There Are No Safe Places in This Country

Sunday was the last day of the Cheshire County fair, an annual hootenanny here in southwest New Hampshire enjoying its 81styear. It is every fair that has ever been in every state with a stitch of rural real estate. The midway was made of fried dough and cotton candy, and the face-painters plied their wares over the sound of weathered carnies daring you to waste your money, c’mon, three darts for five bucks, pop a balloon and win the little girl a prize.

Nestled between the funhouse and the petting zoo was the game that has been part of fairs and carnivals for more than 100 years: The High Striker. You’ve seen it, and maybe even tried it. Crafted entirely as a means of cashing in on peer pressure, the High Striker involves a large mallet and asquare pad that, when struck, launches a puck up a metal tower toward a round bell. When done properly — and if the game isn’t rigged — the smack of the mallet will be immediately followed by a high ding that carries from one side of the fairgrounds to the other. You win.

The fair was packed on Sunday, and a small crowd of burly men always seemed to surround the Striker. One after another, they would grasp the handle of the mallet, test their grip, and let fly. A few feet away, sun-soaked parents herded sugar-addled children through the crowd. Everyone went about their business, until the mallet struck the pad with a loud report that, each time, sounded for all the world like a rifle shot.

This was rural New Hampshire, land of hunters, where the sound of gunfire in season is as common as the turning of the leaves. The crowd knew what a rifle sounds like, and everyone flinched when the hammer smacked the pad. Heads snapped suddenly around seeking the source of the sound. Parents stepped in front of their children, and everything stopped for the halted breath of a moment until the potential threat was identified and dismissed.

The crowd flowed past the Striker like a river, different people in my field of vision each time the hammer came down. When the report cracked the air, there was that collective flinch every time, heads jerking toward the noise, fear in every eye. The distant sound of children screaming on the rides augmented the illusion of attack.

Everyone at the fair had awoken that morning to the news of a second gun massacre in Dayton, Ohio, only 13 hours after the massacre in El Paso, Texas, and only days after another in Gilroy, California. It has been a summer of blood and fury, this was a crowded place, and everyone knew it. Once upon a time, it had been a safe place, but we don’t do that anymore in this country. The bell on the High Striker tolled for far more than another winner at the fair.

“We are what we repeatedly do,” writesNestor Ramos for The Boston Globe,“and in this country what we repeatedly do is mow down civilians with .223-caliber semiautomatic rifles. The mass shootings pile on top of each other, occurring so close together this weekend that cable news covers them in split-screen, like playoff games. And so, according to all the available evidence, this is exactly who we are.”

If mass shootings are “who we are” in this country, the most powerful among us will not be the ones we should count on to change it. They are the ones who have brought us to this moment.

Many of these ever-increasing massacres have been carried out by white supremacists who took their cues and permissions from the president of the United States. It is racist terrorism coddled at the highest levels of government and goaded on not just by fringe websites like 8chan, but by major news networks like Fox. When it happens, it is excused and defended by high-ranking Republican officials who blame social media and video games while ignoring the blood on their NRA money.

“Hate has no place in our country,” said Donald Trump after a weekend spent crashing weddings at his Bedminster golf club in between slaughters, “and we’re going to take care of it.” This was but his opening salvo. By Monday morning, he was blaming the news media for the attacks, using the same “fake news” language the El Paso shooter applied in his racist manifesto. The shooter borrowed it from Trump, who borrowed it right back.

Trump followed up his drearily familiar attacks on the media by proposing that background checks legislation be tied to immigration legislation; we can have limits on gun sales if he can have his border wall, perhaps. This possibility lasted three hours. At a 10:00 am press conference, he read a monotone Teleprompter statement condemning racism and white supremacy, poorly, but made no mention of the background checks reform he had floated earlier. “Mental illness and hatred pulled the trigger,” he said, “not the gun.”

For the record, the El Paso shooter used an AK-47-style assault rifle to kill 22 people. The Dayton shooter used an AR-15-style assault rifle to kill nine people.

Thirty-one more people are dead, despite Trump’s absurd denial, because the shooters had guns. Given that there have been 2,193 mass shootings since 20 children were obliterated by gunfire at Sandy Hook Elementary School, the idea that this man has either the interest or ability to “take care of it” is almost too ludicrous to contemplate.

