politics – Site Title

Adolf Hitler

This unspectacular and seemingly nonchalant looking man kept the world captive for a long time. “He is widely regarded as a symbol of evil because of the crimes committed by the Nazi German regime under his leadership.” More than 11 million people were killed and the deaths were carried out in a very intentional manner. It was as if those lives lost did not matter at all. They were part of a purging process and it was all done in the name of ethnic cleansing or rather genocide. He is infamous not only for World War II and the Holocaust but also for the systematic persecution and the mass murder of Europe’s Jews.

Adolf Hitler was a slightly overweight man with piercing eyes and was evil to the core. “Hitler believed that Jews were destructive to the German ‘Aryan’ race, and did not have any place in Nazi Germany.” The Nazi idealogy is about degradation, extermination and dehumanizing certain groups of people based on their ethnicity and that is the OBJECTIVE. It is exactly why it is so dangerous.

This was and is the personification of evil. I met him, metaphorically, when as a young girl I started reading about Anne Frank and her struggles during Hitler’s reign. It was a reign of terror where families were wiped out and fear reigned supreme. Anne was a German-born Jewish girl and a victim of the Holocaust. She is one of the 1.5 million Jewish children who were murdered during the genocide. Anne became famous for keeping a diary of her experiences. She and her family went into hiding and stayed concealed at the back of a building on the Prinsengracht in Amsterdem, the Netherlands. Her writing kept me enthralled from start to finish and I lived her journey through her words. I read her story from the safe confines of my bedroom but every word transported me to where she had been and I knew that evil had a name and that it was Adolf Hitler.

What is the moral of Anne Frank?

It is “that all people have the right to live in freedom.”

Fast forward to today. We are living in a time where Nazi salutes, Nazi propaganda and Nazi rhetoric is viewed as nothing big. Those that believe in his ideology want the world to revert back to that time and place where “people” who did not belong in their concept of the “superior race” should be eradicated and or have their rights taken away.

If it will fly in a global society that is the question. We’ve come a long ways from one “evil” man controlling the narrative. We have a voice now and let’s use it to put evil in its place.

Daily writing prompt

Who is the most famous or infamous person you have ever met?

View all responses

FREE OF RACISM DAY!

I was talking to a friend not too long ago about racism, racist attitudes, ugliness, and the scourge that it is on society as a whole and his remark went like this, “I don’t know about that. I’ve never experienced it.” He’s from Minnesota, white and proud of it.

This got me thinking. There are those who go about life thinking that just because they’ve never experienced it, racism doesn’t exist. Here’s the thing. Racism is a worldwide issue. It finds its foothold in societies and goes about its way calling it, business as usual. Then there are those who suffer because of it, their daily existence not just marked by irking a living like the rest of the folks do but with the additional burden of carrying that unnecessary load placed on their shoulders which is called racism, a heavy one that affects whole families including children as well and sometimes it makes “living” a living hell!

Does racism exist today?

“A huge number of people still don’t even believe that contemporary racism exists. Despite the mountains of empirical evidence confirming that racism is a part of almost everything, almost everywhere, almost all the time, people are still stuck in a conversation about whether or not it is even happening.”

I would like to invent a holiday and call it, FREE OF RACISM DAY!

It will be a worldwide call to arms so to speak and for this one day, global citizens will come together and boost each other up irregardless of race, religion, and or color. We will put our differences aside and celebrate as ONE people. There will be exhibitions highlighting achievements and we will celebrate each other’s uniqueness. It will be a call to stand together and to embrace each other as citizens based not on color, race or religion but as people who deserve equal treatment regardless of who or where they come from.

There is an International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination which is observed annually on March 21st. It was established by the United Nations in 1966 to commemorate the Sharpeville massacre in South Africa and it is to raise awareness and to fight against racism and discrimination worldwide.

Have you heard about it? I haven’t either. So let’s get the word out and not pretend that it (racism) doesn’t exist. It is there, it is alive, it is doing well and it is spreading like wildfire in today’s society of Nazi salutes, racist satire and full blown hate and ugliness.

