Wayward Landlubber

     Dear MAGA,       Thank you so much for recognizing by my Facebook posts that I am a member of antifa/BLM. This is truly an honor. You have no idea. You have no idea that people in antifa don't have meetings. We are like atheists; no meetings, no tithes, no long-winded sermons, and no endless prayers. We exist because we are anti fascist. Fascism for most of my life was a political activity that was not seen as a beneficial pursuit. In many cases our fathers fought and defeated fascists in WWII. Since that time, and until recently, fascists were forced to have their meetings in out-of-the-way locations, free from the prying eyes of public officials. We didn't even invite you to Thanksgiving dinner. Something happened in 2016 where you people, who motivate us to be anti, were no longer ashamed to be be seen in public. In truth it started earlier. Fascism was creeping into one of our parties about the time that Grover Norquist was giving weekly break...

     I had an uncle who I still honor a generation after his passing. Though our views began to diverge from my 16th year on, Uncle Clyde continued to argue respectfully with me at family reunions. Back in the time when womens place was in the kitchen, he invited me, at about 9 years-old, to join the men in their talks. He encouraged me to share my opinion. As our politics diverged, he may have regretted giving me that encouragement, but he never shut me out.       Clyde was a conservative Republican. Later, I would understand him to be a Libertarian-Republican. This was the post-McCarthy years, Sen. Joseph McCarthy; not Sen. Eugene McCarthy, and certainly not congressman Kevin McCarthy. It was that moment of Republican clarity that we know as the Eisenhower era. Until the Nixon era, there was a cautious avoidance of the hardline conservatives. Clyde had his foot in both groups.       The party has changed in the decades since. We h...

     I do not know either mayoral candidate. I have not followed closely their separate public careers, though I heard a short speech by Mayor Chris Hoy at a town hall for another candidate.       When SCOTUS made its ruling on Citzens United back in 2010 nearly all spending limits for campaigning were  removed. Those campaign limits remaining could be avoided by various political action groups.That ruling, along with the 1978 corporate personhood ruling allows virtually unlimited campaign spending. What could possibly go wrong? We can refer to one particular party in slavish deference to MAGA for the answer to that question. Money buys power. Power gets concentrated. And now our future as a popular democracy is in jeopardy.       That axiom applies down ballot as well. Should Phil Knight, or some other local billionaire wish to fat-finger local politics, they merely write a check. Sometimes, as in our last gubernatorial electi...

     There are a number of people still unsure which presidential candidate they wish to vote for. Some of you may not be happy with either candidate. I understand. I have a good friend who is just like you. She has read some disturbing things about Donald Trump, but she is pro-life and President Biden supports the pro-choice position. If you are like my friend, this weighs heavily on you. Others may have had a comfortable home in the Republican party until maybe Jan. 6, 2021. Still others may hang on to that small-government trope, but once again there's this small voice telling you, "not this time".       In previous times you could live in this middle world. You could pick the better of two choices for you. If you chose a third-party candidate you would usually give the election to the Republican party, through either the popular vote, or the Electoral College, but there would always be the next election. Even then, we got into foreign wars where we...