Tag: Politics

Now It Makes Sense

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“When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.” 

This famous quote from Maya Angelou certainly holds true when considering it in view of the current political climate. Apparently, many of Donald Trump’s supporters want the person who has been revealed time after time.

They want the person who disparages military service and sacrifice. They do not mind that their cult hero stands in front of soldier’s graves, smiling and sending a thumbs-up salute to those who are receptive to such a message. Many others within Trump’s orbit have commented on the disdain he has shown before towards those currently in the military, or those who suffered wounds or death wearing the uniform. Yes, Trump denies having shown disrespect, because people have called him out for it. Like the toddler caught with cookie crumbs around his mouth, his only response is to lie about it. Nothing to see at Arlington, it was all made up to make him look bad. Never mind that he equated contributing millions to his campaign with someone receiving the Congressional Medal of Honor, and that was just recently, showing that his state of mind has not changed.

They want someone who can come up with the most pithy nickname for an opponent. Whether that is someone with the temerity to hold him to account, or a true political rival, it doesn’t matter. What matters is whether he is able to drive the conversation the way he wants it to go, and whether people automatically apply the nickname whenever the opponent is mentioned. And above all, make sure you own the libs. They want that most of all.

They want someone who supposedly is a fabulously successful businessman. Even though entities affiliated with the Trump name have had to seek bankruptcy protection many times in the past, the “Golden Boy” has escaped the terrible consequences of failure. In fact, due to a misguided reality show, many of his core supporters still believe in the myth of his success and business acumen represented by his character on his show.

They want someone to speak their prejudices out loud. It’s about time according to them, that someone spoke the quiet part out loud. After all, according to them, it is only the descendants of white European settlers who had the brainpower and moral standing to tame this savage continent and make it fruitful. Now we seem to want to turn it over to those Johnny-come-lately people from shithole countries. Well, no more.

They want someone who will stand up to the real enemies of this country. No, not those other nations who we really should be getting along with, like Russia and North Korea, but those elites who lord it over the real patriots of this nation, who do the real work. We should never have let these cities grow so big. People get strange ideas there, like all citizens have a right to vote. This country has gone downhill ever since those uppity blacks demanded we end Jim Crow laws, and indeed, ever since women got the right to vote. It’s about time someone spoke the real truth.

They want someone who thumbs his nose at any attempt to hold him accountable. He himself is blameless, it always has to be someone else at fault. The laws of the nation were not intended to apply to him. After all, he is the Chosen One. It was just a mistake they made when the laws were written, in that they did not carve out a deserved exception for the Chosen One.

They want someone who has all the answers. There is no room for any hesitation, any uncertainty. They want someone who is so sure of themselves, they need not review any topic where they may be a little less knowledgeable. No, if you are not sure of an answer, bullshit your way through an answer, any answer. Weave and bob through the discomfort you feel. Just make sure you appear to yourself to be supremely in control of the situation. That is what they want, those who have taken you into their heart as their ultimate champion.

They want someone to disrespect them. They know they are worthless, and Donald is happy to give them the disdain they so truly desire and deserve.

For that is what they want and need. What Mussolini provided, what propelled Hitler, that is what they want. And they think the answers are found in the persona of Donald Trump. You know, he was not wrong about being able to shoot someone in the middle of 5th Avenue and not lose any followers. What he didn’t say though, was that he could shoot one of his followers, and they would relish the individualized attention they received from their savior. Even if it was in the form of hot lead.

The Unending Crisis

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And so, as of May 30, 2024, our long national nightmare …. is just beginning again. To those who believe a first conviction of a former president of the United States will result in the cause of this former president going away, I have some beach front property in West Virginia to sell to you. If anything, the clamor from the “victimized” classes is going to increase, not go away. The nattering nabobs of negativism seem to believe that only crimes defined by Republicans are legitimate crimes. They earnestly believe the entire federal government is arrayed against them, merely because they are being prosecuted by those who administer justice.

So it is abundantly clear we have a split screen nation. One side is wanting to worship the con man who fooled millions into believing he was on their side, while the other side is wondering when the gullible fools will have the scales fall from their eyes, and undergo their road to Damascus conversion. I honestly believe the true supporters of Trump will never weaken in their support for the charlatan and his supposed cause. That is because they are convinced if they admit their champion is a fraud, the entire façade they’ve built up over the years will crumble. They will have to acknowledge the US has grown beyond a monolithic white protestant culture, into one that reflects the diversity found in the world. And, quite frankly, that prospect terrifies many on the right. They will be forced to admit proficiency exists across all racial and ethnic lines, which is contrary to their belief that white is best and deserves to dominate.

