Dennis is back and we’re just leaning in and running through on a host of topics as 2021 continues. Join us and have a listen.

In the great state of Georgia trouble is afoot, and I don’t mean good trouble. In this state that so recently sent to the United States Senate a black man straight outta the south, a son of faith who preaches at Dr. King’s legacy church, Ebenezer Baptist Church, and a young Jew, who served and was guided by the esteemed John Lewis, trouble is indeed afoot. Georgia lived out the promise of its evolving creed. Its constituents, imminently diverse in both thought and action and most critically ethnicity have seen fit to make the state blue. In an act unprecedented the state voted a Democrat for President and both its Senators. At the local level voting districts in places like Gwinnett County truly lived up to the meaning of what it means to be diverse. However, the GOP sees itself at a critical juncture and is taking steps to change things. It’s not about doing what’s right. It’s not about doing what the people want, or at least the plurality, if not the majority of the people. The GOP is presenting bills that are de-facto voter suppression, the evolution of Jim Crow. Check out this episode as we discuss the effort in brief and talk about what it will take to stop it cold.

Welcome to Black History Month. It’s February and here on Etch The Edges we have just a few things to say about this special month. We also find it the perfect time to remind Americans of the truth. What is the truth? The truth is that disgraced former President Donald John Trump didn’t do a thing for Black People. That’s the bottom line. Join us and find out the truth.

Our friend Dennis Mercon is back to chop it up about the State of the Union before the first State of the Union under our new President and Vice President, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. These past four years have been some of the most historic in all of American history, and will serve to our posterity as a powerful example of power not so much corrupting absolutely, but rather spiraling in a degenerative manner on its way to authoritarianism out of moronic narcissism and ignorance. And this is not an insult, but rather a statement of fact. We’ll talk about insurrection, impeachment, and the future of the GOP.  Join us.

Our friend Jersey Koedderich joins us again for Conversations With A White Guy as we continue the work of closing the ideological divide. We were supposed to be talking about life in what Jersey calls Trumplandia and the challenges of closing the divide that created the environment in which Ahmaud Arbery was murdered. However, as is no surprise, we find ourselves having to discuss the continued purposeful ignorance and narcissism that is the American President, Donald John Trump. He has fomented sedition in his followers, the unfortunate sycophants who have divorced themselves from individual thought and in behavior that is very much reminiscent of the Night of Broken Glass, Kristallnacht. Trump and his seditious insurrectionists simply, happily, calling themselves incorrectly patriots, took another step down the road to autocracy and the destruction of the American Democratic Republic. This unfortunate incident that will forever live as a day of infamy in American history is what Jersey and I must to discuss, as have all of you. Join us for the dialogue.

Donald John Trump is a traitor to the United States of America. Make no mistake this statement is not hyperbole.  He is the President so the sentence is viewed through a different lens and people on the right and the left with will view the sentence with trepidation and doubt, as if my words are going too far. However, as ever on Etch The Edges we seek to adhere to what is factual and how people’s opinions with regard to those facts inform our polity and impact our politics. On this issue there can be no mistake. He fomented rebellion in the nation’s capital putting our elected officials in mortal danger. Because of his actions five people are dead. The cult of personality that he created where he speaks in the third person of himself and declares he can commit murder on the streets of Manhattan, consign children to cages in concentration camps, and grab arbitrary women by the pussy successfully stunted the critical cognition of nearly half this nation, such that 70 million people still voted for him in the last election. This is how Hitler came to power. The comparison is appropriate. This is why so many people did not balk at men in the crowd wearing t-shirts that said 6MWE, Six Mills Wasn’t Enough. This destruction of compassion and rationality cast Air Force Veteran Ashley Babbitt her life. This Is The One About Donald John Trump, the American Traitor, because that is what he is.

On this episode of Etch The Edges we get to meet a down-to-earth good ‘ole Southern Democrat.  However, when we say southern and democrat we acknowledge how things have changed.  John Jersey Koedderich is what many people expect, and at the same time he most certainly is not. A self-described “I look the part of a GOP man,” who is firmly rooted in the ideals of a modern Democrat. He hails from Glynn County, the same place where Ahmaud Arbery lived and was murdered. The purpose of our podcast is to close the ideological divide with the best tool we know we have, telling the stories that matter, talking and getting to know each other. In other words, we leverage critical thinking in order to lean into discomfort and practice some FCT, Familiarity, Comfort, and Trust. It’s the only path to building the bridge over the divide, and with time perhaps even closing it. So, please give this episode your attention and a good listen. Get to know Jersey and hear the path he has walked. Let’s as he says, “have a conversation with a white guy.”

On Etch The Edges we continue to make the case that all politics is local, and that all things are politics. The ugly sincere bottom-line truth is that even if we choose to ignore our politics, our politics will not ignore us. We are always impacted, for good or for ill. Our level of participation and understanding of the topics is the determining factor. To that end we are proud to have Daniel Blackman on this episode. He is running for Georgia District 4 Public Service Commission. Georgia has a critical runoff on January 5th not only for both of Georgia’s Senate seats, but this Public Service Commission seat as well. His mission is to ensure the future of energy in Georgia and to be a voice for the voiceless. His knowledge runs deep and he fully intends to use that knowledge to benefit the people of Georgia. On this episode lean into the conversation and learn more about local politics. And remember, your vote matters.

Dennis and Derrick cut the fool on this one just like half of America. The era of Man From Orange is said and done. However, he continues to fight back against reason hoping to stoke the fires of hate and division all the while goading his painfully ignorant followers into believing that what he does is anointed by God and for the good of the country. It is Jim Jones on steroids. Donald John Trump plays golf, throws the nation’s security infrastructure into disarray, wastes millions in tax-payer dollars on frivolous lawsuits of no merit, and contemplates taking action and going to war with Iran. It’s so funny. It’s so dangerous. It’s so scary. It’s FUCKING TERRIFYING! We have to fix it. We have to bring out brothers and sisters on the harsher, science is fake, and facts are fallacy side of the ideological divide out of the smarmy dark dank wet dunlap of Donald Trump and into the fresh air new day of the dawn. And we have to do it now. While he plays golf, Americans die.

On Etch The Edges we are happy as hell! This is the one about YOU ABOUT TO LOSE YOUR JOB Mr. President. Please afford us some grace and forgiveness in this moment of pure joy. The era of Donald J. Trump is over, even if he is trying to pull some kind of half-assed coup. It’s not going to happen. However, we cannot lose sight of the fact that what was created before him, that which propelled him into the White House beyond all reason and rationality represents half the country. Without question, we have work to do. And this isn’t just the work of Democrats, Republicans, or Independents. It is the work of all well-meaning Americans who recognize just how precious and important this country is, that it has yet to realize its ideal, but its ideal represents what could be without equivocation the very best in human governance. Safety, security, opportunity for each and every last human being that rests upon our shores, providing them the ability to pursue, attain, and maintain Life, Liberty, and Happiness, protected by Justice. That is our chance at hope this November, only with the removal of the Man From Orange.