Experts in autocracies have pointed out that it is, unfortunately, easy to slip into normalizing the tyrant, hence it is important to hang on to outrage. These incidents which seem to call for the efforts of the Greek Furies (Erinyes) to come and deal with them will, I hope, help with that. Even though there are many more which I can't include. As a reminder, though no one really knows how many there were supposed to be, the three names we have are Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone. These roughly translate as "unceasing," "grudging," and "vengeful destruction."
It has been a rough week, only slightly alleviated by the news that two law enforcement murderers (out of how many hundred?) will be facing, one a possible penalty (after a plea bargain), the other charges (and what else remains to be seen), for their crimes. The passage of the AHCA (Abysmal Horrible Crap Act) has dominated the news, and, as fury-worthy as it is, there is really nothing to say about it that hasn't already been said, and that multiple times.
Although, perhaps I can come up with some words that have not been seen – at least not nationally – the lamebrain in question probably sent them to the local papers, but I don't know whether anyone bothered to publish them, as predictable and vapid as they are. The Congressman for CO-05, Douglas Lamborn, my Congressman, sent out this statement in an email:
"I have kept my promise to replace Obamacare with a patient-centered plan that reduces government control, lowers costs, and increases the health care choices available to the American people. The AHCA has improved over the last month. The Freedom Caucus has worked with the moderate Tuesday Group to forge a compromise that will lower premiums and increase the flexibility of individual states to manage their health care decisions. Additionally, I personally negotiated with House Leadership to fix an error that locked veterans into the VA health system and prevented them from accessing the benefits of the AHCA. Securing this important victory for our veterans allowed me to support the bill.
With this vote, we have ended the individual mandate, blocked federal funding from going to Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers, phased out Medicaid expansion, reduced regulations and taxes, and gutted Obamacare. I hope that the Senate is able to build upon the good work done by the House and deliver a strong bill to the President. By standing with President Trump, Vice President Pence, and Health and Human Services Secretary Price, I have voted to move us forward to a future of improved health care access and affordability for all Americans."
(It is also on his website, but we don't link to websites of this nature here.) I am sure it is now obvious to everyone here, if it wasn't already, why I make a point of remaining on good terms with Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone.
Just for good measure, though, on the National Day of Prayer this week, Shouty McShoutface signed an executive order regarding "Religious Liberty." Naturally it was one of those documents that promulgate and support making it legal for those calling themselves "Christians" to discriminate against anyone not calling him or herself Christian – or, calling him or herself Christian, but not looking exactly like the "Christian" doing the discriminating. And, of course, Congressman CO-05 had on opinion on that too:
"I want to commend President Trump for signing today's Executive Order on Religious Liberty, defending the liberties enshrined in our founding documents, and making good on campaign promises to preserve and protect religious freedom. Along with other Members of Congress, I urged the President to act quickly on this order, to restore to people of faith the freedoms that have been being encroached upon in recent years. Under the Obama Administration, men and women faced crippling penalties for simply living out their faith in everyday lives.
The United States of America has a long and rich history of being a bastion of freedom for those persecuted for living out their religious beliefs. I am grateful for the efforts of this administration to return to those values by reining in the culture of government intimidation and unfair punishments of those seeking to faithfully live out their deeply held convictions. No one should ever be forced to decide between giving up their deeply held convictions or facing the threat of unfair government punishment through crippling fines. Religious liberty takes nothing away from American citizens, but merely underscores the value and right of religious expression for the many millions of Americans who hold to a particular faith."
(The picture shows him accepting the "True Blue" arard from the Family Research Council. No comment.) Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone, dealing, as you generally do, directly with prime movers of evil, you may think I want you to go after this guy, and, in a way, you would not be wrong. However, this Congressional District is laid out in such a way that if you took him out, he would most likely be replaced by someone worse. I can't even call that a gerrymander. It became like this when far right Christianist and Dominionist groups all more or less simultaneously decided that Colorado Springs was a wonderful place to headquarter.
