2022 Ends

And so that year, 2022, now draws to a close. Huh! And who may we blame for bringing that one into existence?  Was that a Trump joke on all of us?

And what did we learn?

Oh that Trump is a total fraud and will always be a crook. Maybe he learned that from his daddy.  I mean, ending the year by selling dumbass cards with his picture on them for hundreds of dollars each seems worse even than selling fake currency tokens. And folks are actually sending out real money to purchase these fake things. Isn’t that a definition of terminally STUPID?

And we know now that Trump will never actually be brought to justice by anyone. I mean, he seems to have some varnish finish on him that prevents any law enforcement agent from actually touching him.  They do keep trying but it’s like some game he plays with other humans, when he isn’t conning them out of their money that is.

And then there is his BFF, Vlad the Impaler, who seems to be similar. I mean, he actually caused the invasion of a sovereign nation, The Ukraine, with no ostensible reason, and has continued bombing them and killing their citizens and nobody is willing to stop them. Just cuz stopping him would mean nuclear annihilation I guess. Silly huh?  And so the world now understands that any really big country can invade any other, neighboring country for any reason, and nobody will step in to say NO.  I wonder whether Xi Jinping is paying proper attention.  I know, I know, we keep threatening them that, should they attack Taiwan, we will step in. But what would we actually do? Bomb China??? Seems unlikely. So, Vlad has set a standard for the behavior of tyrants everywhere. Oh 2022, you have been so awful.

And back to here, we have had the final destruction of the Republican Party. Gads, remember republicans under Dwight Eisenhower, or even that idiot Ronald Reagan? I mean, they weren’t great then, but they weren’t Nazi’s either. Now they seem to have moved into Nazi’s of the 1936 Germany kind. Yeah, and the only real question is who will they choose to be their Adolph?  Trump sort of fills the bill, but then we also have Ronnie DeSantis, and a whole host of other minor, would-be Adolph’s. So, what ever happened to the old Republican Party, the one that at least pretended to have some ethical dimension?

And the American people no longer seem to care, and therein lies the real problem. We should be screaming at the rooftops, but I hear no serious screaming.  People of the Right persuasion seem to have totally surrendered to the charade of Republican language about Left-Wing ideology. All Democrats are apparently Soviets Commies of the old school according to the Repubs. And the American people, well almost half of them anyway, seem to have bought into that crap.  So, how can we run a civilized nation, when almost half the people no longer believe in civilization, or ethics, or morality any longer? Isn’t that how Nazi Germany came into existence?  All we need is a group they can label as “The Enemy”, like Adolph did to the Jews during the 1930s.

I keep awaiting the New Enlightenment to arrive. You know, that day, when Americans of all stripes say, OK, this is all bullshit and we ain’t gonna take it any longer. We want decent, civilized people as our Leaders in Government. You know, people who seem to actually know right from wrong.

Hmmm, maybe we should bring back Jon Stewart, only this time as US President. And let’s see, hey how about Samantha Bee as VEEP? Yeah, two comedians to run America.  First, comedians seem smarter than your average Joe (or Josephine). Second, most of them seem to hold an actual ethical dimension. Yeah, they actually seem to know right and wrong.  And then, who could we get as Secretary of State . . . oh I know, Trevor Noah. And then maybe John Oliver as Secretary of Defence?? And Larry Wilmore as Secretary of Education. Oh such fun.  So take it from there folks. Get your thinking gear operational and begin to reconceive the American Government. That will make such fun in, oh, how about 2023???

Yeah, take it away 2023!!!

Ending

I was reading about a lawsuit the other day—a lawsuit in which our energy companies, the oil giants who produce much of our usable energy were being sued because they are massively contributing to Climate Change, AND because they have begun acting together in a sort of collective aimed at destroying the opposition. By denying that Climate Change is occurring and, certainly, that it has anything to do with them, they are contributing heavily to its worst effects.  Places like Puerto Rico are reaping the results of their actions:

(see recent Guardian article -- https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/dec/20/big-oil-is-behind-conspiracy-to-deceive-public-first-climate-racketeering-lawsuit-says)

It seems obvious that Climate Change is real and that the extraordinary weather we can observe almost daily is its result. And that such an ending could be the result of MONEY?? Yep, big companies care only about their money. If seeking money leads to an end to the world we have always known, that’s Life. You know, in the best tradition of: “Life’s a bitch, but then you die”.

Now that makes me want to find some method of ending these big companies.

And then I read a quizzical article called: The End of Us, by Adam Kirsch, in The Atlantic: January-February 2023. Mainly, the article talks about what they see as the Future in which The Reign of Human Beings on Earth is At An End. Now, to be fair, they don’t talk about The Ending in any specifics. That is, they are not referring to an Apocalypse, of the kind we might have envisioned during the Cold War, when the US and the Soviet Union kept waving nuclear Armageddon at each other—Behave or Else!

No, as best I can understand, they are speaking about perhaps some combination of Climate Change and a gradual diminishment of Humankind on our planet.  And, curiously, they speak of the term almost fondly.  They adopt a term, TransHumanism to describe a coming world in which Humanity gradually disappears. Oddly perhaps, both Anti and Trans Humanists see a world without humans as a matter of time. It will happen. It is only when and the manner.

Now, to be fair, I read through this article, coming away without any serious understanding of how “The Ending” might occur. It is either induced by humankind itself—through Climate Change, or some other human-induced catastrophe, or it will happen slowly (in dozens-hundreds of years rather than thousands).

So, our planet, eventually, without humans, that is, without human intelligence—just in case you’re thinking, “well, bears, and lions and mice have intelligence, so it would not be a Planet without intelligence”.  True, but I still come away from this prediction with a “Why”, or maybe a “so what”?  A planet without humans worrying about it all, seems a singularly empty gesture.  Each day, I observe the sun rising, or setting, maybe even taking its picture, and I wonder, suppose I were not here. What then? Well, then someone else will be observing and marveling at the glories of nature. Smile Richard. It’s OK.

But I continue to wonder, even as I may be smiling at something that exists in our glorious world, what after all is the point? Suppose, no one (human) was here to observe, and the “observers” were reduced to lady bugs. What then? What would be the point?  And if there is no real point, then how did this all happen? I mean, is it, are we, simply accidents of an evolutionary path? But then why is there an “evolutionary path”?  If there really was a “Big Bang”, to what end? And if there is no “End” then what are we all about? Is there a God? And, if so, why would she invent such a silly system of gestures and paradoxes?  If some idiot armed with a big gun, walks into a school and begins shooting kids and teachers, did she tell him to do that? And if not, then what the hell?  Is shooting kids in a school room the same as me taking a picture of a ladybug, i.e., equally insignificant?

See, questions, but unfortunately I am not smart enough to follow through with intelligent answers. Maybe cuz there are no actual answers that would matter.  So, God, what do you have to say about all that? “ Well I choose to say nothing, because that is the best and most honest answer”. Oh, OK God. Gotcha.

