Political correctness has been replaced by tongues of hatred

Dana, a close friend of my daughter dating to their high school years and their parents became friends of our family, a friendship lasting over 30 years. They had a horrific experience last year.  Dana's mother Sally passed away, and last July they held a zoom memorial service because their synagogue was closed due to COVID-19. This year, another daughter of mine, age 53, passed away and we also opted for a zoom celebration of life hosted by my church pastor. Ours worked beautifully and the recording of the service is a treasure.  Sally's zoom service was hacked by Nazis and swastikas appeared on their screen.  That was just one of the horrors committed by those who felt the time was right to tout their hatred more openly. The numbers of reported antisemitic crimes have tripled since 2018 in Colorado.  Dana's recounting of the incident was featured on television and is available on You Tube. https://youtu.be/59jErmUmI4w      What makes such hate groups feel they have gotten permission to increase their public activities?

Whatever happened to political correctness? The sad state of our nation is that civility, any veneer of supporting a common good, has "gone with the wind". Too often it has been replaced by tongues of hatred and followed by some committing crimes. Even those who do not fancy themselves as hate group fellow travelers are contributing to the atmosphere that encourages them to be more public. Any attempt to castigate some for the lightest tinge of comments defending racial or religious bias is met with counter-accusations from the right of "cancel culture" and anger that "libtards" are trying to do it to them. The definition of culture they feel is under attack has been left to the imagination of others. Some on the left reacted in kind in countering what they see as racial suppression. The country has been divided as speech gloves have been taken off and anger is raw and little hindered. It is clear there is a revolt against "political correctness", once a general agreement among most Americans not to be overtly racist and anti-semitic, to keep noncorrect jokes and slurs hushed, or not to appear publicly antagonistic toward "others" that did not mirror their own ethnic, racial, or religious group. In right-wing demonstrations from Charlottesville to the US Capitol nazi and nazi derived symbols and antisemitic hate slogans are chanted or on display in banners and shirt patches among the other marchers. They and their hate-mongering ilk have always been around, but not so brazenly and publicly in many years as they are now. In the past four years, more have crawled out from under the shadows of rocks to openly flaunt their hate in the light of day. Why?

While verbal and social media barbs are thrown by both sides, the end of more recent societal ethics of political correctness can be traced to the beginning of the Trump era. Donald Trump's words had consequences. The lid of political politeness and respectful speech became something of the past as Trump ripped off the scab of a festering white resentment to the rise of the political power of minorities. Early in the Donald Trump presidential campaign, the slogan that caught fire was Make America Great Again. Reporters had no luck in getting Trump supporters to put into words on camera to which era did they want the US to return that they considered good "again". Trump's oratorical and media skill set was his ability to tap into their gut feelings and to channel them into support of public policy issues which also contributed to his own political power. No longer carried in his favored media were inconvenient facts or embarrassing videos. The media on the left responded by giving focus to what they saw as the truth and reality. Those who tuned in solely to Trump's preferred media still get a view of the world filtered to create a reality that is not shared by viewers and readers of non-Trump media. Recent polls revealed that over half of Republicans believe the election was stolen and Joe Biden was not elected legitimately. At rallies, Trump's devoted audiences cheered racist dog whistle oratory as they jeered at those they disdained. The 1/6 rioters were just tourists viewers were told and they were shown carefully edited videos that neglected to show the violence, vandalism, and combat with police that ended with some dead and 140 injured, and nearly 500 arrested and charged for their alleged criminal behavior. Even with his tweet and facebook wings clipped, Trump's threats to take revenge on non-loyalists get conveyed through other means. Trumpism is now more than just a cult of one person. It is a movement that controls the GOP and uses the fear of being primaried to keep discipline among officeholders and candidates.

