Category Archives: Politics

The Trump for President Trilogy

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As of this morning, I’m not engaging with social media or any news providers (internet or otherwise) for a full 24 hours, if not longer. As I said yesterday on Facebook, this is a self-care decision. Frankly, while I intellectually understand how it is this country got to its current sociopolitical state, emotionally I’m am utterly horrified and demoralized. I’ve been saying for some time that when you closely look at history, it’s easily apparent that at any given moment 30-35% of every society — no matter its place, time, or construction — would gleefully welcome an authoritarian populist dictator.

The United States is not exceptional in any way in regards to this. Oh, there was a time in the aftermath of World War II where we as a nation could easily create and buy into a fiction that we were somehow different/better, but the only ones who truly believed that were those who were benefitting from a toxically sexist and racist patriarchal structure. I don’t want to spend the time here getting into how that structure was overwhelmingly undermined by the most powerful white men in the country out of sheer greed, but as they did so, they made sure that those on the bottom rungs of the socioeconomic ladder who had been benefitting more than others would absolutely not blame them. Trump and his faux populism is nothing more than one of the logical endpoints of a long-game that right-wing forces have been playing for decades.

No America’s capability for fascism and/or authoritarianism has always been there. It made itself abundantly clear on Feb. 20, 1939 at Madison Square Garden. It made itself abundantly clear as the Jim Crow-era South literally used lethal force during the Civil Rights Era. It made itself abundantly clear during Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden on October 27.

The difference now is that Trump, unlike any Presidential candidate in my lifetime, keeps making statements about he will use Presidential power to punish his enemies, and those who by traditional American peaceful standards, oppose him. It’s not something I ever witnessed or experienced until the first installment of his Trump for President trilogy back in 2016. The thing that truly rattled me is just how receptive so many of his supporters were to the hateful and violent rhetoric he seemed to relish delivering in campaign speeches. As a meme that went around Facebook recently stated, I found that many of my family, friends, and acquaintances — some of whom I’ve known since childhood — have become people that I wouldn’t tell where Anne Frank was hiding.

As someone who is easily paralyzed by an overload of empathy for the unfortunate and/or downtrodden, this was absolutely horrifying. Just how can these people — at the lowest possible level — find it so easy to disregard/downplay the dehumanizing way Trump and his surrogates talked about such a large percentage of the population? Worse still, what about those who understood and were actively cheering him on? The ones who know his history in regards to fraud and behavior to women? I like to joke about the feelings of nihilism and misanthropy I occasionally experience in response to the world around me, but these people have done nothing but intensify those negative reactions and make them more frequent.

Let me be clear: I absolutely detest feeling that way.

I try my best to understand that most of them have been brainwashed by the decades-long crusade by America’s right-wing to paint liberals as deceitful, traitorous communists who actually hate America and want to destroy it. They’re easy enough to pick out. They’re the ones who go on about how Kamala Harris’s planned socialist policies will destroy America, but they can’t actually name a single classically socialist policy she has advocated. They’re the ones were derogatorily use the label woke, but cannot actually define what it means. But, they are not to be confused with the middle-aged or older white, cis hetero males driving nice cars emblazoned with “Don’t Tread on Me” paraphernalia. To them, I just need to state, “Sweetie, no one is treading on you.”

The worst part is even if the polling is utterly skewed and by the end of tonight it’s obvious that Harris has been elected President, the Trump for President trilogy still isn’t over. Much like the film adaptation of The Return of the King, the final installment of this three-part horror tragedy is going to include numerous codas. Trump and his supporters are going to do everything they can to subvert the results in an effort to put him back in the White House. Furthermore, as made abundantly clear on Jan. 6, 2021, he has plenty of followers who will engage in 2nd Amendment solutions when they don’t like the way an election has ended.

That’s the best case scenario. Don’t get me started on the other ways this Wonka-esque chocolate factory of a boat-ride ends.

With all that, in addition to all the insanity that has been this past election season, it seems Sally and I decided several days ago to skip watching the election returns tonight. The most likely outcome for this evening is the same one that we experienced four years ago: that we won’t know the winner for another few days. I haven’t forgotten the way I sobbed with relief the morning that all the news organizations starting calling the election for Biden. Truth be told, there will almost certainly be tears when the election is called — I’m just hoping that they’re for a good reason. Regardless of when the tears come, there just doesn’t seem to be any point in watching the major news organizations obsess over the returns on a microlevel.

