This just in: Whenever I see a gun’s rights advocate on TV, I can help but think, “That is the last person in the world who should have a gun.” The same seems to be true with White Supremacist’s. When I see one of these “haters” on TV claiming to be a member of the superior race, I think, “If there were 2 people left alive on the entire planet and that white supremacist was one of them, he wouldn’t be my first choice for picking someone to be superior at anything.”

There was a time in my life when I felt comfortable in my “non-racist” shoes simply because I had some black friends or I treated blacks and whites the same. I could see racism but so long as I turned my back on it, I was in the clear. No guilt.

I remember going to my cousin’s house once a year. They lived up in the hills here in California. The “N-word” was common at their house. At a very young age, probably 6 or 7, I understood that the cousins I loved were basically uneducated and had been taught to be racist by their parents. Kids know these things.

As I grew up, my keen sense of right and wrong got dulled. Friendships, puberty, sports….they all vied for center stage in my life and I never once noticed that among those friends I held most dear, were racists.

Facebook changed that. Now separated by decades, I see kids that I grew up with posting the nastiest, racist things I could imagine. One kid, Sean R., posted that Obama was, “a sand nigger.” I blocked him immediately. That was a few years ago. Since then I have blocked dozens of people for similar instances.

“Blocking” racists on Facebook is not enough. Not any more. I need to actively speak out as well as to actively listen. My position today is that racism must be confronted. It is not okay with me and I will let you know that is how I feel.

If you post a complaint on Facebook about “Poor me, I have to select from two languages at the ATM because illegals won’t learn English.” I’ll tell you that is racist.

And…I will not change a single mind.

There are several reasons that I will be ineffective. One is that racists don’t think they are racist. They think they are right. This is why I mentioned “actively listen” above. If someone calls me out, I will not knee-jerk some justification for what I may have said or done. I want to really look at my actions; especially if they were enough to have someone else call me out. I’m not perfect. I guarantee I’ll make a mistake. I’ll judge someone wrongly and only by self-reflection will I be able to fix that about me.

Another reason I will be ineffective at stopping racism is that it is taught to us by our parents. We learned that it was not only justified, but they racism was expected. Parents never say, “Okay son, time for your racist lesson.” No, they’ll teach by showing. They’ll use derogatory words. They’ll blame their failures on others. Kids see this. Kids learn.

I think 2 things need to happen for us to start ridding ourselves of racism. First, we need to elect leaders that will constantly promote tolerance of races, religions, countries of origin and sexual orientation. Secondly, we need to actively show harsh intolerance of leaders that don’t.

Let’s take a quick quiz…

Which political party is against LGBTQ rights?

Which political party told us that Mexicans are rapists?

Which political party told us that people from Muslim countries are terrorists?

Which political party is slow to denounce acts of white supremacy?

Which political party blames China and Chinese for United States’ poor response to Covid?

Which political party thinks that it is okay to make it more difficult for black people to vote?

Which political party thinks non-white countries are “shit-hole” countries?

The answer to all of these is, of course, the Republican Party.

This political party reigns supreme where I grew up; down near Bakersfield. I still have a lot of friends there and, by far, they are not racist. But some are and I miss them, knowing that they will never become something different. It hurts me to write this but as I said earlier, I can no longer just turn my back on this issue and act like I have done enough.

I grew up Republican. But things changed for me. The Republican Party of today is as racist as a crowded KKK rally. Forget, for the moment, that the GOP is all about QAnon, lack of science, fake news, climate change denial, corruption, anti-vaxxer and anti-masker. Forget all of that. Knowing that they are undeniably racist should be enough.

It is for me.

Time to save the world.

Up, up and away…

Jim

This just in: I recently watched 1984 (I do this every few years). There are so many things in this story that ring true. In the story, there are big TV screens everywhere. Big Brother watches you through the TV’s. Every so often, it’s time for the “2 minutes of hate.” Everyone stops what they are doing and yells at the TV while an announcer talks about the various “enemies of the state”. Everyone gets worked up by the propaganda on the screen.

I think FOX news is a lot like this.

For example, yesterday, Fox Host Tucker Carlson said things like, “Why should we trust this vaccine? Why doesn’t anyone tell us how effective it is? Why is it such a big secret?” This type of rant went on and on.