You hear so many of these idolaters transfer their allegiances from God to the developer who has mucked up most of the businesses he’s been associated with over the decades. They decry the deep state that stands against their ascension again, since anyone who opposes them, must be against America. You hear many claim that Biden has been terrible, though if you push them for an example of his errors, they are unable to reply. Really, what you are seeing is the demolition of an entire belief system built up over decades. Face it, trickle down economics as enunciated by Ronald Reagan and his followers, has been a poor deal for many people. It has turned them from the middle class, to the poor who cannot afford life. Of course, since many people are incapable of understanding subtlety, they support those who scream the loudest and share the shortest soundbite to support their position. Expecting a reversal of 40 years of mismanagement, they choose to follow someone who conveniently reverses all of reality. It is so easy to draw out fake memories of times past, when things were good. Never mind that all of history is against them. And by following their selective memories, they ignore all of the evidence of future intent found in the statements of their supposed leader.

So we are to believe that crime is raging out of control, when all statistics show crime rates have come down from decades past. And we are to believe we have a feckless foreign policy, because of course, no country would dare to attack another while the past president was in control. And we are to believe the economy in the US was never better than under Trump, something than can be disproven through a simple Google search. While at the same time we are supposed to believe that truth, justice, and the American way will flourish once again if we only put these supposed patriots back in power. How gullible to they think we are?

Actually, we have very clear evidence about their beliefs. An entire party is predicated upon supporting their leader, simply because they now have a leader who uses bullying as a primary tool. Once their current leader goes away, either through electoral defeat, or through administration of justice, or through human mortality, they will turn around and select another who is capable of being a figurehead to lead their one, true cause. The many who insist on the purity of their cause will latch onto someone, anyone, who is able to deceive them into believing they need him. And have no fear, it will be a him, not a her. Eventually the Republicans will support a woman, but just as the election of Barack Obama did not eliminate the latent racism in the country, the first election of a woman to the presidency will not eliminate the misogyny of the country. Given how that trait seems rooted more firmly in one party, I predict it will be Democrats who cause the election of the first woman to the presidency.

And just like the racism that oozed out after Obama’s election, the virulent strain of misogyny will tear apart this nation even more than it is already. Face it, the attacks upon women’s agency are just beginning. Should Donald win another term, the hounds will be unleashed. Forget any form of contraception. That is something thought of by evil people who do not want women to be vessels of creation, a calling clearly authorized in the Bible (sarcasm on). That is what upsets me the most, is the misuse of the words of scripture to justify the subjugation of – just about anyone viewed as potentially progressive. When you hear about ministers who are upbraided by members of their congregation for preaching on the words of the Beatitudes, because they cast Jesus as a woke liberal, that’s when you realize there is nothing these brazen hypocrites will not do to gain power.

But then the economy. Things were so much better back then The political ads are already dripping their poison into the veins of America. And while some sense the true nature of this poison, others welcome it as they welcome morphine to ease their pains of existence. Sooner or later, they will find themselves addicted to the words of their cult leader. When that happens, we all will lose.    

The Rematch of Our Lives

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Memories! It’s amazing how memories can be manipulated. They are actually claiming conditions were so much better under the past administration, and if we only grant them our vote again, they will institute nirvana once more. Well, I invite all who have short memories to look at the archives of this blog. I began the blog after the inauguration of Donald Trump, and have kept it ever since. It is a reflection of the chaos we all felt set down in real time. But what I now see is that the chaos does not matter to so many of today’s citizens who may vote in November for Trump. No, what matters is ignorance. A recent poll from NBC shows that people who use newspapers to learn about the world favor Biden over Trump by a 70%-29% margin, while people who don’t follow political news favor Trump over Biden by a 53%-27% margin. Hidden within these numbers is a belief that traditional media gives a more comprehensive understanding vs. reading T-shirt slogans. I know some reject that belief.

So we now understand the reason why so many people are supporting Donald Trump. They are ignorant of the real issues.  At last, a real reason for why people are voting against their long-term interests. They believe politics are totally outside of their concern, and they have no need to understand issues or have any sort of political perspective. They are content just to skim the surface of culture, and are subject only to the loudest voice. That is why one party is able to claim the exact opposite of reality and get enough folks to buy into it that they are able to win elections.

I do understand that there are many who have bought into Trumpian principles. Some of them are true believers in the Republican mantra of lower taxes and smaller government, and they honestly believe other positions are evil and must be opposed. Bill Barr fits into this category, since he has come around to supporting Trump since the Biden / Democrat leftist thrust (according to him) is so evil, Trump is better by comparison. More than a few also share in the Trumpian racism which is reflected in so many of his positions, such as a vituperative distrust of any immigrants from what is called the Third World. These are the ones who believe in the great replacement theory, wherein whites are being deliberately forced into subservience and minority status, primarily by Jews who are pulling the strings of society. These are the hard core of Trump’s support, and no one will ever convince them otherwise.

No, what seems as if it is defining the election to come is the core of lazy and ignorant people who refuse to get involved. They may be convincible about the total unfitness of Donald Trump for presidential responsibilities. Somehow we must show these folks that the upcoming election is not an ordinary choice between opposing views of government. What we have instead, is a choice between reality, and a fantasy world of entrapment. Should we choose the latter, what might we expect?

