Tag: Politics

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Execution is a solemn occasion. We, and I use the word we here because the state is acting on our behalf, only carry out this sentence for the most extreme crimes after a jury of 12 people review the facts in the case. It is a grave matter to decide that taking a man’s life is a just sentence. When all is said and done a human being is dying. It is sad if only that the murderer found himself making profoundly stupid decisions that he could have easily avoided.

The glee with which Pete Hegseth takes in executing a man is disturbing. It certainly isn’t solemn, it is more like won’t it be cool to kill a man on live television. Maybe he could wear a white shirt so we can see where the bullets He is behaving like a 12 year old with a brand new BB gun who wants to kill, well, anything. He clearly misunderstands the gravity of taking a man’s life.

Holding public office requires an understanding of polite behavior. He may think it is all fun and games in private. That is his business. In public, however, he is a cabinet secretary of the U.S. government. He serves the people of this country and a certain amount of decorum is required to serve in this position. Either he is so arrogant to not care about how a cabinet secretary should behave when faced with such a situation or he is incredibly stupid.

I wish I could say he was just an asshole but I am inclined to believe he is really a stupid asshole although I am debating which puts us in a worse position. Malicious or clueless. Neither one is particularly helpful at this time.

Sometimes when I think the fate of the world is in the hands of people of such character as Trump and Hegseth my mind boggles.  This is one of those occasions.  

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I have to give Donald Trump credit for one thing — I am a much better citizen than I was in 2016. Before that, I paid attention to elections to the extent that I read the newspapers and made my decisions based on what I learned. But that was pretty much it. I didn’t worry much about Republicans winning elections. I may have been a little disappointed but that was the extent of my feelings. Life went on and, more importantly, democracy went on without getting much more input from me.

Now I pay attention. I think maybe I pay too much attention. I have to review every poll for every Senate race to see who is ahead. I know the candidates for every close Senate race in the country. Ask me this 20 years ago and I would be hard pressed to supply this information.

This isn’t a bad thing. Trump may be our punishment for taking democracy for granted. Thinking that all I had to do is just show up every election and everything would be find. I realize there are people who should just not hold office and I need to pay attention better which isn’t a bad lesson to learn.

But is is also driving me a bit crazy. Compulsive reading of poll numbers isn’t exactly easing my mind. I wonder. Are these correct? Polls have been wrong in the past, what if these are wrong now? How are we going to get through another couple years of the mad man Trump?

It is making me anxious and my anxiety can’t be quelled by thinking the Democrats look good and might win. Because, then, I start thinking about what revenge will Trump take on the country then.

So, at least until November 4, I will be anxious. Forgive me ahead of time if I am cranky for the next month or so.

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Missouri Senator Eric Schmitt’s embarrassing gaffe regarding Jack Smith is more than a little puzzling. The sparse evidence Schmitt possessed confirmed absolutely nothing that Schmitt thought he had evidence for.

  1. Even if Smith had gone to the game, it only proved he was in Atlanta. Schmitt didn’t have any evidence that Smith had talked to Fani Willis — just that he was in Atlanta at the same time as Willis. This is Schmitt’s best case scenario and, if true, he would have had to provide evidence that the two actually met which he clearly didn’t have. So why would he even pursue this line of questioning is mind boggling?
  2. Given this slim gruel of evidence, Schmitt projected Smith into a meeting with Willis based solely on proximity. If Smith had said yes, I was at the Atlanta Hawks game and I was in Atlanta — this hardly proves he talked with Willis. Ok, Smith was in Atlanta, so what?
  3. Schmitt, because he had so little evidence, could have approached his questioning more as an inquiry instead of an accusation. In this way, he could have sussed out whether he did indeed have the goods on Smith and saved himself from looking so stupid. A polite question to Smith about where he was, and seeing Smith’s confusion regarding the question, he would have had an opportunity to suss out his next move. If he had listened to Smith, he might have even had realized that their was a problem with his thinking and to proceed with caution. Instead, he was so convinced he had his Gotcha Moment, he didn’t even listen to the confused Smith who was trying to figure out what Schmitt was talking about, and he barrelled a head into ignominy.
  4. The worse part of this whole brouhaha is that nobody stopped to think that there was no there there. They had sketchy and, as it turns out, incorrect evidence that Smith was in Atlanta and none that Smith met with Willis. This was the whole basis of the Gotcha Moment and nobody looking at this sparse evidence and said this doesn’t really add up. I mean I can accept that one Senator from Missouri might be dim, that is a given, but a whole staff of paid professionals just shook their heads yes and said gotcha.

