Keeping Americans Distracted
I have a conversation with one friend or another on this subject about once per month. The question: how terrible do things have to become before “bread and circuses” no longer maintain the order of capitalism over some other system of social order?
As the planet continues to bake, how many degrees above pre-industrial temperatures, and how much human misery needs to be sustained, before the appeal of beer and the National Football League in the U.S. start to lose their hold? Obviously, most Americans are emotionally removed from the lives of other people. Why else would “American First!” have any meaning?
Here’s a politically incorrect statement from the same Roman poet Juvenal: “There is nothing more repulsive than a wealthy woman.” I remember coming across this as a young man and laughing my ass off.
I would edit the text in the meme at left and replace “….to die for your Second Amendment right” with “to die for what is clearly a misinterpretation of the Second Amendment .” What Warren Burger said on this subject is more than worth keeping in mind, IMO.
This excellent rebuttal was made by a Canadian, but it could just as easily been a Japanese, or a citizen of almost any other country on Earth than the U.S.
What these congressional Republicans are attempting to do, of course, is to communicate to the National Rifle Association and the most extreme right-wing voters that they are not wishy-washy on the Second Amendment, and that they couldn’t care less how many little kids’ bodies are riddled with bullets.
I saw the announcement at left on a social media group called “Grammar Police,” where people come to ask questions about the proper use of English, and to lampoon folks who may have gotten something wrong.
I thought I’d make a few comments on the foolish garbage presented at left.
As suggested in the cartoon here, humankind is currently losing the battle to keep the Earth a healthy place to live. This is largely driven by the United States, the world’s largest economy, and our refusal to reduce carbon emissions.
Liz Cheyney is 100% correct in what she told her party here. Trump will be gone, and soon. He’ll lose the election, then face criminal conviction on dozens of different felony counts.
Most people would like to believe that Pat Toomey’s announcement, is, in fact, a big break in the campaign. But let’s look at it squarely for what it is: a statement that may affect the thinking of a few voters who are still uncommitted.
A reader who believes that hydrogen fuel cell-based vehicles represent our future asked me to explain why I disagree.