And so the game continues. And when the sun rises tomorrow, go outside and observe. Because there is no other point to our existence. Be aware. Oh, and try to Be Kind, just cuz someone else may notice and smile. And that is also the point.

Happy Holidays folks. Be safe. Stay warm, Smile, and have a glass of wine

 Coming up soon – 2023!.

America

I find myself wondering/worrying almost daily now on what has happened to America. I know, I know, I am now old by any definition. Still, what I observe simply isn’t normal by, again, any definition.

And what do I mean?  Well, for example, the idiots who shot up that power system, thereby removing all power being used by ordinary folks to heat their homes, provide lighting, refrigeration, etc.  Now what the hell is that supposed to signify? That they are opposed to elected governments? And how does taking away heating in the wintertime demonstrate that you don’t like governments? Oh, it’s that you don’t like Liberal Democratic governments. I see. Of course, Benito Mussolini, or Adolph Hitler would certainly have punished the ordinary people. Except, they didn’t. Yeah, those dudes were out to punish/eliminate specific people—Jews mainly. They would not have even considered destroying the power systems of otherwise ordinary folks.

So, all I see coming from the right wing are threats against ordinary humans who simply disagree with them. And all I can conclude is that the Right Wing is now all intent on returning us all to maybe the 5^th century, when there was no law, no governments, and even no jobs, no proper homes, no schools, no libraries.  Yeah, it would seem that our right wing wants to return us all to cave-dwelling and hunting rabbits for our dinner.

Now how the hell did that happen? Remember, the right wing used to be led by folks like Dwight Eisenhower.  Now the right wing is led by people who make Adolph Hitler look like a Liberal.

They don’t want you to be able to vote. They think it’s better to just leave that stuff to them. They will appoint your leaders.  And who do they have in mind? Why, Donald Trump, and Kari Lake, and Herschel Walker, and Marjorie Taylor Green, and the list of brainless, ethics-free pseudo-humans goes on.  Now mind you, the ones who are still in power, like Marjorie Taylor Green, were actually elected by American citizens to their roles.  Donald Trump, et al was not so elected, but he is still regarded as the leader by a very large group of Americans.  And we know this group seems to be ok with Nazi’s, so the citizens who support them must also be ok with Nazi’s.  And I now have to assume that same group of citizens is also ok with destroying the American electric power system throughout the country. Yeah, why would they want power systems? They’re so . . . 20^th century.

Now it turns out that a lot of our so-called civilized lifestyle is fragile. Yeah, idiots armed with guns can actually destroy it. And it’s not merely our power systems. With guns and lack of restraint, they could destroy public schools—yeah, they really hate educated people.  Oh and libraries. Awful things right? They actually will loan you books at no cost. You might actually be able to enlighten yourself. Well, we wouldn’t want people to become enlightened, would we?

But what is wrong here? Why does this group of citizens to our political right want ethics-free cretins to lead us?  They actually prefer an Adolph Hitler to, say Joe Biden?  See that’s where my brain gets all muddled. I simply do not understand what these folks want. And it is becoming increasingly clear that what they want might be some form of “anarchy”.  And what exactly is “anarchy”? Well, as defined in Wikipedia, “Anarchy is a society without a government. It may also refer to a society or group of people that entirely rejects a set hierarchy. Anarchy was first used in English in 1539, meaning "an absence of government." Pierre-Joseph Proudhon adopted anarchy and anarchist in his 1840 treatise What Is Property? to refer to anarchism, a new political philosophy and social movement that advocates stateless societies based on free and voluntary associations. Anarchists seek a system based on the abolition of all coercive hierarchy, in particular the state, and many advocate for the creation of a system of direct democracy, worker cooperatives or privatization.

In practical terms, anarchy can refer to the curtailment or abolition of traditional forms of government and institutions. It can also designate a nation or any inhabited place that has no system of government or central rule. Anarchy is primarily advocated by individual anarchists who propose replacing government with voluntary institutions.”

So, no government at all. No one to tell them what to do, or not to do. So, if they want to harm someone with whom they disagree, that’s ok. No one can tell them otherwise.

Now perhaps that is too harsh, since anarchies tend to be pretty brutal. Still, if the brutality does not affect you personally, maybe that’s ok with the Trumpies. I think though, that the group supporting Trump and MTG just really want to get rid of those Libs. If there were no Libs left in Government, apparently that might then be ok.

But that gross oversimplification of what the Trumpies want may yet miss the boat.  I would love it were the Trumpies to get on stage and tell us all the things they want to see and do in the form of government. Stop telling us about the people you no longer want to see in charge. Stop inventing stories about Hunter Biden, or his dad. Stop trying to send Dr. Fauci to prison. Instead, get up on a stage and begin telling the world the things you actually want to see happen after you succeed in electing your chosen leaders. What would your world look like? We desperately need you to tell us about your vision, so that we no longer need to invent fairy tales about you. Tell us your Home Truths Right Wing. Please. Now.

The Beginning of the End

Or is this the End of the Beginning? And if the latter, which “Beginning”—the Defunct Republican or the moribund Democrats? There is a current case before the Supremes now that may decide whether we all need into go into our closets and hibernate. It is a case involving States’ Rights to decide Federal election laws and standards. More specifically, it concerns the right of state legislatures to decide voting boundaries. It is my understanding that the case concerns a state gerrymandered districting plan that essentially guts the voting rights of democrats. SCOTUS will decide whether it’s ok for states alone to determine voting districts and how electors are chosen, and the Federal government or the Court system would not be allowed to intervene. Should SCOTUS agree, and there is a good chance they will, given the Trump justices, then American democracy may be at an end, along with America itself.

I am not sure how we got here. “Here” being a nation in which one of the most ignorant, corrupt humans on the planet seemingly rules over that political party that used to be controlled by thinking conservatives and ethically minded humans like Dwight Eisenhower.  Can you imagine Eisenhower belonging to this Republican Party? Hoover maybe, but Eisenhower?? Never.

And what ever happened to conservatives in America? You support people like Trump? Really? Or Herschel Walker . . . or Marjorie Taylor Green??? How pathetic you have become.  But this is where we find ourselves today. And we will know soon enough whether SCOTUS will validate this pathetic creature still known as Republicans.  If they do and uphold the right of republican state legislators to determines how the votes are cast and counted, then America will be at its end, in a way very similar to Germany in 1936.

Remember Adolph Hitler??? Yeah, that Hitler. Well, Donald Trump now leans in that direction. He actually befriended a true Neo-Nazi and invited that Nazi to dinner at MaraLago. I wonder whether Melania was there, or is she now permanently in hiding from her Neo-Nazi husband. Of course, we don’t know which way Melania leans politically, but she hasn’t divorced him . . .  yet.

