Wednesday, January 20, 2021
Tuesday, January 19, 2021
Monday, January 18, 2021
Saturday, January 16, 2021
The Sublime And The Ridiculous
The sublime? In short -- radio silence From Trump. Thank you, social media, for kicking him out. If I could, I would send you each a pan of lasagna, and a pan of baklava, made with my own two hands.
Ahhh, Trump radio silence. The feeling is kind of like when you come home from a long, busy, horrible day at work, and find the kids are all at sleepovers, your husband's decided to spend a guy's night out, and you have the house to yourself. Which comes off first, the shoes or the bra? (In this house, it's the bra). You order Chinese delivery, and since we're in the middle of a pandemic, it comes contact-free (good, since you're running around without a bra or shoes, and it's been at least twenty years since you had pretty feet). While you're at it, you go to your secret stash, where you're hiding the chocolates, and the microwave popcorn, and pull them out. And that bottle of peach wine from the back of the fridge that hubby says is too girly for him to drink. You watch a rom-com on the couch. Hubby calls to say he's gonna be late, so you sink into a hot bubble bath till you resemble a prune, and finish the night in front of the bedroom TV watching Lifeguard, starring a young and mostly shirtless Sam Elliot. You see (spoiler alert!) he doesn't quite commit to the Anne Archer character, but you know damn well if that were you he was considering, you could lasso him. You fall asleep meditating on that...
Yeah, THAT good. (Sorry, gentlemen, you'll have to substitute your own fantasy perfect night).
The ridiculous: Glenn Beck's response to social media kicking Trump out.
"You can't have freedom of speech if you can't have -- if you can't express yourself in a meaningful place. This is like the Germans with the Jews behind the wall, they would put them in the ghetto. Well, this is the digital ghetto, you can talk all you want to, Jews, you do whatever you want behind the wall. Well, that's not meaningful, and that's where we are."
1. As guaranteed by the First Amendment, freedom of speech cannot be stifled by the government. The First Amendment has nothing to do with, and does not refer to: your workplace, a business, or a private entity. Did you read the terms of service when you signed up for Facebook, Twitter, Tik Tok, etc.? Did you click "agree"?
2. DON'T EVEN! Compare anything that has happened to Donald Trump and his fellow instigators to what happened to the Jews (and the Gypsies, the disabled, homosexuals, and leftists/socialists, among others who the Nazis also exterminated).
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holocaustvictims
But what can you expect from a guy who is described as: "Glenn Lee Beck (born February 10, 1964) is an American conservative political commentator, conspiracy theorist, radio host, and television producer."
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glenn_Beck
Trump & Co. was a case of abusing it, and losing it. "It" being freedom of speech on a hosted entity. Totally fair, totally just, and a first-world problem. Not even remotely comparable to this (click on "Watch on YouTube" to watch):
Shame on you, Glenn Beck, for even THINKING of saying anything different...
Monday, January 11, 2021
Ah-nold Strikes Again!
Back on the 4th Of July, I shared with you an inspiring video recorded by none other than Arnold Schwarzenegger. It was moving and patriotic, and it is obvious how proud Schwarzenegger is to be an American. You have to give the man credit, he is one of the true immigrant success stories.
After she read that blog post, a friend texted me positive feedback about it. In the course of conversation I observed rather tartly that I was not a big fan of Arnold, "due to the way he treated Maria" (Shriver, his ex-wife). Readers may recall he fathered a son in an affair with his and Shriver's nanny, which news came out about ten years ago and torpedoed their marriage. My friend and I exchanged a few more comments about the subject. It was plain that she and at least one family member held Arnold in a bit more esteem than I did, and I began to wonder if I had been a bit hard on him. Now I know I was:
Mr. Schwarzenegger, your story put sympathy in my heart for you. Thank you for sharing it. You obviously had a rough early life. You have managed to overcome, and made a huge success of yourself. You deserve to be proud. Your words are the sort that can heal and bring this country together. We need you. For what it's worth, you have made a fan. Please keep speaking out and encouraging and uplifting. It has never been more necessary, or more appreciated.
Sunday, January 10, 2021
Blue Wave!
The riots of January 6, 2021 were a shameful and frightening spectacle in America. Yet, in the midst of national tragedy, progressives scored a victory that unfortunately got lost in the shadows of the larger incident. But make no mistake, this vanquishment has the power to have just as much, if not more influence on how we spend the next era in our country.
