Sifting Through The Ashes, Part 44 – Where Liberals Are At

Greetings and Salutations!

Yesterday was election day for many states, focusing on local races, up to the Governor. Much has been made of this start of the 2022 election cycle, as many analysts have opined that the results of these elections will predict the future of the Democratic Party in 2022. As the dust clears, it has proven to be a mixed bag.

For example, one of the “Bellweather states”, Virginia, flipped the governorship from Democratic to Republicant. This has caused a wave of pessimism about the Senate and House races in 2022, with many commentators saying this means it is a sure thing that Democrats will lose control of Congress in 2022. More on that later…however, I do want to say a few things about the Virginia race.

It was fairly clear early on that Youngkin, the Republicant was going to take the seat. Why? Well, his staff all took to heart the old saying that “All politics are local”. He dressed in casual clothes and wore a fleece jacket. He talked about making elections secure; about allowing parents a say in how schools were run, lowering taxes and other issues that resonated with the folks of Virginia. McAliffe, on the other hand, dressed in “power suit” type clothing, slacks and a more formal shirt. He also focused far too much on making the election a National issue. He rarely talked about local issues, but continually beat the drum that Youngkin was a #45 clone, and would implement the ex-president’s policies if he got power. Another difference is that Youngkin was careful to distance himself from #45, to the point of pushing off his desire to come to Virginia, and campaign for him. Youngkin is, without a doubt, a #45 cultist, as his earlier words demonstrate clearly. However he is smart enough to realize that whatever #45 touches, dies. McAliffe had both President Biden, AND President Obama come into the state to campaign for him. Youngkin took the appearance of these as an opportunity to remind Virginians that the Democrats have failed to do anything significant.

In spite of the fact that Youngkin’s campaign was shot through with lies, there were no attempts that I saw on the part of the Democrats to shoot it down by demonstrating that these lies had nothing to do with reality. It was a massive failure of communications and manipulation on the part of the Democrats. The Republicants are masters of lies, though, and so, the end result was a disappointment, but not a surprise.

On the positive side In other races around the country, Democrats either hung onto their seats, or, in a few cases flipped a seat blue. While that is good, the reality is that many of these races were far too close for comfort. As an afterthought to yesterday’s elections, I have sent the following comments to Sen Schumer and President Biden. Will they get attention? Who knows…but, at least I am not apathetic enough to allow them to think they are on the correct path…

Sir;
You are an experienced politician, so I am sure you can look at the Virginia governor’s race and see immediately why the Democrat lost. This could be a trend, unless YOU and the other leaders change your ways.

I suggest that you push the DNC to be as vocal about Democratic successes as the Republicants are with their disrespect and tearing down of the Party.

Make it clear enough that a three-year-old child can understand that the problem is not the Democrats, but, rather the obstructionism of the Republicants. After the past dozen years or so, it is clear that the Cultists worshiping at the altar of #45 are functioning on about that level.

While the voting rights bill and the infrastructure bill are filled with good things, they are not being sold to the general public. Urge the voices of the party to get onto the propaganda outlets, and more moderate media sources, and explain, in clear and simple terms, how the provisions of each bill will help the viewers. Make it PERSONAL and concrete for them, so they will feel motivated to overcome inertia and dislike for some policies of the Party to vote FOR Democrats, instead of not at all, or against them.

Do not be shy about calling out the lies the Republicants and their foreign supporters are spreading about the election process, the schools, and a broad variety of other facets of society. Be strong in calling them lies and showing WHY they are lies.

I know we prefer to play nice, but this is not politics as usual. This next few election cycles are a battle for our entire form of government, and the hard-won rights of the citizens. If we play nice, we WILL end up in a Fascist Dictatorship. History has many examples of this, and should be a warning against allowing it to happen again, not an instruction book to ease the process.

Respectfully
D. Mundt”

Now then…before I close, I want to address what we, as individuals, can do to demonstrate to the pundits that they are not as insightful as they think they are. Some of the options are listed in the above missive to the President. Beyond that, we have got to remember that, as I said above, this is not just politics as normal. It is, in a very real way, a question of what government we will have for the coming decades. If we do nothing, I feel safe in guaranteeing that we will be living in a Fascist Dictatorship; that women will be back to the roll of chattel; that the media as a vital part of our society will become a solid, propaganda arm of the Government; and, that we will not have to worry about voting any longer, as our “representatives” will be choosen by the Republicants in charge…not the public. If you think I am being a “chicken Little”, I suggest you look up the you-tube videos of January 6th, and watch them again. It CAN happen here.

Now then..here are some concrete actions we can take to defeat the Republicants in coming elections.

  • Make sure we understand the platforms of each party, and be ready and willing to point out the differences in conversation.
  • VOTE…in every election, from Dog Catcher up to President. Until the fascist aspects of the Republicants are cleaned from the party, I suggest voting Blue, or, if there is NOT a Democratic Alternative, leave that vote blank, or if possible, write in a Democratic alternative.
  • Use available tools (easily found with Google), to contact the President, and your Congressional representatives. let them know when they are doing a good job…let them know when they are doing a bad job…Share your views of where the country is going, and ways you think the path will be cleared a bit.
  • Be active, locally. Find out if you have neighbors who are inclined to vote Blue, but, are not able to because of transportation issues, or registration issues. Find a way to help them overcome these brick walls, and get them to the polls.
  • Push your state legislators to vote against or repeal voter suppression laws. For example, there are many states that are banning mail-in voting, based on the lie of wide-spread fraud. Push for those laws to be kept off the books, and work to get mail-in balloting available to all around the state.
  • If so inclined, run for local office. The best way to change an organization is from the inside. By holding a seat in a legislative body, one can make connections and build allies that will help improve the path we are on.
  • I was just reminded of another vital difference we need to utilize. Town Halls! Look at the number of times Republicants hold them, and compare them with the Democrats. There is QUITE a difference there. So…another useful thing we can do is push our candidates to hold town hall meetings…gather the data the people present…make sure it is integrated into the platform. In addition, remember to notify the media that the candidate is holding these…and invite them to come and report on them. Get the truth out there!

Very few of us can do all these things…as that would be a full-time job… However, all of us can do one or two of these items. Never believe your voice and vote are not important. If they were NOT important, why do the Republicants work so hard to keep the vote from happening, and to silence the voices?

It is only an active, informed group of citizens that can keep Democracy alive. We have, alas, failed to be that group, and as such have set it up for the extremists in the Republicant party to take over. This, by the way, is not the first time I have addressed this issue… Remember..they are a minority…just a very loud one. If we stand together, then, we CAN help Democracy in America survive and flourish. If we do nothing…well, I am reminded of E. Burke’s wise observation: “All that is required for Evil to succeed is for people of good will to do nothing”. So..let us choose to do SOMETHING…and prove the pundits wrong.

God Help Us All; be Safe..wear your mask, social distance, wash your hands well, and get the vaccination!

Bee Man Dave.

This entry was posted in Ethics, Humanity, Improving Life, Nuttiness, Observations, Politics, Questionable decisions, Ruminations, Vaccinations and tagged , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

One Response to Sifting Through The Ashes, Part 44 – Where Liberals Are At

  1. MK Bearden says:

    Excellent assessment and suggestions. Thank you. Sometimes it is difficult determining WHAT to do.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.