Tag Archives: fascism

Are You A Rational Republican…?

elephant

Are you a rational Republican who gets annoyed at all the invective and satire and fiery rage directed at your party simply because of the actions and policies of an enormous majority of your fellows?

Stop. Just stop. Stop being defensive and butt-hurt. More importantly, stop being a Republican.

I know, I know. You’ve always been a Republican. You believe in fiscal responsibility and blah blah blah. Your friends are Republicans.Your daddy and mommy were Republicans. Your great grandpappy and grandmaw were Republicans. Hell, Abraham Lincoln was a Republican.

Republican. You keep using that word, I don’t think it means what you think it means. Not any more.

The Republican party is not the party of Lincoln. Not any more. And if you don’t support the actions of this monstrous Republican president, or the goose-stepping boot-licking quislings that make up the entirety of the existing Republican power structure (as has been the case for many years), or the unfettered ignorance and bigotry of the overwhelming Republican base, then maybe it’s not the party of you any more either.

You identify as Republican because you think being Republican means a lot of things that it probably actually does not any more, if it ever really did. That’s a lie you’re telling yourself. Stop it. Why lie to yourself and cast your lot with horrible people who are very actively destroying everything good and noble and beautiful about our country? Why do that to yourself? Why do that to the rest of us?

Stop. You don’t have to be a Republican. You don’t have to be anything but an American. Party loyalty can be a poison. Don’t be a part of a big ignorant herd, giving loyalty and power to those who do not deserve it. Just stop.

At the very least, you won’t have to keep getting your feelings hurt by people speaking truth to fascism.

NOTE: This goes for Democrats too. The Democratic party isn’t the party of FDR any more either, not by a long goddamned shot, though at least it’s not a burning church of hatred, ignorance, and authoritarianism. But blind, uncritical loyalty to them can be just as poisonous and unproductive.

White Shirt Is The New Black Shirt

So the cops have started brutalizing the Wall Street protesters again today. I hope this pisses you off as much as it does me. If it doesn’t, there’s something fucking wrong with you.

Little Brother

A book came out earlier this year that needs to find its way into every house, every library, and especially every young reader’s hands, though even older folks should read it because it’s one of those works which speaks to its time in very important ways.

The book is Little Brother by Cory Doctorow. It’s about what happens when some tech-savvy teenagers are victimized by the national security cult running the USA these days, and the kids’ resulting stand against that cult and the government itself. It’s bracing, intelligent, important stuff, and it reads like a high-quality pulp page-turner.

Little Brother is widely available in bookstores, and of course on Amazon. But Cory has also made it available for free:

http://craphound.com/littlebrother/Cory_Doctorow_-_Little_Brother.pdf

Check it out. Read a few chapters, and if you like what you read, grab a paid for copy for yourself or some kid you know or a library nearby.