October 3, 2024

Exclusive DU Interview w/Vance

"One day I will build a fountain
Drink and never grow old
Then I'll market an elixir
That will eliminate the common cold
Find your sickness on my list
Pay up front and make a wish."
-- Barenaked Ladies; Some Fantastic.


I had a visit from an old friend that I had met decades ago, while riding my llama. He was excited about watching the vice presidential debate, chanting his mantra: "Remember the Alamo!" As the debate drew nearer, he gave me a small sample of hash oil he said he picked up on Mars. He said, "It's old, but it's good!" Then he was gone.

Approximately 4 hours after the debate, still wide awake, I walked through the doors of perception, and imagined that I was interviewing J. D. Vance. The interview that follows is easily recognized as being fiction, as Vance actually answered questions honestly.


Q: What qualifies you to be vice president?

A: I'm the same age as Dan Quayle was when he became vice president. I was inspired when by his words ..... few politicians had the balls to say, "The Holocaust was an obscene period in our nation's history." (Fact check: Quayle actually said this.) He strongly opposed Murphy Brown's being a single mother. She hated men. I hated single mothers, too, but as I entered politics, I knew I had to change that line. First Lady Melania got in trouble for stealing Mrs. Obama's speech.


Q: Murphy Brown was a fictional character on a popular television series. You seem to attack real-life women. You seem to have what psychoanalytic literature refers to as a "Madonna - Whore complex." Is it true that this is rooted in your troubled relationship with your mother?

A: My mother abandoned me when I was a little nipper. So she had no influence on me whatsoever. Imagine a woman who gave up her children, so she could live the life of a single gal who loved her cat more than me. Plus she listened to Madonna. That song "Like a Virgin" was worse than Murphy Brown. I've asked Robert to speak out about how it resulted in high levels of blindness among teenaged boys. It is related to vaccines, just totally different.


Q: You have been accused of having no moral compass for your willingness to adopt every position of the man you once called "America's Hitler." You do know that President Biden beat him in 2020. Why did you refuse to answer this in the debate?

A: The American public is far more concerned with immigration and inflation. So let's focus on how these two things are destroying the economy, denying people the American Dream. Let's focus on policy here, and the future ......


Q: Yet in 2017, you joined the board of AppHarvest in Kentucky. You told reporters that it was "not just a good investment opportunity, it's a great business that's making a big difference in the world". It employed migrants from Mexico and Central America, and CNN reported they were "forced to work in grueling conditions." AppHarvest soon went bankrupt. Many people consider you ethically bankrupt. How do you respond?

A: The real question is why VP Harris didn't respond to this. The answer is Kentucky, plain and simple. But the fake media won't go there, will they? Daniel Boone. A great patriot, Papaw always said. There were wild Indians trying to steal Daniel's land. The original replacement theory. Boone was a lot like the big guy is on immigration. He fought the twelve tribes of Indians trying to move into Boonesborough and eat their pets.


Q: That seems to be an emotional topic for you. I note that a tear is washing the eyeliner down your cheek, making you look like Rudy with the infamous oil pouring off his skull. Your wearing eyeliner makes many people uncomfortable, while still others mock you? Why do you wear it?

A: Two reasons from one day. I was going through the airport, and people mistook me for Matt Gaetz. They were throwing drinks at me. When I got in to see the Big Guy, he mistook me for Donald, Jr. I was a man in need of a new identity. My wife suggested the eyeliner and lipstick. I wanted to make a bold statement.


Q: Polls taken immediately after the debate indicate that 78% of American women would rather gargle cat shit than be in the same room as you. You are viewed as a snake oil salesman by the other 22%. The majority of your own party recognize you as a ball and chain on the ticket. What can you do to change this?

A: We need to go back to the original intent of the Founding Fathers. In their wisdom, only real Americans could vote. More, I agree with Mark Robinson, that issues like abortion and slavery should be decided by the states, not the federal government. And it's true some people are confused by my willingness to submit to the Big Guy. By my lying with a straight face. But sometimes, you have to do evil things to bring about good. Just like escalating violence to bring about a de-escalation. All he wants to do is close Jack Smith's cases against him, and punish his enemies. Then he will just play golf, and disappear from the scene. And then I'll be president.

