Monday, October 8, 2018

State of the Union, October 2016

We are currently governed by a Congress where the party in power won a bare majority in the House by 1.1% of the popular vote, and lost the popular vote in the Senate. The President lost the popular vote, and may have been involved in foreign efforts to influence the election in his favor. That's ignoring the party's ongoing campaign of voter suppression in key states.

This party, which came to power without a popular mandate, has now installed a 5-4 majority on the Supreme Court, including 4 Justices appointed by a President who lost the popular vote and 2 with credible allegations of sexual harassment or assault against them.

The open cruelty of this party has been on display since January 2017, as they've pursued a policy of non-violent ethnic cleansing that has sundered families, and seen asylum seekers and their children indefinitely detained in tent camps. They've insisted that massive cuts need to be made to programs that support the poor, even as they force through massive cuts to taxes for the rich. They've insisted on destroying the Affordable Care Act without any meaningful plan to replace it.

The party has openly worked to sabotage the proper functioning of our government at every turn. They have insulted our allies and sought the support of our enemies, even as those same enemies commit crimes with impunity, confident no response is coming from the United States. They have allowed the President and his cronies to openly flout ethics laws and profit massively from their positions, without lifting a finger to investigate.

And most recently, they listed to a survivor of sexual assault, denigrated her, ignored her, ignored anyone who would speak in support of her, ignored any evidence that backed her up, and made yet another naked grab for power. Brett Kavanaugh will be on the Supreme Court tomorrow. Dr. Blasey Ford remains in hiding.

And now, this weekend, we are seeing a report that describes a climate crisis that could hit us as soon as 2040. The report describes worsening food shortages, increased wildfires, massive coral die-off, and a rise in temperatures of 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit worldwide. Steps could have been taken to avoid this decades ago. They weren't. Steps need to be taken immediately to prevent this now. They won't be. We are trapped under absolute minority rule by a party that still insists that climate change is a hoax, and will do anything necessary to prevent meaningful action against the coming crisis.

Our children - my children - will grow up in the hell we leave behind.

So as this party goes on the news and bemoans the lack of civility in our politics - as they complain they can't go to dinner without being harassed, as they attempt to paint the opposition as somehow radical and dangerous: remember that this party has been working for decades to destroy our government, our balance of powers, and our ability to simply live on our own planet.

Remember that, and fucking vote.