Aristus
Aristus's JournalI'm wearing red, white, and blue today.
Jet flyovers at the Super Bowl are ridiculously expensive. And also, you know, just ridiculous. Crocodile tears during the Anthem are maudlin and silly. And calling the American flag sacred is a desecration of everything that truly is.
But today, Im wearing red, white, and blue. Today, we see what were really made of. Our country took a near-fatal hit two weeks ago today. That hit left a mark: we no longer have an unblemished history of a peaceful transition of power. Our nation was pushed to the ground four years ago, and these monsters kicked it when it was struggling valiantly, dazed and bleeding, to get back up again.
Democracy is a great thing; maybe the best of things. It lends a voice to people who shout God Bless America! to your face while theyre stabbing you in the back. It keeps a place at the table for people who refuse to see you as a fellow American unless you look like what they see in the mirror.
But Im wearing red, white, and blue today. Today, we point a finger at violent, unstable people and tell them Youre free to have your own conception of who is and who is not an American, and what America is or is not. But you are required, as a citizen, to allow everyone else the same freedom.
Im wearing red, white, and blue today. Theyve shown their true colors; the hateful colors of Nazi Germany, of that supporter of state-sponsored slavery, the Confederacy; the puke-yellow color of the Dont Tread On Me flag. (I always thought it was more American to say: Dont Tread On Us). I may never truly understand people whose most honest expression of patriotism is a declaration of hate; whom they hate, and how viscerally they hate them.
Many times over the last four years, Ive wanted to move someplace where patriotism and social toxicity werent the same thing. Where pride in ones country wasnt expressed with firearms and My God can beat up your God. Pride. Everything we have in this country, we stole from someone else. Thats nothing to be proud of.
But many of the people who tried to keep the theft going are under arrest now, and they will receive due process for their crimes. The peoples voice will be heard in the halls of justice. And that is something to be proud of.
A man takes an oath today. An oath to the country. An oath to serve the people of our nation. All the people. And not just the ones who look like him. An oath to lead with dignity, solemnity, compassion, and decency. I support this man and his oath. And will do everything I can to ensure that he abides by his promise.
Im showing that support by wearing red, white, and blue.
I'm wearing red, white, and blue today.
Jet flyovers at the Super Bowl are ridiculously expensive. And also, you know, just ridiculous. Crocodile tears during the Anthem are maudlin and silly. And calling the American flag sacred is a desecration of everything that truly is.
But today, Im wearing red, white, and blue. Today, we see what were really made of. Our country took a near-fatal hit two weeks ago today. That hit left a mark: we no longer have an unblemished history of a peaceful transition of power. Our nation was pushed to the ground four years ago, and these monsters kicked it when it was struggling valiantly, dazed and bleeding, to get back up again.
Democracy is a great thing; maybe the best of things. It lends a voice to people who shout God Bless America! to your face while theyre stabbing you in the back. It keeps a place at the table for people who refuse to see you as a fellow American unless you look like what they see in the mirror.
But Im wearing red, white, and blue today. Today, we point a finger at violent, unstable people and tell them Youre free to have your own conception of who is and who is not an American, and what America is or is not. But you are required, as a citizen, to allow everyone else the same freedom.
Im wearing red, white, and blue today. Theyve shown their true colors; the hateful colors of Nazi Germany, of that supporter of state-sponsored slavery, the Confederacy; the puke-yellow color of the Dont Tread On Me flag. (I always thought it was more American to say: Dont Tread On Us). I may never truly understand people whose most honest expression of patriotism is a declaration of hate; whom they hate, and how viscerally they hate them.
Many times over the last four years, Ive wanted to move someplace where patriotism and social toxicity werent the same thing. Where pride in ones country wasnt expressed with firearms and My God can beat up your God. Pride. Everything we have in this country, we stole from someone else. Thats nothing to be proud of.
But many of the people who tried to keep the theft going are under arrest now, and they will receive due process for their crimes. The peoples voice will be heard in the halls of justice. And that is something to be proud of.
A man takes an oath today. An oath to the country. An oath to serve the people of our nation. All the people. And not just the ones who look like him. An oath to lead with dignity, solemnity, compassion, and decency. I support this man and his oath. And will do everything I can to ensure that he abides by his promise.
Im showing that support by wearing red, white, and blue.
Friday Night Last Fucking Weekend Of The Trump Presidency Vodka Buzz!
Ask me anything...
I love you all...
If someone says "I just got caught up in the moment",
aren't they basically admitting that they have poor decision-making skills?
Reflexive behavior in a life filled with risks.
I was just driving through Hilltop, a pretty rough neighborhood in Tacoma. I saw a couple of people at the bus stop near the top of the hill. Both were African-American, both engaged in conversation, and both were wearing masks.
During a time in which toxic white privilege has extended to something as seemingly simple and uncontroversial as wearing a mask during the pandemic of a respiratory illness, the wearing of one has taken on powerful political overtones.
Dissenters, usually, but not exclusively white, have been recorded in public engaging in highly anti-social behaviors, yelling and screaming, causing disruption to the lives of everyone around them, simply over being asked, or required, to wear a mask when in a public space with other people.
This is also a time when simply being a young, unarmed African-American person committing no crime can be murdered in the street by a law enforcement officer who suffers no penalty stronger than a two week paid vacation.
People whose lives are constantly at risk in societally unfair ways take every necessary precaution to preserve life whenever possible.
It's the way pragmatism and practicality overcome political controversy.
Two of the guys I served with in the Gulf in 1991 are rabid Trumpsters.
One of them was my tank commander.
I got back in touch with them on Facebook about five years ago, and almost immediately wished I hadn't. Real whack-jobs, those two.
I finally got around to un-friending them early last year. But I keep looking at the pics from the Capitol terror attack and wondering if I'm going to see their faces...
Friday Night Thank God This Fucking Week Is Over Martini Thread.
Needed a nice dry Martini to help me come back to Earth after this hellish week in our nations history.
Feeling thrashed, but loving you all. You keep me what I will choose to call sane...
The Beer Belly Putsch...
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Gender: MaleHometown: Puyallup, Washington
Member since: 2001
Number of posts: 66,462