Tag: democratic values

Much Of The Republican Party Is Heading Down A Dangerous Path

by inmanb17cedcb09, posted in Current Events

Feb 7, 2022
   A significant amount of the Republican Party is heading down a dangerous, undemocratic, authoritarian style, and potentially violent path that is absolutely threatening American democracy. This may sound like an outrageous statement, but it is still unfortunately true. Quite scary indeed. But we cannot and should not ignore the dangers. Instead, we need to educate ourselves about what is happening and speak out. We should stand up for truth, justice, open-mindedness, kindness, thoughtfulness, fairness, and democracy.
   We have seen over and over how so many Republicans have followed Donald Trump no matter what, even when he is clearly in the wrong. The evidence is overwhelming that the 2020 election was free and fair and that Trump’s claims of widespread fraud are false. Every election will have isolated issues or problems. That is normal in a big election, but there was no widespread fraud here. Ballot counting rooms in every state had Republican, Democrat, and Independent observers monitoring the process and responding to questions that arose. There were also international observers from multiple countries watching things, and every state certified the election, because it was fair. The Trump campaign lost over 60 court cases where it tried to claim widespread fraud, and many of the judges who ruled against it were conservatives. The Trump campaign lost all these cases because it did not have the evidence to back up its outrageous claims. In other words, the 2020 election was free and fair with Biden legitimately winning and Trump legitimately losing. Yet Trump and others have continued spreading their false claims and lies about it, and what is disturbingly frightening is how millions of Americans believe these lies. The spreading of these false claims led to the violent Jan 6 assault on the US Capitol Building by Trump followers. But the danger to American democracy doesn’t end there.
   Donald Trump uses the willingness of millions of Americans to blindly follow him to enhance his power and control over much of the Republican Party in an authoritarian style way. He has many Republicans in elected positions bowing to him, even when a number of them know he is wrong, because they fear he will turn his followers against them and vote them out of office. A scary number of Republicans in elected positions appear willing to undermine democratic values in order to keep their jobs, and another disturbing facet is how some of these officials are true believers. Republicans in numerous states are fighting to pass laws that would make voting much more difficult for millions of Americans. They appear to be doing this to make Trump happy and to increase their chances of defeating Democrats in future elections because it’s no coincidence that these new laws often target people who are more likely to vote for Democrats.
   Recently, we saw how the Republican National Committee (RNC) officially censured Republican Representatives Cheney and Kinzinger just because of their participation in the Congressional Investigation of the violent Jan 6 attack on the Capitol Building. In this censure, they actually referred to the Jan 6 events as “legitimate political discourse.” Think about that for a minute. We all saw the violence of that day as Trump supporters literally assaulted the US Capitol Building. We could see members of Congress fearing for their lives and Capitol police being physically attacked because of lies being spread by Trump and others. The events of that day were not “legitimate political discourse,” yet that is how the RNC referred to it. At the same time, we have seen elected Republicans such as Marjorie Taylor Greene make numerous hateful, false, cruel statements without being censured by the Republican Party.
   Think about this. And these are just a few examples of the dangerous trend many Republicans are going down. 
   This is why we must educate ourselves and speak up. We should stand up for truth, open-mindedness, tolerance, kindness, thoughtfulness, fairness, justice, and democracy. And we have to get out there and vote for individuals who also have the courage to truly stand up and fight for these ideals as well.

