Image:  Facebook

"Insurrection"

In response to the official silencing by Republicans of transgender state Rep. Zooey Zephyr, protesters staged a boisterous but violence-free demonstration at the Montana Statehouse on Monday. At one point, Zephyr hoisted a microphone toward her supporters in the gallery. Later that day, right-wing lawmakers said her action amounted to "encouraging an insurrection."

Who would've thought the rugged state of Montana would breed such delicate violets?

This pearl-clutching is orchestrated. According to the Associated Press, this was the third time in the past five weeks that Republicans around the country have sought to compare "disruptive but nonviolent protests at state capitols to insurrections."

An insurrection is defined as a violent uprising against a government, so these Republicans are antagonizing not just Democrats, not just legal scholars, but English teachers everywhere.

Why redefine the word? To downplay the Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol, after which Donald Trump was impeached for "incitement of insurrection." Conservatives want to claim the events in Montana were comparable to that dark day, and if you believe that, I have a bill of sale for Glacier National Park with your name on it.

Also, by shrieking "insurrection," lawmakers can avoid debating transgender rights in Montana, and gun control in Tennessee.

Furthermore, to repeat a loaded term ad nauseam is to make it lose both its meaning and power. And using this term demonizes Democrats as violent and extreme. 

Republicans plan to get a lot of mileage out of bastardizing the meaning of one word. I'm just glad my AP English teacher isn't alive to see this. They should be, too.

Image by KCADRC from Pixabay 

Our Safety

Today is the sixth anniversary of the Pulse nightclub massacre. Yesterday authorities found 31 Patriot Front members crowded into a U-Haul near a Pride event in Idaho.

Some LGBTQ folks will understandably argue that we should start packing heat. But I still believe it's only lesbians who should be packing, and that has nothing to do with guns.

Image by Peter Tóth from Pixabay 

Jan 27

Today is International Holocaust Remembrance Day. You could say I observed it a few days early with a distinctive experience.

On Sunday I was up to my knees in swastikas.

No, you don't need to start worrying about me.

You see, a friend of mine, Maria, works here in the Seattle area helping seniors move to new homes. Her most recent client's late husband collected authentic Nazi memorabilia. Maria freely admits she isn't versed in history, so I volunteered to go through the stuff and find an appropriate destination for it all.

In addition to wanting to help Maria, I had three other reasons for taking on this job. First, I'm a history buff. Second, I'm a hoarder—now you can start worrying about me—and we hoarders just adore getting things to the right home. Third, my German-born mother carried German guilt the size of an Alp all her life, and making sure these symbols of that dreadful time and place don't fall into the wrong hands seemed like a gift I could give her, five months after her death.

That's how I came to be sorting through World War II German army and navy uniforms, helmets, boots, Nazi flags, a Nazi armband and more. The late owner had amassed a sizeable collection, and his wife told Maria it could fetch some money. She was right. I checked.

But Maria convinced her to give the articles to a museum, so they couldn't wind up on the open market, and fall into the hands of some 20-year-old neo-Nazi from Akron.

The woman who manages the Holocaust Center for Humanity's permanent collections came to pick up the whole shebang on Tuesday. She'd made it plain that the Center would keep some of the items, and transfer other pieces to different Holocaust museums. The remainder would be destroyed. The history-loving part of me felt a twinge over that, and you might assume the hoarder part of me went into unbecoming spasms. 

Actually, that part of me thought destruction was perfect. Remember I mentioned how hoarders often strive to get things to the right home? In this case, the right home is no home.

Photo:  Wikipedia

This Week's Quote

A Virginia jury today found the main organizers of the deadly 2017 rally in Charlottesville liable under state law for injuries to counterprotesters, awarding more than $25 million in damages. But, of course, there were “very fine people on both sides.”

Keith Boykin

Source: Twitter