@Darkenyght1701 @QueenOfEverything
Yes, that was what I was trying to say. Nevertheless, #Trump is a modern #Fascist (among other things), and he was actually in power for 4 years. Establishment of a state ruled by #Fascism seems to usually take longer than 4 years (from history). #Politics #Republicans #AbuseOfPower

@OldCountryDoctor @QueenOfEverything the floor parallel I can think of between the rise of Fascism in Germany and what's happening here is how they marginalized certain groups.
In Germany it was the Jews
Here it's immigrants, legal and illegal, and now the gay community.
You can almost see the signs of a " Reichstag fire " coming together.

@sghamel @OldCountryDoctor @QueenOfEverything Several factors play into it :
1) an aging segment of the electorate seeing their influence/ power waning as demographics change.
2) a media establishment that now emphasizes the sensational over actual reporting of facts
3) Tieing into that, the rise of right wing, especially far right wing, media manufacturing outrage over faux events which ties into the dissatisfaction of their target audience ( see #1).
4) the rise of demogagury in the GOP.

@Darkenyght1701 @OldCountryDoctor @QueenOfEverything
I don't disagree with any of that. Problem is that I don't believe the US will ever get back the respect they had at one time. Even during the time I am speaking of, we meddled in too many country's affairs, publicity was not there to show the world. #politics

@sghamel @OldCountryDoctor @QueenOfEverything I would have to ask exactly how you're defining " meddling"
The inverse of that would be to go completely isolationist, which is one of the unspoken goals of the " america first" movement, despite their public statements.
That isn't possible in an era of increasing geopolitical strategic threats and an interlocking global economy.

@Darkenyght1701 @OldCountryDoctor @QueenOfEverything
I don't have to go very far to explain what I mean by meddling. Daniel Ortega, Nicaragua? Just one example of US meddling in others affairs. I am not talking about current affairs, some of which are now fully public. I was speaking of the past when the US was looked up to as an example, not the present. #politics

@sghamel @OldCountryDoctor @QueenOfEverything Yeah, that was during Reagan's administration and his determination to " prevent the spread of Communism".
Which of course led to Iran/Contra and the selling of weapons to Iran in order to fund his private little war since Congress refused to.

@sghamel @Darkenyght1701 @OldCountryDoctor

Right, but that was the kind of "meddling" we can trace back since our country was founded- it's not right.

However, it's not a president's son-in-law with no security clearance on "missions" to the middle east up to the last week in January.

It's not firing all the Inspectors General & Office of Ethics in the WH.

Hate rallies, ChristoFascists, Oath Keepers, abortions, affairs, any one of these would end political careers.

Now we televise them.

@QueenOfEverything @sghamel @OldCountryDoctor I have yet to comprehend how the mocking of that disabled reporter didn't end his career right there.
If not that, the TMZ tape should have.

@Darkenyght1701 @sghamel @OldCountryDoctor @QueenOfEverything

I'd add
1a. Aging + demographics change = a legit. sense of panic around "the way things used to be" passing away.
1b. The generation that FOUGHT THE ORIGINAL Nazis has been dying off at an increasing pace for a long time, now -- the influence of THOSE people, who might have better recognized what's growing here, has also been waning. I don't think it's accidental that THIS is the moment we see the threat becoming SO CRITICAL.

@CLManussier @sghamel @OldCountryDoctor @QueenOfEverything Both valid points.
Thanks for the additional emphasis

@CLManussier @Darkenyght1701 @sghamel @OldCountryDoctor

Excellent points.

The generations that experience the Event & the next generation who still feels the impact (from their parents).

@sghamel @OldCountryDoctor @QueenOfEverything @Darkenyght1701

It happened because half of us can’t be bothered to vote. We get the government we deserve.

#politics

@LnzyHou @OldCountryDoctor @QueenOfEverything @Darkenyght1701 I would say that your statement is mostly true. Media had a big part in it though. They do tell stories now as much as they tell facts. Not all but most of them. The people I talk to here though cannot understand why the US just believes what they hear. It's sad really.

