Did You Hear the Story of the Texas Grinch Who Sent Asylum Seekers to the VP’s House on Christmas Eve?

During the holiday season, there is a lot of talk about goodwill toward others and giving a helping hand to someone who has less than you.

On Christmas Eve, several busloads of asylum seekers stopped in front of Vice President Kamala Harris‘s residence in Washington D.C. They were a “gift” from Texas Governor Greg Abbott. It was 18 degrees outside that night. Many of them were underdressed and unprepared for the freezing temperatures.

Remember in the Bible when Jesus shipped immigrants to below freezing temperatures on Christmas Eve to score some cheap political points at the expense of others? #GregAbbott isn’t Christian. He’s a sad, inhumane, cruel piece of shit.

— Francis Maxwell (@francismmaxwell) December 26, 2022

It takes a person with a cold heart to use human beings to score political points. It takes a person with no heart to use human beings to score political points on a day that is supposed to represent peace and understanding. These people, by the way, did not travel for thousands of miles just for shits and giggles. They wanted (like all previous generations of immigrants) a better life for themselves and their families.

I don’t believe in Santa Claus (for obvious reasons) and never have. Come next Christmas, I hope that Santa gives him the biggest lump of coal that he can find. It would be a fitting response for someone who is more concerned with keeping his job than being his sibling’s keeper.

P.S. In contrast, the President and First Lady spent the 23rd visiting sick children who were not able to come for the holidays. That is what the season is about.

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Electable: Why America Hasn’t Put a Woman in the White House . . . Yet Book Review

Over the last half a century or so, there has been a shift in regard to women and politics. Many nations across the world have had at least one female in the highest office in the land. Except for one….the United States.

Electable: Why America Hasn’t Put a Woman in the White House…Yet, by Ali Vitali was published last month. Dissecting the events of the 2020 Presidential election, she examines how it was both history-making and business as usual. Though there were a good amount of female candidates (Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren, etc), Joe Biden still ultimately won the Democratic nomination.

She also deconstructs previous elections (the 2008 and 2016 Presidential elections to be specific) and how both Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton were viewed by the press and the voters. As usual, the questions of “likability” were applied unequally. The qualities that were questionable or just plain wrong in terms of the female candidates were brushed off as completely fine for their male counterparts.

Throughout the book, Vitali asks two important questions:

1. When will we finally be able to say “Madame President” in this country?
2. When will women and men truly be equal, both legally and socially in the US?

This book is an important and vital read. It is a reminder of the fact that the glass ceiling is still intact and how far women still have to go. Given our present political circumstances (i.e. Roe V. Wade being overturned in June), we need to take a hard look in the mirror and ask why only a man can be President.

Do I recommend it? Yes.

Electable: Why America Has Not Put a Woman in the White House…Yet is available for purchase in bookstores.

Resistance: How Women Saved Democracy from Donald Trump Book Review

If our history books have proven one thing, it is that women are underestimated. We have so much power to change the world. But for that change to happen, that power must be harnessed and our voices must be heard.

In 2021, Resistance: How Women Saved Democracy from Donald Trump by Jennifer Rubin was published. Rubin tells the story of how American women, from 2016 to 2020, fought for our country while you know who sat in the Oval Office. The story starts in the fall of 2016 when he who shall not be named won that year’s Presidential election. Many presumed (myself included) that Hillary Clinton would be the winner. When the results were announced, shock, rage, and fear ran through the nation like a bolt of lightning.

Instead of taking to our beds and filling the proverbial hole with food or alcohol, we banded together. Organizations like EMILY’s List helped first-time political nominees from across the political spectrum run in their various districts. Not all of them won, but the fact that they threw their hats in the ring was enough to light the fires.

She spends several chapters towards the end of the book focusing on the female nominees who ran for President in 2020. Though we did not get America’s first female President, the fact that Kamala Harris was chosen as Vice President was enough to see that progress has been made. Though we know that the war for equality has not been achieved, the battles we have fought and won are victories in their own right.

This book should be required reading for every female (and anyone with a uterus by extension) above a certain age. Standing on the shoulders of previous generations of feminists, the women chronicled are history makers in their own right. Though there are those who would keep us down (I’m looking at you, SCOTUS), we have still found a way to rise up.

Do I recommend it? Absolutely.

Resistance: How Women Saved Democracy from Donald Trump is avaliable wherever books are sold.

What a Difference Four Years Make

There are some events in our lives that we never forget, regardless of how much time has passed.

The end of 2016 and the beginning of 2017 were politically difficult. Like many Americans, I was shocked, angry, and questioning how a man like you know who could have been elected to the highest office in the land. At the time, I was told by someone to give him a chance. After all, he was a political virgin. There was a tiny glimmer of hope that with time and help from those who were experienced that he would grow into the job.

How wrong we were. The late and respected poet Maya Angelou once said the following:

“When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time. People know themselves much better than you do. That’s why it’s important to stop expecting them to be something other than who they are.”

The last four years having been a wake up call, to say the least. Real democracy is not given, it must be earned and protected. Watching the inauguration on Wednesday, I felt as if there was a weight taken off our collective shoulders.

The words “history making” have been used countless times since November. Watching Vice President Harris take the Oath of Office, I couldn’t help but cry. The generations who have fought for equality for both women and people of color have not fought in vain. Comparatively speaking, writing or changing laws is a thousand times easier than changing hearts and minds. She stood on that podium not because of any laws, but because of the old ideas of what is or is not “appropriate” for certain members of our society have begun to fade away.

I have to admire President Biden. This was his third Presidential election. Given his age and his long career in politics, it would have been easy to retire and let someone else take the reins. But he saw the opportunity and the need and he stepped forward.

I do not envy of the job that the Biden administration has in front of them. To say that is a Herculean task is understatement. But I have hope and faith that with time, they will guide us out of this darkness and back into the light.

