As long as ignorance, bigotry, and violated rights sabotage knowledge, tolerance and enlightenment, the once pluralistic, innovative America morphs into a destructive, second-rate, sinking ship.
Folks once quipped, “we are what we eat,” but this best captures America today: “we are what realism we consume and what outrage erupts.” And the worm has turned. Minority enmity and hatred against the majority is an untenable strategy—with another blow against despotism visible in this weekend’s stunning, 14 pt., red district Texas Senate upset. MAGA revels in owning the federal government but election after election, in red and blue states, redemption arises. Despite doing nothing positive for all but the richest, only the most primitive politicians think more of the same swill averts a shipwreck.
Obvious already is that 1) re-electing MAGA Trump represents the most counterproductive electoral blunder since the 19th C, perhaps ever; and 2) though MAGA is still in charge (media, business and government), remnants of decency, hard-won values and practices cannot be killed by one gang of self-serving, criminal nincompoops on a rampage.
What that means is America must continue to hear humane, grounded, uplifting messaging to buttress electoral turnabouts. Democracy is only as good as the majority consciousness that decides elections. If Never Trumpers don’t communicate what’s lost when ham-fisted oligarchs run roughshod over civil and legal rights—rejecting elemental justice and blueprints for a nation of diversity—the MAGA menace will sustain its fangs. If we don’t reteach what America means when it works for more than a few, garbage propaganda dumped by PR billions will hold sway.
Even worse than economic blunders, here and abroad, or imperialistic lunacy, are shocking, needless deaths – now the gist of MAGA sound bites, thus lost elections. The scope of mortal abuses are unimaginable (only a year ago), whether citizens executed by ICE, awful fatalities from jamming ICE detainees in prison camps, unconvicted Venezuelan sailors wiped out for TV spots, plus thousands of earth’s poorest and sickest dying after hardly-expensive USAID was DOGE-axed. Plus ongoing innocent, civilian death tolls in Gaza and Ukraine, despite pernicious Trump fodder about peace moves. Add avoidable, reckless measles outbreaks (and dead children) from irrational anti-vaxxing fixations, with more to come – replaying contempt for science with Covid bleach lunacy or pushing unhealthy, white, raw milk to dog whistle the glory of whiteness. In short, GADS, Great American Death Syndromes.
MAGA represents the latest, disastrous experiment in how many innocent bystanders one cult can maim, starve, disrespect or kill. With medieval rigidity, reason, research, and indisputable testing are rejected as “woke” betrayals. How does one “argue” with anti-vaxxers convinced that mild, safe cures are far worse than highly-contagious, deadly diseases capable of wiping out millions of five year olds?
Defeat MAGA with life, liberty and happiness
Thus, my hardly radical proposals today for informative, trustworthy, redemptive messaging that invoke “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” Positives like modest improvements to living conditions, not erratic inflation, no job growth and insane tariffs. Or attempts at clean air, water and soil so that the less affluent don’t die early from backyard, disease-driven toxins. Or minimal nutrition programs that address recurring childhood hunger or Medicaid for basic, life-saving health care. Or freedom from masked, secret police barging in anywhere without warrants or due cause.
Radical ideas, for sure, except if you’re hungry, sick and ill-housed, let alone beaten by thugs. Wasn’t MAGA (for invented “outsiders”) always about “less life, less liberty, and no shot at happiness”? Gosh, what terrible wrongs did all those immigrants and minorities do to enrage such sensitive MAGA souls – unless cheap labor, thus lower food prices, restaurant meals, construction, warehousing and hotel rooms are bad for “aggrieved,” under-trained, under-employed whiners?
Yes to life and liberty, food and healthcare—humane goals to inform messaging by Dem candidates, Never Trumpers, writers, activists and protesters. Good messaging will persuade independents that even flawed Dems are superior in spurring domestic prosperity vs. destruction-addled MAGA creeps. To wit, in four categories to get the ball rolling. Other ideas, themes and messaging more than welcome:
America is a team sport, with many-splendored rainbows. Only tolerance for diversity guarantees the widest freedoms to pursue happiness.
Economic prosperity is a national team sport, stressing partnerships, cooperation, integration of components, and decent working conditions. Go, unions!
Public health is the ultimate, global team sport as disease afflicts communities and countries, rich and poor, often spreading even faster than stupidity.
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If the Founders (and later leaders) wanted structural apartheid and fewer freedoms (even for non-citizens), they would not have divided power into three branches, endorsed checks and balances or the Bill of Rights, plus rights-protecting amendments on race, citizenship, and expanded voting.
Willful, indefensible lies, anathema to good faith, are vile insults to reality, history, democracy and Constitutional integrity.
Either we have liberty and justice for the many or a violent, lawless, unaccountable, masked police.
Only democracy, however battered, is government of the people, by the people and for the people.
Either dissent, freedom of assembly and a free press reign – or we’re back fighting King George.
“We the people” doesn’t mean wee-weeing ON the people.
Give me liberty – or give me weekly impeachments and a shot at conviction.
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Bigotry, like racism, is a social construct. One must be taught to hate or educated to be tolerant and compassionate.
Obsessions with skin-color and family origins are unAmerican manias that outlived the Civil War and Jim Crow. White fanatics stuck on skin color or ethnicity have black hearts.
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Billionaires are super-rich for knowable reasons, often thanks to exploitation, manipulation, inheritance or power plays. A few come up with innovative, marketable ideas, which often directs them to exploitation, manipulation and power plays.
When money and the super rich reign, the multitudes inevitably qualify as virtual indentured workers– or scapegoats when perceived as threats to dreams of even greater grandeur.
Toxic masculinity, white, black or otherwise, inevitably leads to delusions, death and destruction.
Implicit here is the ultimate question: is there no correlation between the education, if not enlightenment of the electorate, and the character and quality of leaders elected? Heartening is the severity of the anti-MAGA polling, thus favorable elections. Two points: 1) only a reduced one-third MAGA bows down to the Pontificator-in-chief, a 15 pt falloff in one year. Second, however deluded, suckered or uninformed when electing a convicted felon, coup instigator, and general a-hole, these alienated voters will stay alienated. Trump won’t change, answerable, in his most outrageous brag, to alone trusting only his own gut instinct. That double-edged sword is both horrifying and uplifting, the very instrument of his final, permanent disgrace, worse than the first term. The hypnotic trance is broken wide open, and savvy messaging will finish the all-important, redemptive task to reset law, justice and democracy.
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