Republicans Have Nothing To Offer Except Hate and Fear

Republicans Have Nothing To Offer Except Hate and Fear.

Recently while spanning my newsfeed, something jumped out at me about the Republican Party. Republicans have nothing to offer except hate and fear. As a matter of fact, it's been this way since the 1980s. 

The only two ideas I have ever seen come from the GOP are tax cuts and deregulation. It's true. We are officially in an election season now and in this writers view the Republicans have nothing to offer the American people. It's been 40 years, and all they have ever done is cut taxes for the rich and allow Corporations to run roughshod over our environment with deregulation. None of the above has ever helped the average working class person here in the United States. 

That's an issue. Reagan came along and slew the Labor Unions, and to this day they have not recovered. In doing so, America's once vibrant middle class was destroyed. That's not the only thing Reagan did. Aside from having no ideas other than cutting taxes and deregulation Republicans stay in power through two mechanisms hate and fear. When I think back to Reagan, I remember him telling us we need to be angry. That we needed to hate black people because of their taking all of our tax dollars by being on welfare. He invented the " Welfare Queen." 

Republicans and their media echo chamber Fox's News have painted a picture of well to do black folks just sitting around collecting unemployment checks and food stamps. It was a lie, a myth, but it worked. Just like Trump today Reagan worked his base into a frenzy until they were foaming at the mouth. The Republican base was in fear of their livelihoods. By doing so, he[Reagan] got people to vote Republican even though they had nothing to offer. 

George W Bush

George W Bush though, he spoke a great game about Muslims, did not demonize them in his speeches and in his talks. What did he do? He got the Republican base to hate Muslims through his war on terror. Now, I hear Republicans make the argument that he did not say " go hate Muslims." That he was very clear to separate the people who did nine 11 and the bad guys over in Afghanistan and Iraq from the everyday Muslim.

I remember well this to be true; however, his efforts failed. The Republicans and their deep-pocketed donors wanted those oilfields and fear, and hate was the order of the day. Bush knew it! We have the Christian Right leaders telling us Islam is a religion of hate.  Fox News has been spinning this lie for decades. What they're doing with representative Omar is sickening, and they're doing it because she is a Muslim. So, in spite of offering nothing but endless war and tax cuts he wins reelection. 

Now, What is Donald Trump Doing Today?

He's cutting taxes. He is deregulating, and he's getting his base to hate a new group of people. The others. Immigrants! They're the bad guys. First, it was the black people then it was the Muslims. Now, it's the Hispanics. You can bet your bottom dollar come general election time it will be Socialist and  Progressives. 

Who's the next target. Who's the next group that we need to hate and fear so much that we're willing to vote for a political party that has had no new ideas since who knows when. Since 1980 we have been told by different Republican leaders which group we need to hate and why we need to vote for Republicans to keep us safe from these groups. 

Written By: Johnny Hil

Discourse Unplugged with Johnny Hill #1

The House 

May The House Come To Order. 

Hello friends,  I finally have time to share and be with you fine peeps. It may be getting cold outside, but we are turning up the heat in the House of Public Discourse. Johnny Hill makes no bones about his passion for covering politics. We all have a shot being at least a drop in the bucket, and collectively these drops could become a flood to perfect positive change. When you peel back all the rhetoric, we find that nobody knows the answers, nobody has a solution, it's the makings of a bloody revolution to our troubled evolution. As One Nation Under A Groove we find melody and music to convey our message of just get down for the funk of it attitude and mindset. And, just like Sting sang about many of us were at one time Englishmen In New York. 

But, right now, I find a message in this classic jam by the group Chicago simply entitled: Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is? 

 then came : The Police

We Were All Immigrants At Some Point Except Those Brought Here Against Their Will!!!!!

Something from Tom

Personality Traits Of The Right Wing Extremist

There are many facets to the personality of a right-wing extremist. There have been many studies conducted on the issue. As a starting point, The Authoritarian Personality (1950) by Theodor Adorno, explored the connection between personality and fascist orientation. This study identified a personality connection characterize by a dynamic between authoritarian aggression and authoritarian submission. The study also found a common thread of anti-semantic and  anti-liberal sentiments existed in the right-wing extremist. However, much of this early study has given way to more recent research. But, the one constant factor remains, most right-wing extremist hold prejudices against minorities and any behavior that does not conform to the perceived values of the group.