October 3, 2024

Rocking a Hard Place

The first recorded phrase "between a rock and a hard place" is found in the American Dialect Society’s publication Dialect Notes V, 1921: “To be between a rock and a hard place, …to be bankrupt. Common in Arizona in recent panics; sporadic in California.” The phrase's origins is believed to have roots in the "Bankers' Panic" of 1907. It became to be used frequently, in the context of tensions between mining companies and unions. By the 1930s, the phrase became common in American newspapers.

I found myself thinking of this while watching a clip of the felon garbling on stage somewhere. Normally, I turn to something else when he comes on. But what caught my attention was his weak, confused sputtering. Now, I could be wrong -- as I often am -- but lately I get the sense that on some level, he is not invested in serving (himself) as president again.

He definitely wants to win in order to end the federal court cases. No doubt. He wants to be recognized as a "winner," even if that requires cheating and breaking the law. He wants everyone on earth to think about him at least once each day. He finds losing humiliating. He cannot stand the thought of losing to a female. Losing to a non-white female is the embarrassment. All of this is true.

Although he was at best a part-time president, if one watches his performances campaigning in 2016 or even 2020, one sees that the aging process has taken a toll. Add the pressures of his legal problems, and that downhill slide increases in pace. I always like to focus on people's vocabulary as a measure. Generally, this increases until one reaches their mid-60s. Then it will, in many people, remain stable or slowly decrease. But even in those that remain stable, the networks in the brain begin to become less efficient, making it harder to find the right word off the top of one's head. Tests show that older people have more trouble on tests involving identifying a picture, than on multiple choice synonym tests. Think about this the next time you listen to the scumbag speak.

An older person can still be an effective president, especially when they have good people in their administration. I recognized that President Biden was aging, but was definitely supporting him until he stepped aside. I know that good presidents, passionate about the job, always age at an increased rate while serving. Most of us at this stage of life make lists of things we plan to do, sometimes foolishly mistaking our physical abilities for being the same as when we were 25. I have hundreds of such lists. After making one, I'm tired and need to rest, thinking, "I'll get started on these things tomorrow."

All of my friends my age report this happening with them. However, being president does not allow this option. Joe Biden wasn't putting things off. He has been a full-time president. And he put in overtime.

The felon could not put in a solid day's work, even if he wanted to -- which he doesn't. His campaign does not have the pace of his two previous efforts. It's true that those two included his spouting off-the-wall bullshit mixed with lies, but the "quality" (I hesitate to use that word) is greatly reduced.

He knows the clock is ticking. He has no desire to serve the country. Never has. He wants to save himself, and punish his enemies. He appreciates Netanyahu's attemp to bring the US into a wider Middle East war, because in his fantasies, he wants a domestic civil war. One in which his cult is something aking to the "sovereign citizen" movement, following their own misunderstanding of the Constitution, immune to actual law and order. With its capital being mar-a-lago.

September 27, 2024

DU Survey

This is a multiple choice survey. There is a reason why I think it is important, that I will share at the end of this very OP. Good luck to all who dare take this test.

1- Hurricane Helene offers evidence that:
a- human activity is accelerating climate change that pose a threat to our species;
b- the angry God of the Old Testicle is punishing our country for taking prayer out of school.

2- The extraordinarily high temperatures on the West Coast shows that:
a- climate change is taking place at a rate that poses a threat to our species;
b- God is as petty and cruel as the christian nationalists believe, and seeks to smite our country for the very sins that the christian nationalists fantasize about.

The reason I post this is to remind people that those who believe that "b" is the answer will not only be voting in November ..... but will be actively trying to get others to vote for the maga infection. So don't be getting overconfident. Do your very best to get out the vote.

September 25, 2024

A Favor, Please.