For one, expect an attempt to be made to expel all who do not possess legal status inside of the US. Even if those who have a status of undocumented have lived within this country for decades, and have obeyed all other laws during that time, there will not be an exception made for good behavior. The mere act of illegal immigration will be enough to offset any subsequent behavior, and forced expatriation will be pursued throughout the second Trump administration. Expect scenes to be broadcast of crops rotting in neglected fields, followed by inflation in all prices agricultural. Remember that we no longer have a meat packing workforce that employs  legal residents, so prices for all farm protein will also skyrocket. If we thought prices escalated during the Biden administration, you can expect many times that level of inflation to afflict US consumers during the next administration.

Restaurants will close down as the work force disappears. Schools will be in flux as some students abruptly leave in order to accompany their families across a border to a land totally alien to them. Television crews will focus on those left behind, some with family support, but others trying to tough it out having lost both parental figures. The GDP of the country will nosedive as the US attempts to compensate for the loss of a substantial portion of its labor force.

This all did not have to happen. Immigration policy has been verboten to resolution in our congress for decades. Now, it appears the issue will be forced upon us because of the threats coming from one of the two political parties in this nation.

Other consequences we can expect? How about the abandonment of the rule of law, both domestic and foreign. We can expect the commitments to international order to vanish in a flurry of Presidential decrees, and people will be surprised to see an expansion in international conflicts, instead of the peace promised by Republicans. An attempt will be made to seize the levers of control for the US justice department, and only court challenges will potentially stop that from happening. Expect the job market for attorneys to ramp up, while productivity in the US economy slows to a crawl.

Of course, food-borne illnesses will take a huge jump up, as we abandon any semblance of regulatory control. All of the guard rails set up to prevent financial players from gouging clueless consumers? Gone in a blink. The political group that wants to eliminate Darwin from the schools has no qualms about unleashing financial Darwinism on the hapless people who live on the margins of the economy.

The controls on women of reproductive age will tighten. Reproductive rights? Merely a mirage, nothing to see here, your duty is to produce a new generation of citizens. The right kind of citizens, that is. Remember the laws against miscegenation? They were big when America was Great. Those same laws will reappear to prevent our culture from homogenizing. You want your government to monitor the status of your pregnancy? Your wish will be fulfilled in many states.

Worst of all, we will see the continued crackdown on political expression. TDS will become a capital offense, Even the far corners of the internet, like this blog, will be searched and forbidden. Those who think this is all hyperbole? Just go ahead with the election of Donald Trump and see how many of these projections come to fruition. This is not my choice of societies to live in for my remaining years. Unfortunately, societal dystopia may be coming for us all.

Poor Choices? It’s Up To Us

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In the rest of the northern hemisphere, Spring is inexorably coming. The daffodils have burst forth, and the Lenten roses are blooming. In the isolated world of politics, winter is coming. We face a reprise of the 2020 election in the US, with two flawed candidates leading their respective party tickets. Meanwhile, the legislature in the state of West Virginia has fitfully drawn to a close, with extended debate over culture war touchpoints, and not much else. It seems that the faults inherent in the original constitution have finally manifested themselves in our current political climate. We have the reality of the supreme body of the judicial branch, which is suffering from the lowest approval ranking of its long duration, and it also suffers from the sclerosis of its longest tenured members thinking they have all the answers, therefore they have inherent rights most of us can only dream about.

We have a legislative branch which has twisted itself into knots, bringing Shakespeare’s line to mind. Merely a sound and fury, signifying nothing. At the same time, the effectiveness of the executive branch of government is greatly hamperedt, with many in one party doubting the legitimacy of the current leader based only upon the repeated bleating of the past leader and his minions.

You can go back a long time and never come up with a time when all three branches of government were viewed with as much disdain as is found today. Always there was at least one branch of the three-headed creature called the US Federal Government which would fulfill its purpose as spelled out in the Constitution. Now? It seems like we continue to have crises in confidence streaming out hourly through social and commercial media. No longer is it necessary to hide your hypocrisy or your racism. In fact, if you don’t manifest it daily, you will be outed as a “gasp” liberal or RINO, since you obviously are not a true believer.

We don’t have to believe in nasty facts anymore. We do not need a common understanding of any situation. Just sit back and let the languid tones of your political superiors wash over you like a full-body massage. After all, you never need to really understand the implications of our political choices. If you say often enough that one candidate is enfeebled due to advanced age, then it entitles you to a free pass for all of your own gaffes, and allows you to claim execution of “sarcasm” as a reason for your misstatements.

