Saturday, April 2, 2022

American Democracy's Imminent Demise: We Are Turning Against Truth and Reason

If you look real closely you can see the dreaded four horsemen galloping across the country sowing lies, hate, toxic ideology, and conspiracies.

These harbingers of disaster for democracy are riding roughshod over Congress and the rest of the country.

Congress is so polarized it's almost ceased working entirely. Just look at the process for confirming a Supreme Court justice. It no longer matters if the nominee is not fully qualified. That metric has been replaced with partisan poison.

The roots of the confirmation process's decline trace back to Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell's refusal to allow President Obama's nominee for the Supreme Court, Merrick Garland, to even get a hearing.

After that the kid gloves came off and the confirmation process has been an exercise in chaos. It's now nothing more than a circus where the two parties take turns grandstanding on grievances.

I suspect that after judge Ketanji Brown Jackson is confirmed it may become impossible to get any future appointments - unless one party is in complete control of the Senate and the presidency.

As we witness the steady decline of justice in the lower courts another deadly dynamic is shaping our lives - the advent of extremism in politics and our private lives.

Millions of Americans have been seduced by wild conspiracy theories that fly in the face of truth.

A recent poll showed that 22 percent of Americans believe in QAnon - a conspiracy themed group that has blossomed during Trump's turbulent regime.

Toss in extreme right and left media platforms that provide echo chambers for fixed ideological minds, and you have a recipe for disaster.

States are now seen as Blue or Red. This growing separation is just one of the terrible transformations we're experiencing. 

We're becoming two Americas. Talk about civil war is common on far-right platforms like InfoWars and Steve Bannon's War Room pod cast.

Sadly, I don't see how we turn this country around from the current gridlock and outright hatred against minorities.

The nation's long vaunted values have slipped under the slime of extremism. Somehow, we're going to have to reclaim the high ground of a functioning democracy the world can confidently follow.

Friday, April 1, 2022

The Slap Heard Around the World

With all of the challenges facing people on this planet one would think someone getting slapped at the Oscars wouldn't crack the Top 10 headlines.

But Will Smith's open-handed slap of Chris Rock's mug is still hugging the headlines with a story of an ongoing war in Europe, the latest pandemic variant, and the ongoing coup attempt in the United States.

It appears that many people's priorities only extend to entertainment (in one shape or another). 

The media is complicit. Both right-wing and left-wing platforms have been playing up the slap heard around the world like nothing else matters.

Americans are adrenalin junkies. They want that quick horrific jolt that comes with witnessing physical confrontations.

It makes me wonder why actors like Jim Carrey and Judd Apatow are acting like that slap was the crime of the century.

Let's get real.

It sounds like they all have too much time on their hands. 

A lot of people weren't horrified or "stunned" by the slap. Tiffany Haddish said what Smith did meant "the world to her." 

"As a woman, who has been unprotected, for someone to say, 'Keep my wife's name out of your mouth, leave my wife alone' it was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen." Haddish told People Magazine.

On the other hand, Amy Schumer wrote in an Instagram post, that she was still triggered and traumatized.

So much drama over such a stupid incident. The way some people are reacting I have a hunch there's been an uptick in psychiatric care in Hollywood lately.

Let's face it. People's viewing priorities in the 21st century isn't guided by real newsworthy stories. Shock and awe are the twins that motivate people to follow stories like the Great Slap.  

Thursday, March 31, 2022

Democrats Have to Improve Messaging Before the Midterms

The gates of hell opened in 2016 when the biggest grifter in American history was elected president.

Crazies didn't have a national voice prior to the election. When Don the Con took over the country that changed.

With midterms coming up those crazies are motivated by the thought their going to get back in power. The House and the Senate is in jeopardy for several reasons.

One, the odds of Democrats holding both the House and the Senate are historically thin. Midterm elections for an incumbent president whose party controls both houses almost always ends badly with big gains for the other party.

Two, Democratic voters aren't as enthusiastic about voting in November as the Republicans are. Biden wasn't able to please the progressive part of the party with bills they favored and now they feel like he let them down.

