Father, Son and Holy Warrior

 

My very good friend recently went to visit his folks in Florida; the peninsula that time forgot. His folks are in the mid-90s and are staunch Eisenhower Republicans. His parents are also my dear friends and have been since time immemorial. How does a progressive maintain a friendly relationship with a GOP devotee?

You match ignorance with obliviousness. For the sake of courtesy and despair that they will never change their minds. 

My friend, a Marine Corp vet, ignores all news and commentary during his visits. He enters the Cone of Silence, the Bubble of Isolation. His parents oblige his apostasy from their political faith by remaining silent on the subject. However, on occasion, someone in earshot blurts out a talking point which is a signal for a litany of talking points, barbs, rhetorical questions and excoriations of socialism.

In my friend’s presence, the Fox News (sic) scripted list of exclamations ends abruptly. He takes that moment of silent discomfort to muse on the appropriate retort. Often he remains silent both from a spirit of goodwill and to avoid the pain of beating one’s head against a wall.

During dinner one evening, the image of Trump appeared on the ubiquitous TV tuned to Faux Gnus, as is all too common in Florida.

(Nota bene: Televisions showing Fox Noose are ubiquitous in Florida, perhaps there’s a local ordinance...)

In response (ding-ding!) an elderly male diner proclaimed that ‘Trump was a warrior!’ and lamented that Biden was not up to the task of meeting Putin. With the name of Trump being invoked, ripples of approving mutters spread round the table.

My friend was gobsmacked that these people actually and truly believed that Trump, the draft-dodging, bone-spur claiming twat-waffle was a ‘warrior’. My friend was a warrior (Semper Fi!) He fought the fight that Trump wimped out of by getting his rich-daddy to pay a doctor to falsify the Donald’s medical records.

This is what we’re up against; a segment of the population who believe - heart and soul – that Trump is a savior, sent by ‘god’... or is part of the ‘godhead’.

Father, Son and Holy Trump, the Warrior POTUS.

 

WTF GQP?

 

What gives with the Republican obstructionism? They refuse to compromise. Coming close to middle-ground is for them equal to utter defeat. So, if they are not willing to make a deal that will improve the security of the nation and directly benefit the lives of many of their constituents, what is their motivation?

Apparently taking a cue from Mrs Reagan, ‘Just say ‘No!’ say the GOP to basically anything and everything proposed in the House and the Senate. COVID relief? NO! Infrastructure? NO! Insurrection Commission? NO! For the People Act? NO!

How can they be against everything and for nothing apart from over-turning the 2020 election, undermining the election system and with it the foundations of the

Constitutional system?

For some, like Mitch, it appears to be a straight power-play.The appointments to the SCOTUS was a huge power-play.

So, sure, a power-play for some. For others, it’s the revelation of a personal sociopathic proclivity. It’s narcissism inspired by the Orange narcissist, for a good many of the GQP/MAGA cultists. However, there must be a common ground where all these various groups can cohabit. Right?

That over-lap on the GOP Venn diagram is labeled ‘Socialism!’ (cue: SFX scary noises) 

The GOP can somehow sell their voters on the notion that by saying ‘No!’, they’re saving the nation from ‘Socialism!’. (cue: SFX scary noises)

All that stuff in the infrastructure bill about up-grading WiFi, bringing the USA up to cyber-code, (so to speak) and coming abreast with the rest of the world, can be decried by the GQP as ‘Big Brother’ Bill Gates coming to micro-chip your soul and sell it to George Soros.

The MAGA-mutts believe that hokum. They believe to their souls that Stalinist Gulags run by the Finns (or Al-Qaeda) are right around the corner. Commies coming out of the woodwork to make you FaceBook and TikTok against your will. Vegan Lesbians will ban red meat and force feed you quinoa after your mandated yoga session.

A Socialist hell on earth. (cue: SFX scary noises)

And only ‘god’ or his Orange Persona on earth can save the nation from 5G damnation. To the rescue come the GQP; brandishing their Trump flags and giving fisted salutes. They stand as bulwarks to the scourge of ‘Socialism!’ (cue: SFX scary noises)

Gaetz, Taylor-Greene, Johnson, Kennedy (no, not that one...) Ted Cruz, McConnell, McCarthy, Cotton, Rubio, Boebert, and all, stand shoulder to shoulder, maskless and...

