Irish_Dem
Irish_Dem's JournalSo what did Vance have to do to get the VP slot?
We know the competition was fierce, with people pulling all kinds of stunts to impress Trump.
And I am sure there was backroom wheeling and dealing.
We know it is not about who could do the best job.
Or who could get the most votes (that would be Nikki Haley.)
So how much cash did Vance have to pony up?
And what else did he have to promise Trump to get the job?
No way Trump would bestow something so valuable without a quid pro quo.
US GOP/oligarchs/bribable leaders/MAGA cult are done with democracy.
Democracy no longer serves their need for unlimited power and wealth.
The GOP cannot win by legal means, democracy gets in their way. The GOP ideas are not popular. Most American voters do not want to live under white male christian minority rule, a dark handmaiden tale of dystopia.
The voters want billionaires to pay their fair share and have some regulation to protect the average person from their greed.
Other politicians and leaders are only too happy to take bribes from the rich, all they have to do is pass laws for their benefactors.
Most voters do not like outright in our face greed and corruption.
So the GOP and the rich have decided democracy is over in the US. Install fascism and they too can have what Putin and Xi have in their countries. Total permanent power and access to all US financial assets.
And the MAGA cult is fine with all of this. Democracy means giving certain groups equal rights which they cannot tolerate.
We can see they will use whatever means necessary to damage a US president who is clearly on the side of the American people and supports democracies around the world.
Biden will be the nominee.
The name calling and shaming only divides the party.
Most people here are ardent Democrats who want to defeat the PutinGOP/Trump.
We are on the same side and want the same thing.
We either hang together or we will hang separately.
And if Trump comes to office that may not just be a sentimental comment from long ago.
Two most important documents in the history of the human race.
And no, not the gd commandments.
1. DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE In Congress, July 4th 1776
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.
2. UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION September 17 1787
We The People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
Edit to Add:
This is my belief:
The US Declaration of Independence, US Constitution and Bill of Rights are the most important human rights documents in the history of humanity.
They are sacred documents written by geniuses. Yes of course there were prior works they borrowed from.
But none of those works are in the same league as our founding fathers' documents.
The thought of "We The People" aways makes me tear up. It is the single most important concept in history.
For my 50,000 post: Thank you and appreciation to DU.
Thank you DU for keeping me sane through the long time political reality we slog through. I have been a Democrat since childhood like my father before me. I became a political junkie at 8 years of age when JFK ran against Nixon. It is hard to find kindred spirits, but they are here on DU.
For day to day news, DU is the best site to get accurate news with commentary. When there is breaking news, the only place I want to be is here on DU. Whether good news or bad news, this is the place to get the best information and support.
Thank you for posting provocative, interesting OPs and comments. The liberal viewpoint from walks of life, backgrounds and values; it runs a fascinating gamut.
Despite the variations, the common thread is aways there. The deep love for democracy, and respect for the worth, dignity, value of all humans and our planet. The belief in a fair, free and open society. We value, truth, honesty. And the advancement of cvil rights and a more perfect union.
This is a true community. We listen, we argue, we get testy with each other, at the same time we are kind and supportive.
I have seen people give me very sharp elbows one day, then turn around the next day and stand up for me if someone else has been unfair or wrong. One time a newbie troll attacked me, making absurd and vile statements. Within minutes, DU members jumped on the troll and sent him to oblivion.
I trust this place, I get as good as I give, but we have each other’s backs.
Thank you to the owners for managing one of the best run forums on the internet.
Thank you to the workhorses on this site. The ones who do the heavy lifting, provide the latest news, the videos, the articles, information from other sites. The specialty information by experts who post here, medical, legal, academic, education, business, etc. And those who post anecdotal information of interest.
Please understand that you are not just touching DU members. I read DU every day. My friends, family and neighbors rely on me to provide news, Dem deep weeds and inside baseball news. One of my close relatives is a young Dem attorney who works for a liberal law firm and is in the know. Thanks to DU, when I am with her, I can give her information of interest she didn’t know.
Thank you for the jokes, the humor, the serotonin boost pictures which gives us a welcome break from jarring news. And the specialty posters the photography, music, labor, science, anthropology, food, etc., too many topics to mention all of them.
