Never Be The Same

Responding to some mildly vitriolic political diatribe—by current standards, anyway—posted by a Trump supporter on her Facebook page, a friend emphasized her desire for civility and the need for all of us to recognize that one day this current president will no longer be in office, but we will still have to contend with each other, namely the family and friends with whom we’ve disagreed or even feuded over our feelings regarding POTUS45.

My immediate reaction, aside from disagreement, was to refer to Chris Rock’s most recent comedy special, Tambourine, in which he talks about how his infidelity—among other things—led to the end of his marriage. But there was one particular aspect that came to mind: how once it’s confirmed that there’s been betrayal, a relationship can never be the same.

Aside from the fact that the presidency of this vulgar bigot and con man has further coarsened the public discourse for decades to come, I feel there are a great many of us who have felt betrayed by those from our inner circle who support a morally decrepit individual of this magnitude. It goes much deeper than disagreeing about political ideology, it’s the realization that people we loved and/or respected have decided to stand with a monster. And what that reveals about them.

Yes, in many if not most instances, these folks will remain in our lives long after the Orange Nightmare has subsided. But as anyone who has remained in a relationship tainted by betrayal can attest to, it will never be the same.

The Democrats Are To Blame

Yes, indeed. It's their fault. The feeble approach that has allowed the toxic partisan cesspool that is American politics to fester, is the Democrats’ crown of thorns. Like a clueless albeit well-meaning dude who continues to pursue a romantic relationship with a lesbian, the Democrats repeatedly fail to understand the political playbook the Republicans are incredibly well versed in: “Winning isn’t everything; it's the only thing”, to quote the old sports cliché.

Someone once said that the social values of the ‘90s alternative rock community—ethnic and sexual tolerance, respect for women’s rights, etc—didn’t fully permeate the American social fabric because the flannel shirt made the average person feel kinda itchy. In other words, Americans are not the most tolerant of folks and are certainly not creatures of nuance and subtlety—otherwise, the “freaks” would stay in Podunk, USA—especially in the bloodsport that is politics. Civility is perceived as cowardice; to be reasonable and measured is deemed a lack of leadership; and to be fair to your opponent is for the gutless and weak. This is the world in which our politics operate. It is a sad state of affairs but it is our current reality.

So, instead of adapting to this new paradigm, the Democrats have decided to be the only ones who abide the old rules and put forth banalities like “When they go low, we go high” instead of going all Sopranos on these fuckers. We’re getting our asses kicked by Johnny Sack while Little Carmine wants to mediate and talk it out. The current inhabitant of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave is an avowed and self-incriminating sexual predator with almost two dozen accusations lodged against him, not to mention a scandal involving an adult film actress that may have campaign finance implications and, ultimately, bring about felony indictments. Meanwhile, the Democrats made Al Franken resign over a couple of boneheaded indiscretions.

This crystallizes why the Democratic base is angry: the Republicans can do whatever the fuck they want and the Democrats seemingly do nothing to make them accountable. Granted, there are plenty of times when not having a majority in Congress cuts you off at the knees but even when they do have the upper hand or a bit of temporary leverage—as in the recent government shutdown—they manage to find a way to somehow fuck it up. It also explains the internal California rebellion brewing in the form of opposition towards Diane Feinstein’s return to the Senate. There’s a feeling that the current representatives on the Hill are adopting a ‘Well, what can we do?’ stance and getting steamrolled, unleashing the ire of rank and file Democrats who are simply sick and tired of the mild-mannered, milquetoast bullshit. And it’s been this way for over a decade.

Barack Obama, for all his positive attributes, lacked the necessary fire-breathing intensity to be a 21st century POTUS which, frankly, was quite surprising considering how this is part and parcel of the cut-throat and often ruthless world of Chicago politics from whence he sprung. Say what you will about the currently toxic Bill Clinton, but do you think Mitch McConnell would’ve pulled that Merrick Garland fiasco on his watch, let alone intimidate him into not disclosing to the American people that the Russians were actively involved in meddling with our elections? Even his fiercest detractors know Slick Willie don’t play that.

