Donald Trump doesn't know what the hell he is doing. Either that or he's more malicious than we thought and incapable of speaking in complete sentences that are longer than 140 characters. And to all you Trumpians who believe he is making America great...now it's time for you to get over it. He's will destroy the working and middle classes with his "make one regulation, remove two" edict. Ending the fiduciary responsibility of financial advisers, compromising the health of the economy and the safety of its citizens through brazen stupidity, and lordy I could go on and on. Signing executive orders without reading them, trying to marginalize the free press. Throwing tantrum after tantrum in a manner not befitting a leading of our democracy. All this and more. And President Bannon, who is probably of Irish decent (whose name in Gaelic means white or fair...how apropos) and who's hand is so far up The Donald's ass that it actually looks like Trump might be in charge. Trump declaring that if the president does it, it is by definition legal and constitutional, all the while violating the emolument clause of the constitution and creating a mess of our economy (in due time, children, you wait and see). All he knows how to do is brand and declare bankruptcy and that isn't really an option for our country now is it. And he is a loose cannon who is putting our democracy at risk.
I have an African American friend who I believe is so conservative as to make Bannon look like a sissy. He is thoughtful and articulate and we have enjoyed some back and forth discussing politics. I have news for him...In Bannon's America he will be so marginalized as to not have a voice. I have no problems with thoughtful conservatives, and even those conservatives who have joined the dark side of opposing Trump, as long as there is a rational basis for dialogue (beyond the "You lost, we won" variety) and a free exchange of ideas. Mr. Bannon is a white nationalist, a would be Leninist intent on destroying the current status quo and making America great in his image. A white European national identity, far more dangerous than the KKK, but giving voice to them as well. I wonder how my friend feels about the conflation of white nationalism and the KKK. All the hate that is bubbling to the surface. This nationalistic movement rooted in populism gone awry is not healthy for our diverse culture and is putting all its citizens at risk. He is antisemitic, a racist, a misogynist, etc., etc., etc. He is not the America I want to believe in and be part of. No, I am not leaving the country, although some may wish I would, but I intend to stand strong through this constitutional crisis and emerge on the other side a better, freer and diverse, not divisive, America.
And so it goes.
Wednesday, February 8, 2017
Friday, February 3, 2017
Just when you think...
This clusterfux of a shitstorm can't get any worse somehow it does. My friend, Sister Our Lady of Perpetual Motion, who has nightmares about mushrooms clouds. those clouds are starting to almost look inevitable. The Neo-Cons of a bygone happier time of George W. Bush are starting to look like absolute boys scouts. Our president of perpetual puppet and his puppet master are heading us towards a war in Iran or China or Mexico, dammit we gotta have a war somewhere or what's a military and nuclear weaponry for. Bring on the tanks, bring on the war planes, oh, it's one-two-three what are we fighting for, don't ask me I don't give a damn, next stop is...
As I approach my thirty-third year at the MSU Library I reflect on times gone by. Used to be I was the youngest at the table of my friends, but now all those friends have retired and I am the old lady of the crew. I recall being horrified at the prospect of war in 1990, which materialized. I recall the doctrine of "shock and awe", which apparently this president also believes in. I think what this president believes in, really, is nothing but himself. But Bannon, there's the danger. They would like it if all of our peaceful demonstrations turned ugly, like the riot at UC Berkeley. But there is some suspicion, like the Nazis of old, those in power might send agitators to our demonstrations in hopes of starting violence and,thus, making it alright to send in the troops. Well, if it worked for the Nazis and then the Soviets why not for the Trumpets.
So, now that the collective "We" have antagonized Australia, cosied up to Russia, threatened Iran and Mexico all in two weeks, and my we have been a busy boy, just when I think it can't possibly get worse it does. It matters how we are perceived in the world community. Our alliances, especially with NATO and honoring the Geneva Convention, should be recognized and honored. I just can't believe that an ignorant, narcissistic, egomaniacal, man-child sociopath is in charge of the strongest military in the world, with Bannon's hand up his ass, or pulling his strings, or both.
