Category: Government

A Free Country

.Reading time 5 minutes.

grim-reaper-2974959_1920I have been intentionally silent through the Impeachment Trial of Donald Trump.  I wanted to see how it would play out.  I was also exhausted.  Exhausted by the rhetoric, by the continual tossing of the fact salad and the micro splicing of reality by the Trump team.  I was also exhausted by Democrats presenting an unrelenting cascade of rational, reasonable realities and sounding a bit too much (and looking a bit as well) like the reincarnation of the last Unitarian to run for President, Adlai Stevenson.

And today we watch while the self declared “Grim Reaper” of the US Senate waves his scythe and strikes down his ultimate target: Democracy for all the people.

In my work I am also relentless.  As a preacher, I constantly drive home the message of how “relationships” must sit at the heart of community.  This seems like an obvious no-brainer, but in today’s world, it is incredibly easy to lose track of.  I often frame this in terms of a contrast between relational and transactional.  For me, ‘relational’ draws on first hand personal knowledge and (yes) feeling.  It draws on ideology and values and a sense of shared obligation.  Again, seems obvious…yet, it is clear by the current occupant of the White House that these simple goals have been devalued (like the Rush Limbaugh Prize…formerly the Medal of Freedom.)  I’ve written the following before: Donald Trump is not the problem, he is the symptom.  A society that has become dangerously transactional is the real problem.  Transactional so that health care is primarily about what you can afford, not what you need; transactional so that gun ownership is not about an actual threat but about possessing superiority over the perception of threat; transactional so that merely being an observer to the piling on of wealth for the 1% is framed and then received as a benefit for all; transactional so that womanhood is prioritized by its ability to fulfill male pleasure and male centered procreative ambition.

The demonic nature of the ‘Transactional States of America’ underlies the entire impetus behind an ad that aired for the Trump campaign during the superbowl.  This ad featured Alice Marie Johnson who’s prison sentence was commuted by Trump at the urging of Kim Kardashian.  This ad is meant to appeal to black voters.  I have no issue with Alice Marie Johnson, more black people out of prison is great.  And still, I have to weigh these facts: Kim Kardashian (who may be a perfectly decent human being) has a media presence that is built entirely upon appropriating and glomming on to blackness.  Kim Kardashian is not black…but her social media persona sure wants to be.   Next, Alice Marie Johnson being freed from prison is a good thing, but most black people aren’t in jail.  Although we recognize the very real greater threat of incarceration of black people (based on racist policies that are protected by the government)…it is not a top line black “kitchen table” issue; racism and systemic issues of objectification and disenfranchisement are what matter to most blacks on a day to day basis.  Finally, images of grateful, weepy black people have been used for a literal century to prop up the fragile white savior trope.  This is closely related to the same mentality that says things like “slaves didn’t have it so bad” and “blacks were better off on plantations.” All of this is 100% transactional.  There is no love lost in these relationships.  I guarantee you that given 6 black women of similar size and stature, I’m sure Trump couldn’t pick out Alice Marie Johnson.  She is only worth what he is able to get from her: enough black votes to win.

It is a free country.  People can vote for who they want.  Alice Marie Johnson and Kim Kardashian can be boosters for any candidate of any party they wish.  Yet, we all must remember that if we continue to prioritize transactions over relationships, all of us (academic elites, farmers, day laborers, corporate CEOs) will be reduced to only the value that can be extracted from us, which is the very same formula that drove plantations.

If this is a free country, why would we actively vote to be slaves?

–ALD

 

Pray for DeRay…

.Reading time 7 minutes.

