Washington County is precisely 40.2 miles south of Pittsburgh. It’s smack-dab in the center between my place in the city and my sister Shawn’s house in Rogersville Pa. Whenever I drove from Pittsburgh to Waynesburg (where we grew up) to visit family, when I hit Washington Pa I knew I was halfway home.
In my younger years, if you wanted to eat at a nice restaurant, or see a new movie, or go to the mall, you made the trip north to “Little Washington”. I wonder, do they still call it that? It’s really not that little. Waynesburg never had a population greater than 8,000 people—Washington has a populace of around 225,000.
It’s not what it used to be, that’s for sure. It struggles with drugs and criminal activity now, heroin being the drug of choice.
A recent study says 97% of the state of Pennsylvania is safer to live in than Washington Pa. I find that hard to believe, I’d sooner live in little Washington than Harrisburg or Philadelphia, but what do I know?
This morning on ‘Morning Joe’ on MSNBC, a Republican official from Washington Pa spoke out on why Senator Pat Toomey from our state, one of the seven Republican senators who voted to convict Donald Trump, was being censured. “We didn’t send him to Washington DC to vote his conscience. We didn’t send him there to do the right thing. We sent him there to represent us.”
Doesn’t voting your conscience or doing the right thing take precedence? Like, EVERY time? I can’t believe this was their argument for censure. But I guess I can, as 65% of Republicans will defend Trump with their last breath. I just wish I knew why.
After the presidential election, when poll numbers became available (I love me some numbers), I learned that 21% of people in Allegheny County (Pittsburgh) voted for Trump. That’s 1 out of 5. Hm. Then I checked the voting results for Greene County (home of Waynesburg, my hometown).
72% voted for Trump. That’s almost 3 out of 4. I wasn’t surprised, when I was down there in October I saw VOTE FOR TRUMP signs everywhere I looked. Still… why?
Saturday I got a letter in the mail (a real letter) from Rita H, a woman my age who I worked with 20+ years ago (we keep in touch thru cards). She wanted to thank me for her birthday card and apologize for not sending out Christmas cards this year. Frankly she was too devastated over Donald Trump losing the election to a socialist like Biden.
Do you know how Rita and I became friends of sorts? We were working close together on an IT project in 2000, and she invited me out to dinner. When I said “Aren’t you married?” she laughed and said it was an invite to her church for something called a “Heathen’s Supper”.
She thought I was a nice person and didn’t want me to chance burning in Hell. I didn’t attend the supper, and I didn’t convert my beliefs. Now I’m wondering if I’d be a Trump supporter if I did.
Wouldn’t a Christian SUPPORT a so-called Socialist like Joe Biden, who is making it his priority to ensure everyone gets vaccinated and no one goes hungry? Does it honestly take that much reasoning within to see that Donald Trump is a very bad person and Joe Biden is a decent human being? Why is this so hard for so many?
I feel like that kid in the old Tootsie Pop commercial from the 1970s, asking the wise owl how many licks are in a pop. “I guess the world will never know.”
I do know one thing: Senator Toomey earned some of my respect for voting to convict Trump. Thanks for voting your conscience, Senator. Thanks for doing the right thing.
I once read an interesting definition: the difference between a cult and a religion is that the cult’s founder is still alive.
ReplyDeleteThe cult of Trump is essentially a religious cult and that makes it difficult to extract the true believers (and they’re all true believers).
I have a sort of similar story to yours. Many years ago I was working on an IT project and we had an American who helped design it over assisting us. He was a really nice guy and a Mormon. As he was staying close by, I often asked him to dinner, as he was alone – his wife joined him a few weeks later. He was okay with my (and occasionally Norma) drinking wine, just didn’t indulge himself.
Sometime later he said he’d like to thank me by taking me along to the Mormon Centre (also close by) for some special dinner. Big mouth that I am, I said, “Do you think the Elders would be happy with your bringing along a semi-alcoholic, divorced atheist?” He agreed, and I didn’t get to go. Unlike your friend, he wasn’t trying to convert me.
Peter I liked the cult-religion difference, that makes scary good sense. Also enjoyed the story about your Mormon acquaintance too, but haha he was just being nice and you were being a little too honest! Well, it was still a nice gesture--I can't say I was too impressed with my invite, and being branded a heathen! PS. I'm in the middle of Season 3 of "Rake". Parsing the show out, want it to last. Thank you again for recommending it!