I say AMEN to that!

Daily writing prompt

Invent a holiday! Explain how and why everyone should celebrate.

View all responses

George Floyd

The murder of George Floyd by a police officer brought widespread protests not only back home but globally, which in turn called for police reform and accountability where police brutality and racial injustice was concerned. Its historical significance came when Derek Chauvin, the police officer responsible for the murder was convicted and sent to prison. It also put a spotlight on systemic racism and racial inequality. Before that landmark case, it was rare “that police officers in the US are charged, let alone convicted for use of lethal force.”

George Floyd, an African-American, died after being arrested by police outside a shop in Minneapolis, Minnesota on May 25, 2020. The video footage that went viral showed Floyd being pinned to the ground by Derek Chauvin, a white police officer, kneeling on Mr. Floyd’s neck. Bodycam footage showed Mr. Floyd saying he couldn’t breathe more than 20 times but to no avail. Chauvin kept his knee on Floyd’s neck for more than 9 minutes and Floyd was heard further saying:

“You’re going to kill me, man.”

Chauvin: ” Then stop talking, stop yelling. It takes heck of a lot of oxygen to talk.”

Mr. Floyd: “Can’t believe this, man. Mom, love. Love you. Tell my kids I love them. I’m dead.”

Six minutes after that, Floyd is non-responsive and pronounced dead an hour later.

Derek Chauvin was convicted of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and manslaughter. The verdict put the spotlight on police and their policing practices where people of color were concerned and it also showed “that police officers are not above the law.”

According to the NY Times, “despite the largest racial justice protests since the civil rights era of the 1960s and a wave of measures to improve training and hold officers more accountable, the number of people killed by the police continues to rise each year, and Black Americans still die in disproportionate numbers.”

Racism, systemic racism, police brutality and the murder of black men still continues. Hate finds a way to survive and in today’s climate of fascism on the rise, we’ll see more of the same all done in the name of progress or “hate” masquerading as justice.

Derek Chauvin is still in prison serving his concurrent federal and state sentences for the murder of George Floyd. He is projected to be released in 2037 for his federal conviction and 2035 for his state conviction.

George Floyd, however, will never see the light of day again. He is now a card-carrying member of the “killed by the police” club. The others were Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, who was 12 when he was shot by a police officer, Walter Scott, Alton Sterling and the list goes on…..

I’ve written about every one of these men and many more.

Major historical events? I would say those killings were major events, wouldn’t you?

Daily writing prompt

What major historical events do you remember?

View all responses

The Man to Watch!

Gavin C. Newsom is doing a marvelous job of getting under Trump’s skin and living rent-free in his head! Furthermore, he has found a way to hit where it hits hard. Taking down a bully is not always easy and one who has sole authority to initiate a nuclear attack is even more so.

His latest tweet speaks to the heart of the matter:

WOW!! PRESIDENT TRUMP SAYS ABOUT ME, GAVIN C. NEWSOM: “HE’S A NICE GUY, LOOKS GOOD.”

THANK YOU FOR THE KIND WORDS, LITTLE HANDS. EVERYONE SEEMS TO BE TALKING ABOUT ME (AMERICA’S FAVORITE GOVERNOR!). – GCN

All caps, exclamations and incomplete sentences, trademarks of you know who. Aside from that, the message is clear, you get as good as you give!

Keep it up America’s favorite governor. Sometimes it takes know-how and thinking to take down a bully and he is doing an expert job of doing just that. On the other hand, the “bad boy” wants to play it nice it seems. That tweet says a lot but as the saying goes, “too little, too late,” perhaps? Gavin C. Newsom is not letting up and that is a good thing.

Gavin Newsom Gets His Goat!

Donald “TACO” Trump is getting as good as he has been giving if not much more. If you’re wondering what the acronym stands for, it means, Trump Always Chickens Out, a term first coined by Financial Times commentator, Robert Armstrong, referring to Trump’s trade war tactics. If the shoe fits…..

The new kid on the block, or rather the man who has found a way to “punch” where it hurts the most is giving Trump a run for the money as far as bullying goes and many will say, it is well-deserved.

