Atticus
Atticus's JournalWere Republicans raised in the forest by wolves?
Everyone I know, from semi-literate river rats and hillbillies to PhDs, were taught very early in life---say, 3 or 4 years old---that telling someone something you know is not true is called a lie, lies are bad and liars are not good people.
As children, we all told our share of lies that our elders kindly termed "fibs" or maybe "little white lies" because we were kids and allowances were made for us because we had not yet learned how to act responsibly. The overwhelming majority of us grew up and now deal honestly with the world. The minority apparently joined the wolf pack.
I am no saint and you folks know by now that I make my share of mistakes, but liars make the hair on the back of my neck rise. I am not talking about good-natured "whoppers" told with tongue in cheek about golf scores, big fish caught or similar "grand accomplishments". I am referring to those who knowingly tell lies that harm others or enrich themselves---or get them elected.
Honesty and truth are the basic necessities for a successful functioning marriage, friendship, business relationship or democracy.
It is some measure of how misguided we are that we can joke about Trump's 30,000 lies.
It is some measure of the threat we now face that some will consider these words naive or childish or "preachy". Be that as it may, liars offend me---"big time".
How many malignancies on our body politic will we endure before we excise them?
The cancer of Trump worship has already rendered the GOP a putrescent shell empty of anything noble or thoughtful. Currently, they oppose democracy and favor violence. Beyond that, they have no discernible "policies".
Some of the cancer has metastasized with the assistance of corrupted and/or thoughtless media platforms. And, even a few of "us" have let the seriousness of the national sickness to numb us into complacency. Will acceptance not follow complacency?
A lot of people in our government are criminals. A lot of former government officials are criminals. They should be prosecuted, convicted, imprisoned and barred from ever holding elective office again. We know what should be done and we have the laws and personnel to do it.
The question that remains is "Do our leaders have the will?"
To all who either are Law Enforcement Officers or have a friend or family member who is:
if you or that friend or family member who's a cop was attacked by someone who knocked you down with a thrown fire extinguisher, stomped you, tazed you several times, sprayed you with "bear spray" and other chemicals, speared and beat you with a flag pole and encouraged companions to "shoot you with your own gun", would you shrug that off as "normal political discourse"?
Do you not believe that such a characterization is LUDICROUS and that those pushing it are morally bankrupt hacks?
Do you understand that that is EXACTLY what the Trump party is saying?
Are you ok with politicians who stand for such vile and dangerous bullshit?
If you are entertaining the possibility of voting for ANY "Republican" in '22 or '24 , a bit of advice: pull your head out of your ass!
Some may find this post offensive because of what it asks you to imagine.
WHAT IF---Trump is in fact eventually indicted, tried and convicted AND-----sentenced to prison? IMAGINE---if you dare --- what he will look like in---say--- 6 months.
No hair dye.
No hair stylist.
No make-up pro.
No shoe lifts.
No corset.
No red tie.
There are just two words that seem appropriate for that: "OOGALIE-BOOGALIE!!!"
Records now reveal that Rep. Jordan spoke with Trump by phone for 10 MINUTES on the
morning of the January 6th insurrection.
This might explain why, when asked by a reporter a few weeks ago if he had spoken to Trump before, during or after the Capitol invasion, Jordan responded, in essence "Uh, uh---well, uh----I uh---homina, homina, homina---and I, uh----I talk to the president all the time, and---and----I might have, but I----don't exactly remem----uh-h-h----but I'll have to get back to you after I---homina, homina-----------"
Jim, Jim, Jim! Are you really gonna fall on your sword for a "man" who considers you one of the little people and, therefore, "expendable"?
"Well, we've got trouble! Right here in River City! That starts with 'T' and that rhymes with 'P'
and that stands for----------" PANTSUIT?
Friends and neighbors it's true: at Disney World children are now confronted with Minnie Mouse in a polka dot pantsuit!
Not only that, but I have it on good authority that Donald Duck is strutting around PANTSLESS!
It's all these Godless liberals, don'tcha know! We need a moral leader like Donald Trump to restore decency in 'Murika!
There are numerous people whose continued participation in our government is a a national
embarrassment. Just to name a few, I mean people like Hawley, Cruz, Paul, Jordan, Gosar, Cawthorn, Greene, Boebert and Gaetz.
Gee, I wonder --- which party do they all belong to?
Just a strange coincidence, huh?
This icy, snowy, windy winter storm has covered up all the "natural" food sources for the birds in
southern Illinois, so we have an SRO ( squatting room only ) crowd at our feeders this morning. At one point, we had 8 pairs of cardinals at one time.
Because of the frenzy to access the feeders, I decided to put a large unused dog water dish underneath on hanging feeder and stock it with extra seed. THE BIRDS WOULD NOT FEED IN THIS 12" DIAMETER 3" DEEP DISH! They would perch on the rim and look down at the seed but would not hop down into the "enclosure".
I had known some birds prefer platform feeders, but had no idea they would pass up visible food in a blizzard if it was in a wide 3" deep bowl.
"Count not the day lost!"
My paternal grandfather was the first and only Democrat in his family. The rest were
rabid Republicans. My Dad followed in his footsteps and served as a Democratic Precinct Committeeman.
When I asked Dad what motivated Grandpa to become a Democrat when his four brothers always voted Republican, he answered with a smile---"Dad was the one who learned how to read".
I posted this nearly 14 years ago. In light of our President's just-announced "cancer moonshot",
It might still interest you.
Originally appeared 7-12-09
I was five when "Pap" died. Pap was my grandmother's next door neighbor and, like most who lived in our neighborhood, he was a working man, a laborer. One of my grandfathers died the year after I was born and the other I saw maybe twice a year. Pap filled in for them on an almost daily basis. He let me "help" in his garden and let me pet his beagles whenever I wanted.
I came home from school one afternoon that fall of my first grade year and my grandmother told me to sit down at the kitchen table. Both my parents worked and we stayed with "Nanny" after school. She said she had some real sad news and that I needed to be a "big boy". "Pap died today. His heart was sick and it quit working. The ambulance came, but it was too late", she explained, speaking softly and earnestly.
I cried. Eventually, I asked what is always asked: "Why? Why did he have to die? Why couldn't the doctors make him well? Why couldn't they save him?"
Nanny explained that doctors and hospitals and medicine cost a lot of money and Pap didn't have a lot of money. Rich people bought medicine and had surgery and went to hospitals. "Poor people just die", she said, as gently as possible and held me while I sobbed into her apron.
In the fifties, I overheard several hushed conversations between my parents and other adults that featured the word "cancer". I didn't understand what it was, but I knew it was bad, very bad. Only later did I understand that even "routine" cancers were usually a death sentence for those without insurance or wealth or both. Family members maintained gruesome vigils while the tumors spread throughout their loved ones body and sometimes the stench of necrotic tissue required those attending to the dying to smear Vicks under their nose to keep from retching.
Are we to return to those days? Are we to once again allow money to be the real medicine in our nation? Will we be too busy to march on Washington? Too busy to hound our senators and congressmen to vote for AT LEAST a public option for health care insurance?
I can accept wealth allowing some to drive a Mercedes or a Porsche while others drive Chevys or ride the bus.
I cannot accept wealth allowing some to live while others "just die".
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