I'm sorry if I sound irrational, but I have to express myself...

[choie]

I've had it.

I'm giving up on my belief that good will win over evil. That there is accountability and justice. It's just not true - and you know what got me to this point. The bust of Abraham Lincoln.

Many of us have seen the photo of White House staff absconding with the bronze bust of Abraham Lincoln; fleeing the scene of many a crime and grift that occurred over the past four years.

This is only the most recent insult that this POS has laid at our feet. So I want to know - HOW THE HELL DOES HE GET AWAY WITH EVERYTHING? From the disgusting treatment of women, kidnapping of children, using the government as his own cash register, inciting racism and hate, dismantling many of our treaties, traditions and other "niceties" of democracy, blackmailing foreign governments, and most likely republican politicians in all seats of government, fomenting domestic terrorism, and now the stealing of Abraham Lincoln's bust. Nobody can touch him. When the hell will he pay? And I don't mean impeachment, I mean really pay?

[soothsayer]

1. "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice".

I’m sticking with that.

[NoRoadUntravelled]

4. My thought as well. nt

[soothsayer]

5. Might as well throw in Longfellow

Though the mills of God grind slowly, yet they grind exceeding small; Though with patience He stands waiting, with exactness grinds He all.

[NoRoadUntravelled]

14. Ah, yes. This is a good one to contemplate now.

It's like it was written for such a time as this.

[KPN]

33. I dunno. A little too exact for me I guess. Speed it up

please.

I’m a pessoptimist in case there’s any question. The glass is half empty but also half full.

[Laelth]

49. Which is the optimist and which is the pessimist?

This thought just occurred to me recently. Traditionally, we say an optimist sees the glass as half-full while a pessimist sees the glass as half-empty. I think we’ve got it backwards.

A pessimist sees the glass as half-full. The pessimist thinks, “Well, it could be WORSE” because that’s what a pessimist naturally expects. A half-full glass is better than nothing, and a pessimist, who naturally expects the worst, can be satisfied with a half-full glass.

The optimist, on the other hand, sees the glass as half-empty because the optimist thinks, “Well, it could be BETTER.” The optimist is filled with hope—as opposed to being resigned to its miserable fate. The optimist expects better and strives to make things better because the optimist believes that “better” is possible whereas the pessimist has little faith that things can be better and comforts itself with the knowledge that things could be worse.

Just an aside.

-Laelth

[KPN]

52. Interesting way to look at it. There's also: the upside of being a pessimist

is you're never disappointed. 😄

[Laelth]

53. Undoubtedly. Pessimism is not a bad thing, per se. n/t

-Laelth

[PatrickforO]

42. I have had a feeling for some time the mills of the Gods will grind Trump and

his ilk to dust.

[brush]

16. Yep, after a life of scamming, cheating and stiffing people...

and never being held to account, trump got hit with the biggest karmic payback ever. He got impeached again and the republicans lost the WH, the Senate and the House.

Evil does not always win as his ragtag mob that invaded the Capitol are being tracked down and arrested everyday.

[NoRoadUntravelled]

17. And we get to keep up with it in real time.

It's heartening to get on my computer and see they've arrested another one and then another.

[flying rabbit]

13. Haven't given up yet.

Your text to invisible sky god/earth goddess' ears.

[IsItJustMe]

25. Same thought.

[DavidDvorkin]

56. Pretty words with no basis

That's a wish, not a description of reality.

[soothsayer]

57. Well you just have to wait long enough

[DavidDvorkin]

59. Forever.

[NRaleighLiberal]

2. I feel the same way.

[msongs]

3. fhe future will be revealed in the 2022 mid terms nt

[choie]

12. except that's not justice

I'm talking about justice, the old testament kind that will affect him.

I know it's not attractive, it's not forgiving. I'm being vengeful, but that's where I am.

[Sogo]

38. Every time I remind myself of this, I end up getting to see how it plays out:

Deuteronomy 32:35

New King James Version

Vengeance is Mine, and recompense;
Their foot shall slip in due time;
For the day of their calamity is at hand,
And the things to come hasten upon them.’