Gack!

What a ghastly team of bottom-feeders and mouth-breathers. What the feck gives with the GOP?

To borrow a phrase, ‘Just say, No!’

Say ‘No!’ to the GOP.

 

GOP Lunacy

 

Remember when the GOP trotted out craziness like ‘cancelling Dr Suess’ and tore their hair over Mr Potatohead’s plastic penis to cover the fact that they had nothing in the policy cupboard?

Remember when Marjorie Taylor-Greene went out on the proverbial limb with a chain-saw, spouting utter lunacy about ‘Jewish Space Lasers’ a line that has become a staple of Late-night comedians and meme-makers on FaceBook?

Remember Fruity Rudy Ghouliani booking a landscaping company in a run-down strip mall, then leaking motor-oil from his temples while screaming to the heavens about voter fraud?

Strolls through the memory garden like this are delightful as a counter-weight to, say, the senseless recalcitrance of Joe Manchin.

It was gratifying to smirk at the prideful stupidity on display by the GOP, especially after four years of Mr Drumpf’s Wild Ride.

Well, the wild, drunken ride goes on and we’re locked in the trunk; insurrection attempts, grand juries, leaked, incriminating phone calls, attempts to thwart justice by the Attorney General and gag orders about digging dirt on political opponents, to name but a few.

And the cancerous clown show which is the GOP has not failed to deliver with even more outrageous shenanigans and displays of laughable ignorance and whimsy.

To wit: ‘Screwy’ Louie Gohmert, often cited as Congress’s most notable ignoramus, returned to re-establish himself as the lead clown after being over-shadowed by the Pennywise of the House, MJT. Louie asked the U.S. Forest Service, whether they or BLM can "change the course of the moon's orbit or the Earth's orbit around the sun" to counter Climate Change (!). 

Yes, he did. Some advised that Louie was trying to be ironic, though irony is not remotely in Louie’s wheelhouse. Louie had trial-ballooned his lunacy on Faux Gnus and had gotten the obligatory approving nod which indicates the interviewer wasn't listening to Louie spew his imbecilic nonsense. Louie was trying to establish that Global Climate Change was an inevitability, perhaps? A mysterious plan of 'god', perhaps? Ineffable and unknowable and thus out of our control short of altering planetary orbits.

Louie has certainly done Senator Inhofe's snowball one better.  

Treasure these ludicrous faux pas by the GOP and keep them in mind in 2022.

 

 

What is Joe Manchin's Game?

 

A basic rule of thumb with politicians is that when they start blabbering from a soap box about ‘principles’, you can bet that they’re basically talking through their anus.

‘Follow the money!’ should be the SOP whenever a pol starts soap-boxing. Case in point is Joe Manchin, who has been stamping like a child on the soap box labeled ‘filibuster’. He’s gone so far as to state, "I'm not willing to destroy our government," by ending the filibuster. 

WTF? As if the filibuster was the lynch-pin by which the entirety of our Constitutional Republic hinged.

So, what is Joe doing? Playing political games, of course, as the Palmer Report has explained. Yes, Joe is playing a power game by holding off from voting with the other Dem Senators. But what is he actually hoping to gain from such faux recalcitrance? It must be for more than some marker for a favor to be done at a later date.

Let’s be clear; curtailing the filibuster will in no way end the government. The filibuster was not present at the beginning of the Republic and has gone through several variations since. It’s also clear that Joe Manchin is not trying to preserve and protect the cinematic heroism portrayed in ‘Mr Smith Goes to Washington’. 

It must be admitted that the filibuster is a functional tool. Yet, it is a tool that has been over-used inappropriately; akin to the maxim that to a hammer every problem looks like a nail. In this case, Mitch McConnell – the self-styled ‘Grim Reaper’ -  has used the hammer to bash in the brains of bills presented in the Senate.

So, what is Joe Manchin’s game? He’s certainly playing hard-ball politics but for what end? What personal gain does Manchin see as the outcome for his soap-boxing?

Whatever  Joe's angle might be, it will become known sooner or later. As adroit Joe Biden is at playing the senatorial game, I'd bet on sooner, rather than later. I'd also wager that Joe Manchin will rue the day he chose to play hard-ball with Biden.

