Invictus, Part Three

Out of the night that covers me
Black as the pit from pole to pole
I thank whatever Gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell grip of circumstance, 
I have not winced nor cried aloud
Under the bludgeoning of chance
My head is bloody but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the horror of the Shade
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find me, unafraid.

It matters not how straight the gate
How charged with punishment the scroll.
I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul.
~Invictus.

Yesterday, Joe Biden selected Kamala Harris as his vice-presidential nominee. I have to say that I 100% support this decision. Among other things, I think it's long past time that a child of immigrants, or a woman of color for that matter, should be a Vice-Presidential candidate. As far as I'm concerned, white men...particularly conservative white men...have spent most of the last several years showing they're too often unfit to run a lemonade stand and I say that as a white man who is a former conservative.

And you know, thus far she's been endorsed by everybody from Bernie Sanders to the Lincoln Project, and that's a good thing.

Thus far, it's all fear and loathing in MAGAland and you know what?

Fuck 'em.

Although, judging from what I've seen in the last 24 hours or so, with the Right's attempt to gin up attacks on Harris, given the quality of such I'm increasingly wondering if Wile E. Coyote managed to find a job working for Donald Trump after all.

I'm totally sick of this passionate Rube Goldberg stupidity. I spent much of my life as a Christian, much of my life as a conservative. This "Gospel of whatever helps one sleep through the night" bullshit looks to me like an express train to hell, first class. I get that Republicans don't give a damn about the truth...and many of them may well never have...but I couldn't do it. I wouldn't do it, I'd find it difficult to get ready for work without being able to face my reflection in the bathroom mirror.

Fuck that shit.

Since 2016, and especially since 2018, the Democratic Party looks more and more like an America that is changing, that has changed.

Note that this happened in spite of Trump, who basically ran on an angry hatred of everybody with a darker complexion than a sheet of notebook paper.

And the Republican response to this has been to double down infinitely, to become even more angry, more hateful, and more racist...to the point of one of these fucking people murdering a man live on camera and Republicans being surprised when such a horror as that lit half the country on fire.

And then they make it worse by dragging out old vices like anti-Semitism.

How anybody thinks this is going to work out well, I'll never understand.

Politics is a game of addition, not subtraction, and sooner or later if you want to stay in power you need a bigger coalition and more people. Republicans kept doubling down on the crazy, the racism and the stupid and now their electoral strategy basically has two main points; #1 Try to keep as many people as possible from voting, even their own, and #2 In the meantime, fervently hope that the virus kills everybody else.

Yet they've basically brainwashed their own voters into not wearing masks and trying to pretend that Coronavirus isn't a thing. None of this makes any sense unless trying to split the country so they can break off a piece for their own Banana Republic...followed by death, disease and war...is actually the plan. Certainly, these people's ravening hatred of places like California and New York suggests they don't want to live in a unified country.

Don't take my word for it, listen to what Republicans themselves have to say about other Americans having a voice, about other people having power.

Listen to their endless contempt for the rest of us.

It never occurs to Martha McSally that if D.C. and Puerto Rico became states, Republicans would rightfully have just as much of a shot at Democrats at winning Senate seats there. It never occurs to her to make a play for those seats, nor to attempt to expand the party's base of voters. Certainly, D.C. has no shortage of Republicans and I've known plenty of Puerto Ricans and other Latinos who were conservative Christians or Republicans...less so now, though.

Seems like there might be a reason for that.

This is what we're up against, people whose basic platform is that only landed gentry should be able to vote, or perhaps, people who desire "literacy tests" and poll taxes and Segregation, despite the fact that we already had this argument and on a legal level, the ancestors of these assholes mostly lost.

If we want to fight this bullshit and right the ship of state, I think Joe's choice of Kamala Harris, a former prosecutor, as his running mate is probably a good choice.

But you still have to do the work, you still have to show up, You still have to vote.

Remember that.

My fellow South Africans — the people of South Africa:
This is indeed a joyous night. Although not yet final, we have received the provisional results of the election, and are delighted by the overwhelming support for the African National Congress.
To all those in the African National Congress and the democratic movement who worked so hard these last few days and through these many decades, I thank you and honor you. To the people of South Africa and the world who are watching: this a joyous night for the human spirit. This is your victory too. You helped end apartheid, you stood with us through the transition.
I watched, along with all of you, as the tens of thousands of our people stood patiently in long queues for many hours. Some sleeping on the open ground overnight waiting to cast this momentous vote.
This is one of the most important moments in the life of our country. I stand here before you filled with deep pride and joy: — pride in the ordinary, humble people of this country. You have shown such a calm, patient determination to reclaim this country as your own, - and joy that we can loudly proclaim from the rooftops — free at last!
~Nelson Mandela