VNV Tuesday – Preaching to the Choir 12/5/17

December 5, 2017 DoReMI Editors' Choice, It Takes a Village 12

A Fourth of July celebration back in the day; we can still raise our voices today.

I’m not gonna lie…as I followed the unfolding of the Senate passage of the #GOPTaxScam last Friday night, I became so stressed, upset, and angry that I ended up throwing up in my kitchen sink.  I discovered a burning core of hatred within me which quite frankly frightened me.  As a result, I took the weekend off from politics, spent some time reflecting on whether hope was even possible, and re-centered myself by remembering my core values, which do not include hatred or violence.  What follows is the product of those efforts in tweet form.
First things first…it’s ok to be angry.

It’s not over yet.  Use your anger.  Recommitting to action helps.

Some names to remember; if one of these is your MoC, let them know (repeatedly) what you think.  Holds true for all MoC, of course, but these are key.

Some examples to follow:

Six thousand lobbyists are alleged to have helped on the #GOPTaxScam while Dem senators were shut out.  We don’t know who they were yet, but we know these guys were likely involved.

And now a few messages to the “Religious” Right who claim that charity (in the religious sense) is strictly a personal responsibility and not the business of government:

And if you need a break, take one.

(Here’s a quick smile for you.)

Monday Tuesday motivation…

About DoReMI 165 Articles
Now a Michigander, by way of Ohio, Illinois, Scotland, Rhode Island, and Pennsylvania. Gardener. Sewer. Democrat. Resister.

12 Comments

  1. Thanks, DoReMI, well done!

    I share your dismay re the tax bill. My Congresscritter is a Rethug female. Wonder how many bedrooms are in her house? I’ll be moving in with her when they cut my Medicare and Social. Social is half my income.

  2. {{{DoReMI}}} – I didn’t watch the “blow-by-blow” just because it was so sickening. I am so glad you went through the despair and rage cycle so quickly – and got to anger. Anger is energy and can be channeled. You are most certainly channeling it to the best good. Since Evil stole the 2018 election our job has been to resist, block, and push back on all the Evil they try to enact. Our successes are measured in damage prevented and lives saved. Vichy France – that’s where we are right now.

    The 2018 elections are the fighting back – taking Congress back is the Normandy landing. It doesn’t win the war but it gets us to where we can. It’s still a war, not a race or any other sporting contest. So pace yourself, take care of yourself, as rto says “stay angry” and as I’ve been saying for over a year “channel the anger” – it’s a win-win. Channeling the anger keeps it from roiling your gut and the angry energy does good work – and saves lives. moar {{{HUGS}}} and always Healing Energy

    • There are definite advantages to getting older, although I’m not going to say wiser. I’ve learned over the years that having an incandescent rage-moment may feel good in the moment, but unless it’s accompanied by constructive action after the fact, it’s just a form of emotional masturbation. This one didn’t even feel good; I’ve never in my life felt so consumed by blind hatred and thoughts of violence. Frankly, it scared me a little bit.

      I first saw this comic when I was about 23 years old, and it’s stuck in my memory ever since: https://i.pinimg.com/736x/ff/d4/bc/ffd4bc03f497c2590d9782ac99e35460–comic-strips-squares.jpg
      It’s become a sort of shorthand image for me to draw on in moments of injustice. It’s easy to shake one’s fist at the heavens and bemoan the unfair, the unkind, and the injust. But we’re not mere automatons lacking agency and free will; if we want change, we have to do the work.

      • It’s been a lot of years since the incandescent rage moment even felt good. I’ve learned that it’s a precursor (like any other manic-type “high”) to a burned out drop into the pit of despair and the higher the “high” the deeper the drop – and the longer I’m down and the harder it is to get out. My system starts putting the damper on as soon as it registers the beginning of it.

        It’s been a lot of years since I asked “Why me?” because it’s really a silly question. Stuff happens. If you happen to be there when it happens, then it happens to you. The whys I ask are more mechanical in nature – if we know why something happened the way it happened we might be able to prevent it from happening again – or at least do a better job of dealing with it. Even if it’s only to keep a “bug-out bag” ready at all times in case of natural or man-made disaster. And yes, we do have to do the work to make that better outcome happen whatever that better outcome might be.

        moar {{{HUGS}}} and moar Healing Energy to us all.

  3. Thanks for pulling double duty today, DoReMi. Hey, Meese! Sad news today. SJohnson found her mom unresponsive today when she went to her house. Performed cpr but she didn’t revive her. She was 93. Now I have to find somebody to cover for her for a couple of weeks or I will do it.

