Republican Tariffs
Call them Republican Tariffs. When we pin words like "Trump" and "Musk" on these moves, we grant their enablers safe passage. Let's not do that.
Let me explain what I mean by “safe passage.” I want safe passage for everyone. That includes each of the billionaires our system sustains. But a white Christian in America shouldn't be able to rob the public coffer, terrorize vulnerable people, and wander our streets unaccosted.
That goes double for white Christians whose every material need is met by the constituents they solemnly swore to serve. Again, I want bodily safety for everyone, but I have a right to face my accusers and we, the people of the United States of America, have a right to put hard questions to those who terrorize us on our time and our dime.
Call your congresspeople. If you’ve ever in your whole life voted Republican (Reader, I have), tell the person on the line. Don’t give them any excuse to write you off. If you have any personal connection to your congressperson (Reader, I do), make the most of it. Speak slowly. Let them know you expect your employees to serve your interests and those of your neighbors. Let them know you’re prepared to do something drastic.
And again, say “Republican.” Are there Republicans in or out of office who believe we have a right to our own Social Security funds and that an attack on the proper administration of those funds is an attack on citizen constituents? I hope so. But I haven’t heard from one yet. Have you? I’m all ears.
Say “Republican.” Make them own it.
I agree, David. We have to make them own it, all of it.
In 2017, I went in person to Bob Corker's Nashville office, and I asked his staff person whether Sen. Corker agreed with Donald Trump's statement that Mexicans are drug dealers and rapists. The staffer was a bit dumbfounded and tried to backpedal, but I pressed him: "Bob Corker has said nothing to oppose Trump's statement, and so silence can only be interpreted as consent. My preacher father drilled into me the idea that you are what you tolerate. And if you tolerate false and racist statements like this by Donald Trump, then you are false and racist. And that means you also have a personal issue with me, because I have blood relatives who are Hispanic and who proudly served our country in Iraq, and I do not take kindly to you standing by while they're called drug dealers and rapists."
The staffer assured me that Bob Corker did not think that, but I insisted that he then must say so publicly.
I shared that story when I talked to staffers of Bill Hagerty and Marsha Blackburn by phone. And I asked if Sens. Hagerty and Blackburn agreed that Ukraine started the war, and that Zelenskyy is a dictator, and if they'd have voted with Russia and North Korea at the UN, and if they were cool with an unelected official who wasn't confirmed by the Senate closing our local Social Security office by fiat, and if Haitian immigrants were eating our pets. You are what you tolerate, and they tolerated all of this and more. And Hagerty actually issued some weasel-worded statement about Haitian immigrants that refused to condemn Trump and Vance.
Remember, please, that the staffers have to own this, too. When I call, I try to make a point of asking them if they agree, immediately acknowledging that I know they are not allowed to offer their own opinion. But I tell them that I have some previous experience working in politics, and I know that these people will steal your soul if you let them, and I am concerned about their souls. I ask them to go home and think about who and what they're enabling when they work for people like Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty. They're not used to being confronted in this way, but it needs to happen. If liars do not inherit the kingdom of God, and you're working every day to support liars, then you need someone to impose a reality check on your soul.
Yes to this x1000