MissouriLibrul
MissouriLibrul's JournalThere IS one thing most Americans agree on...
That those who are willing to fight and die for our country so we don’t have to, are worthy of dignity, respect and a decent quality of life upon their return to civilian life.
My dad (RIP) was a former Marine. The ONLY thing that could ever turn him against a Republican politician was if he felt they were disrespectful to and/or unappreciative of the military servicemen or women or the “brass.” He died just shortly before Trump proudly mocked and derided the Khans openly and without remorse.
Since then, Trump has robbed the Pentagon budget to pay for his ridiculous border wall. He has repeatedly put our troops in harm’s way by alienating our allies, capitulating to our (apparently FORMER) enemies, and taunting dictators on Twitter. His insanity has raised the ire of lifelong military commanders who once served the Administration and were quickly dispatched for having differing opinions. But Trump has NEVER done the actual firing of anyone with stature or gravitas - he always makes one of his administration’s boot-lickers do his dirty work (the irony is delicious considering most Trump voters never knew much about him until The Apprentice. They think he must have coined the phrase “You’re fired!” But in reality he’s a phony and a COWARD).
My dad would not have been swayed by hearing Democratic politicians “tell” him these things because unfortunately he was brainwashed by State Run TV (aka Fox “news”) and the bloviating human parasite Limbaugh. However, hearing directly from the families of service people who have been negatively and/or irrevocably impacted by Trump’s insane policy decisions and demeaning, threatening Tweets would have been the catalyst for my dad to quit Trump for good.
If we’re going to “change hearts and minds,” the DNC needs to start producing fact-based ads featuring the wives, children and parents of servicemembers and/or former Republican brass, speaking directly to us, the voters, about the pain, suffering, humiliation Trump has caused them or how his “made-up on the spot” foreign policy decisions have resulted in stripping America of her once “most-revered” status. The case that he is a clear and present danger for continually hampering our military’s ability to effectively secure our country needs to be underscored OVER and OVER again.
These ads can’t be tied to any of our Democratic candidates’ campaigns as that would immediately cause Trump voters to dismiss them as “Democratic propoganda.” Rather, they should be filmed almost like public service announcements (think of the graphic and extremely effective “Quit Smoking” ads of the last decade - the one with Teri dying of lung cancer was my official wake-up call to quit) focusing on one person’s or one family’s story, and should feature one (or more!) of Trump’s sound bytes, video clips and/or screenshots of his Tweets to validate the claims. There’s no way to refute real, actual evidence (as long as the messenger isn’t a Democrat running for political office).
Great case study: One of my dear HS friends went on to attend and graduate from West Point with honors. He chose to be a career Naval officer and was once again distinguished with high honors upon his retirement after 30 years. When he heard my brother had died, he called me to express his condolences. We wound up talking for almost two hours and what had started as a call to express his sympathies turned into something else altogether. He knew I’d been a hardcore Democrat since before I was even old enough to vote. So he just ripped the bandaid off the wound and asked what I thought of Trump. (My prior “coming out of lurkdom” post speaks for itself so no need to rehash it in this one). Once he knew he was in “safe” company, he launched into a full-blown screed.
He lamented the loss of the pride he’d always felt for his years of service and for those with whom he’d served. He expressed his grief over the loss of the political party he’d always been a proud member of (in his words, it was put on life support by the Tea Party and Trump pulled the plug before he was even elected). He mourned the loss of our stature in the world. And he confessed he’d become so ashamed to be affiliated with Trump’s cult of personality, he had officially changed his party affiliation from Republican to DEMOCRAT. He viewed riding the fence as an Independent would be too easy and wouldn’t send a strong enough message. What I heard loudest was his true anguish over Trump’s complete betrayal of the principles on which our country was founded.