@sghamel @LnzyHou @OldCountryDoctor @QueenOfEverything Look at CNN's motto - " the most trusted voice in news". Or FNC's - " America's Network".
After decades of people like Cronkite, Rather, Brinkley, and others, people, especially those with less than a college education, are conditioned to believe what the " pundits" is factual and honest.

@sghamel @LnzyHou @OldCountryDoctor @QueenOfEverything @Darkenyght1701

"Why the US just believes what they hear."
Well, that certainly requires a not-insignificant social history of the USA to begin to explain (...er, no time to explain -- to sum up... 😉 ). We've invented a whole SERIES of founding mythologies that don't hold up to scrutiny but make ppl feel good, from the Geo. Washington/cherry tree fable to Manifest Destiny and "American Exceptionalism." ++

@sghamel @LnzyHou @OldCountryDoctor @QueenOfEverything @Darkenyght1701

2/ AND, the discomfort of questioning ANY or most of it is what's given rise to the #CRTPanic and all the religious "rights" cases and laws that are, in reality, an attempt for people of a very specific flavor of religion to impose their beliefs on others.

It's the #ToxicMasculinity eruptions.
It's every kind of anti-diversity backlash.

Because if one questions any of it, one might have to question all of it. And...?
++

@sghamel @LnzyHou @OldCountryDoctor @QueenOfEverything @Darkenyght1701

3/ And then?

We run into how abysmally badly Americans do nuance and grey areas. Sure, not all of us, but too many. As a culture, we are an all-or-nothing people.

And for people for whom absolutism is comforting, our history and those founding myths and the primacy of BELIEF over KNOWLEDGE means that it's FAR easier to buy into BS that reinforces what they WANT to be true than to risk undermining received "wisdoms." ++

@sghamel @LnzyHou @OldCountryDoctor @QueenOfEverything @Darkenyght1701

4/
Because one of the ingredients in those founding myths is the whole "anyone can make it with enough grit/effort/determination."

While that's clearly garbage, it was part of the thing that made crossing an ocean to a "new" world (for those who chose to do so, and even for a few who had it imposed on them) seem a better option than the status quo.

It's why the anti-intellectual strain here goes ALL THE WAY BACK to ++

@sghamel @LnzyHou @OldCountryDoctor @QueenOfEverything @Darkenyght1701

5/
the Colonial period. It's why a "stock" character in entertainment of the last 50-100 years has continued to be some guy who doesn't believe in your "fancy book-learnin'." While that character isn't necessarily the "hero," he usually ends up being on the winning side and sometimes unwittingly saves the day in some way. While the character who IS the studious type is more likely to be mocked and, perhaps, reviled.
++

@sghamel @LnzyHou @OldCountryDoctor @QueenOfEverything @Darkenyght1701

6/

The comparative recent-ness of the US' founding and then geographic (and cultural) expansion means that not only are our myths (and the values that they reflect) much closer to the present day, it's also much more recently true that the ability to sow & reap, build something or kill one's food meant the difference between survival or not.

Cultures with a longer historical memory had much longer to build... ++

@CLManussier @LnzyHou @OldCountryDoctor @QueenOfEverything @Darkenyght1701
Sorry everyone but I had to go out and came back to many conversations. If I didn't get to yours you are welcome to catch me up with a question but I will read through them asap.
#politics

@sghamel @LnzyHou @OldCountryDoctor @QueenOfEverything @Darkenyght1701

7/

traditions around & classes of people above or separate from that dependence on survival skills. It's why we ALSO have such difficulty getting away from rhetoric around the "realness" of work or manhood or being an American. All the crap we hear in commercials for pick-up trucks or the mock battle that is the NFL.

There's a whole soup of cultural reasons why a TERRIFYING number of Americans are ... ++

@sghamel @LnzyHou @OldCountryDoctor @QueenOfEverything @Darkenyght1701

8/

unable and/or unwilling to recognize the lies they are being told by grifters and political extremists who DO NOT have their best interests' at heart, but who are actively conning and manipulating them.

