It's just possible that not signaling opposition could be taken as signaling collaboration.
So.
+ + +
(1) Neo-Nazis, Classic Nazis, white supremacists, white nationalists, the Confederate flag, swastikas, and anti-semites are wrong and indefensible.
(2) There is no "both sides." People who showed up to resist and protest Nazis-and-their-friends were on the right side of the Nazi question, not on the wrong side.
(3) Even when Nazis and those who are content to march with them have permits, they're wrong and their ideas are anathema.
(4) Even when Nazis and their friends get punched before throwing any punches, they're wrong and their ideas are anathema.
(5) There is no equivalence.
(6) I knew Donald Trump was a disgraceful human being before the election, and to my amazement he keeps revealing that he is even worse than I thought he was.
(7) Whereas I concentrated my rhetorical efforts before the election, such as they were, on trying to convince those conservatives who thought they were obliged to vote for Trump to vote 3rd-party instead --- trying to help people, especially well-meaning Christians, see that they would do better to move from the pro-Trump column to, at least, the Pox-On-Both-Their-Houses column;
and whereas, at minimum I tried to show them that they were free to choose, in the face of a disturbing amount of pressure from people claiming that nothing but a vote for Donald Trump would satisfy the Almighty;
and whereas, I stand by those efforts today, wishing Trump had lost by more in Minnesota, but rejoicing that he did not, at least, take this state;
... I understand that people may have done the best they could with their vote given the information they had at the time. Heck, that's my only defense for throwing my vote to a third-party Hail Mary, after all, when arguably I should have voted for Clinton (I had many discussions with people on this topic and went back and forth quite a bit). But: If you're still standing by Donald Trump, I don't have much to say to you. It's better that I say nothing, for now.
(8) The fact that there are still Christians carrying water for this immoral, unbalanced, self-obsessed, small-souled, white-supremacist-appeasing human being fills me with more sorrow than I can describe. Not surprise in many cases; but in all cases, sorrow.
(9) You will never, ever achieve a win for life by allying yourself with dealers in a philosophy of death. Never. No politics of pragmatism can ever justify it. Any apparent success will be fleeting and hollow, or will be expiated at the cost of souls. I believe we are watching it play out now.
(10) Conservatives need to clean their own damn house. I'm uncomfortable with the label "conservative" and don't belong to the GOP, but the fact is that I've voted for GOP candidates, though not every time, much more often than I've voted for Democrats or independents since I became eligible to vote. So this is, in part, my own damn house to clean. And this is me saying: This mess is unacceptable. No, this is me saying, perhaps rather than rolling up our sleeves and getting back to work, we would do better to set this house on fire and start over in a new place with a new foundation, with fewer rats and roaches. Perhaps it hasn't gone quite that far yet, but it's getting close.
President Donald Trump should resign. Failing that, the cabinet and Vice President should act to remove him under the 25th Amendment. Failing that, the House should move to impeachment. Failing that, the GOP in both the Senate and the House should vote to censure the President publicly.
Tear him down.
Don't wait for the light to change.
Thank you for writing this.
Posted by: Penelope | 19 August 2017 at 05:14 AM
I'm not pleased with the labels conservative or liberal. When politicians and media claim their life represents them. It doesn't!
Posted by: Joseph | 20 August 2017 at 03:38 PM