Random Brain Droppings

 

Late Saturday and early Sunday are the best times for me to write. That is until we have a bit of an emergency here at the house like we did last Sunday morning. Long story short, neither my wife nor I had heard from our daughter up in Clemson since last Thursday. Being out of contact with our daughter for a couple of days is no big deal, she's busy studying or doing other college stuff. But by Sunday morning with no answer from our texts and our calls being sent straight to voice mail we were getting worried, if not scared.

No worries, my wife and I found out while we were on the way up to Clemson that our daughter had lost her cell phone that Thursday. We learned this after the on-call person at the dorm went to her room and knocked on the door two different times. After knocking at the door for the second time our daughter finally woke up to explain the situation with her phone and that her friends only talk to their parents like “once every week or so.”

Since we were already speeding up to Clemson, my wife, the custodian and master of the family cell phones, did what needed to be done to get her a replacement. So the really great story I started writing Saturday afternoon died a slow death of forgotten ideas and plot points. So instead here's some random brain droppings to make up for it.

Random Dropping One

Several days ago I caught a McDonalds commercial on the radio as I was driving home. This commercial was geared towards African-Americans the way McDonalds often does with hip hop music in the background and voice actors with noticeable accents so you understand they don't come from some upper middle class white neighborhood.

The narrator of the commercial went on to say in a happy and jovial voice something about how when you're driving from your second job to your side hustle you need something quick and good to eat. That you need to be in and out quick so you can have a few minutes to relax.

First of all having a second job means you have a first job that takes up a good part of your day. I know LOTS of people that have second jobs because their first job doesn't pay enough to make ends meet. These honest and hardworking folks don't work that second job because it's fun or they need something to take up all their free time. For one of the two-job working people I know a vacation to her is having an entire Saturday and Sunday at home being left alone.

Rich and well off folks really need to develop some sort of empathy because at some point the overworked and underpaid masses are going to lose their patience and come after them.

Random Dropping Two

Directly related to first dropping, I've heard numerous employers bitching on the business channels that they can't get anyone to apply for the jobs they offer. That many of these jobless folks would rather just sit at home and draw unemployment.

Finally a few people are replying to these asshole captains of industry that they need to pay enough where a person would make more working for them than sitting home on unemployment.

Random Dropping Three

Jim Caviezel is a superbly talented actor who has been in numerous hit movies and successful television series. He is also a conservative Christian who has been vocal about how his beliefs don't mix with the majority of people in Hollywood.

I can respect his views and actually understand to a certain point. I'm an extreme liberal bordering on Sanders/AOC progressive living in a heavily red state. I have to daily keep my mouth shut and do my best to live among people who I consider borderline fascists. It sucks hind tit but, as far as I am concerned, there is no point to whine about it.

What I'm saying is that I never cared what political or religious views Caviezel held. He's a great actor and I would readily watch anything he might appear. That is until now, to put it bluntly the dude has lost all his marbles.

Caviezel recently appeared at a conspiracy convention and told folks that he not only believes crazy shit about vaccines and the Covid Pandemic, but goes even further out into crazy land. He believes babies are being kidnapped and tortured to death so the “Elites” can harvest some sort of compound from their innocent blood.

Final Brain Dropping

For a long time I've wanted to write something meaningful about George Floyd and all the other victims of police violence but I find myself unable. There is no outrage I could write that better, more articulate people haven't already put to a page. There is no other way to say it but that African-Americans are being hunted in this country, both by racist civilians and especially by cops who can somehow peacefully apprehend gun-totting white folks but shoot black people on sight.

Back in 2015 a piece of South Carolina shit by the name of Dylann Roof walked into the Emanuel African Methodist Church in Charleston and killed nine people in cold blood. A virulent racist, he wanted to start a race war here in the United States. I'll be damned but there seems to be a lot of people like him doing their to make such a war happen.

Side note, after being arrested shit bird Dylann Roof whined about being hungry and the cops taking him back to South Carolina pulled into a Burger King and bought him a Whopper. Motherfucker kills nine people and gets feed. George Floyd just passed a fake twenty-dollar bill and got a knee on his neck for over nine minutes.

Agent of Chaos

 

 

 The absolute last thing I wanted to do was write another political post. It was my hope that with January 20^th drawing near the crisis that had began back in November 2016 would be drawing to a close. But the sacking of the United States Capitol last Wednesday by nothing less than insurrectionists out to overthrow the United States Government made that impossible.

Make no mistake, the sacking of the Capitol was something that was destined to happen. Mainly because a deranged narcissist was able to slime his way to power while stoking age old fears and prejudices.

But also because there is a huge segment of the American population that neither understands the concept nor principles of democracy. To these people, the vast majority being white, believes democracy and freedom means getting what they want before anyone else. And that if they are not eligible for some service or benefit, it is either a waste of “taxpayer dollars” or being abused by segments of the American population they consider alien or unworthy.

It was easy for the white majority of America to ultimately, but reluctantly, acquiesce to the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s because they felt on top of the world. Factory jobs were plentiful, there was a growing economy, and as far as they were concerned they understood society and had it firmly under their control. During these times, white folks were fat and happy with beer in the fringe, a boat in the backyard, and a color television in the living room. During such times it's easy to talk shit about spreading freedom and democracy and being the “Shining City on a Hill.”

But the world got complicated with new groups demanding a voice in society. Nothing scares white folks like their preconceived notions of what is normal and moral being challenged. But most of all it was the American economy showing signs that it wasn't necessarily the unstoppable force it was at the end of the Second World War.

Such things as Japanese cars became dependable and cheap along with the manufacture of heavy duty items like televisions and washing machines were completely moved overseas taking the good paying jobs with them. What manufacturing jobs that remain here in the United States became excessively streamlined with benefits and pay for blue collar types cut to “help the company.”

Blue collar workers accepted such compromises becoming something akin to willing serfs while the professional suits up in the swanky offices exponentially increased their salaries and gave themselves fantasy-level bonuses. The most amazing thing about this development was how the blue collar types came to believe the rich suits were on their side. That it was the poor and disadvantaged who are the ones wrongly sucking the life out of the economy.

