I rarely ever post non-fictional political blogs anymore, mainly because everything is just too depressing. And it’s not just the scandalous tweet of the day….it’s all the stupid little things. Today I was once again reminded that we left the UN Human Rights Council a couple months ago, and felt another little pang of regret for another stupid decision.
Sure, the UN is mostly a rambling deliberative body and isn’t capable of stopping war and conflict in the world. But it’s the symbolism of the thing. The Human Rights Council continues speaking out on rights violations in Myanmar, Sudan, Syria. The United States is not a part of that anymore, only confirming the suspicion that it didn’t care much about this stuff in the first place, anyway.
Is it a coincidence that we’re leaving the Human Rights Council just as our country is on a not-so-subtle slide down the road to fascism? Legal residents are having their passports taken away. Journalists are condemned as the “enemy of the people.” Many refugee children torn away from their parents have still not been reunited with them. What other human rights violations would the Trump administration love to be able to get away with? What violations is it planning to get away with in the near future?
Anyway, there are my sad musings for the night. For what it’s worth, another reason I have less time to blog is that I have been phone banking and canvassing like crazy for my local Democratic Party. Will there actually be a Blue Wave coming in November? I have no idea. I’m the wrong person to ask, because I’m naturally a pessimist…about everything. But I will keep working for it, whatever the chances of it happening may be. Lord knows we need someone different than the people in charge right now.
eurobrat 
09/02/2018 at 8:07 pm
If I were an American I’d give you a heartfelt thanks for your efforts and thoughts on the politics of the day. I say “Thanks” anyway.
09/03/2018 at 7:44 pm
Ah, I appreciate it, Sha’Tara! I’m doing my best. I know that to the rest of the world it might appear we have gone insane, but there are truly a lot of good people over here who hate what this government is doing…..
09/02/2018 at 9:31 pm
Let’s add the hurricane damage in Puerto Rico and lead water in Michigan to human rights violations. There’s also be a significant reduction in the number of immigration judges recently.
09/03/2018 at 11:31 am
Dan Balz in the Washington Post writes about a blue wave today. He’s normally someone I depend on for clarity, but this time he left me more anxious than ever. I wish November would hurry up and get here already. – Marty
09/03/2018 at 7:41 pm
Oh no 😦 See, I’m a little worried about the blue wave not happening, too. I’m trying not to think that way.
09/04/2018 at 3:23 am
Well, complacency and over-confidence is probably our worst enemy. So let’s just keep plodding on, as they say.
09/09/2018 at 7:42 pm
All we can do!
09/03/2018 at 4:55 pm
It’s going to take every one of us to make it happen.
09/03/2018 at 7:41 pm
Agreed. We have to be united for this.
09/26/2018 at 10:01 am
Exactly. Yes, America was into human rights mostly just for show. But the show is definitely over now. There’s no longer even a pretense of giving a shit about human rights…Hell, even the rights of its own citizens. (See: post 9/11 Surveillance State) So what better symbolism is there than America abandoning the UN Human Rights Council?
Better start practising your goose-step everybody!
And as for this stupid Blue Wave…..Hahaha! The only “wave” Democrats are capable of is the wave they give power as it says goodbye to them…over & over & over. Oh sure, there’s the odd one-night-stand. (See Obama) But after making all kinds of hope-stoking “together, forever, baby” promises…power sneaks out in the middle of the night and doesn’t return any phone calls.
09/26/2018 at 1:45 pm
I don’t know about that…looks like the Dems have a good chance of taking over the House, at least, this fall. I’m certainly fighting for that 🙂
09/26/2018 at 4:01 pm
Love your comment and fully agree. Was saying the same thing about the Dems over lunch today. Even if they did take over Congress, what have they got? Exactly what are they offering? They’ll whine about Trump’s mess for the next decade (if they get it) as the excuse for doing nothing to rebuild the infrastructure, and keep taking from their corporate lobbyists and shoving more tax dollars in the military and at their corporate bosses and masters. The duopoly is just two sides of the exact same coin… and coinage. Over and done, time to think up something new along with “girding the loins” for the courage to push it through. Of course that will not happen, cannot happen, in a “country with no name” out in the desert…
09/26/2018 at 5:36 pm
I’m hoping that if the Dems do take over Congress, they will be able to stop some of Trump’s craziness–and maybe, since he is so unpredictable, get him to work with them on some reasonable stuff. That last one is optimistic, I know.
