We are being told to fear things that are not dangerous or threatening, while Tweety and the GOP do and support actions that WILL create a less secure country, e.g., saying Sanctuary Cities are dangerous when the opposite is true!
GASLIGHTING! Even if all politicians gaslight America, the President should not be leading in that effort! It does not unite the country for constructive enterprise.
I agree, Tweety says things in a way that require interpretation. Too bad, but if he cannot speak well, maybe he should not be President?
In America today, neither progressive/liberal or conservative can speak outside their respective "tribal" beliefs. To do so is to be attacked and immediately put in your place.
"We’re staying silent out of fear"
By Charles Lane October 15, 2018 at 6:51 PM
"As hard as it is to resist writing about the fact that on Tuesday the president of the United States called the adult film actress to whom he paid hush money “Horseface,” I want to focus on a different aspect of this presidency that we’re seeing play out right now.
As the apparent murder of Saudi journalist and Post contributor Jamal Khashoggi complicates our relations with Saudi Arabia, we have to ask what the implications are of having a fully transactional presidency, one not just built on “deals” but where policy is determined by what is financially beneficial to the president.
We should begin by reminding ourselves that as awful as Khashoggi’s apparent murder is, it’s only the latest in a long list of Saudi abuses that administrations both Democratic and Republican have chosen to overlook for decades."
Transactional Presidency . . . immoral, unethical, making deals that will taint America's legacy in this world.
"Most ordinary people found it unbearable to live under communism in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. The reasons varied: shortages of consumer goods, incessant propaganda, restrictions on travel.
Nothing was more psychologically exhausting than the constant pressure to watch every word one said, and to pretend to believe things one did not, for fear of negative repercussions. Dissidents called this “double morality” or “double consciousness.” It drove people crazy. Actually, it drove some to suicide.
Only among trusted family and friends was it possible to speak one’s mind, yet even that was not guaranteed. Of all aspects of totalitarian life, citizens of the former Eastern Bloc say, this is the hardest to explain to those who grew up in the democratic West."
This kind of bullying tribalism on both sides is scary, but the Gov "owns" us, so it is Tweety that holds the hammer over our heads, and the GOP.
"Under communism, members of the party had to watch their words and deeds as much or more than other citizens did.
In the United States today, right- and left-wing tribes — Progressive Activists and Devoted Conservatives, as the More in Common report designates them — enforce “core beliefs” within their own ranks. A quarter to a third of Americans feel pressure to “think a certain way” about controversial issues even among people like themselves, according to the report.
Among progressives, more men than women felt pressure to conform; among conservatives, more women than men did."
GASLIGHTING! GASLIGHTING! GASLIGHTING! GASLIGHTING!
"For the time being, the president of the United States is openly sowing fear and anger for political gain in the 2018 midterm elections, and his Democratic Party opponents seem increasingly tempted to respond in kind. Hope for more decent and, indeed, freer politics lies in the possibility that members of the Exhausted Majority will wake up and raise their voices."
We have been in bad places in America before. We can get past this . . . .GASLIGHTING! . . . I hope!
