It’s Much Harder Now!
Once upon a time (the last four years, to be more precise), all I had to do to be inspired to rant on the political scene was open the local newspaper or read the Washington Post online. I was guaranteed to see Trump’s latest outrage writ large. Sadly, for my creative process, but happily for the nation, Joe Biden is acting Presidential, conducting himself as a gentleman and dealing with the Media as simply the media, not Sargon’s minions. As a result, I can’t and won’t invent reasons to criticize, as I actually believe he’s doing an honorable job which doesn’t include self-aggrandizement or sheer stupidity on a daily basis.
The same cannot be said for the Republicans wallowing in the despair of Trump’s fair election defeat. Several have elevated themselves to national attention in ways which defy any logical/sane examination.
Mitch McConnell leads off the batting order, with his mind-boggling statements related to decisions by several major corporate entities to support the move of the Major League Baseball All-Star game from Atlanta, where it was originally scheduled to be played, to Denver. First some background: The game, originally to be hosted by Truist Park near Atlanta, was moved by MLB from Atlanta, in protest of the Georgia State Legislature's passage of the controversial the controversial Election Integrity Act of 2021, which overhauls voter access in the state.
Why? The Election Integrity Act of 2021, originally known as Georgia Senate Bill 202, is a new law overhauling elections in the state. It is critical to understand that there is not a scintilla of evidence or data showing that Georgia’s electoral process was flawed or that there had been any impropriety on the part of the State Supervisor of Elections. Rather, the bill is simply part of a broader nationwide push by Republican lawmakers to make voting laws more restrictive following unsuccessful efforts to overturn Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election, which focused in particular on Georgia and several other swing states using false (and proven to be false) claims of widespread election fraud.
It is reminiscent of a “kinder, gentler” Jim Crow era voter suppression, since it is aimed to large extent at minorities and rural areas which, in Georgia are majority Democrat. It imposes voter identification requirements on absentee ballots, limits the use of ballot drop boxes, expands early in-person voting, bars officials from sending out unsolicited absentee ballot request forms, reduces the amount of time people have to request an absentee ballot, makes it a crime for outside groups to give food or water to voters waiting in line (although poll workers are still allowed to), gives the state legislature greater control over election administration, and shortens runoff elections, among other provisions.
In fact, the only true attempts to violate the process in Georgia were phone calls by both Trump and Lindsey Graham attempting to sway the Georgia Election top official, a Republican, from ethically carrying out his duties, which he did, in the process becoming a pariah in his own party for his ethical behavior.
But what about ole Mitch? After the MLB decision to pull out of Georgia, he was further incensed by reports of a Zoom call which reportedly included senior leaders from Delta, United, Starbucks, LinkedIn, Target, and Levi Strauss, with some executives dialing in from Georgia’s Augusta National Golf Club as the Masters tournament was underway.
This meeting, led by Merck chief executive Kenneth Frazier and former American Express chief executive Kenneth Chenault, was convened in an effort to “unify companies that had been issuing their own statements and signing on to drafted statements from different organizations after the action in Georgia.” McConnell’s response was a dire warning about “Dabbling in behaving like a woke parallel government” by speaking out against voter suppression. “Corporations will invite serious consequences if they become a vehicle for far-left mobs to hijack our country from outside the constitutional order!”
Understand this: Mitch McConnell warned corporate America that acting in support of Democracy was dangerous! Of course, when the former President funneled our money to Trump organization facilities that was OK. In McConnell world, apparently those corporate entities who fatten Republican campaign war chests are “righteous dudes” whose counsel and opinions matter, but those who support moral, non-violent actions in support of Democracy are Corporate children of a lesser God. Wow, just wow.
On an equally mystifying, but semi-related note, we continue to be bombarded with the carping criticism by those of the Right that those “damned Hollywood types” and media darlings should keep their opinions to themselves. I have even heard this from one sometime golfing partner.
It amazes me and, to some extent, troubles me, that these same folks who, to be honest, echo the same sort of uni-dimensional thinking as Donald Trump, have blind spots the size of Alaska in their ill formed “logic” on the subject.
Trump was critical of, for example, Meryl Streep, George Clooney and a host of entertainment/arts folks for being critical of his actions and policies. The red hat hordes followed suit, with equal contempt for those Hollywood types. Where this becomes farcical (to me at least) is when the reason for disdain is phrased as a rejection of the individuals “right” to speak their mind on the subject, because they aren’t “qualified" to do so.
I’m not sure how one determines the “right” or experience, but let’s look at several examples.” Roseanne Barr, Kid Rock, Ted Nugent, Rush Limbaugh, and the (alien?) Marjorie Taylor Greene (who once alleged that 9/11 was a “hoax”) had the “right” to speak publicly in support of Donald Trump, but Meryl Streep, Tina Fey, Bradley Cooper, George Clooney etc., needed to just shut the hell up. Really?
Finally, congratulations to Rush Limbaugh for two months of sobriety!
In fact, the only true attempts to violate the process in Georgia were phone calls by both Trump and Lindsey Graham attempting to sway the Georgia Election top official, a Republican, from ethically carrying out his duties, which he did, in the process becoming a pariah in his own party for his ethical behavior.
But what about ole Mitch? After the MLB decision to pull out of Georgia, he was further incensed by reports of a Zoom call which reportedly included senior leaders from Delta, United, Starbucks, LinkedIn, Target, and Levi Strauss, with some executives dialing in from Georgia’s Augusta National Golf Club as the Masters tournament was underway.
This meeting, led by Merck chief executive Kenneth Frazier and former American Express chief executive Kenneth Chenault, was convened in an effort to “unify companies that had been issuing their own statements and signing on to drafted statements from different organizations after the action in Georgia.” McConnell’s response was a dire warning about “Dabbling in behaving like a woke parallel government” by speaking out against voter suppression. “Corporations will invite serious consequences if they become a vehicle for far-left mobs to hijack our country from outside the constitutional order!”
Understand this: Mitch McConnell warned corporate America that acting in support of Democracy was dangerous! Of course, when the former President funneled our money to Trump organization facilities that was OK. In McConnell world, apparently those corporate entities who fatten Republican campaign war chests are “righteous dudes” whose counsel and opinions matter, but those who support moral, non-violent actions in support of Democracy are Corporate children of a lesser God. Wow, just wow.
On an equally mystifying, but semi-related note, we continue to be bombarded with the carping criticism by those of the Right that those “damned Hollywood types” and media darlings should keep their opinions to themselves. I have even heard this from one sometime golfing partner.
It amazes me and, to some extent, troubles me, that these same folks who, to be honest, echo the same sort of uni-dimensional thinking as Donald Trump, have blind spots the size of Alaska in their ill formed “logic” on the subject.
Trump was critical of, for example, Meryl Streep, George Clooney and a host of entertainment/arts folks for being critical of his actions and policies. The red hat hordes followed suit, with equal contempt for those Hollywood types. Where this becomes farcical (to me at least) is when the reason for disdain is phrased as a rejection of the individuals “right” to speak their mind on the subject, because they aren’t “qualified" to do so.
I’m not sure how one determines the “right” or experience, but let’s look at several examples.” Roseanne Barr, Kid Rock, Ted Nugent, Rush Limbaugh, and the (alien?) Marjorie Taylor Greene (who once alleged that 9/11 was a “hoax”) had the “right” to speak publicly in support of Donald Trump, but Meryl Streep, Tina Fey, Bradley Cooper, George Clooney etc., needed to just shut the hell up. Really?
Finally, congratulations to Rush Limbaugh for two months of sobriety!
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