Three, the simplest explanation is voters look at who's in charge and if there's problems with the economy (regardless of the reason) they vote for change.

The stars seem to be aligned for the party of Trump. The omens are ominous for Democrats. In a recent NBC poll, more than seven in 10 Americans say things generally in the nation are on the wrong track.

Concerns about inflation, concerns about the economy generally and concerns about what's going on in foreign affairs right now, are all barriers that have to somehow be overcome.

So, what can be done in the next seven months to reenergize Democratic voters?

That's something the Democratic party has to figure out in the months ahead. Unless the economy shows sizeable improvement, the challenge is an uphill climb.

Will it take a miracle(s) to change the dynamics of the election? 

The answer lies within reach, however. It's messaging.

Democrats need to promote the successes they've had, from passing the largest infrastructure bill in history, to appointing a new Supreme Court justice.

Thus far they've done a crappy job at getting the good word out to the general public. That has to quickly change.

There are still unknown factors that could change a lot of people's minds about the Party of Trump candidates.

Millions of Americans will be watching the proceedings of the Jan. 6 Committee this summer. There's a good chance the committee will recommend criminal charges against Trump and his chief cronies.

I don't expect AG Merrick Garland will move swiftly to prosecute, but the indictments will come in time.

The damning reality of a coup attempt will motivate millions of Americans viewers to vote against Trump-backed candidates.

It'll also motivate Trumpies, but they're already motivated. It may cause some to foam at the mouth but won't change their numbers.

There's always a chance the economy will improve, and Biden's numbers will get better.

All that aside, if the Democrats continue to fail at communicating their accomplishments, they won't stand a chance.

Wednesday, March 30, 2022

Traitor Trump Asks Putin for Dirt on Hunter Biden

Trump is a filthy traitor seeking to undermine democracy daily.

The latest evidence that Trump still idolizes Russian dictator Putin came on Monday during an interview with a right-wing TV show - "Just the News" - on Real America's Voice network.

In an interview with discredited far-right journalist John Solomon, Trump called on the Russian leader to produce dirt on Hunter Biden, son of President Joe Biden.

Trumps obsession with Hunter Biden has increased over the years as he's tried every trick in the book to get him in trouble. 

Trump's first impeachment came about after he tried to bribe Ukranian President Zelenskyy to find dirt on Hunter Biden. Now he's turned to Putin.

Despite the highly politicized investigation by Senate Republicans into the Bidens, which was published just weeks before the 2020 election, there was little new evidence of wrongdoing.

Trump's love affair with Putin goes back for years when his family was doing a lot of business there, including plans to build a Trump Tower in Moscow.

During the 2016 election Trump called on Putin to release Hillary Clinton's emails. In 2018 Trump sided with Putin against his own intelligence community at Helsinki.

It's outrageous that Trump the traitor continues to conduct another coup attempt out in the open to pave his way to another term in 2024.

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Russian state TV host calls for Trump to be reinstated - and said it's time for a regime change - "to help our partner Trump."

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That Trump is openly supporting Putin's invasion of Ukraine when the world's democracies are united in opposition, further adds to Trump's infamy. There's nothing the bastard won't do to regain power.

As the Jan. 6 Committee plods on gathering evidence of the insurrection there's a creeping feeling that the Department of Justice isn't going to go after Trump for masterminding a coup attempt.

All I can say is if Trump gets away with subverting elections and colluding with Putin, our democracy will be in danger.

Tuesday, March 29, 2022

Ongoing Coup Attempt Update: GOP Candidate Vetting Outside Groups to 'Monitor Elections'

To assure himself of victory in the midterms Neveda Republician candidate for the Senate, Adam Laxalt, is already stacking the deck at election sites.

His team is busy "vetting" outside groups to challenge supposed "Voter fraud" in November. 

Known as one of Trump's favorite lapdogs (the local media calls him the Neveda version of Rudy Giuliani), Laxalt has been carrying water for the former president by promoting the Big Lie.

Laxalt's strategy involves launching legal challenges months before anyone votes. 