 

S.E. Cupp, Republican whisperer

 

S.E. Cupp, Republican whisperer, proclaimed on CNN that “It’s not a lie if you believe it.”

Wrong!

It’s a lie; whether you believe it or not is immaterial. You might not feel like a liar when you re-iterate the lie, but it’s still a falsehood. It is still a lie.

Goebbels’ assessment “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it…” remains accurate but believe does not alter the falsity of the lie. A lie remains a lie.

That goes as much for the ‘Big Lie’ as it does for the smallest, whitest lie about your age or whether you truly like your mother’s new dress.

The topic in which Ms Cupp declared her misapprehension concerning the promulgation of falsehood was regarding Drumpf’s ‘Big Lie – or one of them.

A query was made speculating whether or not the Lard of Mar-A-Lardo actually believed that he was still president despite losing the popular vote by seven million votes. Speculation was shared that he did not – could not - believe his own lie. That dubious appraisal was accepted as consensus.

 The reasoning (?) went like this: ‘How could the Former Guy actually believe that he was still the president?’ The answer to that rhetorical question was not considered or voiced.

 The answer is obvious; The Donald believes the Big Lie – that he is still president – for the simple reason that the Orange Buffoon is insane. 

(see my previous post: 'Donald is Nuts')

Not being a mental health care professional, the word of one who holds a PhD in clinical psychology and, moreover, knows the subject intimately can be taken as gospel. Mary Trump has declared, “He's the only person I've ever met who can gaslight himself.”

BTW, Elwood P. Dowd believed in Harvey, a 6-foot rabbit.  Nice. Elwood P. Dowd was still a nut lying to himself.

Donald J. Trump believes he can be 'reinstated'. Not so nice. Donald J. Trump is still a nut lying to himself.

 

 

Donald is Nuts!

 

Donald J. Trump is insane. 

That’s been well-established as fact for a long time. Ask his niece, Mary Trump; the one with the Ph.D. in clinical psychology. Or ask Dr Bandy Lee, author of ‘The Dangerous Case of  Donald Trump’. If one were still unconvinced of Donald’s ‘peculiarities’ by now, perhaps, you, too, need professional help, as they say.

He’s nuts. Round the bend. Off his rocker. Cuckoo. Bat-shit crazy.

Listen to him speak. He spins fairy-tales. He’s in Ga-ga-land thinking he’ll be back in power in August. (exact date TBD). He’s a dotard; a tottering old fool whose trophy wife has to tell him to pull up his pants in a whisper.

I prefer to accept that as the more accurate manifestation of his insanity. Although the more violent one certainly has its merits.
Donald the Dotard as opposed to Donald as Lex Luthor, which I find too hilarious to contemplate for long.
(More on that later...)

The temptation is to try to fathom Donald’s mind. The Pundits succumb to that temptation as part of their job. They usually make the mistake in assuming that Donald is not insane. Unfortunately, he is insane.

Bonkers. Out to Lunch. Gone.

Long ago, I determined that going into the mind of an ‘unbalanced’ individual was a no-no. It led only to shared insanity. It was a very unhealthy exercise.
However, I can imagine Donald’s mind being akin to watching ‘Plan 9 From Outer Space’ meets ‘Serpico’ in a shattered carnival mirror.
With a Danny Elfman sound-track.

Trying to figure out some rationale to explain the action of Donald J. Trump at this time in his life would require entering his demented, deluded, narcissistic, fractured and corrosive world.
He’s nuts and that’s all I need to know. That goes for the (chortle) Proud Boys, too. 

Side-bar: Has anyone tried to explain to those schmucks what a fakakta name that is? Really. When geeks get geeky over guns and start their own secret club, is that it? 

Donald J. Trump is a mewling simpleton. Or he will be by the time the prosecutors in New York are done with him. Right now, His minders have to remind him that they are his minders.

He wanders into a private wedding and blathers on about election fraud and secret ballots. Imagine if he were your Uncle ‘Whats-his’ (poor thing…). Crashes a wedding, grabs the mike and proceeds to rail utter, absolute nonsense.

He’s not even drunk and he does that? Wow!

I contend that Donald has gone ‘round the bend and off the deep end.

The alternative to Donald as Dotard is Donald as Lex Luthor.
It is too laugh.

Donald as an evil genius? Or rather a kind of crafty, devious bad-guy who wants to believe he’s a Mafi Don but from a TV sit-com. Hilarious, right? 