The twin triumphs of Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff in Georgia's Senate runoffs Tuesday and Wednesday will put Congress, albeit by the slimmest of margins, in Democratic hands for the first time since 2010. And the victories were the first for both an African-American and a Jewish Senator in the history of the Peach State, which also voted for a Democratic presidential candidate for the first time since 1992. Way To Go, Georgia!
The Chickens Come Home To Roost
What is there to say about the horrible events in Washington, DC Wednesday that has not already been said?
After decrying the vote-by-mail system which he, himself, has used for years, Trump decided to speculate endlessly pre-election that there was SO much potential for fraud. And after he lost, he whined, raged and obsessed for weeks about the "stolen" election, endlessly spouting plain lies, damned lies and conspiracy theories on social media.
Following was an endless parade of lawsuits challenging the election. Trump's record in these lawsuits? 1/62. So, a week before Christmas, he gave us a gift that kept on giving. He encouraged his MAGAs to go out "wilding". And Wednesday, they did exactly that. Here's a review of the bidding:
Shocking Photos of the Violent Riots Occurring at the U.S. Capitol
The pictures tell the story, I think. Some of the words tossed around on the news outlets I watched: Domestic terrorism. Insurrection. Sedition. Mob rule. Coup attempt.
I thought that last was a bit harsh. Then I looked it up:
"A coup or coup d'état (/ˌkuː deɪˈtɑː/ French: [ku deta], literally 'blow of state'; plural: coups d'état, pronounced like the singular form; also known simply as an overthrow, takeover, or putsch) is the removal of an existing government from power, usually through violent means. Typically, it is an illegal, unconstitutional seizure of power by a political faction, the military, or a dictator.[1] Many scholars consider a coup d'état successful when the usurpers seize and hold power for at least seven days.[1] A coup attempt may refer to a coup in the works or an unsuccessful coup.
A political faction is a group of individuals within a political party that share a common political purpose but differs in some respect to the rest of the entity. A faction or political party may include fragmented sub-factions, 'parties within a party,' which may be referred to as power blocs, or voting blocs. Members of factions band together as a way of achieving these goals and advancing their agenda and position within an organization.
They are basically dissenters that emerge from one big organisation. In Politics, these political factions may deflect into other political parties, that support their dissentive ideology and are more favorable towards them. This, for some countries maybe considered unstable and fluctuating but counter-intuitively might help promote interests of diverse groups.
Occasionally, the term 'faction' is still used more or less as a synonym for political party, but 'with opprobrious (critical, derogatory) sense, conveying the imputation of selfish or mischievous ends or turbulent or unscrupulous methods', according to the Oxford English Dictionary." -- Wikipedia
Looking at it that way, a coup attempt is an accurate term, because the protesters were trying to disrupt the official count of the electoral votes by Congress, which is usually a routine and mostly decorative ritual of government business, but took on epic importance this year in the wake of a (according to Trump and his MAGAs) disputed election. Here is an article explaining plainly why Wednesday's action was indeed a coup attempt.
Of course, Faux News was very quick to cast the blame for the fracas on Antifa, a far-left anti-fascist political movement. (And while I disagree with any entity that foments violence or extreme unrest, since when have we reached the point where an anti-fascist group is intrinsically wrong? I thought America stands against fascism. Not from the way some MAGAs talk and act!) Were some of the bad actors Wednesday from Antifa? Could be. We've learned that, contrary to popular belief, most of the rioting at Black Lives Matters protests was actually carried out by local gangs, agents provocateur, and far-right and white nationalist groups like Proud Boys, Boogaloo Bois, Oath Keepers, Three Per centers, etc. Not to mention people who were bridled and unemployed during a pandemic, who looked at it as an opportunity to kick up heels and vent spleen.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Floyd_protests
https://www.complex.com/life/2020/07/white-supremacists-infiltrated-black-lives-matter-protest-in-richmond-instigate-riots. So it is possible.
But I don't think so: https://www.factcheck.org/2021/01/bogus-antifa-claims-follow-capitol-riot/
https://reason.com/2021/01/07/antifa-violence-trump-capitol-riot/ And I heard, from someone that was there, that the crowd was calm until they were told that Vice President Pence would not be honoring Trump's request that he reject states' electoral votes due to Trump's repetitive and baseless allegations of voter fraud. Then, I was told, the crowd went "crazy". Doesn't sound like like a liberal crowd to me, but...
