People, if you run across a Republican who decided to not vote for Trump because the white supremacy controversy was their breaking point, donât insult them.
I suspect that a lot of the flippers are like former Mormons or anyone who has been in a high control group for a long time. They had questions, suspicions and doubts. But they put them on the shelf and tried to ignore them.
Then one day, one more item goes up on the shelf and the whole thing comes crashing down. If you run across one of these people, try to be kind. They may have just lost friends or family, or they may wonder who they are because their whole identity was wrapped up in their social sphere, the dogma they accepted and the time and energy they put into defending it.
The last thing you want to do is reject them and leave them no alternative than to return to the group they just realized had been lying to them.
Be kind. Try to understand what theyâre going through.
Trumpism is the latest manifestation of this political phenomenon. Itâs not going to go away overnight and we arenât going to get instant converts to universal healthcare or wind power or even a Biden vote. But maybe, weâll get people who can reclaim the ability to be themselves. Thatâs a step in the right direction regardless of what side of the aisle youâre on.
Honestly, I donât know what to say. It boggles the mind:
Senate Republicans just blocked a unanimous vote on a resolution condemning white supremacy. It passed the House unanimously. They said that after 9 months of the legislation languishing that the committees of jurisdiction needed to look at it and consider their âequities.â
We started the morning with âWhat the hell was that last night??â to Republicans FINALLY having an âoh shitâ moment.
Trump refused to condemn white supremacy on live TV. We saw him (not) do it. Iâve watched base voters twist themselves into knots trying to explain to us babies what the president actually said. Then I reran then video to check what I heard. Trumpers sound very defensive and nervous – and wrong.
It was a very simple question from Chris Wallace. Will you condemn white supremacy? All it required was a very simple answer. âYes, I condemn white supremacyâ. Thatâs not what Trump said. He hedged it pretty good. Then gave the proud boys the command to stand down and âstand byâ.
The Proud Boys have been ecstatic all day long. They say they arenât a White supremacist group. And if this piece in WaPo is correct, itâs probably women who have to worry the most. The Proud Boys describe themselves as a chauvinist group that wants strict gender roles. Oh, and they donât like Antifa, the anti fascists. So that makes them the anti anti fascists. Short of calling in the French to untangle the double negative implications, I think we can guess that the Proud Boys and fascists are closely related.
Also, the Proud Boys are an actual organization with a chairman and stuff. So not at all like Antifa which is an ideology that the US used to adhere to since WWII.
Anyway, the Proud Boys like to wallop protestors and they say they go after Antifa, which is strange because Antifa people come in all shapes and sizes and donât have a uniform. So do they just crash a BLM protest and beat up on whoever crosses their paths hoping that probability is that theyâll beat an anti-fascist? Because maybe thatâs where they got their reputation as being white supremacists.
Meanwhile, Trumpâs surrogates are telling the world that he condemns white supremacy. Why donât you speak for yourself, Don? Do you need the Proud Boy vote that badly? Imagine how the KKK feels today. Probably a little bit more empowered. So, empowered in fact that theyâve been dropping leaflets in peopleâs driveways in Green County south of Pittsburgh. Check out the flyer below. They seem awfully shameless.
From this flyer, we can reasonably assume that if you are making a partisan statement by waiting until Election Day to vote in person, thereâs a higher than average probability that you are a white supremacist. Ok, maybe youâre not a white supremacist. Itâs just that the KKK thinks you are.
PSA to Pennsylvanians: thereâs still time to get your ballot by mail if you want to vote in peace and reputation saving safety of your own home. Just sayinâ.
Anyway, thereâs a womenâs march coming up in October. If thereâs one in Pittsburgh, Iâm probably going to mask up and go. How much you want to bet that the Proud Boys will be standing by?
Not that it will stop us.
But maybe the intensity of the last few days has finally woken up the cocky Republicans. Or maybe it was the fact that Lindsay Graham and Jaime Harrison are statistically tied in South Carolina. South Carolina. Or maybe theyâre looking at the polls of suburban women and their devious plan to make Amy Coney Barrett look like just a harmless suburban housewife who wonât take away their birth control didnât really fool anyone.
Who knows.
Iâm just delighted that theyâre finally getting scared. For politicians watching the other side fight back all summer, theyâre pretty slow learners but eventually, if you horrify them enough and bring the condemnation of the world down on your party leader for not condemning white supremacy, the gravity of the situation will hit you like a brick. Or maybe more like, âdamn, I should have stopped before I drank that last shotâ as the room starts to spin.
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A month ago, I questioned my sanity about requesting a mail in ballot. The mail was slowing down, the Trump campaign was taking my state to court every other day about unicorn levels of ballot fraud, the secrecy envelopes, the legality of drop boxes… đ
But after that debate, Iâm pretty happy I wonât have to go to a polling place on Election Day and wade through crazy Trumpers in army surplus garb with twitchy fingers on their guns.
Iâm getting the feeling that Republicans are not going to be able to toss mail in ballots like they hoped. So now the focus of their suppression is going to be at the polls themselves.
There is still time to request a mail in ballot in Pennsylvania.
The Confluence 