    I still have a small amount of faith that the bill won’t make it out of reconciliation or, if it goes back to the senate that it won’t pass the Byrd Rule. In the meantime? Lots more coffee.

    • I’m not feeling very optimistic, because if it looks like the Senate won’t pass something coming out of reconciliation, Ryan can always just put the original Senate bill before the House and try to pass it that way. The Freedom Caucus can be disruptive, but in general, they’re all hat, no cattle. But not feeling optimistic is not the same as giving up, so I’m in it for the long haul.

      And at least this gives people time to actually read the bill. Ron Wyden was an unsung hero; he managed to get the 529 personhood clause before the parliamentarian, who ruled it inadmissable due to the Byrd Rule (I think he caught a few other things too, IIRC). Hillary noted this:

      It’s clear there’s a lot of yet-unknown garbage in this garbage bill.

      And wow, I just saw that John Conyers retired. What a sad end to an illustrious career; damn fool.

      • Ryan can try to push the Senate bill through as is but I don’t think he’s got the votes. Not only will he lose the deficit hawks but there are a whole lot of Rs who won’t vote for the pretty presents McConnell handed out to get the Senate votes. And a certain number of Rs who won’t put their name on some of the other stuff in the scribbled side notes once they know what those scribbled side notes are. As long as Pelosi can keep the Dems together we’ve got a chance to block this.

        As to Conyers, yes a sad end to an illustrious career. And quite likely to happen to a number of other well-known Dems because they are willing to take responsibility for their actions. Even actions from a time when such behavior, while never appropriate or officially condoned was expected of men away from their wives. (See the movie “MAS*H” for a really good example of that.) Which is why I am so ambivalent about it. I will never condone it and I will always listen to accusers and tend to believe unless there is evidence otherwise. Blaming victims is not one of my things. And I hate the word “but” – but we are a society that just about determines a male’s manhood based on this kind of behavior and one that totally ignores things like the advisability or even the ability under the circumstances of the victim to protest (see DOV’s comments about “slave mistresses”). These kinds of acts are never right. If done, they require a sincere apology and attempt to make restitution as best as possible under the circumstances. I’m just not sure it also requires leaving a position where they’ve been doing much life-saving good for the country in general and “targeted” populations in specific. And I’m definitely not sure that turning a bunch of “safe Dem” seats into open seats is going to help change the attitude or make women and other victims of these behaviors safer.

        So I guess just – Healing Energy to us all.

        • I think his district is solid blue. He supports his son to take over until elections. I read his grand nephew is considering running for it next year.

  4. Afternoon meese…Hi Sher and thanks…I know just what you mean…I self medicated by staying away from twitter,squirrel and here for 4 days because my anger was starting to bleed into my everyday life and I might have ended up in jail for killing someone just for being stupid.

    Gonna try and take smaller doses of the news…

    • Right? I had a moment where I realized just how dangerous I could be if I had a gun and knew how to use it. I’ve always read those news stories where neighbors say, “He seemed so nice; he must have snapped” and thought “how sad…” Now I’m realizing that the potential is in me too. It was a pretty horrifying, but ultimately useful, discovery.

      • Everyone has the capacity to go berserk. Remember “Forbidden Planet” with its monsters from the ID? My older son at age 5 was afraid to even go to sleep after he saw that movie because he was already aware of the rage potential within himself. But he trusted me then (I hope trusts me still) when I told him that while he couldn’t always control the rage he could control what he did with it. And that those monsters in the movie were set free to do damage by machines that don’t exist here. (What I didn’t tell him then – he was only 5 – is that our society has made up for not having those machines by making guns so available.) I’m not going to say that I recommend what my son did with that teaching – he punched holes in walls and I haven’t a clue how he did that without breaking his hand – but he never hit a living being with that force or power (and he did learn to do a very good job of replacing or repairing sheetrock). I guess the trick of not hurting people when you have a berserk moment is knowing that you don’t have to, you can divert the destructive energy somewhere else.

    • {{{Batch}}} – I’m so glad you dropped in today. I was getting a bit worried about you.

      It’s a very good idea to stay away from the news as it happens. A once every few days roundup, maybe a daily action item that doesn’t involve looking at your twitter feed, and just doing what good your hands find to do is the best way to get through this. Anger can be channeled into action. Rage takes its own action – which is always destructive and seldom helpful in either short or long run. And it’s not good for your health either.

      So please take care of yourself as best you can. But remember to check in every once in a while so we know you’re OK. moar {{{HUGS}}} and Healing Energy

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