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Off to the Races

March 24, 2024 by

So, we now have our two candidates, a repeat of the 2020 Presidential Election, though it is not really.

Joseph Robinette Biden, Jr √

Donald John Trump √

Both of them are the oldest candidates ever to run for the Presidency of the United States.

Joe Biden at 81 √

Donald Trump at 77 √

One of them has eighty-eight criminal indictments as of today.

Donald Trump √

One has multiple civil cases where he has been found liable (guilty) and a debt of over half a billion dollars. In any sane world, this would make him ineligible for the presidency simply because it would make him a security risk.

Donald Trump √

That about sums up the difference between 2020 and 2024, though there is certainly more. Let’s dive into what this election season will look like; it will be long and ugly, of this I have no doubt.

I am astounded by the things said about President Joe Biden by the general public; it is as if they live in an alternate reality. This is not to say that I don’t think there are things he could be doing or could have done better. Nevertheless, to suggest that he has diminished our standing as a nation internationally, this is so ignorant on its face it is impossible for me to even understand.

Then we have the issues of the economy; I get it; many are working hard to make ends meet today, and it still feels like we are running on a treadmill. Under Joe Biden and his administration, we avoided a recession, rebuilt real economic growth, added more jobs, and our recovery outpaced every other Western economy globally. On the downside, housing remains high, groceries have not come down, and gas prices remain high despite our reserves and the fact that we are the largest exporter in the world today.

Let’s pick those two things apart for a minute. In recent polls, the unwashed masses thought Citizen Trump would outperform President Biden on Foreign Policy and the Economy. Not to dwell on this too much, but I think Citizen Trump recently invited Putin to do to NATO allies who didn’t pay their bills? That’s right, “to do whatever the hell you want.” Of course, this significantly distorts the NATO alliance as there are no bills to be paid. There is a guideline that 2% of GDP is spent on defense by each Allied Nation. One other salient fact, everything Citizen Trump has ever said about NATO is a lie, and the only time the NATO Treaty Article 5 has ever been acted on was when this nation was attacked on September 11. Every single NATO nation came to our aid.

There is a reason Ukraine is considered the Breadbasket of the world. Before Russia’s invasion, the nation could feed half a billion people with the crops they grew. The land is some of the most fertile on earth, ideally suited for grains, sunflowers, corn, and soybeans. Ukraine fed itself and exported across Europe, Egypt, Africa, Turkey, and China. With Russia’s invasion, not only has farming been stopped in much of the country, exports have obviously been stopped, causing a sharp rise in food prices worldwide and in some cases, food shortages.

Citizen Trump says, let Putin have it. Stop all aid to Ukraine. The House GOP says Okay.

President Biden, says give me an aide package. Support our Ally, as we promised we would. This is not just for Ukraine but for our National Security, and he is right. This is to prevent Putin from moving into a sovereign nation. This is to support an ally. This is to keep our standing in the world. We don’t provide money; we provide them with ordnance already in our stockpile and then make more, providing US jobs. We don’t provide boots on the ground, but if we don’t help Ukraine win this war, we might have to if Putin invades a NATO country.

As for the other, the economy itself? The fact that the people of this nation believe that Citizen Trump and the MAGA GOP would be better than President Joe Biden and his administration speaks volumes. It speaks to the pure simplemindedness of the populace, their willingness to be led by braggarts, their half-truths, and their myopic vision of recent history. Some of these foolish supporters of the MAGA way couldn’t buy toilet paper to wipe their own asses, but they think Citizen Trump has a better understanding of how to handle the national economy.

Let me provide a taste of some of the Poll comments taken recently in support of Citizen Trump:

“As a President, he did many good things for this country. An honest man.”

“He helped the US economy grow.”

“The people of the US were more united under Trump.”

“I think he did a lot for the United States he was good for our country.he is a good man. The country wasn’t in the trouble that it is in now, with gas, food housing, jobs, prices. Look how things are since he Left office.”

“Because he is very humble.”

“He loves America. Always putting America first.”

“He did alot of good for our Country in fighting for Constitutional rights, restoring our own independent energy resources, and getting rid of corruption [deep state], as much as he could.”

