Iran, Voting and Words

While Mister Mix and Kay are giving everyone a good view into recent election dynamics here in the good ‘ole US of A, I’m going to continue with my look at the ramifications of our country’s “excursion” halfway around the world.

Here’s the Whiner-in-Chief:

Yeah. He actually said that. And yet the media still treats him with kid gloves (with a few exceptions). This guy has managed to do something that was unthinkable only a very short time ago - alienate all of our allies to the point that literally not one country has agreed to help us open up the Strait of Hormuz.

The esteemed Anne Applebaum hits the nail on the head:

This is actually one of Trump’s few superpowers. His ability to say/do one thing on any given day, and then say/do the exact opposite the next day without blinking an eye while genuinely believing in what he says. As I’ve written before, we (“normal” people, the media, etc.) try to rationally respond to an inherently rational person. It is why Trump has been able to con so many people for so long without facing any real consequences. Until the media accepts this truth (and the tables do seem to be turning to some extent), he will be able to continue destroying whatever ideals, precedents an relationships our nation has built up over a coupl hundred years.

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At the same time the elected “leader” of our country literally whines like a toddler, his sycophants in the Senate are debating the SAVE Act, which should be called what it is - The Voter Elimination Act (h/t to Anat Shenker-Osorio - at least she is the person who first brought it to my attention).

The hypocrisy (surprised?) is stunning:

I’m with Jessica Tarlov (who may be the person most deserving of our admiration and support given her daily efforts to combat the insanity on Fox News). Dems should loudly and consistently - on all fronts - present an alternative to the SAVE Act:

This is an issue Dems need to grab by the throat. As a candidate, I worked hard to help people see that the two parties are not the same. I liked to point out that one party wants to make it as easy as possible for EVERY LEGAL VOTER to be able to vote; the other party wants to stop ANY LEGAL VOTER who they think will not vote for them from voting. I then asked voters which one is more patriotic. Sometimes, putting voters on the spot is not a bad thing.

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One final thought for this thread. IMHO, Dems and progressives need to do a better job of seizing the wording/nomenclature initiative. Using Republican framing - even if it’s just repeating the official name of a bill - does harm to our cause. What we say and words we use absolutely matter.

As I wrote above, we should call the Republican voter bill the “Voter Elimination Act”. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act passed last year by Republicans? Maybe the “Billionaires Instead of Taking Care of Health Act (“BITCH” Act). Ok - I didn’t say I was very good at this, but you get the point.

One more - we shouldn’t ever say “Death Tax”. We should call it the “Fortunate Son Inheritance Tax” (again, I’m sure we can find something better, but I like the ode to CCR).

The blunter the better, BTW. In our wording, in our responses to Trump’s whining, in our discussion of Republican voter suppression efforts. We need more AOCs and Kat As.