I'd like to ask a favor. As a crusty, snarly old man, I have rarely asked for favors from anyone. But two closely related things have come up: first, my granddaughter was born two days ago, and second, I just got off the phone from an extended conversation with a delightful 18-year old who is volunteering for the Josh Riley campaign in my congressional district.

My daughter and her husband -- and new daughter -- opted to settle in Denmark, his home country. A huge factor in this was their concern that the felon might defeat President Biden in this year's election. I have met quite a few of his extended family, and the fear that the felon would regain power is wide-spread. So in a very real sense, I'm asking for a favor for Europe, too.

Should VP Harris win, my daughter and her husband would like to eventually move back to the US. In time, she will be getting her PhD there, because in Denmark, just like they appreciate the need for affordable healthcare, they recognize that a well-educated population benefits society. Thus, education is affordable.

I do enjoy being able to "face time" -- I think that is the correct term -- and communicate in real time with them. But I'd like to hold my granddaughter. So it is essential that VP Harris is elected.

The young lady that I just spoke with lifted my spirits. She said that her generation is going to wipe out the maga infection in our country. I found myself thinking of the lyrics from a Steppenwolf song from 1970:

"America, where are you now
Don't you care about your sons and daughters
Don't you know we need you now
We can't fight alone against the monster."

So the favor I ask is for this 18-year old's generation, too. Her asking for my help surely energized me. I wish I could convey her passion, but if people my age remember how we felt in our youth, you'll get it.

While I'm confident we will win, there are three potential stumbling blocks. One is that the media & polls can distort the way we view the contest. Malcolm X used to say if you listen to the media, you risk carrying an umbrella on a sunny day, and getting soaked when it rains. Translated, if you are overconfident, you risk putting forth only half of the required effort, and if you are intimidated, you won't do even half.

The third is that in any and every place where it may be close, the republicans will attempt to steal the win. There is no question about that. We saw it in 2000. We saw it on steroids in 2020. So we need to bury the maga candidates by putting forth our best efforts. My request is that each of us puts forth a 100% effort.

Let's roll.

September 20, 2024

A Swift Morning

On Wednesday, I think that I realized my life-long goal of becoming an asterisk below a footnote in a journal stored in the musty basement of an old, abandoned building ..... only two be discovered by someone one hundred years from now if our species has not become extinct. The head of the state museum, accompanied by the head of the state archaeological society, came to a nearby community to study the paleo-era artifacts that my son have found, for part of a study on the earliest migrations in the northeast.

There is something fascinating about holding the tools that human beings depended on in their daily lives ten to twelve thousand years ago. In fact, when asked about when I found the first one, I said that it was on May 19, 1993 at 1:17 pm/est while I was on a walk. I had passed by a thin line of flint, thought better of it, and turned around and popped a fluted Clovis point out of the ground. I even remember my first pronouncement upon holding it: "Oh shit! Oh shit!"

Later in the day, while walking in the woods with my son and grandson, I encountered another ancient entity, popularly known as the Taijitu, to remind me that I asm an old man. While walking in the woods with my son & grandson, I tripped and fell. There was a small tree stump, hidden until that time, which broke a few of my ribs. My immediate pronouncement was an extended howl in pain.

While sitting and watching the world go by in the eternal "Now," I decided to not totally waste time. I have heard of a young artist named Taylor Swift. Indeed, I remember my daughters going to one of her concerts years ago. More, last summer when one daughter was babysitting for two young sisters, I asked theolder one, then 7, if she liked Taylor Swift? "How did you know I am a Swiftee?" was her response. Old people know these things, I said.

I am unaware if I'd ever heard any of her songs before. But I like the things I've read about her. So, last night when I couldn't get comfortable enough to sleep, I decided to listen to one. In doing so, I came across the one above, with the Rolling Stones. I really liked it, and thought people here might, as well.

September 16, 2024

Dark Stars & Yellow Matter Custard

“Yellow matter custard
dripping from a dead dog's eye."
-- John Lennon, I am the Walrus, 1968


In the late spring, when all the other kids in the neighborhood were having fun, I was tasked with fixing the fence around the pasture. My favorite area was high up on the mountain, where I could see the entire valley below, far from any house -- especially my parents. I would take breaks at the edge of the woods, and quench my thirst from the open springs where clear, cold water ran.