This is who we are in 2018: a country where those who love flying the family values flag and plant it on the moral high ground, aided by their spiritually bankrupt religious leaders, are bending over backwards to defend the character of a man who is nothing short of a disgusting human being. These same people and their political leaders see us not as fellow Americans who they ideologically oppose but enemies who must be crushed. It’s in the way the terrorist NRA spokespeople refer to us; it’s in the laws the Republicans try to pass or alternately repeal in order to harm us; it’s in the conversations of the average conservative who hates us, despite many of them sucking on the teat of what our taxes afford them. And to top it off, they’ll commit and/or defend treason if it perpetuates this orange quicksand they so gleefully and hypocritically endorse.

If this were a game they wouldn’t be content with just winning: they want to also whack us with 2x4s and have us walk home in our underwear in the rain. And they will avail themselves of every avenue, legal or not, to achieve nefarious results. The deportation of otherwise law abiding undocumented folks residing here for decades? That’s nothing—wait until someone decides that naturalized American citizens aren’t really Americans. Then US-born, first generation Americans will be next. You don’t think so? I bet you didn't think you'd see an American president having a cozy relationship with Nazis, right? Or a sworn US enemy, either.

And the Democrats? They seem to be under the delusion that this is all just a misunderstanding that can be resolved by winning the midterm elections. OK, then. I guess they're pretty sure the Russians won't meddle again this time.

Maybe I can interest them in some Nebraska beachfront property...

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?

This Is War

The dominant presence of Breitbarters and other assorted knuckledraggers clearly demonstrates, once again, how the hard right is no longer the fringe but the heart of the current GOP.

It’s one big pirate ship of bigoted, corrupt, and power hungry scum who are out to destroy this country. Aided and abetted by fake Christians, the gullible and/or idiotic, and a Democratic Party that doesn’t fucking get it and urgently needs a wartime consigliere.

Make no mistake, short of secession, blue states will not escape the wrath of these demons via states rights. No, those are only to be acknowledged when upholding the continued existence of statues erected to honor traitors to the United States and other loathsome proposals. They will not be happy until they turn us into one of their fucking insolvent backwaters. Hell, if they could round up liberals and PoC into concentration camps they'd do it in a heartbeat. (No, don't think so? Ask any Japanese-American.) 

We’re at war, people. The Dems are under the impression we’re just having a disagreement. God help us.

The Right's Hollywood Hypocrisy

The next time some self-righteous conservative complains about Hollywood celebrities having no clue what it is to be poor/working class and to struggle to make ends meet, remind them of these 10 examples:

- Jim Carrey’s family lost their house and ended up living in a van when he was a teenager; he quit school at 15 to help his family and worked as a janitor for a while.
- Daniel Craig was once homeless and slept on park benches in London.
- Tom Cruise’s mom worked four jobs (4!) to provide for Cruise and his 3 siblings.
- Leo DiCaprio grew up in a drug infested and prostitution riddled part of Hollywood and was homeless for a bit.
- Celine Dion’s father had to support Celine and her thirteen (13!) siblings on a salary of a little more than $600/mo.
- Shia LaBeouf is the child of “artists who never found an audience for their artwork. And so I lived in poverty”.
- Leighton Meester was born while her mother was doing time in a federal jail in Texas for her involvement in a drug ring.
- Demi Moore lived in a trailer park until she turned 16 and left home.
- Sarah Jessica Parker was on welfare as a kid.
- Hillary Swank grew up in a trailer park and later lived in a car with her mom.

The Divided States of America

So, Chumpbots: Got a question for ya.

What part of your hero's Muslim ban was going to protect us from the ex-Marine who was planning a terrorist attack in San Francisco on Christmas Day? An attack thwarted by the ever diligent FBI, btw, which is in "tatters" according to your idol, Mango Mussolini.

It's bad enough that blue state taxes take care of your deadbeat, welfare red states, but you people spew your fucking hate and elect the biggest terrorist recruiter in history and OUR cities have to deal with the terrorist fallout, not Bumfuck, USA. So when you people call us terrorist sympathizers, un-American or whatever bullshit Breitbart, Fox, Alex Jones, etc. feed you, maybe we should point these assholes in your direction. Let them bomb the "real" America. See how you like it.

Trying not to hate you even more than I already do 'cause it's Christmas, but...

