I received an email after my newsletter came out. A technical glitch held up my newsletter emails for several weeks. The email was from a subscriber and read:
“Fascism has now been imposed in America, a genocide has likely killed more than 100,00 people in Gaza, Israel is engaged in its 78th year of land theft….and this is only the beginning. The topics in your blog are the last things I care about. Please remove me from your list.”
She complained that what I was writing about was superficial. But, judging by my analytics, my audience clicks on topics like fashion and beauty the most. Several years ago, I tried writing about my political opinions but got nasty responses. So, I deleted those posts and decided to keep them out of the mix.
The truth is, I agree with that subscriber. I don’t like the way things are going in the world. It’s insane. This puts me in a conundrum. Should I risk expressing myself and how I feel, or keep silent and focus on less controversial content?
Honestly, I don’t want to stay silent. I think that has been the problem all along. People are not paying attention. They are going about their lives, avoiding controversy. So, in the interest of that former subscriber and probably many others, I want to get a few things off my chest.
Here is what I really think
First, I understand you might disagree with me, but as a blogger, I should be able to write about whatever I want. However, I will not start blasting politics on my blog because it’s too stressful. When I rant, I rant on Threads. It’s a safe place for me, and I need a place to vent.
I kept quiet for the last four years because a few relatives who are on the opposite side of the aisle would get pissed off on Facebook. They post about cats and other light stuff and would prefer I do the same.
But, I am finding it harder and harder to stay quiet. It has nothing to do with which political party you are associated with. The Constitution is the Constitution, and when it is being ridden roughshod, we need to speak out and stop it.
Here’s the deal
The citizens of the United States elected a convicted criminal to be President. He committed fraud, and a jury of his peers found him guilty of 34 counts. He was indicted for many other crimes, but his money and influence shut them down. He was also impeached twice.
You may say, “Well, the Democrats politicized the justice system to charge him with the crimes, but the fact is, all of the witnesses in the January 6th investigations were Republican, except for 2 black election workers whose lives he ruined.
A convicted felon should never be allowed to run for office, period. It doesn’t matter what party they are affiliated with. The Supreme Court has two justices who have accepted ridiculous bribes from rich men with clout. They should be removed from the court because that is also a crime. I would feel the same if they were Democrats or Republicans. Congressman Bob Menendez, a Democrat, was convicted of a crime, and no one complained.
Since the current President has been in office, he has gutted federal agencies and fired thousands and thousands of qualified workers. They were people with families, mortgages, and pensions. DOGE took a chainsaw and fired air traffic controllers, public health officials, veterans, IRS officials, CIA, FBI, and others without researching whether or not they were needed. It was random.
Brown faces were rounded up like dogs with no due process and put on airplanes to foreign countries. A dog-killing Barbie had a photo op in front of the prison with men who had tattoos, assuming they were all in gangs.
Mass deportations also happened in the 1930s and 1950s and didn’t end well. But this crazy cult, which has nothing to do with traditional Republicans, instilled fear in the masses that they are all rapists and murderers. Nothing could be further from the truth.
A two-year-old child who was born in the United States was taken away from her father, a citizen, and sent away. This is wrong.
Fox News paid the courts 787 million for spreading disinformation about the 2020 election. Many viewers have no idea this occurred.
A trillionaire spent millions to elect a man who conducted rallies with sparse crowds, performing stunts like working at McDonald’s, praising Hannibal Lecter, and rambling about sharks and other BS in incomplete sentences.
The Democratic candidate, a highly educated former District Attorney for California and Vice President of the United States, spoke at massive rallies, with huge influencers, and lost. Seems weird to me. Oh, right, she was a woman and is black.
Putin and Kim Jong Un are happy with this administration. They are popping champagne corks.
The current President has blamed Ukraine for its war and instead is in cahoots with a murderous dictator (Putin)
Our President is happy to slaughter everyone in Gaza and throw them out to the wind to build a beach resort. (FYI, I am Jewish and stand with Israel, but am appalled to see children being torn apart by bombs.)
Then there was Signal Gate, where war plans were broadcast on a third-party app. But why not? Classified documents were stored in the Mar-a-Lago toilet, so why worry about security?
I hope everyone with a 401 (k) hasn’t lost their savings while the stock market goes up and down because of tariffs and other nonsense. Penguins in Antarctica got tariffed while Russia and North Korea were not. Go figure.
NPR, PBS, the Kennedy Center, and even Sesame Street are in danger of extinction. I suggest you donate to keep these treasures of art and culture in business.
The women’s rights we fought so hard for in the 70s have been decimated. Out in the open bigotry is running rampant.
I could go on and on because new craziness happens daily. Writing about politics on my blog makes no sense because breaking news gets erased the next day. This is not normal.
If you voted for the Felon in Chief, I hope you are happy with what is happening to our country. I am not. But despite all this, I will continue to focus on blogging about fashion, beauty, travel, and other fun stuff.
I will still voice my political views on Threads @rebeccaforstadt, where I block crazy people in droves.
Do you think the content on BabyBoomster.com is superficial, considering what is happening today? If you don’t, please subscribe to post updates every Wednesday here. Leave a comment. I ask that you don’t get nasty because I will delete it. I own this blog and can do whatever I like with it. I choose to keep it civil.
Great writing. It’s challenging as a blogger to pick out your “lane” then stick to it. As a journalist who has worked for newspapers, it’s clear. You have news articles, which are reports on what’s happening, you have your editorial section or page with editorial opinions from separate staff members and op-eds written by guests, and you have columns where writers offer their opinions. As a consumer and personal finance journalist, I write mostly about consumer issues. However, I do occasionally write an opinion piece.
Thanks, Rita. I love how you broke down how news is published. I consider my blog to be more of the lifestyle section and want to appeal to most women over 50. But, it’s hard to keep quiet when our rights that we fought for in the 70s and way of life are being whittled away.
I agree 100 percent. Wholeheartedly. This is the time to stand up.
It is. I prefer to do it elsewhere but we must.
Oh Rebecca, you sum it up so well. We’re going through hell right now, but a light at the end of the tunnel will appear. I have to believe that. I also agree with not making the blog political. I will sometimes hint at how I feel politically. Anyone who reads it can surmise. That’s as close as I want to go.
I completely understand, Laurie. Your blog has such wonderful insights into your life. And the news is fleeting. It gets forgotten the next day when the next crisis hits.