I remember smelling smoke one afternoon. I made my way a short distance into the woods, and encountered the neighborhood Elder outside a small shack. He explained this was where he boiled sap to make his annnual supply of maple syrup. We sat on tree stumps and explained the correct process: always keep it boiling at the lowest level possible. Use dead wood from the forest's floor, because it gives off less heat than the firewood used to heat a house in the winter. Be patient, because the slow boil brings out the essence of maple syrup.

I found myself thinking of this when VP Harris was boiling the sap early in their debate. One could see he was simmering by looking at his eyes. Part way through, of course, she turned up the heat and scorched him. In my mind, I thought of this when I saw clips of the abdominal snowflake and Laura Loomer ivading each other's personal space. For certain behaviors reflect the boiled-down, truest essence of a human being.

For some time now, I have noted that the felon is a sociopath. In the first of my series of interviews with Dr. Bandy Lee for DU, we noted that one could substitute the words psychopath or malignant narcissist. Under extreme pressure -- as noted in that interview -- sociopaths can experience brief psychotic episodes. It does not mean that they will exhibit the full range of symptoms associated with major mental illnesses. Rather, it means that they are not in touch with reality for periods of time. These are commonly known as "melt downs," where the person's speech and behavior indicates a seriously troubled mind. They can be part of the overall larger process that the defendent is experiencing.

In psychology, this is known as the process of decomposition. Often, lay people think of this in the context an animal (including human) dying, bloating, decaying, and becoming skeletonized. Readers who have watched CSI-Miami know that investigators can often date the time of death by studying the insects feasting on a bloated corpse. While this is generally distinct from the psychological process, when considering the felon, I think they tend to apply. But before we get to the insects buzzing around the bloated felon, let's look at other related factors.

When an individual experiences the psychological process due to stress, there are a number of factors that come into play. Physical health, including the aging process, is one. A pre-existing mental illness or personality disorder come next. The stress causes the individual to become claustrophic in their thinking. Their thinking becomes obsessive, as they seek some type of relief -- however brief -- from the stress. Little by little, they recognize that their usual tactics are being stripped away, as if those insectss werebeginning to feast on the flesh of the corpse.

There is an obsessive attempt to deny the reality of their situation, specifically what is the source of their stress. For example, if one is facing a potentially painful legal trial, there will be an attempt to stop time from ticking away. Their formerly tried and true tactic of lying is not getting the desired result. They compartmentalize, and inhabit the formlessness behind form. (Older folks who did LSD 50 years ago may find this sounds familiar.) They seek to find a safe place in the lower levels of their conscious mind to avoid the threat of this bad trip.

This isn't merely the felon lying. Or gaslighting. Or his attempts to will something into being. Things are shifting, and the felon is becoming more unbalanced. This is not the entertainer on stage, though it is indeed can be entertaining to watch. An example was found in the debate. VP Harris was not the opponent he had hoped she would be. She was winning early on, and he knew it. She had gotten in a few zingers, and he was getting angry. Anger is, of course, how he does fear. Then she landed her best shot him by speaking about people leaving his rallies. One has to fully appreciate how rally size is at the core of his understanding, central to his experience of ego syntonic state.

He knows he needs to win the presidency to avoid serious legal consequences. He had prepared for a re-match with President Biden for years. His campaign invested millions for that eventuality. Then Biden steps aside, being replace by a non-white female. The felon has great disrespect for all women. Always has. He has had contempt for non-white women. But now, not only does his life include black prosecutors and judges, but they exercise power over him. Then along comes Kamala Harris, and she's creating excitement that has brought her ahead in the polls.

In most of the debate, he was simply lying. But in the one moment where he was out of control, he blabbed about immigrants consuming pet cats and dogs. It went viral, because the felon did not appear stable. He wasn't. His handlers had instructed him to stick to the economy, immigration, and connecting VP Harris to President Biden -- but to not mention cats and dogs. This wasn't a brilliant plan to distract from Project 2025, etc. It was the product of a desparate mind closing in on itself.

