Living in a racist society:
So much has been said and written about how we fooled ourselves into thinking we were in a Post Racist Society because we voted for a black President and even re-elected him. It took the nomination of Donald Trump with his blatant and outright legitimizing of Far Right Wing of bigots and white supremacists to require us to recognize how wrong we were.
If anything, The election of Barak Obama was a rallying point for that part of our society that is frightened of losing its control of their relevance in our future. To them becoming a minority and to coexist with people that don't look like them is incomprehensible and unacceptable.
Their leaders are varied but most visible in the political world are what many, including myself, refer to as "old white men". They could be called silly old white men except that what they do and say causes so much pain and suffering to people who for the most part cannot defend themselves, that it's not funny.
Forget Trump. He didn't invent racism. His power is a result of his exploitation of this frustration. Left to his own devices he is powerful to less than a third of the voting public and all of them are not the screaming frightened bigots that marched in Charlottesville. His power comes from a legislative branch that is voluntarily beholden to him. While they may disagree with him on behavior, policy, and enforcement, they have no courage, in the face of his disregard for the law, unacceptable conduct, and they fail to act. Remember this is the party of Ronald Reagan. This is the party of fiscal conservatism and social responsibility.
What to do?
Think of that coach for your hated rival, say Belichick, Madden, or Saban. You dislike or even despise them. The reason is, they are good at what they do, seem to win all of the time, recruit the right players and are worshipped by their fans. Now think of Mitch McConnel.
If you're a Republican, you love the guy. He pretty much forced Barak Obama into a presidency consisting of a series of executive orders. He is sucking as much as possible out of a Trump Presidency. And now, he will make over the supreme court for the foreseeable future in his parties image. Wow! What's not to like?
If you're a Democrat, the guy is a... Okay, we won't go to comparative images of Mitch and certain forest-dwelling ground animals. He's beating you. He's taking what should be an impossible situation, an absolutely incompetent, unintelligent TV reality performer and making him look good to a certain segment of our society that, if they do nothing else, vote.
Some of you are even feeling, albeit privately, a bit guilty about your decision to not vote for Hilary Clinton. You're watching the President of the Deplorable ripping up his promises to Make America Great Again and pandering to his rich and wanting to be richer friends, and it is not easy to live with.
But enough about TrumpleThinSkin, what really galls you is Mitch McConnel is winning. Any way you look at it he's winning and no matter how hard it is to admit that blue wave you see may not break over the gerrymandered reef big enough to make any difference.
Some of you are still trying to answer the why do former Democratic voters keep voting against their own best interests, question. It's been forty years since that began to happen.
Answer. It's because they have been convinced that you, the progressives, the Democrats, the liberals, or whatever you're calling yourself, don't know what their best interests are. They have been convinced that your brand is for abortion, high taxes, firearm confiscation, death panels, and a lot of fancy social democratic ideas that lead to communism. You trod on their flag. You do not believe in American being exceptional. You welcoming the people in this country that caused 9/11. You have sympathy for freeloading people and not the people who made America what it is today. You look down on them for shopping at Walmart and not drinking Starbucks coffee.
Why do they feel that way? Is it because you haven't included them under the big tent you keep talking about? The other side has smugly told them that they feel for them. And they do, as long as they vote for them and try and join their country club.
Now it's also true that they have not figured out how to solve any of the economic issues the bedevil these fine folks, but as long as the band is playing the right dance music, they are not leaving the party. Are they stupid? No. The problem is that they may not trust the Republicans to make their whole world better, they don't trust you at all.
Now you can fight back like they do but I doubt if it will work. You couldn't really come up with somebody to compete with Rush Limbaugh. Trying to find someone with Trump appeal is doubtful. Our late night comedians are as funny if not funnier than their Fox Propagandists but I don't see them delivering any votes. Face it, you are too nice. I think your so nice you're almost Canadian. No getting down in the dirt is not going to work.
What seems to be working is old-fashioned knocking on doors and talking face to face with people regardless of their background, race or their present situation. By talking to them about their concerns and not being too quick with the answers. You know the "I'm white. I know what you need even though I haven't a clue what it is live like you do."
Consider maybe, they have the answers. Maybe, we shouldn't make them agree to support abortion, pointing out that abortion is an option, not a requirement. Maybe we should reassure them that we don't want their guns. After all, we can show them that 70% of all Americans, including NRA members, agree that commonsense gun control does not violate the 2nd Amendment because it doesn't require confiscation of guns. We believe that law-abiding people can have guns if they choose. How about showing them in person that we believe in them and are trying to balance the power that weighs so heavily in opposition to their welfare.
Maybe their concerns for affordable healthcare outweigh their fear of voting for a liberal. Maybe we convince them to vote for a person that really believes in them and understands the root problems and reasons for discontentment. Can we convince them the people they vote for are not a product of a Brand Name, but rather a person who understands them and will work hard for them?
On almost any issue that people care about, we can fashion a fair and far-reaching solution that can and will win enough of these folks over to our side. Remember people, caring is not the same as what Fox News, MSNBC, or CNN care about. Most people talk a good game if they are even trying to follow politics.
The reality is most people are trying to do what people have been doing forever. They are struggling to make ends meet. They spend most of their lifetime putting food on the table, clothing on their back and roof over their head.
So it's the answer is investing shoe leather and having face time with your neighbors, some of whom you may not know. It's listening not preaching. It's empathy, not judgment. It's really caring with more than thoughts and prayers.
