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.

 

One Manchin Too Many

 

What can be done about Joe Manchin? He’s always been a Republican in Dem clothing. After being governor of West Virginia he won his senatorial seat by only 3%. How is that relevant?  Here’s how; he can be replaced.

He’s up for election until 2022, and the effort to replace him (and several others) starts now. Pull the same ploy whereby the GOP threaten their wayward members: threaten to primary them. Put the fear of losing his phony-baloney job into Joe.

Manchin claims that the January 6^th insurrection changed him (!). He goes on to state that because of the attack on the capital by the Trumpians, he’s convinced that seeking out bipartisanship cooperation is all the more important.

Say what? Lunatics attack the capital, kill a police officer, chant death slogans against elected officials, smear feces in the rotunda, parade Confederate flags and the banners of Trumpian sedition, loot, vandalize and violently disrupt the legislative assemblies and these acts of domestic terrorism were a ‘come to Jesus’ moment for Joe Manchin?

Really?

After the proponents of the insurrection have denied that the insurrection even occurred, after members of the Insurrection Caucus declared on the floor of the Congress that the insurrection didn’t happen, after the GOP failed and continue in their failure to confirm that Biden was duly and legitimately elected president, after all that, Manchin thinks the GOP will be swayed by rational dialog to see the righteousness of the Biden agenda?

Who is gas-lighting whom?

Manchin may seem to be wield some power here but that power is tenuous. It can be stripped from him. Democratic leadership must take ol’ Joe to the side and lay down the law; support the Biden agenda or be cast adrift.

 

Number 42

 

Nothing is more American than baseball. Baseball, apple pie, hot dogs, and the 4^th of July. Yes, nothing is more American than baseball.

On Thursday, April 15^th, all the players of MLB will sport the number 42 on their uniforms to honor Jackie Robinson; for it is Jackie Robinson Day, commemorating the first baseball player to break Major League Baseball's color barrier.

Here again is the melding of America and baseball; the forced integration of America’s past-time and all the furor caused by Branch Rickie’s decision to get a leg up his competition by raiding the roster of the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro Baseball League.  This is emblematic of the dire crucible of racism in the USA, a crucible that continues to be heated by violence and rhetoric; a crucible which has, as yet, to produce a sustainable alloy of white and black people to form a ‘more perfect union’.

It took a world war and the defeat of fascist forces, with the heroic exploits of the Tuskegee Airmen and their like, before America could be dragged kicking and screaming into the racial integration of its past-time.

There is still much kicking, screaming, grousing and obstruction to that integration in America. (More is the pity that such a sentence still needs to be written.) The presence of Confederate flags in the Capitol Rotunda on January 6^th of this year attest to the still brittle nature of that melding of parts.

We can rejoice in the number 42 and feel a tinge of voyeuristic pride in the accomplishments of Jackie Robinson and that baby-step into racial integration. Hip-hip-hurrah! But we must also cast a tear-filled eye to Brooklyn Center, Minnesota and the tragic killing of Daunte Wright for a minor traffic violation. 

As American as baseball.

 

The Flood Gaetz Are Open

 

Schadenfreude. It’s one of those ten dollar words that sophisticated people like to pepper their conversations with.

Schadenfreude is that feeling of joy brought on by the problems of others. (Yes, it’s a real thing and wouldn’t you know that the Germans would have a term for it?)

Slap-stick comedy evokes schadenfreude. Watching Buster Keaton or Charlie Chaplin pratfall and wince in pain is hilarious, after all. That’s what I’ve been experiencing every day of late; schadenfreude. The mirth which has infused my spirit is the deep doo-doo that Gaetz and The Former Guy find themselves in recently.

It is to laugh! And I do. Reference Gaetz-gaete and gales of laughter cause my wife to be concerned for my sanity. Mention money-bomb, ‘Winred’ and MAGA-minions being fleeced by the Orange One and mad chortling ensues every time.

It must be pointed out that my schadenfreude is tempered with anger, frustration and incredulity. Where the anger comes from should be known to all who resisted the presidency of Ol’ 45. The frustration stems from the glacial pace of the judicial system. The incredulity is in response to the number of MAGA-goofs who persist in putting their confidence in a Confidence Man; who actually give money to a self-proclaimed ga-zillionaire.

(That triumvirate of reaction is triggered by the Derek Chauvin trial, too, but that is another story…)

Gaetz Gaete has been a joy to watch unfold. It’s a bit like watching an origami master in reverse but finding out that that the craft which made the paper unicorn was a spurious one involving scissors and a kind of salacious glue.  And Little Matty’s world is, indeed, coming unglued.

My wife should anticipate more howls of laughter when the Man from Mar-A-Lago is swept away in a tidal wave of indictments. 

Schadenfruede.

Fade to:

Bill Barr.

If the thought; ’The most corrupt AG in recent memory…’ leaps to mind, you’re not alone.

Barr’s departure from legalistic norms is well-known and well-documented. Barr interfered with prosecutions, prioritized politics over justice, undermined the Russian interference in the 2016 election and hindered congressional oversight. Moreover, he declared that all investigations of politicians would go directly through him; that way he could protect the Former Guy’s sycophants and pillory political enemies.

In that context, consider this: Barr’s office began investigation in late 2020 into a certain Matt Gaetz. The most corrupt AG since John Mitchell could not or would not side-step an FBI inquiry into the affairs of Mr Gaetz.

That is how bad this is. Barr could dismiss Russian election interference, ignore more than a score of credible accusations of sexual assault against the Orange One, stand aside and allow all of the depredations of 45’s administration; graft, corruption, violations of the Hatch Act, and so on. What Barr could not do was shuffle the FBI investigation into Matt Gaetz to the bottom of the ‘to-do’ list at Justice.