When the sociopath implodes, it increases what -- for lack of better term -- is his gravitational force. His being sucks hatred in closer.Thus, we witness Laura Loomer hugging him, and his brain-dead cult members threatening the immigrants he placed the bull's eye on. Threats to schools and even hospitals. For the felon will demand social chaos and blood in the streets before losing to a non-white woman, and being forced to submit to the rule of law. This is the Level One threat the felon now poses.

There is a Level Two. When the bloated felon, who had long thought himself a star, implodes, there is explosion. Matter is sent out and scatters, creating Durkheim's "disorganized dust of individuals," imbalanced freaks who find themselves isolated, abandoned by reality, unattached to any moral or ethical compass. We see this beginning now.

If you are out in publi, be awake. Be aware. Use situational awareness. We will get through a rough time, and together we will come out better for it.

September 13, 2024

A Concept of Power

"I myself have no power. It's the people behind me who have the power. .... But if you're talking about strength, not power, then I can say that the greatest strength is gentleness."
-- Tadodaho Leon Shenandoah


I remember when Leon worked as a grounds keeper at Syracuse University. I suspect that most of the students had no idea that this quiet, hard working elderly man was the leader of the Haudenosaunee, or Six Nations Iroquois Confederacy. That he met with world leaders, and spoke at the UN. I was fortunate to know him well enough to call him "Uncle Leon."

Since the debate this week, I've been thinking about Leon -- for that is what old men do. We remember the lessons of the Elders from when we were young, and try to apply them to today. I think that his message quoted above is an import "concept." (smile) One that we should understand when it comes to both the campaign and eventual presidency of VP Kamala Harris.

She is doing her part, and mighty well, I might add. The people around her are also doing a good job. Now it is up to the grass roots to do our job. As tempting as it may be, we do not have the luxery of over-confidence, and sitting back, thinking, "We've got this." We can't afford to go there until the election is over. We don't want another upset, as in 2016.

It is up to us. No one in the DU community can do everything needed, but each one of us can contribute something to what is transforming from a presidential campaign to a movement. Removing numerous maga republicans on election day is an option that is available to us. Harris and Walz. The House and Senate. State and local offices.

As the great Cesar Chavez taught, we start with one person at a time. Someone in our orbit, who is undecided, and not sure if they will even vote. Start there. Then on to the next person.

September 11, 2024

"Concepts"

September 10; 4:24 am/est

“The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which."
George Orwell; Animal Farm

Last night, we watched VP Harris destroy the felon in amazing fashion. I expected her to win the debate, doing damage to the felon. But I was happily surprised at just how well she did. In my opinion, her performance was flawless, with her clearly winning every minute of the debate. It was the best showing I have ever seen in a debate.

Three people have contacted me afterwords, and compared it to a boxing match. (This may be due to my comparing everything to boxing.) I said that in boxing, you want to know the opponent's every tactic before the fight, so that you can anticipate their every move in the ring. Once mastered, say something to make the opponent furious. From then on, you force the opponent to make the moves you want them to.

Is that not exactly what Harris did tonight? She was already spanking him before saying that people get bored and leave his rallies early. Already stung and out of confidence, that comment changed the pace. The felon became furious, and his behavior thereafter was, well, weird. Simply put, VP Harris delivered by kicking the felon's ass better than anyone has thus far. This included the expressions on her face as he bellered desperation. It was the prosecutor versus the felon.

As I watched, I was interested in how foul the defendent appeared. He looked like a bloated, old swine from a land before time. His eyes in particular were like the demon swine's eyes in the cheesy horror movies I saw as a youth. Pits of evil.

The felon picked up no new support last night, while VP Harris didn't lose a single vote. More, the felon likely lost support among non-maga republicans and independents, while VP Harris definitely gained support among independents.

September 9, 2024

Machine Gun

School mass shootings must never be seen as a "fact of life" that society is helpless to prevent. Add significant security to every school, and there will be more school mass shootings. Arm teachers and there will be more. For those who commit this sub-type of mass shootings are already inside the school. They are part of the community.