What we ended up with is a white American underclass frustrated and unable to understand why the Hispanic, African-American, Asian, or any other group not them was moving up in the world. It was an easy recipe for societal estrangement and for a narcissistic demagogue to use to his advantage.

It's a historical given that past societies often sow the seeds of their own destruction. That the very strengths and actions that once made them successful turn sour over time and bring about their downfall. In my opinion, we are in just such a situation and whether we can weather this storm is open to question. The most dangerous aspect we face is the monster we let inside the heart of our government. He's very much a cornered rat possessing a disgruntled army of people all too willing to commit atrocities..

 

A True FUBAR Moment For the United States

 

 

Yeah, I'm going to clearly spell it out for any smirking, low-brow, semi-literate, misinformed right-winger who might still occasionally read my humble ramblings. As of this moment I am a nervous wreck over the upcoming election. Because this is a true turning point in history, not too dissimilar from when the Roman Republic fell ushering in the age of the Caesars.

I view the Orange Buffoon getting another four years occupying the White House as the death knell of not only American democracy but of the country itself. No exaggeration, no hyperbole, no overly dramatic acting like you might see on a bad television drama. For me the United States of America will be officially over, it will definitely go on in name for a few more decades with carefully choreographed elections that always end in with some handpicked chump taking office. Whether that is an actual Orange Buffoon family member or someone handpicked by the reigning dynasty I have no idea.

Truthfully it will probably be a little of both, it is common knowledge that both Don Jr. and Ivanka want to be president. And since both of the Buffoon's preferred offspring feel they occupy the same privileged status as their father, them running for president is a near certainty. With another four years to further fuck-over American politics I see them easily “winning” elections in the same manner as the North Korean trolls with margins close to ninety percent. But just to keep the facade of legitimacy, I figure they'll throw in a few no-name placeholders every now and then to keep the Oval Office warm.

The best example of this practice is when Dmitry Medvedev “won” the Russian presidency after Putin served two terms, which meant he couldn't constitutionally run again. At the end of Medvedev's term, where Putin served as Prime Minister, Dmitry graciously stepped aside so Putin could return to the post. Now with recent Russian electoral reforms, Putin will probably rule Russia until the day he dies. A reasonably informed and rational person will remember that several years ago the Orange Buffoon said he admired how China had went to a lifetime presidency, and that he hoped the United States might try such an idea.

Now I understand why Trump is your guy, because dim-witted and incurious folks can't be bothered to actually try and figure out the our complicated world. That the Buffoon makes things sound simple and easy to overcome. Well, you guys also love how he sticks it to libtards with his manly persona. But mainly I think its because Trump hates the people and groups you right-wingers despise. Trump can make a mockery of everything you claim to be about like morals and fiscal responsibility and being respected by the world and you guys and gals cheer mindlessly along.

It still surprises me how easily Trump supporters shook off the “pussy grabbing” video and the clear evidence that he was balling a porn star while his third wife was pregnant. That's unparalleled moral hypocrisy, especially for the evangelicals who claim a special, direct relationship with God. In a way the whining about budget deficits during the Obama years is even more ridiculous. The black guy inherits a fiscal disaster and doesn't catch a minute of slack from the self-appointed watchdogs of the federal budget, the loudmouth Tea Baggers. But Trump takes office, passes a massive tax cut that overwhelmingly benefits the wealth elites which sends the federal budget back into trillion dollar deficits-- years BEFORE the pandemic-- and the Tea Baggers are no where to be found.

The darkly funniest item is the utter delusion you right-wingers share about being respected in the world because of Trump. If only you dim-witted imbeciles could watch a news source not devoted to third-grade level propaganda. The world is laughing at Trump, not just a few ungrateful allies but our enemies as well. Worse yet, we are pitied by the world for Trump's criminal mishandling of the pandemic. I'll write it again just to be clear, to the rest of the world Trump is a joke.

The scariest thing in all this is Trump's goading of outright violence between Americans. You right-wingers have been talking about civil war at least since President Obama won his first term. You slack dick pansies parade around in public carrying tricked out assault weapons but have the insane gall to believe it will be the liberals who start the blood flowing in the streets. Then again you brag to each other about how its your side that possess all the weapons and how taking out the libtards and other troublesome groups will be a piece of cake.

So yeah, this coming Tuesday and the following days will be a nerve racking bitch for me. While the vast majority of the polls suggest Joe Biden will be the next president you guys clearly aren't playing by the normal rules. But if the Orange Buffoon pulls a electoral rabbit out of a hat, or simply steals the election I believe things will be far worse.

Dress Rehearsal to Being Disappeared

Unidentified thugs walking the streets

As human accomplishments go, the rule of law is a pretty recent invention. Understand I'm taking the entire scope of Homo sapien existence into consideration for that statement. For the vast majority of the time modern humans have walked the Earth, our species pursued a “might is right” philosophy with regard to small things like justice and decision making. Since I tend to drone on and become muddled in my own pomposity, I'll break it down further.

Like other primates, the big alpha male in human social structures usually decided what was cool and allowable. If he didn't like a particular individual and wanted him or her killed or didn't want to move the tribe to better hunting grounds the rest of the group had to go along. I'd hazard a guess and say a good bit of this behavior may even be ingrained in our DNA. Now understand having a big, unquestioned, powerful leader has generally been an evolutionary advantage for us naked primates. This was particularly useful when we lived on an ancient African savanna dealing with predators that had a taste for proto-humans.

But were “civilized” now with exponentially more complex and nuanced social structures requiring rules that are suppose to prevent narcissistic and delusional a-holes from destroying the principles we are supposed to hold dear, like justice and democratic values. So the Rule of Law was invented to set down guidelines and prevent Orange Buffoon-like abominations from running through the Constitutional china shop destroying the work of far superior men and women.