There ARE Trump voters out there who can be swayed and THEY are the ones who can help sway other Trump voters by telling their stories. My friend’s story is a valuable one (and I admit, a true revelation for me). But there are so many others who have suffered much greater losses because of the TRAITOR-IN-CHIEF. (This really needs to become the only title by which we refer to him, whether on Twitter, FB, op-eds, discussion forums, etc. He delights in coming up with derogatory “pet” names with which to disparage the decent, honorable Democrats who dare to expose him and protect our democracy (and anyone else, Republicans included, who don’t kiss his ring). We know the names he makes up are based on lies (and probably projection). But “Traitor-in-Chief” is based purely on FACT and we need to take a lesson from his playbook by repeating it OVER and OVER and OVER. Repetition WORKS).
Okay, now I’m craving a cigarette after not smoking for over 5 1/2 years. FUCK YOU TRUMP! (But thank YOU Teri, for your courage in allowing the last days of your life to be filmed for the PSA. You literally used your dying breaths to tell your story in hopes it might serve as a catalyst for others to quit smoking. And it wasn’t in vain)! So I WILL NOT let the Traitor-In-Chief defeat me. He’s SO not worth it.
Finally de-lurking because I've had enough..
The part about the Democratic primaries starts roughly 2/3 into this post. But because that was my main premise, I thought this was the right place to post as opposed to General Discussion. This is quite long, but I’ve been bottling up all these thoughts and felt I could no longer stay silent. Thanks in advance to those who read it.
First, let me introduce myself. I’m a 56-year old mother of a 30-yr old daughter and the wife of a Trump voter (yes, I’ll accept any and all condolences). I’m a lifelong “left of center Democrat” in an extended family of rabid Fox cultists (yes, please express your sympathy). I suffer from three debilitating autoimmune diseases which are getting progressively worse as I age, in addition to a rare syndrome (Carcinoid) which causes my body to produce too much serotonin. In turn, that causes small cancerous (apparently VERY rare) tumors to develop throughout my organs; primarily lungs and colon if caught early enough. The good news is they are slow-growing. The bad news is there are virtually no symptoms AT ALL until it’s too late.
I have no way of knowing how many might be growing right now in my colon (which is where my first carcinoids tumors we’re caught and removed).
I currently have two “nodules” in my left lung which means annual CT scans. But the only way to truly monitor the potential growth of tumors is an annual full-body CT scan (and bi-annually colonoscopies to see if it’s returned to the site of origin).
My autoimmune diseases are MS (diagnosed 30 years ago), Hashimoto’s ‘s Thyroiditis and the latest addition, Addison’s Disease. Up until 2009,
I had a thriving 26-year career and raised my daughter as a single mother. I was fortunate enough to have worked during a time when company insurance policies were pretty decent (deductibles were almost unheard of, even though the premiums reflected that). I finally got remarried sixteen years after divorcing my abusive first husband and we were both grateful I had such a great salary (by middle class standards), as well as health insurance coverage through the company I worked for which was a million times better and less expensive than the policy offered through my husband’s company.
When I lost my job in 2009 due to a massive MS flare up, I was devastated. My job was incredibly stressful and as anyone with an autoimmune disease knows, stress is like Kryptonite. So eventually after 12-years in my position, the universe did for me what I couldn’t do for myself. At that point, my neurologist made it very clear that unless I wanted to be in a wheelchair by the time I was 50, I had to give up my very stressful position and the salary and benefits that went along with it.
My daughter has a journalism degree from one of the best j-schools in the country (thank God for her grandparents who helped her financially). She also worked full-time while attending college. As such, she was able to graduate with no student debt. But despite her incredible talent and work ethic, she (as well as most of her women, college-educated friends) are stuck in jobs that pay very little with companies whose management/owners have no real incentive to promote from within. (Why pay a current full-time employee more money when there are a hundred applicants straight out of college willing to learn on the job for less)? Or even better for the bottom line, they’ll often hire freelancers or temps so they don’t have to provide health insurance coverage.
Missouri is a right to work state so anyone can be fired for any reason; regardless of whether or not it’s valid or truthful. Which effectively keeps “in line” those who are fortunate enough to have full-time jobs with annual salaries and benefits. My daughter’s car loan is paid off, she lives in a modest apartment (by St Louis standards), doesn’t have cable, doesn’t go out (except with friends to free museums, free concerts in the park, and an occasional dinner out). She shops at Aldi, Savers and The Dollar Tree.