Let us keep our protests peaceful...keep the pressure on Congress. Trumpeezee had to cancel a visit to Milwaukee over fears that there would be protests and his fragile ego would have none of that. Keep the pressure on. Keep it peaceful. There is a General Strike being organized for February 17th. No work, no commerce, a shutdown. Keep that a peaceful resolution. Keep the pressure on. Rise Up, as I am wont to say. Let's keep the media free and let them hold our leaders responsible for their alternative fact universe they have created, The KellyAnne Con-Job statement about the Bowling Green Massacre is made up. They need to make up stories to keep the masses afraid of foreigners and the truth. There was no Bowling Green Massacre and that's why there was no media coverage. She, the Minister of Propaganda, only wants news that follows the agenda. She can wonder all she wants why the media isn't giving Trump a "fair chance"; he has proven himself unworthy of a second chance. His transition team foreshadowed all that is now happening. So let's be vigilant, not vigilantes. Let's "go high" when they "go low".
I have written my congressman, the spineless Mike Bishop, at least once a week. I have called our AG Bill Schuette, who hopes to be our next fearful leader, numerous times as he supports what I prefer to call the "Muslim Ban". My city, bless our tax dollars at work, has decided to oppose the ban. My university is deeply concerned about the ban and along with UofM has chosen to not turn over immigration records of students. Peaceful we are and peaceful we shall be. Rise Up!
As I approach my thirty-third year at the MSU Library I reflect on times gone by. Used to be I was the youngest at the table of my friends, but now all those friends have retired and I am the old lady of the crew. I recall being horrified at the prospect of war in 1990, which materialized. I recall the doctrine of "shock and awe", which apparently this president also believes in. I think what this president believes in, really, is nothing but himself. But Bannon, there's the danger. They would like it if all of our peaceful demonstrations turned ugly, like the riot at UC Berkeley. But there is some suspicion, like the Nazis of old, those in power might send agitators to our demonstrations in hopes of starting violence and,thus, making it alright to send in the troops. Well, if it worked for the Nazis and then the Soviets why not for the Trumpets.
So, now that the collective "We" have antagonized Australia, cosied up to Russia, threatened Iran and Mexico all in two weeks, and my we have been a busy boy, just when I think it can't possibly get worse it does. It matters how we are perceived in the world community. Our alliances, especially with NATO and honoring the Geneva Convention, should be recognized and honored. I just can't believe that an ignorant, narcissistic, egomaniacal, man-child sociopath is in charge of the strongest military in the world, with Bannon's hand up his ass, or pulling his strings, or both.
Let us keep our protests peaceful...keep the pressure on Congress. Trumpeezee had to cancel a visit to Milwaukee over fears that there would be protests and his fragile ego would have none of that. Keep the pressure on. Keep it peaceful. There is a General Strike being organized for February 17th. No work, no commerce, a shutdown. Keep that a peaceful resolution. Keep the pressure on. Rise Up, as I am wont to say. Let's keep the media free and let them hold our leaders responsible for their alternative fact universe they have created, The KellyAnne Con-Job statement about the Bowling Green Massacre is made up. They need to make up stories to keep the masses afraid of foreigners and the truth. There was no Bowling Green Massacre and that's why there was no media coverage. She, the Minister of Propaganda, only wants news that follows the agenda. She can wonder all she wants why the media isn't giving Trump a "fair chance"; he has proven himself unworthy of a second chance. His transition team foreshadowed all that is now happening. So let's be vigilant, not vigilantes. Let's "go high" when they "go low".
I have written my congressman, the spineless Mike Bishop, at least once a week. I have called our AG Bill Schuette, who hopes to be our next fearful leader, numerous times as he supports what I prefer to call the "Muslim Ban". My city, bless our tax dollars at work, has decided to oppose the ban. My university is deeply concerned about the ban and along with UofM has chosen to not turn over immigration records of students. Peaceful we are and peaceful we shall be. Rise Up!