[canetoad]

6. I get what you're saying

But don't let despair win. These arseholes - they are loud, insistent, violent, grasping ... and much more.

You need to get out into nature, or play with a puppy or kitten. Do something really kind for yourself and try hard to ignore the arseholes. They will always be there, but you can rise above them.

[Walleye]

8. Everybody knows the dice is loaded, everybody rolls with their fingers crossed

Everybody knows the war is over
Everybody knows the good guys lost.
Leonard Cohen

[ResistantAmerican17]

43. R.I.P.

[captain queeg]

9. I'd about given up on the idea of karma, but starting to believe again

If its proportional that ass wipe has a long way down to go.

[madaboutharry]

10. It is overwhelming.

But I do believe the wheel will turn.

[Ohiogal]

15. I could have written your post.

My view exactly.

[JHB]

18. I don't want to sound Pollyanna, but since you've hit a limit I'll ask you consider a possibility...

Before Biden takes up residence, the entire White House will be deep cleaned. That is something that can be accomplished faster, more easily, and with fewer security concerns if artifacts like, say, portable statuary such as a bust, can be taken elsewhere to allow both their own decontamination and to let the main cleaning proceed without having to work around delicate breakable stuff.

Of course, we can't trust the Trumps worth spit, so maybe they did steal it, but we don't have any information beyond that one video. Under that limitation, would it help your blood pressure to know that there is an actual mundane possibility for why it was removed?

[KY_EnviroGuy]

55. Do we know for sure the item belongs to the State?

It could have been loaned/given to him by one of his billionaire friends, or it might even belong to him.

[MerryBlooms]

19. I know how you feel. These days have been and are, very dark.

I am hoping the SDNY lawsuits will have major impact on trump and his family, but who knows. He, his family, and company have been getting away with their dirty dealing forever. Why weren't they charged years ago? I share your worry.

I don't think he'll be convicted by the Senate, unless some major evidence comes forward.

The good news I've seen is major money support running away from trump and republicans. If the money is cut off, then there is hope.

[appalachiablue]

20. More than 70 million voters...it's mess. great post

[Irish_Dem]

21. Evil happens so easily and good is a very hard long fight.

Seems overwhelming.

I hope Biden can restore our faith in the human race.

[struggle4progress]

22. Action is an antidote to despair.

[Frerotte]

23. Sadly I agree

I feel like any progress we make barely touches the need. I am just glad I am pretty old and won't have to live all that much longer. Hell, I never thought I would live to see something like this.

I really don't think this country is going to survive in its current form.

I hope I am wrong and I hope that there is a mix of good luck, hard work, justice and bad ass karma.

[BigmanPigman]

24. Ditto!

We must never forgive and forget what they have done. We must never give up trying to get justice for our democracy. I believe in an eye for an eye.

[JI7]

26. We just won both of Georgia's Senate Seats. As for the bust of Lincoln we don't really know what is

going on there. It could just be going back to some museum or something .

The best way to get Trump is for him to watch his "business" destroyed and be less than worthless.

[badboy67]

27. GWB skated off scot free to live life of gated communities and opulent wealth,

Untouched and unmoved by his many malfeasances while in office, his reputation rehabilitated by the same right wing propaganda that excuses Trump’s many offenses. It sucks, but these bad actors have 2 things in common: a powerful political party to shield them from accountability, and a compliant corrupt media.

[Ferrets are Cool]

30. There is rarely a day goes by that I don't lament the fact that this war criminal got off

without even a slap on the wrist for the murder of almost a million children, women and men in Iraq. All for his "father envy" and Cheney's power grab of the oil there.

[BannonsLiver]

28. It's not a good time to be Trump

He has been impeached twice, he’s lost an election, his business is in peril, banks are fleeing, the PGA has had enough, his approval rating is in the tank, he’s been disgraced, his family has been disgraced and he has numerous challenging legal issues ahead.

What I think you want is a satisfying ending. I’m not sure we’ll ever get that. Then again, maybe we will. Things are not auguring well for Donnie right now.