Actually, I still keep waiting for some sign of awakening intelligence within republicans. But I see no signs yet. I guess, because I’m really old –87 and counting—I have great difficulty understanding how far our Nation has fallen.  I mean I don’t really remember Herbert Hoover. I was not yet onboard in 1932 while Herbert Hoover was managing the Great Crash and the seemingly endless massive Great Depression.  That Depression was so bad it continued well into Roosevelt’s first term.  And by 1936, I was only two, so no political understanding had arrived in my brain.  But by 1940, I was six and was actually beginning to understand that our world was heavily influenced by politicians, not to mention bankers.

Somehow, as awful as was that period, with the Second World War seemingly being the necessary ingredient that finally ended the Depression, America came together as a people. Partly the coming together was in response to the Depression, and partly it was a response to Nazism. See, during the 1940s, we actually rejected the Nazi’s and fought with arms to end their regime in the World.  Whereas in today’s world, we have an ex-President inviting them to dinner.  How far have the mighty fallen (with “Mighty” meaning republicans).  See, I cannot even imagine the likes of Herbert Hoover inviting a Nazi—any Nazi—to dinner at his home.

And Americans still support this Nazi-loving ex-President?? You betcha.  Oh, and they seem to like Vlad the Impaler and his war against Ukraine. Maybe that explains the recent shoot-em-up in Moore County, NC, in which Amurricans shot up a power system, emulating the Russians in Ukraine, thereby depriving American citizens of all power to their homes in the middle of the Winter.  Yep, and I’ll bet the shooters were good republicans. That’s how far the republican party has fallen. That without any data, we can imagine the perps were good republican supporters of Donald Trump.

Oh my, the Mighty really have fallen.

Wonder what’s next republicans?

What is Life?

Whenever I look out at the morning’s first light, I think about Life. And it always makes me wonder about other folks who are seeing a similar first light.  And then, later in the day, I see a notice on Facebook. Someone has posted a notice of someone famous who has now passed. Or, someone I know has posted a note about a loved family member who is now “on the other side”. And there are the frequent comments about those now-passed folks who are looking down upon us all.

And they make me wonder about Life. I concluded long ago that Life is solely about what we observe here on this place we call Earth.  That there is nothing that follows. No folks sitting gently on a cloud gazing down on us all. And when I “depart”, I will not “see” any of the people I used to hold dear. I will, in fact, no longer “see” anything or anyone.

No, nothing follows Life. Now that is a hard concept to grasp, that nothingness.  I mean, how could that be?  But, I think, what about the butterflies, or the pesky mosquitoes? When they cease to exist in life, is there a cloud somewhere, filled with butterflies, or still pesky mosquitoes?  Well, No, I conclude. There is no such place.

And so it is only (we assume) we humans that continue to pretend that something follows Life.  And we pretend that simply because the alternative is too difficult to grasp.  Now, to be fair, over the millennia, humans have developed this thing I call the Great Ponzi Scheme—or Organized Religion.  And under this scheme, not only is there something following Life here, but there is a whole entity filled with a God(s) and other extraordinary creatures who assure that our lives continue, albeit in a different form.  Now this religion thing exists so as to keep humans in line.  See, not only is there this free floating place called “Heaven”, a cloudy-filled place filled with the remnants of life here on Earth, with otherwise dead folks peering down on their still-alive friends and family, and no doubt frowning on their activities.  But also, the good inventors of Heaven also created this other place called Hell, with yet another God of sorts. Only this God, who is called Satan, is in place within his fiery domain to keep the bad folks in line, by burning them forever within the “Fires of Hell”. It has never been clear to me whether the bad dudes who are consigned to this Hellacious place have to remain there forever, or whether there is some kind of “statute of limitations’ after which the bad dudes also become elevated to the Heaven place, since they have doubtless learned their lesson. Right???

See, questions, lots of questions.

And since there are these knotty questions and no actual answers, I finally concluded that the religious scenario is simply a device to get folks to behave. See, that’s what organized religion actually is—a mechanism to get ordinary humans to behave themselves.  Oh, and the various religions also have this other characteristic—they elevate a few folks to positions above you ordinary folks, you know to supervise you. They get to call you out as a designee for Heaven or Hell. And then you get to choose whether you wish to begin behaving as the superdudes want, or you are ok with the Hell place.

Now suppose, just suppose, that no one had invented this religion thing. Or that, because it seems too silly, everyone on Earth simply ceased believing in it. What might happen then? You know, you awakened one morning and discovered that everyone had finally decided that there is no Heaven and, more to the point, there is no Hell. And then folks began behaving accordingly.  What would that be like?? Whoa Richard, what are you thinking? That would be terminally awful, right?  I mean, were there no payment at the end, would folks not begin behaving so as to achieve all the good stuff while they are still here?  And if there is no penalty box at the end should you misbehave, would that not prompt everyone to begin behaving badly?? Isn’t that the explanation for Donald Trump???  He behaves like a cretin precisely because he believes there is only a payment or a penalty here on Earth, and that nothing he does here will follow him after he ceases to exist? Hmmm, that could be troublesome. Suppose that conclusion led to the creation of thousands, maybe even millions of Donald Trumps. How awful would that be?

Well, that would indeed be awful.  Humankind can only afford to tolerate so many Donald Trumps in one lifetime.  I mean, I have been alive since 1934, and I have experienced Adolph Hitler, and Donald Trump, and Vlad the Impaler Putin, and Donald Trump, and even Ronald Reagan, and Richard Nixon, not to mention Donald Trump.

Would my Father have been better behaved had he believed that Nothing follows Life?  Well, it is by no means clear that he would have behaved worse, so maybe that question answers itself.  The fact is, whether he believed in a God and that Heaven and Hell thing, he behaved really badly. So, the promises of organized religion failed utterly to dissuade him from acting badly.  Now to be fair, he did not behave so as to kill people like Adolph, or even to cheat people like Donald Trump. No he simply failed at the promises of a decent life.  And what are those promises? Well:

·         After you are created, it is incumbent on you to educate yourself to the best of your ability, so as to understand the world in which you live;

·         As you mature, it is a good thing to consider forging a relationship with someone with whom you might share your time here on Earth;

·         Generally, it is a wise thing to try to secure some method to acquire the resources generally needed to live a pleasant life, as long as you are here;

·         Assuming you succeed in creating other living creatures, it is better to be kind to those creatures and to at least try to pass on what you know concerning how to exist peaceably and well;

·         Concepts such as Love and Helpfulness to others will come to you as you age, and you are encouraged to accept them and to act on their promises;

·         Generally, it is accepted that being kind and helpful to others creates a more just and pleasant world, so you are encouraged to act accordingly.

