Recently, a woman argued online that the Republicans have the big corporations “in their pockets” so they can do what they want. My reply was that the Repubs don’t have the NRA, the oil companies, big pharma, etc in their pockets, it’s the other way around…those big corporations have the slime balls in the corporate pockets…promising big money for those who play their way.
And sadly, it’s not just Repubs, either….look at Joe Manchin’s role in defeating every climate bill because he’s in the coal companies’ pockets, and stipulations he’s made about big pharma so his “little girl” can make millions working for the drug companies.
And they have the f-ing balls to whine about “…Joe Biden’s son…”
We’ve made the mistake too long of laughing off their seemingly stupid and twisted ideas about the world, believing, as we tend to do, that the ideas or plots are so brazen or ridiculous that no one could possibly take them seriously. Right?
Wrong. Unfortunately, we should be realizing that for those in power, this is all a game. Everything…Life. Politics. Money. And POWER. And like any game we might play, it’s all about WINNING. In the United States, it’s a game that involves convincing MILLIONS of people that the twisted lies and “alternative facts” of those in power, and their ability to “game” the constitution are all part of it…and they are WINNING, folks.
The co-opting of “patriotic” rhetoric had worked very well, but Nixon was, if only slightly, a bit of a pimple for the Republicans. Americans were wary of a government that lied to them about a war they didn’t understand, soldiers and police who would sic dogs on and beat citizens, and believed that government was not a helpful or positive entity working for the American people, they were all motivated by money & greed. After the Nixon debacle, Republican strategists agreed that they would need a new “game”, a new veneer to win back the conservative voters who had begun to fear the “anything goes” sentiment that had finally broken through the Republican wall of control: abortion was legal, the VietNam war was finally over, women and black people were growing in strength and numbers in demanding equal rights, and even gay people were coming out of their closets and demanding fair treatment. It was time put those radicals back in their respective places. But…how?
The answer came in the form of a little known evangelical preacher from South Carolina named Jerry Falwell.
Another evangelical minister, Billy Graham, had successfully preached his itinerant revivalist message with enough passion and quiet assurance to have been invited to the White House a number of times over the years, and had become a sort of unofficial advisor to several Presidents.
But the Reverend Falwell was far more ambitious, and had his eye on not simply having the occasional words of advice to the President, whoever it may be at the time, but to have his hand in the actual policy making process that determined the direction the nation would go. And he had a vision of a Christian nation that he would later claim was directed to him by god himself.
So Jerry Falwell met with a strangely powerful and energetic woman named Phyllis Schlafly who believed that women had no need for an equal rights amendment, that women could have everything they ever wanted if they simply acknowledged that (I’m paraphrasing now) they kept their legs open and their mouths shut. Their power was greatest when they were “the woman behind the man” and that all that “women’s lib” noise meant that women would have to go to war and to work and would want to be like men and be in politics—all of which would surely hurt women because women really didn’t want to do those things.
Schlafly of course, was not at home with her mouth closed, though, she was making speeches at various Republican campaign rallies, advising politicians on campaign strategies, and showing up on talk shows from early morning til the late-night shows. Jerry Falwell knew where he was going to put his money. And it wasn’t into the collection plate.
About 40 years ago, leaders of conservative Republican politics met to devise a strategy to win and maintain power in any way they could. Their first commandment was to co-opt the notion of “patriotism”. They knew that by claiming to be the “true” patriots of America would be an almost automatic call to those who wanted to preserve “American exceptionalism”, and would sway great numbers of Americans to their side of the political spectrum. It worked, too-Richard Nixon, a mediocre politician with a chip on his shoulder and a loathing of Eastern “elite liberals” managed to wrangle his way into the White House- twice. When it was discovered that he actually approved (or gave the order) to use criminal actions to preserve his position for a second term, it became a certainty that his Presidency would end in disgrace and impeachment, he left. He went to his grave believing that “he was not a crook” and never admitting to any wrongdoing.
That defiance, and Ford’s preemptive pardon in the face of obvious criminality seem like petty crimes compared to todays political environment, but it did what it was supposed to do…it cracked the veneer of the pretense that “all men are created equal” and that “no man is above the law”. That crack in the veneer gave politicians (like Mitch McConnell, Devin Nunes, Ron Johnson, Thom Tillis, Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, etc) access to a government that could potentially make them extremely wealthy, provide them with power and prestige their own mediocrity wouldn’t allow in any other profession. It could also include their vengeful attacks on any person or group they perceived as a threat. With every victory, they grew. With every loss, they got stronger and meaner..
The meeting of Schlafly and Falwell and other powerful Republicans would have huge impact on politics then, and the policies outlined by that meeting were adopted by the Republican Party and written into their platform, where many remain today. In it, we see the marriage of the Republican Party and evangelical Christianity in all of its theocratic proposals and unashamed in the assertion, despite words written to specifically forbid such an infusion. And despite the Republican claims of righteous patriotism and superior Christianity, those theocratic proposals have led us to where we find ourselves today-
With the sick premise that women should no longer be able to control their own bodies; that people of color should not be allowed to vote, shop, drive, or play in the park or else they will be shot; that the framers of our Constitution, specifically included that religion and politics must remain separate entities were just kidding, they really wanted this to be a “Christian” nation. (But not a peace-loving, accepting, tolerant, forgiving Christian-like-Jesus Christian, but a Christianity that declares men to be dominant, ruthless, warriors in the pursuit of what they claim their god wants-DOMINION over the earth & all that’s in it.) That includes the absolute KNOWLEDGE that it doesnt matter if they destroy the Earth’s natural resources, because “god” won’t let the Earth be destroyed -unless He wants it to be.
And if that’s the case, then, that’s alright, too, because they are so convinced of their own “exceptionalism” that they know that not only will they go to Heaven, but that when they get there, they are so f-ing important and special that they will occupy the best seats in the house. (Something along the lines of that 7 virgins thing, I guess) What that means is that they don’t have to worry about the rest of the human race, or the oceans, animals, air, etc., because none of those things are as special to god as those god has “chosen”.
Which also might explain the ability of all of those “special” people-from the working stiffs to the highest levels of government leadership-to justify their hatred of people who don’t look, speak, act, or believe the same way they do, even or maybe especially when that calls for acts of violence, murder, malicious deceit, false propaganda, or stripping of those “bad” human rights.
It might also justify the blind eyes of those followers who can “forgive” members of the Supreme Court for LYING in order to get a job so they can do “gods will”, or the leader of a supposedly “Christian” nation who admits to molesting scores of women and laughs about it, but then lies as easily as he breathes, as long as he claims he’s doing it “for the sake of the country” or “because the media doesn’t like him”.
I suppose it also helps those “Christians” believe that “evil” lives in Democrats, that it is an act of god’s will that they take up arms, corral their hate, flock together against their fellow citizens and prepare to commit MURDER in response to the man they have been convinced is god’s own messenger.
In this “exceptional” bubble of excuses and ignorance, there is no room for compassion, no reason for facts, no doubt of their own correctness. There is only certainty in their own convictions, hate for those who don’t share them, and license for whatever they deem righteous in pursuit of their winning the game.
These are not people to be laughed at or disregarded as fools….these are people who pose as great a threat to humanity as Russia does for Ukraine, or Stalin did for the intelligencia, or Hitler did for the Jews. For those with gentle hearts, brilliant minds, and passionate love for life on earth, it’s time to move. It’s time to stand up and stop the vile dismemberment of our country-and maybe even our suffering planet. That means VOTE, yes, but it also means ACTION. Do more. Speak up. Help others. Run for office. Volunteer. Our lives depend on us.
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