No, far better to instead allow tonight to be anxiety-free and be able, no matter what, to get a good night’s sleep. If the news is bad tomorrow morning, then at least we’ll have had a full day to absorb and deal with the news before going to bed tomorrow night. It’s the kind of news that you can afford to wait to learn. This is much preferable to being utterly demoralized just before trying to get to sleep.

If the news is good, awesome, but even then, we’re still a far way from done with this grotesque political trilogy.

Odds and Ends for April 2, 2023

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Alas, couldn’t come up with a better title for the post. A random assortment of items for today:

  • For some time now, Sally and I have been playing catch up with Queer Eye on Netflix. (We are frequently behind on television shows, and typically there is never more than 2-3 current shows that we fully caught up on.) One aspect that continues to amuse me is Tan and his insistence that people dress their age. Although I cannot imagine Sally or anyone else who knows me nominating me for the show, I would love to experience Tan trying to get me to stop using my denim jackets and my Eddie Bauer relaxed fit dad jeans (which are actually a necessity given the size of of my legs – my calves in particular.) I like to think I’d be his hardest challenge ever.
  • The quest to find a post-O’Faolain’s acceptable preferred hangout continues. I cannot overstate just how wonderful O’Faolain’s was and how perfect a place it was for me – a fact that is almost certainly acting as an impediment to my settling on its “replacement.” None of the places I’ve tried out works for me anywhere near as well as O’Faolain’s did before the pandemic killed it. Interestingly, if I lived much closer to Frederick, I probably would’ve already settled on an establishment, but even if that were true, both of the options there simply pale in comparison. There are multiple contenders, but each of them has some kind of significant flaw in my eyes. It’s a shame I don’t live in my adopted hometown – this search would’ve already ended some time ago.
  • The Lego Christmas display is still fully intact on the bookshelf. I am going to have to make it a point to start disassembling it very soon if I’m going to build something else to display there before it becomes time to put together a Halloween display. I really wish I had the kind of space that would allow me to leave my various builds intact for much longer. Along those same lines, it would be awesome if I had the space for assembling and leaving intact at least a couple of the massive 5,000+ piece sets I own. I actually purchased the new Rivendell set yesterday, and I will be building that one soon, as we finally have some space where I can leave a set that large assembled and on display for some time. 
  • I’m sure it comes as no surprise to anyone that I have lots of thoughts about Trump finally being criminally indicted by a grand jury for something he did. In lieu of going into any kind of significant detail, all I’m going to share aloud for the time being is that the reaction of so much of the GOP and the American right in general is only serving to add to my anxiety about the future. Too much of this country is far too willing to embrace fascism, simply because getting their way is far more important than justice, rule of law, and the actual will of the people.
  • But, that isn’t the only thing increasing my anxiety when contemplating what the future might bring. There are just so many significant existential threats to both this country and humankind in general that I’m increasingly finding that the best way for me to cope is to just do my best to forget about all of it, and just focus on spending my time enjoying my interests and socializing with those I love. I know, I’m able to do that because I’m operating from a place of privilege enjoyed by very few – even in this country.

Really nothing else to add at this time. Hope to not go months without posting again.

Tuesday Afternoon Brain Dump

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I swear that sometime soon I will do something other than a bullet-pointed post. I actually have a couple items that deserve longer posts all on their own, but until I overcome a certain level of laziness and pound them out on a keyboard…