Trump’s Republican congressional minions offer no succor. “A handful of Republican lawmakers on Sunday endorsed stricter gun controls,” reports The Washington Post, “but most in the GOP ignored Democratic demands that the Senate abandon its summer recess and return to Washington to address the issue. The House passed two bills in February that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has refused to consider.”

Meanwhile, the larger causes of violence go scandalously unconfronted. After 29 years of ceaseless war in the Middle East, after the constant and deliberate racist dehumanization of the “other” enforced at the highest levels, after flooding the nation with easily-accessed weapons of war, and after so many long years of vampire capitalism having its way with the minds and souls of the populace, we each face the possibility of finding ourselves on the killing floor. The most powerful people in this country offer thoughts and prayers as theycontinue reproducing the conditions that created this national abattoir.

The Cheshire fairgrounds on Sunday were a snapshot of a nation at war with itself, flinching at the definite possibility of hostile fire in a crowd flush with children, and school starts again soon. Those with the power to act pretend to be powerless. It is not over. I fear it is just beginning.

William Rivers Pitt

Truthout

Aug. 6, 2019

Where Your Tax Dollars Really Go

Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress claim that America spends too much on things like food stamps, welfare, and foreign aid. 

But let’s look at how the government actually spends your federal tax dollars each year. We’re going to look at what’s known as the “discretionary budget,” which has to be reappropriated by Congress each year.

Start with foreign aid, the conservatives’ favorite boogeyman. It’s $29 billion a year. That may sound like a lot but it’s only 2 percent of all discretionary spending. Add all spending on international affairs, it’s 4 percent.

What about science and technology, including NASA, the National Science Foundation, and research in clean energy, which conservatives love to hate?Just 3 percent.

The environment and natural resources – money for clean air, safe drinking water and protecting public lands? Another 3 percent.

Roads, bridges, highways, airports, all transportation funding: Another 3 percent.

Community and regional development: 2 percent.

Law enforcement, the Department of Justice, the entire federal court system: 5 percent

The Centers for Disease Control, the National Institutes of Health, and rural health clinics: 5 percent.

Food stamps, energy assistance, child care, other income security: Just 6 percent.

Education and workforce training gets just 7 percent.

Veterans benefits account for 7 percent of the budget as well.

All other government services–including Energy, Agriculture, and Commerce–account for only 1 percent of the discretionary budget.

But that’s only 46 percent. The remaining 54 percent of annual spending is on the military, which is more spent on the military than the next 7 nations combined. It’s huge. It’s about the only really big thing the federal government does.

You may be thinking, but what about Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and the Affordable Care Act? 

By law, these programs are mandatory spending, which don’t require Congress to approve funding every year. Americans have paid into Social Security and Medicare over their entire working lives.

Yet they’re still vulnerable. In fact, if Trump and Republicans in Congress aren’t going to cut discretionary spending – especially on the military – the only places they can look to make way for more tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations are Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.  

That’s been their goal all along. 

Know where the money is really going. And know what they have in mind. 

Robert Reich

July 31, 2019

I’ve always been a liberal, but that doesn’t mean what a lot of you apparently think it does.

I’m a liberal
I’ve always been a liberal, but that doesn’t mean what a lot of you apparently think it does.

Let’s break it down, shall we? Because quite frankly, I’m getting a little tired of being told what I believe and what I stand for. Spoiler alert: Not every liberal is the same, though the majority of liberals I know think along roughly these same lines:

1. I believe a country should take care of its weakest members. A country cannot call itself civilized when its children, disabled, sick, and elderly are neglected. Period.

2. I believe healthcare is a right, not a privilege. Somehow that’s interpreted as “I believe Obamacare is the end-all, be-all.” This is not the case. I’m fully aware that the ACA has problems, that a national healthcare system would require everyone to chip in, and that it’s impossible to create one that is devoid of flaws, but I have yet to hear an argument against it that makes “let people die because they can’t afford healthcare” a better alternative. I believe healthcare should be far cheaper than it is, and that everyone should have access to it. And no, I’m not opposed to paying higher taxes in the name of making that happen.

3. I believe education should be affordable and accessible to everyone. It doesn’t necessarily have to be free (though it works in other countries so I’m mystified as to why it can’t work in the US), but at the end of the day, there is no excuse for students graduating college saddled with five- or six-figure debt.

