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You are here: Home / Blogs / POLITICAL SALSA Y MÁS WITH SAL BALDENEGRO 9.18.21

POLITICAL SALSA Y MÁS WITH SAL BALDENEGRO 9.18.21

September 18, 2021 by Tia Tenopia

The hypocrisy overwhelms…

It’s discouraging to think how many people are shocked by honesty and how few by deceit.   Noel Coward, English playwright, composer, director, and singer

Esa gente no tiene madre (They have no shame, no scruples) … Mexican adage

The stench of hypocrisy emanating from the Republican right-wing is overwhelming. It is nauseating. A few examples:

The anti-vaxxers have usurped the women’s movement’s “My body, My Choice” to promote their hypocrisy.

Having it both ways – “My body, my choice”…

Claiming to be pro-life and to be against government involvement in health issues, Republican right-wingers are ecstatic over the Supreme Court’s recent refusal to review Texas’ legislative assault on abortion rights. BUT …

* Regarding abortion, the right-wingers militantly insist that the government can and must dictate to women what they can and cannot do regarding their health and their bodies.

But when it comes to the anti-covid vaccinations, the right-wingers refuse to be vaccinated. They militantly insist that the government cannot dictate to people what they can and cannot do regarding their health and their bodies.

The pro-choice movement’s leitmotif is “My body, my choice,” a slogan the right-wingers disdain and ridicule. Yet, as they endanger their families and the general community by in essence promoting sickness and death, the anti-vaxxers’ mantra is “My body, my choice.”

* Polls have shown that even as they profess to be pro-life, a large majority of conservatives support the death penalty. Death and life are opposites. One can’t sanctimoniously claim to be pro-life while simultaneously promoting and supporting policies that call for the killing of people.

Attacking/threatening/killing police is being pro-police?

Republican right-wingers claim to be pro-police, BUT …

* Republicans were silent in 2014 when armed militia members surrounded and threatened to kill federal law enforcement agents in Nevada as the federal government attempted to enforce a grazing-rights contract against rancher Cliven Bundy. In 2016, the Bundy group and armed militia supporters staged a takeover of federal land in Oregon and again threatened to kill federal law-enforcement agents.

The people who threatened to assassinate law enforcement agents were supported by Republican office holders from several states (acting under the aegis of the Coalition of Western States – COWS). And some 2016 Republican presidential candidates even took the side of the would-be cop killers, viz.:

Rand Paul called the federal government’s enforcement of grazing rights contracts an “overreach.” Ted Cruz said federal government enforcement of grazing rights was the “The Jackboot of Authoritarianism.” Ben Carson called the would-be cop killers “outstanding people.”

Two of the militia-member Bundy supporters would go on to assassinate two police officers in Nevada, shooting them in the head at point-blank range as they ate lunch.

Numerous domestic terrorists said they attacked the police in behalf of Donald J. Trump.

* We’ve all seen the video footage of the mob of pro-Trump domestic terrorists who by their own admission set out to attack and murder police officers on Jan. 6 as they invaded the Capitol. On camera that day, in affidavits, and media interviews, numerous domestic terrorists said they attacked the police in behalf of Donald J. Trump.

On July 27, four of those officers testified before a Congressional committee investigating the insurrection. The officers described being called “traitors” for defending the capitol. And they detailed how the domestic terrorists threatened to kill them with their own guns. They told of being beaten with metal flagpoles, sprayed in the eyes with animal repellent, and shocked with their own Tasers. Over 140 police officers were injured by the domestic terrorists.

The officers’ testimony was riveting. But just as striking as the officers’ testimony is the reaction of Republican lawmakers. They saw the video footage of the domestic terrorists’ assault on the police, yet they disbelieved their own eyes! The GOP’s response to the Jan. 6 domestic terrorist attack has been to minimize what occurred and to ridicule the officers and their accounts.

The Jan. 6 domestic terrorist attack proved fatal to two police officers.

To their everlasting shame, 21 Republican members of Congress voted against awarding the Congressional Gold Medal to the police officers who risked their own lives to protect them and their staffs during the domestic terrorist attack.

It bears noting that – unbelievably! – 30 or so police officers from departments throughout the country participated in the domestic terrorist insurrection that targeted police officers as well as members of Congress.

* Exhibiting unspeakable gall, on the 20th anniversary of 9/11 Donald Trump – who, in real time, described the Jan. 6 domestic terrorists who attacked and attempted to murder police officers as “great people” and told them “we love you” – visited the NYPD’s 17th precinct on Manhattan’s east side.

