I was really little, definitely single digits old, so I don’t remember all the details.
I know we were riding in a car, and I know we passed a truck in a relatively deserted parking lot alongside a relatively deserted two lane highway. There was a small handmade sign describing what they were selling. Cigarettes? TVs? I don’t remember.
But the price was very low. A few cars of customers had pulled over. Money was exchanged. I asked my mom why we didn’t stop and buy some of what they were selling.
She didn’t miss a beat before explaining.
Well, the only way they could sell those things for so cheap is they must be selling stolen property.
Huh?
If they stole those things and got them for free, any amount they can sell it for goes right in their pocket because they don’t have any expenses.
Oh. But how do you know it is stolen?
You don’t, but when you see people selling things in that way, sometimes that is the reason. So it’s best not to take a chance.
Take a chance on what?
If someone steals something and then sells it to you, you are committing a crime because you are helping people make money from theft.
Receiving stolen property is wrong, baby. Even if you are not sure, but you think it is stolen, it is best not to take the chance.
Oh. OK.
Throughout the years we would see other trucks parked on the side of other roads, and I would ask—are they selling stolen property, mommy?
I don’t know for sure, baby, but they could be. So we won’t buy anything from them.
In elementary school, I apparently had more personal integrity than the man nominated for the vacant Supreme Court seat.
Receiving stolen property is wrong.
This Supreme Court nomination was stolen.
It was stolen from the President who was elected by the people for a full four year term in 2012.
It was stolen from a man whose educational and professional qualifications are just as stellar as those of Gorsuch.
There is no such thing as the “Biden Rule”.
Republicons are bleating now that winning the 2016 election gives them the right to the seat, because the people voted and that’s what they voted for.
And I have yet to hear any media personality push back on that and say the people also voted in 2012, knowing it was likely that there would be S.Ct. vacancies in the next four years and they wanted Barack Obama to fill them.
Going back further, we all remember how they met on Inauguration Day 2009 vowing to block everything the newly elected Obama proposed, in the hope that would make him a one-term president.
Not only that, Rcons had plans to hold the seat open for FOUR WHOLE YEARS if Hillary had been elected.
Republicons only care about election outcomes when they win.
When they lose, they subvert the will of the election in every way they can, even when it is clear that we outnumber them.
They are liars and it amazes me that anyone believes anything they say given their poor track record. On this particular subject, they redefine hypocrisy every time they open their mouths.
But this isn’t even about the Republicon Party stealing the Supreme Court seat any more.
This is about Gorsuch being able to live with it.
A man who enjoys being called America's "most influential conservative Christian thinker" had the nerve to write this a few weeks ago:
If Democrats are looking for a point of vulnerability in either Gorsuch’s integrity or impartiality, they won’t find it. He is basically a Boy Scout… a man of probity who holds himself to the highest ethical standards.
So far I only aspire to be one of America’s most influential liberal Christian thinkers, but I beg to fcuking differ.
What does a person of integrity do when faced with “I stole this for you, here, take it”?
Gorsuch apparently has no problem with the technically allowable but unquestionably unethical R behavior that dropped this nomination in his lap.
Isn’t that a telling reflection on his personal philosophy of justice, or fairness, or equality?
Aren’t those primary qualities one would expect in a judge?
Isn’t that a very telling reflection on his basic character?
Receiving stolen property is wrong. No matter how much you want it. No matter how many of your friends want you to have it.
A man of probity? Seriously? I would expect a man of “strong moral principles; honesty and decency” to say, “This is wrong. I can’t accept this under these circumstances.”
Conservative Christians talk a good game about standing all alone against the world when they have to. Why is it that they make such a big deal out of doing that when the outcome is hurting other people, but they are much slower to make that righteous stand when it means giving up something they want for themselves?
Lent begins on Wednesday, and if Judge Gorsuch goes to church on Sunday he will hear this:
The devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him a Supreme Court appointment with lifetime tenure and enormous power to do great harm in the lives of vulnerable women, immigrants, and black voters for decades to come, and he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will just hold your nose and close your eyes and play along with unscrupulous party politics.”
