You Only Need One

I keep reading doom and gloom projections about the Democrats losing in the November elections in general and the Senate in particular. Given the bounty of toxic issues the Republicans have provided, I just can’t see how it’s possible to lose so badly, or at all. Every Democrat should be able to beat every Republican just by hanging the GOP’s current stances around their neck and making them own it. There’s just so much to work with…

Starting at the top, TFG has shown to be completely unfit for office. He’s an agent of chaos and Vladimir Putin. He is a raging narcissist, obsessed with his own standing, and oblivious to the needs of the country. He is a career criminal whose full history of malfeasance is only just coming to light. He has shown that he can’t be trusted with national secrets and will hide or manipulate them for his own benefit, possibly even selling them to outside interests. His blithering, vanity, and obfuscation at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic cost America over one million lives. The man shouldn’t even be in the same zip code as the presidency. And not for nothing, my father died alone because his hospital was filled up with idiots who believed the COVID misinformation.

But the thing is, TFG isn’t even the worst part. He’s the distraction behind what Republicans are truly trying to do, which is remake America into a Corporate Theocracy. They will use religion to elect those who will loot the national treasury of money and assets. And WE, ourselves, are among the assets. (There has to be someone to provide the money the rich want to siphon off.)

These are among the actions they want to take, most of which are specifically described in their “Project 2025.”

National Abortion Ban. They downplay it now, but it’s on the agenda. They started with the right for States to impose bans and restrictions, and now they want to make it nationwide.

Bans and limits on Contraception. The religious whackaloons see many forms of birth control as a means of abortions, and they can’t have that, can they?

Publicly funded Religious Education. What better way to control adult minds than to indoctrinate them while they’re young? Catholic schools have been doing it for years, but only for those who can afford it.

Putting Women Back in the Kitchen. This is the expected result of the prior three points, all designed to move women out of the workforce and back into the service of men.

Repeal Same-Sex Marriage.  Another payment to the Religious Right. And they currently have the Supreme Court who can do it.

Decimate Social Security as a Safety Net. Yes, it needs to be fixed, but the Republicans’ way to do this is to raise the retirement age and cut benefits, as opposed to increase funding. (Which can be done simply by raising the income cap, currently set at $165,000 per year, as proposed by Democrats.)

Decimate Medicare. Basically, the same problem as with Social Security. The rich don’t want to pay for it and Big Pharma does not want to lose their cash cow.

Gut the IRS. Sure, it sounds nice on the surface, but the goal is to hamper efforts to collect from the rich. You and I will still have to file or face the wrath.

Gut Financial and Environmental Regulations. Rules and regs cost companies money. It’s so much easier to spew pollution into the air and waterways rather than filter it out. And it’s far more profitable to fleece investors with fine-printed flimflammery than offer legit financial products.

Drop Out of or Ignore NATO. TFG danced around that for his entire administration but principled cabinet members and aides prevented it. That won’t happen a second time when he surrounds himself with sycophantic yes men. Abandoning NATO will roll out the red carpet for Russia to steamroll Ukraine and every other European territory he desires, without worrying about repercussions from the US. This act alone spits on the memory of those we honor this weekend, who fought and died for a free country and world.

Turn the Justice Dept. into a Personal Police Force. One of the more chilling aspects of Project 2025 is the installation of loyalists throughout the Department of Justice, turning an independent law enforcement agency into a president’s personal Gestapo. Again, this is something our forefathers and even direct relatives fought and died to prevent. TFG is already keen to start arresting those who have opposed him before. That’s not presidential power, that’s dictator power, and we can’t have that regardless of who’s in the Oval Office.

Replace Apolitical Governmental Employees with Partisan Loyalists. Just like with the Justice Dept., they want to remove anyone who might try to keep the president from executing his most damaging actions on the basis of right or wrong, the Constitution, or any other trivial rationale. Just like with any legitimate business, some people have experience with how to get things done. To remove tens of thousands of government employees and replace them with the equivalent of “nepo babies,” will spell the end of government as a tool of The People. The Republicans are already taking applications.

Continue to Appoint SCOTUS Members via the Federalist Society. The Federalist Society has produced the six Justices who have already trashed 50 years of social and financial progress. Regardless of what they testify during confirmation hearings, if they’re blessed by the Fed Society, they’re guaranteed to support religious principles over popular consensus and the business elite over the common citizen. Just look at their most recent ruling, upholding a state’s right to use racial data to gerrymander their Congressional districts. That leaves the state free to round up every minority vote into a single double-asterisk-shaped district, thus reducing any legal standing by X to 1. (X = sum of all other districts.) But only until they figure out how to eliminate the “1” as well.

Look at this list. These are not accusations or projections; they are things Republicans, themselves, have said they want to do. There is no reason to think they’re not serious. In years past, such a moment of transparency would result in massive election losses. But now, they’re so secure in their misinformation campaigns, voter suppression, and management of the media, they don’t even bother to hide their ultimate ambitions.

Each one of these issues is important enough to be the only one necessary to ensure a vote for Democrats. The fact that there are so many speaks to the gravity of the scenario. If you agree with any of what Republicans propose, feel free to vote Republican. I think you’re destroying America, but it’s your vote.

If you have concerns about other Democratic principles, compare them to what you see above. I don’t agree with everything that every Democrat puts forth, but I can tell you my concerns are dwarfed by the heinousness of the alternatives.

When you’re lost, you don’t pass up a ride because it won’t get you all the way to your house, you take the ride because it gets you closer and then go from there.

If the Republicans assume control in November, there will not be another “from there.” We will have turned over power to those who will have the media, money, laws, judges, and police force to keep them in power for the rest of our lives while they turn America into a pseudo-Christian Iran.

We can stop that, but it has to start now and continue into every election afterward until our voice is loud enough to make our expectations for America clear.