Tonight’s #FridayLimericks go to the Trump indictment—as they must. #LimerickRhyme
As the man who would cast a great pall
O’er a nation he brought to a crawl,
Donald tries to spread blame,
But it’s right he became
The indictedest ex-Prez of all. reuters.com/legal/watershe…
Donald claims he’s an innocent man,
But the truth’s never part of his plan.
He’s a nasty old elf
Who stands just for himself;
He’s his own crazy number one fan.
His attacks on New York DA Bragg
Are just tricks from his worn-out old bag.
He’s a racist at heart,
And it’s part of his art
To find dark folks to threaten and drag.
His disdain for diversity shows
In the dark-hearted way that he rose.
It’s no wonder the cost
When the big loser lost
Was the threat of democracy’s close.
With the way that this narcissist thinks,
It’s no wonder his record so stinks.
He’ll keep forcing his way
To our growing dismay,
Till we see if our rule of law blinks.
You would think Trump’s astonishing flaws
Would lead more on the right to take pause.
But they’re Trump ride-or-die,
So these asses will try,
Showing feckless, pathetic bare claws.
And it’s not like they want him to win;
It’s their cowardice holding them in.
With no leaders at all,
They’ll continue to fall
For cacophonous criminal din.
When political checks on him fail,
There’s a nation he wants to assail.
While the Stormy clouds roll,
Let’s hope this takes its toll—
And that Justice can stand and prevail. nytimes.com/2023/03/31/opi…
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Both Republicans and Democrats claim to value “freedom.” But the word means something very different to each side. It’s reductive for Republicans, and collective for Democrats. (Thread) #ResistanceUnited #LiveBlue
To Republicans, any governmental involvement in life reduces freedom; it means people are counting on the government rather than solely their own merit. It’s a seductive continuation of American mythology: bootstraps and grit. That’s how they justify a might makes right approach.
It’s a zero-sum freedom: one person has the right, in this mindset, to take from others. No one has a “right” to a peaceful society, to fair wages, to healthcare, to go through a day without being shot. You’re free to get what you can—even if your position guarantees a “win.”
Today’s indictment of the former president is important. It’s probably not the last indictment he’ll face, and probably not the biggest. (We can’t know till it’s made public.) But it’s huge. (Thread) #ResistanceUnited #LiveBlue
At one time, I thought this would be a sad day. This country put a man into office who has openly, brazenly flouted the law at every turn. An entire party power structure enabled him—and is still trying to enable him. Our democracy is not in good shape.
And this will be a process. Trump will push his lawyers to file every motion possible, legitimate or otherwise. He’ll campaign off of his “persecution.” Today’s gratification will yield to some frustration before the trial can occur.
Tonight’s #FridayLimericks note the right’s tortured use of “woke.” #LimerickRhyme
When republicans whine about “woke,”
They’re just looking for anger to stoke.
They might know what it means,
But their rhetoric leans
Toward abusing the rights of good folk. thehill.com/opinion/campai…
After Lead Belly first used the word,
Its whole meaning would soon become blurred.
After Scottsboro Boys,
They brought in the white noise;
Now it’s mangled so much, it’s absurd. theroot.com/weaponizing-wo…
The far-right is co-opting it now
In the culture war they all avow.
Though they claim it’s a plague,
The word’s meaning stays vague—
Throw the label out, then have a cow. fivethirtyeight.com/features/why-a…
The use of the word “woke” to mean aware of and awake to the realities and effects of social injustice and racism is far from new. You can go back to at least 1938 and Lead Belly to hear it used that way. #ResistanceRoots #LiveBlue
Of course conservative whites have worked to co-opt the word, reframing it to refer to rampant political correctness, or really any idea or slice of humanity they don’t support. That tactic is also not new, as the brilliant @michaelharriot describes here:
The right has turned lexicological acrobatics into an art form, playing word games to dissociate meaning and ideas entirely from their politics. It’s labels, mockery, and schism-creation, all to avoid reckoning with the cruelty and callousness of every policy they support.
The money quote from this article on the Georgia grand jury,: “… if every person in America knew every single word of information we knew, this country would not be as divided as it is right now.” (Thread) #ResistanceUnited #LiveBlue2022
The MAGA political movement is built on a foundation of outright lies, suppression of truth, and grievance politics. All of this is meant to help a minority hold power by dividing the majority against itself. It’s how every repressive government works.
This is something different from an ideological divide. In any dialectic moment, ideas collide and combine into a new synthesis. But here, one group is hiding and misrepresenting information, rather than letting light shine on its ideas for scrutiny.
I wanted to read this article and feel optimistic. But it shows is that most of those who admit there is no solid evidence for election fraud still choose to believe it anyway. (Thread) #ResistanceUnited #LiveBlue2022
The right-wing bubble has taught its inhabitants not just that inconvenient facts aren’t real, but that even when they are, it shouldn’t penetrate their foundation-less belief system.
It’s religious adherence to a political party—only more so. Biblically speaking, faith is being “certain of what you have not yet seen.” It isn’t supposed to require denying what you have seen. But that is what the GOP requires of its true believers.