On a personal note, for most of the time I have been here, I never made OPs. I made comments. I don’t like attention or the limelight. I am a background helper. And introvert. I like the one on one interaction provided by responding to comments. And I don’t think I have much to contribute of value, meriting an OP.
But recently a long time DU member, one I respect and admire, PM’d me out of the blue. They said I should be making OPs. I was taken aback, and didn’t like the idea at all.
After thinking it over, I realized it was my turn to contribute more. So I got off my duff and stepped up to the plate by making a stab at the OP world. So thanks for listen to my .02.
Thank you for letting me be a part of this site. I don’t always see the world like other people do. I grew up in an Irish Catholic military family, moved from pillar to post as a kid, was not always living stateside. Military bases in Southeast Asia were crowded during the Viet Nam war. So we lived off base on the foreign economy. We tried to fit in. Then coming stateside to non military Americans who lived a different life than we had was a challenge. We tried to fit in there too.
Then getting degrees in political science and mental health gave me more of a unique world view, then being a therapist for over 40 years. Cynicism and idealism baked into my DNA.
So a long way around the barn to say thank you for letting me be a part of this site.
My visit to Tiananmen Square.
This is a story about Chinese repression of the Tiananmen massacre, even many years after the event.
About 15 years ago, I had the opportunity to visit China for two weeks. I was part of an American group and we were assigned minders and tour guides as we visited many parts of China. (I had visited China in 1999 so was prepared for some of what I experienced.)
The second trip was spectacular in many ways, however, a harsh reminder in terms of government
repression and control.
The group tour started in Beijing, we had a very nice Chinese tour guide; we liked her very much.
We had had a lovely time, we were in high spirits and enjoying the trip.
We left the hotel to visit Tiananmen Square, where there are important museums, halls and monuments.
But things took a dark turn on the bus from the hotel to Tiananmen Square.
The tour guide stepped up to the front of the bus with her microphone.
She said: We are going to Tiananmen Square and I must talk with you about something very important.
The tour guide went on to say: There was an event which occurred quite some time ago in Tiananmen
Square. I have to warn you that I am not permitted to answer any questions about that event.
There will be some serious consequences to me and to my family in the event you even ask me those questions.
I am respectfully requesting that none of you bring up this topic and not one word be spoken about it. I should warn you that there will be officials at Tiananmen Square in plain clothes who will be monitoring all of our conversations when we are there.
At that point we were all shocked but not surprised; we were familiar with the Chinese government.
We got off the bus and were walking around Tiananmen Square and in fact two or three middle-age men in suits, ties and raincoats quietly joined our group and just did their listening. We Americans either remained silent or asked benign questions about building architecture, etc.
It was indeed a sobering experience. I often think about that experience and the MAGA fake courage, sunshine patriot stance. They talk big, carry guns to intimidate people and anonymously threaten people.
Would any of them have the courage to stand up to a fascist regime like the Chinese student so many years ago standing up to a military tank coming at him. Or even the courage of a regular Chinese citizen earning a living by conducting tours in TS knowing any day things could become dangerous for her.
What will the Trump trial jury do now?
Will they all go back to their normal routines and fade into history?
Go the talk show circuit, podcasts, etc?
Will they write books?
Become famous?
Become targets for MAGA?
Can the judge control any of this?
One way Judge Merchan could handle sentencing:
1. He could put Trump on probation with conditions.
2. Violations of those conditions would mean Trump goes to prison.
3. This puts the jail keys in Trump's hands.
4. Trump decides if he goes to prison or not.
ETA: This is possibly win win.
Trump either violates the probation conditions and goes to jail.
Or he follows the rules for once in his life and we get a break from his bad behavior.
At least three men on the SC have serious issues with women.
Kavanaugh, Thomas, Alito. (These are the SC justices we know about.)
As SC justices, these men make life or death decisions about women.
So what do we know about these men?
Kavanaugh
This man was credibly accused of rape by two women, Dr. Christine Blasey Ford and Deborah Ramirez.