I've said since end of 2016, or maybe not until early '17 that con artists KNOW THEIR MARKS. If you can spot the con, you were never the mark for that particular scam.

We are all susceptible... ++

@sghamel @LnzyHou @OldCountryDoctor @QueenOfEverything @Darkenyght1701

9/
to SOME kind of con, so we shouldn't pat ourselves on the back TOO hard.

But, THIS con involves an existential threat to our very future AND, by dint of our size and the last century of international influence, the futures of many others beyond our shores.

It's DEEPLY frustrating for the rest of us & for those seeing this from afar. But that so many in our culture are part of the problem is sadly no surprise. /##

@CLManussier @sghamel @LnzyHou @OldCountryDoctor @Darkenyght1701

@LnzyHou @sghamel @OldCountryDoctor @QueenOfEverything Because people believe that after the Citizens United decision by SCOTUS, their individual votes don't carry as much weight as the mega millions donations by corporations.

@Darkenyght1701 @LnzyHou @sghamel @OldCountryDoctor

#politics #ethics #SCOTUS #business

Once upon a time, in college... took a short course in Ethics. Professor took us through all the basic principles of personal ethics. What does it mean to be an ETHICAL person?

We debated & finally, before the final week of the course- we came up with "the answer." We knew where the boundary was between "ethical" & unethical for us.

1/2

@Darkenyght1701 @LnzyHou @sghamel @OldCountryDoctor

The Professor smiled, and said,"What about Business Ethics?"

SILENCE.

"What about Medical Ethics?"

"What about Political Ethics?"

It wasn't until that very last week of the course... that we came up against our own ethics.

Do I change my personal ethics when I'm at work? Can I make professionals work 80 hrs a week or fire them- to streamline my business?

2/3

#ethics #politics #behaviorchange

@Darkenyght1701 @LnzyHou @sghamel @OldCountryDoctor

If I'm a Doctor, can I refuse to perform a life-saving abortion because it's in Texas not New Mexico?

If I'm an elected/appointed official, do I work to do the best for the people & the country, regardless of my party affiliation? Or do I go along with the loudest to impeach the President, throw Adam Schiff off all committee, & demand the Hunter Biden Laptop investigation committee hearing start Jan 2?

ETHICS are ETHICS

@QueenOfEverything @LnzyHou @sghamel @OldCountryDoctor In the former, ethically a doctor can not refuse because it violates the first rule under the Hippocratic Oath - " first, do no harm"

In the latter, ethics take a backseat to opportunism

@Darkenyght1701 @LnzyHou @sghamel @OldCountryDoctor

Well, in Texas, evidently doctors can't follow that old Hippocratic Oath, because the Gov, Attorney General & Texas legislature are the ones setting the rules around here.

Ethics, should be in the driver's seat. Ethics are alway ethics.

Crowds aren't ethical. Individuals are. But we're at that point where the crowds & media make it seem that our ethical code has changed, but it hasn't.

@QueenOfEverything @LnzyHou @sghamel @OldCountryDoctor That would be an interesting case to test question the legality of that law- can a doctor be forced to follow a law which violates his oath of practice? Which takes precedence?
I think I would love to argue that as a defense attorney.

@Darkenyght1701 @LnzyHou @sghamel @OldCountryDoctor

#AMA #abortion

The AMA’s Principles of Medical Ethics have long acknowledged that when the letter of the law would foreclose urgently needed care, physicians must have latitude to act in accord with their best professional judgment.

The newly amended ethical guidance clarifies this principle in the context of abortion, expressly permitting physicians to perform abortions in keeping with good medical practice.

https://www.ama-assn.org/press-center/press-releases/ama-announces-new-adopted-policies-related-reproductive-health-care

@QueenOfEverything @LnzyHou @sghamel @OldCountryDoctor so....I have to ask....
where did you get your law degree?
I'm starting to feel I"m doing my orals again 😂

@QueenOfEverything @Darkenyght1701 @LnzyHou @OldCountryDoctor I think state law would take precedence over the AMA. Not researched, but there should be a case to show that precedence out there somewhere. I could be wrong.
#politics

@sghamel @QueenOfEverything @LnzyHou @OldCountryDoctor I'd like to be the defense attorney when it's challenged, because I would subpoena Paxton to testify.
The first question I would ask would be "Mr. Attorney General, can you explain to this jury why the life of a baby is more valuable than that of the woman that my client performed the procedure on? Are you saying her life didn't matter?"