What I really dislike is the tendency of people to assume problems that have built up over a 50-year period are owned strictly by the party currently in charge of the Executive branch of government. Memory does not extend back to the abhorrent acts of the previous administration. Well, for those who wish to understand why so many folks in the US are unhappy, it would be good to review the income distribution for the US. The last data I’ve seen was from 2019, so it does not cover the pandemic and subsequent recovery. That data shows 30% of families across the US earn $40,000 or less. For a full-time employee, that is less than $20 / hour. I would maintain that this amount is not sufficient to live on and support a family in any metropolitan area within the US. Even in my depressed area of West Virginia, that level of income would not allow you to live unless you already owned your house outright. And even then, the mandatory bills keep increasing. Utility bills in this state are soon to eclipse housing cost, as this state holds onto coal-based electricity, and inefficient water and gas utilities. A base level of utility service is approaching $500/month. For those who are retired, with inflexible incomes, these increases in utility costs are causing real hardship.

Yet our taxation and other governmental policies seem to indicate a lack of concern for these folks. Every program aimed at assisting these people who are working hard, is viewed as yet another handout for the undeserving. Indeed, there is a supposition of moral superiority for those who do not need any governmental assistance. Why do you think there is such a preference for unearned income (capital gains, dividends) in the Federal tax system vs. earned income (wages). Since taxation represents a moral judgement, the tax system at a Federal level reveals a strong preference for not working but merely using money to make more money.

There are so many cases where the moneyed class decry any assistance to the working class, on the stated belief that those who labor for a living do not deserve to receive governmental largesse, but giving taxation relief to the moneyed classes is morally required, since all taxation is viewed as illegal taking (thanks Ayn Rand). Now this group has its sights set on the WV income tax, and is slowly reducing the taxation stream to the state, even though the income tax is 40% of state revenues. This is something that affects me personally. My taxes will be reduced, while a world of need exists throughout the state.

We have lost the ability to share a burden as a nation. We cannot comprehend that we need a viable service class, which means paying them a living wage. When prices go up (as has happened with fast food), we scream for succor. How many problems could be solved if people accepted increasing the revenue side for the government, instead of focusing solely on the “excess spending”. We will never solve the problems of this nation or state if we insist upon continuing the path begun under Ronald Reagan. Taxation is not an unreasonable taking, it is part of the cost associated with living inside of a society that is not tearing itself into pieces. Those who are insisting upon nouveau isolationism will find out sooner or later the truth of the old advertising adage – you can pay me now, or pay me later. And the cost of later payment will likely be much much higher than the costs associated with paying now.

Racism? It’s Not Just For Breakfast Anymore

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Photo credit Wikipedia Unite the Right article

It would be so easy to slip into an adoration mode. All I need to do is adopt racist attitudes and actions, and I would not react in an emetic fashion to his pronouncements. To think it could be that easy, to slip into a comatose state where all things emotional are provided by my master. Of course, we have to oppose any immigration, since only evil people want to come in over our borders. Of course, it is only white northern European stock that is capable of advancing society. Those primitive natives in shithole countries have never invented anything. It is only because of our beneficence that they have any semblance of civilization. To think of then coming into our country and poisoning our blood, why it is an appalling concept!

Or so one side of the debate would have you believe. More and more, you hear only of the evils of immigration, and unwillingness to accept the “other”. Makes you wonder whether these hypocrites remember their Bible stories, since they are so eager to impose their supposedly biblically-based morality on everyone else. Do they remember the parable of the Good Samaritan, who was the one who cared about an injured person and spent their own money making certain that the injured person could recover from their wounds? Even though the injured person was from a different human group than the Samaritan? Probably not, since so much of the hypocrite’s time and energy is spent on making certain they never come across anyone different than themselves.

I wish we could adopt the same race consciousness that cats have. Differences in coat coloration do not matter in the least to a cat. Instead, they roll about in play not caring whether they cat they are playing with has a black, or tabby, or calico coat. We’ve adopted two kittens and they make no distinction about who they play with or any superficial differences between them.

It does seem that humanity is regressing, moving away from full integration of the flavors of humanity, and insisting on the superiority of a single strain of the population. This resistance to the future seems to be what is driving so much of our politics today. One side seems convinced we are in a zero-sum world, where advances by one group will result in diminished returns by all others. Since white, European people have been the dominant group in the US, challenges to that dominance are greeted with as much hostility as the aggrieved group can muster. When this fear is coupled with a political leader who explicitly gives permission to vent political incorrectness, we see an abandonment of supposedly long-established principles. It has long been said that the veneer of civilization is thin, and once it is removed, animal impulses come out. That is the explanation I see for the rank hypocrisy exhibited by what the Republican party has become. It is now a party of Archie Bunkers, full of rage against anything that would interrupt their stay in a recliner. What so many people fail to realize is how easy it is to fall from a high perch. If we resist coming change, it will overwhelm us and the dominant class will find out what it is like to live at the bottom of the ladder. If we don’t bend with the applied pressure, we will break. I for one do not wish to live in a society which is broken. If the party of regression somehow wins the next election, I’m afraid it will confirm a break. Such a result will make me think long and hard as to what my response will be.

Say Riddikulus!