So, without religion, would Wars increase or decrease?  We cannot know, can we? But I believe that the evidence we have at our disposal at least suggests that the presence of the Heaven or Hell thing dissuades no one from attempting to control others via warfare, and that without religion, it is at least conceivable that War would not increase. Why? Well, I now believe that religion acts to convince certain people that they have the backing of God to act the way they do. At least rhetorically, they are able to claim that mantle. Hitler claimed that Jews were responsible for all the problems of Germany and that he could restore Germany if given the power to destroy all the Jews in his land.  That is one definition of Evil, but he employed the designation of religious groupings to claim a right to power. Now Donald Trump, on the other hand, simply promises the body faithful that he will assure their place in history. They will gain power so long as the folks give him their power as the leader of their pack. Now, to be fair, all political leaders promise something similar, but not all appeal directly to organized religion.

Now it is not the case that Trump, or even Hitler made explicit claims that religious groups, Christians for example, were his central authority base, and that he asserted his power directly from God.  Rather, folks like him recognize that humans tend to organize themselves into groupings, some of which have a religious orientation. But mainly, he sees that the people have themselves created a group and that, if he promises to deliver some power to those groups, he will himself gain power.

I suppose that, lacking religion, humans would still create groups, but those groups might not have the aura of power. If you create a group that is based on being a family member, there is kinship presence but not much in the way of power.  Now, to be fair, if you create or join a group because you are White, you might begin to corrupt that simple premise of skin color into a “We are better then you” mentality. Humans do so love to express themselves that way, don’t they? And again, that mentality can/will express itself eventually into some form of power corruption.

So, even without religion, humans might well become as power-mad as with religion. But it is at least conceivable that humans might not all do such a thing. Maybe even more than now, humans might begin rejecting the power trips, and begin treating other humans as, simply, other humans.  At least that is my premise. Give Love a chance could be a new slogan of humans.  And maybe politicians would be forced to inform us about what issues they plan to address through legislation, rather than which groups they plan on suffocating. That might be nice, huh?

But I know, I’m just being simple-minded. Most folks seem to prefer the power of religious bigotry. I have given it up, not that I ever had much to begin with. Maybe I should give many thanks to my entire family for never forcing me to adopt the rigorous rules of organized religion. And for never teaching me that I was better than other folks who in some way were different from me.  Yeah, we’re all just humans living on this planet for a very brief time. And then we are gone forever. Let us hope we are remembered for the good things we did for others.

So, Be Kind. Peace bro.

Being 88

How many of you sleep 6 or 7 hours at least when you go to bed at night? Somehow, after I passed by maybe 85 or 86, my sleep habits became . . . at best problematic. What do I mean by that? Well, I go to sleep (WE go to sleep) sometime before 10 each night. Occasionally we might be awake between 10 and 11, but mostly not.  And then, I awaken, thinking it’s 4 or 5, but it turns out that it’s maybe 10:30 or 11.  Then I return to sleeping, only to awaken at maybe 2:30 – 3:00. And then, it’s every half to ¾ of an hour until sometime near 5- 5:30. And then sleep escapes out the window and I make believe until about 6 – 6:15, when I finally declare it quits.  If something untoward occurs during the night, like the other night when the heavens opened up and poured water down upon our house for about an hour, then my “sleep” is gone, because I’m thinking about whether the basement is flooding.  Now that’s the other thing. One of the things that often keeps me from returning to sleep is that my brain suddenly begins thinking about something, like, Oh I have to begin raking the leaves sometime tomorrow.

Now mind you, when I was “young” (any age below say 60), I used to be able to sleep til 8 or 9, unless I had set the alarm clock (remember those??).  Course, I also used to be able to go to dinner, have a gin and tonic (or two), then some nice wine with dinner, and maybe a brandy after dinner, and still walk away from the table and drive home.  Yeah, remember those days???  Now it’s a beer or a glass of wine with dinner and then driving very carefully home.  Yeah, such fun.

Now to be fair, I can still rake and sweep/blow all the leaves away from our drive, and cut back our now overgrown hibiscus and lantana bushes, and still manage to walk back into the house without collapsing in a heap. Oh, I’m tired and even a bit achy, but basically ok.  Happily, we decided we would not have a lawn, and so we have bushes and ivy growing instead (we actually DO NOT OWN A LAWNMOWER). And yes, the control freaks masquerading as “master gardeners” probably all hate what I quaintly call my “garden”, I love it.

But all of these are simply quirks of the aging process. Yeah, yeah, I’m probably a classic “cranky old man” (it’s how I refer to my blog by the way), but still I have managed to continue to lead a normal life and maintain fairly normal relationships with friends and neighbors.  But ever since the arrival of the “bad old days”, you know the Days of Donald Trump and his MAGAHeads, I have begun to wonder about my cognitive abilities. I simply can no longer even pretend to understand how theoretically thinking human beings could even pretend to support, no less vote for some of these cretins who now have begun populating the Halls of our Congress.  And with the midterms now nearly over, my brain is close to simply shutting down.  Think – “ordinary humans” actually re-elected Marjorie Taylor Greene. But how could that be?? She gave herself away with her first two years—Jewish Space Lasers are the cause of California’s wildfires??? Really, you said that and then didn’t back away with a big laugh??? And that Herschel Walker dude, who keeps pretending publicly that he is what he isn’t.  I’m only surprised that he hasn’t yet claimed to be the first man on the moon.  Now, he’s Black, so I assume he gets some votes for that, but unfortunately for him, so is his opponent, Raphael Warnock. And even more unfortunate for Walker, Raphael Warnock seems a man of normal intelligence and even in possession of an ethical and thoughtful brain.  And then there’s that dreadful pseudohuman running for governor of Arizona – Kari Lake. From Wiklpedia:

“Lake returned to Arizona in 1999 and became an evening anchor for KSAZ-TV (Fox 10 Phoenix). While at KSAZ, Lake interviewed President Barack Obama in 2016 and President Donald Trump in 2020.

In her last years working in the media, Lake shared false and unverified information on social media, prompting criticism^[3] and acquiring a reputation as a provocateur.^[11] In 2018, she opposed the Red for Ed movement, which sought more funding for education through strikes and protests, claiming that movement was a "big push to legalize pot"; she later apologized for the statement (saying that she "made an incorrect conclusion") and, according to the station's regional human resources director, subsequently took an unexpected month-long leave from her position at the station. In July 2019, Lake was caught on "hot mic" footage promoting her account on the web platform Parler. She shared COVID-19 misinformation on Twitter and Facebook in April 2020. Lake's statements and actions made her a divisive figure among colleagues in her last years at the station.

In March 2021, she announced her departure from KSAZ, one day after FTVLive, a television news industry site, published a video clip of Lake at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Orlando; the website questioned whether Lake was there as a journalist or as a member of a movement. In June 2021, she announced her campaign for governor.

So isn’t voting for Lake somewhat akin to voting for Fucker Carlson??? I mean, Arizona folks, how could you???

