Senator Lindsey Graham once again exposed Republicans as heartless, racist, xenophobes, bent on winning at all costs. He tried injecting heroism into the actions of border patrol agents who, literally, rode herd on desperate Haitian refugees. Despite the scenes of crying, terrified children grasping for the comfort of their mother’s hand, and men and women rushing to the safety of a nearby shore, they were met with viciousness. They were pushed back into the water by men wielding and swinging the leather reins of their bridles, Graham suggested the inhumane treatment was directed at the agents, not the migrants. The critique of the "cowboy" border agents was "the most inhumane thing,"said Graham. Once the signal was sent, much like the defense of the Capitol rioters; if it met both the GOP goals of politically appeasing the base and fostering more racial animus, the usual chorus of Republican support for the deplorable actions of the reassigned border patrol agents kicked in.
Hypocritically, Fox News backed rapper Nicki Minaj’s misinformed tweet about the after-effects of the Covid-19 vaccine [on a friend of a friend] was the subject of much teeth grinding between her and the many who lambasted her tweet. Minaj was once the collateral damage of a blistering commentary by non-other than Fox host, Laura Ingraham whose criticism of former President Obama for daring to meet with the rap icon was the subject. Minaj now finds herself in the unenviable position of inadvertently excusing or explaining white supremacy as a part of her false claim of being banned from Twitter. Misinformation is not a black thing or a white thing, it is a destructive thing.
I am often accused of only seeing life from inside the Democratic silo. I admit, there is some truth to that, but there is also a reason. I want to stay in the vicinity of truth, have logical debates and maintain the ability to disagree with my leaders. The modern Republican party is finally becoming what it has sought for years, total obedience, total devotion, and is exponentially more openly racist.
As much as I find it counterproductive, Democrats are not walking lockstep into the future. Democrats fight, snipe, and fall prey to the restrictions [thankfully] of morality when it comes to politics. Lindsey Graham completely ignored the plight of scared children and cowering women as he rushed to the mic to defend men on horseback chasing and whipping human beings. Debating the morality of their actions with Graham would be useless.
In the summer of 2011, I was hospitalized and shared a room with a white man. His family came to visit and because Mr. Obama had made us so cognizant of politics they pulled the curtain and began a political conversation which mainly consisted of lie after lie about Obama. After each lie my roommate's mother would say in hushed tones, obviously about me, ‘shhh, he is black,’ as if they were harboring a secret. Finally when one of them said, “when Obama was the mayor of Chicago…” I had heard enough and interjected myself into their conversation and said, “you know Obama was never the mayor of Chicago.” They paused a moment and the same voice I had heard previously repeated even more quietly, ‘when Obama was mayor of Chicago…’ That simple ignoring of facts let me know they were beyond reason, and truth had no place in their critique. Republicans are digging a canyon of lies and the old political adage says when your opponent is digging a hole, hand them a shovel.
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