October 7, 2020

The single biggest mistake the CDC made was telling Republicans that masks protect others

That was never going to be an effective strategy when it comes to Republicans. They have never cared about anyone but themselves and they never will. Next pandemic, there will be "good lies".

October 7, 2020

I think history will call this the October demise

With poll numbers collapsing for the president, Trump is thrashing about in every direction like a freshly caught walleye on the bottom of a sunbaked fishing boat. He is making erratic decisions that only hurt his re-election chances, contradicting himself and his party, and distancing himself from his own base with surgical precision.

At this stage, you have to be a white supremacist, a visitor from another planet, or you have to have been convinced that November 3rd is National Opposite Day (Everybody knows that was January 25th) to cast a vote for Donald Trump in this election.

So maybe we'll have new holiday to celebrate next year. Let me be the first to wish you a Happy October Demise Day in honor of the greatest failure this country has ever produced, Donald J. Trump.

October 5, 2020

The difference between the 2016 and 2020 yard signs in my town

I live in a conservative rural area in the Midwest which probably is a redundant description. An interesting observation from my vantage point is that in 2016, there were plenty of Trump and Clinton yard signs and of course signs for the local and statewide races as well. This time around, I see plenty of the local candidate yard signs for republicans and democrats but where the Democrats have yard signs for the presidential race, the statewide races, and the local races, the republicans are almost exclusively statewide and local candidate signs and no Trump yard signs.

I have to wonder if the Trump campaign simply isn't investing resources in a state that will go blue no matter what or are republicans afraid to post Trump signs in their yards for fear of all of the boogiemen the Right has scared them with? And I mean BLM, ANTIFA, and the scary Socialists. The farms of course have Trump signs all up down their roads but here in town, Trump signs are all but impossible to find so I know there are signs to be had in my area.

I did have something weird happen today. Someone pulled up in front of my house and took a picture of my yard sign and drove away. My yard sign says; Any Functioning Adult 2020.

October 5, 2020

It's either Typhoid Trump or Donnie's Disease Distributor

Okay, I have to know what causes this kind of freakish behaviors:

A. Is he on pain killers or other hallucinogens?
B. Is he that desperate to change the subject from his taxes?
C. Did he receive new orders from Putin.
D. Is he a Stepford President?
E. All of the above?
F. Other?

October 4, 2020

Why do the Democrats always have to be the adults?

Just once I want to tell the Republicans; Sure! Go ahead and go play in that minefield. I know you wanna. I know that I said that it wasn't safe or remotely wise, but you go ahead and run over there and have a good time. I'll wait here. Would you like a juice box when you're done playing? So cute! Bye.

October 1, 2020

I'm a Democrat. I don't want to defund the police. I want to give them a raise.

And so do you. We all should. This could easily be accomplished at no additional cost to the taxpayers. It would go a long way to returning accountability to the people. It is exactly the strategy the Conservatives have been using for years. And we should all get onboard with this immediately.

Sound too good to be true you say? It is easier than you think. Simply ban police unions. The police should be accountable to the people not the unions that hold no one accountable. Republicans have spent decades attacking public service unions with success. Why should the police unions be any different? The police work for us and we pay their salaries. Why should a union decide which police are protected when we know there is abuse. Their are lot of good cops it is true. The good ones are kept silent because of the power of the unions making all cops complicit even if they don't want to be.

With unions gone, there are no more union dues. That money becomes a raise for all police. Why haven't we tried to ban police unions already? A certain number of cops would certainly quit as a result and you know which cops those are. Drain the cesspool and see what gets filter out of the system.

Prove me wrong. This seems like a no-brainer.

September 21, 2020

We are at a crossroads in this country and a devil's bargain is at hand

I guess I came off as angry in another political forum that I frequent and was called out by another poster from the other side of the aisle. This caught me off guard because I haven't been angered in many years by the opinions bandied about in any of these forums. I had to think about it to finally realize that it wasn't anger I was feeling, it was disgust. I feel disgusted by the good people that have been deceived by such a blatantly pathetic liar and con man.

Fathers, mothers, friends, and otherwise good folks that have sold their souls to the Devil are completely willing to walk into that voting booth and pull the lever for a man that has done nothing but lie, deceive, and cheat his entire life. I am not a religious person by any stretch but biblical lessons such as the tale of St. Theophilus of Adana really echo what we are seeing today. I don't believe in the Devil as anything more than a literary tool or device to convey a lesson but it sometimes occurs to me that wiser men than I have known times like these and sent us a warning through time. Having said that, I give you the story of St. Theophilus:

St. Theophilus of Adana (also known as Saint Theophilus the Penitent) as the first man who sold his soul to the Devil in exchange for social or political advancement. So the story goes, Theophilus was unanimously elected to become a bishop in the sixth century. He declined the offer out of humility. Another man accepted the position, and promptly made Theophilus’ life miserable. Regretting his decision, Theophilus summoned a sorcerer who helped contact the Devil. The Devil was more than happy to rectify the situation—provided the cleric renounce Christ and the Virgin Mary in a contract spelled out in his own blood. Theophilus accepted the demands, signed off on the pact, and ascended to the title originally offered him.