Then, to hear that Eric Schmitt is being considered as a potential Vice-President candidate. Yes, I realize that Donald Trump as set the bar so low that almost any idiot can clear it but even the Republicans surely can come up someone better than Schmitt.

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One of the more illuminating revelations of the Epstein Sex trafficking scandal is that when given a choice between protecting children from a billionaire predator and enjoying the same billionaire’s lavish hospitality that most, if not all, people will accept the sexual predator’s hospitality with nary a word about the young women wandering around the party without their parents.

At best, they enjoyed Epstein’s food and liquor while ignoring the suspicious presence of teenage girls at these adult functions. These people claim ignorance about what Epstein was up to but it is willful ignorance given Epstein’s reputation with young women. They weren’t just a tiny bit suspicious that Epstein was up to no good. These rich and powerful people said absolutely nothing.

Mind you, this is the best case scenario — willful ignorance. From there it descends horribly given the participation of the person in Epstein’s fun and games.

This, in and of itself, is troubling but it gets worse. These are the same people entrusted to make important decisions for government and business. It should be concerning that they behaved so badly when tested. They don’t seem like a group that would be particularly motivated to protect Anne Frank from the Nazis.

One thing I do know for sure is that they don’t care one bit what happens to your children.

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The Middle East is a problem of the West’s making and, because of that, the West bears a good deal of responsibility in sorting the problem out.

Why it is our responsibility can be summed up in one word — oil. The West’s economy runs on oil. If there is no oil, the economy grinds to a halt. The West has known, for at least 100 years, that the Middle East sits on top of a large patch of oil thus making it very important piece of real estate.

This also explains why we have been fucking about with the Middle East. The US, in particular, has been stirring up trouble there for a number of years. Installing governments, reaping the whirlwind when those governments are overthrown, going to war numerous times to ensure that the right government is in charge of oil production. Supporting Saddam Hussein one moment and the next one we oppose him. Saying we want democracy in the region while propping up a medieval monarchy in Saudi Arabia. The Taliban is good give them arms. The Taliban is bad go to war with them.

The one overriding factor in our strategy, if it can be called that, is who will keep the flow of oil running. None of this is based in any real commitment to the people of the region. This incoherence, if nothing else, makes it clear to people living in the region that our commitment is to one thing and one thing only — oil.

Very little comfort can be taken by people living in the region when Americans say it is just business don’t take it personally. This may work if you are looking at an Excel spreadsheet in Washington DC; on the other hand, if you’re facing a firing squad in Baghdad, you might feel a little more alarmed. It certainly wouldn’t encourage anyone to risk his life for the USA.

Part of the reason alternate energy sources were pushed was to make the West more energy independent so we wouldn’t have to worry about the Middle East and perhaps take a stand there that might remotely be called moral and civic minded. Instead, and for reasons beyond me, alternate energy sources have become a hair shirt for eco-weenies. Why do we need alternate energy sources when we have plenty of oil. All we have to do is maintain a huge armed force to make sure we keep that oil coming through the Strait of Hormuz.

So we are back to where we started — dependent on oil which is both dangerous and expensive.

Do you get it? Neither do I.

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I am irritated about all the falderal surrounding Macklemore’s Free Palestine comments.

Macklemore has every right to say what he said.

