Tag: News

WWTD?

What would Jesus do after someone shot him, apparently attempting to kill him?

The question is before us because many Evangelicals believe Trump is their savior. He shares their values, they tell us in polls, votes, and interviews. Which means, of course, that they’re not interested in stable marriages, right? Can’t be, since Trump has been married three times. What kind of values would they have, if they held that marriage was sacred and divorce is a no-no, and then admire a man who has three divorces? I wouldn’t think much of them and their values, no, I wouldn’t. I guess one of their values then is apparently divorce.

They share values with Trump, so I imagine they have a large number of affairs, too, because, you know, Trump. He’s had affairs, right? I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that Trump will sponsor a ‘Divorce is sacred’ act if re-elected. Also among Evangelical supporters’ shared values with Trump is the willingness to declare bankruptcy to avoid creditors and escape financial responsibility for the misery caused to others for poor financial planning and execution. He or his companies have declared such bankruptcies a bunch of times, and he’s been sued repeatedly for not paying contractors. I guess that skipping out on their bills is another shared value. Gotta be.

Surely their values include lying and hate. Trump lies with routine regularity. Verify any of his speeches with fact-checkers and Vegas will probably give you odds that it has at least three lies in it. Therefore, truth is not a value for them, but lying, because that’s what Trump would do, is one of their shared values, and he is their savior. He shares their faith.

Nor is Trump forgiving, advocating death for others time and again. So, forgiving is not one of their shared values. Nor is turning the other cheek. Vengeance must be another of their shared values. Gotta be, right, because they share Trump’s values.

They must be proud of him today, then. Their modern-day Jesus immediately rebounded after being shot in the ear and went after the dollar. Yes, Trump’s apparatus quickly set up the sale of special commemorative shoes to remember the shooting. These “FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT” high tops, complete with Trump’s bloody face on it, can be theirs for just $299. That’s really a terrific bargain for a bloody face on a shoe when it’s your savior’s face. I bet Evangelicals snap them up and put them on display in their living rooms, along with their crosses.

I’m guessing from everything I’ve read about Trump that the Evangelicals’ values are rooted in money, like Trump. Just like their savior with whom they share values. Anything for a dollar. Just go after the buck.

Because that’s what Jesus would do.

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Wednesday’s Theme Music

Mood:

Good morning from Ashlandia, where comfy 65 degree F air brushes me from the open office windows. We called off fast last night and dropped into the low sixties, delivering a solid open-window sleep experience. Blue skies are again benevolently overseeing the morning. The hot side of things is expected to ‘only’ chug up to 95 F. Tomorrow, we go back up to 96. All of this is above average. My wife lamented this morning, “When will this heat end?”

I’ve been reading the news. Bad weather and its impact — let’s not talk about climate change, though! — the Republican National Convention, Judge Cannon’s ruling to dismiss Trump’s stolen documents case, and the unending wars dominate my news feed. I was amused to see the Teamsters aren’t indorsing anyone, they tell us. Yes, makes sense, because Republicans are so kindly inclined toward unions, right? Yes, that’s morning snark.

Judge Cannon’s delaying tactics and now outright dismissal, reinterpreting law and precedence, has drawn heavy legal scorn. The DOJ has approved pursuing an appeal. I’m really interested in how the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals will react. Last time they ruled on a Cannon ‘initiative’, they scolded her. Hope they take her to the woodshed this time.

Of course, on the Democratic side of the election process, the media has made it seem like President Biden is a dottering old fool. This takes place as Agenda 47 and the medieval Project 2025 are being scrutinized. My hope is that a silent majority is out there. Fully aware of the GOP’s assinine, reactionary positions and authoritarian leanings, this silent majority will ignore the press’s hand wringing and Clooney’s ill-advised advice and deliver a solid Democratic victory. Fingers crossed, right?

That has The Neurons channeling Patti Smith and “People Have the Power” (1988) into the morning mental music stream (Trademark hopeful). The Neurons started the song toward the end in my morning mental music stream, the part that goes, “The power to dream, to rule, to wrestle the world from fools.” That’s always been my dream, and will continue to be it. You may say I’m a dreamer but I know I’m not the only one.

Stay positive, be strong, lean forward, and Vote Blue in 2024. Coffee and I have struck up our daily morning exchange, and the world already seems like it might be getting better. Here’s the music. Cheers

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Tuesday’s Wandering Thoughts

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.

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Monday’s Wandering Thoughts

My wife and I have noticed a striking trend: shelves in various kinds of stores are emptier and emptier.

We were talking about this earlier in the week when at a Rite Aid. Many shelves were empty, but it also seemed like the store had rearranged the shelves, providing much wider aisle space but reducing their shelf space. She and I discussed whether it was an extension of unresolved supply chain issues encountered during the pandemic, Rite Aid was in trouble, or if it was just this store.

But yesterday, we headed to a larger town, Medford, and visiting the mall and several other locations. The wider aisles and paucity of goods were encountered in Kohl’s, Macy’s, Target, Ulta, and several other stores.