But, when ‘Evil-Normal Genius Don’ is coupled with a whole passel of ammosexual MAGA-mutants who watch for Q-drops and secret instructions in the smoke, watch out! 

Aviso! Mis en garde! Peligroso!

Now, bad to worse, add the Proud Boys (smirk) in the mix; listening for coded messages in the insane gibberings of an ambulatory basket-case, while simultaneously planning ‘The Storm’ with the pudgy, addle-brained WWGOWGA mob, who give the ‘Boys’ encouragement from the bleachers to do something so radical that it goes like, viral on all platforms in… like… immediately!

Then, what can we expect?
Here's what: Dotard Donnie meets up with the minions from their mother’s basements and the QA-ninnies who all manage to shoot themselves in the foot and get it posted on Instagram at the same time. 

 

 

 

The GOP Balks at Democracy

 

The GOP are balking at setting up an investigative hearing on the January 1^st 'Tourist Excursion' at the Capitol. The reason gleaned from their preposterous word-salad of excuses is that such an investigation would result in their doing poorly in the 2022 election. (smirk) 

One might think that Brainless Kevin and Mitch the Bitch are unaware that there is an on-going criminal investigation being conducted by the DOJ. More than 400 ‘tourists’ have been arrested and indicted; many are sitting in jail awaiting trial because they were deemed a public danger or a flight risk.

Of course they know. Moscow Money Mitch has even alluded to the existence of other investigation on the events of that terrible, totally normal day. One of his nonsensical arguments against a 9-11 style commission was that having another such one would simply be unnecessary.

(One word rebuttal: Benghazi.)

MTG, of the  QAnon Party, has whined publicly on the floor of the House about what she considers unfair treatment, seeing that all those ‘tourists’ were simply expressing their desire to establish an autocracy dictated by the Orange Grope Fiend. 

Or something.

Since Mitch knows that GOP members and the Lard of Mar-A-Lardo are culpable and that criminal and civil charges are pending against His Lardship, why is the GOP leadership digging in their heels about a Congressional investigation? The Former Guy isn’t going to be spared indictment. Neither will various Congressional miscreants be spared.

(Looking at you, Mo Brooks.)

What Mitch doesn’t want are the headlines and the click bait alerts that will announce on an hourly basis the reprehensible behavior of many of the GOP House members and Senators. Indeed, that would be very bad ‘optics’ - given that even the most disconnected voters would clearly see what a pack of utter scoundrels Mitch and his bunch are.

Mitch would just as soon see that revelations on their perfidy and treason were reported on the back page in ‘judicial news’ or unread editorials.

 

Mike Pence's Brother

 

Dear Mike,

‘Sorry, I know those patriotic tourists wanted to hang you but I had to vote against the Constitution and reality. I voted ‘No’ on setting up the January 6^th Commission.’

‘As Drumpf’s previous lap-dog, I hope you’ll understand that I couldn’t possibly put my fledgling career in national politics in jeopardy by publicly supporting democracy and bucking the Lard of Mar-Lardo and his psychotic refusal to accept losing the 2020 election by more than 7,000,000 votes.’

No way.

‘I mean, what would I do if I lost the best phony-baloney job I’ll ever get? Go back to the bank? Ha! You understand, right? For 4 years, you stood transfixed behind him as if deeply in love.

(Speaking of which, I’ve never seen you look at Karen that way; where did get your motivation? Did those drama lessons with Scott Baio pay off, after all?)’ 

‘Anyway, I knew that bill was going to pass the House. 35 Republicans voted in favor of the bill; House Whip, Scalise, told us beforehand. My vote was to show all the MAGA folks in my district that I wasn’t Pelosi’s bitch; that I was the Former Guy’s bitch, instead.’

There’s even a scuttlebutt that some of us might get an invitation to Mar-A-Largo and press the flesh with His Orange Lardship. I’m sure there’ll be a photo-op; you know how he loves to get his picture taken! Imagine what that’ll do for me come 2022 – to be seen on a campaign poster with the Man himself! Those MAGA-folks will fall all over themselves to fill my war chest.

By the way, here’s a brotherly heads-up; I’m going to have to keep my distance from you until after the next election cycle. Gee whillikers! They wanted to hang you, Bro’!

Best to Karen!