Now, in any case, political correctness appears to be no longer part of the culture many assert is being canceled. What this end of political correctness means could also be deduced from which public policy initiatives those decrying political politeness supported that resembled the era before civil rights legislation and the increase in immigration from south of our border. Recent examples are cries of protest against banning Dr. Suess or the renewal of barriers to voting by demographic groups who are viewed as their political opposition. These issues have occupied the Trump media for some time. No government banned any of his books, but the publisher ceased printing several of them at the request of the Suess heirs who did not want Dr. Suess' reputation to reflect racism in a few of his illustrations and words he used in less sensitive times. The other is the wave of voter suppression legislation aimed at making it harder for students, and minorities with lower income and education levels and/or access to transportation to vote. A further objection to the exposure of the participation of neo-Nazis and white nationalist groups in the January 6 riots is also part of the same syndrome. Most of the GOP Senate closed ranks to scuttle further exposure of GOP culpability by voting against an independent commission just before Memorial Day designed by bi-partisan legislators to discover and expose to the public what happened on January 6. Sweeping that embarrassment under the rug will not work and Democrats via hearings and campaign advertisements will make sure voters understand the January 6 rioters were no tourists. Democrats branding Trumpist GOP candidates as anti-democracy will be front and center in the 2022 election campaigns. Exhibits one and two will be videos of January 6 violent rioters carrying Trump banners and airing tactics by GOP Trumpists in state legislatures to suppress certain demographics' ability to vote conveniently and to get their votes counted fairly.

Donald Trump's unique contribution to the end of political correctness was to light a fire under the smoldering sores of divisiveness, resentment of an Obama presidency, and disrespect and hatred of others not like them. . This resulted in more openly expressing intolerance of "others, couched in social media memes and postings, and advocacy of certain public policy positions.. His contribution to racial and religious divide was flagrant, from Charlottesville's new-Nazi parades to Michigan statehouse to the US Capitol, calling white nationalist militias patriots or containing "some good people", his thinly disguised racism tagging one racial group as he kicked off his 2016 campaign with the broad brush of "rapists" and "murderers" or banning another group from entering the US solely because of their religion. Others took the end of political correctness to mean it was a permission slip to be rude and inconsiderate to others or to ignore Covid masking rules and vaccinations as some liberal scam cooked up to control them, to battering innocent Asians on the streets, and to rising antisemitism. That is the sad state of our nation today.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/13/video/extremist-signs-symbols-capitol-riot.html

Why Attacking ‘Cancel Culture’ And ‘Woke’ People Is Becoming The GOP’s New Political Strategy | FiveThirtyEight

A Disturbing Number of Republicans Still Believe All the Lies Donald Trump Tells Them | Vanity Fair

Over half of Republicans believe Donald Trump is the actual President of the United States | Ipsos

Poll: Quarter of Americans surveyed say Trump is 'true president' (usatoday.com)

https://www.adl.org/2017-impact-report/racists-converge-on-charlottesville

Save your Confederate money, boys, the South is rising with cancel culture and voter suppression

 I am old enough to remember the revival in movie theaters of, Gone the Wind. It inspired my 10-year-old playmates to re-enact the glory of the lost cause of the South in the civil war and we chose up sides of either North or South. (I went North because I liked winners more than losers and Abraham Lincoln was my patriotic hero) Those who cheered the south had one favorite battle cry: "Save your Confederate money, boys, the South will rise again". That was in the latter 1940s. I lived in the most southern part of a non-southern state, eastern Oklahoma, and, in a very segregated city of Muskogee,.The Confederacy is still trying to rise again in 2021, though it seems it has never stopped trying.

