Even though it's true, it's hard to put the blame on our own backs.
We, the working class, have been out spent, out shouted, out foxed and
just plain out maneuvered. All the time I was growing up I was told
that we were too smart to be influenced by Radio and Television. I
never believed it. Constant pounding the desire for material stuff
had to take a toll.
We think less, allowing the Tube to tell us in 30 to 60 minutes what
we need to do.
I'd say more, but Thom Hartman is about to begin, and I need him to
tell me what to think.
Carl Jarvis
On 3/16/17, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Carl,
Yesterday, I listened to The Nation podcast, Start Making Sense, on which
one of the Nation reporters described his recent travels through the states
whose electoral votes were significant in getting Trump elected. None of his
voters are disappointed in him. They feel that he is doing exactly what he
promised he would do. When asked about the factory where, in fact, he didn't
save all those jobs he'd promised, they said that he'd done the best he
could, but other forces got in his way. But he'd promised to deport
undocumented immigrants and he was doing so, and he'd promised a Muslim ban,
and he was doing that too. And today I was talking to David, whose the guy
in his sixties, who's at the desk in the lobby of my building during the
day. David is a sweet gentle man. He's also Jewish and, as far as I know, an
Israel supporter. Both of his sons have spent time there. And he also has
MS. Anyway, he likes to bring me my mail, at least, lately, he does. And I
had an envelope from my accountant which prompted David to begin talking
about the government. Like everyone else on Long Island, he speaks of the
government in very negative terms and he associates it with politicians, all
of whom, he believes are dishonest. I began to talk with him about who
actually has the power, about where the money comes from. Interestingly, he
just sees Trump as another wealthy person, just like anyone else who's
wealthy and wants to make as much money as possible. He mentioned Trump's
taxes and all David has managed to understand about that is that it seems
like Trump didn't pay enough taxes on that money. David never mentioned
Trump's racism or anti-semitism or plans to cut government services. The
people who are horrified by Trump, have absolutely no insight into the
mindset of the people who are not.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Thursday, March 16, 2017 11:43 AM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: The Trumpist Attitude Toward
African-Americans
Bob,
Save your energy. Hoping is not going to do us any good.
I just listened to Trump's speech in Tennessee, and his laying of the wreath
on the tomb of "Old Hickory", and the wild cheering of what sounded like a
sizeable crowd, when he said that he and Jackson were a lot alike. The
craziest comment I heard was a woman who said we should give President Trump
a chance.
I wanted to scream, "Lady! He already has his one hand in your purse, and
his other hand on your pussy. How much more of a chance do you want to give
him?"
How can we rationalize large numbers of people supporting a man who promised
them that he would "drain the swamp", while throwing open the doors to upper
administrative jobs to an army of former Goldman Sachs employees?
Carl Jarvis
On 3/16/17, Bob Hachey <bhachey@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Yes, I agree. I keep clinging to the hope that the current mood of
resistance will lessen the blows of Trumpism, but if the Dems get back
in does that mean more of what we got under Clinton and Obama? IF so,
that’s not good enough.
Bob
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Miriam
Vieni
Sent: Saturday, March 11, 2017 9:50 AM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: The Trumpist Attitude Toward
African-Americans
Yes, and your esteemed senator, the liberal icon, Elizabeth Warren,
voted for him. So while I applaud her efforts at financial reform,
that vote, plus her refusal to re-think her support of Israel is an
example of why the Democratic party is hopeless. They’re the lesser of
two evils, but just barely, and they’re still evil.
Miriam
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Bob Hachey
Sent: Saturday, March 11, 2017 3:01 AM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] The Trumpist Attitude Toward
African-Americans
Rewriting the history of slavery Renée Graham Renée Graham . By Renée
Graham . Ludicrous statements recently made by Ben Carson and Betsy
DeVos, both members of President Trump's Cabinet, are nothing less
than a flagrant attempt by this administration to recast this nation's
shameful history of slavery, bigotry, and oppression. In his first
staff address as Housing and Urban Development secretary, Carson
should have stopped talking after calling America "a land of dreams
and opportunity. Nevertheless, he persisted. "There were other
immigrants who came here in the bottom of slave ships, worked even
longer, even harder for less," Carson said. "But they too had a dream
that one day their sons, daughters, grandsons, granddaughters,
great-grandsons, great-granddaughters, might pursue prosperity and
happiness in this land. You'll need an earthmover to unpack everything
offensive about Carson's comment. Those forced into slavery were not
immigrants. Africans arrived shackled together in the dank bellies of
teeming ships, not in search of better lives. During their
transatlantic nightmare, countless people died from disease,
starvation, and murder. Those who survived found ceaseless brutality,
worked under constant threat of an overseer's lash or worse, and were
paid nothing. If they could still dream at all, it was for the
opportunity to kill their oppressors, flee the plantations, and
reunite their families. There was no prosperity or happiness - only
crushing misery they would never want inflicted on loved ones. Carson
presented a rosy interpretation of a vile institution whose stench
still chokes us. If the former neurosurgeon can't find a reliable
history book, perhaps he can get his skilled hands on a dictionary to
look up the vastly different definitions for "slave" and "immigrant.
This comes less than a week after Education Secretary DeVos claimed
Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) are "pioneers" of
school choice. "They are living proof that when more options are
provided to students, they are afforded greater access and greater
quality," she said in a statement. DeVos, who eventually backtracked,
overlooks the fact that HBCUs are "living proof" of the Jim Crow era,
and the only choice black people had was to create their own places of
higher learning, since they were barred from segregated colleges and
universities. These aren't misstatements but part of a sinister
pattern.
In an administration at war with facts, these historical rewrites seek
to minimize the pain and suffering of African-Americans. It is
literally a page from Texas textbooks that, in 2015, referred to
slaves only as "millions of workers from Africa [brought] to the
southern United States to work on agricultural plantations. We've seen
this before. In January, a White House statement commemorating
International Holocaust Remembrance Day made no mention of Jewish
victims, opting for what was called a more "inclusive"
tone - a move praised on a neo-Nazi website. As inept as the Trump
administration is, never underestimate its desire to craft a
frightening new world order that will amend the past to cement its
archaic vision of the future. Hardships like slavery and segregation
are repackaged as cheery bootstrap parables. A Holocaust remembrance
must now take "into account all of those who suffered," as White House
spokeswoman Hope Hicks said. Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia compared it
to something else: Holocaust denial.
Martin Luther King Jr. said, "We are not makers of history. We are
made by history. So what becomes of us when our history is systematically
unmade?
The first step in erasing history is to slowly erode our understanding
of it. This isn't just carelessness; it's an act of contempt. That's
why pushback to correct this revisionism must be as vigilant as
efforts to thwart ongoing assaults on civil rights by this caustic
presidency.
Otherwise we may soon hear another member of this administration
rhapsodizing about that wonderful era when African and
African-American workers enjoyed nearly 250 years of prosperity and
happiness, complete with free housing and zero unemployment. Renée
Graham can be reached at renee.graham@xxxxxxxxx. Follow her on Twitter
@reneeygraham
