No Them, Only US

This morning, I started to watch the hearing on Biden's document case and stopped. I realize it's not good for my health (more "drama obscuring reality").

(Walt Kelly’s funny animal comic strip Pogo provided a surprising, but effective, setting for his incisive political satire. During the War of 1812, the United States Navy defeated the British Navy in the Battle of Lake Erie. Master Commandant Oliver Perry wrote to Major General William Henry Harrison, “We have met the enemy and they are ours.” Kelly’s parody of this famous battle report perfectly summarizes mankind’s tendency to create our own problems. In this case, we have only ourselves to blame for the pollution and destruction of our environment.
Kelly coined the phrase for an anti-pollution Earth Day poster in 1970 and used it again in a special comic strip created for Earth Day 1971. The saying caught the collective imagination of the public and is still used today.)

We are humans. Humans have always had an "Us vs Them" mentality. Last century it was World Wars followed by the Cold War. At the end of the 80's into the early 90's the enemy (the Them), when the Cold War was ending, it started to become "US". In order to have a "them" it became a national enemy vs an alien one.

Then 9/11 came and gave the gift of an alien enemy, including the propaganda of the Cold War as it shifted to the propaganda against Iraq/Muslims. Many of us knew that was a false claim. History proved us correct. It lead to our longest war involving American soldiers, EVER. As administrations changed, the rhetoric changed and we tried to deescalate and exit. But the love of an enemy and the capitalistic realities of war made that difficult. Plus, we'd made promises to our allies in the invaded middle east nations. With the election of Obama, I saw the rise in overt racism slowly tick UP. I saw people refer to Democrats as Socialists (not quite Soviets or dictatorships, but a charged rhyme or echo). The call for a viable third party had been ringing for sometime, and so far hasn't been answered. Government started to break down. The Republicans denied hearing Obama's Supreme Court Judge nominations?!!

In 2016 with the election of tRump we saw more propaganda rise in effective ways and glimmers of authoritarian rhetoric began. Any one who had ever lived (lives) in NYC knew that tRump as a con artist, narcissist, and racist/antisemitic/mysogynist. We foolishly thought his run was a joke, and believed he did too, he was in it for the money and celebrity. But he won. Part of the reason he won the immigrant vote was because he used the words "elite" and "socialists". New citizens fleeing authoritarian regimes didn't want any leadership that skewed toward "authoritarian". Afterwards, the US vs Them became Democrats vs Republicans. tRump stacked three republican and god-fearing (tRump) judges in the Supreme Court. Chaos reigned and dysfunction crippled our government. His rhetoric became authoritarian and he befriend autocrats and dictators. He vilified and lied about those who went against him. He tyrannically demanded his party do so in kind.

Then to top it all off, he LOST in 2020 and wouldn't concede. He directed an extreme and indoctrinated element of the Republican party to storm the Capitol and try to stop the peaceful transition of power with the violent extremists with an insurrection.

In office, Biden ended the longest war in American History (it took him 20 years , as Senator, VP and finally President). tRump had already created a propaganda press and media the follows him and doesn't question a word of what he or his minions say. He had created a following, or some say cult ~ because they swallow his soundbites whole ~ that will do his bidden, not because they respect him, rather they fear him. The Supreme Court over turned Roe v Wade, a campaign promise of tRumps in 2016! This sounds like an authoritarian ruler. He has now undone our checks and balances, but using the privileged means of delaying and appealing trials. Even the Supreme court is bowing down to him, so that he may be elected before he is tried. His is now the presumptive Republican nominee.

Democrats are scrambling to win over Hailey's voters, plus Independents and Republicans who see that this is no longer their party or dare I say country. The Great American Experiment is teetering towards failing.

On a week-in-review program over the weekend, I heard someone say, "You can't change beliefs with fact." This was a rebuttal to the idea of comparing and contrasting the fact of who Biden and tRump are as leaders and men. False news = Propaganda. How to combat it? And if tRump is elected news organizations, press, schools, thinkers with authority or power will be punished or worse by tRump. He will become the "Tyrant" the Declaration of Independence worried ascending in politics.

tRump was won the war of media, technology and a fragmented society (some could argue world~ as ever nation will be effected by the Climate Crisis, borders, human migration and scarcity of resources [never evenly distributed, but hey, I don't want to sound like a social democrat -ha]). Biden must step up his communication skills and changing the narrative. To find a belief that we hold true (self-evident, undeniable) and we will all agree to as AMERICANS, the US citizenry. There should be no "Them", only US!

Incase you haven't read it in a while, click here!

https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration-transcript