Rob Rogers for January 13, 2021

Reported by The Washington Post: “As hospitals across California braced this week for a surge in COVID-19 patients who got infected over Christmas, officials relayed painful stories of dying victims’ last moments with their families,” the Los Angeles Times reports. “‘One of the more heartbreaking conversations that our healthcare workers share is about these last words when children apologize to their parents and grandparents for bringing COVID into their homes for getting them sick. And these apologies are just some of the last words that loved ones will ever hear as they die alone,’ Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda Solis said."

“We got to get rid of the weak congresspeople, the ones that aren’t any good, the Liz Cheneys of the world.”

—Donald J. Trump (1946- ), 45th President of the United States, incitement to mob he had summoned prior to their storming the US Capitol, 2021-01-06

This country was FOUNDED on racism. The English made no attempt to engage with the natives (even the Spanish and French did better than that); instead, they slew them.

Much of this country was built with slaves – and businesses North and South made money from it.

It is our national curse. “Race” isn’t even a real biological construct – it is purely and solely a social construct: a shared belief. And that belief has driven horrific behavior for centuries now.

If anything, #45 and his violent, racist followers have ripped the veneer off of our society and our politics. Now we know: a huge percentage of this country’s voters voted for a proud racist, a white supremacist, and a person with no respect for democratic norms, let alone democracy.

Totally partisan anti American republicans are total dirt bags.

‘Who am I kidding?’ Indeed. Americans have been kidding themselves for years.

Actually, there IS a way to suppress racism if not eliminate it entirely and America attempted a “half-assed” version of it (for completely different reasons) against my people.

One of the things America tried – to integrate “Indians” into American society was to remove their children and install them in boarding schools to “teach” them how to be Americans!

Of course it didn’t work because they kept allowing them to go home and become “reinfected” with Indian Ideas.

What’s needed is to gather up all the children, as infants and raise them as upstanding citizens with NO EXPOSURE TO OUTSIDE IDEAS!

It worked in the book, “Brave New World” and I bet it would work again – my people weren’t changed all that much, but that’s because the Indian Service didn’t really have their hearts in it – but I bet if we put someone like Stephen Miller in charge of manipulating the minds of our children, it would surely work! (/s)

For a second opinion let’s ask other leaders of Democratic Countries.

And yet, due to the malfeasance and obstruction by a minority of Republican House and Senate members, the delusional Tangerine Mussolini responsible for all six panels in this strip is still sitting behind (and desecrating) the Resolute Desk. ~ You were right Senator Collins, he really “learned his lesson” after his first impeachment – this time he gathered his cult come to the Capital and try to take you hostage and maybe kill a few of you. ~ Has that sunk in yet?

Eh, it’s exactly who we are :-(

It’s who we’ve been headed for since the repugs decided to follow the “southern strategy” and get in bed with religious extremists. Nixon, Reagan, Bush I, Bush II, Gingrich, McConnell, all the rest, and now trump. The path was clear and the road is long, the woods are dark and deep and we have MILES to go before we sleep.

True for Republicans, at least

It’s nothing new. I have experienced discrimination from White and Black since I came here in 1975. Not too long ago, a white young guy told me to go back where I came from. One good thing is that there are far more good people than those racists in this country. All they have to do is to speak up against racism.

THAT IS EXACTLY WHO YOU ARE, REPUBLICANS!!

we have been kidding ourselves for FAR too long. We still do not admit that half this country is occupied by people who only think about themselves and couldn’t care less about others…to the extent they don’t even want people who aren’t like them to have ANYTHING!

I think what we’re finding is that racism exists at so many levels – both individually and in the culture in a broader sense. On the surface many of us behave in a non-racist way – but beneath the surface is something quite different. Sadly it’s become part of our fabric whether we like it or not. Recognizing it within ourselves, and helping others seeing in themselves is critical. This has to occur peacefully but deeply without the usual judgments and name-calling. It is a great challenge – but can be done if society commits to it completely. Not an easy task.

right-wing populists?:

Ever hear of a bell curve? Well there are bell curves for different social science studies unfortunately, so that 33% will always exist… Somewhere, somehow… and in this century one of the 33% denizens actually made its slimy way to the Whitehouse, and the rest now are emboldened to make themselves heard