Friday, May 29, 2020

Mitch McConnell - Packing the Courts

Why does Mitch McConnell care only about packing the courts?

The GOP plans to run the nation for the next several decades even if the GOP should lose the next several elections, maybe even the Senate for a time. 

The GOP has in place, now, judges who will turn away progressive, common-good, laws, including civil rights, voting rights, and rights for women - anything for the common good, which is generally termed “socialism” or “communism.”

All “rights” involve what the GOP sees as a “transfer of wealth” from the white rich, the elite, the Oligarchy, anointed by gawd to govern the rest of us, to those undeserving or unqualified.

And just who are the undeserving, the unqualified?

People of color, immigrants, non-christians, women and children, the elderly, and those with challenges, and in some instances, the list even includes Jews.

And poor whites, as well. 

If you want to see a picture of the GOP’s white America, check out the 1920s and 30s - millions of white families living in abject poverty - from the Dust Bowl to the  urban jungles. And did the rich care? No way at all, because poor whites were fodder for the factories, and could be counted on to side with the rich when it came to matters of race.

It’s ultimately the subjugation of African Americans , the symbol of everything the South lost after the War.

Jim Crow laws and voter suppression is still the modus operandi of the GOP - to realize their dream: as the world was before “Gone with the Wind.”

Mitch McConnell is nothing more, and certainly nothing less, than an antebellum southern elite.

Saturday, May 23, 2020

The Splintering Effect

The principle proof of evil's presence is the splintering effect, the breaking apart and the breaking down, of life's essential connections.

Whether it be Cain killing his brother, Abel, or Elisha using his newfound power to kill some children, the splintering effect sets one against the other - people, communities, entire nations, the world.

Jesus fought evil's effects by crossing boundaries and going where "proper people" didn't go.

The Apostle Paul speaks of Christ reconciling the world, through the cross, through his death, by his suffering, to repair the damages of sin.

Ultimately leading Paul to the glorious affirmation, that in Christ all the usual categories of splintering are overcome, so that in Christ, there is no longer Jew or Greek, no longer slave or free, no longer male and female.

Movement Conservatives*, of either the political or evangelical bent, require splintering for their purposes.

They thrive on division, folks pitted against one another - the usual categories of splintering: saved or damned, man or woman, white or colored, taker or maker, capitalist or socialist, straight or queer, strong or weak, Reagan or FDR, public schools or private schools, voting rights or voter fraud, voting in person or voting by mail, masks or no masks, stay home or go to church.

For the Movement Conservative, everything is a reason for splintering, because in splintering, they find their perverse strength.

Movement Conservatives are not strong enough in the usual shove and push of politics and faith; they don't have the votes to win, except through gerrymandering and voter suppression, and likely Russian influence.

Nor do they have a Gospel of hope and reconciliation - needing instead schools and churches with harsh boundaries, seasoned with white supremacy, male dominance, the love of guns, and the hatred of LDGBQ persons.

Movement Conservatives have to divide in order to conquer, and let's be honest here, the Movement Conservative is determined to conquer, to win everything, to destroy democracy and rebuild the Oligarchy (Southern Style), to undo FDR's social supports and replace them with Reagan's supply-side economics, to undo voting rights, civil rights, rights for women and people of color, because such rights for all, they claim, diminish the rights, the liberties, the privileges, of the few, those few who alone know how to run things, to advance the American cause, or the cause of Christ.

That some should be Movement Conservatives for the sake of politics doesn't surprise or sadden me. There have always been those like the Genesis story of Lamech who love the blood and gore of revenge and victory.

But what truly saddens me, though it doesn't surprise me either, is how the evangelicals have bought into Movement Conservatism lock, stock, barrel.

In so doing, evangelicals have abandoned the salvation of Christ, rejected his purpose, denied his call to discipleship, and joined the hostile crowds standing in Pilate's courtyard to shout at the top of their lungs, hands raised in praise, "Crucify him."

Evangelicals have bowed the knee to Baal, Mammon, and Ceaser. With their trumped up claims to "freedom of worship," and personal rights, they trample upon the public good and further splinter the nation. They no longer serve Christ, but some distorted version thereof.

History is full of such hideous moments: and of more recent times: the church in Spain with Franco, the church in Italy with Mussolini, and the church in Germany with Hitler. Fascism, national socialism, militarism - white supremacy, racial purity, the dominance of the rich, the subjugation of women, and government by brutal power.

Movement Conservatives are out to get it all, and if they can't get it all, they'll destroy it all.

In the meantime, dear friends, be smart, be careful, wash your hands, wear your masks and don't be misled by those who would splinter the nation while working for their own privilege and power.

If you're a Christian, spend some time in the Gospels, especially the Sermon on the Mount and Paul's letter to the Ephesians.

And to all my friends here, if you've read this through, I salute you for your care and compassion, your larger sense of life and hope, your commitment to the common good of this nation, and the welfare of the world.

---------------

*For Movement Conservatives, see the work of historian, Heather Richardson ...



Tuesday, May 5, 2020

An Abomination???

I cannot believe:
Chris Christie.
Comparing Covid-19 deaths.
To WW2.
A complete and filthy dismissal of what really happened.
When American Families waved goodbye:
To their sons and daughters.
Many of whom never returned home.
They and their families:
Believed in America, not as a financial enterprise.
But a bastion of democracy and hope.
Not an economy for the Oligarchs.
But a way of life embodied in the art of Normal Rockwell.
And of the millions who left and returned,
many injured in body and soul.
Plagued with memories too horrible to tell.
To compare Covid-19 deaths to
WW2.
Is this not an abomination?
A sin against every WW2 grave in Arlington.
The graves at Normandy.
And all around the world.
Brave young women and men who died for freedom.
For hope.
To liberate the oppressed.
To set the captives free.
To give sight to the blind.
And help to the lame.
To feed the children of the world.
And restore peace to the nations.
To compare all of this to Covid-19 deaths:
Trivializes the sacrifice of American Families.
And the lives of millions lost around the world.
Millions killed by the Axis Powers.
The monsters, the evil ones:
Franco in Spain.
Mussolini in Italy.
Hitler in Germany.
Hirohito in Japan.
By comparing WW2 and the deaths of millions,
To death from Covid-19.
Is this not an abomination?
A lie?
What we have is:
Death by mismanagements and bad judgment.
Death by mealy-mouth politicians and religious dolts..
Death by incompetency and greed.
Death by stupidity and malice.
Is this not an abomination?
For Christie to give voice to this insane lie.
He now joins the ranks of the Evil Ones.
Those who distort and deceive.
Those who play upon the sentiments of the good
And the decent.
Those who break covenant with truth.
Who embrace the darkness of hell.
And stamp out the light of heaven.
In my mind, not a question.
This IS an abomination.
As the Psalmist says:
Transgression speaks to the wicked deep in their hearts; there is no fear of God before their eyes.
For they flatter themes in their own eyes that their iniquity cannot be found out and hated.
The words of their mouths are mischief and deceit; they have ceased to act wisely and do good.
They plot mischief while on their beds; they are set on a way that is not good; they do no reject evil.
Psalm 36.1-4