The California governor, Gavin Newsom, is trying something new and he is taking mockery to new heights. Add trolling, Trump fashion, to it and you’ve got something hilarious if not “pure jujitsu” as someone else called it.

“THE BIG, BEAUTIFUL TARIFFS ARE MAKING INFLATION GREAT AGAIN! THE GREATEST INCREASE IN INFLATION SINCE THE PANDEMIC (MANY ARE SAYING). HERBERT HOOVER (LIL HOOVER, THEY CALL HIM) HAD THE GREAT DEPRESSION BUT NO ONE REMEMBERS HIM. SAD! UNDER TRUMP AMERICA WILL HAVE THE GREATEST DEPRESSION IN AMERICAN HISTORY.”

And just like that, it was time to sit up and take notice. Writing posts in President Trump’s signature style, California Gov. Gavin Newsom told reporters on Thursday, “If you have issues with what I’m putting out, you sure as hell should have concerns with what he’s putting out as president.”

Here’s another one.

“DONALD TRUMP, THE LOWEST POLLING PRESIDENT IN RECENT HISTORY, THIS IS YOUR SECOND-TO-LAST WARNING!!! (THE NEXT ONE IS THE LAST ONE!). STAND DOWN OR CALIFORNIA WILL COUNTER-STRIKE (LEGALLY!) TO DESTROY YOUR ILLEGAL CROOKED MAPS IN RED STATES. PRESS CONFERENCE COMING -HOSTED BY AMERICA’S FAVORITE GOVERNOR, GAVIN NEWSON. FINAL WARNING NEXT. YOU WON’T LIKE IT!!! THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER.”

I’m liking this guy a WHOLE LOT! More please and it looks like Gavin Newsom has found a way to get under Donald “TACO” Trump’s skin. It seems to be working because rumor has it that Orange Jesus has stopped posting in ALL CAPS!

It takes guts, cunning, and Savoir-faire to stand up to a bully and Gavin Newsom seems to have it all under his belt.

Gavin Newsom for President?!!!

Elon Musk!

I got a message earlier today which said that Elon Musk liked one of my posts. What?!! I couldn’t believe it, not because he had “liked” a post but because I didn’t know that he was even on here.

My second thought, “Oh Gawd!”

Why?

Some of you guys know why. Jack of all trades and…….well, never mind!

So I went to see if this was some kind of fake profile. Looks legit enough. Anyway, if it is the real guy, I’ll say, “Thank you and it is much appreciated.”

Will the real Elon Musk please stand up?!!

Sydney Sweeney’s Jeans Ad

Photo by Alina Matveycheva on Pexels.com

My platform has always been about bringing light to social injustices, racial inequalities, racism in all its ugly forms and anything else that is considered out of the ordinary and reeks of one thing or another. I’ve written articles on the shooting deaths of Black men by law enforcement to the plight of the Rohingyas and everything in between. Sometimes the atrocities are blatant and at other times, they are subtle and are aimed at disguising what is not evident at first glance.

The Sydney Sweeney jeans ad is about a pretty girl in a pair of jeans. Nothing spectacular and nothing else stands out unless you’re into jeans and what’s new out there. That’s just at first glance.

Take a closer look and something else emerges. The clothing company, American Eagle, faced its share of backlash when it was accused of promoting “eugenics,” by using wordplay on jeans/genes in the ad.

“Sydney Sweeney has good genes,” referencing Sweeney’s white, blonde and blue-eyed looks. Some have accused the brand of promoting, “eugenics,” and “Nazi propaganda.”

Eugenics is defined as a doctrine “adopted by the Nazis to justify their treatment of Jews, disabled people, and other minority groups.” It is a study on “how to arrange reproduction within a human population to increase the occurrence of heritable characteristics,” those deemed as sought after traits or of the blond and blue-eyed variety.

In the campaign, Sweeney posing in jeans is seen whispering:

“Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality and even eye color. My jeans are blue.”

