No, there are no “both sides.”

You're being gaslighted!

Oct 31, 2022

“Unite the Right” Rally in Charlottesville, Virginia on Aug 11-12, 2017

Issue #165 OpEd October 31, 2022

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One “side” is trying to save our democracy. The other “side” is trying to destroy it in their own quest for permanent minority rule.

I’m sure it may seem as if I’m repeating myself lately, but these things MUST be said more than once.

Over the past few years, there has been an uptick in a Republican meme that says there are two sides to each issue. That is just not true.

In 2017, there was a right-wing rally by neo-Nazis in Charlottesville, Virginia. A large group of mostly white men paraded through the town with Confederate and Nazi flags and tiki torches stating "Jews will not replace us!" The former president, in commenting on the rally, stated “…there are good people on both sides.”

A few days ago there was an assassination attempt on Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi when an attacker broke into her home armed with a hammer and shouted "Where's Nancy?" Speaker Pelosi was not home, but her husband heard the attacker break in. He ran to the bathroom in his underwear since it was 2:30 in the morning and he was in bed, called 911, and then confronted the attacker. Mr. Pelosi was severely injured when the attacker beat him with a hammer, resulting in a skull fracture as well as injuries to his right arm and hand.

While Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell condemned the attack, most Republicans tried to blame Democrats and Pres. Biden, saying this attack happened because the Democrats are "soft on crime." Even worse, most Republicans made fun of the fact that Mr. Pelosi was attacked and continued their demonization of Nancy Pelosi. Some have even tried to say that it was Mr. Pelosi who had the hammer and the attacker was his “gay lover.” They refused to see that their rants about Nancy Pelosi are exactly what led up to this person committing this crime.

There were even attempts to paint the attacker as a Black man, or as a random home invader, and completely ignore the fact that the accused attacker was a 42-year-old white man who was following the direction of people like Donald Trump and other Republicans who encourage and condone political violence. As the attacker’s social media accounts were reviewed, it came to light that he followed several of the conspiracy theories spouted by QAnon and other far right-wing outlets. People like Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, have repeatedly called Nancy Pelosi a traitor to the country, and said, "… Traitors should be put to death."

In 2017, while practicing for the annual Congressional baseball game for charity, a 66-year-old white man from Illinois opened fire on the Republican Congresspeople who were practicing on the baseball field, seriously injuring five of them, including Congressman Steve Scalise of Louisiana. Subsequent investigations revealed the attacker as a man with a clear hatred for Republicans. The law enforcement officials declared that the attacker was not part of any hate group. Democrats have never called for the death of Republicans, even though Marjorie Taylor Green has lied and said as much. Democrats as a whole, whether they are elected officials or ordinary citizens, have not called for violence against their political opponents.

At the time, Speaker Pelosi expressed horror at the attack and wished Mr. Scalise would recover quickly and return to his leadership post in Congress. Speaker Pelosi and other Democratic leaders have never wished harm on their Republican colleagues.

On the other hand, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, who can't wait to become Speaker, recently said that when Nancy Pelosi is forced to turn over the gavel to him if the Republicans take control of the house in November, he would be glad to hit her over the head with that hammer.

Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas has said that the protests resulting from the murder of George Floyd included cities burning down and a lot of violence. Those are, of course, more lies. Sen. Cruz is but one of many Republicans who say that the January 6th attack on the United States Capitol was a “peaceful protest,” while Black Lives Matter protests were violent. Of course, just the opposite is true.

Sen. Cruz has already started casting doubt on the outcome of the election when he says that it will take several days in Democratic cities for all the votes to be counted, and that means the Democrats are skewing the election. Because it is mostly Democrats who vote early and vote by mail - and because the Republicans in many areas refused to allow even the processing of early votes to start before Election Day and the counting of votes to start until the polls are closed - it will take two or three more days for all the votes to be counted. That is not election fraud, that is purposeful delaying of the counting of the votes by the Republicans. Blaming the process on the Democrats is just another example of gaslighting.

This is what gaslighting looks like.

The definition of "gaslighting," is when someone tells a person or group that they are crazy, that they are the ones lying, and that the person or group doing the gaslighting is the only source of true information.

This is what is happening with the Republicans. They are sowing seeds of confusion about our election process by blaming Democrats if anything goes wrong by saying that Democrats are the ones committing fraud, and by saying that only they are the true winners of any election no matter what the vote of the people says.

The problem is that the Republicans never hold themselves accountable for all of the things that they are doing wrong, including the Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol, and the only incidences of verified voter fraud have been by the Republicans.

What Donald Trump and the Republicans are trying to do is deflect blame onto the Democrats and try to convince people that only Republicans can fix whatever is wrong with the country.

This is classic gaslighting. According to Republicans: “You (meaning the Democrats) are the ones doing wrong. We, the Republicans, and especially Donald Trump, are the only ones who can be trusted to fix things.”

We cannot allow ourselves to be gaslighted. We cannot allow the Republicans to continue to spread lies that they mask as the truth, to continue to deny the election results in 2020 and 2022, and to blame the Democrats for what they think is going wrong in the country.

Fighting the lies and the conspiracy theories must be an ongoing effort even though it becomes very very tiring.

Early voting has started, and Election Day is just eight days away.

It is up to us to ensure that minority rule over the will of the people does not become possible this year or in 2024.

Of the two major political parties, only one party is working hard to pass bills and legislation that do the most good for the most people in America. The other political party is working hard to take away our rights, take away Social Security and Medicare, and make sure that only rich people get tax breaks and other benefits that are not available to the regular working people of America.

No, there are no “both sides” to these events and issues. It is imperative that we realize this and do something about it.

Let us know what you think!

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