There's quite an odor of desperation in the air. Can't you smell it, coming from those sitting and fuming on the far-right side of America? Let's take a whiff here.
Have you heard Trump and his mini-me Vance talk at any length about what they plan to do for everyday Americans, what their policies might be, other than locking up as many black and brown folks seeking a better life that they can catch in an effort that will undoubtably cost billions and billions, and engender violence that will leave folks dead?
Nope, neither have I.
That's because their policies mostly are centered around Project 2025, an incredibly unpopular plan that seeks to put an autocratic strongman in control of the government who takes the civil service, Justice Dept., and the military under his personal control to create a "Christian nation" that seeks to viciously attack and control political foes. I'd love to know where that fits into Jesus's Sermon the Mount, how about you?
Trump has tried to distance himself from Project 2025, saying somewhat incredulously that he doesn't even know who is behind it. CNN reminded him that 104 people he's worked closely with in the past, many of whom served in his administration, were the culprits.
So, since they know their policies aren't particular attractive to most of America, Trump and his mini-me Vance are falling back on one of Trump's main strategies: Attack, attack and attack some more, with each swipe more vicious than the last, and often employing more lies.
The latest is the attack on the Democratic VP candidate Walz, Walz, employing the sort of “swift boat” smear campaign launched against John Kerry in 2004. When the soldiers that served most closely with Kerry identified the campaign as a complete lie, it almost didn't matter because it had been so well ingrained in the political trenches. And guess who was at the heart of that attack? Yup, Chris LaCivita, who is now in charge of the Trump-Vance campaign, historian Heather Cox Richardson notes today.
Vance charged that Walz engaged in “stolen valor” when Walz said people shouldn't be allowed to carry the type of firepower he had in war on the streets. Walz shouldn't have said "in war," Vance said, since Vance charged that the Democratic vice-presidential candidate ducked going to Afghanistan by leaving the Army just before his unit was deployed there.
This, of course, from person who worked as a military journalist and, despite his title of combat correspondent didn't experience combat. And, don't forget, this guy is the second for a man who totally evaded military service with his infamous "bone spurs."
Of course, look a little closer, and the lies ooze out. In fact, Walz filed paperwork for his congressional run in February 2005, about a month before reports emerged that the Minnesota National Guard might be deployed. Walz then announced his run in May of that year, two months before the Minnesota National Guard’s directive was officially issued.
Walz's point, which sadly got ignored in this nonsense flurry of misinformation, is that military-style weapons -- used in multiple mass murders nationwide, and one of the causes that shootings are now the No. 1 killer of kids in our nation -- shouldn't be easily or freely available or carried on the street. Walz, btw, is a hunter, and owns guns. He just wants common-sense rules for their acquisition and use. Don't we all?
Some traditional Republicans -- you know the few good people left in the party -- were less excited about pinning Walz down based on his Army background. “A policy attack, I think, would be more effective, perhaps, than some of the personal attacks that have been transpiring,” said Marc Short, Mike Pence’s former chief of staff, on MSNBC on Wednesday.
Nyaaah!!
When desperate and feeling a bit cornered (as Kamala Harris numbers continue to rise), MAGA minions always turn to insults and lies, and even wishful but bizarre made-up fantasies. Trump the other day had a post on his social media site saying Joe Biden would suddenly try to take back the 2024 Democratic presidential nomination at their upcoming convention from, as Trump writes it, "the people in the World he most hates."
Right.
Buckle up, folks. The nastiness and lies will continue from the MAGA crowd at a torrid pace as the election nears. And isn't it refreshing to watch Kamala Harris and Tim Walz bring a smiling, joyful crowds to their feet in almost ecstatic approval as this duo moves from city to city?
Aren't you sick of the day-in and day-out nastiness displayed by the convicted felon Trump and his minions? Wouldn't it better to bring a bit of good old common sense into our government? And a little bit of outright joy now and then wouldn't hurt either. |