Those are just a few of the hundreds, and I can’t take credit for the grammar or spelling, nor did I attempt to clean them up. This, though, is the crazy we are faced with.

When you add the lunacy of a judiciary with jobs for life, many of whom were appointed by Citizen Trump during his time in the Oval Office, and a Supreme Court that appears to be circling the drain of judiciary restraint, what do we have to look forward to in this election cycle? One thing I can guarantee is that it will not be pretty.

Despite the official nominations being months away, we have our candidates, and the campaign season has begun.

Vermin:

a: small common harmful or objectionable animals (such as lice or fleas) that are difficult to control

b: birds and mammals that prey on game

c: animals that at a particular time and place compete (as for food) with humans or domestic animals

This is how Citizen Trump refers to human beings trying to enter this country. He doesn’t differentiate between those entering by legal means from those entering illegally. His only real differentiation is that of those coming across the Southern Border. Now, the interesting thing is four (4) of his five (5) children are the children of immigrant mothers. Citizen Trump himself is the grandson of a draft-dodging, pimp who immigrated from Bavaria (Germany) and set up shop.

So, what is the difference between Citizen Trump and his immigration story? Let me see if I can find it …. pimps, draft dodgers, illegal immigration (Melania)… but, there you go, all of them are, well, what do you know, all of them are Caucasian.

Then you have the oh-so-wholesome and patriotic singing of the National Anthem at his rallies by convicted seditionists and White Supremacists, or as he likes to refer to them .. J6 Hostages. After declaring himself Dictator, He promised his first act will be to pardon all of them.

How do we still view President Joe Biden and Citizen Trump as equal? How are we still comparing them and saying this is a choice between equally bad candidates? What happened to moral character?

There is more, there is so much more, but I think this is enough for today. As I said, it isn’t going to be pretty.

By the way, Citizen Trump is broke. Tomorrow we will find out just how broke. But the Lying out his azz Billionaire is broke.

Filed Under: Presidential Election 2024 Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

What Fools We Are

March 10, 2024 by

I want to consider the United States of America a mostly intelligent nation with mostly kind and compassionate people. I want to, but these days it is difficult. I can’t watch and read the news and say, “Yes, look at all these kind, Christian, and intellectually honest people voicing their political views.”  I am unable to listen to the candidates or public servants from the other side without becoming terrified by their rhetoric and thoughtless diatribes.

In 2015, a man rode down a gold escalator and announced his candidacy for the highest office in the land; we all laughed and thought he was a joke. Donald J. Trump had been a fraud, a thief, a womanizer, an adulterer, and a witless hanger-on in New York high society for decades. He was also a known racist, a known misogynist, and a well-known friend to those with less-than-stellar character for most, if not all, of his adult life. This half-wit based his entire political strategy on two things: racism and his self-proclaimed business savvy, one a proven truth and the other a proven lie. Let’s take a quick look at the foundation of this fraud:

In 1973, the Trump organization was accused by the US Justice Department of racial discrimination, specifically against Black Americans trying to rent properties in their buildings. They settled, and as part of that settlement, they had to agree to change their policies.

In 1989 Trump called for the Death Penalty on the Central Park Five, five teenage Black and Latino youths accused of raping a young woman who were later exonerated. He took out full-page ads and gave interviews during this time.

From 2011 to 2016, Trump pushed the Birther conspiracy about Barack Obama and combined this with the complete fabrication of whether then-President Obama was Christian or not.

In 1990, Fred Trump (his father) bought $3 million in Trump Castle casino chips so Donald could pay interest on his loans. This was later judged to be an illegal loan, and Donald had to pay $65,000 in fines to New Jersey.

1991, Trump Taj Mahal files for bankruptcy relief.

1992, Trump Plaza Hotel files for bankruptcy relief.

Trump forms the Trump Hotel and Casino Resorts as a publicly traded company, retaining 56% of stock. Despite reorganization, the company failed to turn a profit and filed for bankruptcy relief in 2004, 2009, and 2014.

This barely scratches the surface of Trump’s failures and scams.

Trump University. Sued by the State of New York. Settled for $25 million without admitting guilt or malfeasance.

