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National
Trump Insurrection Won’t Stop Us From Giving Stacey Abrams Her Flowers
Trump’s Dark Legacy Leaves A Lasting Threat
T here are only 5 days left before the debacle that was the Donald Trump’s presidency ends. And I think I speak for most sane people when I say, “that
moment can’t get here soon enough.”
For those of us who knew from the very beginning that
giving someone like Trump so much power was a bad idea, his tenure in office exceeded our worst expectations. We suspected that he would be a horrible leader, but somehow, he found a way to outperform the model.
From his hypocrisy, to his lies, to his indecency, to his disrespectfulness, to his racist dog-whistling, when it came to being a complete a—hole, he checked every box. I mean the fact that he was banned from all social media plat- forms recently, while still holding the title of Commander- in-Chief of the United States, speaks volumes about his repulsiveness alone.
The sad part is that I don’t believe Trump is aware of just how badly he’s ruined his family name and, by exten- sion, his brand by his behavior. At one point, the Trump moniker was synonymous with luxury, wealth and pros- perity.
Now, after exposing his true oafish, hillbilly level of thinking, the only place where you may see the Trump label still carrying some value will be on products like pick-up truck mud flaps, chewing tobacco or deer hunting gear, things that his base supporters frequently purchase.
This is mainly due to the fact that, after January 20th, everyone else in the world looks forward to never hearing or seeing from Trump or his clan again. His name has be-
come so toxic that I wouldn’t be surprised if even spades players stopped using it to identify boss card suits.
Of course, even if Trump is no longer around to tor- ment us on a daily basis, it doesn’t mean that he’ll actu- ally be gone. The residue of his time in office will linger in the way the lawmakers he influenced conduct business and in the future terroristic actions of his rabid followers.
The reality is that the 70+ million individuals who voted for him to be re-elected, in spite of his obvious char- acter flaws, aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. We saw proof of that, and the extent they’re willing to go to do his bidding, last week during the siege on the Capitol.
Unfortunately, this will also be a lasting part of Trump’s dark legacy. Through his embracement of white supremacy, while holding the highest seat in the land, Trump gave a dying movement a new lease on life. To that segment of the population someone like Trump ac- complishing what he was able to accomplish could be a source of inspiration for decades to come.
Yes, Trump’s departure is definitely something to be celebrated for those who look forward to a return to nor- malcy in politics. But it doesn’t mean we should suddenly let our guards down because, the truth is, threats that move in the shadows, can be even more dangerous.
Reality On Ice is © by the Florida Sentinel Bulletin Publishing Company. You can email Mr. Barr at: cbscribe2@gmail.com.
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Republican Thugs
As far as we are con- cerned the Republican Party is a party of thugs! As of this writing, the leadership of the Repub- lican Party has not made a state- ment condemning the behavior of the insurrectionists and Don- ald Trump in the attack on Capi- tol Hill last Wednesday. Even more disconcerting is the role Republican Congressmen played in encouraging Trump support- ers to engage in “combat,” “kick some a___,” high fiving rampag- ing thugs, refusing to condemn Trump and his supporters, and continuing to object to Electoral College votes after the rampage and five deaths because of false and fake claims of voter fraud by Supervisors of Elections and 81 million Americans who voted for Joe Biden.
Republicans’ quiet accept- ance of a deadly raid on the Capi- tol in which great harm could have been done to them and their colleagues is unforgive- able. Indeed, chants of “hang Pence,” “kill Pelosi” and “we’re aiming for that b__,” shows there was intent to harm Pence, Pelosi and other Congressional members who didn’t support Trump. Trump and the thugs
need to be punished. Republican thugs made
Black Lives Matters protestors look like Boy Scouts. There were reports of the raiders defecating and urinating in the hallways and offices, stealing items from Congress members’ desks, pos- sessing Molotov cocktails, as- sault weapons, paraphernalia for taking hostages, and the de- struction of the Capitol offices, hallways and meeting rooms.
In futures Editorials we will share information on why Capi- tol police failed to use teargas on the raiders in the same manner they used teargas on BLM pro- testors. Swift justice should pre- vail for every person involved in the attack on the Capitol.
What happened last Wednes- day will go down as one of the darkest days in World History since Pearl Harbor and 9-1-1. Yet we are proud to say that American democracy has pre- vailed and will continue to pre- vail, despite demonic domestic terrorism.
We join with other Ameri- cans to thank those men and women who put their lives on the line to save our own. We add our voice to the voices of Ameri- cans who say justice will prevail.
BY SOPHIA NELSON
Despite last week’s unprece- dented siege at the Capitol, it’s im- portant that the events of Jan. 6 not overshadow the huge thank you owed to Stacey Abrams. The Pro-Trump insurrection shifted our attention away from historic and crucial runoff elec- tions that cannot be understated.
We owe Stacey Abrams an apology. A big one. In this past election cycle, she pretty much single-handedly caused a political earthquake in Georgia, by helping flip the deep red state, Biden blue.
She repeated that feat again on Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2021 with the wins of Senator-elect Rev. Raphael Warnock and Sena- tor-elect Jon Osoff.
Ms. Abrams lost her race for governor of Georgia in 2018 be- cause she didn’t play the game the way it’s played in Washington, D.C. She didn’t keep her head down and go quietly into the po- litical “wait till the next run” room.
Ironically, she could have run for one of the U.S. Senate seats that were coming up in Georgia in 2020. She declined, and instead put her name in the mix as a can- didate for vice president.
Abrams is a pioneer for the New South. She has created a po- litical blueprint for us as Black people who live below the Mason- Dixon Line to organize in our states, to work the grassroots and
STACEY ABRAMS
to be bold enough to run for gov- ernorships and the United States Congress.
There are many things that we as Black Americans writ large and in Georgia should pay homage to Ms. Abrams for, but perhaps the greatest is her story. Her very American story. She hails from very humble roots; she went on to attend Spelman College and Yale Law School. She returned back home to Georgia to serve in the legislature and become the state’s first Black woman minority leader from 2011 to 2017.
Abrams was always making history, so it came as no surprise when she sought the Democratic nomination for governor of Geor- gia in 2018 that she had come to win. Unfortunately, she did not win, and there were accusations of voter fraud and voter suppression made against then-Secretary of State Brian Kemp, who was Abrams’ opponent and who ulti- mately won the governor’s race by a razor-thin margin.
Fast forward to the 2020 pres-
idential election, Abrams was shrewd and she had a plan. In the final analysis, the Biden-Harris presidential win, and now the two Senate victories in Georgia are bigger than the candidates who won the election. Their victories started with the vision of a young Black woman from Georgia. Their victories rest on her shoulders, and the tens of thousands of Geor- gians who worked with her (and across the nation) to put in place an infrastructure that would lay the groundwork for their respec- tive victories. Stacey Abrams is a modern day HERO!
She deserves our respect, our thanks and our enduring grati- tude for showing America that pa- triots don’t just exist in history books. That patriots are not just white men wearing wigs from the 18th century. That Patriots step up when their country is in need, and they dare to go where others have not gone. Stacey gets it. She understands the true meaning of “E pluribus unum” — out of many, one.
As for what’s next for Abrams, only she can say. But if the past two years are a guide, Stacey Abrams will be the next governor of Georgia in 2022. She defended election integrity and American democracy when we needed her most.
History will look back on this time and it will count her among the names of Americans who lit- erally saved this republic from Trump and Trumpism.
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