Okay he won’t hear that, but I wish he would. I wish he would hear the real appointed passage for Sunday and see his own current temptation reflected in it. Is this how he wants to go down in history? As the man of ostensibly sterling character who nevertheless blithely abandoned all principles of basic fairness for personal and political gain? Whoever ends up in that seat is going to have the same asterisk next to his name as the current occupant of the Oval Office. There’s too much sleaze involved with the way he got the job. And he will never be able to live that down.
Other people have stood up and said they are unwilling to associate themselves with the DJT administration.
If Gorsuch actually were a man of honor, he would do the same.
Boy Scouts don’t accept stolen property.
“Spread love instead of spreading lies. Spread love—the truth needs no disguise.”
This is an alien concept to Republicons.
Previous TRUE BLUE REPORT diaries
Feb 25: True Blue Ribbons: Russia Flag trolling, Dixie Swastika grabbing, District Days demonstrating
Feb 24: There is no such thing as a compassionate conservative
Feb 23: Chief of Staff, Nat’l Security Advisor, GOP Head, President Bannon—too many hats!
Feb 22: DJT has a few questions for you—SMURF THIS POLL!
Feb 21: The end of “access journalism” means it’s time to #sendtheinterns
Feb 20: KAC lying low for now… can we banish her (and all her ilk) from the airwaves completely?
Feb 19: DeVos cartoon, Ruby Bridges, unearned unhappiness and childlike faith
Feb 18: Blue Ribbon Winners—Vice Adm. Harward, Melissa McCarthy, and intel whistleblowers
Feb 17: And Ain’t I an American?
Feb 16: Please tell your family and friends—If you regret your DJT vote, speak up NOW
Feb 15: R-supported forced childbirth laws deny the autonomy of women
Feb 14: What did the president know? Everything. When did he know it? From the beginning.
Feb 13: Coping with The Madness of King Donald by hoping political comedy will save us
Feb 12: The Poverty and Justice Bible
Feb 11: Blue Ribbon Winners: Swastika removers, Ninth Circuit Panel, and the Persisterhood!
Feb 10: The first three words of the Constitution are “We, the People” not “I, the President”
Feb 9: Who first inspired your political activism? Who inspires you now?
Feb 8: We cannot and will not be silenced—Here’s what to do if they try to silence you
Feb 7: Plain Talk Tuesday: Tell people the Affordable Care Act is the same as OBAMACARE
Feb 6: Interview Skills 101—Internalized oppression and what Ryan Lizza did right. BRAVO!
Feb 5: These protest signs with Bible cites will confuse and befuddle RWNJs
Feb 4: Blue Ribbon Winners: Temple B’Nai Israel, Judge Robart, CNN, Senate Phone Callers
Feb 3: Not rich, not smart, not a good businessman, not a winner—DJT is NOTHING he claims to be
Feb 2: Thursday action—Encouragement, thanks, and apologies (pick one or more)
Feb 1: July 7, 2009 to August 25, 2009 and September 25, 2009 to February 4, 2010
JANUARY
Jan 31: If you’re on overload that’s part of their plan—there’s more than one way to #resist
Jan 30: Interview Skills 101 for reporters attempting to interview KAC and other Rcons
Jan 29: Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness
Jan 28: Blue Ribbon Winners: Women's March participants and #NoMuslimBan demonstrators and...
Jan 27: I wish Steve Bannon would tell me to keep my mouth shut
Jan 26: Thursday Action—Have you ever written a letter to the editor? Here’s how to start
Jan 25: The Asch Conformity Study, inauguration crowds, and the importance of speaking out
Jan 24: #ResistTrumpTuesday—good news day or another paying dues day?
Jan 23: Spy the Lie 101: How to enjoy watching Rcon spokesbot interviews, even KAC!
Jan 22: Why I prayed for the President* today
Jan 21: The only silver lining in the midst of these clouds
Inaugural (!) diary: Stop expecting Republicons to make sense