Hekate
Hekate's JournalHomeland, formerly known as: Country, Nation, the US, America
"Homeland" has given me hives ever since it came out of Dubya's mouth, and he managed to enshrine it in federal agencies like Homeland Security.
Homeland, like Fatherland and Motherland, is a "blood and soil" word, with heavy connotations about who is entitled to citizenship and most especially, who is not. It's very Old World, to say the least.
My entire life I have been a citizen of my country, America; my nation, the USA. Citizenship is attained by birthright and by asking to belong -- not by race, religion, or ethnic origin. We are better than that -- or so we thought.
This country used to spit on the idea of political handlers, minders, and commissars...
Then we got TrumpPutin
We'll use our First Amendment Solutions....
That is the answer (at last) to the dumbass who said if disgruntled righties didn't get their way they would resort to Second Amendment solutions.
We are using our First Amendment rights with every postcard, petition, march, townhall, and out-loud support of journalists like Rachel Maddow and all those in the print media whose work she cites.
Keep it up. Never let up. Remember resistance takes persistance in the face of those who want us to STFU.
Paddy. The Irish nickname for Patrick is Paddy. Irish for Patrick is Padraig. Paddy.
What happened this year? My whole life the US has agreed on Paddy -- all of a sudden this year the patron saint of Ireland has been given a girly nickname.
I know you were just copying the headline like we're supposed to and it's not your fault, but this is bugging the heck out of me.
Oh, and back on topic: Good luck to OutVets. I hope they get to march.
Staying Sane During Bush/Cheney: activism in real life plus DU
You need to know you are not alone in witnessing this horror show, and you need a way to balance.
Having an outlet with likeminded people in real life is key. Back then, I met the Veterans for Peace thru our local anti-war marches, and was invited to join them. (Full disclosure: I'm a civilian.) Ultimately I became a liaison to other groups like the ACLU and 2 different pacifist groups. We shared information and strategies and put on town hall meetings. We resisted.
A friend of mind found a retreat being given by the American Buddhist scholar and deep ecologist Joanna Macy on practicing peace in times of war. It was incredibly empowering and included practice on what to do and say if the FBI or similar came knocking at your door demanding entry. At the end of our two days we all looked each other in the eye and vowed to open our doors to each other in the middle of the night if need be. In groups of three we shared our names, addresses, and phone numbers. We prepared to resist.
DU was wonderful. It was -- and is again -- a great source of information. Just don't spend all your time here. I mean that.
The crisis times we are living thru are different and yet the same. You need to take ownership of your own feelings and find a way to empower yourself. Easier said than done, I know. But just writing all this down has made a difference for me this day. I hope others will share their experiences as well.
I think we should encourage Dems to phone him and write him. McCain IS a patriot....
....and he has served this country honorably in war and peace. I vehemently disagree with his politics is all, and would never vote for him.
I'm quite serious. If you want to appeal to a man (or woman) to defy his party in times like these, you don't start out by pointing out to him all the things he's gotten wrong in your estimation. You start out with a little flattery about the most outstanding aspect of his resume, and frankly, what probably forms the basis of his self-image. And that would be his love of country.
Write to Senator McCain.
Tell him you may be a Democrat, but you have always respected his patriotism, because you love this country too. You love this country and its institutions -- you are aware of the long history of antagonism between the US and Russia and had shared the hope of many that the fall of the USSR would create a new era of peace between the US and Russia, but alas under Putin they have grown ever more antagonistic. Etcetera.
Tell him of your deep concerns about Trump's associates and about his instability. Appeal to his love of country. Tell him people are in desperate need of a leader to speak truth to power, specifically a Republican in the Senate, and that you are appealing to him to be that leader.
*************
You asked what we think -- that's my sincere suggestion.
They WON. They got everything they thought they wanted. Sorest bunch of winners in the land.
If Bernie thinks the Democratic Party should oughta take care of their feefees right now, he should (a) join the damn Party he criticizes so continuously, and (b) take care of their wounded feelings himself, because (c) I have news for The Silver Haired Socialist From Vermont: this country is crashing and burning right before our very eyes. Right this very minute it's an All Hands On Deck, Three Alarm Fire, national emergency. The clue is: Trump + Putin.
(Hekate needs hair-on-fire emoji rfn)
What I've been saying. The term "working class" started to make me itch several years ago, ...
...and I finally parsed it out pretty much the way the OP does.
Ultimately, Hillary won the popular vote by 3 million more votes than Trump. She did NOT "lose the working class," which contains an abundance of POC; she lost the WHITE "working class."
All those talking heads telling Hillary and the rest of the Democrats to grovel because we alienated every blue collar voter in the US can go pound sand. Whatever angst my fellow white people feel about the changing demographics of this country is going to have to be addressed truthfully at some point. They've been lied to for years by RWNJ media. They think "Mexicans" are taking their blue collar jobs? Oh please, come work in California's Central Valley, Joe Sixpack. The work never ends. They think Asians and Middle Easterners are taking white collar jobs? -- by all means, knock yourselves out getting an advanced degree in the sciences, and push your kids hard to succeed in school. They think coal mining jobs are coming back, even as grandpa hacks up another blackened lobe of lung? Great -- where's the coal?
Change is hard, and social change is especially hard in the face of economic uncertainty. But the white working class has been lied to, and THAT is what the Democratic Party needs to work in.
I wouldn't be a lifelong Democrat if I didn't care about the little guy and the greater good. Our Party could use some tweaking -- the most serious change being to go back to the good Dr Dean's 50 State Strategy and never depart from it. And tell the truth.
As I recall, he did make it public, and he and Joe Biden both said they had taken actions....
...that we would probaby never hear about, as well as some we would eventually hear about.
One of the actions we have heard about in recent weeks was that the Obama admin spread all the info they had around to all of the 17 IC departments so that no one with ill intent could just bundle everything into a burn bag and destroy it. Malcolm Nance has spoken authoritatively and approvingly about these actions on Rachel Maddow's show.
First, we want an "alt-left" like we want a hole in the head....
Just be very very clear about that. "Alt-right" is what neo-Nazi white nationalists call themselves -- it's a cosmetic term for something extraordinarily nasty.
Second thing to be clear about, the extremes of left and right join themselves like (as MinMan so aptly pointed out a few days ago) like the Worm Ourobouros eating its own tail. It isn't pretty and it isn't productive of anything resembling American democratic values.
Make up all the memes you want -- in fact if you want memes just look around you any day at DU. There are plenty, with and without illustrations. Just do not invite a poisonous snake into your home and think it will be a cute pet.
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Gender: FemaleHometown: Central Coast, California
Home country: USA
Member since: 2002
Number of posts: 90,627