And then, of course, Ronnie DeSantis won his claim to Florida’s governorship. Floridians apparently don’t care who they elect, since apparently the state will soon be totally under water and it will no longer matter.

Now throughout this mess of an election, the braindead Donald sits presiding over the now moribund Republican party (yeah, keep on rolling Ike). He is now tantalizing his faithful by promising to be their president again.  Course, he may just be promising to be the president of the MaraLago Braindead Contingent, his latest creation.  But he does keep them panting hard awaiting his next arrival at their door to collect his dues.

So, I’m having increasing difficulties maintaining my brain function. Apparently brains, when presented continually with bizarre images and tales, begin to falter and even imagine that weird events are the “new normal”.  So, along with Climate Catastrophe, our new Political shitstorm now every two years, my brain has begun wondering whether I have moved suddenly to maybe Mars??

Or maybe, I am in some time warp and have returned to the past. Who knows, maybe I am now German and it’s 1936 and Adolph is now yelling at us all about the need to Make Germany Great Again. See that’s what happens when you apply too much stress to an aging brain?

So see you on our lovely planned trip on that wonderful Titanic. Won’t it be fun???

Angry Politics

I’m not sure why, but I really thought the hate might begin to dissipate by now.  I have been observing elections since the 1952 election.  I was too little and way too ignorant to understand or even think about the Roosevelt and then Harry Truman years.  So I don’t have any understanding of our republic’s politics during and just following WW II.  It seemed like the public loved Roosevelt, even to the point of electing him to a third term. Now, to be fair, the country had gone through a Hellscape from roughly 1929 and the crash, until the end of World War II.  Maybe republicans went along because the alternative was too much to bear thinking about.

And then they nominated our Hero First Class, Dwight Eisenhower. However good and however smart might have been Adlai Stevenson, he was never going to beat Dwight Eisenhower, the man who had led the Nation to victory.  Yes, we had a President during that same period, and folks loved him, but Ike was the War Hero.

And so, we switched from a Democrat to a Republican. But after his second term, the republicans ran out of gas, and we had run into the 1960s. Remember the 60s?? Yeah, and John F. Kennedy. Although elected by a very small majority, he was young and smart, and the Nation looked to him to lead.  In his inaugural address he dazzled the Nation. From the JFK Library:

“What many consider to be the most memorable and enduring section of the speech came towards the end when Kennedy called on all Americans to commit themselves to service and sacrifice: “And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.” He then continued by addressing his international audience: “My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.”

Having won the election by one of the smallest popular vote margins in history, Kennedy had known the great importance of this speech. People who witnessed the speech or heard it broadcast over television and radio lauded the new President. Even elementary school children wrote to him with their reactions to his ideas. Following his inaugural address, nearly seventy-five percent of Americans expressed approval of President Kennedy.”

And then, the troubles began anew. 1963 . . . I remember it well. Here, again from the JFK Library, a brief summary of that awful event:

“The president (had) addressed Democratic gatherings in Boston and Philadelphia. Then, on November 12, he held the first important political planning session for the upcoming election year. At the meeting, JFK stressed the importance of winning Florida and Texas and talked about his plans to visit both states in the next two weeks. 

Mrs. Kennedy would accompany him on the swing through Texas, which would be her first extended public appearance since the loss of their baby, Patrick, in August. On November 21, the president and first lady departed on Air Force One for the two-day, five-city tour of Texas.

President Kennedy was aware that a feud among party leaders in Texas could jeopardize his chances of carrying the state in 1964, and one of his aims for the trip was to bring Democrats together. He also knew that a relatively small but vocal group of extremists was contributing to the political tensions in Texas and would likely make its presence felt—particularly in Dallas, where US Ambassador to the United Nations Adlai Stevenson had been physically attacked a month earlier after making a speech there. Nonetheless, JFK seemed to relish the prospect of leaving Washington, getting out among the people and into the political fray.

The first stop was San Antonio. Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson, Governor John B. Connally, and Senator Ralph W. Yarborough led the welcoming party. They accompanied the president to Brooks Air Force Base for the dedication of the Aerospace Medical Health Center. Continuing on to Houston, he addressed the League of United Latin American Citizens, and spoke at a testimonial dinner for Congressman Albert Thomas before ending the day in Fort Worth.

Morning in Fort Worth

A light rain was falling on Friday morning, November 22, but a crowd of several thousand stood in the parking lot outside the Texas Hotel where the Kennedys had spent the night. A platform was set up and the president, wearing no protection against the weather, came out to make some brief remarks. "There are no faint hearts in Fort Worth," he began, "and I appreciate your being here this morning. Mrs. Kennedy is organizing herself. It takes longer, but, of course, she looks better than we do when she does it." He went on to talk about the nation's need for being "second to none" in defense and in space, for continued growth in the economy and "the willingness of citizens of the United States to assume the burdens of leadership."

The warmth of the audience response was palpable as the president reached out to shake hands amidst a sea of smiling faces.

Back inside the hotel the president spoke at a breakfast of the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce, focusing on military preparedness. "We are still the keystone in the arch of freedom," he said. "We will continue to do…our duty, and the people of Texas will be in the lead."

On to Dallas

The presidential party left the hotel and went by motorcade to Carswell Air Force Base for the thirteen-minute flight to Dallas. Arriving at Love Field, President and Mrs. Kennedy disembarked and immediately walked toward a fence where a crowd of well-wishers had gathered, and they spent several minutes shaking hands.

The first lady received a bouquet of red roses, which she brought with her to the waiting limousine. Governor John Connally and his wife, Nellie, were already seated in the open convertible as the Kennedys entered and sat behind them. Since it was no longer raining, the plastic bubble top had been left off. Vice President and Mrs. Johnson occupied another car in the motorcade.

The procession left the airport and traveled along a ten-mile route that wound through downtown Dallas on the way to the Trade Mart where the President was scheduled to speak at a luncheon.

The Assassination

Crowds of excited people lined the streets and waved to the Kennedys. The car turned off Main Street at Dealey Plaza around 12:30 p.m. As it was passing the Texas School Book Depository, gunfire suddenly reverberated in the plaza.

Bullets struck the president's neck and head and he slumped over toward Mrs. Kennedy. The governor was shot in his back. 

The car sped off to Parkland Memorial Hospital just a few minutes away. But little could be done for the President. A Catholic priest was summoned to administer the last rites, and at 1:00 p.m. John F. Kennedy was pronounced dead. Though seriously wounded, Governor Connally would recover.

The president's body was brought to Love Field and placed on Air Force One. Before the plane took off, a grim-faced Lyndon B. Johnson stood in the tight, crowded compartment and took the oath of office, administered by US District Court Judge Sarah Hughes. The brief ceremony took place at 2:38 p.m.”

I was traveling from our home in San Francisco to my headquarters office in Cambridge, MA that day. As I left the plane, I rented a car and began driving from the Boston airport to Cambridge. As I arrived at our Cambridge HQ, the announcer spoke those fateful words. “The President is dead!” And I sat in the parking lot, unable to move. Eventually, I entered our offices, and found that no one was even able to speak, so shocked were they all.