There's one big problem with his corrupt attempts to rig the election result; Federal Law prohibits candidates from coordinating directly with independent expenditure groups.

The question is what groups and why does Laxalt think he can get away with skirting the law?

Laxalt told Trump advisor Sebastian Gorka that he's doing his best to secure the election during an interview on Gorka's show in January.

What Laxalt is trying to do is part and parcel of the ongoing open coup attempt by Trump and the Republican party. It also highlights how important the fantastical narrative about "voter fraud" is to Republicans.

No top Neveda Republican has raised more doubts about the state's election system than Laxalt according to an NBC news report recently.

Will the combined attempts by the GOP to rig the election results hand them the House, and or the Senate?

If so, it'll be step one in a two-part conspiracy to steal the presidency for Trump in 2024.

Monday, March 28, 2022

Where Has the Middle Ground Gone? Long Time Passing

Moderates in our society have gone the way of the fabled Dodo bird. They've become so rare that they stand out like scarecrows in a corn field.

Congress is increasingly becoming a battlefield for the extreme Right and the extreme Left. Moderates have become causalities strewn about in the halls of power.

College students no longer seem interested in hearing both sides of an issue when a speaker comes to a campus.

Students shouted down speakers at Yale and UC Hastings earlier this month, prompting questions about free speech, and academic freedom.

Both law schools had controversial speakers but there was a difference - the Yale event went ahead, despite repeated disruptions. 

The University of California Hastings College of the Law event, descended into chaos: the speaker was unable to eke out more than a few words before students shut him down, chanting, clapping, and banging on desks in protest. 

The point is people are becoming so entrenched in ideologies they no longer care about reason, fair play, or compromising.

Conservatives and liberals are engaged in a death match that's crippling America's reputation as the greatest democracy on the planet. 

As I write this the nation is facing an ongoing coup attempt fomented by a former president who has lost all touch with reality.

Moderate Republicans are scathingly referred to as RINOs (Republican in name only) in the party of Trump. Moderate Democrats are losing ground to the extreme Left.

I can remember when moderates nationwide were able to heavily influence national elections.

It appears those days are gone. Radical minorities are increasingly gaming the electoral system and exerting outsized influence on election results.

Where has the middle ground gone? Long time passing...

Sunday, March 27, 2022

A Guide to Radical Activists: Chapter 1 - Shame Doesn't Exist

 "A man with no shame stops at no vice."

-Procopius

You can't shame someone who doesn't have a moral compass and who lives in an alternate universe.

Try it sometime. It's impossible.

Shame is defined as both a painful emotion caused by consciousness of guilt and a condition of humiliating disgrace or disrepute.

Radicals on the Right and the Left with views untethered by reality or truth have become the norm in America. They're no longer hiding under rocks and in caves. They're everywhere. 

Once upon a time when an obviously mentally incapacitated person appeared in public shouting the world was going to end it was considered a shameful show. Who would let someone like that wander around in society without help?

Today we have millionaires like Mike Lindell, aka "Pillow Boy" ranting on social media daily. His latest tirade involves taking all the machines in the nation to court. He wants to sue them for reasons that aren't entirely clear.

In another time the guys in white jackets would give him a free ride to an insane asylum.

Do you think he's ashamed of acting like a loon? Hardly. The guy actually has followers and is a favorite of Trump and his minions.

We live in an era where there's no longer any shame when caught lying. 

All you have to do is listen to right-wing politicians like Marjorie Taylor Greene (of Jewish Space Laser fame) or Lindsey Graham, or as he's affectionally known in Washington DC - Flipper - for his ability to constantly change his stance on issues to suit the moment.

Shame has become old fashioned. No one cares if you walk around in public talking in tongues or have a stand selling Ivermectin or bleach to cure COVID.

As Jonathan Swift once said, "I never wonder to see men wicked, but I often wonder to see them not ashamed."

It's Time to Pay Up Donnie!

It's looks like there will be some prime real estate going on the market soon in New York City. Convicted rapist and former president ...