And this video, from NBC News:
Time will tell. The FBI has a tip line, of course, but some hurly-burlies have made it very easy by publishing pictures and videos to social media, outing themselves, like former US Representative from PA, Rick Saccone:
Derrick Evans, newly-elected Delegate from WV
Jake Angeli, AKA, the Horn Guy, and when you click on that link, you will see that it backs up what Your Crusading Blogger said earlier, that members of the right-hand side of the aisle infiltrated BLM protests, and if this man disrupted here, it isn't a far stretch of my imagination that he disrupted elsewhere. And that he wasn't the only one.
And the late Ashli Babbitt. Oh, and lest we forget, Trump, Trump, Jr., and Rudy Giuliani for instigating. Make that Rudy "Trial By Combat" Giuliani! (What has happened to you since you were "America's Mayor"?!)
Some of these folks have already been arrested. These are some of the charges they could face.
How many of the folks that attended this melée were garden-variety, decent conservatives/Republicans, heirs to the party of Lincoln, Eisenhower, and God bless us, Ronald Reagan, (many of whose policies I vehemently opposed, but oh my, sure seems so remarkably sane and functional when viewed through the lens of the last four years!) and how many were fringe elements, believers in conspiracy theories, the "deep state" and the like? Not all, or even the majority of the right wing is Q-Anon, just like, contrary to what we might hear, not all, or even the majority of the left wing is socialist. (How do we like police and fire departments and libraries? In America, these are run in a socialist manner. Off topic, but couldn't resist throwing that out there).
The reverberations of this tragedy are being felt all over Washington right now. A list of the members of the Trump administration who have resigned since the riots:
Betsy DeVos - Education Secretary
Elaine Chao - Transportation Secretary
Chad Wolf - Acting Secretary Of The Department Of Homeland Security
Mick Mulvaney - Special Envoy To Northern Ireland
Matthew Pottinger - Deputy National Security Adviser
Hope Hicks - Senior Adviser
Stephanie Grisham - Melania Trump's Chief Of Staff
Tyler Goodspeed - White House Council Of Economic Affairs
Ellinore McCance-Katz - Assistant Secretary For Mental Health
John Costello - Deputy Assistant Secretary For Intelligence And Security at the Department Of Commerce
Ryan Tully - Russia Adviser
Sarah Matthews - Deputy Press Secretary
Six members of the National Security Council
All but Hope Hicks cited the riot as the reason they resigned.
By late on January 6, the day of the hullabaloo, articles of impeachment were being drafted against Donald Trump. There were cries for Vice President Pence and the Cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment, an unlikely scenario. While it is probable the Articles Of Impeachment will pass the House Of Representatives, the Senate is another story. But if by some miracle they did, a proviso could be activated that Trump could never hold public office again.
As it should be.
So what have we learned?
How about let's get the security around DC on the same page. What happened that the Capitol police force was so outnumbered and overpowered? Who is to blame? Well, by law the mayor of Washington, DC cannot summon the National Guard; that must be done by the Secretary Of Defense. Early on in the furor, it was opined on NBC that Trump only wanted enough security in the Capitol with the goal to protect his supporters from counter-demonstrators. Unfortunately, I have been unable to locate that clip, but found oblique confirmation here. And here is the story from the Secretary Of The Army. Last but not least, here are some offical documents pertaining to the situation. We may learn more when the Biden Administration conducts an investigation, but I find it odd that police officers were assaulted and tear gas and sprays were used against them, yet few arrests were made. It took hours for buses of officers to arrive and make arrests, and most of the frontline officers initially had no riot or protective gear.
And speaking of Biden, he and others spoke eloquently what I was thinking during the telecast of the uproar -- the police response was larger, more aggressive, and totally (over) prepared during the Black Lives Matter protest last summer:
"No one can tell me that if it had been a group of Black Lives Matter Protesters yesterday that they wouldn't have been treated very, very differently than the mob of thugs that stormed the Capitol yesterday. It was unacceptable. Very unacceptable," he said, banging the podium. Meanwhile, during the BLM protests last summer, Trump fortified DC office buildings and memorials, and called in thousands of officers from local and state police departments, National Guard soldiers, and even federal prison guards. 1600 active duty troops were also brought to the region as a precaution, with Trump threatening to "dominate" protesters. And there's a big difference between "When the looting starts, the shooting starts," from last May's BLM protests and "We love you, you're very special," on Wednesday, isn't there?
