Just in case we weren't clear about some Trump supporters

[thewayne]

"Welcome to the end of democracy. We are here to overthrow it completely. We didn't get all the way there on January 6, but we will endeavor to get rid of it."
-- Conservative activist Jack Posobiec, to cheering CPAC audience

"Amen!"
-- Steve Bannon, in response

Comments

[dewline]

Yep.

Saying it out loud, they are...

[richardf8]

The problem is that democrats pretend we aren't in the midst of a civil war and that republicans aren't enemy combatants. There are people running the country who are taking orders from Trump's shadow government.

I'm less angry with these people than I am with liberals who continue to be "shocked, I say, shocked!" that this is the agenda. Republicans are bullies. It's what they do. Liberals are like everyone who told you that if you ignore the bullies they will leave you alone, while you got your ass kicked every day after school.

These people should have all been packed off to Gitmo on 1/1/21. They weren't and this is where we are today.

[motodraconis]

For. Fucks. Sake.

[thewayne]

Yeah.  As another commenter said, 'saying the quiet part out loud.'

[acelightning73]

I call upon three American goddesses to guard and guide us during this complicatedly perilous time:

Lady Liberty, in whose name this nation was founded - known around the world as Saint Freedom, Goddess of Democracy, Mother of Exiles, Liberty enlightening the world. Lift your torch and enlighten us and teach us how to live in peace and neighborliness.

Lady Columbia - personification of the American Spirit the way Marianne is the personification of France and Brittania the spirit of Britain. Strong, healthy, corn-fed, full of youthful enthusiasm, amd ideas of progress and amity. Let us make progress in strengthening our nation and teaching progress to the world.

Lady Justice - even with your blindfold on, you can see how much injustice there is today! Use your sword and your scales to restore the balance for all.

Three American Goddesses - guide and guard us through to a greater future for the whole world. So Mote It Be!

[thewayne]

So mote it be.

[acelightning73]

I generally wind up shouting "SO mote it fucking BE!" at the end of the invocations.

And I consider Ruth Bader Ginsburg a saint of freedom, one of our beloved ancestors to invite to dinner at Samhain.

Now if thr noisy nuisance will just sit down, shut up, and pay his fines

[thewayne]

The Notorious RBG is definitely a patron saint and beloved ancestor of this country.

[acelightning73]

A few Samhains ago, I couldn't think of an idea for a costume. BUt when I pulled my hair back in a ponytail and slicked it down with gel, I looked vaguely like her. I bought a cheap black choir robe and some heavy lace to make myself a collar. One trick-or-treater, a girl who looked about 9 or 10, said, "Oh,you're RBG! Great!" I gave her an extra candy bar :-)

[thewayne]

That is AWESOME!  And well deserving of an add'l candy bar, especially at that age.  A Japanese friend of mine who has since gone beyond the veil, spent an entire year not shaving preparing for his Halloween costume.  He dug out his high school graduation robe, found a small gavel somewhere, and went to a party as Judge Alito. :)

[acelightning73]

I just wish she'd been able to hold on for another few years. We need her wisdom and eloquence. The only other wise people we seem to have are Dolly Parton and Willie Nelson.

I had a lot of fun making the lace collar. It looks almost Elizabethan, but it's only gathered enough to line up with the neck of the robe. RBG usually wore small round clip-on earrings, and I had an aunt who always wore such earrings, but I didn't inherit any of them. (I also have various scarves I can tie like a necktie, and I also own a standard men's tie in bright purple polyester.)

At least last Samhain I only got two or three teenage girls in sequined dresses pretending to be Taylor Swift or Katy Perry. And I always get some Catalinas (the sexy skeleton of Mexican Day of the Dead). And the babies in strollers dressed as bumblebees or ladybugs :-)

I have a really cool idea for next Halloween, but I don't know if I'm going to be able to get the components I need.

[thewayne]

We don't do anything for Halloween anymore.  When I lived in Phoenix, I had friends who threw awesome parties, but I think they've pretty much stopped that with our group moving apart and several passing away.  It's disappointing, but that's the way time works.

[acelightning73]

I just hand out candy by the front door, and I do private rituals around midnight. But I like to have an imaginative costume (not a Sexy Lady Cop dress from the costume shop)

[thewayne]

In Cloudcroft, we don't have door-to-door trick or treaters.  There are no sidewalks, and not a lot of streetlights.  The town has a main drag, Burro Street, with a boardwalk.  It's basically a tourist trap as it's a town of 800.  So the Burro Street Merchants give out candy.  Much safer that way.

[acelightning73]

This town has about 5,000 people, but they mostly live in small suburban houses on narrow or short streets. (Most of the houses were originally built as beach bungalows, but many of them got "winterized" - provided with a furnace and some blown-in insulation, and that's what this house is. And that's why it gets cold at night - there was inadequate insulation, and a family of raccoons ate the insulation that was inside the roof. But there are families with kids, and teenagers who want to go out wearing a Sexy Lady Cop costume. And it's fun for me to see the costume ideas, and the kids like it when an adult actually hands out the treats. And it gives me a chance to think of a costume for myself - although many times the "costume" has been something from my normal wardrobe, like the silver-metallic pants and the crown of battery-powered "fairy lights" in my purple hair.

[disneydream06]

WTF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Why are these people not in prison??????????
Hugs, Jon

[thewayne]

Technically, conspiracy is a crime.  But expressing political views is not.  It's a thin line to tread.

[disneydream06]

ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[moxie_man]

Yes, I very much fear for the future of our democracy. Too many people have drunk the "MAGA-ade".

[thewayne]

They were already there, they were just looking for a front man to rally behind and activate. Basically they just needed a reason to 'go live'.

[silveradept]

They have to go all the way to seizing power and preventing anyone else from doing the same, or eventually they'll find themselves sitting in a courtroom as a defendant as well.

I do not find it heartening how many of them get to say things like this, aloud, with cameras recording them, and there are still many people saying "oh, they don't actually mean that. They're not really serious about it."

[thewayne]

Yeah, that's the problem.  They are quite sincere.  But what is the line between exercising free speech and voicing revolution and conspiracy?

[silveradept]

There's no line there in speech, is when things turn to action that the response is both allowed and expected to be swift and decisive. I think all of the relevant statues essentially say "if we can prove you took some kind of action towards doing what you discussed, even if that action is agreeing to do what you've discussed, we can prosecute you," but I am not a lawyer. And with political speech, I'd bet the standards are higher than ordinary criminal enterprises about what counts as real action that can be prosecuted.

Well ...

[ysabetwordsmith]

Technically America was founded on the premise that you can overthrow a government if you don't like it.

Re: Well ...

[thewayne]

This is true.  Somehow I think if you broadly sampled people in every state, I don't think you'd find a majority of people supporting this guy.

Re: Well ...

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> Somehow I think if you broadly sampled people in every state, I don't think you'd find a majority of people supporting this guy.<<

Also true.

I've seen some snappy T-shirts about the importance of reading the Constitution. I don't buy them, because I believe that the people who typically make and wear them are diametrically opposed to my stances on most topics. Irritating.

Re: Well ...

[thewayne]

The Constitution 'readers' are like people who quote the Bible: they cherry-pick and interpret verses out of context, completely missing the overall drift.

Re: Well ...

[ysabetwordsmith]

Prevailingly true. They're the kind of people who go to church but then call the cops on Homeless Jesus. :/

Re: Well ...

[thewayne]

Yep.  I increasingly like Ghandi's paraphrased quote that western civilization would be a very good thing indeed.  Or John Lennon's that Jesus was okay but some of his disciples were a bit thick.