Politically the GOP has morphed into a latter-day Confederacy party with their Jim Crow voter suppression attempts, the reason they say is widespread voter fraud. The left calls that alleged fraud is a lie. In 2021, watching the antics at CPAC and another, more radical group, what looks like what is happening is that the Confederacy is still trying to rise, with their focus holding together the white crowd in an obvious attempt to keep demographic changes from overcoming them. Platitudes like "protecting vote security" are what they may be saying, but their party actions and proposals are doing something else. Complaining the left is canceling their culture begs the question of "what is their culture?"Top of their oratorical list was the demonstrably false claim that Trump won but he was kept from getting sworn in because of widespread fraud. This is why the left calls this "The Big Lie".This persistent lie is still being touted by Trump and the GOP at CPAC. They keep on lying in spite of 60 judges tossing Trump lawsuit attorneys and their proofless claims out the door in November and December. Disputing Trump, Barr says no widespread election fraud (apnews.com) In December, Trump's attorney general Bill Barr had testified there was no widespread fraud. On March 2, FBI Director Wray, testifying before a House committee, also confirmed his support of Barr's findings.

The 5 biggest takeaways from FBI Director Christopher Wray's testimony about the Capitol insurrection | Business Insider India

.To fix what "aint broke", the GOP has launched a campaign for state legislatures they control to tighten and make more difficult access to the ballot in a series of laws conveniently aimed at undermining African-American voting habits. GOP-dominated legislatures have proposed or enacted measures to suppress the minority vote in the very states where that demographic helped Biden win. Likewise, in Hispanic-populated states like Arizona, not only is their access to voting being suppressed by proposed election laws, their GOP legislature is trying to remove the popular vote by their citizens in presidential elections, letting the state legislature choose their presidential electors.

If the only way the GOP thinks it can win is to discourage people from voting, especially those they think will vote for their opponents, there is something wrong with their message. This kind of attitude from the GOP is an admission of their failure to attract enough voters to their cause. In Colorado since 2018 over 40 thousand registered as Republicans changed their affiliation to independent or Democrat. 4600 alone left the GOP after January 6.

Update 4/6/21:: In protest to Georgia's just passed voter suppression legislation, the MLB has moved the All-Star game to Denver. Colorado's voter laws are considered the Gold Standard for voter participation and security. Colorado Vs. Georgia Voting Laws: What Are The Differences? | Colorado Public Radio (cpr.org)

I am not sure I am grasping the "cancel culture" thing. It was a big deal at CPAC...but could it be that those who are feeling canceled would like to be politically incorrect? Or is this just right-wing ideological silliness? I fear the culture the left they accuse of canceling is the Confederacy...or at least a culture that permits and exhorts racist remarks and denigrates people of color. Is that it? The Washington Post asked the right question: What exactly is your culture? FYI: the left did not cancel Dr Suess books; the Dr. Suess owners of the publishing rights did:"Dr. Seuss Enterprises celebrated by announcing that it will no longer publish six of his books because they contain racist and insensitive imagery. Dr. Seuss -- Theodor Seuss Geisel -- wrote more than 60 books, but some of them were under other pseudonyms.
The six books that the organization decided to stop selling aren't any of the biggies like "Green Eggs and Ham" or "The Cat in the Hat," but you may know them:

"And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street"
"If I Ran the Zoo"
"McElligot's Pool"
"On Beyond Zebra!"
"Scrambled Eggs Super!"
"The Cat's Quizzer"

A lot of the problematic content has to do with harmful stereotypes, such as Asians portrayed in conical hats and carrying chopsticks, or barefoot Black men in grass skirts."  MORE VACCINE NEWS - FELICIAMUFTIC@GMAIL.COM - GMAIL (GOOGLE.COM)


WASHINGTONPOST.COM

Analysis | If curtailing racist imagery in Dr. Seuss is ‘cancel culture,’ what, exactly, is your culture?

