In case you don’t know, McKinsey is a consulting firm that regularly works for both corporations and the government agencies pretending to regulate them at the same time. Yes, these kinds of conflicts are the norm in Washington. They defy commonsense. They are obviously unethical arrangements. The conflicts are so breathtakingly obvious that no person with any integrity left would consider these arrangements acceptable. They exist in Washington because they often provide lucrative jobs for former members of Congress, agency officials, and Capitol Hill and White House staffers. But in a government that pretended to care about ethics, McKinsey would be barred from contracting with the government.
Month: June 2022
The January Sixth Hearings Should Matter
If the Democratic Party was really interested in democracy the January sixth hearings would matter. But the Democratic Party, as always, is more interested in political advantage than anything else. Sadly, the Democratic Party is really bad at politics. So, their willingness to put party politics over justice and a nod to democracy may result in another Trump presidency.
Freedom of Religion has Always Been for Christians
With yesterday’s ruling the Supreme Court made clear what has always been obvious: freedom of religion in America only applies to Christianity.
There has Never Been a Political Solution to Fascism
Last evening, as I was trying to enjoy the last of the weekend, I came to a scary reality. I tried pushing it away. For a time an entertaining baseball game and fatigue helped me forget. But this morning it’s back with a sobering vengeance.
Naming Good Things From This Weekend
For those of us who care about civil rights it has been a difficult three days. For those of us who follow politics, it has been a frustrating three days. For those of us looking for hope, the last three days have been difficult. So, I think we should take a few minutes to name good things that have happened this weekend.
Democrats Fail Their Voters
One of the most basic truths about American politics is one that doesn’t get enough attention. Republican voters are far more loyal to the Republican Party than Democratic voters are to the Democratic Party.
The Constitution was Designed to Deny Most of us Rights
Now that Roe V. Wade has been officially struck down, we need to have a true discussion about the constitution. The truth, as much as many don’t want to admit it, is that the six conservative Supreme Court justices are faithfully following the intent of the so-called founding fathers. As a lawyer, coming to this reality has crushed my spirit. Still, it’s better to acknowledge and work to overcome the truth than it is to continue hoping for a fantasy America that was designed to never exist.
You are Accommodating Your Discrimination, not Me
The most important mantra from the disability community is nothing about us without us. Yet, our civil rights have largely been established by people without disabilities, who have forced their lack of respect for us and their inability to see us as their equals (whether they realize it or not) as the primary motivations for the few rights we kind of have.
The Political Myth of Left Extremism
In reading news coverage of the Senate’s bipartisan deal to “address” Americans being randomly killed at schools and grocery stores by people using military-style assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, I got angry. Senators on both sides of the manufactured and corporate-controlled political isle are presenting their cowardice as an incredible breakthrough that will upset extremes on both sides.
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Let’s be clear: on the issue of people being murdered at schools and grocery stores, the so-called left-wing extremists believe people shouldn’t have access to weapons that have been designed specifically to kill as many people as possible in the shortest amount of time.
The right-wing extremists believe basically anyone should have access to any gun at any time, regardless of criminal record, mental health status, and with no regard for the danger posed by specific weapons and/or the purpose for which the weapon was designed.
Only in a society as broken and dysfunctio`nal as America, could these sides both be credibly presented by politicians as the same kinds of extremes. In a society that even pretended to value life, it wouldn’t be normal to see people murdered at school, shopping, and going to church.
The corporate-controlled duopoly created the myth of left extremes so they could equate them to the right-wing extremes most people rightly object to as a way of manipulating too many people to accept that commonsense is an extreme.
The idea that someone’s right to own any weapon, no matter how dangerous, is akin to the right of children to attend school without the fear of being murdered is truly absurd. Writing that made me laugh and raised my blood pressure.
As long as the corporate-owned political parties and the corporate-owned media are successful at portraying commonsense and reality as left-wing extremism, there is no chance of a bill that isn’t best used as toilet paper being signed into law.
I Got a New Job
As the title says, I got a new job. I’m still with the city of Portland, but I will soon be working for Parks & Recreation.