@webmuskie
Lifelong activist, and democracy lover. Wishing I could be on the barricades at the moment, and would be, were my body not betraying me. Слава Україні! And glory to defenders of American freedom in these dark times.
that such money seems to give us. In these dark times we need to lean on each other and build structures made of people, not of programs and administrators. Yes we must demand no cuts everywhere, always. But we cannot forget our real power.
And what happens when the people who have power grant us their money, they also have the power to take it back. Our real power remains with our people, and instances like this should remind us that our power is in the grassroots, our people, and that is more powerful than the appearance of power
I would never endorse any cut to anything that funds my people, anywhere.
But I am an old timer and I remember when all we had was ourselves, our spirit, and our determination to live free. Money changes movements, because power goes to money and power goes to people, to paraphrase Saul Alinsky
This is my latest post on Substack
#disability #aging
open.substack.com/pub/justanol...
I remember first reading about this in a children's book. I'm 67 years old.
Will people move on this when things get bad? Things are bad now!
How many climate disasters do we need? I'd suggest moving the fossil fuel execs and politicians to Miami, except half the condos are soon to be condemned.
Think about it. You know you've been betrayed. You need new allies, and the progressive left (as opposed to liberals -- there is a difference) _is_ your natural allies.
The Trump administration is the wealthiest administration in history. It's led by billionaires who will run it only in their interest. That's what Project 2025 was about -- about stripping the last remnants of power from the rest of us. They are trying to carry it out.
And I am going to suggest that we stop playing liberal versus conservative, and stop falling for social issues. I am going to suggest that we all unify under the common issue of the elites versus the rest of us. We must unify for the good of the country...
So now the richest man in the world, a man who is barely a citizen, has bought himself the most powerful country in the world. I'm not going to rub salt in your betrayal. I'm going to remind you of the bottom line: politics has always been about the rich and powerful versus the rest of us...
with guns. It's all a distraction. It's just a matador, waving a cape hiding a sword. I supported Harris not because I thought she had the answers. I voted for her because she was a _politician_ , a certain kind of liar, and Trump was an outright predator. I'll take a liar over a predator any day.
Educated people, urban people, know LGBTQ people and people of different races, and know they're nothing to worry about. Rural people, working people, know guns and use them, and understand guns are just tools. So the right tries to scare rural people with unfamiliar people and the left scares...
But that's not the central issue. The central issue is the very wealthy and powerful, versus the rest of us. People who hide behind social issues, whether "right" or "left", are avoiding that issue. They're relying on how parts of America don't understand things the other parts understand...
I'm a Bernie Sanders/AOC progressive, meaning I believe that the central issue of politics is the elites versus the rest of us. We _do_ believe in LGBTQ rights because we think all people have rights, and people should be left alone to do what they want as long as they don't hurt others...
I was a Harris supporter. Not because I'm naive. I could see from the beginning that Trump was a con artist, and I knew from the start that Harris was a fake progressive, someone who hid her pro- business attitudes behind a lot of "left wing" social issues...
Well, you are seeing this more clearly now that you can see that the next Trump administration is going to be run by billionaires who never believed a word of all the lies they told you...
the elites. Left, right, it didn't matter. It was a division between those who benefit from corporate profit via murder, versus all of the rest of us who are victims of these people. The people of money and power, versus everyone else...
See what happened when Luigi Mangione shot the insurance CEO? The elites spoke of it as a horrible act of terrorism. The rest of us shrugged our shoulders, said "a mass murderer was just killed by a single murderer, how hum" and went about our day, or cheered the man, to the horror of ...
That gets to the point of my post here: there _is_ no 'your side' and 'other side'. The story of politics has always been the story of the wealthy and powerful versus everyone else. And I think you are beginning to see this more clearly...
(cheap crap from China would make my last attempt at a business an instant failure). I have family who identify as MAGA. One of them even was at January 6th. And I did not cut them out of my life, despite being from the "other side"...
To my MAGA friends...
Yes, friends. I'm one of you -- older, white, working class though my parents had a small business (I've tried a couple of those too, but it's not easy anymore to succeed at that...
It's some stupid for profit hedge fund run hell. Where is Luigi when you need him?
They say they will take away my Medicaid waiver home care aides if I do and then I really could not take care of myself. So I am stuck in a room alone all day except when they are there to hurt me.
I'm stuck in Elderwood at Burlington, rehab ward, bed 54a
They will kill me.
But at least I could call a doctor when I am sick. At least I know to space workouts out so I don't overdue. At least I can find food I can eat. And I would not be wrecking my shoulders by having to move in bed without a trapeze.
But I am not allowed to get out of here so I can take care of myself
This is all jumbled and it's missing a lot. But I can't stand, I can't eat or drink, and I can't even pee anymore. They are killing me.
I have to get out of here. But I don't have any way to get out of here. I would be safer at home even though I would not be "safe" because I can't transfer.
I got two showers in 2 1/2 months, because "being scheduled" is not the same as being showered.
Then they messed with my head around urinary retention because they were mad the bedpan leaks. And I have not been able to pee on my own for three days now. They had to cath me.
So I would crash, and be sick, and they would blame me for not wanting to work. And I would ask to talk to a doctor, about the crashes and about my pain, and they did nothing. They would not give me showers and when I'd complain they'd say "well, you are scheduled".
I told them the first day that I have lymphedema and would need to get my garments on to be able to safely sit up. Two and a half months later they finally put in an order to put on my garments. I just kept getting weaker. When they did hoyer me into my wheelchair they left me in it too long
When I pushed myself not very far in PT, I got sick, like getting the flu sort of sick, and then they'd blame me for "refusing" to do PT when I was not "refusing", I was sick. I knew I needed to talk to the doctor but they wouldn't allow it. They did not care that I got vertigo.
Where is Luigi when you need him??
I'm stuck -- trapped -- in a nursing home rehab, supposedly to help me recover from covid. But I am not being rehabbed, I am being dehabbed. When I arrived I could stand -- not well, but I could stand on two feet and sort-of pivot, but I could stand.
