Hi guys — long, long time no see/hear. Been taking it easy (still sick, sadly) and working on some “stuff” related to Russia, China, and Iraq and energy policy between naps, trying to figure out what my first diary back might be. Then fate intervened. So here t’is.
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I am ROYALLY PO’d today, over our own people preaching caution and “don’t criticize your own team because they know what they are doing. I am still under the weather, but have been scrolling Blue Sky, when I read a tweet by George Takei that SET. ME. OFF. And I went on a rant. I want to include it here, and add to it:
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I see more criticism here of Democrats in Congress than I do condemnation of Republicans.
And yet it is the GOP who are enabling Trump.
It tells me a lot when I see you regularly bash our side but say nothing, ever, about the other.
Reflect on your choices. You may be helping the fascists.
— George Takei (@georgetakei.bsky.social) 2025-02-04T03:14:45.161Z
My response (and expansion below):
This became a rant - my apologies, Mr. Takei. The point you make is a valid one, but when criticism of Trump/Musk is voiced, in my case, at least, that implies the whole of the complicit GOP by extension. They are Trump's cult followers. They do not hear us or care. They are not rational, they only wear our criticism as a badge of honor, rather than comprehend or consider what we say. We can't appeal to their better angels because they HAVE NONE.
I call my Congress critters or EMAIL them, voice my concerns (I live in a red state): their response is to block EMAIL and refuse calls if we criticize their fealty to the Trump regime or call them out. I learned this long, long ago, dealing with racist, sexist, xenophobic fanatics right here in my home state's backyard. All they do is stick their fingers in their ears and sing at the top of their lungs while our party hides.
So, yeah, I'm criticizing the hell out of some of the Dems for their inertia, for not moving fast enough to stop this sooner. Musk and Trump are not pausing - the GOP is stepping aside so they can get at it faster, and the Dems, in my opinion, are milling around waiting for someone to start the revolution.
I cut the next part out of the post, but I want to share it with the KOS community anyway.
MORE BELOW THE FOLD:
NOTE: I grew up with grandparents who lived through the period of WWII as adults (Granddad served), and mom and dad who were born in the period between 1926 and 1930, in a farming/fishing community in AR.
So, Mr. Takei, I’m likely going to say some things that could seem insensitive to you; I mean no disrespect, but want to paint more of a picture of what is informing my views. Please accept my further apology in advance for any offense I am about to give. Mr. Takei, this time you are wrong. The whole of Congress is enabling Trump/Musk and their hostile hijacking of the government.
American history is replete with examples on how hesitation or caution has cost us in crises - lives, resources, our honor, our souls. So I believe fervently, sometimes, we can't wait for better circumstances or be supportive while those with more power than ourselves hesitate, plan, and wait - when the damn House is on fire and there are barbarians at the gate, we HAVE to move - ourselves, our neighbors, and our party. Sometimes, we have to scream out loud, in public about the laws, love of country, our constitution.
I learned this lesson from my Maternal Granddad early on. I adored him, He would sit with us grand kids and talk with us about how to use our voices to effect change and outcome in a hostile world, with the people who can hear us (or are willing to) and have the power to do something to help or right a wrong, vs. raising hell with the thugs that are doing wrong & hurting folks. Because, when it comes down to it — the former are the ones who must build the permanent structures in law and advocate for those who cannot — to restrain and/or punish our enemies. We can call things out, but they've got to stop it happening.
As to the tyrants, fascists (whom he hated — he fought in WWII) he always said, "as the head(s) go, so does the whole frigging snake - the head is doing what little thinking the monsters and fools that follow are responding to. It is OUR job, to chivvy those people with power and louder voices to overcome their inertia and do what they have forgotten that they can - push them from behind, and THEN help them overrun the bastards."
I agree with him. And in my own life I have found that what he said is ALWAYS true. I demonstrated for birth control, abortion, and the ERA starting from my first year in high school, and have demonstrated for other causes and rights that were close to my heart ever since. But then, I'm a sneaky, mouthy bitch (not trying to be funny - it's the truth) who has no problem fighting for fairness or right , thanks in part to that old man. The lessons he was trying to teach us, have always stuck with me,
To whit: speak up when you see wrong, injustice, unfairness, and get LOUD. MAKE PEOPLE SEE YOU, HEAR you. Be loud enough, obstreperous enough that the powers that be have no choice but to respond, and keep it up until they do what they should.