And, for me, that marked the end of a period of non-hostile politics in America.  As we moved into the Johnson era, Vietnam appeared on our radar screens.  And Left and Right politics began becoming angrier. Marches, and riots began to define our politics.  And we entered a period of divisive leaders—think Johnson, Nixon, Reagan, and the Bush boys.  Yes, we had Jimmy Carter for a brief period. But Jimmy was seemingly too mild—bright, sunny even, but not up to capturing the mood of the American public.  He stood no chance against Reagan, who divided as only Donald Trump has done since that time.  Yes, we managed to get a bright, honest, ethical guy in the form of Barack Obama. And he inspired many millions. But he also angered millions. He was Black, remember?? And our Nation’s pool of angry White folks was growing every year. Mainly, I think, the pool of angry white folks grew because they perceived a loss of power by White people.

And then we acquired The Donald as President—yeah that Donald, the Trump.  And the evil and the Hate began pouring out of every pore in America.  And that dark mood began permeating our political system, mainly I think by corrupting the language and the mood of one of our parties—the Republicans.  Hate began defining the actual ideology of the entire party.  And the people who hated voted their consciences by electing folks like Marjorie Taylor Greene, and Lauren Bohbert, Josh Hawley, and Steve Gaetz, and the list goes on and on. Republicans like Liz Cheney who want to hold the powerful to account, regardless of which party they represent, began to be the exception.

And we entered a period that now begins to resemble 1936 Germany, that period when Germany folded up its Democracy and elected Adolph Hitler.  America now seems poised to repeat that sad story. It is not necessarily the case that we seem bent on electing another literal Adolph Hitler, i.e., someone who will authorize the murder of millions of Jews or other people deemed undesirable. But instead, we seem bent on nominating and (ugh) electing more people of the Donald Trump ilk--i.e., ignorant, corrupt, full of Hate. Think Herschel Walker, or Mehmet Oz, or Kari lake—people who will deny the legitimacy of the election should they lose, and even mount campaigns of violence to overthrow legitimately elected people.

And then we have the various conspiratorial agents, like QANON that spew lies and hate, in attempts to organize otherwise normal Americans into cabals practicing hate and even thuggery.  Think the attack on Paul Pelosi in San Francisco. Think also the sudden arrival at polling places of armed thugs who intend to frighten away legitimate voters.

All of these actions could be stopped by the Republican Party, except that the Republican Party is now a dead institution. That party of Dwight Eisenhower no longer exists. In its place, and claiming the name Republican, is an institution led by the equivalent of an organized crime gang, with Donald Trump, Mitch McConnell, Kevin McCarthy, and dozens of equivalents. That someone like Liz Cheney, a republican of the old school, could actually take on this crowd never ceases to amaze me. She is a wonder. But she is also increasingly a loner.

Should this group take control of our government, America may be finished as a functioning Democracy. Remember they seem to already control SCOTUS.

So please do VOTE folks. It is your right, and your duty as Americans. VOTE these thugs out of power. Then perhaps America can begin to work on “fixing” SCOTUS—12 justices anyone???

So VOTE ON PLEASE.

The Beginning of the End???

I guess I really don’t understand. I am so tired of seeing articles, or social media postings about total idiots like Herschel Walker or Marjorie Taylor Greene, or some other fool the republicans are thrusting into our midst via our government.  I mean, I knew such fools existed. Every country has idiots in its midst. I don’t know, what’s your guess . . . the world’s population is made up of 20-25% subhuman idiots, who, in addition to having few active brain cells, are thoroughly nasty, corrupt, dishonest, and even murderous at heart.  Look at Russia, led by that murderous thug, Vladimir Putin.  And Brazil, with their Jair Bolsonaro who seems bent on destroying the entire Amazon Rain Forest.

But, until recently, I thought America was actually different. I know, I know, we had people like Nixon, Shrub, and Reagan, destroyers all. But somehow, they never destroyed our entire society. Nobody spoke of “are we going to have another Civil War” when those dudes were in charge.  It was as though we knew somehow we had made a mistake in electing them and we changed course and then moved on.  But even though we might have disagreed with one another, we never decided to just destroy everything our Nation stands for.

But now, all of a sudden, not only do we seem to disagree among ourselves,  but we have grown to actively hate one another. And, at least republicans, we are now nominating complete idiots to run our government. Why would we do that? Because we hate government??? So, you hate government and then, because of that, you decide you will try to elect the worst people in our Land to run the government you say you hate???? And that would be wise because??

So you want our Congress filled with idiots the like of Herschel Walker, Lauren Boebert, Josh Hawley, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Matt Gaetz, Marco Rubio, and the gang supervised by Donald J Trump?? And that will make our lives happier and more productive?? Really? Or maybe that would just manage to piss off all the Libtards in our country. Well, yes, it would doubtless do exactly that.  And then what?

Well, then we have to contend with at least four years of a fearsome, completely incompetent government. During the Reagan years, an attempt was made to implement “Supply-Side” economics, by reducing taxation in the hopes of spurring economic development. According to one report,

“The triumph of politics and what (David) Stockman called the “fiscal error” that went with it spawned a new monster which would come to occupy center stage in policy debate: the deficit and the Federal debt. Between the beginning and the end of the Reagan presidency, the annual deficit almost tripled.  So did the Gross National Debt—from $995 billion or $2.9 Trillion. Or, as Reagan and Bush administration official Richard Darman put it, “in the Reagan years, more Federal debt was added than in the entire prior history of the United States.” (Reaganomics: excerpt from Commanding Heights by Daniel Yergin and Joseph Stanislaw, 1998 ed., pp. 341-342.

Whatever side you come down on regarding the Reagan experiment with Supply-Side Economics and the “Laffer Curve”, we must at least acknowledge that Reagan was attempting to implement policies he believed would benefit the country, even if in fact they failed at that goal. Whereas today, no such claim can be made for the likes of Donald Trump. And with people like Herschel Walker attempting to gain that center stage, we cannot even be clear regarding anything like “policies” because such people seem to barely speak our language.  Now, when Greene argues that Jewish Space lasers are responsible for our Western forest fires, we are unsure whether she is attempting humor, or she is simply that stupid. And similar, perhaps worse attempts at communicating with us in absurdist language continue to emanate from Walker.

But given someone’s absurd background, like Walker, will the republican voters actually show up to vote for him? He paid for at least several abortions, so will the Evangel anti-abortion crew actually show up to vote for him? Well, the answer seems to be YES, they will. But how can that be??

