Here is an interesting read, copied from Facebook.
Penzeys Spices
Sponsored ⋅ Paid for by Penzeys ·
Because somebody needs to say this:
It’s the end of the Republican Party as we know it—And we should all feel fine
At last, a flat-out good seven days for America. This week the curtain was finally pulled back on how deeply un-American the Republican Party has become. This week made clear the Republican Party’s been hijacked by the one-two combo of unlimited political spending and foreign forces seeking to end the very concept of government of, by and for the people. From just the White House-released summary, the Ukraine scandal is a mandatory open and shut case for the impeachment, but it is also so much more.
From a distance it can be easy to see the forces behind what the Republican Party has become as attacking America’s liberal traditions, but it isn’t that at all. Just the opposite really. Look around; more so than in decades, America’s liberalism is fruitful and multiplying. Penzeys recently got the trademark for “Season Liberally.” As trademarks go it’s probably a pretty valuable one. Truth be told, what the Republican Party has become is entirely an attack on our country’s conservative values. Look at this president; what is conservative about him? Nothing. Nothing at all. And it’s his party now.
The reality is the Republican Party has turned its back on conservative values and has instead come to embrace the “textbook” racism of white nationalism. For the world’s greatest military power to embrace nationalism is scary-dangerous. I’ve always seen our mission as promoting and protecting the kindness found at the heart of cooking. It’s cost us, but I don’t see any way of us being us without standing up to the cruelty the Republican Party is now promoting. The spice business, at its best, can be a gateway to the world of beauty that diversity has created all around us. I want us to be the spice business at its best.
In this moment, we live at the heart of the struggle to defend American values both liberal and conservative. We don’t know what is coming next or even how we got here. Over the decades, one of the things I’ve come to admire most about Cooks is that they don’t need certainties in order to do what is right, they find those in need and take care of them. Still, at some point future historians will have to come up with a consensus of how the values of the Republican Party were rewritten. My take is that it is the propaganda of the media of the right that will take the blame.
We have our Penzeys Voice Of Cooking emails where we try to constantly find new ways to share the goodness at the heart of cooking. You should sign up here:
http://spices.penzeys.com/voice.html Part of that voice is standing up to the cruelty to those less privileged that the Republican Party has come to embrace. This means customers leaving us and oftentimes sending me emails explaining why. Here’s a recent one that sums up so well the effect of the propaganda republican voters live within:
“I was going to order some spices but I will not order ever from you. There are millions of people who believe in the ideals of the Republican Party. These ideals are smaller government, individual liberty, personal responsibility, strong national defense, and free markets. They believe the role of government is to give people the freedom to pursue these goals. You can believe what you want and express those views, just as I have the right to not buy anything from you and the right to tell my friends your prejudice against Conservatives and Republicans.”
Carolyn E.
The reality is, the past two years saw republicans holding the White House and both houses of Congress doing the exact opposite of all the things she sees herself as supporting them for. Under republican control, government grew larger than ever before, women’s and minority rights were cut back, debts skyrocketed as we stopped paying our bills, our military’s leadership was undermined as were our allies and NATO, plus as I can tell you personally as a company that brings you the best the world has to offer, tariffs have gone through the roof. Free trade? Good grief.
As a spice business we interact with customers from every possible walk of life. It’s also our job to travel all those less-beaten paths of the world that the spice trade lives along. I’ve found in every new shared experience, in every interaction, there is the chance for change. Whenever you ask yourself why would someone do that, spend some time with them and find out. Maybe you will end up doing that, too. But sometimes as humans we can be the victims of propaganda, sometimes we’ve been intentionally taught to believe in what is not true. This is never easy to overcome, but we must try.
So many of us have loved ones who have fallen into supporting what the Republican Party has become in spite of their living lives radiating the decency their party now attacks. Truth is, there’s little hope in trying to counter a belief that is 180 degrees at odds with facts. That belief is there because of propaganda, and as long as that propaganda is broadcast, that belief will be nearly impossible to shake. This is why in the events of this past week there is so much to be so very excited for.
You may not have been paying much attention this week, but the short version is the end is very near for this terrible turn the Republican Party has taken. The president’s Ukraine scandal is the big one. I get that it can be hard to believe any scandal will stick, but this one is different. This one is going to show you, from its very beginning, our nation has been built up from its bedrock to be ready for any political party that would crown their leader king. America is something special. Looks like now everybody’s going to have a front row seat for seeing why.
The Mueller report was the FBI presenting a case they hoped would give the ten impeachable charges of obstruction they found a fair trial. With that report we discovered that it was not just the president who is guilty of obstruction but the members of his party as well. With the Ukraine charges this is so much more than the FBI asking for a fair trial. This is all the checks and balances of those who were there at America’s founding, and knew the tyranny of living under kings, coming home to roost.
It’s been little more than a week since we first heard of the whistleblower complaint and already the rising wave has engulfed not only the President, but the Vice President, Attorney General and the Secretary of State as well. This is just getting started. While the Republican Party believed itself in the free and clear, it seems those whose jobs it is to protect this country have been on the job all along. Sure seems everything the party has become since Russia’s intervention in the 2016 election has been carefully lined up like dominoes. With the release of the whistleblower complaint the first domino got pushed. Whoosh!
Boats start by sinking slowly, then sink fast. Those on the inside of the party and its media know the main hatchway’s caved in. As the dominoes fall, America will soon be asking why on earth should we buy any product from any company that gives even one cent towards keeping Fox on the air? This is moving quickly. Already Fox is hedging. Already Drudge is asking where’s the beef the president’s promised economic growth?
Now’s not yet the time for counting chickens, but cautious optimism is definitely warranted. Without its propaganda the Republican Party we have come to know is done. Without that propaganda machine we get our loved ones back and that’s worth celebrating. Hooray!
For conservatives, this is your time, too. Haven’t you grown tired of the burden of being with the bad guys on every issue? There is absolutely no reason conservatives can’t be on the good guys’ side when it comes to racism, health care, refugees, affordable accessible birth control, gender equality, and pretty much every pressing issue of today. Conservation was virtually named after you. The forces that twisted conservative values into opposing conservation lost big this week. This is a Victory for every living thing on this planet. Seriously, REJOICE!!!
Our nation’s enemies didn’t co-opt the Republican Party for no reason. America and its voice FOR ever-growing freedom and AGAINST the rule of dictators matters. The work to unravel the corruption that’s taken hold of republican-held branches of government won’t be easy. If liberals have to fix this on their own, they can and will, but it would be awesome to have conservatives pitching in alongside. You guys are hard workers, plus you always bring those cakes we like. It’s time for you conservatives to get off the sidelines and back into the game. Now is the chance to take back your values. The opening is right there in front of you. Please get to it. We have your backs.
Please pass this message along to all that see the value in America or who, with the right encouragement, might have the chance to. And if the opportunity arises, hug a whistleblower. They are keeping all that is good about America alive.
Thanks for your continued support,
Bill