  • The denim jacket project is nearly complete. Yesterday morning I made my last order for patches to add to them. The fact is that while there is additional space on all three jackets for additional patches, ironing/stitching more onto them would certainly make them look too cluttered. As it is, they may have already crossed that line. While wearing any of the three different jackets (they are blue, black, and olive green) means that I’m not “dressing my age,” they nonetheless make me happy. That is what’s truly most important.
  • Friday is the end of the planned dry month. It actually hasn’t been difficult to not drink. However, I’m not going to lie about one thing: I’m seriously missing having fries and hard cider together. Looking forward to this weekend when that combo is an active option again. Also feel the need to note that yesterday’s Twitter post was in jest, and that there are no current plans to have a drink ready and waiting at 12:00 on Friday evening. Although, I’m not going to say that there’s a 0% chance of that happening.
  • It has now been 2½ years since the last haircut. At this stage, the pandemic is no longer the excuse — the hair is now this long by choice. Admittedly, there are mornings where I miss simply vigorously toweling my hair after the shower and then quickly combing it, but because of liking the current look, extra time on proper hair maintenance is just one of those things that just has to be lived with.
  • A few nights ago, I dreamt for the first time since my teen years a former often recurring nightmare: witnessing the beginning of the nuclear apocalypse. Many of the details in it bore remarkable resemblance to the versions that woke me up in the middle of the night throughout the ’80s. This time around, however, the dreams strikes me as more symbolic than reality-based. I don’t believe that civilization is going to end as a result as nuclear holocaust. Rather, we are witnessing a comparatively slower implosion brought about by global climate change, environmental degradation, the plastic pollution crisis, and a bunch of other manmade factors.
  • In the process of putting together this post (the first few bullet points were actually written yesterday and underwent minor revisions today,) Alito’s draft majority opinion overturning Roe v. Wade was leaked. All I’m going to say is this: as frightening as this is for so many in the country (as it should be,) it’s also only the start. Everything about my experience with evangelical Christianity in the mid ’90s absolutely supported the notion that those religious zealots fully believe in Dominionism, and they have zero qualms about forcing their religious beliefs upon you. This is just the beginning. They are coming for LGTBQ+ rights next, and then after that anything and everything that their worldview says is “wrong.” Worse, they have gerrymandered their way into veto-proof majorities in enough states to make it damn near impossible to dislodge the judges who are going to uphold their assault on secular humanist values.It’s only going to get worse… Immensely frakking worse.
  • I’m not going to let the feelings engendered by those religious whackadoodles deter me from properly finishing this dry month. I’m significantly stronger than those fuckers.

By the Book

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When we talk about the tone in this country, let’s have an honest discussion about the toxicity that right-wing talking heads have been spewing for two decades. It is far in excess of anything that has come from the left.

Titles of their books (many of them bestsellers), and the year of their release:

  • Let Freedom Ring: Winning the War of Liberty Over Liberalism (Hannity, 2002)
  • The Savage Nation: Saving America from the Liberal Assault on Our Borders, Language, and Culture (Savage, 2002)
  • Treason: Liberal Treachery from the Cold War to the War on Terrorism (Coulter, 2003)
  • The Enemy Within: Saving America from the Liberal Assault on Our Churches, Schools, and Military (Savage, 2003)
  • Deliver Us from Evil: Defeating Terrorism, Despotism, and Liberalism (Hannity, 2004)
  • Liberalism Is a Mental Disorder (Savage, 2005)
  • The Enemy at Home: The Cultural Left and its Responsibility for 9/11, (D’Souza, 2011)
  • Crimes Against Liberty (D. Limbaugh, 2010)
  • To Save America (Gingrich, 201)
  • Pinheads and Patriots: Where You Stand in the Age of Obama (O’Reilly, 2010)
  • Demonic: How the Liberal Mob is Endangering America (Coulter, 2011)
  • Adios, America: The Left’s Plan to Turn Our Country Into a Third World Hellhole (Coulter, 2015)
  • Rediscovering Americanism: And the Tyranny of Progressivism (Levin, 2017)
  • The Big Lie: Exposing the Nazi Roots of the American Left (D’Souza, 2018)
  • Liars, Leakers, and Liberals: The Case Against the Anti-Trump Conspiracy (Pirro, 2018)

This isn’t even a complete list — I’m sure that there are other titles that escaped my attention. Is it any wonder that conservatives in this country think that liberals hate America and are out to destroy it? If you think the left is just as bad, by all means, please refute me. Make a list of best-selling books by liberal commentators with titles just as inflammatory — titles that paint conservatives as hating America, to the point of committing treason or becoming traitors. Show me how there’s a left-wing noise machines that is spewing out venom with the same intensity and regularity as the right.