Deleted tweet from Jim Jordan. pic.twitter.com/kcWn44K4pb

— andrew kaczynski (@KFILE) July 13, 2022

I was reading a post just now that compelled me to take fingers to keyboard.

The thoughts are pouring out faster than my well-trained (since 1988) journalist digits can type. It was about the horrific rape and subsequent pregnancy of a 10-year girl in Ohio who had to travel to Indiana to have an abortion.

Ohio Congressman, Jim Jordan, and other Republican sources posited that the story was fabricated. Shaking my head at that. Why would anyone make up such a horrific story just to prove a point about how inhumane it would be to force a child to carry a child who was implanted by a rapist? Turns out the rape was real. Jordan has a history of covering up sexual assault at Ohio State University. After the rapist was arrested, he deleted his tweet but didn’t apologize for his statement. He justified it by saying he was merely challenging a news story. Of course, he had to mention that the perpetrator was an “illegal immigrant.” I call out Jim Jordan as a despicable human being. I include this rapist and any other who steals someone’s safety and sexual sovereignty in the despicable category.

Like most people I know, I have been watching the January 6th hearings as if my freedom, safety, and the future of our democracy depended on the outcome. I have been impressed with the professionalism of the committee comprised of primarily Democrats with two courageous and truth-telling Republicans. Neither Adam Kinzinger nor Liz Cheney have given up their Conservative badges but are willing to face down harassment and threats by their party and their constituents. Nothing was sensationalized since nothing had to be. Reality was horrific enough. None of what happened on January 6th was by accident and all by design of a growing cast of characters.

It’s pretty pathetic that ex-White House Council, Pat Cippolone, himself a witness offering testimony, suggested that former Vice President, Mike Pence, should be nominated for a Presidential Medal of Freedom for refusing to deny the will of the voters and overturn the election results. The man was doing the job he was elected (by the Electoral College vote and not the popular vote) to do. He stood steadfastly by his “mob boss President” throughout the end of his term and beyond, even after his life was in immediate danger from the raging crowd who had erected a gallows to hang him. I have no doubt that if he and his family weren’t whisked away into hiding, they would have followed through with their plot. Did it take courage to stand up for what is right? I guess so, especially when he knew that he would need to pay for it. But deserving of a medal? Nah. I count all who were involved in the plotting, planning, encouraging, perpetuating, taking part in, and inciting the Big Lie and everything that followed despicable.

Then there are the people who planned the violence, such as members of Right Wing Militia Groups, the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys. They were invited to “stand back and stand by.” Their shared ideology reeks of nationalism and inhumanity to anyone who is not “them.” These extremists are clear about their mission. Chaos and mayhem. Destruction of the country as we know it. Race wars. Violence. Revolution but not in the name of evolution, rather de-evolution. Taking the country back to a place when women and people of color “knew their place.” I add them to the despicable list.

How about the members of the SCOTUS who overturned what had been the law of the land for nearly 50 years that will endanger the lives of people capable of getting pregnant, telling them that they have no body sovereignty and that legislators have dominion over the decisions? Despicable, all.

A school district in my area is planning on passing rules to prevent students from reading books that they deem inappropriate, which means related to telling the historical truth and acknowledging that not every child is cis-gender and heterosexual, nor are all of their family members. Detestably despicable. Even more so because I likely pass these school board members on the street. I do smile when I know that when books are banned or censored, they reach best seller status.

Even Disney films are not safe from pearl clutching homophobes. The new Buzz Lightyear film has endured finger wagging disapproval and outright banning in various countries. Wanna guess why? Two women, married to each other, give each other a quick smooch. No tongue. No face sucking. No “get a room” overwhelming PDA happening. Dreadfully despicable. Do they forget all of these other “wholesome” Disney pics?

All of these cases involve violation—violation of bodies, of freedoms, of trust, of justice, of vows, of laws, of human rights.

There are people who would say that what I am doing is stirring up conflict, not allowing for differences of opinion that I should respect. They might think I am lowering my vibration and dragging the rest of the world down with me. It is possible to hold a higher vibration and recognize when action needs to be taken to make positive changes in the world. Spiritual bypass can look a whole lot like letting injustice be done. I won’t do that. As long as I have the ability to speak and write, I will stand on the side of social justice. Some folks encourage being apolitical in certain spaces. I equate apolitical with apathetic.

My hope is that hearts and minds will be changed somehow.

“We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.” ~ Elie Wiesel

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