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The blood of four little children is on your hands. Your irresponsible and misguided actions have created in Birmingham and Alabama the atmosphere that has induced continued violence and now murder. Martin Luther King, Jr.
I am, like everyone here, angered by Trump's tweets and the words that spew forth from the puckered sphincter under his nose about the four Democratic members of the House of Representatives. I recognize his intentions, as I'm old enough to remember seeing the results of such disgusting hatred before. I think we all know what happens when a sociopath fans the flames of division, fear, and hatred, and we know this isn't going to end well unless there is a strong intervention.
I remember that the 16th Street Baptist Church was being used by a group of American citizens in Birmingham as a center for planning their Civil Rights activities. A very little man named George Wallace was stirring a steaming pot of hatred along with the state's white hate groups. On September 15, 1963, four members of the Ku Klux Klan planted 15 or more sticks of dynamite at the church, killing four girls.
Before the sun set that evening, two black teen-aged boys were shot and killed on the streets in Birmingham. One was shot in the back by a white policeman, who acted as judge, jury, and executioner for allegedly not following orders. The other was shot by a white teen, while riding a bike with his brother. The teen and his friend were found guilty of 2nd degree manslaughter, and were sentenced to two years of probation.
When Governor Wallace pretended he was upset by the bombings, Dr. King sent him a telegram that is quoted above. King knew that while Wallace had not planted the dynamite or pulled the triggers, there was blood on his hands. King knew that the radical white racists who applauded the deaths of those four girls and the two boys consider Wallace to be their man, their leader.
Trump knows that there are many threats being made at the four Democratic women. He also knows that the most serious threats being made against the four are those coming from him. He knows that there are unhinged people who actually believe him, just as they believe Sean Hannity and other peddlers of hatred and violence. And, should one or more of these paranoid imbeciles act out, Trump will, like Wallace, try to wash his hands of it. He'll claim he is not responsible for what others do.
None of this is a great mystery. Just like in the Civil Rights era, a significant segment of white society is uncomfortable with change. They feel uneasy with the prospect that non-white people exercise the same constitutional rights that they take for granted that they enjoy. They feel threatened when a brown-skinned woman like Alexandria Ocasio Cortez speaks about social justice. And they are convinced that they are being attacked when a brown-skinned Muslim like Ilhan Omar exercises her power as a member of the House of Representatives.
Groups of frightened people tend to behave in general patterns, with some variation depending upon specific circumstances. A frequent dynamic can be found within small groups of twenty people who believe they are under attack: one person will take on the group leadership. This is distinct from a group of twenty that is exercising power, where there is competition for that leadership role. Note that if those exercise power over another group identify that one-in-twenty leader, they will focus their attention on removing that person from his or her group by any of a variety of means. On the larger scale, of course, we witnessed the results of this with the murders of Malcolm X and Dr. King.
I'm an old white man, who is encouraged by the women now known as the Squad. They speak for me, and they represent my values. I say that, even though I have a limited connection at best to two of the four. I joined AOC's campaign early in the democratic primary, when few people knew who she was or why she was running. We had agreed to do an interview for this forum, but the timing was never right. There were a number of outspoken critics of AOC here at the time, and when I asked another forum member who supported her if he wanted to do the interview with me, he declined. There were even people hoping Crowley would run as an independent after AOC beat him in the primary.
I've spoken with Representative Omar's office since she was elected. On the day I got my I Stand with Ilhan Omar bumper sticker, I was stopped twice while taking a round trip to the grocery store. That averaged being pulled over once every eight miles. Coincidence, most likely, though I don't believe in coincidence. I'm confident that they were just checking to see if I was wearing a seat belt, which I always do.
Trump continues to spout lies quicker than Maximum Security ran in the Kentucky Derby, and he isn't about to allow facts to catch up, much less pass him. This is his very nature for if one took away the constant lies, the threats, the criminality, and unethical behaviors, there would be nothing left but a large pile of orange shit. And if he is allowed to move this country in the direction he is headed in, that pile of shit will be splattered upon everything good about America.