But back to his 2015 announcement, it was full of racist rhetoric, but we should have seen it coming based on his history. We should have also believed him, but we laughed and dismissed him. His announcement was full of braggadocio, and his business acumen and success were a centerpiece. If we hadn’t been so busy laughing at the fool before us, perhaps we wouldn’t be where we are today.

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

Dr. Maya Angelo

I would like to think America is better than this, but we are proving every day we are not. We have a third-rate backbencher as the Speaker of the House. Our allies are terrified we will leave them at the mercy of Russia and Putin. We have a narcissist, would-be dictator as the third-time GOP presidential candidate who would rather play politics with national security and hopes for an economic crash because it would be good for him. The GOP in Congress has made clear they are nothing more than the support arm of the Trump campaign, installing a MAGA election denier as Chair and the daughter-in-law of twice impeached ex-president as co-chair who together have already said they will funnel funds toward legal fees and ‘poll watchers’ rather than down-ballot candidates.

The halls of Congress echo with songs of praise and hallelujahs for the Orange Jesus that will lead them into the failed nation they claim is already here. The cult of White Grievance, White Nationalism, and White Evangelism is here, and it is led by a man who never once in his life cracked open a Bible, never once met a sin he didn’t want to commit, and never once met a Commandment he didn’t break.

So here we are. We have the two oldest presidential candidates running in the history of this nation. We have voters who wish it were otherwise and are thus unenthusiastic about the Democrat and looking at the Republican as if he might be a viable option. We have an uninformed, under-educated, conspiracy-believing nation full of half-witted bigots who have either forgotten or simply do not care what the first Presidency of Donald J. Trump was and are willing to drink the Kool-Aide of a media bent on destroying this nation as we know it. But let’s take a short trip down memory lane, shall we? This is what happened during the 4 years of the first Trump Administration.

  • Dropped the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21% and created additional tax breaks for the wealthy, more of that trickle-down theory. End result? $7 Trillion was added to the national debt.
  • Multiple trade wars started with China and other nations, resulting in tariffs trickling down to the consumer. Do you wonder why prices are still high? In part, it is because wholesalers and retailers continue to charge the same price despite no longer absorbing the tariffs.
  • The tragedy of the coronavirus was worldwide, but focusing on this nation is important because we had a President who knew how dangerous it was and didn’t just downplay the danger but politicized it.
    • More than 1 million dead Americans
    • More than one-third of small businesses closed during Covid.
    • The average unemployment rate 13%. This is misleading, though it was much higher in some industries, reaching above 20%, and in many cases, these jobs have still not recovered.
    • Schools closed, and children falling behind socially and educationally.
    • In some cities, hospitals and morgues out of capacity.
      • Refrigeration trucks used to store the dead.
      • The sick in hallways being cared for by doctors and nurses, unable to return to their homes for fear they might infect their families.
      • Experts demonized while politicians, including the President, suggested bizarre and dangerous options for cures.
      • The mental health of the entire nation was jeopardized by isolation, joblessness, homelessness, and the loss of loved ones without proper goodbyes.
      • Supply chains were disrupted, creating empty shelves of essentials, and social media showed daily fights in the aisles for toilet paper, diapers, and baby formula.
        • These are just the highlights, and yet, the cult wants to return this nation to this. Somehow, whether the man in the street or the elected official thinks this was the golden age we should be pining for.

I watched the State of the Union President Joe Biden delivered this week and was proud that he was this nation’s President. I was happy to think there was a man in the White House who cared more for this nation than he did for his own enrichment.

Is he old? Is his walk a bit slower? Does he stutter? Yes, to all of that.

Has he and his administration brought us back from the brink of disaster? Yes, to that as well.

When you consider the alternative between the two candidates, remember this; one gives a shit about this country and our standing in the world, about the people of this nation, about the Constitution and what it means, about our Democratic Republic and how we continue to grow great, about the American Dream and how we can all reach it.

The other, well, he sees us as a failed nation ripe for the picking.

Filed Under: Presidential Election 2024 Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Time and Again, What’s in it for us

January 31, 2024 by

Now y’all know I love politics. The push and pull of the election season is exciting, most of the time. But this year, damn, it just feels nasty, like someone has taken a bucket of slime and poured it over the entire United States. The stench of ugly is permeating everything and everywhere. It is gangrene on a national level.