So what I really would like to happen is a change to the hearts and minds of the voters of CO-05 so that we can elect an actual human being to Congress. I know that's a tall order. And timeconsuming. It might not happen in my lifetime. It may not happen before the earth burns to a crisp. But I do think it is worth attempting. Dear ladies, thanks. And good luck.
The Furies and I will be back.
Cross posted to Care2 at http://www.care2.com/news/member/101612212/4051167
6 Responses to “Everyday Erinyes #73”
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Rep William Hurd was the only TX republican to vote NO to this AHCA, (like your version better), 23rd district. That came as a surprise to me as all others here voted no.
https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2017/05/04/rep-will-hurd-texas-republican-vote-gop-obamacare-repeal-bill
Saw a comment that someone wrote, (can't remember where tho), that said, "Any and all Members of Congress who supported TrumpCare should be enrolled in it!".
NDP: TX Gov Greg Abbott went to Brownsville to pray on this day.
He said, "I have seen first hand that Texans can make the impossible happen simply because of our faith," I am thinking I need to pray harder and more, as I write this.
Ladies, it's getting harder each week, but I have faith that you will prevail!!
Thank you, Joanne for post.
Is Hurd also in a district that went for Hillary? That may be why. He certainly was coy enough about it, wasn't he? So sorry.
Lamborn – May that be the rope that hangs him.
He believes in the freedom to impose state religion too.
Nail him, JD!!
I've been trying, but without success. In 2016 he didn't even deign to bother to attack his opponent, as far as I could see. In 2014 his opponent was able to hold him up to a little ridicule – didn't work. In 2014, he was primaried more or less from the right, and THAT didn't even work.
I think we need someone who stands to this district as Sean Patrick Maloney does to Faso's district in New York. If you missed it, he said to Faso, "Talk to your constitutents, or else I will." And I'm not at all sure that would even do the trick here.
Good grief, your Mr. Lamebrain is an exceptionally disgusting Republican specimen, Joanne! This calls for some heavy duty Fury action, combined with some progressive grassroots RESISTANCE to let everyone in CO-05 know what his and The Freedom Caucus' yes-vote will mean for them personally. A letter in every mailbox in the district! Lower premiums and more flexibility…my a$$! How many people with an income over $250,000 does he have in his district?
Lamebrain was also happy to claim he corrected an error for veterans, kicking them out of the VA health system, as I read it. What is your take on that, veteran Joanne and furious friends?
As for his abject take on the right of religious expression (never heard discrimination been called that before)…I really need to stop here and go out and buy myself one of those old fashioned plastic keyboard covers before I short-circuit this one too.
I don't understand how you do it, Joanne, keeping yourself from wishing this man to meet with a serious accident every time he calls himself your representative and then spouts all this bile-encrusted pseudo-christianity in your name. I hope writing this excellent article helped you cope a bit. And you're right to instruct the Furies well, as it seems unlikely that Lamebrain will ever be replaced other than by terminal illness or heart failure. The Furies must change the hearts and minds of his voters first, but when those voters are going to bodily experience what Drumpfcare really means for them, this may go more rapidly than we think.
When I was separated from the military, the healthcare for veterans who qualified was to stay on military health care – or, if they lived far from a military medical facility, there was a referral system. That was for those who qualified, generally through retirement or a service connected disability (but there are some additional niches). I didn't qualify and have never had VA care. But I do remember when TRICARE came into effect in the early 90's, and retirees were screaming to high heaven that the promise had been broken. I won't go into all of that (after all, health care is complicated), but one big red flag about veterans now is that apparently about eight million veterans who have never applied for VA care do in fact qualify for it, and under the AHCA, it would certainly be their best option. But the VA is terribly understaffed, and if 8 million new applications came in within, say, a couple of months, there would be chaos.
My concern is not so much that it will be Lamborn's terminal illness that removes him, but that it will require terminal illness for enough of his voters to remove him, and that may take time. With all the Christianist and Dominionist groups headquartered here, his voters come in all ages. Sigh.