Well for various reasons since November 2016 we've let a dangerous Orange Buffoon live at the heart of what is supposed to be the greatest country of the world. And like the proverbial bull running through a china shop it daily does its best to destroy everything it doesn't like or understand.

The latest and probably worst offense to date is taking place in Portland, Oregon. Under the guise of protecting federal property and stopping rioters, Department of Homeland Security forces are employing the same tactics used in tyrannical police-states. Federal agents, wearing no identification, and driving around in unmarked vehicles are snatching people off the streets taking them to undisclosed locations for “questioning.” Back in saner times (pre-November 2016), this country would have condemned similar actions done anywhere else in the world.

With what amounts to a Secret Police running around the streets of an American city kidnapping anyone who they want we've entered a level of scary reserved for dystopian fiction.

Federal law enforcement officers have been using unmarked vehicles to drive around downtown Portland and detain protesters since at least July 14. Personal accounts and multiple videos posted online show the officers driving up to people, detaining individuals with no explanation of why they are being arrested, and driving off.

Mark Pettibone, one of the protesters in Portland told Oregon Public Broadcasting what happened to him:

“I am basically tossed into the van,” Pettibone said. “And I had my beanie pulled over my face so I couldn’t see and they held my hands over my head.”

Pettibone goes on to admit that he and his friend were out that night but hadn't done anything like spray painting buildings of shining lasers into the eyes of law enforcement officers. Essentially, these agents were grabbing anyone they saw and taking them to a location to be held in custody. Officers did eventually read Pettibone his Miranda Rights, without telling him why he was being arrested, and attempted to get him to answer questions without an attorney present. After Pettibone declined he was released about ninety-minutes later without any “paperwork, citation, or record of his arrest.”

My own thoughts here, but untold thousands of people have been disappeared under similar circumstances in other police-state countries around the world. It wasn't too many years ago that Chile, down in South America, was spending a lot of time digging up hundreds of mass graves filled with the disappeared from the Augusto Pinochet regime. Given how things are developing here, it's not hard at all to imagine Americans simply falling off the face of the earth after being snatched off the streets by some KGB or Gestapo-like thugs.

If I write anything further I would open myself up to Chicken Little-like accusations of the sky falling. But honestly, yeah it seems like some shit is beginning to hit our heads now.

When You Vote For Stupid, You Get Stupid

Okay, I fully realize that I live in bizarro, right-wing land where the rules of common sense and rationality have not only left the building but boarded a plane under an assumed name and fled the country. Case in point is one of my coworkers, an admitted extreme homophobe, he nonetheless swoons over Trump to the point homoerotic elements of his admiration more than occasionally creep into his lengthy praise sessions.

Exaggeration? No, not when he gets that awe inspired look on his face and consistently describes the Orange Buffoon as a “man's man who has done it all in life.” His adulation of OB gets increasingly weirder, given his homophobic views, that I often come close to laughing at the guy. Something I cannot do because open ridicule would probably cost me my job.

But the one common point this individual shares with other Trump supporters is the delusion that OB is a firm, commanding leader who doesn't apologize about America and its actions to the rest of the world. More to the point Trump supporters, of all types, seem to believe he doesn't take any shit from anyone and is a superb Commander-in-Chief looking after the nation's interest. However the reality of OB's true nature has once again become exposed to anyone with a microgram of rationality and objectivity.

Case in point is that the New York Times is reporting that American intelligence has become aware that the GRU, Russian military intelligence, has offered bounties on every American and NATO soldier killed in Afghanistan. The New York Times, further reported that the Orange Buffoon and his staff, including the Vice President, were briefed on this development in late March.

Now of course, Orange Buffoon supporters don't believe a thing coming from the New York Times. And I admit, the Old Grey Lady is screwed the pooch many times, but when it comes to who I believe in this surreal nightmare we've been living in since November 2016, I'm going with the journalists.

What once again reinforces the view that Trump is just a toady for the murderous thug, Vlad Putin is the confusing reaction from the White House staff. Latest blonde bimbo press secretary, Kayleigh McEnay say that neither OB or Pence have been briefed on this situation. While the Times goes on to say the White House held expanded briefings on the intelligence assessment and that possible responses include a sternly worded compliant to Moscow. Oh Hell, my bunny slippers just ran for cover.

While this is going on the Orange Buffoon is sending 200 American ventilators to help Russia with their Covid-19 outbreaks. Russian coronavirus cases neared 300,000 Wednesday, which is surprising because just a few weeks prior their news media was saying they had the situation firmly under control. In fact, before Russia finally admitted they were having trouble with Covid, several doctors mysterious fell out of hospital windows. The key point here is that each of these doctors attempted to inform the Russian public about the outbreak before the Putin government was ready.

So help me here, the Russia government is paying Afghan insurgents to kill American and allied troops. At the same time the Orange Buffoon is constantly talking crap about anyone in this country who dares to suggest we do not have the coronavirus under control.

You would think a strong, commanding leader would tell the Russians to, at a minimum, kiss our asses. Trump has said worse to our longtime democratic allies who have stood by us over the decades. Yes, you can correctly surmise that I am not a fan of Russia in any shape or form.

More to the point, Trump's infatuation with Putin is quite similar to my coworkers misguided affection towards him. Which given how Trump hasn't said a word about the bounties placed on the heads of American troops shows how his supporters don't have any clue about what it means to be patriotic. I am just so fraking tired dealing with idiots.

Russian intelligence officers Offered Cash Rewards To Taliban Fighters To Kill Us/UK Troops In Afghanistan.

US Sends 200 Ventilators to Russia As Crisis Deepens, Hopes For a 'Better Relationship'.

This Reality Sucks

Just for shits and giggles, I'll ask a stupid and mostly rhetorical question but answer it anyway. How does any sane person make sense of the times we find ourselves living? Please, I'd love to know why because everything seems to have gone to shit pretty much after they shot that gorilla at the Cincinnati Zoo back in May of 2016.