Caveat: Charges against Mr Gaetz have, as yet, not been brought. (tick-tock...) He has denied any wrong-doing by pleading in true GOP-fashion that he’s a victim of ‘cancel culture’, blah-blah-blah.

That Gaetz petitioned the Former Guy for a blanket pardon does not bode well for him, either. It must be noted that even the ethically and legalistically unhinged advisors to the Orange Doofus would not consider broaching the idea of a pardon for the young Congressman to the Grifter-in-chief. Gaetz’s steadfast loyalty to the Man from Mar-A-Lago didn’t enter into it.

It must be assumed that Gaetz was too toxic for either Barr or 45. There is much more to come.

 Gaetz-Gaete Update:
Joel Greenberg - nobody's favorite tax-collector and Matt's good buddy in crime (allegedly...) has decided to flip on the Florida Congressman in hopes to get a deal from federal prosecutors. Hoo-boy, this should be good. Stay tuned.

Update of the Gaetz-Gaete update:
Republican maverick, Adam Kissinger, has called for Matty to resign.
Schadenfreude...

 

 

9:29; Chauvin, Floyd and Gaetz

 

Nine minutes and twenty-nine seconds.

Try holding ‘downward dog’ for nearly nine and a half minutes.

Try doing it with one hand jammed into your pocket.

(Seriously. Why did Chauvin have his hand in his pocket? Searching for change? Playing pocket-pool? What?)

I digress.

It’s all been captured on video; multiple times from several angles. One or another video version of the murder has been seen around the world by millions. Can anyone honestly watch that horrifying video and assert that former officer Derek Chauvin did NOT commit murder?

George Floyd’s blood toxicology doesn’t enter into it. Neither does his prior history of arrest. Neither does anything other than Derek Chauvin kneeling on his neck for 9 minutes and 29 seconds. George Floyd’s character and track-record are of no consequence. His life was ended on that day while in the custody of the police. His life ended as Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for nine minutes and twenty-nine seconds.

Yesterday, Genevieve Hansen, the off-duty firefighter with EMT training testified that she offered her assistance in relieving Mr Floyd’s life-threatening distress. She was denied the chance to save Mr Floyd’s life. (Let that sink in.) Ms Hansen testified that she called 911 to report a murder at the hands of a uniformed officer. She was not the only witness of the ‘arrest’ who called 911 to report the police to the police.

 Chauvin’s defense thus far is that the hostility of the small group of witnesses distracted him from the care the suspect. Really. That’s as feeble and cynical as a defense can get. There were nearly as many armed police officers on the scene as there were civilian witnesses, but the cops felt threatened?

One might laugh if cold-blooded murder was not the outcome. 

Speaking of unspeakable jokes: Matt Gaetz.

Under investigation by the DOJ.

Pardon if I smirk. Chuckle. Chortle.

Matt Gaetz is under investigation for transporting a 17-year-old girl across state lines, putting her up in hotels (all on the tax-payer dime, BTW) for the purpose of… well, best leave that to the imagination

Gaetz denies having a relationship with a 17-year old. His defense - as he tried to lay it out on Tucker Carson’s show – is that he and his family were victims of an extortion attempt. Tucker, sporting his trademarked quizzical look, seemed to be having none of it and denied, on air, recollection of a dinner which had something to do with the purported extortion attempt? Maybe?

Gaetz’s defense/alibi included his father wherein Gaetz Senior wore a wire in an FBI probe of the extortion attempt. This is the very same father who made a drunk driving charge for the younger Gaetz ‘go away’ some years ago, it should be remembered.

No charges have been made, as yet. The congressman is claiming victimhood, following the GOP play-book, and charging the Deep State (or something) with something. Maybe?

Amusement at Matt’s legal predicament may be premature. This whole magilla could be totally innocent and easily explained. Right? Matt, true to form, is making a big stink about this, which, to most observers, indicates that the stink is emanating from a much bigger cesspool. Katie Benner, Justice Department reporter for the New York Times, claims this latest stink pre-dates the purported extortion by months.

Whatever the outcome of this investigation, it’s gratifying to watch Gaetz squirm. As the Former Guy’s biggest, most vocal supporter in the House, one might see the Fickle Finger of Fate at play.  

It should be noted that Mr Gaetz was the sole vote against a human trafficking bill. Hmmm.

Matt Gaetz, in plain terms, is a massive, steaming pile of Putz. 

Gaetz, however, is not nearly as loathsome and detestable as Derek Chauvin.

This is a judgement call, most assuredly. It is. 

But, ending someone’s life is not equal to ruining someone’s life. By which I mean that murder is not the same as rape or statutory rape. Both are contemptible. Both are egregious. Both are illegal.

Yes, this may be controversial in the ‘#metoo’ generation and this is not an attempt to minimize the suffering, fear and harm caused by sexual predators. It is an attempt to bring two publicly discussed crimes into focus.

As reprehensible as Matt Gaetz is, a child of white privilege, who like his mentor, the Former Guy, was born with a silver palaver up his bum and several ‘Get Out of Jail Free’ cards tucked into his nappies, he has not been charged with murder.

(The day is still young…)

On the other vile hand is Derek Chauvin, who, as an officer of a law broke a law which is as old as human civilization itself and engraved on mythical stone by the finger of ‘god’; ‘Thou Shalt Not Kill’!

While it is certainly titillating to watch Gaetz burst into flames and scurry for any cover available, we must maintain moral focus and moral outrage.

Chauvin is a murderer.

Allow his trial to proceed. He must be afforded his day in court, yet we know he is guilty of taking the life of George Floyd in a most cowardly, callous and cold-blooded manner. How many times can one watch any of the video documentation of that fatal day without reaching the conclusion that what is being witnessed is murder?

Gaetz is a steaming pile of Putz but he’s no Derek Chauvin.