Gay rights are civil rights.

LGBTQ people deserve the same civil rights as straight people. I'm sad that this is even a question but apparently it is again for some people.

As a lesbian, I will be blunt. If a candidate doesn't think that I deserve the same rights as straight people, then they don't have my support. Period.

If you try to bully or intimidate me into agreeing that my rights are lesser, I WILL get mad.

I think that DUers know that I'm a strong supporter of human rights for everybody. This is not a zero sum game. We stand together, united, and that's where our strength lies. I will NEVER agree with separating some minorities from others or creating separate, lesser categories for some people.

White Americans need to find some courage.

I'm white. In fact, by heritage I'm what they used to call a WASP: White Anglo-Saxon Protestant.

Right now, I'm looking at my fellow white Americans and I'm seeing a whole bunch of sniveling cowards. Wimps. Scaredy cats who are afraid of "caravans" of desperate poor people who are literally walking through Mexico. Walking! Carrying toddlers! And many of my fellow white Americans find this so terrifying, they fell all over themselves rushing to the polls yesterday to vote for white politicians who promise to meet this existential threat to America with military weapons and razor wire and concentration camps.

I read about one white woman in the upper Midwest (which is a long way from Mexico, I checked) who is so terrified, she's convinced that the "caravan" will take over her lake house. That level of panic over nothing is usually met with polite suggestions that the person get some therapy. Maybe somebody should call social services, request a wellness check. But no! Republican politicians are running on this shit because we have allowed it to become normalized.

I call on my fellow white Americans to speak up. Implore your friends and relatives who are behaving in this foolish manner to get some help.

For heaven's sake, stop rewarding and enabling this behavior. It's destroying our democracy.

Let's prosecute sitting Republicans.

It's much easier to win elections when your opponent is not already sitting in the position.

Republicans know this. That's why they got rid of powerful Democratic leaders years ago. The Republicans launched ethics investigations and broke the Democratic power in Congress.

We need to do the same, especially now that Democrats control the House.

Think of how much easier it would have been for Beto to win if he hadn't been running against a sitting senator. Lock up Ted Cruz.

Go after Rebulblicans who are vulnerable to ethics investigations - I'm sure that includes all of them at this point - and destroy the careers of Republican incumbents.

This is how Republicans got control of Congress.

It's time to address anti-Semitism.

Jewish people are a small minority of the world's population, especially after the genocide of the last century (and previous purges and genocides). They are a vulnerable minority.

There is a global rise in anti-Semitism that is accompanying the rise of white supremacy and nationalism. We ignore this at our peril.

Please take a look at how much violent rhetoric is directed at George Soros, for instance. There are other wealthy progressives. The hatred directed at Soros is out of all proportion to his philanthropy. Why? Is it because he is Eastern European and Jewish?

Look at all the conspiracy theories frightening people about some shadowy "Jewish conspiracy" involving the media and banking. Where have we seen this before? In Nazi propaganda as they rose to power.

Be aware. Dictatorships build their power by singling out groups of people as "the enemy."

Speak up. Speak out.

Richard Spencer's wife is Russian; she claims physical abuse in divorce

Alt-right founder white supremacist Nazi racist Richard Spencer's wife has filed for divorce claiming extensive physical and emotional abuse.

She was born in Russia. They married in 2010.

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/talalansari/richard-spencer-divorce-abuse-wife-allegations

I attended a private university during the late 70s - early 80s

I attended college with men who had attended prep schools in the D.C. area and the northeast.

The alleged behavior of Kavanaugh and his buddies sounds familiar to me. Their alleged behavior matches behavior and attitudes that I witnessed among college men of Kavanaugh's background.

Spiking the punch at parties to get women drunk? Check.

Targeting vulnerable women to get them drunk and then gang rape them? Check.

Getting drunk and becoming loud, belligerent, and abusive toward women? Check.

Speaking of women in demeaning and exploitative ways, even when sober? Check.

It's all there. It's all familiar. It's why I avoided fraternity parties, in fact I avoided men of this type while I was in college.

And by the way, the same people who behaved this way toward women were ALSO highly racist and homophobic. I expect that Kavanaugh is as well.

These are the worst. They are the core of the Republican Party: privileged wealthy white men who treat everybody else like dirt.

That's how Kavanaugh would rule on the Supreme Court.

Are Nordic countries really socialist?

Interesting article in Forbes. I've often thought that the label "socialist" is widely misunderstood in the U.S.

Would we have more success electing officials and passing laws that expand the safety net if we didn't use the word "socialist?"

This article suggests that the Nordic nations aren't even socialist:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffreydorfman/2018/07/08/sorry-bernie-bros-but-nordic-countries-are-not-socialist/amp/

The husband voted for Trump. What did he think would happen?

Ignorance is destroying America.

Our country is being destroyed from within because too many of us believe things that are simply not true.

Decades of hate radio, Fox News, and internet websites pushing "information" that is the opposite of the truth have resulted in millions of Americans who firmly believe falsehoods.

Examples of FALSEHOODS believed by half the country include:

Immigrants are stealing our jobs and bringing disease and violence to our country.

Christianity is under attack.

There is an epidemic of violence in the "inner cities" (a reference to African American neighborhoods).

Liberals want to take money away from "hardworking real Americans" (a reference to rural whites) and give it to people who don't work (dog whistle).

Hillary Clinton is the most corrupt individual to ever run for office.

Hillary Clinton planned to go to war.

Climate change is not a very big problem.

Obama destroyed the economy and our reputation in the world.

Democratic politicians are stupid and corrupt.

(Believed by many on the left, who don't understand that majority rules in Congress) - Democrats are weak because they're not fixing all these problems.

Trump is fixing all these problems. Trump is making America safe and prosperous again for "people who are willing to work."

I'm not sure how to turn this around other than GET OUT THE VOTE among those of us who have the facts.

This is no time for purism. The Democrats need to regain the majority. It's our only hope.

Beware of anything that creates dissension between LGBT and African Americans

Who benefits when Democrats fight one another?

We have been down this path before. Later, we learned that Republicans had deliberately stirred up distrust and anger between gay folks and people of color. This was done to weaken the power of the Democratic Party, turning us against one another.

Beware, beware, beware.

And Glenn Greenwald? Not such a progressive history when it comes to immigrants. See some old tweets being retweeted:

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=10538952