So what’s killing her financially? MEDICAL BILLS.
Her company’s insurance coverage is even better than my husband’s company policy but she had a bad accident which required extensive reconstructive surgery and months and months of rehabilitation and physical therapy which was only partially covered. Most of the meager retirement savings fund she’d started contributing to immediately after receiving her first “real” paycheck, has now been wiped out. So has mine which I contributed to for 26-years. All because of medical bills and huge deductibles (my husband pays $480 twice a month for the “spouse plus one “Cadillac” Blue Cross Anthem plan. We have a $6,000 per individual deductible and the only costs applied to our deductibles are diagnostic tests (CT scans, MRIs, xrays). No blood tests. No annual physicals. No doctor co-pays. And obviously no medications. Because my husband’s salary is half what mine was,
my medical bills were eating us alive, despite his (albeit shitty) company insurance. So I contributed the only way I could - by using my retirement fund to pay for it all.
As you can imagine, I’m now asking my doctors to pick and choose which of their recommended tests and procedures are most important. Like so many others, we’re one health catastrophe away from bankruptcy and I’ve decided it’s not worth it. I HAD started mulling over the ACA high-risk pool when President Obama had our backs. But it’s not really an option anymore; Missouri is one of the red states whose Republican Governor and Congress really just wish we’d hurry up and die so they don’t have to pay “entitlements.” SSDI is also incredibly hard to get here. But my team of doctors is working together with a disability attorney on my behalf. If that doesn’t yield results, I’ve decided to start secretly digging a hole in our backyard under the cover of night. I’ll just cover it with a removable patch of sod and hope no one notices. (Actually, Trump being re-elected might get me to jump into the hole faster than my deteriorating health and medical bills. Don’t lie - I know I’m not alone in that line of thinking.
My mom and dad both rose through the ranks of corporate America with only HS educations.
I decided to do the same. Through sheer determination, I followed in their footsteps (and as a single mom, to boot). I started my full-time “career” as a receptionist making $11,000/yr when
I was 18 and by the time Multiple Sclerosis took me out of the game 26 years later, I was Director of Marketing for a Fortune 500 company making $126,000K/year (plus ten percent annual bonuses). It’s maddening that my daughter’s generation will never have those opportunities.
I stood on the shoulders of my mother and the women of her generation. I believed our generation would have even stronger shoulders for our children to stand on. But I could never have imagined the Republican Party could almost single-handedly (and in just forty years) turn the American Dream into a zero-sum game for anyone other than those who look and act just like them (aka white, entitled men with no empathy and zero fucks to give about anything other than guns and fetuses. Oh, and also killing the safety net; the social contract that made us a once-great nation).
I keep wondering how “we,” the Good Guys let this happen (and wondering why I’m blaming US instead of laying it all at the feet of Rupert Murdoch, Roger Ailes, Rush Limbaugh, Fox News, Sinclair Broadcasting, Mark Zuckerberg and Jack
Dorsey and every Republican President since Eisenhower). As the mother of an only daughter, it’s heartbreaking watching her try to navigate her way through this cesspool of corruption, misogyny, racism, gun worship and crazy “incels.” To hear her and her friends acknowledge that being underpaid for their skills and talent and chronically underinsured is “something they’ll probably always have to deal with if they want to keep their jobs,” and that “being forced out of the middle class isn’t even a “thing” for them because they’ve never even been part of it” makes me so ashamed of what this country has become and incredibly fearful for what lies ahead.
To make things even worse, Trump’s Cabal (other appropriate names: “mafia,” “lackeys,” “useful idiots,” ”TrumpPutin’s puppets” and “TRAITORS TO THE CONSTITUTION”) are doing everything possible to “grab women by the pussies.” I mean, Trump said women “love it,” so why the fuck not do it? Maybe not literally, but death by a thousand cuts feels just as dehumanizing. Its not just about limiting women’s work opportunities (by STILL paying us less than men for the same job), or limiting the ability for working women to care for their children because daycare is so expensive. The pussy-grabbers don’t even want to raise the minimum wage so that low-income moms can provide decent food for their kids (there is a special place in hell for the assholes cutting the food stamp program) and the Orange Anus just gutted another Obama initiative of providing fruits and vegetables in public school lunches. He is such a petty, vindictive subhuman. It’s all becoming so clear to me know. Until Democrats learn to praise him and kiss his ring, he’ll continue to gut programs that help Americans and that were created by and voted for during the Obama Administration.
