This just in from our St. Paul bureau: RepubliKKKans is WEERD
Gov. Tim Walz KNOWS....
Every decent man is ashamed of the government he lives under.
H. L. Mencken
Have you ever wondered what it is with RepubliKKKans that makes them so f*****g off-the-charts weird? Why do so many otherwise ordinary, lucid people lose their freakin’ minds when they run for office as a Republican?
Is it the mandatory lobotomy? The Thorazine in their coffee? Or the requisite trip to Mecca Mar-a-lago with lipstick and kneepads? Or maybe the party requirement that they genuflect upon Donald Trump’s countenance as if he were the Second Coming of Joseph McCarthy Jesus Christ?
Whatever the case, most Republicans are certified dipsticks with the morals of Joe Isuzu (Google it, kids). They want whatever their master demands, and they have no fundamental ideas of their own…save for the burning desire to deny Democrats anything even faintly redolent of victory.
They also have an astonishing ability to fret over things that, at least in the overall scheme of things, don’t matter much. Remember the pearl-clutching, weeping, and gnashing of teeth over Critical Race Theory (CRT)? How much do you hear about that now? Did Republicans and their Christofascist subculture realize that the outrage over CRT was destined to be short-lived once people realized it wasn’t taught at the secondary- or primary-school level? Or did they recognize that no one knew what CRT is and that it’s taught primarily in law schools?
And what about Moms 4 Liberty? Remember how they had become such a potent force for censorship and unhinged religious bigotry in such a short time? One of their founders was discovered to have been part of a menage-a-trois (and that she had greatly enjoyed the lesbian part of it). Oh, and her husband was then arrested and accused of rape.
Christofascist Republican family values, don’tchaknow??
Then, another prominent member was arrested for shoplifting. Suddenly, people began to see that Moms 4 Liberty was no more or less holy and righteous than any other cabal of Christofascists. They were just a self-righteous collection of holier-than-thou hypocrites out to attract attention and turn public schools into extensions of Christian churches.
And, yes, these folks are all Trumpers, and if, for some reason, you need to be reminded that Trump supporters are, in the aggregate, profoundly awful and immoral people…well, here’s your sign:
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, who’s a compassionate and decent guy, thinks he knows why Republicans are so…well, weird:
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz was on CNN…where host John Berman asked him about a new CNN poll showing Joe Biden with a low approval rating — 37 percent this time, largely because people are worried about an economy that according to economic indicators is doing pretty well, but which has many worried anyway.
Berman asked Walz, who recently became chair of the Democratic Governors Association, whether he thought Biden’s low poll numbers would “be a drag” on Democratic candidates for governor next year, but Walz rejected the premise that Biden or Democrats need to worry too much about the polls a year out, noting that Biden’s numbers have more to do with general dissatisfaction with Washington and dysfunction, even though the source of that is Republicans.
Democratic governors, Walz said, have been “enacting Joe Biden’s agenda across the country” and getting far higher approval rates than Republicans. As for the top of the ticket, Walz said,
“It's gonna be a binary choice next year. It's gonna be either the guy who is in court today, or one of the folks who were weirdly on that [Republican debate] stage last night, versus a guy who is delivering. So I don’t worry that much about it. […]
“What matters is, are you affecting positively the people across the country, so I think by the time we get to next November, they’ll know what that choice is.”
Democratic Governors are trying to get things done for the people of their states. At the same time, it appears that Republicans are actively trying to do as little as possible, even turning down federal money when the programs that money would pay for would benefit their state.
When he was Governor of Floriduh, Republican Rick Scott once refused federal money that would’ve almost wholly paid for high-speed rail in the Sunshine State. Scott was one of three Republican Governors who refused those funds. Though he claimed he didn’t want Floriduh taxpayers left holding the bag, the political reality was that he didn’t want to hand Barack Obama a victory of ANY sort.
Yeah, Republicans hated The Black Guy in the White House © just that much. Instead of doing something that would’ve helped to alleviate congestion along the I-4 corridor- something that would’ve benefited the people of Floriduh- Gov. Scott refused to play along.
For Republicans, sometimes political games are more important than doing their damned job.
Then Berman asked Walz about a comment he’d made in a recent interview with Politico, where he talked about the excellent crop of current Democratic governors and the real good for people that they’ve been able to achieve in states with Democratic trifectas. In that interview, Walz said the choices between Democrats and Republicans are pretty clear:
“When we’re running against the generic Republican, our races are always really close, but there’s no such thing [as a generic Republican]. These guys are weird. Once they start running, their weirdness shows up, and especially with the nominee on the other side.”
