|
|
Post by the Scribe on Jan 7, 2021 19:28:54 GMT
Even Mitt Romney comes to the same conclusion that I came to years ago and have said so time after time. Problem is those are his compadres. Those are the people that put people like him in office. There is little separation between the two unless he rebukes what passes for conservatism today.
ARGUING WITH CONSERVATIVES IS A WASTE OF TIME. NOT EVEN THE TRUTH CAN AFFECT THEIR THINKING. THEY MUST BE KEPT OUT OF POWER.
Mitt Romney WRECKS Trump in speech that gets interrupted by applause
|
|
|
|
Post by the Scribe on Jan 8, 2021 3:17:19 GMT
People who have been brainwashed by conservative media would have to be DE-PROGRAMMED before any substantive change in thinking will happen. Listen to any of those media outlets and you will see what I mean. They repeat their talking points ad nauseam a dozen times an hour frontwards and backwards. They use dogwhistles to attract listeners and viewers and once there they gaslight them.
conservatism.freeforums.net/board/494/conservative-gaslighting
The first step is getting them away from conservative media. No progress can be made without doing that as they are steadily being programmed. The gaslighting makes them fearful and angry which creates an addiction (for anger).
Scientists tell us now that the brain is malleable so it can be changed but it will take a lot of work.
Glenn Beck is a most obvious offender as is Hannity. When all else fails Beck loves to throw in God or religion. And Trump is a Master gaslighter. The man studied Hitler extensively. Ask his first wife.
President Trump's Supporters Insist That They Are Not Going Awaywww.npr.org/2021/01/07/954324522/president-trumps-supporters-insist-that-they-are-not-going-away
January 7, 20215:05 AM ET
Heard on Morning Edition
SCOTT HORSLEY
2-Minute Listen ondemand.npr.org/anon.npr-mp3/npr/me/2021/01/20210107_me_trump_supporters_insist_that_they_are_not_going_away.mp3?orgId=1&topicId=1014&d=174&p=3&story=954324522&dl=1&siteplayer=true&size=2786160&dl=1
Transcript
Some in the pro-Trump crowd that gathered outside the U.S. Capitol Wednesday night said they had little hope of overturning the election results, but that they were determined to send a message.
NOEL KING, HOST:
The insurrectionists had been cleared from inside the Capitol last night, but some supporters of President Trump lingered around outside. Police allowed them to stay until night fell, when a curfew went into effect. Here's NPR's Scott Horsley.
SCOTT HORSLEY, BYLINE: Hours after the deadly confrontation inside the Capitol, Trump supporters outside faced a line of police. That didn't discourage John (ph) who, like all the demonstrators we spoke to, refused to give his last name. After all, he'd made the trip from Connecticut to attend this protest at the president's own urging.
JOHN: And I know how it's going to be twisted - OK? - by the media - that he's responsible for what happened, that he provoked it, that he was encouraging violence. The fact of the matter is the president never encouraged violence. We came here on our own accord at his invitation to support him.
HORSLEY: John didn't take part in storming the Capitol, but he was quick to excuse the people who did.
JOHN: When emotions are high the way they obviously were, it was inevitable that that was going to happen.
HORSLEY: This was John's third demonstration in Washington since Trump's defeat in November. He didn't really expect coming to the Capitol would change the tally of electoral votes, but he still felt it was important to show up and make a statement.
JOHN: This is actually a spiritual battle, as far as I'm concerned. It was a battle of good against evil. And I think there couldn't be a more clear example of evil than what we see in that building and in what we see protecting that building.
HORSLEY: Nearby, Kyle (ph) carried a sign that read stop the steal. Kyle, who is from Florida, is convinced many of the votes cast for President-elect Joe Biden were unlawful, a claim that's been repeatedly debunked and rejected by dozens of courts.
KYLE: We simply marched to the Capitol to tell Congress that we wanted legal votes to count and to overturn the fraudulent votes. And we're being surrounded by police.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: They're getting ready to arrest everybody that they corral in that circle.
KYLE: Oh, that's cute. So, yeah, free speech is over.