Wednesday, February 1, 2017
mas vale que nunca
Well, it has been a long journey since last I wrote. The Mango Mussolini is now our puppet commander in chief and puppet master Bannon's hand is up the Mango's ass. Get the feeling I am unhappy? As Stephen Colbert said last night, and I am paraphrasing, it is like being on a roller coaster every day and still having to puke anew. And I am dizzy enough as it is with my latest malady. But enough about me. I have a friend, yes I do, at the library who has a dream about Trump pushing the nuclear button and she sees a mushroom cloud and ... that's all folks...she wakes up screaming. It is sad that it has come so far so soon.
I am having a running dialogue with a Trump supporter. I am assuming this because he has spoken nary a word against Trumpo. We have been discussing the Muslim ban and he is arguing that it is precautionary and I have been arguing it is hatred in the guise of keeping us safe. It does nothing to enhance our standing in the world, which right now is laughable if it weren't so bad, and only serves to make more jihadists who see us as hating Muslims. This will keep ISIS and Al Qaeda in business for quite sometime to come. And yesterday seventeen bomb threats were called into Jewish community centers across the country. So the hate is right now bubbling forth. The Mosque shooting in Quebec, the Mosque burning in Texas, the seventeen bomb threats to Jewish centers, all bespeak of a level of hate in this country we haven't seen in a good long time. Is this what he meant by making America great again?
Steve Bannon is the one who truly scares me as while Trumpo may not know what he is coloring day to day Bannon knows exactly what buttons to push.
Now, all this said, I don't despise the Republicans. There are good, honest men and women who do not support the Trumpet vision of the world, like John McCain and Lindsey Graham. When Bush won/stole the election in 2000 I didn't fret about the world situation as I do now with certain fingers on the nu-clear button, as Bush II would say. But this somehow all feels very different and threatening to my safety and the safety of my fellow citizens. With a madman at the helm and a strong White Nationalist pulling the strings I do fear for my safety. When such casual conversations come to me with the phrase "...and I Jewed them down." I feel angry and when I explain how hateful that expression is that say "No. I mean it as a compliment."
Okay, so I am conflating hatred of Muslims with hatred of the Jews, and essentially all religious, ethnic and racial minorities. And I believe the connection is the white christian nationalist who yearns for the good old days when they could walk down the street with their white privilege in their pockets and brush off any offending persons with a flick of their finger. That is what scares me most.
While the Muslim ban (and I am calling what it truly is) excludes peoples from seven predominately Muslim countries (but none where actual terrorists have come from since the turn of the century and none where Trumpeezee has business dealings) and he says the Obama administration is the one who first started this freeze on these seven nations, including war ravaged Syria. And while he who shall not be named says this isn't a Muslim ban, that minority Christians from the Mideast will be giving priority and special treatment, how can it not be perceived as such?
All of this brings me back to what can I do. Like the song "Draft Dodger Rag" I have a laundry list of things I can proactively do. Such as: joining the ACLU, ADL, Southern Poverty Law Center, B'nai Brith, Hadassah, Emily's List, Planned Parenthood, NARAL, etc, etc, etc. Therapy is helping as well as I am taking care of myself. That is another safe place to pitch a hissy. I walked in the Women's march in Lansing, I will march again on April 15th, which is the next scheduled demonstration in case you are interested, which will be another call for the Mango to release his taxes (Yes we are really interested in seeing what a great businessman he truly is).
Alrighty then, deep breath and let go. Here is a list, in no particular order, of my fears in the new Trumpian world order: Hate on the rise and being openly expressed as if somehow the election has made it normal to burn mosques and phone in bomb threats to Jewish community centers. The next holocaust, which might be nuclear. The only thing worse than dying in a nuclear blast is surviving it. Economic collapse because all the Donald is really good at is declaring bankruptcy and starting all over again. That most Republicans will continue to be spineless and power hungry enough to not oppose what they know in their small hearts is wrongheaded. The Wall and the prospect of paying for it in terms of higher prices due to price gouging by companies producing goods in Mexico and paying a 20% tariff on products, the cost of which will be passed on to consumers. Yes, that is what a smart man, and he keeps telling us "bigly" how smart he is, does to put another brick in the wall. That a man with small hands, and indeed they are small, will be so testicularly crazed that he will play with his war toys as if it were a game. Etc, etc, etc.
