COVID Diaries Pt. 12

Seventeen years ago, today, I posted my first public blog post.  I had been doing it for a year privately kind of as a diary for myself, but then decided to go public.  I had been fairly prolific for quite some time but fell off in recent years due to social media and the like.  Well, at least COVID has prompted me to blog more often again, but frankly it feels like I’m documenting the fall of our country.

Last Friday, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the Notorious RBG, passed away at the age of 87. She had been a progressive voice on the Supreme Court who championed equality and feminism throughout her career.  She was a liberal beacon for all of us, and her insights, wisdom, and fight will be sorely missed.   And the worst thing about it, is that the Republicans and the president are going to try to push through her successor so they can stack the court in their favor.

Never mind that when Scalia died during Barack Obama’s last year in office, a full nine months before the election, the Republicans blocked that appointment, stating that the judge should be appointed by whomever won the upcoming election.  All of big names like Lindsay Graham and walking turtle Mitch McConnell all vehemently argued that the appointment should not happen.   So, they blocked the nomination of Merrick Garland. 

Now guess what?  With less than 50 days until the election, with early voting for President already going on, the Republicans are going to try to push through their nominee.  All of the hypocrites on the Republican side are going back on their statements like it doesn’t matter.  I’m not surprised.  All they care about is power and winning and they will use every dirty trick in the book to make that happen.  It’s disgraceful.  One set of rules for them, and one set of rules for everyone else.

But that’s not the only fresh hell thrust upon us recently.

The verdict came in yesterday that did not charge anyone with Breonna Taylor’s death.  Breonna was shot and killed in Louisville, Kentucky after a botched no-knock warrant where the cops went to the wrong house.  She was an EMT working the front lines of the pandemic when the police burst into her house where she was sleeping in the middle of the night and shot her.

One cop was charged with wanton endangerment.  This means he was charged with a crime because he shot through walls into other apartments, NOT because he killed Breonna.   No one was charged with any crime in her death.   A sleeping EMT, who committed no crime, was gunned down in her own home, and apparently no one is to blame.

Of course, this meant more protests and violence.  Two officers were shot in Louisville last night, although as it’s been the case lately, protests are getting less and less media coverage.  They are still going on, but apparently this isn’t good news anymore.  It really sucks, because people have been protesting this whole time.

There need to be reforms.  I don’t care if you are a full back the blue type of person.  What happened here was wrong, and there is no justice.   If police burst down your door in the middle of the night and killed a family member of yours, how would YOU feel.  Would you think that no one should be blamed?  Just a “fuck it, that’s life” type mentality?  NO, you would fight hard for justice.   You should be fighting now too.

That’s the thing with the Supreme Court pick as well.   What we need on the court is empathy, not blind loyalty to a political party.   If Velvetta Voldemort gets his pick, that means another person on the court who may not back police reform, or see the racism in our country, or think that people need health insurance, or who will vote to allow this President to stay in power if the election results are close.  That’s all in addition to Roe v. Wade.

Another thing that barely made the radar, which should be huge news is that ICE Immigration has been sterilizing immigrants who are currently in custody.   Seriously, in THIS country, government goons gave hysterectomies to women who didn’t need them and didn’t know they were being sterilized.  This is some eugenics bullshit, and everyone should be fucking aghast.  These are crimes against humanity.  Things we hear about being done in dictatorships. Nazi-esque shit.   Seriously, how can anyone be okay with this?  How is this not a huge scandal?  It’s just another day in orange America and it’s so deeply, irrevocably wrong.   There are so many fucked up things about this administration that war crimes don’t even cause a blip.

This election can only go one way and have this country survive.  You need to vote, and make sure your friends vote, and let’s get these fuckers out of office so we can actually make America the place our founding fathers envisioned.

If we don’t, I’m truly worried.  Don’t let RBG’s fight be in vain.