As the years went by, however, doubt crept in. Theophilus begged forgiveness from the Virgin Mary. He fasted for forty days, after which time the Virgin reportedly appeared and rebuked him; Theophilus pleaded for mercy, and she left with the promise that she would talk to God on his behalf. After Theophilus fasted for another thirty days, the Virgin Mary returned with the message that God had pardoned him. Three days later, however, Theophilus awoke to find the bloody contract placed upon his chest. Satan refused to relinquish his hold on the cleric’s soul. A terrified Theophilus sought counsel from another bishop, who burned the contract and freed him from the infernal pact. Overwhelmed with joy, Theophilus died on the spot, relieved to be free.

How many people these days are willing to sell their souls to the Devil in exchange for social or political advancement? I wonder.

August 31, 2020

American-on-American Violence is Exactly the Point

The haters want American-on-American violence and so does this administration. It plays right into their hands. Trump is willing to burn this country to the ground to maintain the power and attention he craves. Trump supporters are only too happy to light the match of chaos and violence. This can't be allowed to happen.

We are starting to see the Left respond exactly as the haters hoped we would. The shooting in Portland might be the turning point. Perhaps we need a better strategy than reacting to their provocations? Maybe we need to get more creative.

For example, I suggest that the demonstrators start using the local fire hydrants to take out these caravans of Trump supporters whenever they parade down a street. Use roll-away dumpsters to pin them in and hose them down. Non-lethal but highly effective.

The best defense is to use what you are given. I'd be open to hearing more non-lethal ideas.

August 20, 2020

The Lost Year

When all is said and done, we will probably have lost a full year to the COVID-19 Pandemic. The Lost Year. If this country is anything, it is opportunities. So, we are talking about a full year of lost opportunities. Think of a child’s brand-new existence and how long a year must feel to each of them. Think about the elderly with maybe only a few more precious years hunkering down in fear that even those few years might be taken away if they or someone else is not careful. Think about the rest of us tasked with the responsibility for caring for both generations.

This Lost Year does not affect us all equally nor does it care what your individual story says about you and your place in this world. It does not care if you are an aspiring artist, a gifted musician, a dedicated educator, a health care worker, or a new mother. The Lost Year will have its day.

The history of this Lost Year will be a generational story told by future parents, grandparents, and great grandparents. How many children yet to be born will hear their elderly relatives talk about The Great Pandemic of 2020 or will they call it the 2019 Pandemic? Much of what will come to be known about this time has not been written yet. Future generations may have their own pandemics, plagues, and health crises, and this time may seem like just a small blip on the radar of world-wide events amidst those yet to be recorded.

As this Lost Year continues to unfold, there seems to be a visceral need to take stock of how we were affected and changed and how we adapted to the reality of the planet we now inhabit. One clear adaption among the countless others is the broad social justice awakening seen in the streets all over the country and around the world. Tumultuous times breed new life into the next generation of worriers fighting against stubbornly persistent social inequities.

Note to self. Never forget how the Lost Year changed the destiny of this country and the world. Apply the lessons learned to my life every day and dedicate my remaining years to making this world a little bit better so that the next generation, and the generation after that, and the next, look back at this time and see the seeds of the beginning of something extraordinary.

July 31, 2020

How Conservatism dies or how it lowered itself into the pit of Trump

Republicans weren't always the cult of morons and miscreants we see them as today. They used to be principled adherents of fiscal responsibility and traditional values even if their motivations were simply a matter of self-preservation. At least they stood for something even if it wasn't exactly what they professed it to be.

Over the last few decades and longer, the GOP, beginning with the Southern Strategy, started a slow march down a dubious path that had neither principles nor traditional values as grounding forces to moor their descent. And descend they did.

I would argue that Trump didn't drag the GOP down to the bowls of the pit we see them in today. I would say that the GOP in the course of its long descent met Trump when they reached the bottom. Trump is no different today than he has ever been. He is the same repugnant amoral bastard that he was known to be his entire life. He has arguably not changed one iota.

It is the GOP, or the base that the GOP cultivated, nurtured, groomed, and unleashed on the rest of us that has finally lowered itself to Trump's level and as an unintended consequence, the base has also turned on the former GOP leaders. Why is this an important distinction? Because to defeat the army of an enemy across the chess board, you don't simply focus on the king, you have to decimate to foot-soldiers before you can capture the king.

Trump losing in November will leave his army intact, weakened but intact. They will still be able to sway local and state elections. What we need to do is halt their influence and not by placating to their demands but by demonstrating that their ideology is corrupt and unworthy of the higher ideals this country represents. We need to show them exactly what is wrong with the path they tried to take this country down. Only then will we finally be free of this nightmare we have been subjected to over the last few decades that culminated in 4 years of hell and division that nearly destroyed our country. On the other hand, if Trump manages to win in November, we will become a failed state.