There now, I am feeling better. I likes me a good deep breath and letting go. I know people who voted for Mango say give the man a chance, it has only been ten days, but what a roller coaster ride it has been these ten days. And now, if you will excuse me, I shall puke...
I am having a running dialogue with a Trump supporter. I am assuming this because he has spoken nary a word against Trumpo. We have been discussing the Muslim ban and he is arguing that it is precautionary and I have been arguing it is hatred in the guise of keeping us safe. It does nothing to enhance our standing in the world, which right now is laughable if it weren't so bad, and only serves to make more jihadists who see us as hating Muslims. This will keep ISIS and Al Qaeda in business for quite sometime to come. And yesterday seventeen bomb threats were called into Jewish community centers across the country. So the hate is right now bubbling forth. The Mosque shooting in Quebec, the Mosque burning in Texas, the seventeen bomb threats to Jewish centers, all bespeak of a level of hate in this country we haven't seen in a good long time. Is this what he meant by making America great again?
Steve Bannon is the one who truly scares me as while Trumpo may not know what he is coloring day to day Bannon knows exactly what buttons to push.
Now, all this said, I don't despise the Republicans. There are good, honest men and women who do not support the Trumpet vision of the world, like John McCain and Lindsey Graham. When Bush won/stole the election in 2000 I didn't fret about the world situation as I do now with certain fingers on the nu-clear button, as Bush II would say. But this somehow all feels very different and threatening to my safety and the safety of my fellow citizens. With a madman at the helm and a strong White Nationalist pulling the strings I do fear for my safety. When such casual conversations come to me with the phrase "...and I Jewed them down." I feel angry and when I explain how hateful that expression is that say "No. I mean it as a compliment."
Okay, so I am conflating hatred of Muslims with hatred of the Jews, and essentially all religious, ethnic and racial minorities. And I believe the connection is the white christian nationalist who yearns for the good old days when they could walk down the street with their white privilege in their pockets and brush off any offending persons with a flick of their finger. That is what scares me most.
While the Muslim ban (and I am calling what it truly is) excludes peoples from seven predominately Muslim countries (but none where actual terrorists have come from since the turn of the century and none where Trumpeezee has business dealings) and he says the Obama administration is the one who first started this freeze on these seven nations, including war ravaged Syria. And while he who shall not be named says this isn't a Muslim ban, that minority Christians from the Mideast will be giving priority and special treatment, how can it not be perceived as such?
All of this brings me back to what can I do. Like the song "Draft Dodger Rag" I have a laundry list of things I can proactively do. Such as: joining the ACLU, ADL, Southern Poverty Law Center, B'nai Brith, Hadassah, Emily's List, Planned Parenthood, NARAL, etc, etc, etc. Therapy is helping as well as I am taking care of myself. That is another safe place to pitch a hissy. I walked in the Women's march in Lansing, I will march again on April 15th, which is the next scheduled demonstration in case you are interested, which will be another call for the Mango to release his taxes (Yes we are really interested in seeing what a great businessman he truly is).
Alrighty then, deep breath and let go. Here is a list, in no particular order, of my fears in the new Trumpian world order: Hate on the rise and being openly expressed as if somehow the election has made it normal to burn mosques and phone in bomb threats to Jewish community centers. The next holocaust, which might be nuclear. The only thing worse than dying in a nuclear blast is surviving it. Economic collapse because all the Donald is really good at is declaring bankruptcy and starting all over again. That most Republicans will continue to be spineless and power hungry enough to not oppose what they know in their small hearts is wrongheaded. The Wall and the prospect of paying for it in terms of higher prices due to price gouging by companies producing goods in Mexico and paying a 20% tariff on products, the cost of which will be passed on to consumers. Yes, that is what a smart man, and he keeps telling us "bigly" how smart he is, does to put another brick in the wall. That a man with small hands, and indeed they are small, will be so testicularly crazed that he will play with his war toys as if it were a game. Etc, etc, etc.
