Sign of the Times

So, the revamped NYT OpEd page, how's that going?

"For the Times...the question...[is] how hospitable the op-eds should be to illiberal and sometimes unscientific positions—where do facts end and values begin? For many Times readers—and many scientists, for that matter—questioning the science of global warming is not different in kind than, say, not ruling out the possibility that the world may be flat. And many Times readers believe, with some justification, that only one of the political parties is truly a full citizen of the reality-based community. What is the responsibility to provide equal time in such circumstances? These are not at all simple lines to draw."

Yes, they are. They need to stop with this equal time nonsense. In other words, it's one thing to debate a scientific fact (ie, what is the extent of climate change damage?) but when people deny its proven existence, they just kicked themselves out of the convo and earned Alex Jones loon status.

"The other fact is that there are just more opinions in the world than ever before—it turns out everyone does have one—and, these days, who cares whether those opinions are amateur or professional?"

I do. Plenty of people, as well. (Including the NYT staffers who let Bennet have it at his recent town hall meeting.) This kind of erroneous thinking is how you end up with the Tomi Lahren's of the world. I don't see the NY Post looking to address a more liberal viewpoint from their readers as some sort of OpEd mission. Yes, the Post is a rag and the Fox News print arm of their GOP propaganda operation that should never be compared to any reputable publication, but the Times should be thriving for excellence and disseminating facts, not unqualified opinion in the pursuit of some misguided notion of editorial democracy.

Otherwise, they should hire me. Yes, seriously. They could and have been doing much worse.

[“The Newsroom Feels Embarrassed”: Backfires And Explosions At The New York Times As A Possible Future Chief Re-Invents The Paper’s Opinion Pages]

Liberal Slumber

I firmly and truly believe there is a corrosive, malignant infection that has grabbed ahold of a number of conservatives/Republicans, which is fueling their drive not to oppose the rest of us but to crush us. Because that's the game plan: not oppose but destroy. They don't want to just win the game, they want to beat us with 2x4s afterwards and have us walk home in our underwear in the rain. I'm not kidding. 

And the sooner Democrats/liberals/progressives wake up to this the better off we'll all be.

You've Got Another Thing Coming

The current POTUS is massively unpopular with the country at large but is incredibly popular with members of his party. If anything, we can deduce from this he is EXACTLY the president they want. And that, my friends, is a very bad omen.

For the longest time, those of us with roots in the Americas who learned from our older relatives—and in some instances witnessed it ourselves—what a US-backed and installed right-wing dictatorship looks like, have contemplated why it hasn’t happened here. Maybe it was a condescending ‘That’s fine for those savages, but we’re civilized here’ attitude that for decades kept those thoughts in check. But I’ve always wondered if somewhere, deep in the corridors of right-wing influence and power, over cigars and brandy, while dreaming of or actually plotting the destabilizing yet another foreign county and installing another strong man who’d kindly defer to big business interests while he stomps on his own people, the idea hasn’t been floated: ‘What if we did it here?’ 

And yes, I know what you’re thinking: I’m just another partisan dilettante yapping away. Sure, guilty as charged. But I’ve quoted him before and I’ll quote him again: “Just because you’re paranoid don’t mean they’re not after you.” Right you were, Kurt.

But seeing the process of delegitimizing the press, rigging elections, questioning patriotism, pointless military parades, etc. etc. etc. is of no surprise to me; I can vouch for the ugliness this portends and worry that most on our side of the political fence here in the US are still in ‘it can’t happen here’ mode. No? Ask yourself how many previously unthinkable things you’ve seen happen in this country over the last year and change. And ask yourself how comfortable you are with a third or maybe more of the country being absolutely fine with these previously unthinkable things.

It doesn’t happen overnight but it moves along steadily and insidiously. And when you have a corrupt government, supported by a number of people who mostly don’t have an issue with autocratic leadership—as long as they’re not on the business end of the 2 x 4 with a rusty nail on the tip—and a core who want to decimate those who believe, feel, live and think differently, how do you think that usually plays out?

Meanwhile, we’re hoping that the same people who wanted this and made it happen somehow become reasonable and let us appeal to their (chained to a wall in the basement) humanity. And that elections, which have now been proven to be easily tainted, will save the day.

Yeah, reminds me of a Judas Priest song.

This Is War (part 2)

As we witness blatant, out-in-the-open treason by the POTUS, Congress at various levels, and the myriad of bootlickers and sycophants who carry more water than the Mississippi, it’s quite plain to see how much these people hate the United States of America. And, no, I’m not being hyperbolic. 

They hate a country that has tried, over the last 50 years, to shed the horrible aspects of its past, to move towards a place of equality, respect, tolerance and understanding. No. They want a white supremacist fatherland where everyone else is a second-class citizen who speaks only when spoken to and knows their fucking place; what “make America great again” is code for.

Numbers may be the currency of veracity but impressions speak louder: I read all the time that the country is getting more open, more diverse. Perhaps this is exactly the case and those who feel threatened are reacting accordingly. Which reminds me of something I read about how the ‘90s indie/underground/alternative rock ushered a wave of feminism and tolerance that never really took hold in a prominent and lasting manner: the flannel shirt didn’t fit very well.

I took it to mean that the average American is not so much liberal or conservative as they are lodged damn smack in the ideological middle, as mainstream as they come, and not really comfortable with the unadulterated manifestations of either side the social and political fence. (And also, that people will fake allegiance to the trappings of a pop culture moment to avoid looking uncool to their peers but will eventually revert to who they really are.)

We are what we’ve always been; we’re experiencing déjà vu all over again—but with a twist: the American institutions created to ostensibly protect us are being assailed by those for whom treasonous self-preservation is above all, and supported by a third of the country’s population, a staggering number of whom have had enough of keeping the truly dark, hateful, selfish nature of their souls in check.

I have no idea how this ends but I feel that, even if this country remains united on paper, the depth of our divide is too great to overcome in any way that we can coexist without a profound measure of disdain. And that’s what I see as a best case scenario for, in fact, I truly believe any display or support for compassion, openness and tolerance will be met by force, humiliation and subjugation.

Folks, we’re at war and the American Taliban has no intention of taking prisoners. Their actual intention is to crush us so that we may never have any kind of power or even momentum to fight them for the soul of this country. You don’t think so? Look around you: the undermining of bedrock institutions; refusals at various levels of government to comply with the law; the kid glove treatment of sworn international enemies; religious leaders not even bothering to cover their tracks, as they openly and hypocritically rewrite their own rules of morality as befits their political corruption and greed. 

They’re in it to win it. And destroy us.

What's our plan?