Don't Hate Trump

This is such an interesting political time I cannot sit idly by and watch it unfold sans comment.  The Trump Corollary is in high gear and the impact of the presence of this man in our White House transcends simple models of conservatism and progressiveness.  He has via his own mouth and tweets diminished his possible positive impact on our country and accelerated the impact of base yearnings from those groups who are organized to hate other groups.  Undoing kindness, tolerance, understanding and unity he has poured gasoline on the fire of prejudice, hatred, intolerance and ignorance.  His staff and his party are abandoning his positions not right and left, just right, (the left never supported him).  Most interesting is his loss of support among CEO’s, the military and congressional Republicans.  There apparently is no group Trump is not capable of alienating, and unless your last name is Pence or Conway there are no individuals immune to his attack, including the mother of a murdered protester.  I know it would be safer to deal with loftier issues like Ann Coulter’s leg room on airline flights, but the effect of Trump is like the reverse of the great asteroid impact of 65 million years ago:  species we thought were long extinct have now re-emerged on the political landscape wreaking havoc in a world not prepared for their carnivorous appetites.

I believe the simple phrase, “Make America Great Again” encapsulates what we are now observing.  That phrase carried much meaning to many people in our country.  People who were discontent with progress and change and fearful of where they might stand when the smoke cleared were emboldened by that phrase.  It simply meant we are not great anymore.  We were, but we are not now.  And it means there was a time in our history when we were great.  The theory is we should return to the values and policies of those times and we will be great again.  Sadly, nowhere in our past were we as great as we were in November 2016.  The phrase has also come to mean that nothing done in the previous 8 years has merit and no one of the party of the previous 8 years has any sense.  There are two things Trump prays for at night, a Kenyan birth certificate and Clinton criminal activity verified in emails.  Neither will ever appear.

When were we great?  It appears we were great during Ozzy and Harriet, My Three Sons, Leave it to Beaver and Father Knows Best.  We were great when Anglos married Anglos, slept in twin beds, every household had a working father and a stay-at-home mom, and kids never went without a good school, good clothes and good meals.  Women knew their place.  Blacks knew their place.  Everything was fine. 

Frustrating to me is that so many things were horrible in those days.  Movies and TV did not depict real Americana.  Prejudice was institutionalized.  Women were kept under the thumb and chained to the kitchen sink.  Women were limited to clerical roles in the work place.  Bright women went to college and became nurses or teachers, service roles, not leadership positions.  Black Lists, casting couches, and separate racial bathrooms and water fountains were the realities of those days.  Children and adults with special needs were kept at home.  Pregnant women who were not married went to stay with a relative until birth.  Pregnant school girls were expelled.  No movie studio would cast a Black as a lead, nor a woman.  It was all about the handsome men and the starlets on their arms.  We were sick as a nation and blind to the notion that the phrase “all men are created equal” meant all men regardless of race and religion and gender identity; and all women. 

I think that is the America Trump wants to return.  He Rumpelstiltskinned the last 5 decades.  He awoke as Archie Bunker.  In reality, he is laughable as are the goons and family members surrounding him.  We can never return to those days and I think he must know it even if he longs for it.  I remember science fiction movies of that era and the scientists were all evil.  It was the regular guy who saved the day.  So Trump does not like science and would rather have people with no knowledge, experience, training or skill run the show.  After all, those are his characteristics.

When I think of human civilization over the past 4,000 years I recognize we have come a long way in the technology department, but not so far in the social department.  Early scientists were persecuted for announcing that the earth was round not flat, that the earth orbited the sun, not vice versa, and that life evolves.  It is only in the past 100 years or so that women have gained the right to vote and own property.  154 years ago slavery was legal in this country.  Around the world we still see women forced to cover their heads and faces and denied education, we see an active human trafficking trade, we see blatant racial discrimination and religious persecution.  We have not come so far that we cannot remember those days.