Greg

 

Citizenship - such a chore...

 

Here's what citizenship is all about.

We know how the MAGA-loonies and QAnon ninnies respond to the slightest imposition on their delusions by the realities demanded by citizenship. They not only balk but shake their heads and stalk around befuddled by the suggested imposition.

’Mah freedom!’, they belch on cue.

‘Wearing a mask (or fill the blank) is a violation of my Rah-ahts.’

As if their rights weren’t under girded and founded upon obligations.

Want to be a citizen? Act like one. 

Don’t grouse when you’re called for jury duty. You want a fair judicial system? That’s the price; your involvement.

Want free and fair elections? Register to vote and beat the bushes to get others registered.

Want to be COVID free and back to doing whatever you were doing pre-pandemic?

Wear a damn mask!

And get the jab! As many as are prescribed. 

This is the requirement of citizenship.

Duty. Responsibility. Obligation.

I don’t want to sound like a Marine Corp recruiter but these are the fundamentals which many of the MAGA/GQP crew seemed to have failed to pick up on.

It’s not about skin color or place of origin or nation costume or native language. It’s about acting like a citizen and shouldering the load when it’s your turn.

Noam Chomsky once pointed out that the most joyous day of a citizen’s year should be Tax Day. (whoa!) He reasoned that paying one’s taxes was an expression of one’s commitment to the system of government and the down-payment on the benefits of that government of the people, by the people and for the people.

Where does that leave the fabulously wealthy who tuck their bundle in a post box in the Caymans? Or any of us who grumble about taxes, for that matter.

 

Science and Belief

 

It’s time to make the plea again; the plea to tighten up and formalize and limit the use of the words ‘believe’ and ‘belief’. I’ve mentioned it before and seen eyes glaze over and roll back. It’s the same look I get when confronted with an insurance salesman on the make.

Which leads me to revealing why I’ve taken up the task yet again to address the problem when discussing science with ‘believers’. That confusion – at least in part – stems from the casual use of the words cited in inverted commas above. 

Kent Hovind. If you don’t know who Kent Hovind is, count yourself lucky. Think: ‘Ken Ham’, the schmuck who built the Ark theme park for ‘True Believers’. That’ll bring you into the ball park. 

Mr Hovind is a Creationist and a Bible literalist. He’s a promulgator of ‘Intelligent Design’. (Now, there’s an oxymoron worth its salt.)

Mr Hovind has been on a very extended quest to debate Aron Ra on the verisimilitude of the Theory of Evolution. During one episode (on YouTube, if you must know), Kent decided to build his straw man out of the words of non-scientists found in a Google search. Kent chose some quotes in which the word ‘believe’ was used informally. (e.g. ‘Science believes that the universe started from a singularity.’)

From there, he set the straw man on fire with the errant declaration that ‘science is a belief; science is a religion’. This is one of his primary assertions; science is faith-based because – get this! – since the concepts of black holes, the Big Bang, cosmogony, evolution, etc are not completely understood, then they are accepted as articles of faith and are ‘believed’ by scientists. That is; these theories are accepted as matters of faith and therefore are indicative of religion. ‘Science is a religion!’, he proclaims.

Q.E.D. 

Balderdash.

Science is NOT a belief system. Science is the exact opposite of a believe system as science is based on evidence. Are there dogmas in science? NO, there aren’t. There are theories which are accepted. There are hypotheses and proposals which are considered, examined and challenged.

That’s the difference between science and religion; the theories and hypotheses of science are meant to be challenged but the tenets of Faith are not to be challenged except under penalty of eternal damnation. Challenging articles of faith is forbidden and anathematized.

Think ‘the Spanish Inquisition’.

Try challenging the dogma of ‘Virgin Birth’ or the ‘Resurrection’, for example and watch heads explode amongst the ‘Faithful’.

Contrarily, challenge ‘The Big Bang’ and prepare to be engaged in weighty conversation. Is that discussion passionate? Of course, it is, but the debate is not considered blasphemous or heretical as it would be if one were to challenge virgin birth or the resurrection of Jesus.

Why?

Science is not faith-based. Nothing proposed by scientific method is ‘sacred’. Even the most establish, accepted theories are subject to change as verifiable evidence is presented supporting that change.

Consider the Theory of Gravity. Just recently, evidence of ‘gravity waves’ were observed and verified. The theory was amended.

