Rural Routes/Margot Ford McMillen

Unity and Cooperation are Still Hard to Find

So sad, so sad that the reach-across-the-aisle Ds can’t find companionship from the Rs, when everyone needs to bring cooperation back. But pride and repetition have trumped practicality. Pride? Repetition?

Correct. Whether you believe that fires are started by lasers from outer space, or that anonymous bloggers are getting messages from the dead, or that the home team was cheated out of a victory by batters with illegal bats, once you’ve heard it so often, the belief will firmly stay in your head until it is replaced by something wackier or you expire.

And, Pride. Once you believe in something and commit to it, you’ll defend it.

Repetition and pride are the two human characteristics that organizers can count on. That’s why they ask us to memorize and repeat pledges and creeds at meetings. That’s why you hear the same slogans over and over, brought to you by your favorite advertisers. Humans have been led to riots and war, thanks to the twin effects of pride and repetition.

One would think that, after the fracas at the Capitol on Jan. 6, the wannabe revolutionaries would go home and sleep it off. Maybe they’d even loudly reject their leaders. That hasn’t happened, and we now have demonstrators showing up at state capitols, sports events and even vaccination sites. And, because they think it’s a matter of pride to show up bare-faced, unmasked, they’re spreading disease along with their beliefs.

If it weren’t so important to restore our nation to normalcy, events at our seats of government would be funny. In Washington, where you’d expect dignity, legislators have toted guns into the chambers. In the Missouri capitol, where a supermajority of Rs could do what they want, refusal to mask has shut down the chambers repeatedly. The Governor, newly re-elected by the way, so we have him for four more years, was blocked from giving his State of the State address in the House, because the House was closed due to COVID discoveries and the necessity to quarantine.

That’s right, lawmakers show up unmasked, eat their suppers in steamy rooms together, then someone tests positive and they shut down. Quarantine, and repeat. The Republican governor, rather than enforcing some kind of mask-or-zoom mandate, accuses his Republican House colleagues of conspiracy to embarrass him on Big Speech Day. That is, by the way, the same governor that tested positive for COVID last summer, and the governor in charge of the state that’s in last place when it comes to getting vaccines to citizen arms. But, see, he wasn’t very sick with the virus when he had it, so he’s one of many claiming it’s not so bad. His wife was reportedly sicker, but that hardly counts.

Oh, eek. How do we get these folks off the payroll?

Boycott looks like our best strategy and major corporations look like our best allies. Twitter’s ban of old POTUS forced him to ask others to tweet his insults, but he doesn’t even make the Sunday news shows any more.

Then there’s Josh Hawley, another lawmaker from the Show-Me State. Simon & Schuster made a good start on boycott when they canceled publication of his book. This was after the Jan. 6 insurrection in D.C., and the went-viral photo of Josh encouraging the rebels with a fist pump. Regnery Publishing, a conservative publishing house, picked up Hawley’s book and probably will make a bundle; ironically Simon & Schuster handles distribution for Regnery, so they’ll still be selling Hawley’s book.

Hawley’s name is now firmly tangled up with the insurrectors, and major GOP supporters have broke with him. David Humphreys, an early backer, told press Hawley should be censured by the US Senate and Sam Fox, another GOP donor, accused him of “reckless pandering.”

Longtime GOP leader and former US Sen. John Danforth, a fairly good guy,, who mentored Hawley and has been largely responsible for Hawley’s success, says Hawley was his “worst mistake.”

Several Missouri companies that donated to past Hawley campaigns have said they will not donate again. Ameren, a utility company, Edward D. Jones, a financial advisor, and Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner, a law firm, have all announced they will donate no more. Walmart and Hallmark have both piled on, with Hallmark even asking for a return of employee donations. Cerner, a health-care company, donated $10,000 to Hawley’s PAC in the last few years and says it will not donate again to any candidate who takes part in or incites violence. That creates an even wider sweep that should take in Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene and any other QAnon followers.

I haven’t yet seen a complete list of Republican donors, but I’m looking forward to seeing who I can boycott in 2021. As always, replace the bad guys with products you know. Buy local, thwart the bullies.

Margot Ford McMillen farms near Fulton, Mo., and co-hosts “Farm and Fiddle” on sustainable ag issues on KOPN 89.5 FM in Columbia, Mo. She also is a co-founder of CAFOZone.com, a website for people who are affected by concentrated animal feeding operations. Her latest book is “The Golden Lane: How Missouri Women Gained the Vote and Changed History”. Email: margotmcmillen@gmail.com.

From The Progressive Populist, March 1, 2021

Populist.com