Science fiction, fantasy, mystery and what-not
It’s nobody’s business, including J.D. Fucking Vance, if my wife and I have children, and why or why not. Talk about intrusive government. Talk about petty. What a jackass. There are serious problems in the world, and this is what he thinks about?
Give me a fucking break.
The GOP’s fall into a shithole party continues.
The RNC made it official and Trump accepted, both surprises to no one. The racist, lying felon is now their nominee for President of the United States in 2024.
As is standard, Trump gave an acceptance speech. As is standard, he regaled listeners with lies. As is standard, his supporters cheered. He and they need to tear others down and lie in order to make themselves look good because they are shitty leaders. History shows this.
Now, what comes to me is, does he and his supporters not really know reality? Is it possible, that they’re all living in a different reality than the rest of us?
My science fiction and speculative literature fed brain says, “Why, yes, it’s completely possible that some surreal quantum superpositioning between different realities are blending competing histories and outcomes.” On a more pragmatic level, my brain calls bullshit.
Listen to the analysis.
It comes down to values and facts. The fact is, the twenty-first century GOP values are mendacity, hypocrisy, and cynicism. We saw that on full display in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as those who warned against Trump and his character in the past, like J.D. Vance and Nikki Haley, turned around, smiled, and kissed his ass.
Voters who will embrace this GOP as their leaders are embracing mendacity, hypocrisy, and cynicism.
And if those are your chosen leaders, you should realize that the path being forged will be full of lies and hypocrisy, just as Trump’s speech is.
That’s hardly a shining example for the world as a bastion of freedom, prosperity, and democracy.
Vote Blue in 2024.
The facts matter but the GOP can’t win if the facts are being used; facts are against them. So, just as Trump has lied and lied and lied, and his sycophants consistently lie, the RNC presented lie after lie after lie during their great gathering this year in Wisconsin.
It’s all the GOP can really do well any longer: lie.
Governor Jim Justice said Tuesday night at the Republican National Convention, “The bottom line for why we’re here, the bottom line to every single thing going on in this great country today, is one thing. We become totally unhinged if Donald Trump is not elected in November.”
I think you’re already totally unhinged if that’s your position. I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that others agree. Either way, the thought of the likes of you being totally unhinged is a damn scary idea.
You’re already the flippin’ unhinged MAGA party, home to conspiracy theories, unproven lies, and bizarre ideas.
We went out for breakfast this morning. Over at the next table, we heard a woman rave about what a great choice J.D. Vance was as a veep choice. “He’s so smart,” she enthused.
Sure, smart. I’d say Vance has the morals, ethics, and principles of a snake, but that would be an insult to snakes.
He has the same morals, ethics, and principles of Trump, though. They’re a perfect match and neither can be trusted.
My wife and I watched a fascinating and troubling film called Bad Faith: Christian Nationalism’s Unholy War on Democracy. This documentary answers those questions so many of us wrestle with about why ‘christians’ embrace and support Donald Trump.
This is about poseurs claiming to be patriots and freedom-loving Americans setting out to tear down the nation as it is and its ‘liberal institutions’. Their ideal for freedom, the pursuit of happiness, and liberty is for you to behave as they want, full stop. Democracy and the Constitution aren’t important in their minds; it is about their religion and their false ideas that the United States was founded as a christian nation. The polarization we’re experiencing is a deliberate and coordinated cultivation of wedge issues. Donald Trump is not one of them; he’s a convenient tool to advance their agenda. The two sides made a deal. He agreed to supply the SCOTUS justices to overturn Roe v. Wade, and they agreed to support and promote him as the GOP candidate.
These are cynics who will lie to support their goal of a theocratic America, users and abusers who have declared war on anyone in the U.S. who is not part of their movement. They’re indifrerent to Trump’s morals, dishonesty, rapes, lies, and criminal convictions because he’s just a tool and works fine for them and their needs.
And after you watch Bad Faith, watch the Lincoln Project ad about Donald Trump and Project 2025.
Voting in 2024 is about saving democracy in the United States. That’s not just a slogan. A war is beng waged against democracy in the U.S. and Donald Trump is the tool we always suspected. We just didn’t realize how deeply organized and cynical the machinery behind him is.
Earlier this year, the SCOTUS cut down the Chevron decision of 1984 while adjudicating Loper Bright Enterprises et al v. Raimondo, Secretary of Commerce, et al. In the Chevron decision, it was established that courts must defer to federal agencies when it comes to interpreting certain laws. The bent right-wing Roberts Court has now said, “Naw, uh.” The decision significantly changes how Federal regulatory agencies’ decisions are addressed in the judicial system and hamstring the ability to enforce Federal regulatory standards.
As if on cue, Iowa suffered heavy rains and flooding in the northwest corner. Agribusiness is huge there, and one area where Iowa has been pretty laconic is how animal manure is handled. Their solution was to put it in large ponds, creating a fecal soup. Guess what happens when floodwaters overtake fecal ponds? Yes, water drinking supply systems are contaminated.
The same sort of story was told in North Carolina a few years ago after a hurricane caused major flooding, so projections about what Iowa will experience, like skyrocketing e-coli levels, are known. Did Iowa learn from that? Hell, no.
So, to recap, in an age when regulatory enforcement is being blown up, an age where climate change is causing more extreme weather and droughts are endangering the nation’s water supply, the dangers and damages of such lax oversight is clearly demonstrated again and again. And yet, they won’t change, cause — money.
That’s the wisdom of the 21st century GOP.
Take them in and grin, giggle, and guffaw at existence. I particularly enjoy the Presidential goals. True yet funny, it aptly encapsulates GOP goals and progress for most of the last forty years.
Mood: Sunnybration
We’re getting started on another Saturday here in Ashlandia on the third rock from the sun.
It’s April 6, 2024. The weather isn’t anything to write about, but I will note it’s rainy and cloudy and sunny again today. Present temp is 46 F. Add six degrees to it, and you have the day’s expected high. There is enough sunshine to energize me and filet depression, anxiety, and frustration off my mood.
In personal news, Mom headed to the hospital for stomach pain yesterday afternoon. Appendicitis was the diagnosis. I called a sis for details. She was accompanying Mom and I was able to briefly speak with her. Sis and Mom were both in good spirits at the hospital. Even though, at that point, Mom was in the hall, cold, awaiting a room, awaiting surgery, over twenty hours removed from eating anything, at almost eight PM.
They operated on her that night. The 88-year-old woman survived without issue. It was related back to me that the medical staff claimed it was “the worse looking appendix they’d ever removed.” Mom seemed proud about that.
Today finds The Neurons plugging “Goodbye to You” in the morning mental music stream (Trademark eclipsed). This song by Scandal and Patty Smyth was released in 1982. It’s a fun, driving rocker. Dance floors filled up when it came on in clubs.
I know exactly why The Neurons summoned it today. My wife was reading the news and addressing her frustration with certain politicians. During her brief diatribe, she mentioned she’d be very happy to see several Republicans gone. She said, she would love to be able to say, “Goodbye and good riddance.”
Click. “Hit it,” The Neurons commanded, and the song began. I think it’s a good song for the day and purpose.
Stay positive, and be romantic, and — whoa, don’t know where that one came from. A slip of the head, I supposed. Be pos and strong, I meant to write, lean forward, and Vote Blue. Got any extra coffee on you? I think I need some.
Here’s the music. Cheers
Michael Seidel, writer 