In the 1992 basketball movie White Men Can’t Jump, [I refuse to acknowledge the remake] after much consternation and loyalty to a buddy and not his woman, Billy Hoyle (Woody Harrelson) is told by Sidney Dean (Wesley Snipes), “Listen to the woman.” This pivotal moment in the movie explains Hoyle’s angst, confusion, and, at the end (spoiler alert), loss of his woman (Rosie Perez). In 2016, America had its chance to make the winning dunk but chose not to listen to the woman, Hillary Clinton. She told us then that allowing Donald Trump into the inner sanctum of government would result in endless turmoil because Mr. Trump is “temperamentally unfit.” In a June 2016 speech, she said, "Donald Trump's ideas aren't just different. They are dangerously incoherent. They're not even really ideas — just a series of bizarre rants, personal feuds and outright lies,"she said.
Unfortunately, there are not enough Sydney Dean(s)—in our collective—imploring us to listen to the woman. But if one is honest, setting aside asinine comments like her cackle and pants suits, Ms. Clinton looks more like a clairvoyant every day. When the war in Ukraine was taking a disastrous turn for Russia, it was not beyond the realm of possibility that Russian leader Vladimir Putin would have used a nuclear weapon had Donald Trump been in office and with his blessing. Remember, during the debates with Ms. Clinton, when questioned about first-strike capability, Mr. Trump said he “would not do first strike” but amended his statement by saying he would not “take anything off the table.” Famously, the former Secretary of State said, “A man who can be provoked by a tweet should not have his fingers anywhere near the nuclear codes.”Reportedly,Mr. Trump once pondered dropping a nuclear weapon on a hurricane to stop its destructive power.
His bizarre rants included siding with Vladimir Putin over American intelligence because it suited his needs, insulting African nation-states—calling them sh*t hole countries, and suggesting the ingestion of bleach to stop one of the deadliest viruses ever to strike the world. His personal feuds and promises of execution for those who disagree with him include General Mark Milley (former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff) and telling Russian officials the former Director of the FBI, James Comey, was a “nut job.”
It is not that either man abdicated their oath of service to the country but that they showed insufficient loyalty to Trump and adhered to duty and the rule of law. Hence, Trump's plan to strip the government of civil service employees and stock it with inexperienced loyalists. Included in that fascist plan is to make the Department of Justice part of the executive branch, giving Mr. Trump what he falsely accuses President Joe Biden of controlling justice for his own ends.
Women have been at the forefront of saving the soul of America. Black women saved, resurrected, and were instrumental in electing Joe Biden remaining the most ardent supporters of the Democratic party. America is on the edge of a renaissance of diversity, equity, and inclusion that terrifies Republicans. I admire Michelle Obama, the first Black First Lady of the U.S., who once said, “When they go low, we go high.” It may be time to revise that phrase. The aggressiveness of a Democratic Texas Congresswoman should spark a new rallying cry: When they go low, we go Jasmine Crockett.
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