Anyway, I’m also campaigning for some of our local candidates, including the governor of our state. It’s definitely made a difference to have Dems in control locally, and I hope they win re-election 🙂
09/26/2018 at 7:24 pm
Coming from Canada: good luck!
09/26/2018 at 7:40 pm
Thanks! We need all we can get
10/01/2018 at 10:59 am
“if the Dems do take over Congress, they will be able to stop some of Trump’s craziness”
That’s exactly what to cheer, work & vote for. So do it! But at the same, it’s also the problem. If you don’t put Democrats in office, you get 5 Alarm Republican created fires. (Massive tax cuts, service cuts, etc, etc.) A guy like Trump makes the crazy even crazier.
However, when the Democrats actually do get elected (mostly via the Law of Averages), what do they do? Not much…often literally speaking. With Obama & double majorities in Congress, they still managed to get virtually nothing done.Obamacare??? Any Canuck would laugh at that being touted as anything more than a booby-prize. Piddling little Canuckistan did far better some 50+ years ago. Obamacare is a box of Healthcare-A-Roni for the losers!
How come only Republicans can stop things while in the minority? (See Supreme Court nominations) Because the Democrats are spineless losers, even when they win. Pussies to be grabbed and shaken. Also, most Democratic politicos are more interested in their careers (political & private sector) than positive change. So, most aren’t that interested in “rocking the
boatsyachts”.In all, the Democrats might as well change their motto to “Vote for nothing happening”. It’s the truth, and it might even win over some true conservatives, if there are any of those left.
10/01/2018 at 11:08 am
Thanks, eh?
The Democrats certainly have not much to be proud of. Spinless cowards, most of whom are bought & sold by our corporate overlords. When they do win, what Republican evil do they undo? Tinkering at best.
But we Canucks shouldn’t be too proud of ourselves. That’s the classic Canuck trap. Because we only compare ourselves to America, we always look great. We could be 2nd worse in the world in every category, but as long as we’re better than the Americans, we feel like winners.
For example…For what felt like 100 years, Stevie Herpes pulled a left-learning nation down & to the Right. But (other than taking almost his ENTIRE term to get ‘The Herb’ legalized) what has Mr Handsome done? To remain sane, I intentionally haven’t paid much attention, but I can’t name a single damn thing they’ve done…and with an untouchable majority!
Even more importantly, what damage has this Mama’s Boy undone? TPP trade deal is on and he’s negotiating (and no doubt will cave) on a new TrumpTA deal. Canada Post delivery cuts reversed? Nope. I’m sure VIA, CBC and other public service cuts have only been partially remedied, at best. I don’t even have to look it up. I just know nothing good has happened. Holding patterns until the next Conservative government comes in and starts bombing again.
Nice hair, though!
10/01/2018 at 11:41 am
Hey Sedate Me – love that handle! I agree with you on your comments re: both, the US and Canadian politics. The Dems care only about filling their pockets and their tin god Obama was/is nothing but a puppet of the military/industrial complex. Obamacare is a joke but somewhere in there were massive profits for Big Pharma and he was more interested in droning death upon wedding parties, school children and hospitals in the G. M. East and Africa, all for Big Oil. But he did hand out billions of tax payers’ dollars to those poor billionaires in 2008, so he really is a charitable guy. The difference between the Demock-Rats and Repugnicans: the dems are hypocritical slimes; the Repugnants, just in your face bullies. Having said that, I boycott the entire process since, let’s see, I got out of politics in 1980, haven’t voted since. Voting, as we were fond of putting on our bumper stickers of the day, only encourages the bastards. My theory is, if nobody voted (Nobody being my favourite super hero) the collapse would come much sooner, then we could begin to rebuild… maybe.
10/15/2018 at 11:42 am
Well, not-voting is probably the only part where I disagree. Not that I think voting does much good. It doesn’t. But not-voting does worse. (Note: The following is NOT hostile in any way…which is a change of pace for me. It’s just another one of my tiresome sermons….that will probably never be read by anyone. Just ask “the management”.)
1) The biggest problem with not-voting is that it completely misses the point. Voting does NOT encourage the bastards. POWER encourages the bastards! It doesn’t matter if they win by 1 vote, or 1 million votes. The 1st place bastard gets 100% of the power. More importantly, even if they win by 9 votes to 7, they still take office & get the same power as if everyone in the riding voted for them.