[Ferrets are Cool]

29. I understand completely. It's demoralizing, to say the least.

[njhoneybadger]

31. Would you want to be tRump?

Those who do bad things and appear free from punishment, essentially create their own punishments. Bad or wicked people often get what they desire, but not what they need; by getting the bad things that they desire, as opposed to what is truly good for them, they create their own personal hell, thus, the wicked who evade or avoid punishment are less happy than those who are justly punished.

[world wide wally]

32. Tough call

I always think of Dick Cheney and the Karma he deserved, and then think of the oppulent lifestyle he has gone on to enjoy while poor people all over the world suffer every day no matter how kind and giving they may be.

[thenelm1]

34. That nutso Justice Dept shield for sitting presidents ends for him as of next Wednesday.

Along with the shield of the pubbie controlled Senate. This ass may yet rue the day he came down that escalator - not holding my breath, but if there truly is any justice in this country...I can't think of any criminal more deserving.

[hibbing]

35. I'll never in my life understand it n/t

[dchill]

36. I'm signing on to your post.

[byronius]

37. None of us have seen anything like this during our lifetimes.

Shock. Dismay. Loud sounds. Threats! Then nothing.

Think of prehuman tribal behavior -- lots of kabuki, not so much killing. Apparently nature rewards spectacle but not so much the act of violence, especially within a basic tribal unit. In our case it's a massive tribal unit, at least in theory -- and just like with the small tribe it all comes down to the combined emotional makeup and behavior of individual members, the sounds they make, the choices they make.

Every once in awhile a guy comes along who has an ability to do the kabuki better than anyone. He can stomp and shout, churn and burn, glower and take power beyond all other members of his tribe. Many submit to his kabuki -- it's just too impressive, too loud -- and over time, they become mildly programmed to hear his voice above all others.

And if that guy is a ultra-narcisisstic child-raping bloodthirsty beast, well -- the programmed just hear the voice, and see the stomping and churning.

But when that comes crashing down as rotted human structures often do, the survivors tend to mark that particular guy's type of kabuki as fricking dangerous and we gotta never do that. Mostly. A small percentage always loves bad kabuki, it's just genetic.

So they live long and prosper. But a couple of generations down the line everyone living has never seen such a thing and would never believe it could happen to them -- they are the futuristics, after all -- and when it does everyone steps back and displays shock and dismay, then loud sounds and threats. And if that doesn't work -- well, it happens all over again but in a different way.

Humans! Gotta love that million-year old subroutine stuff. If you don't read enough, you're doomed to repeat it.

[marieo1]

39. Too Furious

I have been voicing the same opinion on here, I will say one thing, thank you Democrat Underground for giving us a place to voice. I am just as disgusted as you are, what they steal from the capitol is our possessions. They need to track down the bust of Lincoln and find out just where it is. My guess is one of the Reps stole it, possibly even DJT had someone nab it. We need some really good super sleuths to track it down and then prosecute the perpetrator.

[lutherj]

40. If evil wins, it would have vanquished all good by now. It's always a push and pull.

The important thing is to stand up for the good. Evil cannot win as long as there are good people to oppose it. And the number of the good is always far more than than you expect. The fight will never end, but a small act of kindness, or a small act of defiance, will always go the distance. Never believe that evil is supreme. There would be no world to exist in if that were the case. We are winning!

[ancianita]

60. +1000,000

[CaptainTruth]

41. I understand how you feel, but have we verified that the bust was stolen?

It's possible that it belonged to someone who worked in the White House. It could be a personal possession that someone brought with them for their office, & took with them when they left.

I think back to my days of renting cheap apartments when I bought my own clothes washer & dryer, & took them with me when I moved out. I'm sure some neighbors thought I was "stealing the washer & dryer," but I wasn't, I paid for them, I owned them, & they were mine.

I can't say for sure what is happening with the Lincoln bust, but as someone who has been unfairly judged in the past, I will withhold my judgement until I know all the facts.

[Wawannabe]

51. I saw the bust walking out the door

On NBC nightly news last night.
Idk if it was stolen...but...
There’s video.