Asked to expand on that, Walz agreed vigorously with himself:
Walz: I'll stand by that. Well look, just the strange things they become obsessed with, demonizing our children, becoming obsessed with people's personal lives in their bedrooms, restricting freedoms.
I'm surrounded by states who are spending their time figuring out how to ban Charlotte's Web in their schools, while we're banishing hunger from ours with free breakfast and lunch. That’s what the public’s looking for.
Despite H. L. Mencken’s words, decent men don’t have to be ashamed of the government they live under. In Minnesota, Gov. Walz has, with the help of a Democratic legislature, passed some fairly progressive legislation. He’s issued executive orders making it clear that Minnesota will be a safe haven for the transgender community and that medical facilities receiving state funding will provide the care transgender people need.
The North Star State also has one of the most robust safety nets in the country. The sad thing is that Minnesota stands out in this regard when it should be the baseline. One of government’s primary responsibilities is caring for those it governs, something Gov. Walz takes seriously.
I grew up in Minnesota, and though I now live in Oregon, I’m proud of what my home state has become. It’s everything red states like Texas aren’t. It’s a state where caring and compassion are prioritized, and when I’m back there, it’s beautiful to see that in action. If you go across the Mississippi River into Wisconsin, you can see what years of Republican misrule have done to a state that used to be in pretty good shape.
Then again, Wisconsin voters brought the lunacy and misrule upon themselves.
This country could learn a thing or six from Minnesota. Meanwhile, red states have chosen, in Walz’s words, to focus on
the strange things they become obsessed with, demonizing our children, becoming obsessed with people's personal lives in their bedrooms, restricting freedoms.
The sad thing is that the things Republicans have chosen to focus on and obsess about are far more expensive. For a party seeming focused on fiscal responsibility, they’ve allowed their culture war obsession to distract them and take their eyes off the ball.
They’ve become laser-focused on gratuitous cruelty and causing pain and suffering wherever and whenever possible, which is difficult to fathom from a party that leans so much on its Christian roots. They hate everyone unfortunate enough not to be White Conservative Christian Cisgender Heterosexuals.
Single mothers, disabled veterans, Brown people, the unemployed, yadayadayada…they’re all useless and a drag on society as far as the GOP is concerned. Why should good, God-fearing, White Conservative Christian Cisgender Heterosexuals pay the freight for those who can’t (and, in their minds, won’t) do their part?
Walz went on, adding that Republicans just can’t seem to help themselves when it comes to “issues” that play well on Fox News, but that leave most people wondering what the hell they’re so mad about: “They will weirdly obsess with everything to be mean, and cruel, and small in their ideas.”
For instance, among many other GOP obsessions, there’s that nonsense about allowing “abortion up until the moment of birth,” which is demonstrably not real. It just doesn’t happen. Nor is anyone telling children to hate themselves for being white, trying to turn anyone gay, handing out porn in schools, or plotting to install a Marxist dictatorship by regulating kitchen appliances.
Walz closed by bringing it back to Biden, noting again that on issues like protecting abortion rights, helping the middle class, and fighting climate change, Democratic governors are getting it done, and Joe Biden’s legislative successes like the Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act are providing the federal help needed to do that.
“Those are things people want to hear about, not demonizing some child because of who they are, and at the end of the day, Americans are better than that.”
In the main, Gov. Walz is correct. Most Americans ARE better than that, though there is a segment of the electorate (unrepentant, blindered Trumpers) who hate that there are those who “get something for nothing” when they’re busting their humps every day.
‘Course, if their disability, SSI, or VA checks are late, you can bet there’s going to be HELL TO PAY, yeah??
YOUDAMNBETCHA….
Most Americans support abortion rights. They want to see children fed, clothed, and educated. They like to see those in need get a hand up. They hope something will be done about climate change so their children and grandchildren will have a healthy planet to live on. And they dream of their children and grandchildren having a better tomorrow.
In short, most Americans look at the glass that is America and see it as half-full. Trump supporters see a broken glass and are convinced that only Orange Jesus can repair it. Those folks have always been among us, but that doesn’t mean they should get to call the shots. We can ensure they remain a minority- a loud, disgruntled one, to be certain, but a minority nonetheless.
That means we have to vote like our rights depend on it…because they almost certainly will.
Unless, of course, you want to take a chance that, come 1.20.25, we might be living under a dictatorship. That’s a chance I’m not willing to take.
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