Now I'm usually good for making a tongue-in-cheek comment about a certain time-traveling, DeLorean-driving teenager and his crazy scientist buddy screwing with the timeline for why things have gone loony. My other go-to explanation is the computer simulation hypothesis which says our reality is nothing but a extra complicated video game and that our creator/gamer/god has given the controller to his baby brother while he runs to the kitchen for snacks and sodas.

There's no need to rehash the cluster fuck that's been the latter half of the 2010's. And if anyone reading this thinks everything is peachy-keen do the world a favor and do not reproduce. That being said there is a couple of things I have to mention because we're talking a Rod Serling level of Twilight Light Zone weirdness.

Everyone remember the Alaskan Trailer Trash Queen, Sarah Palin? The woman that John McCain nominated as his vice president back in 2008 despite her not having enough brain power to light the metaphorical ten-watt refrigerator bulb. Remember her bitchy shrill comment about how Obama was going to have “Death Panels” that would send grandma and kids with Down's Syndrome to the Big Hereafter if he got elected?

I never understood who originated her Death Panel talking points but Fox News and all the other right-wing propaganda outlets sure as hell ran with the story sending damn near all the old timers and their right-wing kinfolk into spasms of mind numbing fear. Otherwise good people ended up buying assault weapons believing that jack-booted government thugs would break down their front doors to take dear old grandma and grandpa to a death camp because they was using too much Medicare.

For years Right-wingers lost their freaking marbles over Palin's Death Panels but now the situation has made a surreal 180 with Right-wingers taking a bizarre new stance. Now, according to numerous high-level Republican politicians and a lot of capitalist-loving Deplorables, both grandma and grandpa should be happy to die during the COVID pandemic to “save the economy” and assure Trump get reelected in 2020.

Back in normal times any fucking fiction writer would have been laughed out of town had he or she purposed such and insane idea. Seriously folks, this is a level of batshit crazy that scares me, because if any group is willing to sacrifice living human beings for the short-term benefit or a political gain, no one is safe.

The other thing that baffles me is the cosmic-level hypocrisy with the Republicans drooling over Ruth Bader Ginsburg possibly passing away leaving another Supreme Court seat open they can steal. Remember back in the closing months of the Obama Administration when Justice Scalia passed away? The Grand Turtle from Kentucky, Mitch McConnell, lost his Blue Grass shit over some vague bullshit called the Biden Rule which called for First Bush to wait until after the 1992 election before appointing a replacement to the Supreme Court.

Okay, I understand the politics involved especially when it comes to then Senator Biden and his now inconvenient maneuvering. But since McConnell made such a huge stink over the Biden Rule with Obama, to openly salivate over Ginsburg's seat before the woman is even cold is some outrageously cold malevolent shit. Truthfully, I also see tinges of Orwellian doublespeak in McConnell's sudden reversal of his stance on the holy Biden Rule.

Finally, we're twenty years into the twenty-first century and redneck assholes can still shoot an unarmed black man and get away with it most times. I'm referring to the recent Ahmaud Arbery shooting down in Brunswick, Georgia where two fine examples of Southern Heritage inbreeding decided to play cop/judge/executioner. This blatant example of fascist-level, racism-inspired murder should shock me but it doesn't, because in all honesty that shit is still alive and is covered over with only with millimeter thin deep civility.

Certain folks like to talk about all the religious and ethnic craziness that engulfs all those “shit hole” places around the world like we're special. But if you listen that hate and rage exists here in the United States and is never far from erupting, especially when you have such a cheerleader for it living in the White House.

I'm not comfortable describing how worried I am about the country and even the safety of certain members of my family. The situation around the country has been deteriorating for years but with the Orange Buffoon strutting around and undermining every pillar of national stability, I don't see a limit to how bad things could fall apart. America does not possess any exemption to the tides of history and to go against Martin Luther King, the moral arc of justice is not guaranteed to bend upward.

Of course, the answers will come with time but good ones will require all good people to act. 

All you fuckers who didn't vote or went third party back in 2016 better get a clue, you whiny bitches.

The Latest WTF Moment

Just when you think the Orange Buffoon can't top his latest stupid statement or action, he goes and pulls another monumental zinger out of his ass. Of course I'm referring to the press conference back on April 23^rd when he suggested injecting and/or ingesting disinfectant as a way to treat the coronavirus. Just to add icing to the huge stupid cake he was offering, Buffoon then suggests it might be possible to use ultraviolet light internally to also clean the human body of the pathogen.

I'm sadly use to the fact that most people here in the US don't have a microgram of scientific understanding on any subject that is relevant to our lives, but this one left me unable to speak. Had I not been watching the press conference I would have instantly thought the later stories reporting the Buffoon's words were satire. I mean young toddlers generally understand that to drink any sort of disinfectant will make them sick or even dead.

Here we have the individual occupying the Oval Office not understanding the effects on the human body of drinking something like bleach. We've entered realms of dark comedy that, to me, suggest all sorts of insane scenarios could still happen long before 2021 Inauguration Day, the earliest we could expect some relief from the surreal reality we find ourselves trapped.

From the horrible November 2016 night when the Orange Buffoon stumbled into an electoral college victory, I knew we were highly screwed. I also knew that OB would burn the country down in some fashion. Never once did I even entertain the possibility that he might try to poison us.

Please excuse me that even now after the Buffoon has attempted to play his misguided suggestion off as “sarcasm” that I sincerely wish that he might demonstrate his novel treatment. Does that make me a bad person? Because if it does, I can surely live with it on my conscious.

Onward and upward people, the only way we'll get through this shit is to laugh and enjoy a long weekend nap.

Random Coronavirus Thoughts and Observations

1.  One of the most amazing examples of hypocrisy in the modern era has to be how fast the right-wing media went from calling the COVID-19 pandemic a Democratic-inspired hoax to a real event. It's truly a rewrite of history that would make Russian  "journalists" and "historians" proud. Yes for those who don't have a clue, I'm being sarcastic equating right-wing media with the puppet media controlled by Trump's good buddy. 