Let me say this as nicely as possible before diving into the obvious horror story of the 2024 presidential election year.

I wish Joe Biden would have stuck to his original plan of being a one-term president. This isn’t about his age, though he is indeed old. Let’s all acknowledge he is 81 years old; if he wins in 2024, he will be 82 when he is sworn in and 86 when he finishes his second term. This isn’t ageism talking; this is pure reality; the Presidency is one of the most demanding jobs in the world; it requires mental agility and physical stamina. For his age, Joe is doing well; nevertheless, he is 42 years older than the average American citizen. Yes, I know his experience benefits all of us, which has been proven through this administration. However, with clear sight, his age is a detriment as much as a benefit. He will continue to age, and he will continue to slow down; this is not ageism; it is simply the reality of the human condition, and we need to acknowledge he, and we put this nation at risk by placing him back in office.

The Presidency ages everyone who has ever taken on the job, with one exception, 45; he didn’t age because he didn’t take the job seriously. The Presidency was simply another one of his cons, another way for him to add to his personal coffers both during and after his time in office. He didn’t age because he didn’t do the job the people elected him to do. The one thing we know about 45 is he is aging now; it is serious now, and the piper has come for his payment. His mental acuity is rapidly diminishing. He shows signs of being a person without a firm grasp of reality.

Let’s talk about the GOP, the Grand Old Party, the party of Law and Order, family values, small government, and all that jazz. Let’s talk about these men and women who sit in every seat of power across the land; and stir up controversy, pain, suffering, and dammit sedition. By God, how did we fall so far in such a short time? High School dropouts are walking the halls of Congress and calling themselves leaders. The highest court in the land rife with corruption and laughing as they strip millions of voting rights, body autonomy, and access to education without blinking an eye. The House is full of elected officials with only one agenda; to follow the leadership of a seditious lunatic who has publically stated he wants to see the economy fail and continued border disasters, all to ensure his election success.

We are living the new American Horror Story. A story where women are reduced back to chattel, and worse, all people who are not Heterosexual White Men (HWM) are reduced to “less than.” We are living a nightmare of raging culture wars where Mickey Mouse is an enemy of the people, Taylor Swift is a deep-state plant, and accurate history, along with any book written by or for people not (HWM), are banned from libraries across the nation.

We are living in a nightmare world where the leader of the once Grand Old Party, the party of Eisenhower and Lincoln, is a power-hungry, sexual deviant, with four (4) indictments encompassing ninety-one charges stemming from his criminal acts both while in office and after leaving office, and yet none of this seems to deter his followers one iota. His followers include both the unwashed, unschooled, and ignorant masses but also those who currently hold office in both the Senate and House and who continue to do his bidding. These sycophants who hold high office elected by the people, paid by the people to do the work of the people, and who continue to refuse to do a single thing but trail behind this lunatic would-be dictator, holding his drool cup and beg for the crumbs from his table.

What haven’t they done at the bidding of the outrageous conman who has thus far spent $50,000,000 of campaign funds on his personal legal fees?

  1. They have refused to secure the border between Mexico and the United States. Their most significant complaint is their constant whine, their biggest battle cry. But no, they say we can’t do this today because the Great Orange Jesus says no.
  2. They have refused aid to Ukraine, a nation that has fought hard to retain their own borders their own land, and preserve their democracy from the encroachment of Russia. With less than 5% of our massive defense budget, we can and must save them as we committed. But what does Mike Johnson say to this? NO, he has said with every vote he has cast prior to his elevation to the Speakership, just as the Orange Jesus has told him to do.
  3. They have refused aid to Israel. Now, personally, I am genuinely on the fence with this one; on the one side of that fence is my belief that Israel does not require our financial support, nor does it deserve our support based on their current actions. On the other side of that fence is our national commitment to come to their aid when they are attacked, and there is no mistake; October 7 was an attack by a terrorist organization. On the other hand, Benjamin Netanyahu is a Right Wing nutjob who should not be supported in his stated plan to entirely eliminate the Gaza Strip and West Bank. Frankly, I don’t believe he is any better than 45 and should be treated as a toxic leader along with all of his sycophants. This is not a condemnation of Israel but of him.

