White supremacists AND genius political philosophers

Suddenly it is mosquito season. Thankfully, this year, like last, it arrived in July. Some years mosquitoes appear in May. And when they take over yard work is accompanied by constant buzzing and biting. So yard work tends to not get done. Because of the heat (thankfully below 90F) my exercise earlier this week was indoors walking one of a few malls in the area. Yesterday was the first time this week I walked the neighborhood. That’s when I first encountered the mosquitoes. When I got home I hoped I could get inside without too many coming in with me. Yeah. I killed three while sitting at my computer. They made the mistake of flying between me and the computer screen (not that I killed them right then). After each one was the question are there more? I killed a fourth in my bedroom. I heard then spotted it while reading in bed. I have a firm rule that any mosquito must die before I turn the light off for the night. A fifth buzzed my ear at 2:30 am. That was enough to wake me up and get me ready to do battle. I don’t sleep well hearing or waiting for that buzz and a possible bite. While up I used the bathroom, where I killed the sixth. I don’t think I’ve ever has six mosquitoes in my house in one night. I wondered if there was a hole in a window screen. I checked (back at mosquito #4) and didn’t see any holes. I don’t sleep well after the effort of killing the last two mosquitoes. It took more than an hour to get back to sleep. Today I went in and out through the garage. It’s a two-door process, so hopefully a much lower chance of buzzing insects getting into the house. Back in 1960 Ruby Bridges, then six years old, was part of the effort to integrate New Orleans schools. Norman Rockwell created a painting of her being escorted by federal agents. There are books about her, including one for children titled, Ruby Bridges Goes to School written by Ruby Bridges. Lauren Floyd of Daily Kos reported that Robin Steenman, head of the Williamson County, Tennessee chapter of a Republican group Moms for Liberty doesn’t like the school district using that book. She wants the book banned from the classroom because it is part of (the conservative definition of) Critical Race Theory. Floyd wrote:

She voiced her disapproval of educators teaching words like "injustice," "unequal," "inequality," "protest," "marching," and "segregation," and Steenman highlighted a portion of Bridges’ book that described a "large crowd of angry white people who didn't want Black children in a white school." The white mother said it too harshly divided Black and white people, without offering any "redemption" at the end. So basically Bridges told the truth, and Steenman is angry about it.

Of course, there isn’t any redemption at the end of the Ruby Bridges story. Sixty years later there still isn’t any redemption, though one might ask what Steenman’s definition of redemption is. There is still a large crowd of angry white people around black people who are trying to better themselves. Redemption stories usually mean the vilified people have come to a new understanding and are no longer acting in evil ways. That clearly hasn’t happened in white America. Steenman’s complaint is proof that redemption hasn’t happened. In some of the embedded tweets in the comments the topic turned to the Founding Fathers and their ownership of slaves. Michael Harriot responded to someone who tweeted something about what Frederick Douglass supposedly said. Harriott replied:

But here’s the problem with your argument: absolutely no one argues that the founders are worthless. They were white supremacists, rapists, hypocrites AND genius political philosophers. YOU are the only one that can’t seem to comprehend that all those things can be true.

Harriot added:

1. 42 of the 56 founders owned slaves 2. Of the 7 known as “Key founders” (Adams, Franklin, Hamilton, Jay, Jefferson, Madison, Washington), 6 owned slaves 3. 4 never freed their slaves 4. EVERY SINGLE ONE wrote that slavery was morally wrong

Kerry Eleveld of Kos discussed two members of Congress from Michigan’s conservative areas. They are Fred Upton, in his 18th term, and Peter Meijer, in his first term. Both have rejected the Big Lie. Alas, many of their voters and fellow Republicans have not. So the two will attract primary challengers. They also have name recognition, deep pockets, and the power of incumbency, so don’t count them out. I mention all this because of this bit Eleveld wrote:

At one point, ‘Festival of Truth’ organizer Larry Eberly told the crowd, “I will die first before they shove that needle into my arm.” As Meijer said, “People are willing to kill and die over these alternative realities.”

They’re willing to kill and die to preserve their position in the social hierarchy, certainly above those they consider beneath them. Ruth Ben-Ghiat, as part of an introduction to her article in the Washington Post and with a photo of the Capitol attack, tweeted:

Presenting non-Whites as an existential threat to the future of America makes it easier for the public to accept violence around political events, like elections, as necessary to 'save the country.'

I had written that Toyota had been the largest donor to insurrectionist members of Congress. Judd Legum tweeted:

@Toyota reverses course, will STOP donating to members of Congress who voted to overturn the election. The company faced a backlash after it donated 62K to 39 Republican objectors.

That’s great! Though a lot of other promises to refuse to donate to insurrectionist members didn’t last long. Eleveld added that a major part of that backlash was an ad by the Lincoln Project, a Republican anti-nasty guy group. The ad discussed Toyota’s support of insurrectionist members of Congress. That prompted Toyota to announce its change in giving and Lincoln Project to pull its ad. The Lincoln Project has not yet announced which corporation it might target next. I mentioned these promises don’t last long. Eleveld wrote that one of those earlier promises was Toyota’s, made at the same time as other corporations after the insurrection. Dan Price, who cut his pay by a million to make sure his workers were well paid and said the move was worth it, tweeted:

When the pandemic began there was 1 person worth $100 billion Now there are 9 When the pandemic began the 10 richest people had $695 billion Now they have $1.36 trillion And they paid a lower tax rate than service workers who risked their lives for $7.25/hour in a pandemic

In a second tweet Price listed his sources. Bill in Portland, Maine, in his Cheers and Jeers column for Kos, quoted some late night commentary:

Clip of Sen. Susan Collins (Trump Cult-ME) on Senate floor arguing against the new voting rights bill: S.1 would take away the rights of people in each of the 50 states to determine which election rules work best for their citizens. John Oliver: Well, yeah, it would. And that's because history shows that "certain" people in "certain" states have determined which election rules work best for "certain" citizens. That's the whole f---ing problem, Collins. Your party might know that if it wasn't so busy fighting to cover up that history. —Last Week Tonight