Delete"The cult of the omnipotent state has millions of followers in the united States. Americans of today view their government in the same way as Christians view their God; they worship and adore the state and they render their lives and fortunes to it. Statists believe that their lives -- their very being -- are a privilege that the state has given to them. They believe that everything they do is -- and should be -- dependent on the consent of the government." ~ Jacob Hornberger
DeleteI was proselytized once by a born again Christian at work. (Actually, just outside of work.) They explained that since I did not share their faith (I'm Jewish) I would be going to hell, and they wanted me to have an opportunity to change that. They said that after much experience the best compromise they found between saving people and being able to get along with them was to make one effort to save them. After that, at least they weren't ignorant of the the choices of their actions, so the proselytizer wouldn't bother them again unless they expressed an interest. And indeed, we worked together another 2 years and the topic of religion never came up.
DeleteWhat it's like for a Trump supporter? If he runs in 2024, and if i'm still among the living, i'll vote for him again - unless he would pick some jezebel to be his running mate. Don't see that happening. Frankly, Joe Biden being President doesn't bother me too terribly much, it's the vice-President who scares me. Saw an article that ROC may run in 2024...yikes!
ReplyDeleteI don/t know what to say Sue, we are from too different worlds! I hope you're healthy & in good spirits for a very long time :)
DeleteI certainly don't understand what censuring a senator accomplishes. We elect our senators because their beliefs best represent ours, not because we expect them to vote like we want them to every single time. If they want to take vengeance on their senator for trying to convict Trump, I suggest they take that to the ballot box.
ReplyDeleteWe still have a pickup truck that drives around town flying a Trump flag. It is a good thing all vehicles weren't equipped with Surface to Air Missiles or I might accidentally hit the button.
I have never understood the Christian support of the Republican party other than abortion and liberty. Most of them want to be left alone by the government to do as they and their church pleases. I guess these out trump (no pun intended) any aid to the poor.
And to rest your mind Doug, if Trump runs again, I won't vote for him just like I didn't the last two times I had a chance. So far Biden hasn't been too bad although I think he messed up with the XL Pipeline and the border wall. Minor things compared to the mess that is the Affordable Care Act has become. I hope the Republicans can nominate a real moderate and I might be enticed. Otherwise I'm a third party candidate again unless Biden surprises me.
ReplyDeleteWell Ed, personally speaking I am very much against that pipeline and the border wall, and I can't help but sing praises for the Affordable Care Act as it has saved me from going bankrupt a couple years ago, but I know your feelings are based on knowledge & personal choice, and not out of some Trump zombie cult-thing, so (not that it really matters) I respect where you're coming from! I dig :)
DeleteWe used ACA insurance for 5 years and in that time the price tag increased from $350/month to just shy of $1800/month. The biggest reason for that is on year one, we could choose from 10 different insurers within our state. By year three there was exactly 1 insurer remaining in our state. Essentially in my view, all ACA did was eliminate private insurance companies in favor of a government run insurance company which runs backwards to solving the one big issue in healthcare in that insurance companies are prevented from competing against each other across state lines. Look at car/home insurance as an example. They can compete nationwide and as a result, most car/home insurance is affordable. With health insurance, Iowa only has one insurer left thanks to the ACA and though I live within 50 miles of two state borders, none of their insurance companies can sell insurance within our state.
DeleteI do think the ACA solved some issues such as covering gaps in employment, covering preexisting conditions and allowing minors to be covered for longer periods of time. It was marketed as healthcare for the poor but having a physician spouse who does volunteer work at free clinics, I can tell you all it has done is drive more people to the free clinics without health insurance.
Can it be fixed? I think so with some actual bipartisan solutions based upon science and medical input. Will it be anytime soon? I'm not holding my breath.