New Randy Rainbow Video: Don’t Tell Donald He’s NOT RE-ELECTED TODAY! – Randy Rainbow Parody

Learning to lose graciously is part of growing up. Most of us accept that by a certain age, we will have to admit that not everything in life is winnable.

We are several weeks out from the Presidential election. At this point, the results should be old news. The focus should be the peaceful transition from the current administration to the new administration. But, thanks the antics and false claims of voter fraud by you know who, the nation and the world is unable to move forward.

Enter Randy Rainbow’s new video, Don’t Tell Donald He’s NOT RE-ELECTED TODAY! – Randy Rainbow Parody. Using the song Getting Married Today from the musical Company, the video mocks the futile attempts to ignore the voice of the voting public.

What I love about this video is that in addition to the usual delicious satire, there is a feeling of rejoicing. We all know that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris won the election. It’s time to let them do their job and show you know who the door.

It’s Time to Get Over the Fact That You Know Who Lost the Election

When we are children, we are hopefully taught that we cannot always be the winner. Sometimes, we have to be the loser. I would think, that by the time we grow up, we accept this fact and lose with grace and maturity.

As the American public (and the world at large) has learned that you know who believes that he must always be the winner. Any other outcome is unacceptable and impossible.

The unacceptable and the impossible happened on Saturday when Joe Biden was declared the winner of the Presidential election. As expected, there have been a flurry of baseless lawsuits stating voter fraud. What is worse, there are some Republicans and members of the Presidential staff who perpetuate this claim.

I don’t know what is worse, the spoiled man-child who sits in the Oval Office or those around him who allow him to live in this fantasy world. Once again, it proves that they are more concerned with soothing his fragile ego rather than doing what is best for the country.

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris won the election fair and square. For the good of the country and our future, it is time to accept the truth and move on.

William Barr Forgets Who He Works For

At the end of the day, a civil servant, regardless of their job title, works for the people. We, the American people, pay for their salaries and benefits. For certain jobs, we decide who to hire and/or fire via elections.

Attorney General William Barr has forgotten this. After it was announced that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris won the election, you know who’s campaign not surprisingly claimed that there was voter fraud. There is of course, no hard evidence to prove that the accusations are legitimate.

But that did not stop his allies from stating otherwise. Among them is Attorney General Barr. Using his position, he has directed the DOJ to investigate if these statements hold water.

What bothers me is that Barr has forgotten who he works for. Though he is directly responsible to POTUS, he is not supposed to act as POTUS’s personal lawyer. The job of Attorney General is to be the country’s lawyer. That fact that Barr and many others have either forgotten or have chosen to turn their back on their responsibilities to the American people is at the very least, disturbing.

Politics aside, the reason I voted for the Democratic ticket is that both Biden and Harris understand who they work for. Neither are perfect (no one is), but their personal needs are not number one of the list if priorities. The needs of the nation are and will (hopefully) always be number one.

P.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper was fired yesterday by you know who. I wonder how many heads will roll before January 20th. If I was a betting woman, I would say that his will not be last on the chopping block.

Thoughts On the Anniversary of Kristallnacht and the Results of the Presidential Election

For generations, Americans have believed that our democracy was set in stone. Our basic rights, the political and cultural cornerstone of our nation was untouchable. Then you know who was elected President four years ago and it looked the American democracy was on shaky ground.

The anniversary of Kristallnacht is tomorrow and Tuesday. It was the unofficial beginning of the Holocaust. It was also a sign that dignity, democracy and humanity no longer existed in Germany.

Thankfully, Americans have shown our democracy and our freedoms are worth fighting for. In electing Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, we have perhaps avoided the path that led the to Kristallnacht and the Holocaust. But that does not mean that we can rest on our laurels. There is still much more work to be done before we can be the country that lives out the ideals in our founding documents.

Our Long National Nightmare is Over: Biden & Harris Win the Election

When we all went to bed on Tuesday, we know that the outcome of the election would not come immediately. After several days of constantly watching the news and holding our breath, we have a winner. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will be entering the White House as President and Vice President in January. Knowing that we will have the first female Vice President who is also a woman of color speaks to how far this country has come.

It goes without saying, that the response from you know is the adult equivalent of a tantrum.

Tantrum starts at 4:06

Instead of being and adult and accepting that he lost, he will continue to claim that voter fraud conspiracy cost him a second term. If (and I mean a huge if) that was true, there would have been a complete blue wave. Both Mitch McConnell and Lindsey Graham would lost their respective elections. But they didn’t, which is completely baffling to me.

As much as we can celebrate (and there is a reason to celebrate), there are two caveats. The first is that unfortunately, we have to wait until January before the Biden administration can actually get down to business. The second is that one of their first tasks will be to clean up the mess of the previous administration.

Although we know that there is still a lot of work to do, we can still take in the moment. Normalcy is on the horizon. I don’t know about you, but I am ready to for a boring President and a boring Presidential administration.

Every Vote Should Be Counted, Regardless of How Long it Takes

Election Day is one of the most stressful and exhilarating days on the American calendar. By the time we go to bed on November 3rd, the expectation is that we know who the next President will be.

Not this year.

As I write this, it is just about 24 hours after a handful of states in the North East have closed their polling stations. According to the various news outlets, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are close to receiving the 270 electoral votes needed to win the election.

As much as I would love to breath a sigh of relief and rejoice, I can’t. There are still millions of votes to be counted. You know who, could be acting like an adult and potentially lose gracefully. But, true to his character, several lawsuits have been launched to stop counting votes and/or recount what has already been tabulated.

As much as I hate to say it, this election cannot be declared as over. Every voter has a right to be heard. If we are the democracy we claim to be, we must wait until every vote is counted.