There now, I am feeling better. I likes me a good deep breath and letting go. I know people who voted for Mango say give the man a chance, it has only been ten days, but what a roller coaster ride it has been these ten days. And now, if you will excuse me, I shall puke...
Friday, January 6, 2017
Once more into the breach
Well, our computer system is slower than molasses in January, which is pretty damn slow giving the outside temperature today. So here goes once again.
My third cousin (I really can't distance myself far enough away from that side of the family) was the Michigan co-chair for the Trump campaign. Now this won't be a political rant...hopefully. She and her family have money up the butt and other orifices so it is not surprising she and her ilk supported Trump. However, when she announced her support and commitment (and she should have been) she used the expression "coming out as a Republican", which, by implication she must have meant it is as hard to come out as a lesbian, which she isn't (as far as I know but then her father is a pervert and is on my shit list for a variety of reason, none of which has to do with his party affiliation). But I digress. If her idea of a hard life is coming out as a wealthy Republican I will have to rethink this whole business of coming out (as in gay). She, poor baby, has had a rough life of privilege and wealth. She is almost a white person, but she is, after all a Jew, but she can pass for white.
You know I am on a women's Seder committee for my synagogue and we are supposed to share stories of our family Seders from our past. My most memorable recollection is the year that Passover was later in the spring and daylight savings time had sprung forward. Dinner was very late and the Seder service was running long. People were quite in their cups come the Plagues and my aunt said to my cousin Sid, who was leading the Seder, to hurry up and Sid uttered that traditional Seder prayer "Suck it up your ass, Elsie". The rest of the meal was a debacle. Now how can I tastefully share this with my Seder Sisters?
So I take what I can and leave the rest. That side of the family is dead to me...mostly dead. A cousin sent me the newspaper clipping of the Trump supporter saying she was coming out as a Republican, which I promptly smushed into a ball and let the cats play with it and it ended up, appropriately, in their litter box. She may be wealthy but she is now bathroom reading for the cats.
My third cousin (I really can't distance myself far enough away from that side of the family) was the Michigan co-chair for the Trump campaign. Now this won't be a political rant...hopefully. She and her family have money up the butt and other orifices so it is not surprising she and her ilk supported Trump. However, when she announced her support and commitment (and she should have been) she used the expression "coming out as a Republican", which, by implication she must have meant it is as hard to come out as a lesbian, which she isn't (as far as I know but then her father is a pervert and is on my shit list for a variety of reason, none of which has to do with his party affiliation). But I digress. If her idea of a hard life is coming out as a wealthy Republican I will have to rethink this whole business of coming out (as in gay). She, poor baby, has had a rough life of privilege and wealth. She is almost a white person, but she is, after all a Jew, but she can pass for white.
You know I am on a women's Seder committee for my synagogue and we are supposed to share stories of our family Seders from our past. My most memorable recollection is the year that Passover was later in the spring and daylight savings time had sprung forward. Dinner was very late and the Seder service was running long. People were quite in their cups come the Plagues and my aunt said to my cousin Sid, who was leading the Seder, to hurry up and Sid uttered that traditional Seder prayer "Suck it up your ass, Elsie". The rest of the meal was a debacle. Now how can I tastefully share this with my Seder Sisters?
So I take what I can and leave the rest. That side of the family is dead to me...mostly dead. A cousin sent me the newspaper clipping of the Trump supporter saying she was coming out as a Republican, which I promptly smushed into a ball and let the cats play with it and it ended up, appropriately, in their litter box. She may be wealthy but she is now bathroom reading for the cats.
