The Threat of Trumpism Remains #191 By Hank Silverberg
I have hesitated to write about this since the presidential election, because frankly I wish it would just go away. Trumpism is alive and still creates a clear and present danger to our way of life. January 6th proved it and we should no longer ignore it or minimize the impact.
Trumpism lives, not just in Washington, but in statehouses, city councils and school boards across the country. And this warped populist theory can be the ruin of us all.
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| (Virginia Governor's mansion) |
Former Democratic Governor Terry McAuliffe, who left office four years ago because Virginia law prevented him from serving a second consecutive term, is running again. He had a high popularity rating when he left office, so his attempt for another term surprised no one.
McAuliffe is facing wealthy Republican businessman Glenn Youngkin, who has never held political office and is spending lots of his own money to become governor.
Youngkin has an endorsement from Donald Trump. Though Youngkin has not totally latched on to Trump in public, he talks a lot like Trump, but in coherent sentences with less vitriol.
Trump lost Virginia by 10 % in 2020 and the GOP lost the 2017 election for governor by 8%. In 2019, also during the Trump administration, Democrats took control of the state's General Assembly for the first time in 26 years.
Virginia, which ten years ago was purple, is now solidly blue--but the GOP maintains strong support in much of the rural parts of the state.
Early voting in this year's election is already underway, though turnout as of last week, is light.
Youngkin has towed the standard GOP line on most issues like abortion and taxes, though it's hard to find details or policy statements anywhere except on some vague but slick TV ads. He's pro-gun and anti- abortion, though he has been vague on both of those issues as well. He has made eliminating taxes at the supermarket a big part of his TV campaign. He says he will "oppose and veto any and all efforts to increase taxes."
These are standard GOP talking points that play well in Virginia's rural areas and the upscale, GOP voter rich bastions of Northern Virginia and the Tidewater area.
But here's why Youngkin is not qualified to be Governor, and why the possibility should make us all shiver.
He had consistently avoided confirming that the 2020 presidential election results were legitimate, perpetuating the Trump big lie. And Youngkin has stood on top of the fence on this detail until he was finally pinned down by Axios last week and admitted the election results were accurate.
He clearly avoided doing this before so that he would not anger Trump or Trump voters.
Glenn Youngkin's play: Forever-Trumpers and Never-Trumpers - Axios
On the January 6th insurrection, Youngkin has denounced violence as a tactic, but he has been flip- flopping on whether the cause of that violence, an attempt to stop certification of the election, was right or wrong and he has not separated himself from the people involved.
What's frightening here are the latest polls in Virginia which show McAuliffe with 48% and Youngkin at 43%, putting the Republican within striking distance of the Governor's mansion.
The bottom line: You can debate over taxes, guns and abortion. But any candidate who has not automatically embraced the results of the 2020 election and does not automatically denounce the January 6th riot and those who participated, is not qualified to be Governor.
Note to my readers: This is not an endorsement of Terry McAuliffe, who has some problems of his own that will need to be watched closely if he is elected. But putting Youngkin in the Governor's mansion would be a step back into darkness. Just think about that before you enter the voting booth.
Food Warning:
Don't read this if you have just had dinner. If you use a lot of spice or food additives on your meals or if you bake or cook with such spices, you'd better take a close look at what's in your cabinets.
The FDA has seized more than 25,000 boxes and bags of ready-to-eat spices and additives such as monosodium glutamate, crushed red chili and some sesame seeds, from a warehouse in Miami run by the Lyden Spice Corporation.
It took a while though, for the FDA to act. The inspection that found the problem took place between June 8 and June 28, but results were just announced. So check your shelves and make sure you don't have any of this stuff in your stock.
Dumbest Quote of The Week: A repeat performer this week--none other than the second dumbest Congressman in Washington, Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina. (MTG is the dumbest.)
Speaking at a conference last week, Cawthorn said:
"Christians are not really supposed to be in government or whatever is going on. I encourage you to look back into the Old Testament. Look at David, look at Daniel, look at Esther. Look at all these people who influenced governments of their day to uphold Christian principals."
Say what? The Congressman needs to go to Sunday School. There were no Christians at the time of David, Daniel or Esther, and no "Christian principals." They were all Jewish. David reigned as King of Israel between 1035 and 970 B.C.E., or about a thousand years before historical Jesus was born. Esther and her run-in with the Persian King Ahasuerus (or Xerxes), was about 483 B.C.E. , 500 years before historical Jesus was born.
Cawthorn is a total embarrassment to the people of North Carolina.
(Your suggestions and comments are welcome)
(Copies of my latest book "The Campaign" can be purchased at the links below. Or you can buy a copy by emailing me at:
HankSilverberg@gmail.com
for instructions on how to get a copy at a reduced price and with a signature)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B084Q7K6M5/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-campaign-hank-silverberg/1126429796
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