Tag Archives: GOP

Beyond My Fathoming

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People who think their opinions/feelings/beliefs/thoughts are the only ones that matter and have no concern for the suffering and challenges of others; people who willfully believe every lie and conspiracy theory that comes through their feed just because it bolsters their own nonsense; people who would violently try to throw aside 81 millions votes because those votes didn’t go for the candidate THEY wanted; people who claim to be “pro life” and yet believe in the death penalty and think it’s perfectly fine for people to openly carry military-style weapons slung over their shoulders as they walk through a supermarket; people who care more for an insentient one-celled zygote than they do for a 10-year-old girl who’s been raped and become pregnant by her step-father; people who force a woman to carry a pregnancy through to labor, even though her life is endangered, and then want to offer no safety net of health care, food, and home for the baby once it’s arrived, but leave the mother and child to fend for themselves – these people are beyond my fathoming.

A Prayer for Government

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“…let no mortal interfere with God’s government by thrusting in the laws of erring, human concepts.”
-Mary Baker Eddy

Feel the unending, enduring power of Truth
enveloping all of creation with wings of Love
sure and all-knowing, without fear or doubt

See the shoddy, shaky, shabby walls of sham
and lies come crumbling down into dust
and blow away in the changing winds –
returning to the nothing they came from

There was never a need for the lies
evil is never a solution; error solves nothing;
Hate serves no purpose.

Government of justice rises from the dust
and rust as it must. In Truth we trust.
-Karen Molenaar Terrell





Karen, Did You Watch the Debate?

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Friend: Karen, did you watch the debate?

Karen: Every f***ing minute of it.

Friend: What did you think?

Karen: “Stand back and stand by”?!! If 40% of my fellow citizens are fine with that then we are in real trouble here.

Friend: No, he just misspoke.

Karen: If he misspoke then he needs to clarify that. He needs to very clearly say, “I denounce the Proud Boys. I denounce white supremacists. White supremacy has no place in our nation.” And he needs to say this without having his fingers crossed behind his back and without a wink-wink nudge-nudge. He has had two days now to denounce the Proud Boys and he has not done this. I think we can assume he’s not going to.

Friend: But did you notice Biden didn’t answer any questions?

Karen: No crap! Trump kept interrupting him!!!

Friend: Well, Biden should be able to handle that kind of pressure if he’s going to be president.

Karen: Biden is not a pre-school teacher. He shouldn’t be expected to placate toddlers having tantrums. Presidents move on the world stage – dealing with other international leaders who are grown-ups – dealing with pre-schoolers having tantrums is not Biden’s area of expertise, and we shouldn’t expect it to be.

– Karen Molenaar Terrell

(I wish I’d taken a photo of the faces of the PBS commentators at the end of the debate to paste here. They looked like they’d just been through a battle – eyes wide, faces drawn. I felt tremendous sympathy for them and empathy with them.)

Because Business and Politics Don’t Mix

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See? This is why we shouldn’t put business executives in charge of our schools, prisons, courts, military, environment, or nation. Business executives think in terms of financial profit, rather than social progress; competition, rather than cooperation; what we can do for THEM, rather than what they can do for US. They aren’t going to go out of their way to help you if your home is burning, your family is sick, you’re being attacked by racists – unless there’s some way for their company to gain something from it. A CEO’s goal is to beat out and squash the competition (anyone who doesn’t work for their financial company) and win the race for the most wealth accumulated. Their goal is to prepare students to serve them in their corporations. Their goal is to privatize prisons, health care, schools, parks, and the postal service to make a profit. Their instinct is to use the natural environment for short-term financial gain, rather than to conserve and preserve it for future generations.

Are business executives “bad” people? Nope. But if they want to work as public servants, they can no longer be business executives – they need to give up their positions, wealth, and instincts as business people and shift their perspective – look at the world in a whole new way – because business and politics don’t mix.
-Karen Molenaar Terrell

“All guys are like that, right?”

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I’ve been debating all day whether I should address this or not. I still don’t know. I guess what I’ll do is type out my thoughts and then decide at the end if I want to hit the “publish” button or not.

So. At first the folks who liked Mr. Trump were excusing his misbehavior by saying “no one’s perfect – we all have our faults – what president hasn’t made mistakes?” Trying to make it sound like he was just like the rest of us – no better and no worse. So what if he said he could grab pussy whenever he wanted? That’s just locker room talk – all guys are like that, right? So what if he didn’t pay taxes – wouldn’t you not pay your taxes if you could get away with it? So he’s maybe not always “politically correct” – but he’s honest, right? He’s funny, right? (The answers to the questions are – no, not every guy is like that; no, if I could get away with not paying my taxes, I would STILL pay my taxes – I have no problem contributing to the infrastructure and well-being of my fellow citizens; being “politically correct” just means being kind and thoughtful – mocking disabled people is not being honest – it’s being cruel; no, he’s not funny.)

Now his supporters are telling me that they don’t really like him, either – they know he’s a narcissist, a jerk – but he’s so “effective” that they’re going to vote for him, anyway. Which. Wha…?

He’s so effective that the Russian government put a bounty on the heads of our military personnel in Afghanistan and he’s not done anything to stop it. He’s so effective that our country is in a lockdown, our economy is going down the toilet, our allies are no longer allowing us through their borders, our postal service is under threat.

Mr. Trump is not a good human being, and he is certainly NOT a good president.

Dear Senators…

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Dear senators –

We, the people you serve, are depending on you to represent us with integrity, wisdom, and courage during the coming impeachment trial.

