What was it, precisely, that brought us from where we were as few as ten years ago to where we are now? The universality of the Internet? The advent of Trump?
How did we come to a point where a plumber or a bus driver has come to think he knows more than climate scientists do about global warming, or epidemiologists know about COVID-19?
Whatever its cause, we have lost something extremely valuable in the process.
Yes, this is all completely true.
But let’s keep everything in perspective here. Fox “News” is an extremely powerful institution. Its business model is turning the truth completely upside-down as required to keep its audience engaged, and, given that it has no integrity, it has no compunction about doing precisely that.
Fox continues, at the astonishment of us all, to do anything it wants, regardless of how heinous, to keep tens of millions of hateful morons dialed in. Though it’s possible that it may eventually be corralled via some blend of civil and criminal legal proceedings, right now it controls the minds, votes, and wallets of the most pitifully miserable of Americans.
If there is more violence (as suggested at left) as a direct result of its blatantly dishonest “reporting,” that’s just too f***ing bad for America and its teetering democracy, if it means more profits for Fox.
Is there anything we can do about that? Not sure. Maybe we’ll find out some day.
Finding God may not always make someone a better person, but is it correct to say that it never does?
Yes, many of our world’s most evil people were/are church-goers, and from there, it could be argued that their belief in God did nothing to help them become kinder and more humane.
Further, one could say that these terrible people’s religion only solidified their confidence that their desire to …. (fill in the blank) torture suspected heretics, enslave the blacks, commit genocide against the Jews, invade a neighboring nation, etc., was ordained by their Creator. As they say, “Nobody counts the bodies when God is on your side.”
It’s a hard question to answer. Even most atheists know many fine human beings who walk around all day believing that God has a plan for them.
Personally, I’m taken by the rhetoric of folks like Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins, and the late Christopher Hitchens, who summarize their positions as follows: religion is to the human mind what a virus is to a computer.
This is a nice thought, but it’s erroneous.
Nature, whatever we mean by that word, is inanimate. It’s the summation of the laws of physics, chemistry, and biology. It doesn’t ask or want anything.
If humankind succeeds in degrading the life-supporting qualities of this planet, the only loser will be ourselves.
Senior energy analyst Glenn Doty takes this one step further: he resents the entire concept of “Mother Nature.” He says the idea that there is a benign, animated force, especially a maternal one with a caring and nurturing personality that is actively working to bring us back from the precipice of global destruction provides justification for our gross selfishness and stupidity.
Below is an internal memo from chief of the U.S. Capitol Police to the officers themselves.
There is no limit past which Fox “News” won’t sink in tarnishing the reputation of brave public servants so as to continue its torrent of lies to its audience.
Liz Cheney is bold, brave, honest …. and a complete anomaly in the Republican party.
When all this is over, she’ll be remembered as a national hero.
And btw, this will end. This country and its people cannot continue to maintain a fiction of this magnitude forever.
In their predictable fashion, Republicans are trying to pretend that the Insurrection never happened, or that it was peaceful and uneventful.
If that’s how these dishonest cowards want to play this going into their primaries, there’s nothing anyone can do to stop them.
But if they think they can lie their way to victory in the general election, they’re badly mistaken. The majority of the country cares very deeply about justice, rule of law, and the preservation of American democracy.
At left is a photo of a Ukrainian restaurant in the Lower East Side of New York City, taken in 1953.
It’s a reminder that when terrible situations come to an end, the human race has a long and well respected tradition of celebrating.
The world will be partying like rock stars when Putin leaves.
This quote from Orwell wasn’t a bad find on the day that Tucker Carlson told his audience that January 6th was a “peaceful protest.”
Note to Fox viewers (as if they’re reading this): 1003 people have been arrested, 350 individuals have been sentenced, 192 to incarceration.
That’s 192 violent rioters who attacked the Capitol, injured police, etc., sitting behind bars. The right to peacefully assemble is enshrined in the Constitution. Bashing law enforcement with flag poles is not.
The meme here is from a group called “Positive Energy,” and, of course, it could be referring to anything.
In this house, however, it can mean only one thing. As my wife asks frequently, “Any indictments yet?”
