My new found freedom from the prison that has been javascript coding, has at long last allowed me to sit back and reflect on the current situation. When you take time away for whatever reason, on your return, you are not protected by what I like to call 'gradual exposure'. If you are not part of what is happening day to day, changes and developments are not experienced in real time. When absent from those changes, it's far more jarring to return and helps bring into focus the poison that the Republicans are dripping into the ear of the population.
I never cease to be amazed by their absolute absence of a policy agenda. The bucket is empty, the cabinet is bare, the account balance is zero. What's more, they seem to wear this absence of a plan for the welfare of their nation as a badge of honour. Not only is this disturbing, it represents a sinister doctrine that is not new. It's a message of 'Don't worry your little heads about the future, we know what's best for you, just comply' What is even more remarkable, has been their ability to shroud this agenda in a smoke screen of nationalist fervour. Racism has become the central plank of their approach to winning back power. That's not me looking to be sensationalist, it's just the unvarnished truth. The Republican base, is not about small government freedom to choose and the right to bear arms, it's become about autocracy, freedom to choose only from their menu of acceptable freedoms and unlimited access to weapons of war.
Now the above may seem an extreme assessment, but every indication is, they have no intention of delivering government for the people, but rather government for their chosen few. The Republican base is now the horde, it's not motivated by the common good, it is driven by the calculated extreme messaging being pumped out by the usual suspects. If you wanted a measure of what lengths they will go to, look no further than the overt attempts to discourage republicans from being vaccinated. This is irony at its best, considering most Republican lawmakers were first in line to be vaccinated. The delta variant, which is now rampaging across the country is NOT attacking those vaccinated (although there are examples). Its victims are those that the GOP are almost taunting into not getting vaccinated. If there is one thing we have learned from this whole sorry saga, it's the power of the political message. Tucker Carlson is in my view a clear and present danger to the welfare of the nation. The right has brought together an alliance of all that is wrong with political ideology, to launch an all out assault on democracy and the electoral process.
I have spoke many many times about the efficiency of the GOP messaging monster. You will hear many Dems admit it's effective and devastating to the ambitions they have to deliver better future for the American people. However, just take a moment to think. It's the easiest thing in the world to be negative, but their magic dust comes from one key ingredient. FEAR. If you can get the public in fear for their safety, because some black people will come to rape and pillage their quiet suburban oasis, that is a very compelling message. It's what drives gun sales and this obsession with protection. I watched an interesting documentary about Americans that had lived in Europe for a while. On their return to the US, there were obsessive questions about did you feel safe without access to a gun. As a public information message, here in Europe we DO NOT live in fear that if we pop to the supermarket, some maniac with a gun is gong to shoot us. Why? because there are only a nominal number of guns in circulation. Have there been mass casualty events in Europe? Yes there have, France has suffered dreadfully from them. However, almost all these events have been terrorism related and they DO NOT happen every week. The obsession with guns is a uniquely American thing. The reality is, the GOP needs that obsession to continue for them to be able to sell fear. Before they could obsess about terrorism from overseas as part of the message. However, ironically now, they are growing their very own!!,
If you have ever wondered about the effectiveness of guns in US society, ask yourself this one simple question. How many gun deaths were as a result of self defence, outside of law enforcement? This is NOT about deterrence, not even the founding fathers envisioned a day when people would need to walk to the local store with a military battlefield weapon slung over your shoulder. Just think how absolutely ludicrous that is. I can accept the right to carry a concealed handgun, God only knows, there are few times when I've seen drunken youths abusing the elderly, or a boyfriend abusing a frightened girlfriend in the street when I have wished I had a gun. However, the stark reality is, you DO NOT need them. Your life is under threat daily from gunmen, simply because unregulated access to guns puts you in that position.
At the heart of healthy politics is respect. Whilst we may not agree with our opponents, democracy dictates we should defend their right to have a different opinion, however challenging that might be. However, this is based on honesty and truth. The reality is, the former guy changed all that when he decided that truth was the enemy of GOP objectives and that it had no place in politics. The rules of political engagement have I suspect, changed forever. Republicans are more than aware that the changing makeup of US society is draining their traditional conservative support. This is why they have had to turn to the lunatic fringe to hang on. They now need to incubate more lunatics to even stand a chance of competing, so that's why Boebert and MTG are central to their mission planning. If they want to build a future based on this foundation, I would respectfully suggest the end is near.
On Monday, I'd like to start talking about the answers we need to focus on to remove this cancerous ideology from politics. There is no quick fix and it's going to take some really creative strategies to fight this menace. Democrats frustrate me beyond measure, not because of their endeavours to create a better society for American families, but for their apparent blindness to just how dangerous the threat to democracy is. This has been long in the planning by the GOP, who have infected all areas of government state and local. Not even the Supreme Court has been able to resist the shift further and further to the right. Mitch McConnell has done a remarkable job to plant undiscovered political IEDs throughout the structures of government, and in true Russian style, he's now waking up the sleepers and putting them to work for the master project.
Stay safe out there and please wear a mask if you are unvaccinated. I've been double jabbed, but it is now reported here in the UK, that up to 30% of new hospital Covid admissions have had at least one vaccination. What is is even more worrying, is that 29% of people that have died from the delta variant have had BOTH jabs. Now before you run for the hills, this is from a VERY LOW death figure, so it's important to keep this in context.