All I hear from Reps is that small businesses can't afford a payroll based on $15/hr. What's not being said is that when workers get more money per hour, they have more money to spend on groceries, clothing, transportation, haircuts, car repair entertainment, home repair, hobbies, etc. That means more customers able to spend more money at small businesses.

Where did all that me-first and FU-too-bad if you're poor come from?

Called my cousin yesterday to see how she's doing. Her water meter broke and there are rolling electrical blackouts. She's about 1 hour south of Dallas. During our talk, she informed me that it's all the failure of green energy, solar panels and windmills. When I told her that no. Texas energy companies use 90% fossil fuel, her reply was that her "sources" told her otherwise. I told her that Tex energy companies had not invested in infrastructure to winterize their facilities. I didn't press the argument further. Why bother?

I ask myself now that Rush has died, what is an enlightened way to view his legacy? The answer that I get is to see him in much the same way that I view Trump -- as a master class in ethical morality. That is, as a person completely lacking in the virtues of ethical morality. That is, as an example of how not to be in body, speech, and mind. It's an ugly lesson. Difficult to look on Rush and still maintain a calm abiding mind, because his speech was especially ugly and without merit.

Harsh, angry language that inflames hatred and anger in others is especially non-virtuous. Divisive language that sets people against each other is also non-virtuous. We Buddhists believe that the only thing that we take with us when we die, is our mind. And wherever Rush lands in his next life, his angry contemptuous mind is what he will have as the mental formations that he takes with him.

The master lesson for me is not to follow his ugly example. Anger and hatred is what Hell is all about. If there is a god, do you think he will let an angry foul-mouthed person, who spews angry hateful divisive words, and disturb the peace of mind of those in heaven, and generally stinks up the place? I don't think so.

I ask my special spiritual friend to help me see what he sees. And he answers, see those with angry speech as an opportunity to value and practice self-discipline over my own speech.

I watched all day yesterday. It reminded me of the Nazi paramilitary SA that burned down the Reichstag, home of the German parliament, in Berlin in 1933 to destroy German democracy, because Hitler told them to do it. Only instead of carrying red flags with swaztikas, they carried blue flags that said "Trump."

What are they waiting for?