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The world has gone mad today,

And good’s  bad today,

And  black’s white today,

And day’s night today

Cole Porter’s words were written nearly 90 years ago, but much like the words of H. L. Mencken, they resonate with honesty in today’s world. Indeed, much of what is viewed as classic literature over the years is classic because the emotions it describes are still applicable today, regardless of the age of the composition. We went to a Spoleto show recently of a one-man performance of his adaptation of the Illiad. It transported us to the universal human emotions of Homer’s characters, brought forward through time and space.

So maybe it is appropriate to view the world we live in as a single episode in a ballad yet to be written by the Porter, or Mencken, or Homer, or Shakespeare of today, who is able to take the events of the last decade and convert them to a universal meme we can all accept as representative of the world as we are experiencing it.

Certainly I could never conceive of a world where everything became topsy-turvy. Character traits assumed to be virtuous are ridiculed as being out of style and superseded by the need to worship at the feet of our fearless leader. Not only do we need to disparage our predecessors, but we need to actively disrespect them by hiding their secrets in bathrooms. Maybe what we are missing is that Mar-A-Lago is severely short of toilet paper, and the unwritten instructions were to use classified documents as a cleansing aid.

After over seven years, it becomes evident that this movement has a staying power beyond anything I could imagine. My problem is that I’ve tried to understand the logic behind the movement. Like many of my peers, I am unable to understand the movement through any sort of logical analysis. It just does not make sense logically. Therefore, I must assume all of the reason behind its success is due to its appeal to an emotional need on behalf of its adherents.

So we shall try to understand the emotions behind the movement, recognizing I will necessarily do a poor job since I do not share the emotional state of many supporters. I must assume that following a charismatic leader fulfils some deep, unmet need within the psyche of those who have succumbed to its wiles. Since many of the most ardent adherents are those who profess a firm and literal belief in God and God’s word, it is necessary to assert that following someone as an infallible figure is more emotionally satisfying than trying to get that same emotional satisfaction in raising your arms and hollering hallelujah.

There is nothing that stirs the soul up more than feeling you are minimized by the dominant culture. And certainly the culture wars stirred up by this movement reflect the minimization felt by these people over the past 60-70 years. Ever since an imperious Supreme Court told people they had to open up their schools to “those creatures”, removed prayer from school, enabled hussies to obtain abortions, and declared that the Constitution meant what it said when it was amended to ensure all people were covered by its clauses, they awaited their opportunity to wreak revenge. Owning the libs became more important than any economic accomplishment that might be simultaneously torn down. Though most couldn’t define the word, they became nihilists.

Yes, that describes the fault line running through the heart of the United States. Those who have more education, and are more comfortable with critical thinking, are more likely to lean Democratic in their vote. Those who prefer to be told what to think, who react emotionally to expressed threats, especially directed against their young, now tend to lean Republican in their political positions. So we are in a battle where logic must fight emotion, and throughout human history, emotion has prevailed far more often than logic. I am convinced it is not possible to convert someone who acts on the basis of their emotions, to suddenly see the errors of their way through exposure to a logical argument. One must fight emotion with emotion.

One of the fantasy spells in the Harry Potter books was “Riddikulus”. This spell was to be used to destroy the deepest fear buried deep in the person’s psyche. The magical creature Boggarts would assume the form of the deepest fear of someone, and it became necessary to cast the spell “Riddikulus” while simultaneously imagining some ludicrous idea that the Boggart would assume to obliterate the fear. What we need is a national spell of “Riddikulus” where we would convert the form of the fearless leader to an object of derision. Given the many foibles of the once and hopefully never future leader, it is easy to conjure up an image capable of inspiring loathing. Indeed, some of the endless parade of candidates who have declared for the Presidency sense this, as they tout their athletic prowess as a way of contrasting their fitness to the would-be returner to the throne. Does anyone find it abnormal that the only person drawing any physical taunts from the pulpit bully is Chris Christie, the only other candidate who may have more visible fat than does the Donald?

So pick your image. You might choose the sight of those magnificent buttocks as he attempts to return a tennis ball. You might pick an image of him driving his golf cart down the fairway as he solves the world’s problems on a course. You might have the image of him waddling down a ramp (now that’s really unfair. I had two bad knees and could empathize with him not dealing well with uneven surfaces.) But I think my very favorite “Riddikulus” moment was early in the pandemic, where he was suggesting the ingestion of antiseptics while flooding the body with cleansing light. Would that he would have taken his own advice, we would not be in this position today.

An American Fable

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Photo by Tunde Olaniron through CNN

Once upon a time, there was a nation where everything was peachy-keen. Nobody was discriminated against, everyone was judged by their character rather than their skin color, and the nation had never been guilty of anything bad ever happening in its glorious history. Into that country slinked some naughty evil people, who stole an election from the rightful winners, and went on to impose all manner of bad rulings and total debauchery.

Fortunately, the good guys (because of course, it was guys since you can never depend upon that other sex to do anything resembling logical and virtuous behavior) came up with a plan to reinstate their glorious leader and set our nation upon its righteous path again. Who could object to that?