More in the way of blogs
I am endeavoring to blog more in an effort to wean myself from spending money shopping online whilst I multitask. In lieu of money I offer words. I made a resolution to not spend money this year in an austerity move to rein in my worse habits. Not that words are not habits of sorts but I need to spend less and enjoy all that I do indeed have. And after of year of literal bad breaks and ten weeks off without pay the austerity move is needed. So you may expect more in the way my blog.
Slowly I am also going to endeavor not to blog so much about the election, Whew! I am sure you all may have had enough of those rants. So it is with a light heart I reintroduce Sophie and her clan soon. Sophie recently purchased a home at the ripe age of 71 (and a 30 year mortgage...may she live long enough to pay it off). Phyllis and Percy recently tied the knot (twice I hasten to add, once out east and once in Michigan). The annoying personage of the Magic Plastic Tuna (not to be confused with the Green Tuna) is still an annoyance. She came in like a hurricane, a bully, and continues to be the same bully she was, unaware that she is as annoying as she is. It is entirely too loud here. No one seems to speak in a stage whisper. I must listen to my music to exclude the extraneous noises and keep my peaceful demeanor. She came in today for a three hour cruise and has done nothing to merit her salary as she is not even doing the five books a day she purports to catalog.
I am doing my best to refrain from spending money I don't have and trying to keep my sanity in a crazy, loud world. Best, however, to attempt one thing at a time, even though I am expert at multitasking. My side business is booming, that is providing tech support to a sea of soon to be experts. I have a breakfast meeting next week which may turn into into a grant to teach senior citizens, of which I may be one, how to use email, the internet, Face Book and maybe to blog.
I continue in therapy, still missing the at-large and still injured Hyphen. My current therapist is adequate although I wish I had either Hyphen One or Two. I was recently allocated fifty additional visits this year to see my therapist so there is still the need, or so the insurance company seems to think.
This is the first of a number of non-topical blogs I am hoping to write this year, all the whilst resisting that which needs to be resisted.
Watch this space.
Slowly I am also going to endeavor not to blog so much about the election, Whew! I am sure you all may have had enough of those rants. So it is with a light heart I reintroduce Sophie and her clan soon. Sophie recently purchased a home at the ripe age of 71 (and a 30 year mortgage...may she live long enough to pay it off). Phyllis and Percy recently tied the knot (twice I hasten to add, once out east and once in Michigan). The annoying personage of the Magic Plastic Tuna (not to be confused with the Green Tuna) is still an annoyance. She came in like a hurricane, a bully, and continues to be the same bully she was, unaware that she is as annoying as she is. It is entirely too loud here. No one seems to speak in a stage whisper. I must listen to my music to exclude the extraneous noises and keep my peaceful demeanor. She came in today for a three hour cruise and has done nothing to merit her salary as she is not even doing the five books a day she purports to catalog.
I am doing my best to refrain from spending money I don't have and trying to keep my sanity in a crazy, loud world. Best, however, to attempt one thing at a time, even though I am expert at multitasking. My side business is booming, that is providing tech support to a sea of soon to be experts. I have a breakfast meeting next week which may turn into into a grant to teach senior citizens, of which I may be one, how to use email, the internet, Face Book and maybe to blog.
I continue in therapy, still missing the at-large and still injured Hyphen. My current therapist is adequate although I wish I had either Hyphen One or Two. I was recently allocated fifty additional visits this year to see my therapist so there is still the need, or so the insurance company seems to think.
This is the first of a number of non-topical blogs I am hoping to write this year, all the whilst resisting that which needs to be resisted.
Watch this space.
Gladly not
I will shamelessly admit that I do not suffer fools gladly. And to wit, I think that is my current problem. Surrounded by fools, the Dunning Kruger effect in slow motion, I am besieged by assholes who consider themselves my intellectual peers, although they are ill-read, if read at all, an besotted by the thought that they know as much as a expert or an educated person because what's a democracy for if not that all opinions are equal. Except, as we know from experience, opinions are like assholes for various and sundry reasons. I don't buy into the argument that in a democracy everyone gets a trophy for merely showing up. No, I put my faith in people of intellect; after all I am an effete intellectual snob, listening as I am to Beethoven's violin concerto, knowing that I know how to spell Beethoven correctly and know that this piece of music is played allegro ma non troppo (and what that means). So, yes, Orwell was right: All animals are created equal but some are more equal than others.