Stopping the pipeline I think was a mistake for many reasons. It was simply a feel good moment for the environmental side of politics but if one actually reads the problem, it has reversed it and is just creating more environmental damage. Stopping the pipeline didn't stop the oil flowing through the pipeline as it has for the last ten years. It only stopped the building of a new pipeline to replacing the aging of a natural gas pipeline never designed to pump crude as it has for the last ten years spilling millions of gallons of oil on the land. The new pipeline also hooked up our own oil fields so that we are less reliant on Canada's oil pumping through the old leaky natural gas pipeline. Despite being old and prone to leaks, the existing line is still much safer than the alternative of hauling all that oil via trucks and trains which is what is happening. We are creating a huge carbon footprint all in the name of stopping some pipeline to make us all feel good. We threw tens of thousands of people out of work during a national crisis with high unemployment. The only positive I can think on the entire fiasco is that it will drive up the price of gas at the pump and force people to reconsider the amount they drive and entice more renewable energy to be implemented, offsetting a small chunk of the huge increase we created in the carbon footprint simply because we refused to replace an old leaky pipe never designed to pump crude with a pipe made and using modern technology.
The correct solution is to reduce our dependence on the oil which I think Biden is attempting to do by setting carbon neutral dates but that has been done time and time again and only changed when the next administration gets to office and realizes the economy would collapse over night because we just aren't there yet and so the ball gets kicked onto the next administration. We are heading in the right direction. There are more wind turbines and solar panels going up all around me. But we still have a ways to go.
My $0.02 worth.
Oh, Doug, we know lots of T supporters (hard for me to even say the name). Most of our family live either in Texas or Louisiana... (enough said). As to "why"... don't think I will ever understand that. But I think it has to do with perception and what/how they think things could/should be done. For myself, all my alarms go off when that man speaks... have since the beginning... like an early warning system.
ReplyDeleteRian, thanks for commenting, it's always good to know a kindred spirit. I know Texas is Trump Country, but I also see it going in a more progressive direction--I think Louisiana is a lost cause though! Anyway, you guys sure are in a tough spot right now with your power issues, hope you get some real good news soon :)
DeleteWhat a strange world we live in, Douglas! At times I wonder if we are all even the same species of naked ape. And I can't think of anything more appetite squashing than attending Rita's "Heathen's Supper"!!!
ReplyDeleteFlorence, your words always give me a big smile, thank you! And yes I wasn't too impressed with the Heathen's Supper either, how in the world did that become a 20 year "card friendship"? I always wanted to ask if she got points or something for every heathen she brought in...I can STILL remember what she said when I said I'll pass. "Don't you like spaghetti and meatballs?"
DeleteHah! This heathen likes neither spaghetti nor meatballs! Bait for me would be pan fried portobello mushrooms or steamed asperagus. But I would smell a cult trap and bolt quickly away. Thanks for the chuckle, Doug, as I imagined poor Rita casting her web for your brain.
DeleteI will never understand why people (especially religious ones) would vote for that degenerate, unprincipled, narcissistic, dishonest con man. But how do I really feel? :) As I have pointed out to several fans of the ex-"president," your propaganda and conspiracy theories don't have a shred of fact or truth. But that's what they want to believe, which is terrifying. Logic and even caring about honesty and reality have gone out the window!
ReplyDeleteMargaret, that was so well said. I loved every word, thank you!
DeleteVoting his conscience and doing the Right thing earns my respect too. But, apparently not his constituents, which is just beyond sad since they imply that representing them would have been not having conscience and not doing the Right thing!?!???!?! I'm with you on the Whys? I'm also with you on wouldn't a REAL Christian support a decent Man and not clearly someone who could be the epitome of the Anti-Christ? I've never had to drop people over their Politics before now, but what it looks and sounds like to still be a tRump Supporter so Creeps me Out that I have distanced myself from any of them, no matter how long I've known them. Because, their Cult-like Support of him and everything he represents makes me painfully Aware that I didn't actually KNOW them at all!
ReplyDeleteThanks very much Bohemian, I know I shouldn't expect everyone to mirror my own feelings, but it's still nice when they do. :)
DeleteI was proud of the Toomey vote along with the 5 others who showed they had clear vision and open minds. I have family members who still think 45 is a poor picked on and misunderstood man. The trouble is we understand just what he is, an embarrassment to the human race. I just wonder what they see and hear when he speaks and acts? Mind Boggling.
ReplyDeleteThanks Patti, I couldn't have put it any better. And I know this is a tired subject, just when I saw that official yesterday from my neck of the woods, on a national program saying what he did... it's infuriating.