Ed Sheeran, or whoever it is that made the decision, has every right to remove him from the tour for saying what he said. Free speech has consequences. You have every right to say it but then I have every right not to listen. I do not have to provide you with a platform for your free speech.

Macklemore can continue to say Free Palestine in the numerous places willing to give him a platform. Given the controversy stirred up as a result of his actions, he seems to be doing fine with these new options for free speech. So how has Macklemore’s free speech been hindered by his removal from the tour?

He can’t say it in front of Ed Sheeran fans. Well, and I am just guessing here, a good many of them don’t want to hear controversial political statements at a concert. They just want to enjoy some music.

But they really need to hear what Macklemore is saying. Maybe. Maybe not. If, as an audience member I wanted to hear about Palestine, I would have gone to a Free Palestine protest instead of an Ed Sheeran concert so Macklemore is forcing his opinions on an audience who didn’t want to hear a Free Palestine speech. If the concert was advertised as a an Ed Sheeran and Macklemore concert with a little pro-Palestinian speech then I would feel a bit more uncomfortable about the removal of Macklemore from the tour. It wasn’t.

The free speech being practiced here is a one way street. Macklemore is speaking and his captive audience are listening. In this way, concerts are a terrible place to engage in political speech. It is all monologue and no dialogue.

Macklemore rolled the dice and he lost but spare me the tears and the beating of the breast.

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I struggle with Muslim Fundamentalism. In my very limited contact with Muslims here in California, they seem like fine people. They don’t bother me and I don’t bother them. I am assuming they are just regular Muslims and not fundamentalists. I am fine with them coming to the USA.

But the fundamentalist Muslims are a different story altogether. They share the same problem I have with Christian Fundamentalism. Neither group care much for me since I am gay. The recent attack of an Islamic Fundamentalist on Berlin’s Gay and Lesbian Pride Festival reminds me of the danger of fundamentalist religion. It can kill Gays.

I don’t like being a target.

The behavior I see from Muslim fundamentalists is alarming. They do terrible things to their fellow citizens in the West — Salman Rushdie, Charlie Hebbo, Bataclan, Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, and Theo Van Gogh. They are no better when they control governments – ISIS kills gays, Iran executes gays, and Iran executes rape victims who fight back. My worry here is that it is dangerous to disagree with Islamic Fundamentalists. Why would I want to import people who hate me?

This is where things get difficult. I also understand that most Muslims who immigrate to the West want a better life and are not coming to kill me. So what to do?

There seems to be only two schools of thought on how to handle the Muslim immigrant — we shouldn’t discriminate and so let everyone, fundamentalist Muslim or regular Muslim, in or keep all Muslims out.

Neither school seems to be in congruence with Western values. People should agree to maintain Western values in order to gain entry to the West so letting everyone isn’t going to work well at least with the native populations who still hold sway in elections. Nor does keeping every Muslim out — particularly if the person wants to take advantage of Western Values we hold.

A better vetting system should be the answer but then that would require more money. So, like so many of our problems, we are stuck between two extremes — neither of them very attractive.

Another difficult problem. Deep sigh.

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Laura Loomer, MAGA megaphone and friend of Donald Trump, called Angie Nixon, the Democratic candidate for the US Senate in Florida, a ghetto bitch. This is, of course, wrong and way out of bounds. It is also an irritating diversion from what the media and the rest of world should be focused.

Loomer, an attention seeking asshole, knows that if she says something outrageous, the press will print her bull shit in big bold letters for the whole world to see. So she says something horrible about Nixon. The press, then, asks Nixon for a response to Loomer’s put down which puts her in an awkward position. She can return fire or keep her mouth shut.

What self respecting person wouldn’t respond what Loomer said. So now Loomer gets to respond to what Nixon said and the whole news cycle gets consumed by this attention seeking idiot. This continues until another nut job, perhaps even Loomer herself or the ever talkative Donald Trump beats her to it, says something outrageous for journalists to stir their every growing pot of irrelevance.