Before Wednesday we had many actual (and even more would-be) free-for-all attendees speculating on social media if they would be willing to kill police who got in their way, Biden supporters, and members of Congress, Nancy Pelosi especially. And a few of Wednesday's participants were carrying police-issue zip ties commonly used as handcuffs. (Who were they planning to seize as hostages?) And how do we like their chants of "Hang Mike Pence!"? Well, here are some of their plans for the future, Inauguration Day, for example:
But it occurred to no one to have an appropriate security force installed, just in case? It boggles the mind.
And we need to get our heads around how this all happened. How were some people taken in by Donald Trump? Well, we as a society are simply not taught to recognize mental illness when we see it.
And we don't seem to hold our politicians to very high moral standards, do we? I saw this on Slate in a comment section a few years ago. I don't know, some might find it a little harsh:
But after four years of daily drama, chaos, and outrage to my values structure, and no one willing to hold President Number 45 accountable, this is the place I'm at:
Other things we need to ask ourselves:
We have a lack of knowledge about civics, especially the way our government works. Awhile ago I told a friend I feared as a result of Trump's tomfoolery, we were on our way to a totalitarian/authoritarian regime, if not in a Trump second term, then via another president somewhere down the line, due to the machinery that Trump has set in place.
"Could that also be a socialist regime?" my friend asked me.
Totalitarianism/authoritarianism and socialism are as far apart as east is from west. That is something I doubt most of us know, but it's something we need to know before we opine. Before we vote. Before we plan our future or work and hope for our children's. Voting is, inarguably, one of the most important things we do, and I believe it is incumbent upon us to vote in a deliberate, informed manner; people died to see to it that we the have the right to do so. And let us be clear: we may oppose socialism on moral grounds, and that is our right, but NO ONE does well in a totalitarian/authoritarian system except those in charge. Perhaps the events of last week opened a few eyes to our close call. If so, perhaps the lost lives, injuries and trauma suffered were not in vain.
Another problem is we are all so polarized. We used to have a common set of facts and beliefs that most Americans subscribed to. Liberty, equality, hard work and diversity. But now conservatives and liberals differ mightily on what they think constitutes liberty. For conservatives, liberty means doing any legal thing, setting up a life as they wish it, without interference from the government and minimal assistance from anyone, except in dire need. But a liberal would want, and maybe expect, help from the government if they were, for example, caring long-term for an elderly parent, which exhausted them, compromised their health, and their ability to, for example, advance at their job at a time when they would be expecting to experience their best earning years ahead of retirement. A liberal would see this scenario as unnecessarily difficult, interfering with their life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness, and therefore, distinctly unAmerican.
And maybe there was a time we all believed that America treats all equally. Some still believe that. They are more likely to be conservative; those that don't are more likely to be liberal. You saw these differences play out during Black Lives Matter last summer.
We were all taught hard work is rewarded with with good earnings, promotion. Conservatives still believe that, and toil accordingly. Liberals believe more in Work Smart -- Network, and work/life balance. And liberals probably feel that most who are toiling, are doing so in under-appreciated, under-compensated obscurity, and that those who look a certain way are probably doomed to toil so for a long time, until things change.
And diversity, well, there was a time most Americans welcomed immigrants and celebrated differences. But we have only to look at 45's campaign -- "Mexicans are rapists and drug dealers. We're gonna build a wall to keep them out, and Mexico will pay for it. Islam hates us, we ought to surveil Moslems. They are very sick people."
In short it does seem now that those on different sides of the aisle have very different outlooks and walk through life very differently. It remains to be seen if these two very diverging sides can be brought together. Ten years ago, I was a lot more optimistic.
Of course, since then social media platforms have blown up. The initial draw was attractive, even noble. Using technology, let's bring together people who are geographically far apart. Make it possible for them to communicate efficiently, quickly, and sometimes in real time. But as I told my friend, it devolved into lies and flame wars. Misinformation and disinformation. Conspiracy theories. Calamitous collaborations. Like Wednesday. Six deaths. Ashli Babbitt, shot to death. Roseanne Boyland, Kevin Greeson, Benjamin Phillips, all of medical emergencies. Not one over 55 years of age. Officer Brian Sicknick, dead at age 42 after collapsing from injuries sustained in the riot. Officer Howard Leibengood, 51, died by suicide Saturday, January 9, three days after the tumult.