Oh, but of course the evil people wouldn’t stand for that. They insisted upon reminding us that this nation had not always behaved honorably. There were times where we didn’t give those who appeared different from us an even break. They even had the audacity to remind us that 350 years of subjugation could not be overcome with 60 years of legal equality. Why, by gum and by golly, if those who aren’t true Americans can’t overcome the disadvantages they are up against, then they don’t deserve any consideration at all. Can’t see giving them any sort of a hand-out. They’d only want more, and they’d take that from all of us who really deserve to be respected and honored.

Well, we will just have to make certain that our young’uns never hear about any of these past issues. After all, we now are past any of the sins of our long-ago ancestors. None of us have ever enslaved anyone. And just remember, it was our ancestors as honorable northerners who fought and bled to free those slaves. You know those others, who fought against the northerners and wanted to keep slavery as an economic system? Why, they just were trying to stand up for state’s rights. Certainly people could understand the lily-white motives of the good people on both sides? We would never have any sort of remembrance of that, no torch-lit parades of marchers, would we?

Oh, but of course we are conflating issues here. See, much of the problems that we have is due to those few people who follow Judeo-Christian religious beliefs, but only the first part of that hyphenated word. You know, that small group who somehow manages to worm their way into controlling all of us, the true Americans. You can see them as they spread their tentacles over all of our media. That is why we have to scrub all of our media, in order to ensure that any images reaching our precious children show no traces of the struggles of humanity.

Why, any suggestion that we might not represent the ultimate pinnacle of evolution needs to be stricken from any historical source. If we remove all traces, and ensure that our precious children never have to feel uncomfortable about actions of their ancestors, then we can move forward and claim our prize. Just like if we expunge the historical record of the foul stench of impeachment, it will be as if it never happened. See? If we’d only have discovered how easy it is to alter the past, we’d never have any actions to repudiate in the future.

Now, I know some of you are feeling just a mite uncomfortable with the thought we can change the past. Let me assure you of all of the successful movements of the past where this has borne fruit. We all remember the thousand-year Reich, right? That pinnacle of man’s glorious accomplishment where we all celebrated the purification of our race? There’s no finer example of how successful we can be if we but emulate those in our recent past. Why, I have no patience for those who dare to declare any words which minimize our ascendancy atop humanity’s peak. Since we’ve learned the trick of reversing anything unpleasant in the past, we’ve certainly learned how to get rid of any mention of the victims of those who dared to be different than the objectives of those who ran the Third Reich. Now those people would never have a reason to lie.

Look, if you don’t believe in the goodness of those who want to run this country, just look at all of those who support them. You couldn’t find a more honorable group than those evangelical followers who have not quite internalized the lessons of the Beatitudes. They are the ones who believe in the inherent goodness of concealed carry without a permit. They are the ones who embody the life of the gospels by turning away all strangers, since they might be carrying fentanyl. And everyone knows it is not their fault if someone shows up at their door without explicit permission, thus incurring a lead baptism. Why, if we have these God-given rights, would we not want to exercise them to their fullest extent?

I’m tired of trying to explain to others how wrong they are. Since they refuse to accept their faults, I feel justified in using my fist to impose a little ‘larnin upside their head. If we do that enough, surely they will begin to pick up some sense. Least that’s what I think.

So. Many. Boxes

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Photo from Justice Department

Hundreds of docs. Thousands of docs. Millions and billions and trillions of docs. Like many others, I had a mental image of the documents in question stored at the Mar-A-Lago resort. That image did not include a stage filled with boxes, a bathroom where the reading of choice could have included nuclear secrets, a wall filled with banker’s boxes of documents. The sheer scale of the illegally retained documents forced an unanticipated gasp from my throat. Of course, there are millions of people who will deny the evidence presented to them, and who defend the indefensible.

By this time, it is apparent it is impossible to shame any of Trump’s defenders. What we have here is the divine right of kings personified in a hugely unfit blob of protoplasm. If you look at Donald Trump through the veil of royal prerogative, his actions become much more understandable. He has been accorded the divine right, thus he is incapable of doing anything wrong. All of the moralists of all time have it wrong regarding Trump’s actions. You cannot hold him accountable for any of his actions because he was forgiven by the divine right he possesses. Thus it is not a problem for him to have pontificated for better controls for classified materials in 2016, and then claim total and complete innocence when his own issues dealing with classified materials were revealed in 2022-23. Then the victims of Trump Derangement Syndrome go on the offense, defending the man’s actions since it is clearly evident he could never do wrong.

No, what is evident to those of us outside of the Trump cult is the complete idiocy of his positions, and those who support him. What one must keep in mind is this quote from Charles MacKay: “Men, it has been well said, think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, one by one.” There will never be a single event which will cause the true believers to abandon the object of their affection. All you can ever hope for is that you have a slow and steady erosion of his support as the steady drip, drip, drip of his wrongdoing keeps getting exposed.