So, it gets better. Trump renames Lake Ontario Lake America, right. Now we have the Lake America controversy and the press is lapping it up. What important subjects are not being talked about while Doug Ford, the Ontario premier, grabs headline with his giant sign saying Lake Ontario. Take that Donald Trump. You aren’t the boss of us.

The problem here is that Trump and Loomer don’t care if they look like idiots as long as they are getting headlines and, more seriously, they are driving the media to cover their drivel instead of, for example, say the war in the Ukraine or Gaza or Iran or inflation or the elections or, how should I put this, oh I know, real problems.

Don’t get me wrong, I get why Nixon and Ford responded to these idiots. They are infuriating people. But it is depressing to see so much attention given to these narcissistic assholes and their faux controversies. This is exactly what they want and we are giving it to them every single time their craving for attention strikes them.

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Mike Lindell lost the Minnesota Republican governor nomination by about 45,000 votes. Because this doesn’t even come close to Minnesota’s threshold for a state funded recount, the losing candidate has to pay for the recount. Lindell want that recount so he must pay close to a million dollars for this recount. A recount that he will surely lose. Throwing one million dollars down the drain to learn something that you already knew for free.

Now I am only too glad that he is spending money on this losing cause since this means this million bucks can’t be used to defeat Democratic candidates later. It still sticks in my craw though. It is an insult to anyone who a million dollars actually means something.

It is also depressing because his hidden motive is to discredit American elections. He doesn’t care that he will lose a million because he is publicizing his belief that the American election system is a fraud and it isn’t to be trusted. Any speculation about fraud just adds fuel to the fire. But, hey, it is his million dollars, right?

This is precisely the problem. This isn’t money to reinvest in his business or to buy a home or even to keep his mistress in jewels and chocolates. It is to discover that he has lost an election. Something he already knows.

Anyone making so much money that they can throw it away in such a careless manner simply has too much money. The money would be better spent giving every derelict in Los Angeles a steak dinners and a bottle of whiskey — at least someone would be happy in the end. But no Lindell wants a recount just for the thrill of undermining the integrity of American Elections. That is it.

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Bernie Sanders and James Carville are having a disagreement about the rising power of the Democratic Socialists. Sanders even suggested that Carville should think about starting a different party which is, with all due respect to Bernie here, the worst possible suggestion he could make.

It is important to remember that the Democratic Socialists may be winning some of these close primary races but they are close races. El-Sayed beat Stevens by less than 16,000 votes out of 1,500,000 votes cast. He needs the Stevens’ votes to win the seat in November. When your win is narrow, and you need the votes of the person you just defeated to win the next contest, a moment of humility and grace might be the better approach than gloating and rubbing the defeated’s nose in their loss.

Carville, who, after all, worked on the Bill Clinton’s winning team, has a lot to offer in the way of political advice. He is not a part of the Republican disinformation machine. He is a loyal Democrat. That he is concerned about how the Democratic Socialist’s are behaving should give one pause.

Perhaps what appeals to left wing Democrats isn’t particularly appealing to more moderate Democrats, so say nothing of Independents and unhappy Republicans. Millions of Americans choose Donald Trump as the lesser of two evils in three very close elections. This should disturb every Democrat. People knowingly picked an incompetent asshole because they were more afraid of the Democratic Party than they were of Donald Trump. This is a big problem.

American political parties are umbrellas that cover large groups of various interests. These groups don’t always agree. That is OK. In order to win elections, you do, however, have to keep everyone under the same umbrella. This is a difficult task. Telling someone to leave is political suicide if you can’t replace them with someone who can bring in the same number of votes. This makes moderate Democrats essential if we are going to win in November.

I would be more impressed with the Democratic Socialists if they were now spending some time trying to win over people like Carville instead of alienating them. I am hoping this is the temporary flush of victory and they will come to their senses soon, but so far they look like a bunch of assholes who think they are unbeatable. I am afraid they are beatable.

The goal here is to get remove as many Republicans from office as possible. Keep your eyes on the ball.