It never ends

 First came the 15th Amendment guaranteeing the right to vote without regard to race or color.  Then, after almost 100 years of Jim Crow laws, lynching, and violence, we had court cases and civil rights laws to put the 15th into practice.  Now we get one state after another (including my own state of Pennsylvania) doing their best to undermine the rights of voters, specifically the poor, the old, racial minorities, American Indians, and, let’s face it, Democrats.  

All of this is based on a lie that Biden didn’t really win, a lie endorsed by Republican legislators both at the state and the federal level.  I am just so tired of fighting this.

The Carlisle Indian Industrial School

 On June 14 the Department of the Army will begin to disinter the remains of 10 Indian children from the Carlisle Indian Industrial School and return the bones to their families.  The School was in operation from 1879 to 1918.  Kids were taken from Indian families and sent to Carlisle, where they were supposed to be taught English, Christianity, and a trade.

Some of the children died at the school and were buried there.  When Linda and I visited the Military Museum in Carlisle two years ago, we drove past the sad little cemetery.  Nine of the children to be returned were Sioux; one was from the Aleut Nation.  

Some of the information for this post was taken from an article by Joseph Cress of the Carlisle Sentinel, reprinted in the Morning Call, (April 38, 2021), p. 9.

Raya and the Last Dragon

 Tonight Linda, daughter Rachael, and I saw “Raya and the Last Dragon” at the Mahoning Theater.  We were the only three people in the large theater.  The movie, an animated feature with a message on the importance of trust, was excellent.  Awkwafina provides the voice of the dragon, Kelly Marie Tran is Raya, and Gemma Chan is Namaari.  The writers, cast, and crew may have been the most ethnically diverse group of people I have ever encountered in a movie.  

The entire audience gave it two thumbs up.

Facebook bans Trump, again

 I probably should not comment on the Facebook decision to continue to ban Trump, since I am not on Facebook and know very little about it.  On the other hand, lack of knowledge about a subject never stopped me from commenting before.

If I write a letter to the Morning Call calling for the overthrow of the government or containing obvious lies, the Morning Call doesn’t have to print it.  That paper is privately owned.  I don’t have a right to publication.  In fact, if you comment on this post, and I don’t like what you post, I can remove your comment.

I do have certain rights of a free press, of course.  I can take a circular down to West End Printing, have them print 40,000 copies, and send a copy to every voter in Carbon County.  I can stand next to the courthouse with a sign opposing the PennEast pipeline.  I can start my own newspaper, provided I have the funds.  What I don’t have is the right to decide that I can post anything I want (porn, libelous charges, instructions on how to build a nuclear bomb) on Facebook.

Trumpists do not understand that  They don’t seem to get the rights of private ownership. 

Liz Cheney

 Here is a test.  To whom would you lend money, Kevin McCarthy or Liz Cheney?  

Would you trust McCarthy, who wants so badly to be Speaker of the House that he was willing to sell his soul to the devil, or Cheney, who recognizes what every rational person in the United States and around the world knows to be a fact?  That fact is that Trump lost the November election, both in popular vote and in the Electoral College.  Badly.  Overwhelmingly.

For stating the truth–Trump is a loser and implicated in the attack on the Capitol–Cheney will be stripped of her party leadership position.  Q-Anon supporters Green and Bobert and sex trafficker Gaetz will be voting to punish Rep. Cheney.

I know it is hard for some people to change parties, but if you are a Republican who can’t quite bring yourself to switch to Democrat, consider Independent or Decline to State or Libertarian.  If a deeply conservative Republican like Liz Cheney can be punished for refusing to lie, it is time to abandon that party.

On another note entirely, our daughter Rachael is visiting from CA.  She flew in last night; it is the first time we have seen her in two years because of the Covid restrictions.  I am so glad we are getting this pandemic under control.  Happy Cinco de Mayo.

Mail-in ballots

 Today’s Morning Call ran a front-page article about how many more Dems than Republicans are using mail-in ballots.  In the 2020 Pennsylvania election almost 65% of the 2.6 million mail-in ballots were cast by Dems, although they make up less than 47% of the state’s voters.

Why is this?  Did it occur to those of you who are Pennsylvania Democrats that you might get hassled by Trumpists if you voted in person?  Did you think you might be challenged, or yelled at, or cursed if you voted in person?  

On Sunday a front-page article in the New York Times was headlined, “Republicans Aim to Expand Power of Poll Watchers.”  Republicans sin Texas want to  send an “Election Integrity Brigade” into Black, Latino, and Asian neighborhoods in Houston to challenge voters.  The “Brigade” would not operate in white suburbs.

If you were a Black, Latino, or Asian voter in Houston, and you had the opportunity to vote by mail, wouldn’t you?  In Pennsylvania Republican legislators are attempting to make vote-by-mail more difficult.  I’m sure the same kind of legislation as Texas is pushing will be proposed here.  I am not being paranoid; I’m basing this belief on past Republican efforts to suppress Democratic votes.

Affinity Fraud

“Affinity frauds” are “...scams that prey upon people by exploiting a sense of shared identity.”  That is a quote from Paul Krugman, and his example was Bernie Madoff, who Krugman says defrauded wealthy Jews by convincing them he was just like them.

Republicans do this all the time.  They represent the interests of the wealthy and the biggest corporations, but they pretend to be just “regular guys,” the kind of people you’d want to have a beer with.  They try to convince you that Democrats are elitists who don’t care about you and eat avocado toast for breakfast.

A perfect example of affinity fraud is my state Representative Doyle Heffley, who runs under the slogan “he's one of us,” but once in office represents big oil, big business, big agriculture, and Republican interests generally, while giving the impression that he is just a “good ole boy.”  And he is getting away with it. 

(I didn't post last night because it was May 1st, a traditional holiday among left-wingers and radicals around the world.  Also I was really tired from working in the truck patch.)