Supreme Court Seems Ready to Sustain Arizona Voting Limits - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

.GOP bill would override will of Arizona voters, elections boss Hobbs says (ktar.com)

Voting Laws Roundup: February 2021 | Brennan Center for Justice

Trump’s CPAC 2021 speech was heavy on lies about the election - Vox

CPAC is promoting Donald Trump’s big lie of election fraud | The Independent

 Colorado’s Trump-appointed U.S. Attorney was alarmed by falsehoods about Denver-based Dominion Voting Systems (coloradosun.com)

Lawyers Who Pushed Trump's Big Lie Face Immediate Bar Suspension (bipartisanreport.com)

Pro-Trump Attorney Lin Wood Could Lose License As Georgia Bar Asks For Mental Health Evaluation (forbes.com)

Trump-Backing Lawyer May Face Discipline in Election Case - Bloomberg

Most Republicans say the election was stolen — especially the ones who hate Democrats and don’t mind White nationalists - The Washington Post

65% of GOP believe the big lie, per an AP poll: Poll finds 65% of Republicans say they don’t believe Biden’s election was legitimate - MarketWatch

Voter Fraud Map: Election Fraud Database | The Heritage Foundation

Fact check: What's true about 2020 election, vote counts, certification (usatoday.com)

https://www.learningforjustice.org/magazine/its-time-to-talk-about-dr-seuss This posting resulted in a very interesting exchange on a Facebook site: with a dialogue with X...who presented the long history of the Republlican party's support of civil rights.   Me: Thanks for your reminder. of the Republican party history. From the 1860s to even the 1960s, I would have been a Republican. Since the passage of the civil rights act, in 1964 and the voting rights act of 1965, the political parties traded places on human and civil rights. With the Trump takeover of the GOP, the GOP does not even resemble the GOP of my parents who were great supporters of Ronald Reagan. In fact, the Trump GOP party more resembles the Dixiecrats on civil rights. the party of George Wallace, and. on fiscal issues and democracy, anarchy, and autocracy. While I love the lessons of history, I live in 2021. Like  ·  Reply  · 1h  ·  Edited Replies X:  first, I never have and I never will buy the "magic fairy dust" theory that somehow the Democrat and Republican parties magically changed positions at some point in time. But let's do a little thought experiment. Let's accept your premise that the Democrats only had horrible policies prior to 1960. Now let's apply that to your Doctor Seuss post that kicked off this conversation. Dr. Seuss was a great man, who benefited Society. He taught children, and adults, how not to discriminate. He was a man who spent his life publishing positive, life-affirming stories with fantastic underlying messages. Some decided that some of his images should not be viewed by children. As a result six books have been canceled. Using that as the basis, shouldn't the Democrat Party change their name? I'm a big believer in differing viewpoints. I believe very strongly that there should be two parties. But shouldn't the name "Democrat" be relegated to the Dustbin of History, due to its association with slavery, Jim Crow, and the KKK? Even today's Democrat governor of Virginia has a college picture of him either in blackface or a KKK robe. He can't remember which. I guarantee you that if I ever did anything that horrific, I would remember. Felicia Muftic  The sensitivities of the publishers of Seuss books are to be applauded, but the main body survives.  One of my favorite Seuss books was one of his earliest.. which has a strange relevance to today's GOP dilemma: I even remember the punch line: "I meant what I said and I said what I meant: an elephant is faithful 100 percent" Pledging allegiance to a party is a very stubborn habit, and I cannot abide the current GOP, but there is still a big enough tent in the Democratic party for me to have a place. And you? 1 Like  ·  Reply  · 50m  ·  Edited X replies: Felicia Muftic , we agree on so many things. Can we agree that the Democrats should update the name of their party? Like  ·  Reply  · 47m Felicia Muftic No on Democrats and Trump has signaled he is not forming a third party My preferred, Biden, won and represents the majority. It is also true with the Colorado Democrats. So far as culture is concerned, the Democrats fit mine OK. Back to the culture cancel thing...We do agree on much. The size of the tent makes it worth my time. Is there room for you in the current GOP? Back to the question: what is your culture? The basic problem is that the two-party system is so entrenched by gerrymandering and voting structures that primaries reign supreme and control the candidates, third parties have no chance to succeed. Belonging to a party is a matter of relativity, not absolutes. Here is the problem.The changes must take place within the parties...but instead of fighting for the changes, people are more likely to become independents. When they do that, they lose their right to vote in primaries and have any say in their party's direction. .