4. I don’t believe your money should be taken from you and given to people who don’t want to work. I have literally never encountered anyone who believes this. Ever. I just have a massive moral problem with a society where a handful of people can possess the majority of the wealth while there are people literally starving to death, freezing to death, or dying because they can’t afford to go to the doctor. Fair wages, lower housing costs, universal healthcare, affordable education, and the wealthy actually paying their share would go a long way toward alleviating this. Somehow believing that makes me a communist.

5. I don’t throw around “I’m willing to pay higher taxes” lightly. If I’m suggesting something that involves paying more, well, it’s because I’m fine with paying my share as long as it’s actually going to something besides lining corporate pockets or bombing other countries while Americans die without healthcare.

6. I believe companies should be required to pay their employees a decent, livable wage. Somehow this is always interpreted as me wanting burger flippers to be able to afford a penthouse apartment and a Mercedes. What it actually means is that no one should have to work three full-time jobs just to keep their head above water. Restaurant servers should not have to rely on tips, multibillion-dollar companies should not have employees on food stamps, workers shouldn’t have to work themselves into the ground just to barely make ends meet, and minimum wage should be enough for someone to work 40 hours and live.

7. I am not anti-Christian. I have no desire to stop Christians from being Christians, to close churches, to ban the Bible, to forbid prayer in school, etc. (BTW, prayer in school is NOT illegal; *compulsory* prayer in school is - and should be - illegal). All I ask is that Christians recognize *my* right to live according to *my* beliefs. When I get pissed off that a politician is trying to legislate Scripture into law, I’m not “offended by Christianity” – I’m offended that you’re trying to force me to live by your religion’s rules. You know how you get really upset at the thought of Muslims imposing Sharia law on you? That’s how I feel about Christians trying to impose biblical law on me. Be a Christian. Do your thing. Just don’t force it on me or mine.

8. I don’t believe LGBT people should have more rights than you. I just believe they should have the *same* rights as you.

9. I don’t believe illegal immigrants should come to America and have the world at their feet, especially since THIS ISN’T WHAT THEY DO (spoiler: undocumented immigrants are ineligible for all those programs they’re supposed to be abusing, and if they’re “stealing” your job it’s because your employer is hiring illegally). I’m not opposed to deporting people who are here illegally, but I believe there are far more humane ways to handle undocumented immigration than our current practices (i.e., detaining children, splitting up families, ending DACA, etc).

10. I don’t believe the government should regulate everything, but since greed is such a driving force in our country, we NEED regulations to prevent cut corners, environmental destruction, tainted food/water, unsafe materials in consumable goods or medical equipment, etc. It’s not that I want the government’s hands in everything – I just don’t trust people trying to make money to ensure that their products/practices/etc. are actually SAFE. Is the government devoid of shadiness? Of course not. But with those regulations in place, consumers have recourse if they’re harmed and companies are liable for medical bills, environmental cleanup, etc. Just kind of seems like common sense when the alternative to government regulation is letting companies bring their bottom line into the equation.

11. I believe our current administration is fascist. Not because I dislike them or because I can’t get over an election, but because I’ve spent too many years reading and learning about the Third Reich to miss the similarities. Not because any administration I dislike must be Nazis, but because things are actually mirroring authoritarian and fascist regimes of the past.

12. I believe the systemic racism and misogyny in our society is much worse than many people think, and desperately needs to be addressed. Which means those with privilege – white, straight, male, economic, etc. – need to start listening, even if you don’t like what you’re hearing, so we can start dismantling everything that’s causing people to be marginalized.

13. I am not interested in coming after your blessed guns, nor is anyone serving in government. What I am interested in is sensible policies, including background checks, that just MIGHT save one person’s, perhaps a toddler’s, life by the hand of someone who should not have a gun. (Got another opinion? Put it on your page, not mine).

14. I believe in so-called political correctness. I prefer to think it’s social politeness. If I call you Chuck and you say you prefer to be called Charles I’ll call you Charles. It’s the polite thing to do. Not because everyone is a delicate snowflake, but because as Maya Angelou put it, when we know better, we do better. When someone tells you that a term or phrase is more accurate/less hurtful than the one you’re using, you now know better. So why not do better? How does it hurt you to NOT hurt another person?

15. I believe in funding sustainable energy, including offering education to people currently working in coal or oil so they can change jobs. There are too many sustainable options available for us to continue with coal and oil. Sorry, billionaires. Maybe try investing in something else.