I’ve read the 49-page indictment. It is abundantly clear that the object of Trump’s obsession with his documents was a misguided belief they belonged to him, and him alone. Never mind his insistence on deceiving his own attorneys into swearing to his veracity when saying he had turned over everything of interest. How could he be held accountable for retaining items post-presidency when he never actually entered post-presidency. After all, he won the election, didn’t he? It’s not his fault that the reality-based view of everyone outside of his cult is that no, he actually lost the election. He’s been totally consistent in his insistence that the election was stolen from him.

The problem is now he is dealing with those who are mentally disturbed who still belong to his cult. And many of these (as Kari Lake points out) believe in second amendment solutions. That is, over and over, those who believe violence is justified are simply awaiting their opportunity to demonstrate loyalty to their fearless leader by committing some act of violence with their plethora of second amendment weaponry. In their warped minds, anyone who dares to express any statement of disloyalty is just asking to be upbraided with a 9 mm solution. If they can take out a transgender supporter at the same time, so much the better. In other words, the entire political discussion has now become more than toxic. It has become dangerous to the vast majority of the nation, since it is only a relatively small minority who still believes in Trumpal infallibility.

I for one am sick of this charlatan who has hijacked the national discussion. There are so many real issues we need to deal with, yet we keep getting stuck on discussing this toddler who commands the loyalty of so many who are brain dead. Sooner or later, they will discover it was never about them. It was always what can we do for Donald? How can we give him the honors and fealty due him? If we give him what he wants, then everything will be all right, because of course, his magnificence will solve all problems we have. We just need to return The Donald to the seat of power and all will be right with the world. Gahh!

If You Keep Yelling, Folks Will Believe What You Say

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Today’s number is 87,000. Today’s quiz concerns that number and its position in today’s political discussion. What does 87,000 represent? Is it:

  1. The number of new jack-booted thugs armed with assault rifles who will enforce the IRS’s evil mandates, shooting any who resist the decrees from the Federal government,

Or:

2 .  The number of hires the IRS will need over the next 10 years to off-set retirements, and    improve the response time for an agency that has been starved of resources for over a decade.

OK, I know that was an easy question. If you live totally in a right-wing cocoon, the answer is 1. If you have any relationship with reality, the answer is 2.

It really shows up the hypocrisy of the Republican party as to how they frame the issue around the increased resources for the IRS. What they don’t tell their gullible rubes is that a few of these 87,000 proposed employees will end up auditing high-income returns, making it less likely that overt cheating will avoid scrutiny. Look, a vast majority of taxpayers do not have any opportunity for not paying their fair share of taxes. They don’t have ownership of limited partnerships, where income and deductions are played with by accountants of mixed morality. They cannot play with depreciation of assets, since they do not own assets they could depreciate. It has been easier to look for those who cheat by playing with their eligibility for earned income tax credits. Certainly we do not want those who are benefiting from taxation redistribution programs to cheat and cause them to benefit excessively from taxpayer’s largesse. But to pretend that significant amounts of dollars can be recovered by keeping the IRS status quo, and mandating increased work requirements for benefit programs shows the true financial illiteracy of the would-be ruling class. Either that, or they are pretending to care about the true victims of our economy by appealing to moral instincts by lying about the unworthiness of those who are losing out in the national income race.

Over the last several decades, the mantra of the Republicans has been that any expenditures from the Federal Government are unjustified, and wasteful. Therefore, it is their bounden duty to reduce taxes on the productive class (themselves), while imposing strict limits on any redistribution of income to the wastrel class (those who are in the lower bounds of the income distribution). It is as if the belief system of Ayn Rand has sprung to life in their political pronouncements. What they have is theirs, since they earned it. No mention of them rigging the system to ensure their types of income is treated more leniently than income earned through participation in the labor market.

And now they would have us believe the proposed increase in the IRS budget is the number 1 evil they are fighting against. Well, I am of the belief that taxes are the rent we pay to live in a civilized society. Taxation does not represent evil taking. And when overt lying becomes a main form of political discourse, it is the responsibility of others to speak up against these lies from becoming embedded in the beliefs of those who drink the swill of the upper classes.

There has always been an element of wish fulfillment in Republican politics. They always represented the capitalists against the majority who do not have capital to play with. Their trick now has been to convince a substantial portion of the laboring class that they are being deceived by the evil of the social issues favored by Democrats. They have subjugated their economic pitches by wailing about the degradations they see in their culture war issues. Meanwhile, those who provide the political lubricant (money) in the Republican party are literally laughing on their way to the bank as they chortle over the tricks they are playing on the lower classes. It has been their dream to reduce the portion of national income going to those who labor for their living. That way, corporate profits can increase, and they benefit from the share buybacks and increased dividends accruing to those with capital.

