The battle joined, the resistance rises: Shelby, Barkley, and Moore.
First Virginia, Now Alabama: Election 2018
Last night Alabama’s progressive Doug Jones beat retro Roy Moore in a senatorial victory that expressed the common decency of Americans and sent the fascists, dogmatists, blind and deaf extremists down to defeat. The sexual predators and the Bannon-whites were on one side, women, African-Americans, and ordinary white people on the other in Alabama. The Democratic Party has managed now twice to run “statewide” races in non-presidential years in both Virginia and Alabama.
The only person I know in Taos with Alabama roots is our own uncommonly decent Magistrate Judge Jeff Shannon. Course he’s a military brat and a fugitive from the state but he represents the best of Bamans. We need to remember that because we have some “little” fascists right here in Taos at the town and the powers that be at the Abeyta water settlement. Up in Seco-Salto a group of selfish patrons who have tried to privatize El Salto de Aqua have been decapitated. More on local politics tomorrow.
I’m very happy to see the Alabama people take the lead in the revolt against dinosaurs representing white supremacy and the elite billionaires like the Mercers, Adelsons, and Koch Brothers who fund the “divide and conquer’ techniques in order to maintain the oligarchy and plutocracy. One can’t say too many times that the blinkered fascists like Trump, Bannon, McConnell and Ryan and their donors, despite their personal differences, are threatening America and the world: see floods, hurricanes, fires, nuclear trigger fingers, and Vladimir Putin, the puppet master.
But Charles Barkley, the NBA star, who played at Auburn helped campaign. He’s a tough crusty bastard, unafraid to campaign and say it like it is. He said the following on CNN. Once he said, “I ain’t no role model.” But now Sir Charles has assumed the mantle of elder statesman.
“You know, we’ve been stuck in a time warp for a long time,” Charles said … “This is just a great night for Alabama and for Doug Jones.”
“Roy Moore was an embarrassment. Hey listen, if any other man had 8 women accusing him of sexual harassment … talking about how he really enjoyed slavery … he thinks people who are homosexuals should go to jail, they wouldn’t have even been in this election.”
Barkley says he’s extremely proud of Alabama … adding, “We got some amazing people here.”
“Yeah, got some rednecks and a bunch of ignorant people … but we got some amazing people here and they rose up today.”
Alabama’s Republican senator broke with the party and expressed his own political courage in continuing to oppose Moore.
Washington (CNN) Sen. Richard Shelby says he wants a Republican elected to the Senate on Tuesday to represent Alabama, but that he didn’t vote for GOP candidate Roy Moore in the special election. Shelby took on his constituents in his backyard.
The Alabama Republican said he’s already cast his ballot, and that he chose a write-in candidate.
“I’d rather see the Republican win, but I’d rather see a Republican write-in. I couldn’t vote for Roy Moore. I didn’t vote for Roy Moore,” Shelby told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of the Union.”
For continuing advocacy and I am posting Michael Moore’s “Easy-to-Follow 10-Point Plan to Stop Trump.” Moore has always stuck by the American people and focused on their decency and frustration with elites, whether Republican or Democrat. He predicted the Clinton loss in Michigan and maintains his working class roots in Flint, Michigan. Michael is like the canary in the coal mine.
1. THE DAILY CALL: You must call your elected officials every day. Yes – YOU! 202-225-3121. It will take just TWO MINUTES!
Monday — Contact your Congressman/woman
Tuesday — Call the first of your two State Senators
Wednesday — Call your other U.S. Senator
Thursday — Call your local State House/Assembly representative
Friday — Call your other State Senator
2. THE MONTHLY VISIT: To add even more pressure, SHOW UP! Your member of Congress has a local office in your town or somewhere nearby. So do both of your U.S. Senators (often in the nearest federal building). Go there and ask to speak to their aide about the issues we’re facing (again, I will continually post them on my social media sites).
3. YOUR OWN PERSONAL RAPID RESPONSE TEAM: You and 5 to 20 friends and family members must become your personal RAPID RESPONSE TEAM. Sign everybody up so that when we need to leap into action (like we did at the airports the hour after Trump signed his Muslim Ban), you can email and text each other and make an instant plan.
4. JOIN! JOIN! JOIN!: We all know it’s time for all of us to be part of a greater whole, so let’s actually physically sign up online and JOIN some of our great national groups. I’ve joined Planned Parenthood, ACLU, Black Lives Matter, Democratic Socialists of America, and ERA Action.
5. THE WOMEN’S MARCH NEVER ENDS: Consult the Resistance Calendar to find out what actions are taking place near where you live.
6. TAKE OVER THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY: The old leadership has to go. God love ’em for their contributions in the past, but if we don’t enact a radical overhaul right now, we are doomed as far as having a true opposition party during the Trump era.
7. HELP FORM BLUE REGIONS OF RESISTANCE: If you live in a Blue State, you have one of the MOST important tasks to complete: Show the rest of America what it looks like when Trump isn’t in charge!
8. YOU MUST RUN FOR OFFICE: Why not take out a petition today and run next year?
9. YOU MUST BECOME THE MEDIA: Use Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, and other social media sites to spread news and information.
10. JOIN THE ARMY OF COMEDY: Trump’s Achilles heel is his massively thin skin. He can’t take mockery. So we all need to MOCK HIM UP! Use your sense of humor and share it with people.