16. I believe that women should not be treated as a separate class of human. They should be paid the same as men who do the same work, should have the same rights as men and should be free from abuse. Why on earth shouldn’t they be?

I think that about covers it. Bottom line is that I’m a liberal because I think we should take care of each other. That doesn’t mean you should work 80 hours a week so your lazy neighbor can get all your money. It just means I don’t believe there is any scenario in which preventable suffering is an acceptable outcome as long as money is saved.

“So, I’m a liberal.”

(author unknown)

You Can’t Change This Hatred—But You Can Outvote It

There’s an old saying: “When the horse is dead—dismount.”

It’s time to stop beating that horse, America. It’s not going anywhere.

I’ve tried for three years now.
I’ve tried to understand them.
I’ve tried to listen to them.

I’ve tried not to assign motive to them, not to speculate as to why they voted the way they voted, not to believe they consented to every cruel thing their vote birthed and enabled.

I’ve tried not to caricaturize them; not to make them into one-dimensional stereotypes, not to treat them as some fictional otherwhose presence posed a threat.

I’ve tried appealing to their sense of decency, to their capacity for compassion, to their faith in Jesus.

I’ve quietly endured thousands of their racist outbursts and homophobic rants on Twitter and at neighborhood picnics and across the Thanksgiving dinner table—in the hopes that I could find some vulnerable place beneath their fear to access later.

I’ve tried buoying pep talks and firm tough love and expressions of kindness and straight-talking challenge and attempts at affirmation.

I’ve tried discussing theology, tried sharing stories of oppressed communities, tried to offer facts in the face of a million lies generated by their President, tried to show the lessons History has already taught us about the slope we’re currently sliding precipitously down.

They have all failed to reach fertile ground.
Nothing has worked.
It’s all been fruitless.

I think it’s time to stop saying that we need to understand these people.I think we do understand them:

We understand that they have dug in their heels so deeply, they will not be moved by anything—not facts or data or truth or their own eyes.
We understand that there is no political scandal massive enough, no President’s Tweet reckless enough, no legislation predatory enough to alter their allegiance.
We understand that the past two years of viciousness and ineptitude haven’t tempered their passions but ignited them. We understand that the image of an angry white, American male God is so burned into their brains, that they see no conflict with a religion devoid of love or a world absent diversity or a theology made of malice.

We understand that infidelity, dishonesty, obscenity, and cruelty are no longer liabilities to those they would have lead them.
We understand that the FoxNews poison has so fully circulated through their systems that truth is no longer necessary.
We understand that white supremacists in the Cabinet and Russian infiltration in our elections and children separated from their parents are acceptable collateral damage to winning.
We understand that their capacity to rationalize away human rights atrocities now borders on complete delusion.

People have warned that we should treat these people with kid gloves; that explicitly expressing anger or pointing out criminality or vocally opposing injustice right now will only drive them deeper into their entrenched positions. That’s a fairly dire assessment.

If adults are that fragile in the face of reality, that willing to deny country and humanity simply because they’re offended, that thin-skinned and prone to mutiny—their dispositions aren’t really a burden the rest of us should or could bear.

We don’t come to this understanding with any joy or self-satisfaction—we come to it with sober despair and the deepest grief, because we know practically speaking that right now they are unreachable.

It’s one thing to have held out hope for them on November 9th, 2016, but at this point, I’m not sure any miraculous moral awakening or conversion of the heart is possible. 

If their consciences and compassion and reason have not been accessed and unearthed by now, I’m concerned those things will never be forthcoming.

And since these people will not be moved, the rest of us need to move together.

Democrat, Republican, and Independent,
the deeply devout and the passionately irreligious,
people of every pigmentation and persuasion—we need to move in concert, to affirm our shared regard for one another, and to vote to restore balance in something we all love that is teetering wildly.

This isn’t a battle to change the minds of the few who refuse to be changed. That horse is dead.

It also isn’t a test to see if we can manufacture the same hatred and vitriol for them as they dispense toward us.

This is a golden moment for the vast, sprawling army of good people who believe in the beauty of diversity and in a fully accessible America to speak unequivocally—on our social media profiles, at family gatherings, in our church meetings—and most of all, in the voting booth.

We don’t need to convince or coddle or win over hatred, and we don’t need to outdo it either.

We need to outnumber it.
We need to outlast it.
We need to outlove it.
We need to outvote it.

John Pavlovitz

August 7, 2018