I don't ever answer my phone for calls from an unknown number, so I never participate in political polls. But today, they decided to get creative and sent a text message inviting me to give my opinions via a text survey. This seemed like a fun enough distraction, so I said ok.
Here is the part that floored me the most:
This one by Federal Police. (From various sources)
Dylan Shakespeare Robinson (22) of Brainerd, MN, and was apparently captured on CCTV film inside the precinct building. He’s being charged with arson, and a second count of aiding and abetting arson, which can apparently carry a penalty of twenty five years in prison.
Bernie Sanders inoculated several generations with the idea that the US should step up and act like a democracy.
We assumed we could win if we just worked hard enough. How wrong we were, and how transparent and disappointing his transition (again) away from his candidacy to his old-time used-to-be.
Much of what was alive during that campaign is now alive in the protests.
The current administration and cronies are having a very hard time controlling the narrative, so far. The typical divide and conquer strategy is not working. Certainly we are united across race, across gender and across class to a great extent.
So, how will they divide us? Can they take control of the narrative?
‘Race Is a Social Construct, Scientists Argue’, Megan Gannon, 04 February 2016, livescience.com
“More than 100 years ago, American sociologist W.E.B. Du Bois was concerned that race was being used as a biological explanation for what he understood to be social and cultural differences between different populations of people. He spoke out against the idea of “white” and “black” as discrete groups, claiming that these distinctions ignored the scope of human diversity.
Of course one possible answer to the title of this essay is, "both." Nevertheless I submit that this question is extremely important. A recent superb essay on this board focused on how to talk with lesser-evil voting folks, and cited the infamous Chuck Shumer line about picking up suburban moderate Republicans while losing traditional lunch pail Democrats.
Bio Hazard Coloring Page
It's symbolic of the U.S. today. Poor African countries are alarmed at the deterioration of human rights in the United States.