2.  The big thing with right-wingers now is how they are downplaying the pandemic. Far to many people even now continually say that it's just the flu and that there is no reason to allow it to derail the economy. They seem to understand that it's only the apparent health of the U.S. economy that will allow their Orange Buffoon to have another term occupying the White House. Not his ability to inspire people to do good works, or unite a scared country, or manage the Federal Government.

3.   From my observations, there is a nice dose of  privileged white male frustration inherent to downplaying the pandemic. Even though I'm a white male other members of this group begin feeling extremely insecure when situations start to exceed their ability to grasp or control. This causes such anxious people to hoard important items and make runs on gun shops. Because nothing reinforces a delicate white male ego like going survivalist, especially when it comes to weapons. Americans use to truly believe in the saying that we are the land of the free and the home of the brave. That's now a huge dark joke.   

4.  It's a true paradox of our age that corporations who normally make billions in profits have to be suddenly bailed out with taxpayers funds the second the economy goes sideways. While certain politicians and business types cry out in absolute pain whenever someone says the minimum wage needs to be increased to a living wage.

5.   I've never liked living in a Southern middle class suburban setting. Despite all the displays of patriotism and moral rectitude there is a callous shallowness that can easily be seen by someone like me who doesn't fit in but keeps his mouth shut. The best example I can give is the very existence of Trump. Just a few election cycles ago these good moral folks were all in a mighty uproar over Clinton getting a blow job in the Oval Office. Now the Orange Buffoon can pay off porn stars, assault multiple woman, cheat on his wives, threaten the free press and really anyone who gets on his bad side, and openly lie about things that can be quickly disprove. These self-proclaimed pillars of the community will then swear up and down he was sent by God to save the country from the heathen liberals.

6. Climatologists can take a dark comfort with the fact that it's now epidemiologists, experienced physicians and nurses, virologists, and other trained professionals having their judgement questions by individuals who are lucky to have a high school diploma. The science types have said since the beginning COVID-19 could make a lot of people sick. But all the Bubbas and other assorted trailer trash were convinced by their degenerate, reality television star Pied Piper that it was all some new conspiracy. Now a lot of people are going to die because of their stupidity.

                   

My Outrage is Exhausted

Democracy dies

And Republicans use to make fun of political cults like they have in North Korea and Russia.

I bet the Roman Republic went through this type of shit before it fell.

Outside Independence Hall when the Constitutional Convention of 1787 ended, Mrs. Powel of Philadelphia asked Benjamin Franklin, “Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?” With no hesitation whatsoever, Franklin responded, “A republic, if you can keep it.”

Remember the spasms some went through saying there was no difference between trump and Hillary.

We are so fucked.

Oh, the hypocrisy! 

There's been a lot of talk of Karma and how it will come back on the Republicans. Frankly, from my observations about life and human interactions it doesn't exist. 

Funny how this wasn't more widely viewed or talked about.

Added just because I hate this whiny piece of shit. 

Ruminations of a Nautical Rodent

Well, the old Chinese curse about wishing someone to live in interesting times sure went into full effect last week. Because if the news that the Orange Bastard actively pushed the president of Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Biden to gain political advantage in the coming election isn't a national nightmare, I don't want to imagine what could be.

Then to make matters worse OB goes on live television and publicly states that China should investigate former VP Biden as well. I frankly don't what to make of OB's behavior in this matter. Covertly pushing a foreign country to investigate a political opponent is a serious crime but to brazenly commit the same offense on live television in front of millions of viewers defies all reason. All I can think is that OB is daring the House of Representatives to impeach him with the belief the action will motivate his tried and true gaggle of ignorant sheep to vote in November 2020.

See the issue here is that while impeachment now has to occur, anyone who thinks the senate under McConnell will vote to convict OB is just as delusional as that gaggle of right-wing sheep I just mentioned. What's worse is that if what I've read is true, McConnell can call for a simply majority vote to dismiss the entire case against OB once the Articles of Impeachment are sent to the senate. So we end up with OB riding high, defiantly claiming the senate has cleared him of all crimes.

I'd like to think that given what we know to have happened and the evidence in the form of text messages between others in the administration it should be an open and shut case. But reactions on the right runs from those denying anything he did was a crime to those believing it all a vast conspiracy since the Democrats can't beat him at the ballot box. The latter being something I heard two individuals talking about just a couple of days ago.

Once again one of my biggest concerns is that loose nature of my fellow liberals who can't help but live in their own form of La-la Land. I could be wrong but from what I'm reading on social media their posts suggest that many believe that once OB is formally impeach the Secret Service will then handcuff and throw him in jail and his illegal alien, glorified hooker of a wife out of the country.

Sorry, that last one is a mean thing to write but we have kids in concentration camp cages on the border. And there is a new documentary on Netflix showing peaceful and productive people who have lived in the United States for years being rounded up and tossed out of the country. I don't claim to have any special compassion or love of humanity, given my “sheep” comments, but I simply cannot imagine treating human beings that way.

If there is an ideal outcome to how I believe things will unfold is that Democrats must set aside all their near suicidal tendency of infighting and unite around the nominee whomever he of she might be. Here is where I admit that I have been leaning towards former VP Biden because he seemed the most electable. The other Democratic candidates are all outstanding individuals, except Bernie who I believe is a disaster, there is much to be said about Biden's political career and his ties with President Obama. That being said, my second favorite is Senator Warren. She is clearly intelligent and has actual plans were as Bernie just makes overly dramatic proclamations but has no real accomplishments.

While I do not believe VP Biden or his son, Hunter did anything illegal in their dealings with Ukraine, the optics of the situation on the surface look bad. In fact, I cringed upon hearing that Hunter Biden had anything to do with an Ukrainian gas/oil company since it would certainly become an issue in the coming campaign in some fashion.

Yes I know, somehow OB's family can have oodles of dealing with all manner of shady business people with loose ties to Putin and the Communist China and all that brings up on the nightly news is a fifteen second mention. The best example being Ivanka strangely receiving scores of Chinese patents for her products like their penny candy. Only the fools or stupid would not have some idea that it involved a quid pro quo in some fashion.