Well, apparently republican voters have changed over the last several years. They used to have standards of ethics and morality. They used to at least pretend to follow facts and The Truth. Now, somehow, that is all gone. If someone is running on a republican ticket, the voters no longer care about reality. They will vote YES for that person. I am now beginning to sense what 1936 Germany must have been like. Because, whether we are engaged at the beginning of an actual second Civil War or not, we are certainly in the early stages of an effort to destroy our Nation’s entire system of governance.  We may be moving into a Nation like Iran, with an autocratic leader and a thoroughly corrupt religious order that will govern us.

It is entirely unclear to me how we arrived at this awful juncture.  But here we are.  And the question that remains in my mind is, ”Is there any reasonable solution?”  Well, I always assume that voting is our solution of choice.  But given our choices on the ballot, I begin to wonder. Suppose 1936 Germany had whatever is on your Democratic Ballot, vs. Hitler and his Nazi colleagues. And, I know, I know, all republican candidates are not Nazi’s. But they do seem to have no standards of ethics or morality. I mean, Herschel Walker??? Marjorie Taylor Greene??? Donald Trump??? And republican voters will actually cast their votes for these cretins.  I see no movement within that party to rebel against these terminally awful candidates.  Remember those long-gone days??? Dwight Eisenhower v. Adlai Stevenson.  Sigh . . . Will they ever come again? Or are we headed into an American version of the Ayatollah’s Iran?? We’ll see. The ball is now in your hands American voters.

Crazy America

 I am beginning to run out of words concerning what I see almost daily in our American political system, mainly the weird characters who are running as republicans. I mean, when I was a lot younger, I actually worked for a time in the government under Ronald Reagan. I had begun working for Jimmy Carter, but then he lost and the Reagan thing entered our scene. Not only did he invite an awful cast of characters into his government, but he personally seemed so completely empty-headed. I actually left government after several years under Reagan, because I was afraid I might go brain-dead.

But Ronald Reagan now seems like just a normal American political leader now.  Reagan, Nixon, Shrub, all seemingly awful, now completely normal citizen-politicians.  When I read about Herschel Walker, who seems to lie about everything—really, everything—I wonder about our future. Of course, how could he compete with equating California wildfires with their cause—Jewish Space lasers??? But Walker, not unlike Trump actually, tells lies that can so easily be discovered that one must wonder about either his intellect, or his utter disdain for we the voting public.

And in the case of republican politicians, I now believe that both issues are present. One of the things Donald Trump left behind is his belief that he could tell his believers anything, however mindless, and they could continue to support him. Perhaps his best effort was his voiced belief that he could take a gun, go out on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, shoot someone at random, and his supporters would continue yelling their support.  Now, whatever we think of St. Ronald of Reagan, I cannot even imagine him saying something that terminally stupid.  But, more to the point, Trump, unlike Reagan, was likely correct—his supporters would indeed continue shrieking their support.

And that is what now troubles me beyond belief. Something has happened in America that now foretells a dark future for our formerly great Nation.  That old notion of someone letting all the (choose your awful character-- drunks, racists, crazy people, stupid people) out of their closet, is now happening. 

But why?

Is it Fox News? Well, Maybe?

Perhaps it is happening as many say. That social media and Fox News are together bringing out all the anger in America, and that anger is somehow attracting stupid people to volunteer for service in that government that all the angry people hate.  Now, to be fair, “volunteering for service in the government” is a search for a highly paid job with great public visibility -- $174,000/year at last count. Now most of the crazed people seeking such “service” could not make that much in the private sector. Well, I suppose Herschel Walker makes that and more, but he seeks the job because of the public visibility he will get.

Also, and this is important, Donald Trump raised the hopes of stupid people everywhere. I mean, if he could become president, with all that potential for graft and corruption, then so could anyone.  Still, something else seems to be going on in America.  I am currently reading Andy Borowitz’s book, “Profiles in Ignorance”. In it, he recounts America’s experience with stupid people in our presidency—Reagan, Bush, Trump certainly, and their cast of supporting characters—remember Dan Quayle?? God help us all cried Tiny Tim. It would seem that America specializes in attracting stupid people into our government. And never more so than now, when they are collectively attracted to these high levels by Fox News and Social Media. Why does Fox News attract the stupid people? Well, because Rupert Murdoch seems to think, correctly so it would seem, that stupid/crazy people are more attracted to rich people than smart people.  So, if Rupert and his cadre of highly paid pseudo-Nazi staff can shine lights on the stupid/crazy people, they will attract votes and then they will support tax cuts for the rich, and service cuts for the poor.

Now, in the final analysis, it still matters that ordinary folks have to cast their ballots for the Herschel Walkers, and Marjorie Taylor Greens of the world. Otherwise, those folks won’t get elected. But one of the problems today is that many of our smarter folks, young people especially, are drifting away from things called elections.  They’re too busy whacking away at each other on social media.  So, how do we get them back, voting? Maybe we need “Get Out the Vote” campaigns and rallies, or door-to-door campaigning. Or maybe the young folks just need to awaken, open their eyes, and read a real newspaper, or watch/listen to some real news (think PBS/NPR). Their only realistic alternative it seems, is a permanent move to, say New Zealand. So, how about it folks? You really need to get out and vote and please, VOTE OUT the STUPID/CRAZY REPUBLICANS. They are trying to destroy America. Don’t let them.

The On-Off Switch

 I wrote a while back about someone throwing on the Climate Change Switch. It seemed as though we no longer got “normal” weather events. Instead, if it turned “warm”, the temperatures hit 95-100 instead of 80 – 85. If it “rained” the heavens opened up and we would get torrential downpours.  And now, we were so fortunate, with Ian barely passing us by, but leaving our area still pretty ok. But think Florida.

And yet, I observe still no concerted plan of action to combat Global Climate Change. It’s as though we know the Nazi’s are coming to invade us by boat, but we’re sitting around drinking our morning coffee, saying, “Oh they won’t be here for quite a long while. We have plenty of time. Have another cup of java.”

Are we really so captured by the fossil fuel rich owners that we have lost all sight of tomorrow? I understood, when the threat was 50-75 years away, that we would put off any immediate plans. But now, we seem not to understand that, not only are we destroying the futures of our grandchildren, but we may actually be destroying our own futures.

I am really old—87 and counting. I have already outlived all of my close relatives—grands, parents, siblings, aunts and uncles. Yeah, yeah, I’m that old. And each day, I look forward to all the little things that our lives offer us.  We sit by our pond with a nice, homemade cappuccino, and we toss some food out to our little Koi family swimming around our pond, Harriet, Nick and Nora. As they nibble away, I think, some day, not too far away, I won’t be here to toss those food pellets. And I won’t see that sun rise each morning, as I take its picture and thank the lovely morning for reappearing.

But I think also, that the sun will still arise each morning. And if the koi kids are lucky enough, someone new will sit on our bench and continue to toss out some food for them.  But then I begin thinking anew about what that changing climate will do to the entire area.  Will this area become too warm for humans to live here?  Or will the storms continue to intensify to the point that the area becomes unsafe?  And could I have a conversation with anyone important enough to actually do something to head off the worst of the possible forecasts? And might they actually take action that might preserve our environment?

