American Dreaming

“Hey! What gives you the right? To put up a fence to keep me out or to keep Mother Nature in? If God was here he’d tell it to your face, ‘Man, you’re some kind of sinner.’” Tesla

What if we lived in a Democracy? That’d be crazy, right? You want a wall? Cool. You’re about $5B short. Do you want to use the same credit card you used to honor the Clemson Tigers with “hamberders”?

No? Okay. We have a process for this. Here’s how it works…

“Mr. President you can have your wall. You can get it the same way that President Obama got Obamacare; the way Lyndon Johnson got Medicare; the way Franklin Roosevelt got Social Security. In each case the president had a project he wanted enacted; so his administration crafted a bill. That bill went to Congress where committee hearings were held; amendments were proposed; studies were conducted that tested the cost, effectiveness etc. of the proposal; testimony was held in Congress; debate ensued and if the measure had enough support, a vote was taken and the measure was passed. That's how you legislate. It takes hard work, planning and the ability to actually negotiate. Your pet project doesn't get to leap frog over the pathway laid out by the Constitution and 250 years of precedent. You have chosen to skip over this entire process (even when you had majorities in both Houses) and have resorted instead to taking the American public hostage in exchange for your wall. You want a wall? Put down the gun you are holding to the head of the American people and get to work.”

(Note: The author of that quote is allegedly Dan Rather, although I could find no evidence online to support that. But, it doesn’t really matter as the point is the succinctness and truth of the words, not who said them.)

Instead of following the standard blueprint, you threaten to call a national emergency, put 800,000 federal employees out of work (or worse, make them work without pay) and blame the Democrats for not caving in to your hostage situation.

This “emergency” happens to occur after the Democrats take control of the House. You didn’t think to ask for Border Wall funding to this degree when Republicans had the Senate and the House?

I’m not following. Either you are even dumber than you make yourself out to be on Twitter or there is some sinister reason why you are shutting down the government. It wasn’t an emergency when Republicans controlled both branches, but now it’s such a dire situation that your only choice is to fuck over 800k Americans to circumvent democracy?

Border wall funding would have been an easier get any time in the last 24 months. But, you asked for it now. And even though there are enough Republicans willing to vote to end the shutdown, McConnell won’t call for a vote.

Making America great/safer by forcing TSA workers to work without pay? Creating disgruntled workers in a key Homeland Security department while saying the shutdown is about keeping America safe? Huh?

I can’t even imagine being one of those agents who has to keep working for no pay. One month without pay and I’m homeless. It's got to be an unbelievably helpless feeling. Like kicking off to Tom Brady in overtime. Or living as a minority in Trump's America.

And as Trump is throwing a month long tantrum to get his way. Mike Pence has the gall to compare Trump to MLK? Listen to this horse shit…

“One of my favorite quotes from Dr. King was 'Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy.'" Speaking of King, the vice president went on: "You think of how he changed America. He inspired us to change through the legislative process, to become a more perfect union. "That's exactly what President Trump is calling on Congress to do — come to the table in the spirit of good faith.”

Uhhhhhh. No. Not close. Playing russian roulette with a gun to the head of American federal workers has zero to do with the legislative process or good faith.

To dishonor Dr. King on the weekend we’re supposed to be celebrating him? Come on man. That’s so far beyond embarrassing. The lowest of the low is to compare Trump in any way to MLK.

A self-described Nationalist and a man who was murdered by a racist. Polar opposites.

One has told more than 5000 lies since taking office. The other got shut up permanently for speaking the truth.

Judge them both not on the color of their skin, but the content of their character. Now who’s black?

Rich white men. You had your chance. Thank you, next.

"Let's make America great again. By making racists ashamed again." Frank Turner

We don't need racist walls dividing us. Or MAGA hat wearing teenagers disrespecting Native American veterans. Or white supremacists marching in Charlottesville.

We need proper democracy. And intelligent discourse. And "all men are created equal" in practice not just in theory.

We need a President who doesn't have a total disregard for the truth and the rule of law. One who is not a laughingstock at the UN. Or in uncomfortably tight with the Russians.

A President that gives a shit about the common man working at TSA more so than the multi-millionaire who is waiting to get the steel contract for the wall.

And it all goes back to King. He had it right when he said, "A riot is the language of the unheard." You can only keep pushing minorities down for so long. You can't keep the less thans and the also rans down forever.

Whether it's the color of our skin, or our lack of net worth or our LGBT lifestyle...we all feel the burn in Trump's America. And that shit bubbles. And festers. And I hope that the "riot" that occurs in reaction to that feeling is one that Dr. King would be proud of.

Riot at the polls. Riot with the written word. Riot with intelligence and truth and common decency.

It's easy to get caught up playing whack a mole/trying in vain to keep up with Trump's infinite lies. In that space, it's hard to remember that this too shall pass. We have to keep American dreaming, rejecting our racist past and present while praying for the future that Dr King preached.