That there have been school shootings in America since colonial times. In 1764, four Lenape youth entered a school and shot the teacher for the first on record. And over the years, there would be other examples. Some involved principals shooting specific individuals they had a grudge against. Some were kids shooting a classmate they disliked. But very few would, until more recent times, become the type of mass shootings that have become all too common.

Though incomplete, this list provides a fair view of the history of school shootings morphing into school mass shootings:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_school_shootings_in_the_United_States_(before_2000)

There are a cluster of features that recent school mass shooters share. This does not mean every individual shares each of those factors, but a majority of them. These include a dysfunctional home life, and being bullied in school. The single factor in each case, however, is access to guns. Without acess to guns, obviously, there would be no school shootings.

Common sense would say that keeping such weapons of war out of the hands of at risk youth is key. However, in the most recent case, despite warnings from law enforcement that his son had made threats on the internet, the father bought his son the gun for a holiday gift. This highlights two important issues: because his son felt powerless, the father provided a weapon to instill a sense of power. That guns are ever viewed as "power" is obscene. Second, this illustrates the multi-generational nature of the problem.

There is, as I have noted many times before, at least one "at risk" student in every junior and senior high school in the country. Most will never engage in a school shooting. But some will. Republican politicians insist -- without shame -- that guns aren't the problem. They focus on issues such as mental health and law enforcement. On one hand, yes -- it is a societal problem, and mental health services and law enforcement do play roles. But that does not absolve politicians from their role in any way.

Republicans often note that not all murderers use guns. That is, of course, true. There were two terrible examples of that near me last week. In the first, a man was mad at his wife, and decided to run her over with his truck in their driveway. He missed her, but did hit and kill his two-year old daughter. In the second case, a guy was angry that police had removed him from his house for domestic violence. So he went back, and stabbed his pregnant wife to death. He also stabbed his two little girls, ages 6 and 9, but they survived.

These examples merely provide proof that we have a societal issue that demands both attention and action. It's a mistake to think it is a law enforcement issue, a mental health issue, or a problem at schools that does not involve every member of society. It is one that, as a first step, demands that we elect Democrats across the board in November. That's a start. But we then must demand not only realistic gun laws, but also the investment in resources to address the gross multi-generational issues of violence in families, communities, and the nation.

August 14, 2024

Musk - Rat Flub

After the catastrophic interview with Mr. Musk, the felon's campaign is struggling to find a way to go on the offensive. Stephen Miller, surely the most offensive spokesperson, is threatening to sue the Cartoon Network for having Chris Matthews saying he "tawt I heard a puddy tat" on Miller's favorite mourning news.

I know some here have said we should not make jokes about Vance having a long term, committed sexual relationship with his couch. I agree, so long as that couch was not underaged. I do not care what type of cover the couch was wearing. Who am I to judge the sexual habits of a person almost as repulsive as Stephen Miller?

A few others have expressed concerns over if calling the felon and Vance "weird." I'm willing to give it my best effort. I mean, how can anyone find it "weird" that the felon, who has been deemed a sex offender in civil court, had to rent Jeffery Epstein's old jet? Maybe that was just the Universe sending a warning sign to humanity.

Also, we should keep in mind that Vance would not be considered "weird" in the context of jailhouse informants. They are all willing to say anything at any given time, and swear that it is the truth. And so what if he wears make-up. Lots of guys on the republican ticket do. Even Stephen Miller wore black shoe polish on his skull a few years back, to cover up his bald spot. It didn't even run down the side of his face, like it did Rudy's. Nothing "weird" there, if you don't really think about it.

And we know that under that caked on orange gue on his puffy face, the felon is thin-skinned. There is nothing -- absolutely nothing -- he hates worse than being mocked and laughed at. So he slurred 37.4% of his words in that meaningless interview? He's been slurring people for decades.

I, for one, promise not to make silly jokes about the felon and his sidekick. Rude jokes, okay. But sick jokes are even better.