[soldierant]

44. How did Caligula get away with it ... until he didn't/

How did Ivan the Terrible or Attila the Hun get away with it - until they didn't? Fill in any name of any powerful person, and the answer is, they got away with it because they had the power. Until they didn't.

Nothing is going to put a dent in him until he's out of office. Even then, it won't be immediate. But once he's out, his accountability can begin to be worked on. If those who are in a position to do so then drag their feet, please rant to your hearts content, here, and to them, and give us words we can use to push them, and use any words that you find here that will help to push them.

It isn't too much longer.

[dameatball]

45. Actually, you are completely rational under the circumstances. The most powerful creature on the

planet has been gouging at the wounds of this country, unchecked, for four years. To feel other than you do would be the irrational part.

[nam78_two]

46. I feel differently

I am sick of always being afraid. I think metaphorically my internal panic buttons have been overloaded to the point where they are broken and I am ok with that. They were never very good anyway. They were always on .
(Well except about ecological collapse. Those are and always will be on. Greta Thunberg has her priorities straight.)

But as far as crazy humans go, I am sick of always living in fear of creeps-who span a spectrum-from mildly creepy to actually violent. All of this imagery is meant to frighten people. And it stops working if you shrug it off as pathetic.

There is still a lot of danger out there. One of this creep's worst legacies is having been such a source of misinformation. People still believe in qanon. They think the election was stolen and that antifa did all this. People who are experts on these things have to figure out how to change minds sustainably and how to get people to learn to accept facts they don't like. Over time it gets less painful. And it sure as hell is better than believing rubbish all your life.

I myself had a teaching moment. I had really lumped Trump in with the rest of the Repukes. I had not realized that he was actually insane and not merely a generically sleazy, more overtly racist/misogynistic conservative who backs cut-throat capitalism. But an actual neo-nazi who would start an actual race-war.
I thought he was all hot air. Erik Prince and Pompeo always scared me more.

[Warpy]

47. It helps to develop a long view

Real changes don't happen in years or even decades, they proceed in fits and starts over centuries as reforms are enacted, rich men get them overturned....but a few always slip through and are permanent.

Case in point: the Peasant Revolt of 1381. Read their demands, they sound rather timid and entirely reasonable and most are things we can take for granted now, yet they were unacceptably radical in their time. This is what I mean. A few reforms did sneak through and a few of those were permanent and added to over the centuries.

While I sincerely doubt the arc of history bends toward justice, I do see slow progress over a long period of time. The problem is that we're the same people who have put up with the intolerable in the past, just because we were doing OK at the time. That's why progress generally happens as a result of one disaster or another, and why it is chipped away over time.

I said a long time ago I wouldn't believe in justice until I saw the Kochs and Mercers in a pitched battle over a moldy slice of pizza out of a dumpster. That's not going to happen and if it happens to future heirs I won't be here to enjoy the spectacle. However, their empires and pretensions to aristocracy are only temporary. Reforms after the next crash will outlast them.

In the short term, it helps me to look at the villains and realize I'd rather see them than be them. I would hate to live my life that twisted up with greed and spite and ignorance, missing 99% of what is happening around me.

[flotsam]

48. There's this

When they lay down at night do you suppose any one of them is genuinely happy and at peace? When was the last time one of them felt the actual feeling of joy?
In truth they only for moments feel the cheap cheat copies of true emotion and sadly then only at the despair of others. They are only cardboard cutouts of real people and get only low rent ephemeral simulacrum of what you can achieve once you realize their crimes are venial and mostly of little matter. White Rabbit is in no way a full philosophy-but you should on occasion feed your head...

[Laelth]

50. +1

That’s an excellent description of the emotional fate and the perpetual misery of persons who suffer from Cluster B personality disorders.

-Laelth

[DavidDvorkin]

58. No, you're being rational

It's irrational to believe that good will win over evil. It will if we make it happen, but there's no invisible power making it so.

[choie]

61. Thanks so much everybody

I am so thankful for DU and you members. I so appreciate your support and wisdom. Even when I’m feeling outrage and downhearted - I can depend on you.

Kim (aka Choie)