I have no real idea how recent events will unfold, but none of this is good for the country as a whole. Not that there is much chance of it, removing OB from office will not be a solution, he's just a symptom of the disease affecting American politics. Both parties have long since divided the country up into opposing groups.

Republicans have the rich white folks, a chunk of the disaffected working poor nursing grudges towards immigrants and minorities, Bible thumpers, and the warmongers. Democrats of course have the classic liberals, radical progressives, tree huggers, most of the minorities, and the peaceniks. A natural occurrence given how various groups run to the politicians that promise to take care of them. If you have President Lyndon Johnson working for civil rights for African-Americans and you have Nixon courting pissed off Southern whites. The obvious problem though is that this polarization only gets worse over time since neither party can alter its basic platforms without pissing off their dependable base voters. This breeds politicians who make a point of only working for the groups that keep him or her in office.

Where we are courting true disaster is the erosion of established procedures and traditions in how we govern. The best example being the abuse of the Senate filibuster to derail legislation. Far too many people in this country worry about the United States collapsing like the ancient Roman Empire. It's a bad comparison, a better analogy would be the failure of the Roman Republic where the rules were not so slowly corrupted to the point it fell apart leading to brutal civil wars.

Yeah, I think things are that bad. The Republican Party is now a cult with OB as its declared messiah. He will never leave office willingly whether it be through impeachment and conviction, defeat in 2020, or the completion of a second term. The only way I see him leaving with a smile is if the rumors are true about Don Jr. is looking to run for POTUS in 2024. Given the mindless makeup of the Republican Party now, I'd bet money I do not have that he would easily will the nomination.

The American ship of state is leaking badly right now with countless termites and worms eating through the hull. A thinking person wouldn't be wrong to start wondering when its time to act like a rat and flee the doomed vessel. The election of 2020 will be an absolute make or break for the American experiment.

We're Nuking Hurricanes?

The one fact that I feel the average liberal/progressive consistently fails to understand is that Trump did not just suddenly appear. He is the head of a pimple on a national infection. He represents a seething underclass of barely literate and incurious individuals ever ready to bathe in their prejudices and irrational fears. Trump certainly doesn't have much intellectual capacity, but for years the bastard played this mass of proles like a master violinist making himself out to be a supreme businessman.

In the closing weeks before the November 2016 election the video of Trump talking to a dipshit entertainment reporter about groping women and forcible kissing them should have ended his campaign. After that video went viral I personally remember a Meet The Press episode where the host pretty much said a Hillary victory was now assured. In normal times such a revelation would have meant certain defeat and utter embarrassment for any public figure. But his flock of willing sheep stayed with him even though his personality and behavior violated every aspect of their supposed beliefs.

So that November night not only signified the election of man completely without any redeeming qualities but the final death of our assumed common decency. From there things have not only gotten worse but we all now live with the realization that our darkest nightmares about the fate the nation and world are possible. Curiously enough there is still a little room for the laughably absurd to creep into our minds like a tiny mouse crawling through duct work into our homes.

The recent Hurricane Dorian, yet another monster tropical storm whose parentage can be traced back to the obsessive burning of fossil fuels, spent the better part of last week tearing the islands of The Bahamas apart. For a couple of those days everyone living on the coastline from Florida to North Carolina waited nervously for the storm to finally implemented a northerly turn which could have put them in the tropical cross hairs.

Also during that time our glorious Pussy Grabber-in-Chief decided to cancel his trip to Eastern Europe so he could “monitor” the situation. Which meant him flying down to his golf resort in Virginia on Air Force One to chase his little white balls. Just right there we could talk about the violations of the Emolument Clause of the U.S. Constitution but I'm not big on dancing in the room of a patient in intensive care.

No, the new low point in Trump's reign has to be his idea about detonating nuclear weapons in and around hurricanes in an attempt to destroy them before they endanger the United States. The stupidity of the idea is only outweighed by the sheer ignorance it implies of the individual who suggested it. But for many, or if we're honest most Trump supporters such an idea fits their dim worldview dominated by action movies and an educational level that never went beyond technical school training.

No, don't get your panties in a wad, technical schools are a fine place to get an education that leads to a decent paying job. Four year colleges are expensive with many idle underachievers graduating with degrees in art appreciation and other fields with no real employment. And to go all Full Disclosure, I'm a graduate of a technical school and had conversations with graduates holding degrees in Political Science and French Literature as they delivered my pizza and served me breakfast at IHOP.

However, technical school institutions rarely require their students to take courses that prepare them for dealing with a wider world. Unless such students already have a working curiosity about something else beyond getting laid and their guns, technical schools at best turn out idiot savants. Highly trained individuals in one narrow field but unable to discern propagandized bullshit spewed by shallow, self-serving demagogues and the sycophants working for them.

Yeah, if I'm casting a far too wide derogatory net on working class folks, I live in state dominated by such salt-of-the-earth, blue collar types who honestly associate science and reason the way medieval peasants viewed witchcraft. Such people use to be considered jokes, even by those who ran in Republican circles. These were the folks that wanted the United States to not only leave the United Nations, but expel the organization from the country because it represented a sinister attempt to undermine American sovereignty. Plus to them it was filled with all sorts of funny brown and black folks who should be ruled by the civilized white nations.

These days conspiratorial posturing about the U.N. has largely faded away to be replaced with the latest in the culture wars with right-wingers upset over things like gay marriage to the commie scheme to replace manly plastic drinking straws with wimpy paper substitutes. Reasonable people simply don't believe Vlad Putin over in Russia is a super-duper guy because the action movie star Steve Segal hangs out with the him. A radical departure from the days when the Right-wing masses cheered Rambo/Rocky during his civilization ending battles with the Red Menace. 

But lets not deceive ourselves, Right-wing admiration for Putin comes for the color of his skin and the fact that he makes supporting noises about protecting Christendom from its eternal enemy and stifling the nasty gays and their agenda. Trump supporters ignore his murder of journalists and his creeping encroachment on NATO countries. Oh, how I wish Zombie Reagan would arise from his grave and come straighten out his fallen flock. I would have added Zombie John McCain as well, but he's the one that started this hyper-batshit crazy era by picking Sarah Palin as his running mate.