The thing is, Every. Single. Channel. That is not on Fox, routinely answers all of these questions and has been doing so for months. Tucker Carlson is just throwing out something for people to hate; something for them to get mad about.

Last week, out of nowhere, Carlson started complaining about women in the military getting pregnant. He thinks the military needs to be more masculine. Notable that he has ZERO experience serving in the military himself. He just wanted to give Fox viewers something to hate.

In 1984, the main character, Winston Smith, has a job that is basically, rewriting history.

This seems like one of the first chapters in the Republican playbook. The GOP is now claiming that the capital was stormed on January 6th by people that are law abiding who only wanted to get turkey legs from the local food trucks; They certainly would never hurt the police. Apparently the 140 officers that were injured in this attack, one killed by the crowd, either don’t count or…this never happened; at least according to the rewrite.

Some might equate this “rewrite of history” to hypocrisy. I know I do.

The GOP did all they could to stop the recent economic recovery package from passing; this, even though 75% of Americans wanted it. Now that it has passed, Republicans are scrambling to take credit.

Mitch McConnel says getting rid of the filibuster will stop the senate from being productive; completely ignoring the fact that the senate is completely unproductive now and has been for the last 6 years.

The Republican Party is corrupt and racist. This is really not something that people dispute short of rewriting history. “Yes I spoke at the White Supremist rally but I was only there to sell Tupperware” or “Yes, I did sell my stocks to take advantage of the economic collapse caused by the pandemic but I only wanted to make money that I would pass on to the poor; but I just forgot that last step and accidentally bough myself a new house instead.”

Now that this post is up, Republicans can read it and….hate.

Time to save the world.

Up, up and away…

Jim

This just in: I have been watching CPAC highlights over the last few days. This is a conference in Florida where Republicans get together and masturbate. The reviews have not been stellar so I thought I’d talk to a few “composite” Republicans to get their take.

Me: I see that you are all about Freedom and the Constitution. At least, I heard a lot of people saying they would “fight” for such things. Does this mean that you now support voting rights?

Republican: Of course we support voting rights; specifically the right to block people from voting against us. We also support the right to lie about election outcomes if we lose the election. It’s really all about freedom baby!!

Me: But when you tell gullible peo….I mean….when you tell Republicans that the election was stolen, even though you know it was not, aren’t you really trying to make the election be overturned in the most un-democratic and anti-constitutional method possible?

Republican: Look, there is tons of evidence that the election was rigged.

Me: They why don’t you share that information?

Republican: We will…in a couple of weeks.

Me: Moving on…why don’t you wear masks at the convention in accordance with the recommendations of the best medical minds on the planet?

Republican: It’s all about freedom. We should have the freedom to infect and kill as many fellow Americans with COVID-19 as we want.

Me: Kind of like your position on guns?

Republican: Exactly!!! You really get me.

Me: Since you brought up the pandemic, tell me about your plan to help the economy recover. You seem to be against the 1.9 Trillion dollar bailout that has the support of the greatest economic minds in the country.

Republican: We have a plan. We will be releasing it in a couple of weeks.

Me: Staying with the pandemic, it looks like it is really putting a strain on healthcare and causing extreme financial distress for many families unable to afford healthcare. What is your plan to help with this?

Republican: A couple of weeks…

Me: Texas looks like they screwed the pooch with their “Freedom Electrical Grid” where they allowed profit-seeking power companies to be in charge. What say you?

Republican: Texans have the freedom to fly to Cancun if they don’t like the weather. Just ask freedom loving Ted Cruz.

Me: Staying with economic issues, why are Republicans against raising the minimum wage? People making starvation wages are a huge financial burden on the rest of the country.

Republican: If people want to make more money…they can move to Cancun.

Me: What?

Republican: In two weeks…

Me: Off the record (fingers secretly crossed), it appears that you have no position on anything. You have no plan to solve anything. Your only hope is to influence people by saying the words, “Constitution” and “Freedom” over and over again while banging your hand into your fist.

Republican: Off the record? You are correct. But…it works! High five!

Time to save the world.

Up, up and away…

Jim