Beware the American Taliban

When Sen. Barack Obama won the 2008 Democratic primary, noted Clinton supporter and CNN analyst Paul Begala says the first thing he did was open his checkbook and “proudly sent him a check for the legal maximum. On the memo line of the check I wrote, 'FOR NEGATIVE CAMPAIGNING ONLY’”. Begala’s no holds barred approach makes many if not most Democrats clutch their pearls, but I’m with him. My beloved mother—who was involved in politics at the grass roots level and beyond for decades—has always said politics is a dirty thing, so the best you can do is not defame or lie. But after that—you do what ya gotta do.

Democrats, unfortunately, still haven’t gotten that memo, acting as if it’s possible to shame the shameless into doing the right thing. That being on the side of righteousness is enough to win elections. Or that somehow full-on attacks when politically beneficial is crass or beneath us. (Kudos to the Doug Jones camp for being smart in holding back—and letting the GOPers in Alabama go on a rampage against each other—but that should be an exception, not the rule.)

Guess what? When you’re in politics, you’re by definition already in the gutter. And to reach the moral high ground without climbing over those who impede your way is simply not possible. That moral high ground is obtained, as mom says, by not defaming or lying. But otherwise, whack ‘em over the head with the kitchen sink—or the mop bucket, in the preferred Dominican version.
Bottom line: The people we're up against don't see us as being of a different ideology or philosophy, as we see them. No, we are the enemy. And when you face an enemy you use every resource at your disposal. That's why they have no qualms about supporting bigots, otherwise incompetents, racists or even pedophiles; whatever it takes to reach their nefarious goals.

Whether it’s populating the courts with fundamentalist Christians in the hope that they will repeal women’s rights to their bodies and in the workplace (so they can stay home and become the baby makers the white supremacists want them to be), as well as revoking the separation of church and state as a big step towards turning this country into a theocracy; rolling back social safety nets, environmental protections, student loans and other assistance for higher education aspirants from the working class, and further decimating the rights of the workforce in the name of Big Money; these people are not messing around—they’re playing for keeps. (You think the Koch brothers investing in the purchase of Time magazine is portfolio diversification? Think again.) They've seen it done all over the world—and in many instances by our own government—now it's time for the bigger and better American version.

The very soul of our beloved country lies in the balance, and time is most definitely of the essence: much of the damage done by this administration and its accomplices is likely irreparable. So, what are we gonna do? Continue to act all prim and proper while the other side smears feces in our collective faces and laughs about it? You tell me.

The Great Divide(r)

One of the reasons I believe a certain segment of the population has been so openly hostile to President Obama is the realization, conscious or otherwise, that the so-called browning of America has reached the highest point: a black man in the White House. For the prejudiced or outright racist who have seen people of color become more and more prominent in American life, it seems like at least the presidency was something “they” wouldn’t get; the last safe bastion against the encroachment of people of color in all spheres of American society. Then it happened. And with that, directly or not, the subject of race has come to the forefront.

Clearly, white resentment has not been couched in ambivalence, as we see every day, from how the President is disrespected to the deplorable reactions to the murder of unarmed black men, women and children at the hands of the police. One of the signature claims of that resentment is that Obama has divided the country. It’s that mentality that led a Trump surrogate in Ohio to state there was no racism before Obama. Yes, she got bashed for making such an absurd statement and, at first, my reaction was that I was witnessing an instance of yet another conservative believing their opinions are fact and, as such, are not subject to scrutiny. (See Antonio Sabato Jr. claiming at the most recent GOP convention that he believes Obama is a Muslim, and that his confidence in that belief is enough to make it true.) But in all fairness, what she did was articulate very badly what many like her truly feel: that issues of race and racism are now and have been discussed more in the last 8 years than in the previous 30 or so. And that makes bigots, active or passive, very, very uncomfortable. That’s what she meant.

Whether it’s tacit acknowledgement that folks who have suffered various degrees of ignominy might want payback in more ways than one or just their full-on overt racism, the prospect of being on the receiving end of that purported payback, and that they’d be punished even half as badly as the hurt inflicted on people of color, rattles and scares them to their core. It leads to instances of tragic irony, too. I mean, is there anything more un-American and unpatriotic than to threaten the stifling of dissent using the US flag as cover? You know, the same flag that represents the freedom to protest.

Density or denial? I guess that if the result is the same, it doesn’t matter, right?