By Rosetta Miller-Perry
Among the many myths that are constantly being perpetrated by the mainstream media, few are worse than the notion that electing ANY woman, regardless of their views or qualifications, to high political office represents progress. Certainly there is a long track record in this nation of sexism in politics, and the Tribune has always supported the concept of full equality for women in this society, particularly when it comes to issues of representation and pay equity. But what we do NOT and never will support is electing reactionary, backward and racist thinking women to positions of power and thinking that this is any better than a man with equally reprehensible views.
Marsha Blackburn’s positions on a host of issues are both clear and the worst example of reactionary thinking. She wants to completely repeal the Affordable Care Act, despite the overwhelming statistics that show numerous people who otherwise would not have received health care benefits are indeed being positively served by it. She has joined in lockstep support of President Trump’s racist comments against NFL players who are exercising their constitutional rights to nonviolent protest. She also has frequently engaged in divisive and bigoted actions towards immigrants, is hostile to more reasonable approaches to deal with drug addiction and refuses to acknowledge the problem of police misconduct in urban communities.
Most importantly, she has publicly pronounced herself as essentially in total agreement with the policies and rhetoric of President Donald Trump. That puts her in league with the most bigoted elements of this society, the white supremacists and Neo Nazis who will soon be meeting in Shelbyville, who were responsible for the horrible incident in Charlottesville, and who continue to stand against social justice, equality and economic equity for all people. Though she claims to be concerned about all Tennesseans, Blackburn’s record through her years representing the 7th District shows that her only concerns are siding with the wealthy, and doing as little as she can for anyone who is poor or not white.
The last thing that Tennessee needs is someone who’s going to be a Donald Trump puppet, but that is precisely what Blackburn has already said she wants to be. On her website and in her public statements she talks about the Republican majority not being conservative enough, and not being willing to do the things that the President wants. She is in full support of the idiotic idea of building a wall between the United States and Mexico, something even a lot of the most rabid right-wing types acknowledge is fiscally irresponsible and impractical. Trump has already been proven a liar by his repeated claims that Mexico was willing to pay for it. Now he wants to force the U.S. government to pay for it, and constantly threatens all types of questionable executive actions to try and force it into the budget.
This nation needs more people willing to stand up to Trump and say on the record that he is unfit for the office, and his agenda is one that would take this country back decades. Just last week he spoke to a hardcore group of anti-gay bigots and said that “America is turning around.” While that has yet to be proven, it is clear that he’s trying to return this nation to the days of Jim Crow segregation. Ironically, it was also a time when women seldom got the opportunity to be anything except housewives, and you would think that Marsha Blackburn would at least be historically savvy enough to recognize that if this nation goes backward, people like her are going to lose the things they’ve gained.
The Tribune urges all its readers to actively oppose Marsha Blackburn as a candidate for the Senate. She was and is a disaster as 7th District Representative, but if those people want to continue electing a joke to office that is their business. But the state as a whole doesn’t need a female version of Donald Trump, someone whose intemperate attitude and outlandish comments regularly make him and the nation as a whole a global laughingstock. Blackburn’s already warming up to that role. One of her recent campaign ads got rejected by Twitter because of its inaccurate, divisive language. Now if Twitter of all people recognize that she is a loose cannon, why on earth would anyone put her in a higher position of power.
There are many things that need to be done right now to make this a better nation, starting with the removal from office of a man unfit to be President of the Rotary Club, let alone a nation. Neither Tennessee nor the country needs in office another Trump type, and that is precisely what Marsha Blackburn has been and will continue to be. Let’s keep her out of a role where she can do even more damage to the body politic than she already has in her years in the legislature.