I wish that the Democrats in the House were moving faster towards impeachment. The evidence of Trump's criminal nature are there, and should be put on full display for the nation. Two months ago, I was confident that we were on the way. Today, I'm not sure, and suspect that their master plan is to focus instead on the 2020 elections. Although I believe that we can do both, and that one reinforces the other, I will be listening to Mr. Mueller's testimony on Wednesday with great interest, and hope it leads to justice. If justice is delayed meaning denied I will still be fully invested in supporting all Democratic Party candidates in 2020. But I have serious concerns about how the landscape will be after another year of Trump.
Peace,
H2O Man
BSdetect
(8,995 posts)H2O Man
(73,510 posts)a never-ending nightmare.
calimary
(81,125 posts)Sure does.
malaise
(268,713 posts)and she's not the only one. 50 plus Muslims died in New Zealand and 11 died in that synagogue. I could go on.
I want Mueller to talk and then I want the impeachment Investigation to begin
Timing is everything in a conflict. We cannot afford to put off doing the right thing.
Hermit-The-Prog
(33,258 posts)The impeachment investigations will take a long time simply because of the depth of depravity of that thing, and his accomplices, in our White House. They should not be delayed while waiting for current investigations by various committees to conclude. People who are not immersed in this stuff on a daily basis need to be educated.
malaise
(268,713 posts)Hermit-The-Prog
(33,258 posts)Those of us who remember the events H20 Man describes as well as those young enough to think they happened in our ancient, barbaric past do not want a reversion to such active hatred. The head racist's cheerleading is abhorrent.
There was a recent OP featuring a dailykos article:
Well, it seems like our great investigative media has finally discovered the great secret that Donald John Trump has been not hiding at all for his entire life: Hes a racist shithead.
Who exactly didnt know this after his claim that Mexicans are rapists; his attempt to ban Muslims from entering the country; his reference to shithole countries; birtherism; his calling for the death penalty against the Exonerated 5 from the Central Park Jogger case; his being sued twice for housing discrimination; his father saying You know I don't rent to n*ggers; his father being arrested at a 1927 Klan riot; the Polish Gang and his encouraging clients of his modeling agency to violate immigration laws; saying Judge Gonzalo Curiels judgement cant be trusted because he has Mexican heritage; saying that Gold Star Mother Ghazala Khan didnt speak at the DNC for cultural reasons; claiming there were fine people on both sides of a violent alt-right attack on Charlotesville, including those who support keeping the favorite flag of the Klan on public and state property; I dont like black guys touching my money; trying to convince The Apprentice first season runner-up Kwame Jackson that he should share his win with a white guy; repeatedly using the n-word backstage at The Apprentice; saying black people are too stupid to vote for me and Haitians all have AIDS; and finally, his use of a phrase thats literally in the EEOC manual as a prime example of discrimination, when he told four U.S. citizens who happen to be members of Congress to go back to the [crime-infested countries] they came from?
TrumPutin's racism should be catalogued daily until the least political, most isolated citizen understands what he is and what he wants this country to become.
malaise
(268,713 posts)Now he and his goons are trying to redefine the word - he is sick and dangerous
Me.
(35,454 posts)I can't understand that seeing the corruption and criminality that has been going on and recently, aided and abetted by Barr, that he wouldn't come out guns blazing.
It may be interesting to see how he responds to the republicans' questions, in particular. They might get the most valuable responses.
uponit7771
(90,302 posts)... NOT having a 2020 election (seeing he's literally cheating as we type) because of his words didn't change the willingness to break glass with anyone I don't know what will.
There's no 2020 election, none
H2O Man
(73,510 posts)but there is no doubt that Russian military intelligence will be an active participant. And that will be welcomed by Trump. How many other foreign entities will feel free to interfere is an open question.
I think the difference may be that there is a general understanding of that interference, which was not a factor in 2016. Hopefully, there will be a united front against Trump and his band of republicans.