The evidence and testimony we have seen during the last months shouldn’t be ignored – evidence that shows threats to Ambassador Yovanovitch’s life and career; the assessment by the Government Accountability Office that our president violated the law by withholding nearly $400 million in military aid to the Ukraine; an interview with Lev Parnas that indicates our president (and many others in political service to our country) “knew exactly what was going on.”

If those who represent us do nothing in the face of all this evidence, they are setting a dangerous precedent and showing us that our president and those who surround him really ARE above the law. If what Lev Parnas says is shown to be true and our representatives don’t take action against THIS massive corruption in our government, when DO they take action?! If THIS is ignored/accepted then you’ll be giving license to every politician to ignore our Constitution and laws. Our democracy will be finished.

Please stand up and send the message that corruption in our government is not okay and will not be tolerated – now or in the future.

– Karen Molenaar Terrell

Impeachment Inquiry: How to Defend a Guilty Client

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I feel like I’m in a mini law school course here. Here’s what I’ve learned: If you know your client is guilty –
1) Try to besmirch the reputations of the witnesses to the crime. This includes ridiculing a military man for wearing his uniform to the court.
2) Try to make it look like the witnesses don’t agree on what they witnessed – even though they both describe witnessing the same things – by pointing out that one witness used the word “demand” in his description, while the other witness did not.
3) Try to pull the focus off the actual crime. Use “red herrings.” This includes focusing on one word (like, for instance, “bribery”) and noting that none of the witnesses have used this one word in describing what they saw.
4) Make it look like a personal attack. Say the only reason this inquiry is taking place is because the people asking questions don’t like your client. (Ignore the fact that your client was caught committing the offense.)
5) Try to ridicule the whole process. Call it a circus. Call it a farce. Belittle the importance of the process and infer it is a waste of everyone’s time.
6) Talk about the millions of people who voted for your client. Infer that popularity is more important than truth. (Caveat: Do not talk about the millions of people who do not support your client. Do not talk about election interference by Russia that may have won the election for your client.)
7) Spin it. If your client is accused, for instance, of trying to get a foreign government to find dirt on his political rival in exchange for weapons paid for by tax-payer dollars – spin it so that your client looks honorable – like he was only trying to get rid of corruption. Never mind that your client showed no interest in learning about the corruption in this foreign government, or that the foreign government had already been cleared by United States intelligence. (“The Pentagon in May officially certified that it had seen enough anti-corruption progress to justify releasing the congressionally authorized aid, according to documents provided to The Associated Press.” Military Times, 9/29/19.)

Feel free to add on anything YOU have learned from the impeachment inquiry about defending a guilty client. 

Message to Rep. Nunes

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Dear Rep Nunes:

You have referred to the impeachment inquiry as a “circus” and a “farce.” You have inferred that the inquiry is a waste of time. I do not agree with your characterization.

I, for one, am very appreciative of the news coverage of the impeachment inquiry. As an American citizen – someone who considers it my duty to be informed and knowledgeable about the actions of the people elected to serve us – I am grateful for the transparency this inquiry brings us.

I’m glad I live in a country where no one is above the law. I’m grateful to live in a country where all of us have the freedom to question our political leaders.

The job of our elected officials is to serve their constituents and uphold our Constitution. It is not the job of elected officials to serve the president. And during an impeachment inquiry it is not the job of our elected officials to serve as defense lawyers for the president – it is their job to learn the truth about the president’s actions.

Karen Molenaar Terrell

Message to a Trump Supporter and a Friend

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Dear friend –

I want to make this clear – before I say what I feel I need to say here – that I am glad we’re friends. I’ve seen what a good mother you are and I’ve enjoyed watching your little one grow. I know your heart is in the right place and you, genuinely, want the best for this country.

But here’s what I need to say – the last presidential election was a difficult one for a lot of us. I cannot say that either one of the major candidates running would have been my first choice. But long before he ran for president – even back when he called himself a Democrat – I was not impressed with the way Donald Trump treated other people. He created a fake university and collected tuition from unsuspecting students. He refused to pay workers. He treated women horribly – we all know about the “pussy” remark. He took delight in “firing” and demeaning people in his ridiculous reality show.

When he was elected president (through help from the Russians) I hoped – I really did – that he would somehow rise to the occasion and become the leader we needed. But nope. He immediately began dismantling our environmental protections. He put our nation at risk by disrespecting our allies – and, in the case of the Kurds, actually abandoning our allies. He’s hired and fired a long list of people who were incompetent and unqualified to hold cabinet positions. He’s lied, continually, to the American people. He’s taken money from our military bases to build a wall that most Americans don’t want, that won’t be effective, and that the legislature voted against. He’s allowed children to be ripped from the arms of their parents and put in cages. He seems to have no interest in serving us. He considers the Constitution “phony” because it keeps him from making money for his resort. I was not impressed with Donald Trump before he ran for president, and my impression of him has not improved since he took office.

I do not believe he is fit to be leading the nation I love.

I have found it useful to listen to people with different perspectives and hear what they have to say – I don’t enjoy being surrounded by people who think exactly the same way I think about stuff – I want to hear other ideas – and so I appreciate that you’ve come on here and shared your thoughts about Donald Trump. I hope you can appreciate my thoughts, as well.

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Reason to Impeach

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No, no, no, no, no. An American president does not ask a foreign president to investigate a fellow American. American investigations of Americans stay in America. And to offer weapons to a foreign president in exchange for investigating an American citizen is also a no-no. I feel weird having to say this. I mean. Duh, right?

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