JULY 2020
When my alma mater, Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, decided to drop "Redskins" as their mascot name, the school asked for suggestions as to what the new mascot name should be. I couldn't resist entering the competition. My idea was rejected: the Miami Rumpelstiltskins.
Once again, the NFL Washington Redskins are facing pressure to drop their Redskins mascot name and find something less racially derogatory.
It occurred to me that, with Trump in the White House and MAGA on the rise, it might be time to give the Master Race a taste of their own medicine… the Washington Rednecks. In the stands, I pictured militia hotheads wearing camo, sporting neck tattoos, guzzling Bud Lite and using burner phones to send threatening messages to the refs. The cheerleaders would be rail-thin, bruised, meth-addled danger bunnies wearing squeaky-short denim cut-offs and American flag crop tops. The team on the field… eleven burly Hell’s Angels wearing sleeveless biker gear, leather pants, harness boots and Nazi combat helmets.
This is the way the world ends, not with a bang but… the finger.
For five years I have been searching for the image and the phrase that will undo Trump. My frequent letters to the online New York Times usually receive between zero and 20 recommendations, but now and then I hit a nerve. My screen name is…
poodlefree / July 1
Here in Seattle, with our ongoing street riots, the Capitol Hill Organized Protest (CHOP) unfortunately did what was utterly predictable. The Mayor and the police chose a de-escalation strategy and temporarily ceded six blocks to the protesters in the Capitol Hill commercial district. The hope was that the protesters would prove themselves worthy of a "no-cop" zone. CHOP proceeded to slip into chaos, destruction and “shots fired.” The protesters squandered the high ground, thus weakening their movement against police brutality. [342 recommend]
poodlefree / July 3
The concept of the United States of America begins with "We the People..." America today is split. WE did not elect Trump. The Electoral College did. The Right has no use for the Constitution, a document that destroys all the arguments they use to justify their embrace of the dark side. America is alive and well on the Left, the 60% of us who believe in the wisdom of our Founders. On November 3, say yes to the Constitution. Vote Blue. [252 recommend]
poodlefree / July 6 / Times Pick
I call the Trump Era... an education. I feel like I've been in the classroom every day for the last five years. We are witnessing an unraveling located at the nerve-wracking nexus of Truth & Lies. Not only does the emperor have no clothes, the American myth is now totally naked, too. Gutzon Borglum, a KKK sympathizer, is the American sculptor credited with carving the four presidents on Mount Rushmore. I (heart) American irony. [281 recommend]
I spend a lot of time at this desk. The pandemic is a gift in that it keeps me inside with my nose to the grindstone. For days, I can stumble through headlines and analyses in search of a train of thought that deepens my understanding of the current socio-political moment.
"Trump and His Minions Have Turned God into a Prop"
"Trump's Record on Covid-19 Satisfies All Three Elements of Involuntary Manslaughter"
"In the Age of Trump, No Depravities Are Beyond the Realm of Possibility"
"The Good Thing About the Trump Era Is That the Destruction of the Republican Party Is Almost Complete"
Seyward Darby “I was writing a book about hate in America. Stormfront is the hate movement's oldest online forum. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, there are 1000 hate groups in America. Last year the DHS acknowledged that White Supremacy is a national security threat. Hate is a social bond, a shared currency. The people who choose hate have a need for validation and purpose. Hate surges during periods of social upheaval, offering simple racist explanations for seismic change. The lures of hate are many: the rewards of being an insider; belonging to a community; expressing and acting on resentments; participating in drama; feeling religiously and morally righteous." Right-wing extremists harnessed the election of Barack Obama and used it as a recruiting tool. In 2009, Obama’s first year as president, Stormfront registered 100,000 new users.”
Martin Longman “Antebellum American slaveholders worried that they had so mistreated the black population that granting them rights would lead to payback. Advocating for change and asking for forgiveness required a faith in humanity the slaveholders had always lacked so, more out of terror than conviction, they clung to the status quo. In the 1960s the Republican Party began to drift into the racist trap. The Republicans invited the southern racists into the party. This galvanized the black minority into bloc opponents who voted 9-1 against them. The Republicans had to arouse a similar tribal voting pattern in whites, which required them to cast all whites as under threat of impending ruin. To forestall future demographic demise, Republicans embraced every tactic of voter suppression. With the Shelby County v. Holder decision in 2013, the conservative Supreme Court got into the game by gutting the protections in the Voting Rights Act.”
Heather Cox Richardson “In 2013, Ruth Bader Ginsburg famously dissented from the majority in Shelby County v. Holder, the case that gutted the 1965 Voting Rights Act. The majority decided to remove the provision of the law that required states with histories of voter suppression to get federal approval before changing election laws, arguing that such preclearance was no longer necessary. Ginsburg wrote: Throwing out preclearance when it has worked, and is continuing to work to stop discriminatory changes, is like throwing away your umbrella in a rainstorm because you are not getting wet. As she predicted, after the decision, many states immediately began to restrict voting.”
In 2016, only Donald Trump could adequately encompass and express the kind of racial fear and hatred required to keep the GOP viable. Trump gave permission for American racists to come out of the closet. The more unacceptable the Democratic alternative was to the Republican Party, the more tolerable Trump's racism became. The Republicans came to the conclusion that the only way to win politically was to embrace the racist movement. We will know that Trump’s racist tactics have stopped working when the Republicans lose Texas.
"Among the MAGA horde, mental illness has become the norm. Large portions of society have lost touch with reality and have descended into delusion. What we are witnessing is mass psychosis, a mental state in which reason is no longer possible, a form of menticide, the killing of the mind. The Right knows it can't win in a debate based on facts and reason. Instead, they flood the zone with shit, turning political discourse into meaningless noise. To them, the truth is the enemy of their political and religious delusions. To them, the truth does not matter."
You are on a roll, Greg. I can't figure out if I am plagiarizing if I use your words. Do I need your permission? Do I just allude to the fact that Greg Leichner is being quoted? In my sub stack, in which I've yet to write a sentence, you and I share a wave-length. Do like what you are saying. Thanx
Too bad they didn’t go with your mascot name choice! Hilarious! Great piece. We have to keep the truth alive as we educate the public on the real issues outside of the cacophony the Republicans stir up. They are truly a mess. To rule dystopia is their goal. Thank you for keeping the comment sections fresh with sensible posts. I liked what you had to say.