The Changing Senate.

 

Senator Raphael Warnock has finished his campaign against Hershel Walker. Now, the election is over by Tuesday. More people voted than what some expected in the Georgia election runoff. The more outlandish stuff that Walker talks about, the more people vote. Walker has been accused of assaulting women, threatening women, and not taking care of his children. Walker denies all allegations, but he has been used by far-right Republicans to promote a distorted view of real leadership is. In contrast, Warnock has shown a more fair-minded campaign which resulted in his victory. Georgia is a very important state in America. Georgia voted for Biden in 2020, which is the first time it voted for a Democratic Presidential candidate in a long time. Georgia is incrementally becoming more progressive with a large conservative population too. People wanted to vote on issues that matter like education, infrastructure, health care, the rights of people, economic rights, living wages, voting rights, etc. The voter suppression law in Georgia has caused long lines just to be cast to vote. That is why we need federal voting rights legislation to help Americans indeed. Since Warnock won his Senate seat election, more federal judges can be voted in to promote progressive policies. Black Americans are insulted that Republicans are promoting Hershel Walker as the ideal candidate when black intellectual thought and strength are very powerful plus sophisticated.

The breaking news is that the Trump Organization has been found guilty on all counts of criminal tax fraud. A Manhattan jury has found two Trump Organization companies guilty of criminal tax fraud, scheme to defraud, conspiracy, and falsifying business records connected to a 15-year scheme to defraud tax authorities by failing to report and pay taxes on compensation for top executives. The January 6th criminal referrals could include Trump and his allies. The Trump Corporation and the Trump Payroll Corporation were found guilty of all charges they faced. Donald Trump and his family were not charged in the case. Yet, the former President was mentioned during the trial by prosecutions about his links to the benefits sent to certain executives. The Trump Organization could face a maximum of $1.61 million in fines when sentences in mid-January of 2023. This sentence documents the corporate corruption found in Trump and his allies.

The racist person on Twitter named Tahineh Dehbozorgi (who is a hypocrite for wanting Americans to stand up for Iranians who suffer tyranny in Iran but refuse to want to stand up for black Americans in terms of reparations) made the erroneous argument that since millions of immigrant families in California struggle to survive, so no reparations should be given to black Americans. This is a false argument for many reasons. One is that we pay for things that we aren't directly responsible for all of the time. Back in the 1980's, Americans paid for reparations for Japanese Americans rightfully, because they were victims of the unjust internment camps during World War II. Many Americans were not responsible for it, but our population rightfully gave money as reparations for Japanese Americans. Black Americans do deserve reparations because our ancestors suffered slavery, the Maafa, the peonage system, and continued racial oppression by racist powers. Also, taxpayers' dollars are going to Ukraine when Russia, not us, invaded Ukraine. She made the disrespectful remark that most immigrants make more money than born Americans which tries to divide immigrants and non-immigrants when we need more unity among immigrants and non-immigrants in America. Being responsible people is to sacrifice. We sacrifice our taxpayer dollars to help Ukraine and other nations because it is the right thing to do. Therefore, giving black Americans reparations is part of just compensation for what our people suffered in this country of America. Black people helped to build up America from the ground up. Some folks need to realize that.

The Supreme Court will deal with the Moore v. Harper case. This relates to elections and our democracy. The case deals with the legal theory called independent state legislature theory. It is the view that state legislatures can operate unchecked when they are making federal election laws (it lacks oversight from state courts to ensure that those laws comply with state constitutions). That is why progressives reject the independent state legislature theory. That theory can allow states to theoretically replace electors to represent a state to what the state legislatures desire (thereby ruining the decisions of voters in various elections).

The biggest irony in the world is that a famous gospel singer is the Mother of Rock and Roll. Yet, this fact is true. She was Sister Rosetta Tharpe (1915-1973). She used spiritual lyrics and an electric guitar, which was a new invention back decades ago). Her crowd performance, her swagger, and her energy were definitely decades ahead of her time. She used R&B and rock music constantly. She influenced so many people like Little Richard, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Chuck Berry, Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Eric Clapton. She was born in the South at Cotton Plant, Arkansas. Tharpe loved to use distortion on her electric guitar. Tharpe used songs like This Train in 1939. Many of the old-school gospel musicians didn't like her going into the secular route at times, but she never completely left gospel music. Tharpe's Down by the Riverside in 1944 was one of the most famous songs of her career. She was married many times. By 1956, Tharpe recorded an album with the gospel quartet The Harmonizing Four, titled Gospel Train. Aretha Franklin, Meat Loaf, Tina Turner, Karen Carpenter, Isaac Hayes, and other diverse people were inspired by her too. Rosetta Tharpe passed away in Philadelphia because of a stroke. By December 13, 2017, Tharpe was elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as an Early Influence. To know 20th century musical expression comprehensively, you must know the story of the late great Sister Rosetta Tharpe indeed. 

By Timothy