So much has been said and written about how we fooled ourselves into thinking we were in a Post Racist Society because we voted for a black President and even re-elected him. It took the nomination of Donald Trump with his blatant and outright legitimizing of Far Right Wing of bigots and white supremacists to require us to recognize how wrong we were.
If anything, The election of Barak Obama was a rallying point for that part of our society that is frightened of losing its control of their relevance in our future. To them becoming a minority and to coexist with people that don't look like them is incomprehensible and unacceptable.
Their leaders are varied but most visible in the political world are what many, including myself, refer to as "old white men". They could be called silly old white men except that what they do and say causes so much pain and suffering to people who for the most part cannot defend themselves, that it's not funny.
Forget Trump. He didn't invent racism. His power is a result of his exploitation of this frustration. Left to his own devices he is powerful to less than a third of the voting public and all of them are not the screaming frightened bigots that marched in Charlottesville. His power comes from a legislative branch that is voluntarily beholden to him. While they may disagree with him on behavior, policy, and enforcement, they have no courage, in the face of his disregard for the law, unacceptable conduct, and they fail to act. Remember this is the party of Ronald Reagan. This is the party of fiscal conservatism and social responsibility.
What to do?
Think of that coach for your hated rival, say Belichick, Madden, or Saban. You dislike or even despise them. The reason is, they are good at what they do, seem to win all of the time, recruit the right players and are worshipped by their fans. Now think of Mitch McConnel.
If you're a Republican, you love the guy. He pretty much forced Barak Obama into a presidency consisting of a series of executive orders. He is sucking as much as possible out of a Trump Presidency. And now, he will make over the supreme court for the foreseeable future in his parties image. Wow! What's not to like?
If you're a Democrat, the guy is a... Okay, we won't go to comparative images of Mitch and certain forest-dwelling ground animals. He's beating you. He's taking what should be an impossible situation, an absolutely incompetent, unintelligent TV reality performer and making him look good to a certain segment of our society that, if they do nothing else, vote.
Some of you are even feeling, albeit privately, a bit guilty about your decision to not vote for Hilary Clinton. You're watching the President of the Deplorable ripping up his promises to Make America Great Again and pandering to his rich and wanting to be richer friends, and it is not easy to live with.
But enough about TrumpleThinSkin, what really galls you is Mitch McConnel is winning. Any way you look at it he's winning and no matter how hard it is to admit that blue wave you see may not break over the gerrymandered reef big enough to make any difference.
Some of you are still trying to answer the why do former Democratic voters keep voting against their own best interests, question. It's been forty years since that began to happen.
Answer. It's because they have been convinced that you, the progressives, the Democrats, the liberals, or whatever you're calling yourself, don't know what their best interests are. They have been convinced that your brand is for abortion, high taxes, firearm confiscation, death panels, and a lot of fancy social democratic ideas that lead to communism. You trod on their flag. You do not believe in American being exceptional. You welcoming the people in this country that caused 9/11. You have sympathy for freeloading people and not the people who made America what it is today. You look down on them for shopping at Walmart and not drinking Starbucks coffee.
Why do they feel that way? Is it because you haven't included them under the big tent you keep talking about? The other side has smugly told them that they feel for them. And they do, as long as they vote for them and try and join their country club.
Now it's also true that they have not figured out how to solve any of the economic issues the bedevil these fine folks, but as long as the band is playing the right dance music, they are not leaving the party. Are they stupid? No. The problem is that they may not trust the Republicans to make their whole world better, they don't trust you at all.
Now you can fight back like they do but I doubt if it will work. You couldn't really come up with somebody to compete with Rush Limbaugh. Trying to find someone with Trump appeal is doubtful. Our late night comedians are as funny if not funnier than their Fox Propagandists but I don't see them delivering any votes. Face it, you are too nice. I think your so nice you're almost Canadian. No getting down in the dirt is not going to work.
What seems to be working is old-fashioned knocking on doors and talking face to face with people regardless of their background, race or their present situation. By talking to them about their concerns and not being too quick with the answers. You know the "I'm white. I know what you need even though I haven't a clue what it is live like you do."
Consider maybe, they have the answers. Maybe, we shouldn't make them agree to support abortion, pointing out that abortion is an option, not a requirement. Maybe we should reassure them that we don't want their guns. After all, we can show them that 70% of all Americans, including NRA members, agree that commonsense gun control does not violate the 2nd Amendment because it doesn't require confiscation of guns. We believe that law-abiding people can have guns if they choose. How about showing them in person that we believe in them and are trying to balance the power that weighs so heavily in opposition to their welfare.
Maybe their concerns for affordable healthcare outweigh their fear of voting for a liberal. Maybe we convince them to vote for a person that really believes in them and understands the root problems and reasons for discontentment. Can we convince them the people they vote for are not a product of a Brand Name, but rather a person who understands them and will work hard for them?
On almost any issue that people care about, we can fashion a fair and far-reaching solution that can and will win enough of these folks over to our side. Remember people, caring is not the same as what Fox News, MSNBC, or CNN care about. Most people talk a good game if they are even trying to follow politics.
The reality is most people are trying to do what people have been doing forever. They are struggling to make ends meet. They spend most of their lifetime putting food on the table, clothing on their back and roof over their head.
So it's the answer is investing shoe leather and having face time with your neighbors, some of whom you may not know. It's listening not preaching. It's empathy, not judgment. It's really caring with more than thoughts and prayers.
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