And so I rant on.
I am expert at my work. I know my stuff and it takes a great deal of intellect to perform at my level. I don't say that smugly. I am damn good at what I do, quality control for a large database; expertise in metadata and know what all that means and entails. A high school diploma ain't gonna cut it here. I had an acquaintance at the library who with a questionable high school diploma, was given a position she was not intellectually suited for. She relied on me to fix her mistakes, which were numerous, and, in fact, at one point told me that was my job...to fix what she did not understand. And she did not have the intellect to know that she needed help in the form of additional training. She would not ask her supervisor for help with additional training (and I suspect that alone would not have made a difference). The only stupid questions are the ones you don't ask. Like I said I am a snob. She used to "do" crossword puzzles at work but did them the following day so she could copy the correct answers from that day's paper. It is to laugh if it weren't so bad. There is not much point in an intellectual exercise if you are going to at least make an attempt.
More to come.
And so I rant on.
I am expert at my work. I know my stuff and it takes a great deal of intellect to perform at my level. I don't say that smugly. I am damn good at what I do, quality control for a large database; expertise in metadata and know what all that means and entails. A high school diploma ain't gonna cut it here. I had an acquaintance at the library who with a questionable high school diploma, was given a position she was not intellectually suited for. She relied on me to fix her mistakes, which were numerous, and, in fact, at one point told me that was my job...to fix what she did not understand. And she did not have the intellect to know that she needed help in the form of additional training. She would not ask her supervisor for help with additional training (and I suspect that alone would not have made a difference). The only stupid questions are the ones you don't ask. Like I said I am a snob. She used to "do" crossword puzzles at work but did them the following day so she could copy the correct answers from that day's paper. It is to laugh if it weren't so bad. There is not much point in an intellectual exercise if you are going to at least make an attempt.
More to come.
Thoreau it all away
Henry David Thoreau's supposed last words were "Moose...Indians" hardly a
fit ending to a well lived life. Still, with all the election hoo ha,
and there has been some, I felt compelled to re-read both Walden and
Civil Disobedience. As Socrates opined, according to Plato, "an
unexamined life is not worth living" and Thoreau cannot be accused of that
faux pas. Nor can I. I am re-reading Thoreau. I am, in fact,
re-reading a number of tomes I read when first I was in college and
perhaps too youthful to understand its true importance. I quote from his essay Civil Disobedience "This American government- what is it but a tradition, though a
recent one, endeavoring to transmit itself unimpaired to posterity,
but each instant losing some of its integrity?"
We have lost our integrity with the world. But lo, that is not the end of end of the story. We can do something to restore our integrity by holding the elected officials accountable for their actions.
Oft I have traveled in realms of gold and this is not one of them. I am angry not so much that Secretary Clinton lost but that Trump won. And all of his actions since the election has been to undermine his own campaign promises to drain the swamp, which is now his private privy.
As for the integrity of the election, it could be that the Republicans were so giddy to reclaim power from President Blackenstein that they can overlook the fact, and that is a fact, that our election was hacked by the Russians or that the the Electoral College vote was compromised by any number of irregularities by the Electors, e.g., holding an elected office in addition to being an Elector or living in a district other than the one they were representing. All this, in my mind, delegitimizes the election.
Other than a few Trolls, I have yet to meet someone who will say that they voted for Trump. So, either I know nobody who has or that they can't admit that they did. The Trolls speak in simplistic terms like "We won, you lost, get over it". That is a heady argument indeed. Smacks of sophistry. Still they overlook the fact, those pesky facts, that they did not win the popular vote and that the Electoral vote was compromised. The last two Democrats who lost the White House did so by winning the popular vote. Mayhap it is time to review the Electoral College process and the debacle that they have handed us twice since 2000.