And then I thought about that recent NASA program, in which they fired off a missile and caused it to collide with some vague asteroid wandering about up above us. But that was simply a test, wasn’t it?  But suppose there was an actual asteroid up there that was beaming towards us. But it might not strike us for a year. Would we do something to head it off? Well, Yes, we likely would. And why? Well, because the action we would have to take would not require us to change our attitude towards any money-producing entities. See, that’s the clue. If taking action to head off an approaching asteroid might require us to stop producing coal, or to cease production of gas-powered vehicles, then we would likely just open another bottle of nice wine and pretend that the disaster likely will not happen for such a long time, that we need not actually do anything.

See, it’s money that controls everything. Well, money and organized religion.  But in this case, money is the damaging entity.  And when I think about that, I begin to understand that humans are a deeply flawed species.  If there were actually a God up there somewhere, humans would be her biggest mistake. Although humans are full capable of acting to preserve the world around us, we are also so mentally flawed that we are as likely to avoid taking action as to actually do something intelligent. 

Think Vladimir Putin, or Donald Trump, or Adolph Hitler. Think Mitch McConnell, or Amy Coney Barrett, or Ron DeSantis, all deeply flawed humans, fully capable of acting to destroy humankind.  And why are all these deeply flawed, and evil humans in positions that allow them to prevent intelligent preventive actions by less flawed humans? Well, mainly because the not-so-deeply-flawed humans actually asked them to take charge of our world, ignoring their potential for permanent harm. Yep, we put them there folks. And now, we are being forced to sit around like dinosaurs, awaiting that fateful asteroid called Climate Change to bang into our little planet.  We could throw them all aside in that thing called an election. But will we?? Who knows?  Even the Shadow likely doesn’t know. Stay tuned, those election thingies are almost upon us again. We will see how stupid the remaining humans are.

 

Waiting for Godot, or God

 Ever since I wrote that piece about someone throwing the Climate Change “ON” switch, I have begun feeling like “Waiting for God” is the most likely description of ME.  I wish it were “Waiting for Godot”.

But two things seem to have settled in around everyone at least in America. First, Climate Change is real, and now seems deadly. And second, The Republican Party is dead and it has been taken over by some neo-Nazi clique.  The awful realization that has now taken over my brain is that both of these things are now permanent and may prove fatal to everyone in America.  We may in fact have destroyed the Nation within which we had hoped to see our kids, grandkids and even great grandkids mature and live happily.

When I was younger, I always assumed the best. That if one political party or the other became seemingly errant and potentially destructive to our Nation (see Reagan, or Nixon, or George W. Bush), they would soon be voted out of office and the people would regain some semblance of reality and maturity. And Climate?? Well, the Climate was always changing, not only seasonally, but from one year to the next.  One year we would have horrendous hurricanes, the next not so much.  One year, it would snow like we all lived in the Arctic, and then the snow would give way to daffodils.

And then, slowly it might seem, we began reading that we were facing a bigger Climate Change scenario, one that would literally give us a totally new game. Except, this game might kill us. But not to worry, it was going to be a while before that kicked in and we still had plenty of time to mount corrective measures. We would be fine.

And then, well, nothing happened. Everyone still wanted their gasoline engines, or their coal-fired furnaces. We still continued cutting down forests. Emissions controls??? Heavens, No, what are you thinking? That would require us to change our lifestyles and maybe even change the way we allocated resources.

But, you know, we sent some dudes off to the Moon in a fiery rocket thing. And they actually sent us some cool pics back.  And, of course, we continued killing one another in one war after another.  Turns out Wars are not good for the environment either.  And since I was born, we’ve had World War II, Korea, Vietnam, the endless Middle East killing fields, and the list goes on. We do seem to love killing one another.  And think of all the dudes killed in those wars. Some of them might have wanted us to engage in Emissions Control approaches. Who knows? Crazier things have happened.

And then there’s our politics, speaking of killing machines. We have always had kind of a weird system.  We moved away from the Royal-Kingly systems.  For some reason, we thought giving the power to select our government leaders to the people was better than having kings and queens selected randomly by a few dudes and dudettes. That remains an outstanding question with no serious answer.

But at least we seemed able to stumble along.  And then we moved into, of all things, a new millennium.  And we battled along, and then, and then, we elected a Black President, Barack Obama by name. And he was a wonder. He actually was capable of rational thought. I know, what a concept huh, a president who could think? And he governed as a wonder also. We (well some of us) loved having this man as President. It gave hope that this country had finally left the Civil War behind.

And then, who the Fuck did we elect??? Donald Trump???? We were given a choice—an intelligent woman (who happened to be married to Bill Clinton), or a corrupt, thoroughly incompetent Donald Trump. Note please, he had never succeeded at anything in life. He had experienced six bankruptcies, with more to follow, three marriages, two failed and a third showing every sign of repeat failure.  He had cheated to stay out of the military—fake “bonespurs”.  Oh, and his daddy seems to have been a literal Nazi. What a guy. And the American people actually voted for him rather than Hillary.  However imperfect you might have thought Hillary—compared with old Bonespurs, she seems a total high IQ saint. Maybe we should have elected her Queen.

Happily, Bonespurs was so terrible that he only lasted one term, with old Joe Biden kicking him out of office. And then, perhaps predictably, old Bonespurs began pretending the election was flawed and he had actually won. He even tried to get various state officials to appoint different electors to appoint him President.  Amazing really.

But beyond his astonishing and ongoing acts of corruption, lying, attempts to steal the election, somehow, he converted his gang of supporters from just ordinary disgruntled republican voters into something different. Just to show how they cared, they stormed our Capitol, with killings as part of their act, and that group now symbolized the opposition forces, led by Trump.  And that violent group continues to this day to dominate the opposition party. We should no longer call them republicans. But the Republican Party of old (think Eisenhower) finally died, and was taken over by old Bonespurs’ Neo-Nazis.  They really need a new name. They resemble the Christian Taliban. Maybe someone can “Americanize” that term.

And so now we have two opposing political parties, one of which—the TrumpAliban-is a violent, corrupt group who do not mind killing people to get their way. Really, think Afghan Taliban for this group.

And now we seem to have gone beyond some point of No Return on Climate Change (it will continue worsening regardless of what we do), and we have a criminally violent political party, led by Donald Trump, trying to destroy America. What could go wrong, huh?

So we are left with this question. Is it still possible to pull back from our headlong rush to throw America off the cliff? Does anyone have any braking mechanism? We will gain some vital clues during this upcoming 2022 election. If Donald Trump succeeds, then our world may finally be finished and we will be headed off the cliff into the canyon of flames down below.  So, let’s see how this all turns out.

Smile folks, you’re on television.