What happened took place before I married Bill. Yes, I still would have married him and things might have happened as they did. But what happened was way before Donald Trump and his sorry racism and militarism showed us America as it actually is.

The damnable thing is that I have not really changed since I realized back then what a sorry mess we were in. I laughed when I saw Barack play nice and win. I nodded vigorously when I watched various put downs of me after I was roundly whacked at the polls. I knew what was happening.

Democratic perfidy

The right-wing conspiracy is its marriage to the Democratic party.

As Trump is not a Republican, I am not a Democrat. What happened is that in the early 1970s I caved. I let Bill sweep me into a blithe rejection of my deepest understanding. In Connecticut, I watched a microcosm of the truth about Democrats. They feed at the same trough as the GOP. The only difference is they are better liars.

Duffey factor

What happened in 1970 was that a young Hartford Seminary professor named Joe Duffey had a meteoric moment in Democratic politics. A supporter of Eugene McCarthy, Duffey was elected head of Americans for Democratic Action (ADA) and then won a primary for the US Senate by defeating the venerable but corrupt incumbent Thomas Dodd.

The GOP responded by putting up a moderate named Lowell Weicker.

Last GOP liberal

The correct move on Duffey's part would have been to call John Bailey, the Democratic boss of Connecticut, and tell him to call Dodd off There was no way Duffey could win a three-way race. Duffey did not choose to fight that battle. Weicker won.

He was one of the last liberal GOP sorts in Congress.

Joe went on to a varied and distinguished career and ended up married to the late Anne Wexler who was one of the cagiest lobbyists on the face of the planet.

No fight

Cut to 2016. There's Donald insulting me, coming too close. And me doing a Duffey. No fight. Playing out the Democratic silliness of a half century and more.

I should have inundated Donald with the F word. I should have called him a sniveling weasel. Obama should have done the same to McConnell and Ryan.

It all goes back to Gene McCarthy and Joe Duffey. These guys were serious about the idiocy of the Vietnam War. If you want political correctness, it begins with nipping our war economy in the bud. It begins with a President with the capacity to tell the truth.

Courage to be liberal

Barack failed. I failed at State. And we failed in 2016. We know what we need to do, and it is more radical than anything that has been on the table since the Declaration of Independence.

What happened is still happening, A national failure that is built on war, racism, and dishonesty throughout the entire country. When we have a majority that agrees, we will have the change we need.
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