But worst (and most terrifying of all), is his sudden, renewed interest in anti-abortion bills. And the fact he’s speaking at an Anti-abortion “convention” should strike fear in the hearts of every woman, whether you are pro-choice or anti-abortion.
NO MAN should be allowed to decide the fate of a woman’s body or reproductive decisions. That’s tantamount to deciding the fate of a woman’s life as if she were chattel. Missouri is just one of the red states slowly but surely stripping away our reproductive rights and Moscow Mitch is doing his best to ensure it happens on his watch. While Trump is wreaking havoc on our Constitution, our National Security, the safety of our food, water and air quality - basically the entire PLANET - McConnell is ramming through so many conservative judges it will take decades to root them out.
This is the stuff that keeps me up at night. I have to believe at least half of the country is wondering what the fuck just happened? We had a decent, compassionate, articulate, Nobel Prize-winning President and an incredible First Lady for eight glorious years. He bailed us out of the Great Recession and found a way to work around the Republicans who refused to work with him from
Day One to actually pass some really good legislation. Our allies trusted us and we shared common beliefs and goals about climate change, Iran, NK, Russia, ISIS. Our country was still a beacon of hope for the poor, huddled masses seeking asylum from barbaric, genocidal dictatorships. HOW DID IT ALL GO SO WRONG? How did the Republicans just “decide” they were going to steal an election with the help of one of our chief foreign adversaries - Russia of all countries! And worse still, how have they gotten away with it in this country that impeached a president for getting a BJ. I wish just once, I’d hear a news person say, “Can you even IMAGINE what the Republicans would have done to Obama if he’d done one BILLIONTH of the things Trump has done?”
Anyway, we already know they’ll try to do it again because Trump and his cult would never turn down a chance to further mock America and the principles upon which she was founded. He takes a dump on America every time he opens his mouth. Why can’t his loyal subjects see what he’s doing? HEY YOU 35% WHO WILL NOT BE SWAYED: YOUR FUCKING KING HAS NO CLOTHES AND HE’S A TRAITOR FOR SHITTING ON EVERY PRINCIPLE OUR MEN AND WOMEN IN UNIFORM HAVE SACRIFICED AND DIED FOR.
Anyway, long story even longer... this was intended to be a post about Democratic unity and how absolutely, positively, unequivocally VITAL it will be for us to be unified by the Convention. Please realize the media is NOT in the business of stating only facts and shunning lies and misinformation. Because behind every great journalistic investigator, there’s unfortunately a head honcho who cares only about ratings, revenue and the almighty shareholders. It’s in the corporation’s best interest to keep this a dog and pony show for as long as possible (the only possible explanation for Chuck Todd’s existence).
THE TRUTH IS THIS AND ONLY THIS: If we care about our Democracy and refuse to go gently into that good night like cows being led to the slaughterhouse, WE WILL STOP THIS PURITY TEST BULLSHIT AND GET BEHIND WHOMEVER THE EVENTUAL NOMINEE IS. EVEN IF IT MEANS HOLDING YOUR NOSE TO DO IT. There isn’t a single Democrat running (except for maybe Gabbard) who isn’t a TRILLION times better for our country and the WORLD than THE TRAITOR and his minions currently dismantling it.
That also applies to the Republican Senate and House candidates. If they are so hellbent on dying on this hill for their Dear Leader, then LET’S HELP THEM. They must be so miserable; we’d be doing them a favor by sending them into early retirement. GOTV is maybe even more important for the Senate, because even if the fascist dictator gets re-elected somehow, we can (and will) make his life an ever-living hell of endless investigations. (Did someone say “25th Amendment”)?”
