (Terrorist Organization) finally (attempt 62
for the win) repealed the ACA (Obamacare, really Romneycare). Really? So,
Trumpcare (mothefuckerdon’tcare) is a boon for you if your America is Young,
Healthy, and Rich. Fuck the rest of you. No really, fuck 24 million of you, you
don’t need healthcare. How is it that we are the only first world nation
without government funded healthcare? How is it that when I get bit by a tick I
can’t just go walk into the local doctors office and get a Lyme Disease shot
without having to shell out a few hundred (visit and shot) since I don’t have
healthcare? How is it that cancer, diabetes, aids, alcoholism, heart failure,
and more? That’s a few common causes of death in America. That means regular
basic care is not covered if you’re poor. Also, trans, and gender healthcare is
not covered. Finally, hysterectomy are not covered and, since the war on women
is not insidious enough, rape is a preexisting condition that won’t be covered,
or will be left to the states to decide how it’s covered. How is it not fucking
implicit that our health is our most important asset as such should be
protected as a human right?
Please remember folks, your government is at war with
you. When midterm elections come up demand candidates that speak for you, and
use your votes not for the status quo, and certainly not for the 217 Republican
who just said fuck you. I’m not callous enough to believe that this system
can’t change, so again demand candidates and vote.
Finally, the spending bill passed this week. Basically,
doom doesn’t rain down on us until September. The bill does little more for the
motherfucker than expand our already egregiously bloated defense spending. It
doesn’t cut any of the public projects that really cost taxpayers a minimum and
should be essential. There is no money for the wall. I guess mamma’s gonna help
build the wall (sorry non sequitur, obligatory Pink Floyd reference).
Goddamn this was one depressing week. That’s after
another depressing week, and another. I’m tired and I’m still certain that we
are not frightened enough and not loud enough. We are still taking this too
lightly. We are still finding humor where we should be horrified. This time in
history is dangerous, particularly for the groups this administration is at war
with at home and abroad. If you’re not
frightened now, really what are you waiting for?
Jason Baldinger
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