The other problem is that nowadays many Americans get much of their news from social media. Besides having a credibility gap, social media is set up to benefit from algorithms. Simply put, the more you click on or like something, the more of it you will see. In this way, social media makes a person's world smaller, by serving as bias confirmation and echo chamber. Soon we have nothing to challenge our POV. Well, just like anything else on earth, when you stop growing, you start dying. What good does it do to run five miles a day and bench press 250 pounds, if you don't refresh your mind and your spirit? What good does it do to remodel your house, and keep the same old ideas you've had since you graduated from high school?
And talk/news outlets would help themselves by toning down their rhetoric a tad upon occasion so that folks from either side of the aisle might be reasonably comfortable to tune in and listen.
Too, the divide between the haves and have-nots has never been wider in this country. Historically, this leads to civilization collapse. Did you know the average civilization lasts just 336 years? The US is in its 245th year (shocking to those of us who remember celebrating the Bicentennial). Do we think the Pax Americana will last another 91 years? Will it have a better chance if we even it up a bit? How about Universal Healthcare like all the other First World countries have? A living wage? When was the utopia the MAGAs yearn for? When the middle class was strong! Can we not see that that making Main Street strong is a large part of what makes America strong, and great?! Disparity between the social classes tends to give rise to populism. Populism tends to give rise to Trump-types in charge. And that usually signals the death knell of the republic. But that is up to you.
It's all up to you.
And in case we want to minimize things (they brought pipe bombs and Molotov cocktails, for pete's sake), here's another eyeful for you:
Wednesday, January 6, 2021
Da Mobster Prez Is At It Again!
Another year, another Perfect Phone Call! Too bad it's so late in his term and too much trouble to impeach his miserable ass again...
So for the uninitiated (what rock have you been sleeping under?), Trump is still ragging about his "stolen" election, so, with plenty of witnesses, among them Chief Of Staff Mark Meadows and attorney Cleta Mitchell, (who shockingly [/s] was forced by Foley & Lardner LLP to resign from their law firm after this call), phoned Georgia Secretary Of State Brad Raffensberger, requesting/pressuring him to "find" somewhere just enough votes to give him the electoral votes from The Peach State, and threatening what would happen if he didn't. Here is a link to a recording and transcript of Perfect Call #2, and a little light music for you follows:
Friday, January 1, 2021
Well, Happy New Year!
We need not dwell on the kind of year 2020 has been for so many folks. With Covid and its associated job and economic losses, many of us are stressed, depressed and wondering where to find a little inspiration.
The thing is, inspiration can come from some amazing sources.
Some time ago, I remember hearing of Pluto TV around the same time I heard of Sling, Philo, Fubu, etc. I never got around to investigating it until I got an email from Roku (I have Roku on both TVs). They couldn't wait to tell me about Pluto TV, and all the lovely movies, shows and dedicated channels it has. And it's free! Great price, especially in a pandemic year. So, needless to say, Pluto has gotten a lot of play on my TV this past month or so.
Investigating, I found, among many things, the 1994 Party Of Five, some cool (did I mention free?) movies, and dedicated channels for Love Boat, Bob Ross' The Joy Of Painting, Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack, and All In The Family shares time on the One Day At A Time Channel.
Well, I know part of the current flurry of reboots is the recently-cancelled Latinx version of ODAAT. I've never seen it. But I grew up with the 70's version, with the incomparable Bonnie Franklin, Pat Harrington, Mackenzie Phillips and Valerie Bertinelli. And that catchy theme.
Well, that catchy theme is good advice for a year like 2020, and maybe the foreseeable 2021, too. I've thought about it, and I've decided starting the day with that theme is a real healthy, helpful way to go:
This is it.
This is life, the one you get, so go and have a ball!
This is it, straight ahead, and rest assured, you can't be sure at all.
So while you're here, enjoy the view, keep on doing what you do.
Just hold on tight, we'll muddle through, one day at a time.
So, up on your feet!
Somewhere there's music playin'.
Don't you worry none.
We'll just take it like it comes.
One day at a time.
One day at a time.
One day at a time.
One day at a time.
One day at a time!
Go on, sing along -- you know you wanna!
Happy 2021!
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