It used to be that when we were in these places, so many goods were being provided that moving between racks and shelves was a distinct challenge. Now the script seems flipped.

I did some research. Empty shelves in Rite Aid stores in Bakersfield, CA, was attributed to Rite Aid’s bankruptcy.

The others? I couldn’t find reasoning provided but it wasn’t a deep dive. Perhaps it’s just my perception, or a local phenomenon, or the stores have simply changed policies.

I don’t know. Like many things in life, I’m just left wondering.

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Monday’s Theme Music

Mood: gagging

Hi everyone, it’s Monday, July 15, 2024, in Ashlandia. It’s 71 F here. We expect a high of 97 F, about five degrees above our average for July. BUT yesterday was exected to top out at 96, 97, and we ended up with 102 at my house.

July 15 happens to be my little sister’s birthday, so happy b’day, little sis. Two years younger than me, she was the family baby until a couple other little sisters showed up six years later. Just found one on the doorstep in Wilkinsburg, PA, one year, and then another followed a few years later. I love all these little sisters. The oldest little sister is now a grandmother and one of her granddaughters is now in her teens. A common story but still freakin’ amazin’ to me, because time, circumstances, change, you know.

I think about her often. She’s Republican and her hubby is deep MAGA. Her boys are deeply progressive. It’s an interesting household.

Yes, I read the news today, oh boy. Judge Cannon took a dump on us. It’s just one GOP dump after another.

In this instance, an ex-prez took docs he wasn’t supposed to take and actively worked to hide them and stop them from being taken away from him. But gosh, that special counsel, Cannon says, not sure that’s legitimate. I feel like I’m listening to the Queen of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland. Honestly, my faith in that case soured as soon as I learned who the judge was. I figured she’d wait until after the elections to dismiss it. But it’s a July surprise.

Move on, you say, move on. Yes, it’s going to take me a while. Between the Trump-loaded Roberts Court giving Trump cover and now the Trump appointee dismissing the case, my trust in the legal system has crashed through the floor and is mired somewhere in the Earth’s core. Using the Spinal Tap scale of 1 – 11, my confidence level in American justice is at minus 6,232,716.

“Hungry As A Wolf” by Duran Duran is percolating in the morning mental music stream (Trademark shaken). Not much surprise for the 1982 song, as I was hungry for both breakfast and justice. I took care of the former. Still hungering for the latter.

Ah, be strong, right? That’s what I tell myself. And stay positive. And have a sip of coffee, and maybe a longer, deeper swallow. Okay, here we go. Here’s the music. Cheers

4

Point of Order

Someone shot at Donald Trump on Saturday, 7/14/2024. A 20-year-old white male armed with a rifle, hit Trump in the ear during a Trump rally in Pennsylvania.

Not to make light of it or to excuse anyone, but hey, there are headlines out there that have been out for a while, covering a comment Trump made:

“Now, if I don’t get elected, it’s going to be a bloodbath for the whole — that’s going to be the least of it, it’s going to be a bloodbath for the country, that’ll be the least of it.“

In the entire context of his speech, Trump is talking about an economic bloodbath. But in an era of sound bites, his statement easily becomes a trigger warning. It’s often been quoted as something as other than economics. Plus, coupled with GOP politicians refusing to say that they will accept the election throws fuel on the situation.

In the wake of the shooting, Republicans like Rep. Mike Johnson are calling for toning down the rhetoric. I urge Johnson to clean his own house up before he starts on others. Look back on Jan. 6 and what happened then.

As Donald Trump mouthed as he was hustled off stage after being shot, “Fight. Fight. Fight.”

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Saturday’s Theme Music

Mood: Weary

Not enough sleep last night. Tucker (pronounced Tuckah) matters. Just not eating enough. Aging, etc.

Also, dreams. Lot of weird freakin’ dreams.

A gray-blue sky covers us as smoke from a fire somewhere has made our valley its destination. 70 F now, weather forecasts paint us as hot — 100 F — dry, and dusty. This is Saturday, 7/13/2024.

The weather seers have revised our upcoming weather, so it’s gonna be hotter than we’d hoped. Not in triple digits, but just under it. We were all looking for a break.

The media is suddenly loud and big on Project 2025. Stories are leading across the mediascape about all the ways ultraconservatives under a Trump presidency want shove foundational changes to our freedom and rights, along with the way we do business. Their dream is of unshackled big business making obscene profits (as if current profit levels aren’t obscene) with no concern about the environment or planet, led by a ‘christian’ (as they define it) government, with an executive branch chasing vendettas

Out on the campaign trail, President Biden is striking back at critics who demand he step aside with fiery speeches and assertive attacks on Trump. On the GOP side, the media publish pieces with gentle chiding, even chuckling tones about Trump’s latest crazy rant in June about water and the New Green Deal.

“They put restrictors and they put them on in places like here where there’s so much water you don’t know what to do with it. You know, it’s called rain. It rains a lot in certain places. But, now their idea, you know, did you see the other day? They just, I opened it up and they closed it again. I opened it, they close it, washing machines to wash your dishes. There is a problem. They don’t want you to have any water. They want no water.”

