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"There is a voice shouting in my head
And there is a voice
That is singing there instead
And there is a choice
To which one will I listen
For one the road is long and hard
The other yeah, the road will glisten"
John Stewart "Ticket To The Stars"
There are some combinations that will never stabilize, like oil and water. Mixing politics with pandemics is another example, and a bad one at that.
Better viewed LARGE.
Not such a simple question anymore.
Lyrics from Arlo Guthrie's "City of New Orleans"
Best viewed LARGE
The Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park, Roosevelt Island, New York.
Sony FE 16-35mm F4 ZA OSS
35mm; 1/250 sec; f/6.3; ISO 100
“the Law of Unintended Consequences, stronger than any written law. Whether or not what you do has the effect you want, it will have three at least you never expected, and one of those usually unpleasant.”
― - Robert Jordan, The Path of Daggers
"On the page where McHenry records the events of the last day of the convention, September 18, 1787, he wrote: “A lady asked Dr. Franklin 'Well Doctor what have we got a republic or a monarchy'
A republic replied the Doctor if you can keep it.”
You can easily summarize the State of the Union speech into a few words" my way or the highway." That's Trump's view on the meaning of Unity. : (( As a wonderful White House Freudian slip, check out their inability to spell "Union" on the speech invitations at www.cnn.com/2018/01/29/politics/state-of-the-uniom-ticket... Not surprising considering the source. : ((
February 6, 2019: Grand Central Station. Rise and Resist released a banner saying Arrest Trump before the State of the Union.
President Barack Obama delivers his State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2015, in Washington. In his State of the Union address Tuesday, President Obama wished good luck to astronaut Scott Kelly who will leave Earth next month for a year aboard the International Space Station. The President also hailed new jobs that push us "out into the Solar System not just to visit, but to stay" and cited NASA's and NOAA's recent research on climate change. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
NASA astronaut Scott Kelly stands as he is recognized by President Barack Obama, while First lady Michelle Obama, front left, and other guest applaud, during the State of the Union address on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday Jan. 20, 2015. This March, Astronaut Scott Kelly will launch to the International Space Station and become the first American to live and work aboard the orbiting laboratory for a year-long mission. While living on the International Space Station, Kelly and the rest of the crew will carry out hundreds of research experiments and work on cutting-edge technology development that will inspire students here at home in science, technology, engineering and math. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
A preview image from the three new illustrated Bible stories from the Epistles section of The Brick Testament website.
The more desperate Donald Trump gets, the more dangerous he becomes. This was the message on a poster I did last month. And, as we get get closer to the election, the President's actions pose a threat to our country.
As he’s seen his popularity plummet, he’s created numerous distractions to bury his malfeasance. His aim is to delegitimize the election, a hallmark of our democracy. It seems unfathomable a president would do such a thing. But Donald Trump is no ordinary president. After four years of his reign, it’s clear he has no respect for our Constitution nor the welfare of the American people. He says our election will be rigged. Because the pandemic has failed to abate, he’s called for its delay. Despite our vulnerability voting in person, he warns us of the dangers of mail-in voting, even though he’s voted this way for years. And in an interview with Fox News’ Chris Wallace, he suggested he may not accept the results of the election. He’s become so desperate, he no longer falls on pretense. In March 2020 he said on Fox News "If you ever agreed to [mail-in voting], you’d never have a Republican elected in this country again." And in August 2020 he admitted he would block a funding bill to the post office to stop voting by mail.
To thwart the practice, the President has appointed Trump donor and heavy investor in post office competitors Louis DeJoy as Postmaster General to destroy the post office’s ability to carry out its mandate. Fortune magazine reviewed an internal post office memo that stated DeJoy will intentionally slow mail delivery as a cost-cutting measure. "Overtime will be eliminated… If the plants run late they will keep the mail for the next day. “If we cannot deliver all the mail due to call offs or shortage of people and you have no other help, the mail will not go out." In addition, mail sorting machines, which can handle over 36,000 pieces of mail per hour run by only two employees, are being removed. It’s estimated that it would take 30 employees to sort the same volume of mail by hand. As a former letter carrier, I can attest to the time it accurately takes to do that.
The traditional difference between the Republican and Democrat parties has been the role and size of government. Democrats believe it’s part of our government’s responsibility to make sure our infrastructure is sound and Americans can lead decent lives with living wages. No one should fall through the cracks. In the past, the Republican Party gave that responsibility to the corporate sector and were fiscal hawks on the deficit. The smaller the government, the better. It was the GOP’s belief that corporate profits would lead to more jobs and better wages. But studies have shown this trickle-down economy theory doesn’t work. Worse, capitalism has ignored workers’ needs. Instead, it rewards its stockholders for companies’ successes. And today’s GOP couldn’t care less about the size of the deficit.
Instead, the Republican Party has turned its attention to the perils of their own existence. As demographics change, and the party’s older White base has diminished, they are relying more and more on limiting the voting rights of the new majorities of Blacks, Latinos, and other groups. It has become their obsession to prevent certain people from voting. And they have found their leader in Donald Trump.
This election is the People's Wall against Donald Trump’s tyranny. It’s the only thing standing between our democracy and his authoritarianism. Worse yet, he has had help from collaborators in this farce: Attorney General William Barr, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and just about every Republican senator and representative in Congress (to say nothing of the Russians). During Trump's tenure and the GOP's majority in the Senate, there has been no unified federal COVID-19 strategy. The rich have received tax cuts and Trump’s proposed payroll tax cut will not help the unemployed, those who have lost their jobs because of the pandemic. Senator McConnell adjourned the Senate until after Labor Day without passing an important stimulus bill, and the President has admitted he wants to eliminate mail-in voting to usurp the will of the people.
The state of America’s union? Clearly, we’re on our own.
Feel free to pass this poster on. It's free to download here (click on the down arrow just to the lower right of the image).
See the rest of the posters from the Chamomile Tea Party! Digital high res downloads are free here (click the down arrow on the lower right side of the image). Other options are available. And join our Facebook group.
Follow the history of our country's political intransigence from 2010-2018 through a six-part exhibit of these posters on Google Arts & Culture.