For example; Last municipal election, less than 30% of my podunk hicktown “officially voted” and only a couple running got 50% of the vote (15% of eligible voters). I say “officially voted” because the morons in charge don’t know how many adults live in the city. In a previous election, they thought the number of eligible voters shrank by tens of thousands, despite the fact the city grew by tens of thousands. So, that 30% turnout was probably more like 20% (which means the top candidates only got 10% of adults to vote for them). So, if large numbers of non-voters was ever going to de-legitimize the process and force change, it would have happened by now. It won’t.. Well, unless a dictator takes over…which has been happening a lot lately.
And that’s what happens in a society where nobody votes. Individuals seize power. Monarchies, Feudal Lords, dictatorships…war, carnage, etc. I don’t think it’s any coincidence that the rise of Corporations and the 1% coincides with the decline in voter turnout. “History repeats itself” and if democracy withers, odds are good what it replaced will make a comeback.
2) Not-voting is a bad idea because, as any cynic knows, elections aren’t about gaining the consent of the populace. They’re about winning/conning more voters than the other bastard. To everyone in the system, non-voters might as well be ants on the sidewalk. They’ve essentially committed political suicide.
In an era where endless panels of overpaid “experts” discuss the “critical importance of the left handed, 6’1″, 283 lb, ex-nun vote” and who’s winning them…Voter turnout is rarely even reported anymore. Apparently, it’s a meaningless stat now and everybody just accepts that. Not-voting literally achieves nothing and isn’t even factored into the equation.
3) The major difference with voting is that the bastards at least have to pretend to care about their voting demographic during & between elections. Between is where it really matters. Voting demographics dictate how governments govern. In order to maintain what they care about (Power), they have to keep The Base drinking the Flavour-Aid. Lose more than a few percent of them and you might have to get a “worky job”.
Who votes? The Riches & “corporate persons” have a 100% turnout. Then there’s the fossils who are so old, they actually believe in something called “civic duty”…whatever that was. How quaint.
Who doesn’t vote? Surprise! It’s the disenfranchised. The Poors. The Blacks. The Mexicans. Some of them are good people. (Like the handful of principled non-voters.) But like comedians telling jokes about Amish people on TV…non-participants make a GREAT target & few of them even know they’re being targeted. Nobody gives a shit if you stomp all over them. In fact, voters are more likely to vote for you because they see them as “lessors”. Scapegoating The Poors has summed up many a successful RW politico’s career in the last few decades.
More than anything, voting is just a public declaration of “People like me aren’t your Altar Boys.”
This Sedate Me Sermon is brought to you by Get Out the Vote. “Vote, or get ass raped in perpetuity.”
10/16/2018 at 6:43 pm
In the corporate world, when something “big” doesn’t work, they throw more money at it, usually because so much is invested and expectations are so high that “too big to fail” cuts in…
IMO, voting falls in that category. It’s not working so throw more votes at it. Vote for the lesser of evils, vote against, not for, etc.. As an ex-politician, even though small scale, I’ve heard it all. As a candidate espousing unpopular notions, like, imagine, protecting agricultural lands from rapacious development, or recycling cardboard and newspapers, the only way to win was to convince people to plump vote, and if they couldn’t support my platform, at least vote against the others who’d been there too long. It worked but after seeing the hypocrisy of it the honourable move was to quit that game or get sucked in.
The entire “democratic” process has become prey to massive corruption, and it’s as true for that as it is for the proverbial box of apples that has even one rotten apple in the bottom. You can’t fix the rotten apple and by the time you’ve noticed the rot and throw it out, it’s already too late. The problem with democracies is, you can’t throw out the rotten apple (example, Trump) and when you find them so rotten you want to replace them all that’s available to you are more rotten apples. So in desperation you vote them in and they might, just might, change the paintings hanging on the walls and if they do, you the voter-taxpayer will be invoiced for the full amount and then some.
Time to consider topsy-turvy change. Replace governments with self-empowered individuals. Pie in the sky? Very well, then carry on with the St. Vitus Voting Dance… I’m done with the patchwork that only keeps the bastards laughing at us deplorables (remember it was not the Repugnicans who used that term.)