What have they done? Nothing that benefits the American People, not one single, solitary thing to now.

Ah, Election Season. We are in for a ride. Are you afraid yet? I sure in the hell am.

Filed Under: Politics, Presidential Election 2024 Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

New

January 26, 2024 by

That isn’t what you think it is, that tensing of my muscles

When my eyes suddenly fly open in the middle of your kiss

No, that isn’t what you think it is, not at all

Don’t misunderstand, I love the feel of you near me

My knees dip when you lay your hands just so, yes, right there

You already found one of my spots, I like that you go back to it

Sometimes, in the middle of the day, I have salacious thoughts

Believe me when I tell you, mine are better than yours

The thing is, we are too new, too fresh, and I don’t want us to be too fast

You are the first, in a very long time, I might want more

My mind leads me down roads I did not think I belonged on

With you, I bite my tongue to prevent myself from asking

“What do you want, beyond this touch, this kiss, this..”

Afraid the answer will be, “Nothing more just this,”

And just this will be enough for now because I love the way you go back

You explore my spots; you are not afraid of my battle scars

You touch me, and, with a kiss, cause me to grow weak-kneed

I can sit in silence with you and don’t have to fill the air with noise

I can tell you my darkness, and know you won’t use it against me

So that tensing you feel as I grab that bar, that is my flight or fight kicking in

That is my drawbridge demanding to be raised

That is my moat trying to flood itself with monsters

That is me questioning just how the hell you got under my skin and into my heart

With a touch, a kiss, a smile, and comfortable silence

1/26/2024

Filed Under: Poetry Tagged With: , ,

Define Humanity

January 20, 2024 by

What do you think gives us our “humanity?” Do you think it is our ability to use tools? Or perhaps it is our mathematical comprehension and ability to use logic and solve complex problems. Some would tell you it is our social organization and ability to work together. While others are convinced, it is our spiritual curiosity. Finally, there are those who would tell you unequivocally that the basis of humanity is our self-awareness.

I would argue that we are simply searching for ways to set ourselves apart and make ourselves better or on a higher rung on the ladder than other creatures inhabiting Earth.

We think very highly of ourselves, don’t we?

We use tools, as do Chimpanzees and many other members of the ape family. We simply took it a step further. Why? Because we were unable to survive without protection and thus had to create habitable conditions to preserve ourselves. Of course, given our rather aggressive nature, we also rather rapidly created weapons to ensure we could kill not just our food but others that looked slightly different; thus, murder and mayhem very rapidly ensued.

Humans have been, it seems, murderous and ‘eat our own’ species from the very beginning.

So, this leads me back to what defines us, specifically what separates us from other animals and makes us ‘human.’

We organize ourselves into ‘tribes’ and give ourselves rules to create socially acceptable conditions for our tribes to grow and thrive. Usually, these rules are constructed around “Gods” and religions, which men conveniently translate into laws for the masses. There is always a hierarchy within these religions: men who know all the rules and gather all the wealth for themselves. Within the hierarchy, there is always an enemy: the non-believer, the unrighteous, the weak, and those the believer could justify making war upon and enslaving at will.

Before we could make war, before we could enslave, before we could commit any atrocity, including rape, or murder for the amusement of the masses though we had to dehumanize the ‘other.’ We had to be convinced our ‘enemy’ was less human than us. We had to name them less than us and diminish them. We had to strip them of the essence of their humanity to enable and validate our cruelties.

This cycle has been pursued by the tribes of man since we have walked upright. We have certainly refined our cruelties; we have sought out different victims over the eons of man. Would it surprise you to know the word Slave has Slavic origins? Over time, as those boys over there in Europe became less pagan, well, they took a dislike to the enslavement of their own, meaning White Christians, so they had to search further afield for free backbreaking labor.

Again, I must ask what causes us to believe we hold some special place on the evolutionary ladder.

The atrocities we commit upon our fellow human beings are beyond the pale. Murder, mayhem in the name of what? Religion, state security, power, racial purity, borders, political ideology; all of it is incredibly ignorant. Honestly, what it boils down to is fear. Are we not so far up the ladder from the animals we pretend to be ‘better than’? We measure ourselves on dominance, not compassion, not empathy, but pure dominance.

