Liz Cheney is one of the very few Republicans of integrity in the U.S. Congress today.
When we read her words here, we’re impressed, but we wonder, when Trump is gone, if any aspect of the concept of honor will remain.
Whenever I run across nonsense like this, I’m reminded of the two school administrators I met recently, and this subject arose.
I asked them, 1) how often do elementary schoolers (age 5 – 7) want to know about human sexuality? 2) How many teachers want to raise this subject with the little kids? They both agreed that the answer is exactly zero, never.
It’s just far-right extremist crap, designed to infuriate idiots.
Our civilization has lost one of its giants with the passing of Dr. Jane Goodall.
One of the great primatologists with her exhaustive study of chimpanzees, she became even better known for her conservatorship of the natural world.
About her decision to become a vegan she said, “I remember looking down on a plate full of pork chops and all I could see was fear, pain, and death.”
RIP.
The federal judge’s chilling words at left here show us exactly how close we Americans are to an autocratic and completely lawless government.
As the meme here suggests, liberty is being eaten alive by ignorance and fear. But how did this happen in a land that, until recently, was productive, relatively lawful, and deeply respected on the world stage?
Until very recently, there were no White Nationalist riots, e.g., Charlottesville. There were no MAGA insurrections with policemen beaten and killed, while human feces was smeared on the Capitol walls. Federal troops were not being ordered to attack American citizens in our largest cities whom the U.S. president had deemed to be “the enemies within.”
My observations:
Economics – Although the country has experienced a long and steady growth in annual GDP/capita, almost all of the new wealth coming into the US since 1980 has gone to the top 1%. Wages for the common American have stagnated for nearly half a century, eventually causing deep levels of frustration among working class whites.
Education – Standards have fallen badly, as budgets have been ruthlessly cut.
The Politics of Demagoguery – Donald Trump, a man of the lowest conceivable character, entered the political scene, to the instant adoration of the angry and poorly educated.
The Media Cashes In – Early on in Trump’s career in politics, the President of CBS said, “OK, it’s clear that Trump’s terrible for our nation, but he’s fantastic for CBS.” Not a lot more need be said. If it makes money for rich people, nothing else matters.
Congress Shares the Same Motivation – One wonders who anyone of any self-respect could stand behind the criminal sociopath we find in the White House. The obvious answer, of course is that “self-respect” is a distant second priority, perhaps eighth or ninth, behind the wealth and prestige that comes with serving on Capitol Hill.
Still, it seems strange that until very recently that anything remotely like this could have happened. How likely would it have been to have an insurrection on the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to overturn an election loss, at the encouragement of any previous U.S. president?
We met the perfect storm, and we failed so miserably to meet the challenge, that turning this around will be quite a feat.
Note the use of the word “better” at the bottom of the cartoon here. A boyhood friend of mine learned in grade school to analyze words like that by asking “Better for whom? Better for what?”
The answer is more interesting than it may appear. Although 99+% of the world’s population would live far better lives if our civilization were electrified, there is a vast constituency of stakeholders in the fossil fuel industry for which gasoline is “better.” This includes those at the very top of the list and they are the key shareholders and industry execs whose enormous wealth enable them to make huge donations to Trump and the Republican party.
Americans are being asked to choose between two propositions.
The U.S. military:
Is being feminized and weakened by political correctness, a situation that Pete Hegseth can and will rectify.
Is the envy of the world. Its leadership and policies have made it the defining power of the world for at least the last hundred years. The idea that we need an alcoholic from Fox News with no relevant experience to fix this or anything else is preposterous.
Many of us like to wonder about the final days of this Trump regime, how it may succeed, and how it may come to a fiery end.
Here’s one scenario by which this thing blows apart into smithereens: Trump commands his top generals and admirals to a commit a crime, and they simply refuse. Maybe this deals with the hot-button issue at hand, the use of the military against U.S. citizens who have chosen to exercise their right to peacefully assemble, as guaranteed by the Constitution.
“These vermin are the enemy within!” shouts Trump. But nobody’s buying it.
From there, imagine that Trump orders a large number of four-star generals and full admirals to be court-martialed for insubordination, the entire military turns against the president, forcibly removing him from office.
All this may sound far-fetched, until you listen to what some of these top military executives have said about Trump, his mental instability, and his disloyalty to the United States — ever since his first inauguration.
I predict that something’s going to happen here.
It’s sure going to be interesting.
In school boards all around this country, conversations are being held about returning classes like shop to the things we expose our kids to. I’m sure there is an endless stream of arguments and counterarguments to be made.
One is that, in the 55 years since I was taking shop, and using power tools like jig-, circular- and bandsaws, there has been an enormous decay in our kids’ awareness of the world around them. Some say that this was brought on by their uncontrolled use of electronic devices and social media. I’m not sure, but one thing’s certain: thinking that a schoolchild is going to cut wood or metal without dismembering himself is utter foolishness.
You’re going to need a shuttle bus to get kids to the local emergency room.
What Aristotle said here is interesting, especially since there has been so much of both evil and good through the millennia. The days since Aristotle have been marked by the Golden Age of Rome (Pax Romana), the Dark Ages, the Spanish Inquisition, the Rennaissance, the Enlightenment, the end of slavery, the slaughter of the Native Americans, the post-Emancipation oppression of Black Americans, the Holocaust, and so many more major historical events.
It seems we’re just about to see what happens to the evil represented by Trump’s second term in office. The United States has re-elected a man to the highest position on Earth whose only interests are punishing his enemies, enriching himself from public office, further consolidating his power, and keeping himself out of prison.
Will this evil destroy itself?
Again, we’ll have to wait and see.