The question that constantly plagues me these days is how low and stupid can Trump now go. His desire to throw nuclear weapons at hurricanes marks a new level of achievement in imbecilic mutterings that staggers the imagination. A science commentator, responding indirectly to the hurricane nuking idea, said that not only would detonating such weapons not have the desired effect but that it was the absolute best way to maximize the spread of highly radioactive fallout.

With Trump's good buddy, Putin hellbent on developing new apocalyptic nuclear weapons to destroy the United States, I'm sure the slimy bastard has passed this idea off to his collection of evil scientists living in their secret Siberian lairs. Oh, to return to the heady days of the early 1980's when I dreamed of the wonders the twenty-first century would bring like humans going to Mars and people starting to cleanup their messes here on Earth.

Paraphrasing Donny Rumsfeld, you go into the future with the geopolitical situation you have, not the geopolitical situation you wish or dreamed about. Okay, boys and girls crunch time is fast approaching, so don't screw up November 2020 like you did last time. 

American Karma

Bryant hated his brother-in-law from the day his wife first introduced him. A successful real estate developer, Richard Carter was the ugly epitome of arrogance and overindulgence. Just minutes after sitting down with Richard in the lobby of the Miami hotel where he was staying, Bryant desperately wanted to escape the man's presence. He oozed a sickly sweet and condescending confidence that would rivaled medieval kings or Roman emperors.

“So Elaine says you teach high school history.” Richard said after the two sat down across from each other in the available overstuffed chairs. “Got to admire a man attempting to teach those animals the finer points of the liberal arts.” He continued with a thinly veiled snide smile.

Bryant's stomach turned instantly sour trying to decide if Richard's remark was aimed at the poor, mostly black and Hispanic kids he taught or at his profession. Commonsense suggested that Richard was probably aiming at both given how the man had expressed his disdain of anything involving government on the Fox News business shows he periodically appeared. Richard was one of the standard issue talking heads Fox News pulled out whenever they wanted to decry the abuses of wasteful spending and how the poor middle class taxpayers were being taken advantage of by the evil liberals.

Richard's main qualification for his television appearances, beside his good looks and expensive wardrobe to show off his wealth, was his ability to propagandize free-market capitalism. His rants about how America was great because of hard working but often abused businessmen almost always sent Fox's assortment of blonde bimbo female hosts into orgasm. Richard always finished his appearances by claiming anyone could be a success in America if they only worked hard.

Something Bryant knew from his students was unfortunately not the case. He understood systemic poverty was like oily tar, if you were born into it or through misfortune found yourself engulfed by the condition, escaping was damn near impossible.

It was a testament to the ignorance of Fox viewers that they could ever believe people like Richard gave a damn about their well being. Richard's primary concern was his own advancement in both money and prestige. This meant cost cutting measures like hiring as many illegal immigrants he could get away with on his construction worksites. Such violations also meant that if anyone got hurt they either left on their own accord or were run out of town by one of his security guards.

While there were rich men and women who cared about their workers and community, those like Richard existed just to taken advantage of the system to their benefit. That they occasionally had to work the ignorant masses from time to time was just par for the course.

“Yeah, all the way from the birth of civilization to the fall of Rome. The whole range of assholes from deluded god-kings to decadent, inbred aristocrats who didn't know their ass from a hole in the ground.” Bryant responded while looking Richard straight in the eyes.

Richard slightly laughed at the remark while he lifted the sparkling glass containing two shots of expensive bourbon to his mouth. After consuming the golden brown liquid he sighed deeply as if he was dealing with an impaired child. “Yet those god-kings and aristocrats pushed mankind forward.” He said obviously satisfied with his cleverness.

It was only the arrival of Elaine and Richard's wife, Maria, that stopped Bryant from answering. The trip to Miami was part of Bryant and Elaine's honeymoon. The fact that Richard was paying for a shopping spree for the two women was the only reason Bryant was giving the egotistical ass the time of day. Richard's one human trait was his love of his wife and sister, for that reason alone he was willing to attempt to be civil. Bryant sat in the chair listening to the two women talk about their adventures while hoping he would have little to do with Richard in the years to come.

On one wall of the lobby was a huge television screen showing another real estate bastard descending an escalator with the caption saying he was going to run for president. Richard noticed the broadcast as well and broke into a huge grin. To Bryant, his wife's brother looked like he had just seen Jesus.

“Son of a bitch,” Bryant whispered to himself before waving down a waiter and ordering a stiff drink.

Several Years Later...

The bus caravan had finally reached the southern border. Bryant, squeezed in the middle of a too small seat situated on the left side of the bus held his wife and daughter tightly watching the activities outside. Several of the militia guards had dismounted from their former U.S. Army humvees running ahead of the convoy. It was early morning with the sun just beginning to rise in the east but to Bryant the night was just beginning.

The years following his first meeting with Richard while personally satisfying had been on long series of disasters for the country. The election of Donald Trump quickly eroded the already decayed structure of American political life. Trump and his minions systematically cut away the checks and balances of the Constitution leaving chaos and an extremely weaken United States government.

Matters were made worse by the incompetence of the Democratic Party, namely several of its 2020 presidential candidates who ran independently or on third party ballots once they failed to secure the nomination. They drew enough votes away to secure another electoral college victory for Trump.

The years of Trump's second term were even worse than the first. His erratic behavior damaged everything from the economy, to the judicial system, along with the functioning of agencies like FEMA. By this time political gerrymandering and voter suppression supported by rigged courts had all but removed any effective opposition. Trump's successor, a former governor of South Carolina and United Nations ambassador rode into office promising to continue his policies. That's when the hammer finally fell.

After eight years toying with tariffs and altering the Federal Reserve system the economy finally collapsed a year into the new president's term. Bryant, who by this time had changed occupations since the education system was pulled apart, watched the small protests around the country evolve into riots, then scattered uprisings. With already starved local governments cut to the bone, the militias that had grown under Trump began to take up positions to enforce their versions of the law.