The Republican Party Has Gone Dangerously Off The Rails

by inmanb17cedcb09, posted in Current Events

7-20-21
   It’s really scary how off the rails so much of the Republican Party has become.
   Think about it. Really think about what’s going on.
   The Republican party in many ways is now controlled by one person, Donald Trump. That in itself undermines democracy and what democracy is supposed to be about. What makes it even worse in this case is how twisted, disturbed, and authoritarian Trump’s outrageous behavior is. He lies on a colossal scale which is made even more dangerous by the way his blind followers go right along with with these lies without question. They let him get away with it, which in turn encourages his terrible behavior even more.
   Let’s look at one example: the 2020 election. This election was free and fair. There was no widespread fraud. Every single state, including those run by Republican officials, certified the election because it was free and fair. International observers from multiple countries were present monitoring the election, and they stated the election was free and fair. There were Republican, Democrat, and Independent observers in all the ballot counting rooms in every state. Add to all this the fact that Trump and his people went to court over 60 times trying to push their outrageous false claims of widespread fraud and lost. And many of the judges who ruled against Trump had been appointed by Republicans themselves. The reason Trump and his people lost over 60 court cases in connection to the election is because they have no case. They have no evidence that would stand up in a court of law. It is very clear that Trump lost the election fair and square. But Trump doesn’t like to lose and wants power, so he has continued making his false, dangerous claims about the election even though they are flat out lies. And despite the fact that his claims are totally false, his followers blindly go along with them spreading these dangerous falsehoods.  And we all saw how on January 6th, all these false claims about the election led to a mob of extremist Trump supporters assaulting United States Capitol Building in an attempt to stop Congress from certifying this free and fair election. And yet despite all this, Trump and his supporters continue pushing their dangerous, undemocratic false claims about the election.
   This brings us to Republicans in elected positions, the majority of whom are bowing to Trump’s authoritarian leadership over the party. Some of these officials are blind followers of Trump themselves while others secretly may not like Trump but continue to bow to him because they are afraid of losing future primary elections. In other words, this latter group is putting their own desire for political power over American democracy. In Washington DC, only a few Congressional Republicans are willing to speak out against Trump.
   This state of affairs is quite scary and truly is dangerous to our democracy. We need to be aware of what is happening and stand up for our democratic values and speak out against authoritarianism in all its forms. We need to put pressure on more Republicans to break away from Trump’s extremist, undemocratic authoritarianism. And in future elections, we need to vote in people who stand for true democracy. Considering how much of the Republican Party is currently under the sway of Trump, in the next few elections, we need to vote in Democrats as much as possible in order to ensure our democracy endures. And I say this as an Independent (I’m not a Democrat). Right now, with so much of the Republican Party following an authoritarian leader, which is what Trump is, the Republican Party cannot be trusted with majority control over the government.

2021 Is Here

by inmanb17cedcb09, posted in Current Events, Social Issues

1-1-21
   It’s a new year!  The twisted, tortuous, brutal year of 2020 has finally drawn to a close which is a huge relief to people around the world.
   While we all hope that 2021 will be better than 2020, the reality is that it will take time.
   In the United States, COVID case numbers are scarily high with death tolls often reaching over 3000 in a 24 hour period. Many experts expect January to get particularly bad with a surge upon a surge occurring as the effects of people, who disregarded medical experts’ pleas to avoid big holiday gatherings, are felt.
   In addition to the COVID situation, Trump and his people are undermining American democracy with outrageously false claims about the election. While Trump’s attempts to steal the election away from the American people will fail, it appears he is going to try to hold as much power over the Republican Party, after he leaves office, as he can get away with. This is disturbing to say the least. Even though he will no longer be an elected official, he will likely try to control what Republicans (who are in elected positions) do by threatening to turn his followers against them. This is a form of authoritarianism that is dangerous and damaging to democracy.
   Thus, 2021 will not be a walk in the park. But hopefully, it’ll get better. Perhaps with time, some of the Republicans who have been going along with Trump’s outrageousness (even when they know he’s in the wrong) will finally grow a spine and turn away from him, but time will tell if that actually happens. Hopefully, the COVID vaccination program will pick up steam so that the majority of the population can get vaccinated as soon as possible, that way we can start reaching herd immunity. With herd immunity, we can begin getting life back to a more reasonable, enjoyable state.
   So, hang in there. People need to listen to medical experts and work together in combating COVID-19. We must stand up for our democratic values. People need to stop enabling Trump’s abhorrent, unAmerican behavior and recognize that the election was fair and that Trump legitimately lost. It’s time to put the toxic divisions and hate of the Trump years behind us and strive to help one another and work together in creating a better future.

Trump Continues Undermining US Democracy With The Help Of Blind Followers

by inmanb17cedcb09, posted in Current Events

12-3-20
   Joe Biden and Kamala Harris won the election fair and square.  There were no widespread irregularities. Biden won, and Trump lost.
   But Trump is continuing to undermine American democracy making outrageously false claims of fraud even though he has no evidence to back it up. His court challenges keep failing, again because he has no evidence. But Trump continues making bogus accusations, and what is more disturbing is how so many of his followers seem to believe him despite the fact he is clearly spreading lies and false information. It is additionally disturbing how most of the Republicans in Congress are still being extremely cowardly as they placate and go along with Trump’s dangerous farce. All of this enables and encourages Trump to continue his deplorable behavior.
   What is also concerning is how it appears that Trump is not going to go into a calm retirement like other modern presidents. Nope. It looks more and more likely that Trump wants to continue running the Republican Party as much as he can get away with. He may try to control what elected Republicans do and how they vote by wielding the threat of turning his followers against them. This means someone who is not in an elected position would be maintaining a significant amount of control over what elected Republicans are doing and how they are voting.
   Think about that folks.
   This goes completely against our democratic values and sinks further towards the dark world of authoritarianism.
   It is way past time for people (particularly Trump followers and elected Republicans) to open their minds and speak out against Trump’s abhorrent behavior. Stop blindly following him, placating him, and going along with him when he is clearly in the wrong. Get information from a variety of independent, reputable sources (not sites that just tell you what you want to hear). Stand for democracy and the United States Constitution.
   It’s time to get back our Democracy!