Monday, December 23, 2024
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Informed
Confluence

In a Hauntingly Predictable Move Trump Does the Most Cowardly Thing to Date and Nominates Brett Kavanaugh

Reading Time: 3 minutes In his speech after the announcement of his nomination, Kavanaugh did say he feels the role of a judge is to adjudicate based on current law, not to make law. Based on the fact that his 2009 paper called on Congress to pass a law protecting a sitting President from prosecution, he acknowledged no such law exists. Maybe by that measure, Kavanaugh may not be the safe bet Trump believes he will be.

However, in a political climate where the Congressional Dems and about half the country are willing to lay down the gauntlet to prevent this nomination, that 2009 paper will either be the keys to the kingdom or the sword this man’s career will die on.

No one should be above the law – and there is no law that suggests otherwise. On that point, Kavanaugh got it right more than a decade ago. We can pray he remembers that should he take a seat on the Supreme Court.

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Informed
Confluence

Dear Angry White Woman: Four Things To Do Instead of Dialing 911

Reading Time: 4 minutes Let us be very clear on one central point here. People of color are at risk of being killed by the police at a much higher rate per capita than white people. That’s not an opinion. It’s a fact. The ONLY way a person of color can one hundred percent be assured they will not be shot by a cop is to not encounter one. Black and brown people know that.
Yes, dear angry white woman, when you decide to make your world right by forcing the cops into an encounter with a person of color, you are putting that person’s life at risk. While you might not have thought about that, now you know. So, before you dig your phone out of the nether regions of your purse to make that call, count to 1000 and get yourself in check.

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Informed
Confluence

If It Quacks: Opinions are Important, but Facts are Facts

Reading Time: 5 minutes You can decide your own opinion, but you can’t decide your own facts. And the fact is that there is a definition for abuse, just like there is a definition for fascism, for authoritarianism, for dictatorship, for tyranny. It’s shocking to me how many parallels there are between our current political climate and living in an abusive relationship – from the gaslighting to the total lack of respect – respect for norms, for human dignity, for women, for the truth, for the rule of law.  

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Informed
Confluence

Learning to Engage in Human Difference 101

Reading Time: 5 minutes I believe all white people are racists. Hold on. Don’t switch off. Hear me out. When I say all, and I mean “ALL” white people are racist, I am saying each of you have benefitted from the ill-gotten gains of racism, because you have benefited from the system being designed by y’all, for y’all and to y’alls benefit. No matter how bad you feel about this, your tears do not put me on an equal footing with you culturally or systematically. 

And I am going to need to you to process this and get your life together because we are in this together. Get over your personal guilt and the attack you feel. It is not about you. Kinda sorta. But no. Those feelings you are experiencing are your soul saying you have a role in getting this together and healing this wound that is in your orbit. Therefore, learn. Dig deep. Process guilt. Do not let white women’s tears derail this process. Tap into your power. 

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EditorInformed
Confluence

I Am Not Going to be Celebrating the 4th of July and Here’s Why

Reading Time: 5 minutes I don’t think it’s appropriate to celebrate a holiday based on a history that has separated children from parents from the inception of our nation and has thousands in custody now that will not be returned to their parents.

I don’t think it’s wise to dedicate a red, white, and blue barbeque to a commercialized notion of God and country when by doing so we’re continuing to sell the illusion that holds this hostile takeover together.

So, as we’re facing down Independence Day wondering how we’re going to get our independence back, maybe the first step is to stop pretending everything is just fine when things are not. Pretending is exactly what they want us to do because if things look like they always have maybe we’re fine enough not to want to demand our democracy back.

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EditorInformed
Confluence

How to Win a Facebook Brawl with a Right Wing Wingnut

Reading Time: 7 minutes Almost sixty comments back and forth later, I realized there was no joy in the debate. I sent this person news stories and articles from more than 25 separate news sources, including Miltary.com and The Bush Foundation website. None of it landed. Don’t judge me for my back-ally comment fight with an idiot. I said all the things you wish you could a lot of the time. You can thank me later.

It ended when my right wing, wingnut “friend” started repeatedly telling me I was ignorant. I enlisted the help of family members to assist me in causing him a heart attack after he expressed he was very angry multiple times and suggested I was causing him a severe headache. The last comment exchanged was from my sister who boldly told him he didn’t want to get in an IQ competition with me – actually, it stopped when my child threw up a stop sign emoticon at the bottom of the comments.

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Informed
Confluence

The Power of Unlearning

Reading Time: 8 minutes We must revisit our assumptions and explore what our prejudices mean when we deny those seeking survival the opportunity to live. My language might sound extreme, but I do believe that this is about basic survival and life. These folks are not trying to come into this country to live luxurious lives. I believe they are seeking refuge in this country because the option is literal death for them.
 
The sense of superiority I see all around me is learned and we must unlearn it if we want to solve complex problems and become aware of our own role in it. We must lay down this sense of superiority that we have that, in America, we are entitled to what we have and that we worked hard for it and therefore, we must protect it from others.

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Informed
Confluence

Would You Serve Sarah Huckabee Sanders?

Reading Time: 3 minutes Maybe it is her job. However, she’s the message bringer of one of the most dangerous regimes in the history of the world. To the best of our knowledge, she’s not being held against her will in that building. Sarah Sanders routinely berates the press and discredits their work. She is carrying the torch of an Alt-right pandering President who is remaking both U.S. and world politics with an agenda for profit and whiteness.

So, yes, she is doing her job.
And so was Goebbels.

Civility is a thing that matters in society.
However, when civility becomes an excuse for passively entertaining evil we risk losing everything we know about our civilization. Sometimes love says no.

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