IF YOU HAD ANY DOUBT ABOUT THE POTENTIAL IMPACT OF TRUMP APPOINTED JUDGES ON CIVIL LIBERTIES, have a look at the current case being brought against activist, educator and author DeRay McKesson.  The 5th Circuit has reversed a prior ruling and describes the case as follows:

During a public protest against police misconduct in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, an unidentified individual hit Officer John Doe with a heavy object, causing him serious physical injuries. Following this incident, Officer Doe brought suit against “Black Lives Matter,” the group associated with the protest, and DeRay Mckesson, one of the leaders of Black Lives Matter and the organizer of the protest. Officer Doe later sought to amend his complaint to add Black Lives Matter Network, Inc. and #BlackLivesMatter as defendants. The district court dismissed Officer Doe’s claims on the pleadings under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), and denied his motion to amend his complaint as futile. Because we conclude that the district court erred in dismissing the case against Mckesson on the basis of the pleadings, we REMAND for further proceedings relative to Mckesson. We further hold that the district court properly dismissed the claims against Black Lives Matter.1 We thus REVERSE in part, AFFIRM in part, and REMAND for further proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion.

Basically, the court is trying to hold McKesson personally liable for the harm done to the officer because of his prominence and affiliation with and leadership in Black Lives Matter.

Never mind that the officer is unnamed in all of this…

Never mind that I cannot find any evidence of a tobacco executive going to jail for the generational damage to human health they promoted…

Never mind that McKesson did not lead this protest, but attended it at the request of local organizers…

What you should take note of is that the three judges in the 5th Circuit hearing the case are deeply conservative.  Their names:

1.) Don Willett (Federalist Society…Trump appointee) – You can read about objection to Willett’s nomination to the bench: https://civilrights.org/resource/oppose-confirmation-don-willett-u-s-court-appeals-fifth-circuit/

2.) Jennifer Walker Elrod (Federalist Society…Bush appointee) – Read about criticism of her appointment and lack of qualifications: https://www.cardin.senate.gov/news/press-releases/nomination-of-jennifer-walker-elrod-to-be-united-states-circuit-judge-for-the-fifth-circuit

3.) Grady Jolly ret. Jolly has retired and Halil Suleyman Ozerden has been nominated by Trump to fill this seat. Ozerden became a member of the Federalist Society this year.  Ironically, Ozerden is apparently not Conservative enough for some Sentors: https://www.law.com/texaslawyer/2019/09/12/why-ted-cruz-opposes-5th-circuit-nominee-halil-suleyman-ozerden/?slreturn=20191114085816

There is nothing wrong with conservative judges.  There is also nothing wrong or out of the ordinary with a President appointing judges aligned with their party and politics.  The problem is that Trump’s current Republican party and politics is driving an agenda that opportunistically cultivates mistrust, fear and ideologically based dis-information. Judges with the kinds of records and clear political agendas apparent in these judge’s careers are in my opinion more likely than not to be biased in this specific case; every judge has some bias and ethical leaning.  But the danger lies in that with our current environment, the toxicity of natural bias is multiplied tenfold.  The real damage being wrought by Trump and Mitch McConnell is their ability to amplify partisanship and ideology through our existing systems that have long been bastions of public trust…like the judiciary.  The “Information Age” is being weaponized by the politics of disinformation and it is being used here as state sponsored intimidation.  McKesson himself says,

“The goal of lawsuits like these is to prevent people from showing up at a protest out of the fear that they might be held responsible if anything happens [.…] If this precedent lasts, it could make organizers all across the country responsible for all types of things they have no control over, such as random people coming into a protest and causing problems. We can’t let that happen.” – DeRay McKesson – ACLU 12/6/19

We are all aware of the epidemic disinformation currently being propagated by the Republican Party at the behest of President Trump.  That’s the big stuff.  What we need to be aware of is this smaller (though equally important) stuff closer to home that works on a local and state level.  Dealing with a political party that is obsessed with framing itself in terms of “states’ rights” requires diligence.  “States’ rights” have a long history of legitimizing violence against people of color (lynching is a prime example.)  All of us need to be aware of the judicial appointments being made in our areas.  Our rights to protest, to resist, to push back against authoritarianism and to fight for something better than a reality TV government are at risk.  Our rights mean nothing before a judge who has been given the authority to pre-judge based on a narrow ideology and enabled by a government that is force feeding the public lies.

Get to know your district justice system (List of US District Courts of Appeals) and recognize that the poison being spread by Trump will last well after he is dead. For all of our good, pray for DeRay.

-ALD