April 16, 2023

Dear Senator Dianne Feinstein: This is not about you.

It's not about feminism. It's not about ageism. It's not about your past battles and victories.

It's about American democracy.

Trump packed the federal judicial system with as many fascists as he possibly could.

Joe Biden is trying to level the playing field.

Your reluctance to resign is understandable. But do you really want your final political act to assist that which you've fought against your entire life?

Millions remember the horrible circumstances under which you became mayor of San Francisco.

Millions remember the wonderful things you accomplished as a California Senator.

Please, please don't tarnish your magnificent career.

For the sake of your own legacy, and American democracy, it's time to step away. You've done more than enough.

April 15, 2023

Airman who put secrets online is in shackles. Trump is in Mar-a-Lago

Never again do I want to hear: "Equal justice under the law;" or "No one is above the law."

Who could ever again buy the bullshit we're fed and believe it?

April 14, 2023

Trump is a malicious, dangerous moron. But Ron DeSantis is pure evil.

Both of these men are a deadly threat to democracy and humanity.

Trump was born to wealth and taught to be a vicious, uncaring, narcissist and scam artist. Of late, he seems to have developed a "Jesus complex" which makes him even more of a dangerous moron than that which he's always been.

DeSantis, however, is a different kind of beast:

As the current Florida Governor, he's doing all he can to destroy the First Amendment. He's also banning books, destroying our educational system, trying to turn women into chattel, allowing anyone to carry a gun without a license, and doing everything he possibly can to turn the state into a horrible, dystopian nightmare.

Trump is an ignorant, malicious prick. DeSantis is highly educated, which makes him a more dangerous, malignant prick.

In the film, "Inglorious Bastards," the Nazi villain is turned free at the end of he war. Yet, the "good guys" burn a swastika onto his forehead using a branding iron. Perhaps, DeSantis should have "Educated Uncaring Prick" branded onto his forehead.

April 12, 2023

If you had the power to create a world, is this what you would have done?

I mean, really. Who would have come up with the idea of fleas in order to make animals miserable? Who would have invented cockroaches? Who would have tossed STDs into the mix to have to make us occasionally pay for one of our too few pleasures?

And another thing. Would you come up with the idea of putting humans on the top of the chain? I, for one, would have picked dolphins or elephants. (I thought of putting cats in the running, but they have too much of a “Go away until I need you.” attitude.)

Then there’s the political world. Would you have numbed the minds of voters to where they’d spend their entire lives screwing themselves? For whatever reason, there must have been just a pinch of masochism thrown into that recipe. And as for political ideology in general, a sadist must have been hired to come up with most of it.

I know that there are countless things about this world that suck, and that each of us would have designed/created differently. Nonetheless, however we and our planet came to be, the flaws reek of (some intentional?/unintentional?) maliciousness.

Could any one of us have done a better job? Beats me.

P.S. Full disclosure. I’m a devout agnostic who would probably have fucked up our existence far, far worse than whoever/whatever caused us to be.

April 10, 2023

If sentenced to death in TN, would you prefer being shot, electrocuted, or "Lynched?"

All those Tennessee lawmakers who call abortion "murder," are currently working on expanding their methods of executing prisoners sentenced to death.

The firing squad and electric chair are still on the table. Hanging someone from a tree seems to be off the table. That "Hanging" thing was suggested by some state legislator who probably found it popular at his local Klan meeting. -- "Oh for those Lynchings of the good old days." -- This is a state legislature that didn't hesitate to throw out two black men for speaking up, but does nothing to a lunatic that wants "Lynching" made legal and brought back into style.

One can't help but wonder if people of a certain race will be sentenced to face this "Hanging" penalty more than white, "Christian" men have to face it. And I also wonder if it will be done in a public place where everyone can snap pictures of "The Glorious Event."

I personally would prefer to be shot than to live under the rule of the barbarians running the state, and who are focused on "The life of the fetus, and the death of the You-Know-Who."

And I can't help but wonder whether they will be calling for the deaths of abortionists, and the women who had them.

Seems Tennessee lawmakers want to lead the country in the "purity" of their "Christianity."

April 8, 2023

About Tennessee. About racism. About us.

By “us,” I mean humanity in every corner of this planet. There is no place in the world in which hatred of those of a different race, a different religion, a different political belief, or a different whatever, doesn’t exist.

Seems that intolerance of “THE OTHER” is the norm on this orbiting rock on which we dwell.

Perhaps those who recognize this current reality, have evolved more quickly. Perhaps we humans are in an awkward transition stage in which some wish to expand knowledge, while others long to remain in a past that grants them some kind of “superior” status.