Many of my friends are so distraught with the election that they are politically paralyzed and don't know what to do. I am doing my best to mobilize them to contact their representatives and senators, locally and on the national level, to voice their concerns. One of the most popular Google searches of late is "Who is my representative?". Indeed, you should Google that if you don't know. Write and call your own representative; it does no good to email Senator McConnell if he is not your senator. He will not listen. He will not listen even if you are his constituent if he doesn't like what you have to say.
Three times this year I have blogged and it is all the same. We lost, they won and I won't get over it. In fact, we won, they won, but we all lose. We have a Twitterer in Chief who can compromise the integrity of our alliances with a 140 character tweet. The Swamp of his Cabinet, mostly rich donors, is giving us a gentleman who was deemed to be too racially insensitive years ago to be a federal judge is now deemed to be a good fit for Attorney General. A gentleman who received a generous payout from Mobil/Exxon or Exxon/Mobil to assume the post of Sycophant of State. Climate change deniers to posts for the environment and interior. An energy secretary who wants to abolish the department. And while it doesn't take a brain surgeon to be secretary of housing and urban development apparently that is what we have...an under-qualified brain surgeon, who is so sleep addled that he appears to be dead. An Secretary of Education who basically wants to de-fund public education and institute a system of vouchers, virtually assuring that schools in the inner city falter and fail. I give you your Swamp.
And so it goes.
We have lost our integrity with the world. But lo, that is not the end of end of the story. We can do something to restore our integrity by holding the elected officials accountable for their actions.
Oft I have traveled in realms of gold and this is not one of them. I am angry not so much that Secretary Clinton lost but that Trump won. And all of his actions since the election has been to undermine his own campaign promises to drain the swamp, which is now his private privy.
As for the integrity of the election, it could be that the Republicans were so giddy to reclaim power from President Blackenstein that they can overlook the fact, and that is a fact, that our election was hacked by the Russians or that the the Electoral College vote was compromised by any number of irregularities by the Electors, e.g., holding an elected office in addition to being an Elector or living in a district other than the one they were representing. All this, in my mind, delegitimizes the election.
Other than a few Trolls, I have yet to meet someone who will say that they voted for Trump. So, either I know nobody who has or that they can't admit that they did. The Trolls speak in simplistic terms like "We won, you lost, get over it". That is a heady argument indeed. Smacks of sophistry. Still they overlook the fact, those pesky facts, that they did not win the popular vote and that the Electoral vote was compromised. The last two Democrats who lost the White House did so by winning the popular vote. Mayhap it is time to review the Electoral College process and the debacle that they have handed us twice since 2000.
Many of my friends are so distraught with the election that they are politically paralyzed and don't know what to do. I am doing my best to mobilize them to contact their representatives and senators, locally and on the national level, to voice their concerns. One of the most popular Google searches of late is "Who is my representative?". Indeed, you should Google that if you don't know. Write and call your own representative; it does no good to email Senator McConnell if he is not your senator. He will not listen. He will not listen even if you are his constituent if he doesn't like what you have to say.
Three times this year I have blogged and it is all the same. We lost, they won and I won't get over it. In fact, we won, they won, but we all lose. We have a Twitterer in Chief who can compromise the integrity of our alliances with a 140 character tweet. The Swamp of his Cabinet, mostly rich donors, is giving us a gentleman who was deemed to be too racially insensitive years ago to be a federal judge is now deemed to be a good fit for Attorney General. A gentleman who received a generous payout from Mobil/Exxon or Exxon/Mobil to assume the post of Sycophant of State. Climate change deniers to posts for the environment and interior. An energy secretary who wants to abolish the department. And while it doesn't take a brain surgeon to be secretary of housing and urban development apparently that is what we have...an under-qualified brain surgeon, who is so sleep addled that he appears to be dead. An Secretary of Education who basically wants to de-fund public education and institute a system of vouchers, virtually assuring that schools in the inner city falter and fail. I give you your Swamp.
And so it goes.
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