Dogmas are not amended. The amendations are branded as heresy. They are stamped out. 

Speaking of gravity; try believing you can fly, then launching yourself from the roof of a building. 

Splat! 

‘I believe I can fly’ makes for a wonderfully up-lifting song lyric but it’s shite as a rational appreciation of gravity. 

It might seem that this discourse has strayed too far afield but it has not. The point made at the beginning, citing the lax, casual use of the terms ‘believe’ and belief’ is a sound one. When, in discussion of science versus religion, that wayward use of those terms become the sticking point, as Mr Hovid demonstrated when he cited the use of those terms to set up his straw-man argument equating science with religion.

That misuse, that acyrologia, is a stumbling block to sensible discussions of every-day matters. In a conversation with a friend about this rather pedantic misuse of the terms of faith, he asserted that in order to sit on a chair one must have faith that the chair would support one’s weight. The simple, ordinary act of taking a seat was an act of faith, therefore. 

The counter-argument was that while one may assume (or hypothesize) that a chair could support one’s weight, that assumption could be nullified by evidence that the chair was too feeble or ill-made. If, as one sat, the chair wobbled or creaked or gave some other sign that it was structurally unsound, then one would take another chair.

Hypothesis: the chair can hold my weight.

Evidence: the chair is unsound structurally. It wobbles.

Revised hypothesis: the chair can’t hold my weight.

Conclusion: choose a different chair. 

An even more banal example; ’I believe it’s going to rain’, may sound sophisticated in its phasing but it is erroneous at its base. It’s not expressing a belief. One senses the moisture in the air, sees low, heavy clouds, feels the cooling breeze and concludes from that evidence that there will be precipitation.

Better to say 'I think'…
Or 'I surmise'...
Or 'I contend'…

Deduce. Guess. Conjecture. Conclude. Suspect. Speculate. Presume.

The intention, here, is not to belabor a pedagogic point. It is to reveal a common malapropism as a stumbling block to intelligent discourse about science, religion and matters of everyday life.

Especially with a 'True Believer'.

 

GOP Death Knell?

 

Liz Cheney has lost her leadership position and will probably lose her Congressional seat after she’s ‘primaried’ by some hot-shot GQP/MAGA dope.

Mitt Romney was booed vociferously at the Republican Convention in Utah. His Senate seat may be at risk for the very same reason Liz is being unseated.

Save your sympathy for those more deserving than these two stalwarts of the sociopathic Republican agenda. Now is not the time to go soft on the GOP. As the new MAGA-bullied GQP devours its own, Dems and Independents must step up and take the reins of history and follow Joe Biden’s lead.

Enough of the obstructionism by the GOP, Moscow Mitch and the rest. Biden is not allowing the GOP to obstruct his plans to deal with the pandemic or his expanded definition of infrastructure. Neither should the rank and file of the Democratic Party be swayed or deferred from meeting the needs of the American people.

One way to meet those desperate needs is to supplant all the GOP members of Congress and the Senate. Of course, such a goal cannot be achieved in a single election. The Dems must be active and aggressive in all districts in every state. The brightest red should be treated as the bluest purple.

A recent poll reveals that only 26% of respondents claim to be Republicans. This should be seen as a sea-change and taken advantage of fully. If conservative voters are sitting on the political fence because of January 6^th, the double impeachment of Drumpf or the deaf, dumb and blind sycophancy to the Man from Mar-A-Lago displayed by the GQP, it’s time to give then a nudge to the Democratic side.

It’s long past time to remove the GOP’s road-blocks to social justice, economic equality and systemic racism.

Sympathy for the Cheney

 

What is with all this nonsensical sympathy for Liz Cheney coming from the Left? 

She's still Liz Cheney, is she not? The daughter of the monster who served as VP under W? A staunch Republican? An obstructionist? An anti-social, anti-liberal sea-anchor to progress? The same promulgator of a despicable ethos and myopic vision of society? One who claims that empathy is a weakness to be over-come with draconian legislation? That one? That Liz Cheney? The Republican from Wyoming who represents the state’s ‘at-large’ Congressional district? That one? 

Why the sympathy for her? Why sympathize with such a lurid opponent to all things liberal and progressive? Because she’s standing up to the MAGA-morons and the cancerous Trumpian madness?