We are nothing more than hairless apes with better and far more destructive tools. I frankly fear where this ends. As so many throw out even the façade of being enlightened, following the teachings of a faith that proposes kindness and loving others. We descend into the madness of pure anarchy and a return to the days when none were safe; I fear for all of us.

So finally, I return to my original question. what is humanity?

Filed Under: Sociology & Evolution Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Shadows and Resolutions

January 1, 2024 by

I have not made New Year resolutions in decades. They are a form of self-flagellation in which I find little purpose and much to be afraid. What possesses any of us to sit down at the end of each year and make a list of all our ‘failures’ and then make a list of all we will do ‘better’? Really, are we demented? Or maybe we are simply defeatists at heart.

I say this, especially to women: our lists are long and weighty. Our lists are driven by social media and all the faults we find with ourselves daily in the mirror, storefronts we walk by, and catalogs that don’t carry our size. For some reason, our lists always start there, in the feckin’ mirror:

  • Our hips are too wide;
  • Our asses are too big;
  • Our stomachs are too flabby;
  • Our tits fell another inch;
  • Our thighs touch instead of gap;
  • Our arms jiggle;
  • Our necks, oh shit, our necks aren’t smooth, and neither are our faces anymore.

Our friends don’t help; they have the latest diet locked down and don’t see any harm in telling us that if we would only buy their products, maybe we could lose weight and be beautiful again. The worst thing is, we think perhaps they are right, maybe we could. Or maybe they could STFU and remind themselves they are as imperfect as we are.

Then there is that shadow in the mirror that reminds us of all our failed relationships, friendships lost, marriages ruined, lovers in the wind, jobs vanished. It is impossible not to look. Impossible not to lift the covers and ask, what could I have done to change the outcome? The shadow of unbearable bullshit stares at you, and the blame game begins, the coulda, shoulda, woulda;

  • I could have said yes, even if it meant I was unheard;
  • I could have spoken up, even if it meant a fight;
  • I could have not held everything so close;
  • I should have listened more;
  • I should have fought for balance between us;
  • I should have told someone;
  • I wouldn’t have been less if I wasn’t so afraid;
  • I wouldn’t have been afraid if I didn’t see myself as unworthy.

You see? Self-flagellation.

Before you can write a resolution, you must look into that mirror and tell yourself what you want that is different from what you have today. Specifically, you have to own your own shit.

What do I want that is different than what I have? Honestly? I am entirely uncertain that I can affect what I want at this point in my life. I think the things I want, the things I believed would make me happy or contented in life, are no longer aligned with my personality dysfunction.

It took a lifetime to get to where I am, to this place of quirks, quiet, heartbreak, and strength. A lifetime of pain, fear, aloneness, and sometimes unremitting loneliness. It took a lifetime of giving everything I had to everyone else, only to be told it, and I was not enough. It took husbands and lovers leaving. It took parents turning their backs in my darkest hours. It took days of never hearing another human voice. It took friends forgetting me, it took siblings turning away.

All of these losses taught me the power of love.

That love was unending, that heartbreak and loss doesn’t stop you from loving those who hurt you. That love simply teaches you how much you can endure and how powerful silence can be. The other lesson is how hard even the softest heart can become if it is hurt often enough.

You see? Self-flagellation.

That mirror shows what is not within your reach. In the silence of my prayers I often ask for grace. I think, though, that I what I seek is something different than grace. It is more, that I don’t hate myself for all my mistakes, for the things I could have done differently, for the secrets I could have told and choose not to. I know that too frequently, I put myself in the way to be hurt as retribution for the wrong I believed I did. In retrospect, I didn’t deserve that, yet I did it anyway at great expense to an already savaged spirit.

So now, though I will not call it a resolution this year, I will spend some small part of the year stitching together some of my heart with stronger threads than I have used in the past. I won’t say it will make me a better person, more loving or kind. I won’t promise that this attempt to heal myself more fully will allow me to find and be loved by another person as I wish; honestly, I believe that ship sailed a decade ago. But perhaps by looking into those shadows without self-flagellation, I will find the pieces that still need healing and will be better able to live the life I have more fully.

Filed Under: Things I know Tagged With: , , , , , , ,
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