MAKING WAR AGAINST DEMOCRATIC MAYORS: ANOTHER GEORGE III ?
In the late 1760s and 17770s the British Parliament and George III, King of England pursued a policy of “law and order” in the cities of his colony, America. When a group of unruly colonials who had been protesting unequal treatment as British citizens and dumped a shipload of tea into Boston Harbor, the loss of fortune angered him so that he sent British troops to Boston and closed Boston Harbor. The harsh treatment by British troops escalated tensions. further, leading to more unrest. He began confiscating their weapons and arresting the protest leaders. This infuriated the colonials and the march to Lexington and Concord to subdue Massachusetts colonists led to “the shot heard round the world” (Ralph Waldo Emerson).
We have president who believes he has unlimited powers of a monarch or despotic leader. A president who follows the lead of authoritarians of Russia, N. Korea, and China. His “best friends” and “very strong leaders” and “briliant” people. We have a president who does not recognize the freedoms assured our citizens under our Constitution. We have a president whose only interest is in consolidation and retention of his power as president, supported by a Republican Party with the same goal.
And now, he threatens war against cities led by Democratic Mayors. Republicans allow him to attack their political opposition, the Democratic Party. In Georgia, with Republican governor at the helm, a Republican governor has sued the Mayor after she mandated masks. She followed CDC and WHO guidelines, to save the lives of Atlanta residents she has sworn to protect from the covid pandemic rampaging her community. In Portland, lacking local Republican leadership, our George III sent in camouflaged secret police, using them as a private army, to enforce his will, and suppress the citizens protesting racist and unequal treatment as our colonial ancestors did in 1770s.
In response to King Georg III and the British Parliament Thomas Paine wrote a pamphlet titled COMMON SENSE in which he rejected the monarchy and called George III a “royal brute.” He argued that the colonials create an American Republic, a state without a king. And they did. The new country’s political philosophy, as defined by Thomas Paine and enshrined in our Constitution and laws holds that elected representatives, not a monarch, should govern the ship of state. Citizens decide who governs them, and decide other issues, on the basis of majority rule. And perhaps most importantly, Paine’s theory of “republicanism” demanded adherence to a “code of virtue” which became a guiding principle of the patriots/protesters conduct. This concept of adherence to a code of conduct established the norms of government, and its purpose was to establish a common good for all those living in the new republic.
The Republican Party in leadership today, and the president/despot they support, refuse to adhere to the code of conduct and norms adopted by our founding fathers. They jeer when a Democratic Senators, Congresspersons,Governors or Mayors adhere to the code. They shame citizen protester/patriots who insist upon the code and the promised freedoms of our Constitution, using words like the profane “libtards”.
We have a president and Republican leadership which creates chaos and then implements “law and order” strategy to suppress the opposition in the streets of our cities, and to suppress the vote of its political opposition. Just as the British Parliament supporting GeorgeIII did so long ago.
annarino writes 
There is No War on Women,by Louise Annarino,1-25-2014
There is No War on Women,By Louise Annarino
There is no war on women. What we are watching play out is an age-old phenomenon of men who fear women’s sexual expression. Whether it is the Taliban, fundamentalist Muslims-Jews-Christians,or Mike Huckabee, the chastisement and need to control women springs from men’s fear of loss of their own control. I refuse to allow their fear to become my burden. I suggest they learn to handle it all, as I must handle my own fears. Their fear, their loss of control, is not my problem; but, they insist on making it so. I don’t call that a war. I call it fear mongering.
We use the word war too loosely. We enjoy hyperbole because it grabs our attention,holds our imagination, and allows us to believe we are heroes(another word used too loosely)fighting some grand battle. Anyone who has ever experienced war is insulted by this cavalier use of the word. Anyone who have ever acted heroically is appalled by its frequent use in today’s lexicon. As William Tecumseh Sherman who marched on Atlanta destroying all in his wake said in his address to the Michigan Military Academy in June 19, 1879, “You don’t know the horrible aspects of war. I’ve been through two wars and I know. I’ve seen cities and homes in ashes. I’ve seen thousands of men lying on the ground, their dead faces looking up at the skies. I tell you, war is Hell!” (Battle Creek Enquirer and News,Nov.18,1933). I cannot use the word “war” to describe anything but war. Fear is not war; and, unless we name what is happening correctly, we cannot address the problem we face correctly.
This fear of male loss of control when faced with female sexual expression has biological roots. http://www.webmd.com/balance/features/how-male-female-brains-differ Men’s brains are structured with less ability to maintain rational thought while in the throes of emotion. Of course they fear women whose brains allow them to cry,laugh,orgasm and think at the same time. Whom should we blame for this? The Hebrews tell a story of the first man and woman, Adam and Eve, in the Garden of Eden. Most of us have at least heard that story a time or two. There are two elements to that story: obedience to the male deity transferred to obedience to the first male, Adam. Who was to be obedient to these male prototypes? The woman. What do fig leaves have to do with the story? They are used to cover up human sexual expression, and thus control sexual expression which becomes sinful when the woman does not obey the man. That is what is going on today!
The Hebrews were not the first to tell such a story. Earlier cultures and religious traditions acknowledged the power of female sexuality; some accepted it and used it as an avenue to spiritual awakening a la the Vestal Virgins. Others fearfully suppressed it, a la female genital mutilation. We see vestiges of these practices today throughout our world. It is not only Mike Huckabee and Republican men who fear women. Democrats,Libertarians,Independents and a host of other men do, too. The men who do not fear women are able to trust and appreciate women, able to understand the biology of male/female differences without feeling inferior, and able to see diversity as an enriching experience,not one to be feared. There is that word “diversity” which too many of us fear. Such men exist within all political parties and religions.
Although I do not see such fear of women as merely a Republican issue, one must acknowledge that the Republican Party platforms have opposed Affirmative Action,our ONE effort to practice diversity; while the Democratic Party platform has embraced diversity.The Republican Party platform opposes women’s right to birth control and abortion,to freely manage her health needs to freely express her body’s sexuality; while the Democratic Party has embraced a woman’s right to choose how she uses her body sexually and how to protect her health. We cannot ignore that these two party positions are different, even though men are the same biological creatures, dealing with the same fears in both parties.
As a woman,I am not satisfied with the behavior of men in either party. It is not enough to add women to the mix, when the men make all the final decisions, and too often ignore and disparage our female voices. When women’s only strength comes from a separate women’s caucus, whose leaders are the strongest and wisest and most experienced political activists I know, rather than being hired into positions of political power we know we still have a long way to go. We may have “come a long way baby”,finally being allowed to participate in the race; but, the race officials-funders-judges are still men who too often control our political expression. The words men use to describe their view of women is not the problem. Their fear of women’s full and free use of her power is the problem. Huckabee apologists are busy trying to reframe how to control women as if male manners need fixed. Instead, they should focus on facing their own fears and finding their courage in the face of female power and sexuality.
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