“They never think things through”
I’ve been saying this about the GOP for years now
Every single time the GOP passes some law that directly benefits themselves, I always, well, mostly always, shake my head and say, again, “They never think this shit through.”
Like, for instance, their support of Trump and his appeal trying to claim a non-existent “Presidential immunity” thing that would prevent him from being EVER indicted for crimes committed while he was in office.
Do they even stop for one moment and think that such a ruling would benefit Biden — especially if Trump loses? I mean, others have noted this exact thing, that if Trump loses, and Biden gets in AFTER SCOTUS rules in favor of that “immunity”, there are all sorts of things Biden could do to literally kill off his enemies and get off scott free. Now, obviously, nobody is saying he would do those things. I’m sure he’d have nightmares for the rest of his life if he did or at least I hope he would!
But that’s the real point. Republicans NEVER think through the consequences of their “solutions.”
So, in looking at this, let’s skip a few levels and ignore the current political situation, and look at how that failing affects their very basic values.
Remember my earlier articles where I’ve noted this point about the Rich White Men (RWM)? You remember, the guys who first wrote the Constitution that denied voting rights for anyone but themselves? Yeah, those guys. The ones we’ve been fighting for two hundred plus years over control of our “democracy”?
Remember their two basic rules? That first the RWM are the only ones capable of ruling? And second that women and minorities are only entitled to second class or lower citizenship?
I alluded to this then, but I’ll put it out here plainly now. Those two rules exist for one reason, and only one.
To ensure the RWM are not only at the top of the ladder, but that’s so they can ensure their continued wealthy status — forever. They wanna be the richest guys around, and they wanna stay that way.
A couple of problems with that.
First, their tactics are, basically, Authoritarian. What they fail to think through is that Authoritarian governments usually fail, often fail not only quickly, but violently. The guys at the top in those scenarios rarely survive, so their “forever” is kinda…short? Those that do survive have to run, and often, as they do a bunch of their assets get left behind and get confiscated. Kinda ruins the lifestyle if you’re wanted internationally for crimes that keep you imprisoned in one “friendly” country, doesn’t it? But they always blithely imagine they’ll never fail. Yet, somehow, history is full of the stories of failed dictatorships. Always Rich White Men who fail.
Always.
So, how does a country like the United States avoid a knock down drag out fight with the RWM? Can we? I don’t know.
What I do know is that, together, the American people can achieve something that might manage to put those guys outta business on the political front, yet still somewhat mollified by letting them remain wealthy and alive.
You see, the “solutions” they want and are pursuing as the GOP are not only harmful to the American people but also drag down the collective wealth of this economy. I know, I know, the RWM don’t care about the economy as it pertains to you and me, but it does affect them.
How?
Lower wages depress the spending power of those badly paid. Of course, they spend it all back into the economy, but at a much lower level than they would were they paid more. Plus, if they were paid enough to make it a living wage, they’d not need tax supported welfare, plus they’d be paying taxes instead of living off of them! My point here is that if the RWM were willing to understand that with a bit of forbearance in the immediate rewards of not paying higher wages, and started paying higher wages, eventually that cash is gonna make its way back into their pockets.
If they won’t do that willingly, we’ve gotta force them to.
Also, health care. Medicare for All is a very popular thing if it’s not linked with Bernie Sanders’ name, oddly. But frankly, when called that, Universal Health Care is very popular in this country — even a majority of GOP voters liked it. The actual polling numbers are up into the 70 to 80 percentile overall.
European countries with Democratic Socialist governments also control the internal policies of Corporations — like vacation time. In Europe, especially Germany, workers, even in private businesses, get four weeks off, minimum. Their employer cannot force them to not take it, they are essentially forced to take that time. In fact, you’ll find that damn near anywhere in the world Americans go, there will be a bevy of Germans there, too. And they ain’t all wealthy, either, or retired. They’re workers on vacation. I’ve been watching my wife’s relatives from Germany going on vacations for years, jealous as hell.
