Let’s Play

Enough of the histrionics, already.  We all knew their word was bullshit.  We know they make it up as they go, and we know that they do not give even one shit about policy, values, or previous positions.  What they care about is winning.  And they are winning.

I am, of course, talking about the current crop of Republicans serving in our Senate and House of Representatives.  Even Mitt Romney will not condemn the hypocrisy, lest he give up the chance to “win.” Susan Collins? Please.  Senator Collins parses phrases in ways that make Talmudic scholars blush.  “I will not support a vote before the election,” does not mean Collins will not vote for it right after the election.  Lisa Murkowski started off with some shred of decency but has since recanted (I strongly suspect it was an allergic reaction to doing the right thing) and says she will “likely” vote for Trump’s choice for the Supreme Court.  And those most vocal in 2016 about the precedent they were setting when they refused to even hold a hearing for Merrick Garland, like Lindsay Graham?  Either silence or complete capitulation to the will of Trump.  Amoral cowards, all.

With all the disgust I can summon, I cannot, however, be surprised.  This is the game that the Republicans are playing. They played it with protections for voting, with gerrymandering, with healthcare, with the hundreds of House bills that McConnell won’t let the Senate touch, with their tacit support of hate groups and their explicit support of the pussy-grabbing, adulterous, corrupt, amoral, and lying fascist currently occupying the White House.  THEY DO NOT CARE. BECAUSE THEY ARE WINNING.

And we let them.  We play nice.  We honor tradition.  We believe we can undo the damage by being the good guys. Well, let me be clear:  that is pure fucking nonsense.  When your opponent plays by no rules and you do, you lose.  “When they go low, we go high” might work for campaign advertising (and I kind of support that) but it doesn’t work when trying to protect the very freedoms the Republicans want to take away. You should never bring a knife to a gun fight. The Revolutionary War was fought because the British refused to negotiate.  World War II happened because the bad guys invented new rules, and they lost when the good guys invented even newer ones.

The Republicans have recrafted the Arab Leagues three no’s into:  No compromise.  No negotiation.  No giving ground.  And, until we confront this, we will continue to lose. It is time for some new rules.

The first move after we win the Presidency and the Senate is to pack the court.  Want to play hardball ladies and gentlemen?  Let us play.  And so, I  am not talking adding 4 Justices so that the court tilts 7-6 against the politically appointed and seriously political Justices that include Alito, Thomas, Gorsuch, and Kavanaugh.  I am talking adding 6 for a total of 15 and a 9-6 majority.  Want to play, now?

Then we win.  What do we win?  We will start with undoing  Citizens United which established the precedent that corporations are people when it comes to the first amendment and that we cannot limit corporate campaign contributions.  That is plain wrong, and we need to fix it.  We will then re-establish and re-authorize the Voting Rights Act so that voter suppression activities can be mitigated.  We will make voting by mail available to every citizen with the appropriate safeguards and security.  We will institutionalize the Affordable Care Act and improve it, so every citizen has healthcare coverage.  We will articulate and enact reasonable gun control.  We will limit discrimination in the workplace to differences in skills and ability, not skin color, religion, sexual orientation, political affinity, or familiarity with your name.  Gerrymandering will be appropriately judged to be unconstitutional and states will have to have non-partisan commissions establish House districts.   And, among other things, we will ensure that the Supreme Court of the United States of America and our Attorney General refuse to fly cover for the illegal, immoral, and corrupt activities of the Trump Administration, the Trump family, and the Trump Organization.

And then we will be able to successfully prosecute Donald Trump for his crimes, political, financial, and behavioral, and stick his ass in jail and give him unpleasant roommates.

With both Houses, the Presidency, and a Supreme Court focused on what the Constitution means for our society today instead of trying to conform to the Founder’s reality of 1789, we will restore the promise of America as a nation where  anyone can succeed, liberty is protected, and our diverse skills and contributions are honored.  We will fulfill the commitment that “we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

If you continue to support Trump and his lackeys, and this rant offends you, I honestly do not give a fuck. Tough shit. Now you can reap what you have sown.

We win. You lose. Thanks for teaching us how to play the game.