These are thoughts that have been running through my mind for a very long time. I’ve always hesitated to share them here, but I guess Tennessee's latest outrage pissed me off enough that I’ve decided to post them today.

The current Republican Party is a deadly threat to our country and to all of humanity. The terms cruelty, hatred, greed, ignorance, lack of empathy, and of course their despicable racism, describe who they are. (And their elected officials are, of course, owned by the incredibly wealthy who bought them long ago.)

White, “Christian” Republican Tennessee legislators have dropped the mask. Their racism, their hatreds, and their sense of superiority, is out in the open for all to see. This is who and what they are. This is today’s entire Republican Party.

But who are we? Why does basic decency always seem to lag behind the baser human instincts? It’s incredible that humanity has advanced against those content to live in caves. Yet, most of our progress has been in the realm of technology. I’m not sure how far we have advanced in “growing up,” and leaving behind the adolescence of our species.

Anyhow, these are the thoughts that have been running through my mind. And I guess that, like most people, I have far more questions than I have answers.

April 5, 2023

Why would any American minority person be a Republican?

I know this post might be controversial, but I can't understand why any person would be a member of a party that looks upon him/her as less than human.

For the most part, I simply can't grasp why any Black, Jew, Hispanic, or any other member of a minority, would identify with a racist, anti-Semitic, bigoted part of our society that believes they are the only "TRUE Americans." Republicans have shown themselves to be a party that thrives on cruelty, intolerance and pure hatred. Why would any sane, decent person identify with them?

Someone really need to explain this to me.

March 22, 2023

He actually could shoot someone on 5th Ave. and get away with it

Ever since 2016, the country has watched, on live TV, as this psychopathic sociopath committed crimes on virtually a daily basis.

Can anyone really deny that tens of thousands, (perhaps hundreds of thousands), of people died of COVID 19 because of his malicious indifference? And because of him, only a fool could still believe that: "In America, everyone is equal under the law." (Actually, perhaps we should thank him for tearing the mask off of that particular piece of bullshit.)

Overall, he brought racism and meanness of spirit out into the open and millions followed him. Which means those millions were always there, but he gave them license to publicly shout out their hatreds.

And after the daily craps he took on the country, his closing act was an attempted overthrow of the American government on Jan. 16th, 2021. Every drop of blood that was spilled is on him.

Whether of not he ever pays for his crimes, his legacy is apparent: Marjory Taylor Greene; Gym Jordan; Kevin McCarthy; and countless other right wing fascists that comprise today's Republican Party.

Yet, he's still a daily presence in our society. He's like dog shit on your shoe. His stench lingers. As do the hatreds he unleashed.

Who would have believed that a know-nothing, moronic con man could have brought America to the brink of becoming an authoritarian country? We all should have taken him literally when he said he could shoot someone on 5th Ave. and get away with it.

February 15, 2023

If we want to stop the massacres, the guns must go

The Republican Party, the NRA, and gun people (including many Democrats), won't give up their guns "... until you pry it out of my cold, dead hands." Given the number of children and adults who have died in schools, houses of worship, and so many other venues, you'd think there'd be an outcry that the guns have to go. But it ain't happened. And it's very unlikely that it will.

New York City should be a model for the entire country. If you want to buy or carry a gun in NYC, you need a damn good reason. Most often, permits are issued to people who carry a lot of cash as part of their jobs, jewelers, and various types of business and store owners (often on the condition that the gun must be kept in the business/store and not carried.)

You can buy a hunting rifle in New York. (I don't know if you can buy military style rifles, but I'm pretty sure you can't buy extended ammo magazines.)

If you got in a car accident in NYC, the last thing you'd think of is that the other person has a gun.

If you got into a car accident in Florida, where I live, the first thing you'd think of is that the other person has a gun.

Right now, our message to the world is: "If you want a good chance of getting shot in a public place, visit America, the land of the free and the home of tens of thousands of people who won't leave their house without a gun."

And I'm tired of "The shooter had mental health issues." Fuck that excuse. Anyone, at any time can "lose it." But if there's no gun at hand, there's a good chance that no one else will lose their life.

Our cowboy mentality has to go. Or sure as hell, thousands more people will die from America's love affair with guns.

I mean, really. What the fuck is wrong with us?

(And please don't hand me the 2nd Amendment crap that was written when people owned single-shot muskets.)

February 9, 2023

Why are Republicans such dicks? Here's James Carville's answer.

I've posted this question as an OP many times over the years. And then I'd go into some long-winded reasons.

Last night, James Carville was interviewed by Ari Melber and was asked the same question (in a more polite way).

James' answer was: "Because there's more white trash in the Republican Party than ever before."

Shakespeare said, "Brevity is the soul of wit." Perhaps Carville nailed it with his politically incorrect observation.