HORSLEY: As we're talking, a line of police wearing face shields and tactical vests begin to push forward, moving the Trump supporters back. Mike (ph), who's from New Hampshire, says he felt betrayed by law enforcement. When police came under criticism last year, he'd rallied in their support.
MIKE: It's sad what this has come down to because the blue were doing their job, so we stuck up for them and we fought for these guys. But obviously, they don't want to be on our side.
HORSLEY: The Trump supporters eventually disperse under steady pressure from police. Some promise to return with weapons.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Next time, we come back with rifles.
HORSLEY: The grounds outside the Capitol grew quiet as lawmakers inside resumed their work. As Trump supporters filtered away, John from Connecticut insisted they're not leaving for good.
JOHN: There's a total lack of confidence in the political system. And it's not going to end pretty. I've been around a long time. It's not going to end pretty.
HORSLEY: Scott Horsley, NPR News, Washington.
|
|
|
|
Post by the Scribe on Jan 23, 2021 17:15:57 GMT
Sorry, President Biden, unity is impossible until Americans confront what ails us | Opinionwww.yahoo.com/news/sorry-president-biden-unity-impossible-200951478.html
Leonard Pitts Jr.
Fri, January 22, 2021, 1:09 PM
It’s been said of Abraham Lincoln that he had a “mystical” devotion to the idea of Union. His conviction that the American states were united in an indissoluble bond is what braced him through the monstrous burdens he bore. It’s not too much to say that the very existence of this country owes in large part to the stubborn faith of that sorrowful man. He held to Union even when military reversals, political reality and common sense all counseled against it.
Some ghost of Lincoln haunted President Biden’s inaugural address on Wednesday. Granted, Biden faces no military reversals. On the other hand, he delivered his speech at a crime scene, the west front of the U.S. Capitol, which, not three weeks ago, was breached by a howling mob of traitors, white supremacists and goons all too starkly reflective of what the Republican Party has devolved to. That deadly event, plus political reality and maybe even common sense, all inveigh heavily against the theme of the new president’s inaugural address. Which, like Lincoln’s first inaugural address, was union.
“On this January day,” said Biden, “my whole soul is in this: Bringing America together. Uniting our people, uniting our nation. I ask every American to join me in this cause. Uniting to fight the foes we face: anger, resentment and hatred, extremism, lawlessness, violence, disease, joblessness and hopelessness. With unity, we can do great things . . . “
Given that Lincoln restored a nation through sheer force of will, one is loathe to bet against Biden. Indeed, his buoyant optimism was as invigorating as ice water in August. It’s important to have a president who peddles hope instead of fear. If we didn’t know that before, surely we know it now.
Yet, as has been previously noted in this space, unity is a thing more easily said than done. That’s because our primary divisions are not political. If they were, one could expect to find common ground between them. But our divisions are tribal.
And there is literally no way for decent people to “unite” with racism, anti-Semitism or homophobia. As 22-year-old poet Amanda Gorman reminded us from the Capitol podium, “Being American is more than a pride we inherit, it’s the past we step into and how we repair it.”
But how shall we repair the past — including the very recent past? Well, to start, let’s be honest about it. When there has been unity in this country, it has almost always sprung from a sense of national purpose. Unfortunately, Republicans have acknowledged no higher purpose in recent years than to “unite the right” — to invoke a not-quite random phrase — against the rest of us.
So the success of Biden’s call will largely depend on whether he’s able to convince them to disenthrall themselves from selling grievance, lies and tribal division to their base. Because Barack Obama was right when he said on election night in 2008, “Change has come to America.” Muslims will never return to the margins, nor women to the kitchen, or gays to the closet, nor black people to the back of the bus.
This moment, then, is a wake-up call. Democracy is fragile and we’ve come closer to losing it than any generation since Lincoln’s. We all should want to answer Biden’s call to save it. But we all should also understand that it cannot be and it will not be saved at the expense of those who have too often and for too long been shut out of America’s lofty ideals. We, too, sing America. Let the GOP learn to accept this. Then “unity” will take care of itself.
|
|