I can dream, can't I ?
uponit7771
(90,302 posts)...and wrong and make sure to define Donald Trump's racism in treason the wrong approach to anything
team him up with Russia using his own words so he can't backup out of it and put in our platform the top two issues for voters immigration and healthcare.
Defeat team Trump and Russia and get affordable public option..,..something like that
H2O Man
(73,510 posts)clips of him saying outrageous things over the past 2.5 years, that I find myself thinking of a hundred commercials for Democrats to make for the 2020 campaign. Convict him with his own words.
Now you've got me thinking of one of my favorite teachings from Minister Malcolm X: place a sparkling, clean glass of water next to a filthy glass of sludge, and thirsty people will make the correct choice. And Trump is certainly filthy sludge.
uponit7771
(90,302 posts)... and beat the person into the ground into submission with derision regarding their knowledge authority of the subject.
With Trump that would take months upon months for them to back up out of his positions especially with Russia.
the consummate defending their position on Russia would make it sound like they're teaming up with Russia and that's what we need
coeur_de_lion
(3,676 posts)H2O Man
(73,510 posts)Tomorrow brings Mr. Mueller's testimony. What do you think we will see and hear?
malthaussen
(17,175 posts)What we will see and hear will differ from what the rest of the country sees and hears. The only question that remains is when, if ever, a sufficient number of American people will be disgusted enough with Mr Trump and the GOP to do something about it. But that has always been the question, and so I wonder, at this point, "what will it take?" Mr Trump knew long ago that he could commit murder at high noon on Fifth Avenue and his supporters would still be behind him. But I wonder if even he knew how many other Americans would be indifferent to such an act. I confess I did not, and I have a very low opinion of my fellow man.
-- Mal
coeur_de_lion
(3,676 posts)I hope we'll hear some things that were not public prior to this. I hope we'll hear the full extent of trump's crimes.
But Mueller seems either frightened or just unwilling to cross trump or Barr.
So either he'll fess up or he will crawl back into obscurity and we will never know anything more than we know now.
Publicity for trump's obstruction crimes is a good thing and this can be a good thing for us. But I've been disappointed so many times I am afraid to hope out loud.
I'm secretly hoping against hope that the delays were for a beneficial (to us) reason. Like Mueller was building up the legal framework needed to tell the world about what really happened. Or like he was shoring up a legal defense so that he can make at least his summaries public.
What do you think we will hear?
Karadeniz
(22,474 posts)As are those around him, including Ivanka, who enable him. They arelike someone who hands the car keys to a very intoxicated person, allowing the drunk to drive. After he causes a wreck that takes innocent lives, they may say, But I didn't think this would happen." But they should have. They are responsible, too.
marble falls
(57,013 posts)who carry it out.
H2O Man
(73,510 posts)Trump has always fancied himself a mafia don. He is, but in a manner that he is not fully aware of. It's high time that Congress and the federal courts stop the madness.
Hekate
(90,560 posts)H2O Man
(73,510 posts)I will admit that my mind was not fully calm when I wrote this essay yesterday. Those four ladies are my children's ages. They say and stand for many of the exact same things as my children. I felt frustrated, because on face book, I read some ignorant posts, claiming that the four are enemies of the state. So this OP was an old man blowing off steam.
But you are correct, and I thank you for that. We need to counter Trump and his ilk's crude behaviors in the correct way, and not allow it to force us off the path to social justice. We must not only remember the teachings of Dr. King, but put them into practice.
dalton99a
(81,404 posts)Kid Berwyn
(14,802 posts)Democrats got a House majority by pressing how they would hold Donnie Peebrains accountable.
Every day since, Trump has dominated the daily news cycle and shown how he says and does what he wants. He only is getting more popular, as he ignores his oath of office to shut down government, ignore subpoenas, protect Russia, espout racism and encourage violence towards women.
Other than that, the Dems surely will pour out to continue the great accountability in 2020 not.