The video has since been removed from American Eagle’s social media channels but the backlash continues. The ad comes in the wake of President Trump’s White House policies aimed at slashing diversity efforts in the federal government and the targeting of immigrants. Some say, the ad is reminiscent of the Calvin Klein campaign which starred a 15-year-old Brooke Shields posing provocatively and therefore, just “an overt sexualization of a minor,” and nothing more. The problem to this theory is that Sydney Sweeney is no longer a minor.

The company has issued a statement saying, “the campaign is and always was about the jeans. We’ll continue to celebrate how everyone wears their AE jeans with confidence, their way. Great jeans look good on everyone.”

Agreed. However, trying to promote a message beyond that of “just about the jeans,” and using wordplay to get the message across is something else altogether. In the current atmosphere of, “let’s do away with all that is different,” this ad is more than alarming. My take on this is, they should have known better!

Daily writing prompt

Scour the news for an entirely uninteresting story. Consider how it connects to your life. Write about that.

View all responses

Trump’s Plus or Minus Problems (Archives)

Update: Nothing much has changed here except he made it to the White House and chaos reigns supreme! What about stupidity? It is front and center and we hear more of the same each and every day. I reiterate, a GENIUS he is not and he now has his finger on the nuclear button and that is more than scary!

Photo by Capotina Entretenimientos on Pexels.com

Trump is no Einstein and neither is he as smart as he claims to be. Here are some of his most ignorant statements which proves that a genius he is NOT! He can’t even complete a full and coherent sentence let alone get his facts straight.

“If Trump goes to prison, it will be his first complete sentence.” Unknown

Let’s look at some of his quotes which shines the “stupid” spotlight on him.

“You know what uranium is, right? It’s this thing called nuclear weapons, and other things, like lots of things are done with uranium, including bad things.”

This is supposed to have come from a coherent mind, let alone an intelligent one?

“….I think, I think it would be, I think it would be very very, I thing we’d have a very very solid, we would continue what we’re doing, and we have other things on our plate.”

Huh?!! This was his answer when asked about his plan for the next 4 years. August 27, 2020

“We had 15 coronavirus cases. Within a couple of days, it’s going to be down to close to zero. One day, it’s like a miracle. It will disappear.”

Oops! It didn’t.

“When somebody is the president of the United States, the authority is total. And that’s the way it’s got to be.”

He played that card to the hilt, didn’t he?

“I see the disinfectant that knocks it out in a minute, one minute. And is there a way we can do something like that by injection inside or almost a cleaning? As you can see, it gets in the lungs, it does a tremendous number on the lungs so it would be interesting to check that.”

NO WORDS! This was his idea of finding a cure for COVID.

“North Korean leader Kim Jong Un just stated that the Nuclear Button is on his desk at all times. Will someone from his depleted and food starved regime please inform him that I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger and more powerful one than his, and my Button works!”

His idea of foreign policy at its best. Who has got a bigger you know what!

Unfortunately, we can’t put it down to alcohol because he claims he doesn’t drink. The man must be drinking something to turn his skin orange and for all that nonsense to come out of his mouth. Orange Jesus claims to have a large you know what. His exact words were,

“And, he referred to my hands– ‘if they’re small, something else must be small.’ I guarantee you there’s no problem. I guarantee.”

Well, along came Stormy Daniels who shot down that theory. She described his significant body part as “smaller than average” but “not freakishly small.” So there you go, he loves to boast about his wealth, his intelligence, his “I can do one better than the other man,” and toots his “body parts” but the truth is something else. It is like his bloated sense of self-importance and of all things Trump. It is HUGE but in reality, a tinier version of himself.

The problem is he is on his way again and getting closer to having his finger on that BUTTON and in the hands of an unstable genius, it is a dangerous thing indeed. Who cares about size, just saying. There are bigger things to worry about where this man is concerned. And it is this folks.

“If I don’t get elected, it’s going to be a bloodbath…It’s going to be a bloodbath for the country,” if he loses the November election that is. He further added, “If this election isn’t won, I’m not sure that you’ll ever have another election in this country.”

The warning is loud and clear isn’t it?

The Dust Up!