That’s part of Trump’s statement. ‘I opened it, they close it, washing machines to wash your dishes. There is a problem. They don’t want you to have any water. They want no water.’

This is coherent, intelligent discourse about water-saving measures? Yet few call for Trump to step aside, pass the baton, or let young leadership step forward. Crazy.

Thinking about Trump and what he’s said and done since he’s come on the political scene back in 2016 inspired The Neurons. They rang up Paul Simon’s song “Still Crazy After All These Years” from 1975 and have it playing in my morning mental music stream (Trademark sedated).

Be positive, remain strong, and Vote Blue in 2024. I have an appointment with coffee I must get to. Here’s the music. Cheers

0

Beware of the Poison

So, to recap. Without significant opposition, the GOP decided that Donald Trump is the ideal candidate to be President of the United States — again. He barely won in 2016 and lost the popular vote by millions in 2020.

But he is the GOP nominee again because he is an ultraright tool. The ultraright people propelling him forward is an elite, powerful group called the Heritage Foundation.

A conservative think tank, the Heritage Foundation emerged with a manifesto to install many conservative idealists and Trump loyalists in the Federal government. It explicitly defines exactly how ultraright there are. Although not fully marching in time together, they plan to ignore or change laws with a conservative Roberts’ Court help, including such matters of separation of church and state. This is known as Project 2025: Mandate for Leadership: A Conservative.

The document has gained traction on the losing side of Americans’ thinking as they recognize what serious threats to democracy and freedom in the United States the document holds. Recent polls show every group except MAGAs disapprove of it.

That’s the backdrop. As this all unfolded in the public realm, Donald Trump began disavowing any knowledge of the document. He didn’t even know what it was, he claimed. It has nothing to do with us, his campaign declared. That’s because Trump’s handlers he began realizing that most Americans do not like its proposals and there is a strong chance for him to lose votes because of it. “Full reverse, all engines,” they screamed.

Unfortunately for Donald J., there it is, video evidence from April of 2022. Donald J. Trump was out there in front of a crowd, cheerleading the document known as Project 2025. “They’re going to lay the groundwork and detail plans for exactly what our movement will do,” he said.

There it is. Despite his efforts to lie his way out of it, he is a firm player in this document’s efforts to remake the United States into a ‘christian’ nation, undermining our founders’ deliberate efforts to be an open and inviting nation for all faiths.

You know it must be bad when Donald Trump does an about face and runs hard away from it. The guy will put his name on anything from tennis shoes to buildings if he thinks it’ll bring him power, respect, or money. For him to claim, “I know nothing,” means it’s really fucking bad.

Project 2025 is a dangerous and radical vision with a feckless, useful idiot as the face. But mistake it not: it’s a poison pill for liberty, equality, and democracy in America.

Vote Blue.

2

Not Old News

When ‘Chaos = Profit’

Journalists and the media seem to have concluded that Trump has lied so much that they no longer report it. Continuing to make insane claims, such as in this instance, about electric boats being too heavy to float and getting electrocuted if they sink, they’re also shrugging. Yet they relentlessly go on about President Biden’s age.

This is from the Robert Reich July 8, 2024 column that I’m sharing from Jill Dennison’s post.

“So I said, ‘Let me ask you a question,’ and [the South Carolinian] said, ‘Nobody ever asked this question,’ and it must be because of MIT, my relationship to MIT — very smart. He goes, I say, ‘What would happen if the boat sank from its weight? And you’re in the boat and you have this tremendously powerful battery and the battery is now underwater and there’s a shark that’s approximately 10 yards over there?’

This story and its absolutely bonkers points should be all over the news every day. This is the individual the GOP is supporting for the powerful position of President of the United States.

Donald Trump is claiming an electric boat would be so heavy it would sink. Really? Really?? Really???

So, that electric boat would be heavier than all those cruise ships out there? You’re probably seen the ads for these floating cities lit up with electricity at night. These electric boats will be heavier than battleships, cruisers, destroyers, and aircraft carriers? They all float, don’t they?

The largest aircraft carrier in the U.S. Navy is the USS Nimitz. It weighs over 100,000 long tons. It typically carries 64 full-sized aircraft on it and has a crew of 5,000. Yet, it doesn’t sink. It floats. Moreover, it has a nuclear powerplant and nobody is getting electrocuted.

Yes, the story was briefly covered, mocked, really, in the USA Today, NewsWeek, MSNBC, Washington Post and other outlets. But, come on, man, think about what Donald Trump was asking and claiming. Think about the fact that millions are promoting as the next POTUS.

IMO, Donald J. Trump shouldn’t be anywhere near an important office where decisions are made regarding the welfare of the nation. That the GOP fully supports this man who wonders about getting electrocuted by an electric boat says boatloads about what they are as a political organization.

That more media attention is being paid to President Biden’s age over Donald Trump’s remarks pretty well indicts our media as pretty damn useless when it comes to this election. As Jill put it, they’re failing miserably.

And then the media wonders why their readership keeps dropping.

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