How many other victims are there? Many rapists do not stop at two women. At his confirmation hearing Kavanaugh revealed his serious temperament problem, immaturity, and dishonesty. If he acts like this in a very public televised hearing, what does he do in private?
Thomas.
Anita Hill, a credible source, outlined the sexual harassment she received at the hands of Clarence Thomas.
Some of it too vulgar to repeat here. Thomas to this day, reveals his anger problem with his ranting about how he is a victim. One of the most privileged, powerful men in the world. With a permanent cushy federal job. We see his narcissism, immaturity and anger. Again, this is how he functions in public. We can only imagine the private side.
FBI
In both cases, the FBI pretended to investigate, and pretended to find nothing. In the Kavanaugh case the FBI received over 4000 tips about Kavanaugh, and the FBI just sent them to the Trump White House which was trying to mitigate the accusations. We now know that Trump and his team are quite skilled when it comes to ending unwanted stories about sexual issues. We can imagine Trump quite happy to nominate a man to high office who treats women badly.
The FBI is well known to refuse to take sexual harassment or sexual assault cases seriously. For example, U.S. gymnasts Olympic gold medalists Simone Biles and Aly Raisman testified a couple of years ago before the Senate Judiciary Committee about the FBI not taking their reports seriously about the ongoing sexual assaults of American athletes by Larry Nasir.
Alito
This man oozes arrogance and hatred/disdain for women. If you read his fake rationale for making women second-class citizens in his Roe opinon, it shockingly includes 17th century Sir Matthew Hale, who ruled that husbands can’t be prosecuted for raping their wives, sentenced women to death as “witches,” and whose misogyny was apparent even by 17th century standards. Not surprising as Alito's ruling has led to the 21st century version of the Salem Witch Trials. Women persecuted for no other reason than the fact they are women and it is deemed necessary to control and punish them. This man sounds quite disturbed in his total disdain of women.
For these men, ending Roe has little to do with abortion,
It had everything to do with control and subjugation of women.
How do we know this?
The GOP astounding hypocrisy is one of their consistent and notorious hallmarks.
During the Covid epidemic, when GOP leaders were advocating Americans not wear masks and not get vaccinated, they themselves were getting vaccinated and wearing masks. Sending their children to private schools where masks were required, etc. GOP congressmen who pretend to be strict Christians rushing to support Trump during his sex with a porn star trial. There are too many examples to list all of them.
Certainly if one of the SC justices had a 10 year old pregnant daughter or granddaughter who was the victim of rape or incest, they would arrange for an immediate abortion. Certainly these men's wives, girlfriends, mistresses, daughters and granddaughters all have access to abortions.
Would any of this men allow their female family members to be sent to the parking lot to die? Or would they use their wealth and power to obtain immediate and appropriate emergency medical care. We know the answer to this question.
What did the Roe ruling tell us about how the SC sees women?
Their views are quite are clear in their Roe ruling. And the ongoing threat to make contraceptives illegal as well.
They set the stage for women to be denied emergency medical care, forced to have children against their will, ten year old rape victims forced to have the rapist's child, and the possible travel ban and surveillance of American women. Continued and forced pregnancy will relegate women to second class citizen status, unable to purse educational and career opportunities. The MAGA dream of women in the kitchen, barefoot and pregnant. Some of us are old enough to know what our mothers and grandmothers experienced.
Ending Roe means that the males on the SC do not see women as capable of managing their own bodies. Women are not competent to make their own life decisions. Men must do it for them.
Women are not worthy of prompt medical attention during a medical emergy. They deserve to die a torturous death, while doctors stand helplessly by. Or sent to prison. Women must be punished for being women.
10 year old girls, victims of rape or incest are forced to bear their rapist's babies. These girls are not treated with respect or dignity.
Women are made to have forced births again their will. Women are property who must do as their are told.
The Supreme Court sets the stage for women to be subjected to travel bans, surveiannce, and monitoring. Women are second class citizens who do not deserve the same rights as males.
Such rulings reveal the total disregard the SC has for women, in fact their disgust and hatred of women.
A total inability to treat females with the respect and dignity they deserve.
What else would we expect from SC justices who are rapists, sexual harassers, and misogynists.
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