Just as jaw-droppingly shameless was the fact that the NYPD police officers actually welcomed Trump and posed for pictures with him. I don’t have the words to describe the lack of decency, the lack of empathy, the utter lack of principles of policemen who welcome and gush over someone who inspired domestic terrorists to kill policemen.

Patriots don’t rally under a flag of treason…

Shamelessly, the “patriots” the Republicans support rally under the Confederate flag, a flag of treason.

Republicans claim to be patriots, BUT …

* Shamelessly, the “patriots” the Republicans support rally under the Confederate flag, a flag of treason. Its adherents renounced their U.S. citizenship and declared war on the United States so they could continue practicing racism.

The Confederate flag is a staple at white supremacist gatherings. And there it was at the Jan. 6 domestic terrorist insurrection. Let’s be clear: folks who rally under this treasonous flag are no patriots. The ethical calisthenics involved in calling oneself a “patriot” while rallying under a traitorous flag are mind-boggling.

As alluded to above, among the Bundy “patriots” were Jerad and Amanda Miller, white supremacists who, after leaving the Bundy ranch, ambushed and murdered two Las Vegas policemen.

Carrying guns in public is OK – if you’re white…

Republicans claim to be pro-gun and are militantly opposed to any form of gun control, BUT …

* Their and the NRA’s objection to gun control is race specific. The NRA and the Republicans they own claim to support the notion of people being able to purchase and carry guns and rifles in public, including semiautomatic weapons like the AR-15 and its variants.

But the fact is that in 1967, when armed members of the Black Panther Party were patrolling their neighborhoods in Oakland and other California cities, the NRA helped write gun-control laws to keep guns out of black hands. In reaction to the rise of the Black Panthers, the NRA collaborated with then-California Gov. Ronald Reagan and the Republican Party to promote the Mulford Act, which prohibited citizens from carrying guns in public. The NRA helped Republicans craft similar legislation in states across the country, targeting black people.

It was not until the government ravaged the Black Panthers, and white right-wingers wanted to intimidate citizens and politicians, that the NRA and its Republicans went back to a “anyone can carry assault weapons in public” posture.

I could go on, but the above makes my point. Hypocrisy is the Republican norm. Lying is the Republicans’ native language.

Some Demos get into the act…

Sinema sponsored SB 1225 which would designate you as a human smuggler if you gave an undocumented worker a ride to the store.

It seems some Democrats don’t want to be left behind when it comes to hypocrisy. Consider U.S. Senator Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) and her Democratic supporters. Some background: Russell Pearce is the author of the racist “Show me your papers” SB 1070 and sponsor of the original legislation that criminalized the teaching of Mexican American history in Arizona schools. Pearce was recalled in 2011.

As a state senator, Sinema worked closely with Pearce, calling him her legislative “boss.” Sinema sponsored SB 1225 which would (1) designate your house a “drop House” if an undocumented worker visited you or was in your house for any purpose, and (2) designate you as a human smuggler if you gave an undocumented worker a ride (to the store, the doctor, etc.). Joe Arpaio, the most racist sheriff in the country, was SB 1225’s biggest booster.

When confronted at a press conference about SB 1225 by a 17-year-old Mexican immigrant and her mother and a Phoenix immigrant activist, Sinema had them arrested. Sinema opposed the Pearce recall, saying she “loved” Pearce and thought he should run for Congress. In order to get a NALEO (National Association of Latino Elected Officials) conference scholarship, Sinema claimed to be a “Latina.”

As a U.S. Senator, Sinema is siding with the Republicans in opposing the voting-rights proposals that are before the senate. Those proposals would nullify the racial-oriented voter suppression legislation being enacted by Republicans all over the country.

Yet Democrats – including Mexican American Democrats – support Sinema. During a recent Democratic mayoral primary race in Tucson, AZ, my hometown, Sinema endorsed the Mexican American candidate, who unbelievably gushed with “pride” at Sinema’s endorsement.

People who have no shame are dangerous. For they have no moral/ethical bottom. As long as there are no consequences for lying to the public or for being hypocritical, the lying and the hypocrisy will continue. The lying, hypocritical politicos rely on voters’ inaction – they absolutely count on it! c/s

________________________________________________________________________

Copyright 2021 by Salomon Baldenegro. To contact Sal write: Salomonrb@msn.com All photos used in this blog are in the public domain.

Filed Under: Blogs, Political Salsa y Más Tagged With: Political Salsa y Mas with Sal Baldenegro, Salomon Baldenegro

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