Unfortunately, it’s more than a dust up. The headlines read: “US Bombs Iran.”

What?!!

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez had this to say:

“The President’s disastrous decision to bomb Iran without authorization is a grave violation of the Constitution and Congressional War Powers.

He has impulsively risked launching a war that may ensnare us for generations. It is absolutely and clearly grounds for impeachment.”

Sen. Bernie Sanders was just as quick to blast Trump’s decision to bomb Iran. He had this to say when the crowd at a rally in Oklahoma started chanting, “no more war.”

“I agree,” he said. “Not only is this news that I’ve just heard alarming…..but is so grossly unconstitutional. All of you know, that the only entity that can take this country to war is the U.S. Congress. The president does not have the right.”

The U.N. Chief Secretary-General Antonio Guterres described the bombing of three nuclear sites in Iran as “dangerous escalation” on Saturday.

“I am gravely alarmed by the use of force by the United States against Iran today. This is a dangerous escalation in a region already on the edge – and a direct threat to international peace and security.

There is a growing risk that this conflict could rapidly get out of control – with catastrophic consequences for civilians, the region, and the world.”

Furthermore, he added:

There is no military solution.

The only path forward is diplomacy.

The only hope is peace.

World leaders have spoken out and strongly condemned the U.S. bombing. One particularly chilling message from Chilean President, Gabriel Boric stands out for its content.

He said, “Chile condemns this US attack. Having power does not authorise you to use it in violation of the rules that we as humanity have given ourselves. Even if you are the United States.”

What is Trump Jong Un saying? He is calling for the Iran regime to come to the negotiating table after obliterating the Iranian facilities in Fordow, Isfahan and Natanz and after threatening more strikes. He has called the US strikes a ‘spetacular military success.’

Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu had this to say:

“President Trump and I often say: ‘Peace through strength! First comes strength, then comes peace.’ And tonight, President Trump and the United States acted with a lot of strength.”

Right…….

Iran’s foreign minister, Seyed Abbas Araghchi had this to say: “The events this morning are outrageous and will have everlasting consequences. Each and every member of the UN must be alarmed over this extremely dangerous, lawless and criminal behavior.” He further added, “the US has committed a grave violation” as a member of the UN Security Council.

In the US, the bombing was met with mixed reaction along party lines. Republicans commended Trump while Democrats warned that America is being dragged into an “open-ended war.”

The schoolyard bully who is used to throwing temper tantrums has stepped into the big leagues. There will be consequences and it will come in one form or another, it is just a matter of time.

Iran State TV: Every American citizen or military in the region is now a target.

Chilling? It is.

The man who claimed that America had fought “no wars” during his first presidency is right smack dap in the middle of one.

This time, it’s Trump’s war.

Martin Luther King

It was this memorable line from his, “I Have A Dream,” speech that caught my attention and pushed me towards a life of going up against injustice of any kind.

“I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”

It was delivered during the March on Washington in 1963 but that speech which called for an end to segregation and discrimination will reach a young girl many years later and it would stop me in my treks as I listened to that voice, a forceful and rhythmic one which came droning out of an open window. I didn’t know what it meant at the time but I knew that it was important whatever it was.

I was far removed from a world of injustice. My world revolved around the fantasy world I had created in my safe childhood space but I would learn as I delved into books that the world was a cruel place and that even children were not “free” from the violence and injustices that segregation and discrimination brought about.

Martin Luther King was a civil rights activist but more than that he was a man of courage. It took courage to stand up against injustice and it still is. People have come a long ways from “Whites Only” places BUT there is still much to be done as we are seeing with the current administration.

“Let freedom ring,” was repeated throughout the speech and the last lines, “Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!” concluded the speech. However, no matter how hopeful it was, discrimination as we all know is not a thing of the past. It is alive and doing well.

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” MLK

He wasn’t a tall man but he came out as a giant using just his voice as a powerful tool and his stance of non-violence to get his message across. A one of a kind as far as historical figures go and therefore, my favorite historical figure.

Daily writing prompt

Who is your favorite historical figure?

View all responses