Sure, offer her some moral support for her opposition to the devolution of the ‘Grand Old Party’. But, please, spare us the crocodile tears for her removal from GQP leadership. There should not be a tear shed for her. Neither should there be a beating of breasts for her scornful treatment by Kevin (the Douche) McCarthy, handmaiden to the Orange Dope. 

Personally, witnessing the self-destruction of the GQP is a great and treasured pleasure. It’s like watching agitated scorpions in a bucket sting and attack each other. Let them all perish from self-inflicted wounds. It’s indeed gruesome but it is fitting. Witnessing them end themselves with their own toxin makes for a very poetic and Shakespearean moment in history.

Save your sympathy for Liz. Save it for the countless children who have suffered from GOP legislation. Save your sympathy for the families of the victims of police violence. Save your energy for the enduring fight for justice and equality.  

Liz is acting the part of the Lone Wolf whose pack has gone rabid. How commendable.

Never forget that she, herself, is a wolf.

 

Edward Bernays

 

If you don’t know the name of Edward Bernays, then you should. Edward L. Bernays  was the nephew of Sigmund Freud and is generally considered to be the inventor of public relations; the spin industry. Before you dismiss this rather banal claim, Eddie B. was instrumental in the CIA-orchestrated overthrow of the democratically elected Guatemalan government in 1954 and the establishment of a military junta to satisfy the post-colonial greed of the United Fruit Company.

He is more famous (infamous) for convincing the public that women smoking cigarettes was socially acceptable thus increasing the sale of cigarettes and bloating the profits of the tobacco industry. Not bad for an immigrant from Austria. 

Edward Bernays should be known to you so that you might more fully understand the dire and pernicious influence of Fox News (sic), NewsMax, AAN and the Sinclair Network upon the consciousness of the general public. 

We talk about ‘spin’ as if it’s as natural as rain. ‘Spin’ is another word for ‘deception’. What Mr Bernay taught the world was a more crafty, more deceptive way of spreading untruth. Just as the health of all the women adversely effected by cigarette smoking was not a concern for Mr Bernay, Fox News, Rupert Murdoch and Roger Ailes have no concern for the truth. They spread untruths in a more palatable and profitable way. They  learned that from Edward Bernay. 

Every time you hear another left-field claim about Biden canceling hamburgers or canceling the Fourth of July and turning everyone into vegan-yoga slaves or hear a reiteration of the Big Lie, think about Edward Bernay. 

Or Goebbels. Either one.

 

Are You Serious?

 

The cover article of the most recent ‘Economist’ is entitled ‘Taiwan; the Most Dangerous Place on Earth’. Long-time expats here in Taiwan are beside themselves; either laughing raucously or scoffing with stern reproach at the alarmist nature of article.

Pish-posh. Piffle! 

sniff...

As easy as it would be to provide stat after stat proving the exact opposite of the Economist’s premise (Google ‘Taiwan and COVID-19’, for example, or violent crime), the focus here will be to put such alarmism into context; a context which should undermine the Economist’s thesis. 

First, Beijing considers Taiwan to be a province in revolt and to be a permanent and inviolable part of the Motherland, China. Beijing holds steadfast to this erroneous creed despite the fact that the Republic of China (ROC) has its own military forces, its own banking and postal systems, its own monetary system and most importantly its own government, independent of the Chinese Communist Party. 

That must be understood as an indisputable fact; the ROC (Taiwan) is a sovereign nation and is not a part, or a vassal or an adjunct to the PRC. Until Richard M. Nixon stuck his twisted schnozz into the matter, Taiwan was the only ‘China’ recognized by the USA and the United Nations.

The Economist’s alarmist premise is based principally on Beijing’s recent military aggression towards The Republic of China (aka Taiwan) in light of the Biden administration taking the side of Taiwan against Beijing in a more overt manner than any US administration since Tricky Dickie’s treachery.

It must be admitted that the recent military maneuvering by the PRC is unsettling. However, that maneuvering must be seen as the same pro forma saber-rattling which Taiwan has been subject to for more than 70 years.

The ROC is a thorn in Beijing’s hide. Hear the Dragon whinge. 

Biden will do the right thing and see through this nonsense.

 

The 'Base'? Whatever do you mean?

