Which Goat Will They Scape?

Tis the season to make scapegoats. The Republicans don't need no stinkin' lessons, they seldom learn from them anyway. But don't worry. They have something better; they have each other to blame.  All that is missing is a collective decision as to who the scapegoat will be. That is not as easy as it might sound. The problem is that few if any of the potential members of a group that could make that decision have the courage to stand up to anyone who might have enough political power to retaliate.

In August of this year I posted a piece entitled “Mitch McConnell's Goat” in which I said that Moscow Mitch “cannot allow people to blame the likely Republican loses on a reaction to the Dobbs decision. Those losses have to be the result of someone, not Moscow Mitch, helping unelectable candidates get nominated to represent the party!” The problem then and now is that McConnell cannot say it is Donald Trump's fault that the Republican Party nominated sanctimonious fascists, crack pots, and delusional election deniers as Republican candidates without putting himself on the MAGA Mob's hit list.

Much to my amusement, McConnell's 's opponents have a similar problem. As Politico  points out, Rick Scott and Cancun Cruz are accusing Moscow Mitch of losing the senate to the Democrats because the “... McConnell-aligned super PAC, Senate Leadership Fund, did not see eye-to-eye with Scott’s NRSC on spending decisions and candidate quality.”  Notice that Moscow Mitch's critics are not saying anything about women being absolutely furious over Moscow Mitch's packing of the Supreme Court with the sanctimonious fascists who overturned Row v. Wade. The Republicans must avoid blaming the Dobbs decision at all general election costs because the theocratic MAGA base wants to deprive women of the right to control their bodies, make their own reproductive choices, or exercise any of the rights they have gained since the nineteenth century. Therein lies the problem. The tea baggers who inflicted Trump on us, morphed into MAGAs, and sold the fascist's delusions about white nationalism to the paranoid base Republicans still hold that party in what we rational beings hope is a death grip!

So now we see the fruitless flailing, the gnashing of teeth, and a goatless meal of sour grapes served up with statements maligning the “libs” and the RINO s who consort with the evil “woke” crowd.  In other words, with their goats “scaping” the intended sacrifice, the Republicans are doubling down on their normal diatribes in crazy town. Do not let what might appear to be a drift away from election denials and Donald Trump fool you. Even if Trump losses in the primaries the MAGA fascists will still control the party.  Furthermore, Ron DeSantis is a horrible second choice! How many Floridians died of Covid19 because of DeSantis' opposition to vaccinations and other effective preventative measures recommended by the CDC?   And his economic policies are as bad as his health policies.

According to Mother Jones DeSantis’ policies are terrible for moms:

“DeSantis passed several laws around parents’ rights signature issues—most notably, the “Don’t Say Gay” law strictly limited how teachers can discuss sexual orientation and gender identity; another of his measures bans Covid vaccine requirements at schools.”

As for DeSantis small government.  Mother Jones described many of the egregious policies that help impoverish women and families and said that “A 2021 report by the Annie E. Casey Foundation ranked Florida a mediocre 35th in children’s wellbeing—it found that kids in the Sunshine State were substantially less likely than the national average to have parents with secure employment, to have health insurance, and to graduate from high school on time.

Mother Jones also stated that “...[b]etween 2018 and 2020, the state had the second-highest number of maternal deaths in the country, behind only Texas. In 2020, just two-thirds of babies in Florida were born to women receiving adequate prenatal care, compared to three-quarters nationally. Florida’s women lack health insurance at a rate of 16 percent, well above the national average of 11 percent, and more than two-thirds of them experience domestic violence, compared to the national average of about 25 percent.”

And now for the sanctimonious elephant in the room: As per USA TODAY NETWORK – FLORIDA, DeSantis said, “Florida will 'work to expand pro-life protections' after fall of Roe v. Wade.”

If we judge Ron DeSantis by his words and his policies, we have to conclude that he has as little regard for family values and working Americans as he has for asylum seekers.

We dodged a bullet this time, but we are still in for a rough ride, my friends. Take a deep breath, have a celebratory drink, and prepare to continue the good fight for democracy, sanity, and country!

Fascism v. Democracy

 Trump Won!

In which court?  In order to overturn an election in this country or any other democracy you have to go to a court of law and present clear and convincing evidence that the election you want to overturn is invalid. This rule of law is absolutely essential because any democratic nation that overturns elections as a result of unproven allegations will not be a democracy for very long. To see how grave a threat Trump's big lie is to democracy just look at the number of R-fascists who now say they will not accept the result of any election they lose!

By “take America back” Trump's chumps mean to retore the absolute rule of privileged white males. I am not just being hyperbolic here. The white nationalists believe their culture and fragile manhood are under attack, and they are more than willing to give up democracy to keep what they perceive to be their racial, ethnic, religious, and gender superiority. The January 6 insurrection bears no resemblance to 1776 or even 1860. If the secret service had allowed Trump to go to the capital during the January 6 insurrection we would now be talking about Trump's putsch – assuming that the first amendment still protected free speech. The slogan Trump took from Ronald Reagan, “Make America Great Again,” should have provided ample warning about what was to come.  As Mussolini hearkened back to the glory of the Roman Empire, all fascists (including the MAGA chumps) claim they will return their nation to the greatness it achieved during some mythical past. “All we have to do is follow the great leader,” they say.

The dire threat posed by the R-fascists is far greater than it would appear to be at first blush because the movement appeals to both the white nationalists and other people who feel economically oppressed and exploited. Unfortunately, billionaires and big corporations have been all too successful in selling the myth that Republicans are better at handling the economy.   And far too many of the people who believe this myth will choose prosperity over democracy if they think that is the choice. In doing so they will lose both their democracy and their prosperity, and so will we.

The Republicans scream about inflation but propose absolutely nothing to deal with it. What plan the Republicans have stated includes the usual screwing of the poor and the middle class while giving huge tax cuts the corporations and the filthy rich! According to the October 27 White House Briefing on the Republican's Five Part Plan:

1. The $3 trillion in tax cuts the Republicans want to give primarily to the wealthy would add to the deficit and make inflation worse!

2. Repealing the IRA prescription drug provisions would increase prescription drug prices by eliminating the requirement that drug companies pay rebates to Medicare when they raise prices faster than inflation, as they did for 1,200 drugs from 2021-2022...

3. Repealing the IRA improvements to ACA premium tax credits would raise health insurance premiums by an average of about $800 for 13 million people starting next year, with about 3 million people becoming uninsured.

4. The Congressional GOP plan will eliminate tax credits that will save Americans thousands of dollars starting next year if they buy an electric vehicle, weatherize their homes, install a super-efficient heating and cooling system like a heat pump, install rooftop solar, or make other investments that will also directly cut their energy bills. Independent experts expect these clean energy provisions will cut households’ electricity bills by hundreds of dollars per year.

5. Republican officials are suing to block the Biden administration’s student debt relief plan. If they succeed, that would mean higher debt payments for the over 40 million Americans who could benefit from up to $20,000 in student debt relief.

Congressional Republicans keep declaring they will hold the American economy hostage by putting the full faith and credit of the United States at risk in order to cut Medicare and Social Security. That's right we are looking at the debt ceiling again!

*The foregoing description of the republican plan is comprised of excerpts from the white house briefing. Use the link I have provided for the full text. It is well worth reading!