In recent times, right-wing extremist have been re-labeled right-wing authoritarian followers.   

In a sense, these attitudes are broad social, and political predispositions and feelings towards people who are outside the authoritarian belief patterns.  Recent research has focused on exogenous personal dispositions, in order to identify and explain individual differences and political orientations and behaviors.

These dispositions or traits are;

• Openness to experience.
• Conscientiousness.
• Extraversion.
• Agreeableness.
• Neuroticism (or emotional instability)

People who score high on openness are curious, open-minded, creative and value novel stimuli. The conscientiousness person loves for there to be an order and obedience to norms and rules. Impulse control and task orientated goals are paramount. Extraversion implies an out-going personality and approach to life. Traits such as sociability, assertiveness and positive emotionality are common in extraversion personalities.People who score high on agreeableness are modest, trusting, altruistic and tender-minded. Neuroticism describes a pattern of negative emotions. That is related to feelings of anxiety, vulnerability and uneasiness.

There has been an ever increasing bevy of empirical data on these personality traits which investigates attitudes towards out-group members, especially immigrants. This new evidence has clearly shown that openness to experience is the most important predictor for differences of prejudice towards these out-groups. This attitude differs from the right-wing authoritarian who tends to feel they have a social dominance over these so-called out-groups. They tend to have a superior sense of morality for example. Similarly, agreeableness persons show a high disregard for right-wing authoritarianism and their views of social dominance and negatively reject right-wing extremist orientations. By contrast, conscientiousness people have shown a severe disdain for minorities and immigrants according to the study. They embrace right-wing authoritarian viewpoints, and many either agree with or find an excuse for right-wing extremist actions. Neuroticism [Neurotic] relates solely to right-wing authoritarian views and makeup a majority of people who join or participate or sympathize with right-wing extremist groups. The Extraversion [ Extrovert] exhibits no systematic association with out-group derogation or right-wing extremist elements.

Right-Wing Extremist

Based of this research, this writer contends that people who tend to be opened-minded to experiences are tolerant to others from  perceived out-groups. People from another background are interesting to the open-minded person.  Moreover, this open-mindedness fosters appreciation for their different ideas and opinions. This reality makes them less likely to advocate anti-pluralist political ideologies.  For this reason, most open-minded people are demagogued by the right-wing extremist as being such things as socialist, communist, do-gooders, and lastly, liberal swine. In fairness, the open-minded person tends to feel that the right-wing extremist are uneducated derelicts of society. People who score high in agreeableness approach others with trust and are sociable and don't tend to get caught up in group boundaries. Moreover, agreeable persons are altruistic and advocate equality rights and support democratic ideas rather than laws of the strongest and go fend for yourself mentalities of the right -wing extremist.

However, people high in conscientiousness show a deep hate and fear of those in the out-groups. They challenge their established group relations, traditions, and social norms. In addition, their love for order makes them more comfortable with authoritarian political beliefs. With the Neurotic, who tend to be emotionally unstable they feel threaten by those in the out-groups. They show the condition of  institutional racism and exhibit superiority attitudes towards minorities and immigrants alike. These attitudes serve as compensation for their paranoia, and feelings of uncertainty. Therefore, they are attracted to right -wing extremist beliefs.  For the Extrovert, relationships can be ambiguous. They value self-expression and self-enhancement which results in a view for the obvious, " freedom of expression." However, this sense of freedom coupled with their dominant focus on their personal advantage some extroverts draw to the hierarchy-based beliefs of the authoritarian and can lead them to right-wing extremism.  
         

  

Calling On The Yellow Rose Of Texas-Save Us Again!

An overflowing of immigrant families, mostly children, at the U.S. border with Mexico has led to calls for aid from the Obama administration and has sparked the conversation regarding immigration reform. Border patrol spokespersons have indicated that within the past two-weeks the number of people detained has fallen from 1,400 per day to 1,000 per day. The decrease has been attributed to several dynamics from both sides of the border.