 

The GQP sent Sen. Tim Scott out to draw fire and praise single mothers for their hard work. It’s wonderful to hear him give props to his own mother and voice his appreciation for the strength, courage and love of his mother. How very touching.

How very curious. 

Is the GQP addressing any of the problems facing single mothers? No! 

Is the GQP doing anything to prevent the plight of single mothers by promoting policies that protect the rights of women? No! 

Is the GQP easing the restrictions on food stamps? No! 

Or supporting tax credits for families with children? No! 

Or backing legislation that guarantees the health and bodily autonomy of women? NO! 

So, just what is Tim Scott of South Carolina doing to ease the trials and tribulations of single mothers and women in general?

Nothing!

What is the GQP doing in Georgia, South Carolina or any of the 40+ states pushing voter restriction laws to deprive people of color of their Constitutional right to choose candidates who will address their concerns?
Nothing good.

What is the GQP doing to end systemic racism in the US?

The GQP refuse to even admit that such ingrained, endemic and systemic racism exists in the US.

So, the answer is obviously NADA! 

Tim Scott is the only African-American on the GQP side in the Senate.

The question is: why?

Moving on...

Michelle Bachman? The ditz with the frozen smile and the deer-in-the-headlights eyes? The former Congressional goofball who pushed gay conversion therapy? That one? She’s the heavy-hitter that the GQP trotted out to contest Biden’s plan to rescue the American people from Trumpian incompetence and corruption?

Could this be a sadder statement that the GQP cupboard is bare? 

Consider the wide-spread blow-back to Sen. Tim Scott (Uncle Tom Party; State of Delusion) who gave unhinged response to Biden’s address to the Congress. ‘No systemic racism?’ Hmmm. Tell that to the surviving family of Ahmaud Arbery. Or George Floyd. Or Eric Garner. Or Breonna Taylor. Tell that tale to Merrick Garland who has initiated investigations into the Minneapolis and Louisville police departments.

Truth be told, all Mr Scott did was echo the long-held tenet of the Republican Party that unless it happens to you personally, it doesn’t happen at all. Coupled with that robotic echo is that Scott has most assuredly witnessed at close range the systemic racism in South Carolina which he so fervently denied.

Others, such as Joy Reid and Don Lemon, have stopped just short of calling Scott a race-traitor. This writer is not in the position to do so but Scott’s denial of a cruel and murderous reality must be called out for what it is; a bald-faced lie and a mockery of all the Americans ‘of color’ who have suffered and died under racist governance.

If Scott and Bachman are the best that the GQP could present to counter-argue the policy proposals of President Biden, then the pedigree of the Party of Lincoln has been diluted and eroded to a most pathetic degree.

Add Matt Gaetz, Tom Cotton, Mo Brooks, Lauren Boebert and MTG and the argument makes itself; the GQP is finished as a viable party. 

QED

 

 

 

Wha'? Him Again!?

 

 

We’ve all been through H-E-double hockey sticks for too damn long a time. The Orange One was a travail that no population should have to put up with. It would be so delightful not to mention that vile excuse for a human ever again in my life. But such is not the case. The GOP is the conduit by which the Orange Dotard keeps returning to the fore. His latest resurrection in the shadow of the zombified GQP is made worse by the subservience and sycophancy of the GQP brain-dead who applaud his gibberish.

It was inevitable, of course. Especially if one considers the pending indictments against him, his scions and his minions. The announcement of charges being filed would be a balm to the unpleasantness of his being in the spotlight again.

More’s the pity; he’s back.  He has returned to blither and bluster, cast aspersion and hurl insult. (You know; ‘Tell it like it is’ - at least how it is in the mind of an addled psychotic.)

It might be less offensive if his grift wasn’t so obvious. Losing the election in 2020  - after losing the popular vote in 2016 - broke his world and left him squalling that life was unfair. His behavior has been infantile and deluded, based on nothing more than ‘Don-Don wants’. 

 Donnie isn’t wrong; life and reality were wrong, falsified by his sheer refusal to accept reality. Evidently, this pathetic maneuver worked for ‘The Donald’ his whole life; he demanded that things went in his favor and there were always dopes to carry his water.

They’ve all scattered and gone to ground, fearing for their own hides after January 6^th and in the turbulent wake of the Matty Gaetz chain of scandals.

Too bad we can’t simply be rid of him.