I am one of the fortunate ones in this economy. I went to college and majored in a STEM field which was in demand when I graduated. I was able to save throughout my career, and through a combination of pension, and inheritance, I’ve been able to build up my share of capital. I look to deploy my capital in investments where dividends play a significant role in total return. But I see how unfair our income distribution is. Look at the graph of total US income:

Nearly 40% of households earned less than $55,000 dollars in 2019. And while that income may be acceptable in places like West Virginia, it is untenable to live on that amount in our urban centers. So for those who claim only the undeserving in society need assistance, I maintain it is the system imposed upon this nation which precludes many dedicated laborers from earning a decent wage. We either need a system which increases the value of labor, or we need a national program to aid those who find themselves at the bottom of the heap in this ongoing race to the top. Of course, since service worker wages are the foundation of the economy, rises in service worker pay is reflected in higher costs for the products of those service workers. And immediately, concern grows about the inflation those higher costs produce. Of course, blame is attributed to high spending from the Federal Government. And those Republicans who seek to deceive the foolish masses, trumpet their folderol loudly so people believe their words instead of seeking to analyze the situation for themselves.

Selma Lives!

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Rep. Justin Pearson, Rep. Justin Jones, Rep. Gloria Johnson People hold their hands up as they exit the House Chamber doors at the Tennessee State Capitol Building, in Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. April 3, 2023. Nicole Hester/USA Today Network via REUTERS.

Bull Connor was resurrected this week. It had been years since his name had crossed my mind, but after the events in the Tennessee house, he came back uninvited into my consciousness. He was also mentioned by cable news commentators, along with the images of the fire hoses being used against civil rights demonstrators. It was telling that it took images of 60 years ago to match what was happening in Nashville.

I spent 10 years in Memphis. The district that just got “unrepresented” was not one I lived in, but if I lived there now, it would be familiar to me. The 86th legislative district was the one that Justin Pearson represented, and now has no representation in the Tennessee house. That district was gerrymandered to include the industrial lands next to the Mississippi River, downtown Memphis, and a swath of land along the river and up into a county adjacent to Shelby County (home to Memphis). My old workplace along the Loosahatchie River is currently without representation.

As I watched cable news coverage, they were in split-screen mode. Those who were pontificating were on one side, while images of the speakers in the Tennessee Assembly were shown on the other. The sound was off in that chamber, but it was apparent through the shaking of fists, and the clenched jaws of the speakers, raw hatred was being expressed. Raw hatred against three individuals who dared to stand up and challenge the one-sided nature of legislative discussion after the murders in the Nashville church-based school. In the end, the two black males were on the losing end of the vote, and their expulsion from the chamber was completed. The white woman who had joined the two in violating the decorum of the house chamber? She received just enough votes to avoid being expelled as well. So the final score was one white woman allowed to stay, two young black males sent packing. As the remaining female legislator said, the result was probably related to the color of her skin.

My knowledge of Tennessee politics ended nearly 40 years ago when I moved away. I was there when the newly elected governor of Tennessee took over earlier than anticipated (three days prior to the scheduled inauguration day), in order to forestall then-governor Ray Blanton from selling any more pardons. Fortunately, he was held accountable for some of his multitude of crimes, although not for pardon sales. Yes, he was a Democratic party member, but I was very glad to see the Republican Lamar Alexander take over. Back then the crime and grift was equal opportunity, and all politicians were suspect regardless of party affiliation. Now, however, it does seem like one party is inclined to use their power for one purpose only – to maintain said power.

White privilege is debated often. States have gone to extraordinary lengths to deny its existence, so much so that in Florida, you may not discuss in the classroom anything that could bring discomfort to the youth of that state (those who just happen to be white). The party that decries cancel culture, is guilty of cancelling anything that presents a challenge to the lily pure image being presented by the dominant class. Snowflakes cannot stand any warmth of reality, else they melt away.

I am old enough to remember seeing the fire hoses used against demonstrators. I felt awful that a group of people had to put up with such vile hatred in order to gain a semblance of citizenship. At the age of 8, I was only capable of thinking that could not happen in the state of Nebraska, where I lived. I had to be older to learn that the same feelings existed even in my state, though they were expressed with less overt violence. Somehow I managed to live through learning of the imperfections of our nation. Still I retained the belief that things were getting better, and we would soon embody the post-racial world Dr. King discussed. But events like those in Nashville show how far away we are from truly becoming a post-racial society. They replace the images of Barack Obama with those of Bull Connor, letting us know we are drifting back to a world we believed we had left behind. Who will be the voices we hear in the 2020’s that will match that of Dr. King? If we continue to follow the racism as expressed in the Tennessee Assembly, it may be a long time before we ever can accept our ongoing participation in the American sin. There is a call for reparations now. Yeah, let’s go throw money at the problem. Seems like that is our answer to everything. Let me say now, reparations without repairing the schism in our hearts will not bring about true equality. We now see so many who do not want equality, who will not accept the founding principles of our nation. And they are the ones who are gaming the system to ensure their continued occupation in the lead coach. Unfortunately, if we follow their lead, it will be towards national derailment and ultimate ruin.