Raul Ortiz

 Raul Ortiz, deputy chief of the Rio Grande Border Patrol Sector, told NBC News.

The decrease can most likely be attributed to dynamics at play on both sides of the border, Ortiz said. While border patrol officers usually see a 10 percent decrease in immigration in July, he said, this month also followed a June "deadline" that people crossing from Central America thought they had to make in order to stay in the U.S. legally. That supposed benefit was false.The rumors were spread by cartels, looking to make money by ushering people into America through Mexico. 

There have been messages put out by the Dept of Human Services warning people of the dangers in trekking across the U.S. and Mexico border. Also, the Obama administration has beefed up the agents on the border as well. 

With all this happening you then factor in the right-wing politicians making political hay of these present realities by placating to their largely racist anti-government base blaming the current administration for the problem when, in fact, is only following the protocols put in place by their own past president George Bush. We have heard of domestic terrorist groups masquerading as so-called organized militia threatening to locate to the border and start shooting woman and children.

In this writers view, what we have in play here is a cultural war and a total ignorance of the history of both the United States and the State of Texas. As a resident of Houston, Texas, I know firsthand just how diverse this city has become and the entire state for that matter. Very few people realize that Houston has surpassed both New York and Los Angeles as the most diverse city in the nation. This distinction is also relative of the state as a whole. Our country has long been labeled a ' melting pot." and has always been a country that has prided itself for its welcoming of people looking for a better life. So, why the indifference now? If you look back on it, the same elements whining and crying about these children at our border now where outspoken in allowing temporary work furlongs for immigrants to combat unionize workers and to facilitate so-called " right to work," legislation. What this is boiling down too is a cultural social war and the issue to this point has become a play toy for the right-wing radicals and their wind up doll politicians like U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who incorrectly said that Barack Obama has promised amnesty to illegal immigrants.[See Article] 

Calling On The Yellow Rose Of Texas, Save Us Again!

    Many people may or may not know that the person who was credited for detaining Mexican General Antonio López de Santa Anna, was a lady by the name of Emily D West also known as Emily D Morgan. This detainment according to both folk-lore and secular history enable the Texas rebels time to form and defend and defeat the Mexican army at the Battle of San Jacinto. This battle has been widely accredited for turning the tide in the Texas Revolution. Ironically, this decisive battle was fought right here in Harris County,Texas and home of  the nation's most diverse city Houston. What does this story have to do with woman, children, and families crossing into our state borders, one might ask?

Firstly, it goes to the word diversity. Not being originally from Texas, this writer was aware of the famous folk tune ' The Yellow Rose of Texas.' however, I did not know the story behind it and I surly assumed she was a white person. How wrong was I, very!

According to several reliable sources Ms. Emily West was a mixed race person. A teenage orphaned free Negro woman in the northeastern United States, journeyed by boat to the wilderness of Texas in 1835.  Colonel James Morgan, on whose plantation she worked as an indentured servant, established the little settlement of New Washington (later Morgan's Point). When Santa Anna and his troops arrived in the area, he claimed West to take the place of his stay at home wife in Mexico City and the traveling wife he had acquired on his way to Texas. The traveling wife had to be sent back when swollen river waters prevented him from taking her across in the fancy carriage in which she was riding. Santa Anna was either partying with West or having sex with her when Sam Houston's troops arrived for The Battle of San Jacinto, thus forcing him to escape in only a linen shirt and "silk drawers;" in which he was captured the next day. West's possible forced separation from her black lover and her placement in Santa Anna's camp, according to legend, inspired her lover to compose the song we know as "The Yellow Rose of Texas." [See Article]

In Closing, how ironic that the icon for saving Texas from defeat in it's fight for independence was a woman of mix race. This should serve as a symbol to all Texans and Americans alike how endorsing the detainment, and unwelcoming of these woman, children and families goes against our heritage as a state and a nation.We as concerned citizens should not let the voices of the racist and politically motivated politicians dictate the policy of We The People. With that said, we call on the yellow rose of Texas, save us again! 

The Statue of Liberty Song

Written By: Johnny Hill

Research: Roni May