IMO, we should also stop obsessing about the polls. Didn’t we learn anything from 2016? The polls can be trusted about as much as the corporate media overlords. Ever wonder why there so much disparity in the different poll numbers? The people who conduct them want clicks and recognition as much as those who espouse “”both-siderism.” They’re ALSO trying to promote drama - ooh, the infighting is affecting the poll numbers. They just want a horse race, too. (Says the woman who learned about polls the hard way. I worked tooth and nail for Howard Dean’s campaign and the polls all had him ahead. WTF Iowa? Seriously, his loss in the primaries was my first real political heartbreak. He had me at “What I Wanna Know...”). Besides, if our freakin PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION was rigged... why does anyone have faith that the polls aren’t, as well?
Also, can we PLEASE stop bashing the other Democratic candidates? (Yes AOC, you’ll eventually have your day in the sun; that is if the planet isn’t burned up by it first). Right now, your “purity rock star” shtick is wearing thin and you’re not doing yourself or YOUR PARTY any good. If you don’t like the Democratic Party, change your affiliation to Independent or Socialist (isn’t that what your obvious choice for the nomination does whenever he’s not running for President?). Seriously. You really need to allow yourself to be mentored by many different Democratic congresspeople. Keep an open mind and practice humility. Think of the giants who came before you and have fought many battles that enabled you to have this job.
GOTV efforts, securing voting machines and ensuring ALL Americans have the right to vote - no matter how late polling places have to stay open - if someone is in line before the “polls close” they are entitled by law to cast their votes. No doubt Trump will send out his “muscle” to make things intimidating and scary. I’m sure many will be armed to the teeth. But this is the greatest threat our Democracy has ever faced and backing down or staying home IS NOT AN OPTION. AMIRITE?!
Can we please agree to unite around our candidate once chosen? I admit, I’m not a fan of Bernie. Never have been. But as God is my witness, if he’s the nominee, I’ll help GOTV and I’ll vote for him with gusto. I hope every Sanders supporter will join me in pledging to support whomever the nominee is. The stakes are just too high this time. No
matter who the Democrat elected, his or her first orders of business will be to mend our relationships with NATO and our allies. He or she will rejoin the Paris Climate Treaty. He or she will begin work immediately with Congress to come up with the best, most viable solution for universal healthcare for all. He or she will hire the best and brightest for National Security and the Pentagon. He or she will appoint a true patriot as AG (*Paging Adam Schiff*), and get those poor children out of the fucking cages. Most of all, he or she will bring the humility, dignity and gravitas of the Presidency back (oh yeah.. and with a House and Senate majority, will work to ensure that a woman’s right to her OWN FUCKING BODY stays that way).
I love DU. I’ve been lurking here forever. But I hate seeing the divisiveness among the various candidate’s supporters. We are the DEMOCRATIC PARTY - not the Socialist, Green, Libertarian or Independent Parties. The Republicans have been so incredibly successful in cheating, stealing and lying because they march in lockstep. I’m sure we’d all agree that’s EXACTLY why we’re NOT Rethugs - but the concept of sticking together no matter what is THE SINGLE SMARTEST THING we can do to ensure we don’t suppress our OWN vote and leave many Democrats feeling as if they don’t have a home in our very big tent. We won’t convince any new voters that we’re the party of inclusion if we’re not even willing to include our own candidates and elected representatives in the text!
Finally, thank you for reading this. If I sound self-righteous it’s because I’m having the mother of all anxiety attacks after watching the blatant disregard for the rules of Congress, the Constitution and the rule of law by the majority party in the Senate and the DOJ.
Let’s do this, k? For the children. And for the koala bears. And for our national parks and wetlands. And so people can have clean drinking water (GODDAMN YOU TRUMP). And for the elderly who deserve to live their final years with dignity and for whom many SS and Medicare are all they have. And so we can take a deep breath and spend some time decompressing from the horror of the last three years.
Profile Information
Name: MichelleGender: Female
Hometown: West St Louis County, MO
Home country: USA
Member since: Wed Feb 20, 2019, 04:44 PM
Number of posts: 35
