It is ironic that when Republicans are in power, Democrats are so quick to
criticize the wars they start, their positions on economic and racial
issues, on civil liberties, on immigration, and just about anything else.
But when we have Democratic administrations who take precisely the same
positions, and on occasion move further to the right, but clothe what they
do in the language of freedom and equality, Democrats support them loyally,
refuse to criticize their actions, and attribute what they do to
Republicans. Someone, in a speech or article yesterday, blamed the 2008
financial crash on Bush, as if Bill Clinton's deregulation of the banking
industry had nothing to do with it. Bernie Sanders, and many other people
yesterdday, including Robert Reich, talked about how Hillary Clinton has,
"fiercely defended the rights of women and children", as if the rights of
Honduran women and children, Iraqi women and children, Libyan women and
children, Palestinian women and children, and poverty stricken African women
and children were irrelevant. Yes, I know about her children's health
legislation. But how does that stand up to her support of dismanteling AFDC
and mass incarceration. And while people are horrified by Trump's language
regarding Muslims, Mexicans, and refugees, as well they should be, why are
they not horrified about what our current president is doing to Muslims
around the world. Why is murdering innocent people in the name of American
security moral while talking about banning them seems worse. What about all
of the unlawful imprisoning that has taken place right here of people who
donated to a charitable organization that might have supported a group in
another country that has nothing to do with us, but which our government, in
its infinite wisdom and goodness, has determined to be terrorist. Russia?
Syria? What about our poor and wretched, people with no homes, no security,
people in our prisons treated like animals, people imprisoned because they
are poor. Corporations make money from imprisoning our surplus, unwanted
people, and the people are forced to do virtually unpaid labor for other
corporations who make a profit on what they produce. How is it that
Americans who consider themselves to be Progressive, who read articles, and
sometimes, even books, who are so quick to call out what they consider to be
racist and sexist speech, can so easily rationalize away what politicians do
when those politicians are members of the Democratic party?
Miriam