Abused inner cities residents rebelled eventually forcing the federal government to send in the army in an attempt to restore order. That was when the West Coast was hit with a massive earthquake which ravaged everything from San Diego to San Francisco. Throw in an ongoing drought in the farm belt and two category five hurricanes making landfall on the southeast coast the fabric of society disintegrated. By 2026 the government of the United States had been replaced with a scattering of already failed states governed by various warlords. But Richard Carter somehow stayed above the chaos.

With the country dissolving, Bryant and Elaine sought refuge at Richard's compound in Texas, a relatively peaceful area. But Richard and other members of the rich and powerful knew the violence would soon overwhelm their location so he made plans to get his family, including Bryant, Elaine, and their daughter out of the country.

The caravan was an assortment of travel buses whose main advantage was that they had running engines and fuel. Richard and his friends paid heavily for militia protection with their destination being the border where Mexican guards had taken positions on Trump's now completed wall preventing scared Americans from sneaking out of the former country. A few bribes here and there would assure the Americans entry into the safety of Mexico.

The only problem was that wasn't what happened. After arriving at the checkpoint, Mexican Army soldiers escorted the bus passengers into the very camps that U.S. Immigration and Customs Agents once held Mexicans and Central Americans fleeing the poverty and chaos of their countries.

“Wait a goddamn minute,” Richard screamed as a Mexican soldier pushed him back into the line leading into the camp filled with rows and columns of dilapidated tents. “I'm Richard Carter, you can't treat me like this. I'm a human being seeking refuge from violence and militias.”

A Mexican Army colonel heard the commotion and came over. “Yes, I know of you Mr. Carter,” he said in flawless English suggesting he spent some time in the former United States.

“Finally,” Richard exclaimed, “someone with a little bearing and intelligence.” Richard was giving his usual smile and in the few seconds he had instantly regained the imperial bearing he displayed on the now defunct Fox News.

Richard's recovery was short lived. The Mexican colonel grabbed the soldier's rifle and used the butt of the weapon to slam Richard's head. The stunned real estate developer fell to the ground, barely conscious.

“Now get into the fine concentration camp your former president built for my people.” The colonel said with his voice oozing with revenge. It took several more impacts with the rifle before Richard finally got the message and crawled into the camp on his hands and knees.

Bryant couldn't help but laugh at the karmic justice that had befallen his brother-in-law and his once great nation.

Overrated Human Intelligence

One of my repeated topics for my mental offal is how I have seriously doubts as to whether human beings are an intelligent species. In fact one of my earliest blogging buddies took considerable umbrage to my proposal that while a few humans show true intellect or innovation, most Homo sapiens seem content to spend their entire lives going to work, eating, sleeping, and engaging in some form of lowbrow entertainment.

I fully realize that our civilization is not geared to pushing its people to make the most of themselves. Many smart and talented individuals are forever condemned to menial, low paying jobs because they didn't get a proper education to prepare them for college, or simply cannot afford it. Even if a person graduates from college, the job they often end up with is anything but enjoyable or fulfilling. They spend their days stuck in a cubicle dealing with various forms of stress, long hours, and stagnate wages. And we all know the ingrained prejudices of our society cripple many from ever escaping poverty and ignorance.

But where I begin to think humans are just glorified, hairless primates is that many of us do not have the barest inclination to better ourselves. We refuse to do anything but shove empty calories in our mouths while watching hours of low-quality crap on the television or computer. Sure, I have my guilty pleasures like a Three Stooges marathon or some bullshit action movie with explosions and ladies clad in tight spandex. Where I separate myself from the modern Hoi polloi (rednecks or dregs of society) is that I actively investigate multiple sources of new information, which involves the radical act these days of keeping an open mind. Most of all I read everything I can get my hands on, even items that do not support my preconceived notions or beliefs.

The actor Jim Carrey is not a role model for me. While I have enjoyed many of his movies, I understand he holds anti-vaccine views I find incredibly backward and dangerous. But when I saw this quote, I realized he stated my thoughts far more succinctly than I have in all my years of blogging. The vast majority of people I interact with are little more than automatons when it comes to understanding the world. These individuals perform a single function extremely well but when it comes to the topics of basic history, politics, science, or even elementary geography it would be easier to get blood from a granite stone than an informed opinion from them. Their lack of understanding of the world defies description, and yes many subscribe to some of the most outrageous conspiracy theories.

What I find darkly funny is how there is a movement to promote technical trades with the idea that a college education is not worth the cost. I understand the point, but we already have a situation where many people cannot find the United States on the map, recognize a picture of the current vice president, or answer simple questions on history. I can't imagine how our democracy could even begin to function with a population even more ignorant of civics and history.

I know it's futile to even write this but if humans want a purpose to life the easiest one to suggest is that we spend at least a little of our time seeking to better ourselves in some way. Seeking a deeper understanding of the universe is simply too much to ask for the vast majority of people. Their desire to blow off the steam from a frustrating job is understandable, but we should have more respect for ourselves than to continuously wallowing in abject ignorance. Then again, I still hold the view that our intelligence is highly overrated.

This Week Sucked

Just not feeling it this week. My personal health condition is unchanged, at least for right now. Taking my medicines and hope to have my next cardiac ablation scheduled later this week.  Which is a two-edged sword since I have to go off the meds for five days to clean out my system so they can find the problem heart cells and zap the little bastards with electricity. Of course, going off the meds means I might have another incident before I have the procedure.

On an entirely different note, the nation had to live through a conservative republican terrorist sending pipe bombs through the mail this week. Nothing signifies the utter corruption of American politics when all manner of Trump-supporting MAGAts openly believing those crimes were some Democratic-inspired hoax. And just to add another insult to an already injured country, another conservative wacko decided to shoot up a synagogue in Pennsylvania.

What comes close to leaving me in despair is that the Orange Bastard is still out there trying his best to burn the country down.