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PatrickforO

(14,516 posts)
Sat Sep 22, 2018, 02:08 PM Sep 2018

The biggest threat to the earth and its people

I posted this on the Hill in response to an Op-Ed piece by a conservative man who is questioning whether Kavanaugh is getting due process in regards to the allegations of Dr. Ford.

There is no doubt that there should be due process. This is the cornerstone of rule of law. Problem is, I'm not seeing that respect for the rule of law from the Trump administration, who based on tweets of their 'beloved leader' is blaming the victim and accusing her of lying based on not reporting the assault to the police and to her parents right away and pressing charges.

Gosh, I was a teen in the 70s and went to college in the 80s. I can so readily see why a young woman would not report such an assault. I mean, we know your boy Trump is completely incapable of feeling any empathy because he is a sociopath with narcissistic personality disorder. He just can't.

But, you know, McConnell, as twisted as he is, SHOULD be able to see that, as well as the other pasty-faced white guys in the Republican Senate leadership. But instead, he is trying to just ramrod this thing through. This, of course, denies the due process you're talking about in this Op-Ed to Dr. Ford, as well as to Kavanaugh.

When one political party puts their partisan interests above the interest of the American people, then it rips apart our social, moral, and economic fabric. Sadly, this is what I've been seeing from the Republican party over the last decade. I remember being disgusted when I heard about the meeting that was held by Republican leaders on the night of Obama's inauguration back in 2009 - the night of his inauguration - where they agreed to oppose Obama and the Democrats at EVERYTHING, so they could then say Obama was divisive and they didn't get a say. Which was of course, a lie, because the ACA, Obama's centerpiece, was actually developed by the Heritage Foundation, and practiced by Mitt Romney before it became the law of the land.

I was disgusted when the GOP did everything they could to sabotage the ACA every step of the way. I was disgusted when fellow Americans in red states died because they had no access to healthcare because of cuts to Medicaid.

Let's not forget the waste of millions of our tax dollars in the Benghazi hearings, and then the doubling down of that over Hillary's emails. Other (GOP, so I guess it's OK) Secretaries of State had done the same thing, but it was only stupid, un-American and irresponsible when Clinton did it.

Now with the Trump 'administration' in power, it is difficult to list all the ways they are wrecking our institutional structure - attacks on the free press, the attempted legitimization of lying, massive and foolish regulatory rollbacks, a fiscally disastrous tax cut benefitting Republican billionaire donors and corporations, a ballooning deficit (remember how BAD the GOP said the deficit was under Obama, but no GOP Rep or Senator is even batting an eye now), and all the racist crud that was aimed at the Obamas. I remember when I was watching Fox one time in late December 2015, they actually SAID Obama has a 'different agenda.' Hey, if you actually get rid of the armchair and dig out the truth for yourself from CREDIBLE sources, Obama governed just slightly left of center. It is laughable to think him any farther left than the Eisenhower Republicans of the fifties. Seriously.

Finally, we come to present day. McConnell and the GOP leadership stonewalled Merrick Garland, refused to do their job of 'advise and consent.' Garland did not even get a meeting with a single senator, let alone be allowed to answer questions. McConnell just laughed and said no, we'll wait until after the election. When I bring this up, the right-wing thoughtless talking point is, "Hey that's the Biden rule." Don't bother. This had nothing to do with Biden. What it had to do with was a party so corrupted by its own lust for power that it forgot the interests of the American people.

And, now, we have Kavanaugh. Yes, absolutely Kavanaugh deserves due process. So does Ford. And so do the American people. So when Senator Grassley leads the charge to hurry the vote up, the hypocrisy is so thick you can cut it with a knife.

If we want this Republic to stand, this noble experiment that has lasted since 1789, and become the most successful nation on earth, then we need to elect people who are NOT so into winning, and power, that they forget the interests of our people. We cannot allow a sociopath like Trump to become a dictator, and this nation to degenerate into a fascist oligarchy. We need to uphold our institutions and respect each other as Americans.

Right now, the biggest threat to this world and its people seems to be the GOP.

The link to this piece on the Hill: https://thehill.com/opinion/judiciary/407855-truth-should-not-be-held-hostage-to-political-calculations

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The biggest threat to the earth and its people (Original Post) PatrickforO Sep 2018 OP
Biggest threat to the world today Yupster Sep 2018 #1
More immediatel threat is - empedocles Sep 2018 #2
My point is that the GOP is actively tearing apart the regulatory structure PatrickforO Sep 2018 #3

Yupster

(14,308 posts)
1. Biggest threat to the world today
Sat Sep 22, 2018, 02:14 PM
Sep 2018

is out of control world population growth.

Not just to the people but to every other living thing on the planet.

PatrickforO

(14,516 posts)
3. My point is that the GOP is actively tearing apart the regulatory structure
Sat Sep 22, 2018, 03:32 PM
Sep 2018

that was in place to mitigate carbon emissions, particularly methane emissions and so slow human-induced global warming.

Not to mention the reports of Trump 'friends' at Mar-a-lago taking selfies with the nuclear football...

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