How would that benefit the RWM? Happier, healthier, and more effective workers. Medicare for all would remove the requirement for employers to fund a portion of their workers’ insurance, plus they’d never have to submit paperwork to another insurance company again, which, for some, would eliminate entire departments! So, lower costs. Having to manage worker time off would force companies to better manage their work force, which by itself is a time and money saver.
Look, I guess what I’m trying to say is that Progressives aren’t selling this right. All the time we spend talking about how badly the right is acting gives their ideas FREE PUBLICITY. Instead of that, let’s talk about our solutions. Not just noting the goals we have, but how we intend to get there.
That’s important. We not only want Americans to understand that we know and understand their problems, but that our solutions are a better way to move this country forward, and will benefit most Americans directly. I mean, how much more direct is that help than letting you not go bankrupt for cancer treatments?
This isn’t a comprehensive plan, of course. It’s a direction we should be taking. We can and should be developing solid plans for how to manage the change process from an insurance heavy economy to one with Universal Health Care, especially in how to manage the switch for those who would lose their jobs from the old way of things. Perhaps government sponsored education for them to change careers? We can figure that out, you know.
And we should do this — before we start pushing for those changes to begin. We need a comprehensive plan for how to get that done. People need to know and understand that our plans won’t hurt them, but rather are designed to help them. Because I guarantee you, the RWM will use their money and power to make it look otherwise.
We’ll need to plan for that, too, and our experiences with the current GOP should inform us of how to proceed.
Which we should be doing, with forceful and aggressive actions and words both. The Democratic Party has been timid and laid back for far too long, and that is one reason why the GOP and the RWM have gotten so out of hand. They think (and so far have been right) that the left doesn’t have the guts to confront them in an effective manner.
Which brings me to my next item on my list.
Ladies?
It’s time for you gals to step up, show your mojo, and start kicking major ass. Yeah, yeah, I know you already had a major star in Pelosi. Yes, she was good, and knew a lot about how to manage Congress.
But what she didn’t do is what I just said. She and the Establishment of the Democratic party were indeed timid, and allowed the Right to gain far too much ground in the lies and the games they played.
Over thirty years, folks. THIRTY YEARS and more the GOP has been playing these games, and nobody on the left pulled their heads out of their asses long enough to see it. Or, if they did, they didn’t say anything about it, or bother to pressure the Establishment to do anything about it.
So, here we are.
I get it. For now, most people think Biden is our ticket to beat Trump. Yes, he’s got the record, and I do agree that he made far greater strides towards the left than anyone before him. But it wasn’t enough, and continuing to fight the GOP on their terms is not going to give us the actual Blue Wave we truly need.
So, yes, we need both the ladies and the Progressives (most of whom are ladies) to step up, grow the mojo needed to kick Republican ass as far out of office as they can, and work to get as many Americans on their side as possible.
Because, folks, only the Progressive agenda is going to beat the RWM. Being timid, and staying in the political Center isn’t going to do it. Pelosi did well holding the line, but even she let it slip rightwards. We can’t afford that this year.
A majority of Americans polled about the agenda items Bernie Sanders proposed in 2016, when those items were polled individually, agreed that those were worthy ideas. Bernie himself made those popular! So, tell me, if so many Americans agreed that those were worthy of looking at, why did we just set them aside? Why haven’t we been shouting about them from the rooftops?
Let’s not be like the RWM, or the GOP, or the Conservatives. Let’s think things through. Let’s plan it out. Tell Americans what we want to do and how we intend on doing it. Let’s just let the right wingers stew in their own juices. If we make enough noise, and talk loud enough about new ideas and proposals, the media will inevitably pick up on that and we can outshout and drown out the MAGATs. Let Trump stew in his indictment juices, let’s take over the airwaves with our ideas.
It’s time to move forward.
Not look back.