DeleteWell, Biden is pro-life and so is Trump. And so am I. That says it all.
ReplyDeleteGigi I'm not sure I know what you mean, but I don't buy Trump is pro at anything but being a rat!
DeleteI wanted to say something positive, constructive or insightful, but couldn't think of anything -- except maybe to quote Joe Biden: "I'm tired of talking about Trump."
ReplyDeleteA little off topic, on the TV news just now I watched the casino Trump Towers being demolished, which seems an awful waste. Can't they rename it and use it to house some of the millions of homeless? With a little renovating of course.
ReplyDeleteI saw that too, and that does seem a waste!
DeleteConsider the source. A building constructed as part of a Trump deal stands a much greater chance than average of being shoddily constructed, corners cut to save a bit of cash, building inspectors bought off, etc.
DeleteGlen that's probably true.
DeleteAs a political system starts to fail, as ours is, people start to lose faith in each other, in the idea that we can get back on track if only we apply a bit of common sense and common decency to come up with whatever patches, fixes and maybe new structures that are needed to repair and restore the system. As the failure worsens, common sense and common decency lose credibility with many as sufficient to repair the system.
ReplyDeleteEven in good times, myths grow up to rationalize the structure of the then successful system as owing to some sort of order that exists in the universe as the source of legitimate governmental authority. These myths are harmless while things are going well, but when things go south, one response is to blame the decline on a turning away from that divine authority.
You and I believe in common sense and common decency ordering society. That's just not good enough for people who believe that we have to have some fixed divine plan to inform public order.
They see us as agents of chaos, people trying to interfere with the divine plan which is the only source of order that can work, and which, as things slide further and further towards the Abyss, we ever more urgently need to all support. We set up the false idols of secular common sense and common decency, and the more right our solutions seem in the moment, the more dangerous and devilish adversaries we become because we are empowered to lead the weak astray.
Trump, Cruz, Hawley, all of those people who pay lip service to their concept of the source of order in the universe -- if only by opposing us -- the faithful have to forgive no matter how far they stray in their personal conduct from that plan, because at least they are God's instruments to smite the wicked. They would like to have leaders who show some semblance of godliness, but if they have to they will settle for Gog and Magog.
I really have a lot of respect for those 7 Republican senators who decided to vote with their conscience. What happened to the Republican party anyway? Aren't they ashamed of what they've become?
ReplyDeleteYou've asked the sixty-four thousand dollar question. One thing we can say about Trumpism, is that it's brought into the open the dark side of America, revealing there are more people in our country who have privately embraced his racist, misogynistic, sexist, selfish, values than I ever imagined. Also, there are a surprising number of people who think they're supporting democracy but don't really understand what a democratic republic is and are all too willing to subject themselves to an autocratic government. Most don't like this comparison and even avoid making it, but he does mirror a 1930's European leader, actions then, the world came to regret. Citizens then, including some religious leaders supported, others who rolled-over for the dictator they suddenly ended up with overnight. Just as was learned later, our people won't know what they've lost until they've lost it and then it will be too late.
ReplyDeleteI recall when we moved to live in a southern state for a few years in the 1950's. We went to a nearby church service of a denomination quite different from the one we were accustomed to, when we went. This one proved to be the equivalent of what I see now as extremist protestant evangelical religion. I recall they had a guest preacher from their congregation, a young teenager. He announced he was leaving to go convert the heathens -- in Indiana. This was a Great Lakes state as was the state from which we had come. I was only a teen myself then, but in my mind, he was classifying those of us from that part of the country in not very flattering terms. I didn't recall knowing any heathens there. I think now that was a term he was applying to anyone who didn't belong to their particular brand of Christianity which they probably apply today. That religious group is now part of those invested in Trumpism. They seem to need one leader on whom they can focus their devotion and are willing to overlook or forgive any of his shortcomings -- even those 100% in opposition to what they claim are their values. It defies common sense and logic. But, exploiting our differences rather than our similarities has been the coin to divide this country which is the tool to inflict fatal damage to change our system of government -- using social issues that are emotionally loaded and have no business being decided by government, but should be matters for individuals to resolve with selected others of their own choosing that do no harm to society.