@Darkenyght1701 @sghamel @LnzyHou @OldCountryDoctor
#ProChoice #abortion #WomensRights #reproductivehealth

Medical term- "embryo" from 1st week of conception to 8th week. Then "fetus" until born

The "pro-birth" media brainwashing (here in TX) keyed in on "BABIES.

Showing a tiny image of a fully formed baby: "Life Begins At Conception."

Do these look like human beings capable of living on their own and making independent choices on their own lives? 1/2

@Darkenyght1701 @sghamel @LnzyHou @OldCountryDoctor

2/2

Did you know that mice, cows and humans share 93 genetic sequences?

During the beginning building blocks of life for all mammals the cell duplication to embryo stages are at least 70% similar to humans.

The embryo on the left is an elephant and the one on the right is a dog.

@QueenOfEverything @sghamel @LnzyHou @OldCountryDoctor I seem to remember that we share a certain percentage with pigs as well

@Darkenyght1701 @sghamel @LnzyHou @OldCountryDoctor

Humans share more than 50 percent of their genetic information with plants and animals in general.

They share about 80 percent with cows, 61 percent with bugs such as fruit flies.

You'll even find human DNA in a banana – about 60 percent!

My favorite is that the Abyssinian house cat shares 90 percent of its DNA with humans.

https://sciencing.com/animals-share-human-dna-sequences-8628167.html

@sghamel @Darkenyght1701 @LnzyHou @OldCountryDoctor

#AMA #abortion #ProChoice #hospitals #doctors #religion

Yes, that's what's causing the very heated debate. religious hospitals have been able to limit the service they provide, because people could go to another nearby hospital.

Not only do we not have a separation of Church & State- we've got them both teaming up against medical care & procedures for reproductive health.

@Darkenyght1701 @QueenOfEverything @LnzyHou @OldCountryDoctor Do no harm is true but, it now depends on the state laws. Do no harm is not a law so it does not allow the doctor to perform any necessary procedure. He still has the law to contend with.

@sghamel @QueenOfEverything @LnzyHou @OldCountryDoctor Like I told Queen, I'd like to be the defense attorney on the test case when this gets challenged.
" Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, the state is asking you to convict a doctor who was morally obligated by his oath to do everything in his power to save the life of the woman in question, whether or not in doing so violated a law of questionable legitimacy".
I might not win, but I bet I could get a hung jury.

@QueenOfEverything @LnzyHou @sghamel @OldCountryDoctor I took a first year law class titled, ironically, " Ethics and the Law", where this topic was bandied about all semester.
The general consensus was that while every decision may be ethically correct under the law, occasionally some fell into a morally grey area

@Darkenyght1701 @LnzyHou @sghamel @OldCountryDoctor

Here in Texas, some doctors said they could not obey the law that violated their duty as a physician.

Attorney General Ken Paxton immediately said he'd sue each individual doctor. He had to let it drop... but the hospitals are still supporting the law.

@QueenOfEverything @LnzyHou @sghamel @OldCountryDoctor For fear of losing their accreditation I would imagine.

@Darkenyght1701 @LnzyHou @sghamel @OldCountryDoctor

Yes, hospitals don't want to lose accreditation. It's even more difficult b/c Catholic & other religious hospital chains are buying out existing hospitals. Many in financial trouble after the early COVID years.

This creates a greater strain on finding all reproductive healthcare for women.

FREE READ:
https://wapo.st/3VBaLsZ

@QueenOfEverything @LnzyHou @sghamel @OldCountryDoctor Which will be made worse if the GQP actually does go after IVF procedures as some have hinted at.
I live in the same region as one of the leading hospitals in that

@Darkenyght1701 @LnzyHou @sghamel @OldCountryDoctor