But here we have come far from the days of persecution to arrive at the days of reason and respect.  We must resist the return to those former days with everything we have.  We must confront the dinosaurs who are now apparently roaming free and let them know that their cause is not just immoral, it is extinct.  There are always those who long for what they perceive to be the good old days, but they do so with simple minds and antique memories.  Everyone who believes our best days were in the past should forfeit their cell phones and computers and Novocain.  Our hope is not in the past.  Our hope is in the future.  Don’t hate Trump.  Resist his rear view mirror vision.  Pity him.  Or better, just laugh at him.  Our future is does not lie in racism, misogyny, and anti-intellectualism.  Our best future lies with pushing the boundaries of science while expanding the civil rights of all human beings.

Hi French Readers!

Bonjour lecteurs français !

Si fier que vous lisez mon blog. Je vous remercie. Veuillez envisager après moi.

oneeyedbob

Great Again

It has taken me a while to discern what Trump’s campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again” really means.  Now, 6 months in, I have a better picture of our return to greatness.  Here are some attributes:

Every cabinet position filled by someone who either has no knowledge of the responsibilities in their area or has an ax to grind against the department they now head.  Appointment probability is improved based on familial relationship, blind loyalty and accumulated wealth.  It is a new swamp, but a dumb swamp without expertise or experience.  And, if Rick Perry overseeing our nuclear arsenal doesn’t scare you to death, there is little chance you are upset with the other appointments.

Loyalty to the President is more important than loyalty to the nation, the Constitution, the law.  Heads will roll if appointees are not mind readers or blind supporters. 

A free press is not a safeguard in a democracy, it is an enemy of the President’s agenda.  All news that is critical of the President is “fake news.”

Control of the Executive Branch and both houses of Congress is no guarantee that policy and programs can be passed.

Attacking Obama and Clinton is much more fun than defending chaos, failures and tweets.

If there is good economic news, even if it is good news because of Obama’s actions, claim it as a success.  If there is bad economic news declare such news to be “fake news” or Obama’s fault.  Same holds true regarding foreign policy.

Become the only nation on the planet that does not endorse the Paris Accords which the US initiated in the first place.

Allow gross prejudice and discrimination to return to policy level values, especially regarding immigrants, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, women’s rights, and walls.

Eliminate all the safeguards that were put in place to avoid another great recession. 

Eliminate as many safeguards as possible for workers and the environment.

Demonstrate affinity for dictators and anti-American rulers, and demonstrate discontent with our allies.  Withdraw from a world leadership role as quickly as possible.

Abandon civility. 

Abandon tradition. 

Abandon science. 

Abandon economics. 

Abandon civil rights. 

Abandon public schools and public health.

Abandon support for those that need it the most and provide benefits to those who need it the least.

Abandon transparency.  Refuse to release tax returns and reduce press conferences and briefings.  Rely on Twitter for policy and personnel announcements as well as personal quirks and interpretations of reality.

I may have missed some, but this is the new, Great America, a return to a time before we recognized that the nation was not all white, wealthy, heterosexual males and that a sense of responsibility for our fellow human beings means more than pursuit of wealth.

Too much more of this return to greatness will end us.

Trump's Rules

I love NCIS.  It occurs to me that if Trump was Gibbs he would have rules to follow:

Trump Rule #1. If evidence indicates something negative about me, attack the source.

Trump Rule #2: If evidence indicates something negative about me declare the evidence "fake."

Trump Rule #3: If evidence indicates something negative about me claim a conspiracy is afoot.

Trump Rule #4: If evidence indicates something negative about me offer other fabricated evidence. Lie.

Trump Rule #5: Fire anyone who does not support Rules 1 to 4.

Trump Rule #6: Hire anyone who is a family member.

Trump Rule #7: In areas of total lack of knowledge claim extraordinary expertise.

Trump Rule #8: Demand loyalty, right or wrong, good or bad, truth or lies.

Trump Rule #9: Offend allies and praise dictators.

Trump Rule #10: Objectify women.  Make inappropriate remarks to women perceived as either attractive or unattractive.

Trump Rule #11:  Determine the potential value of a person’s contribution by that person’s wealth, not knowledge, experience, training or philosophy.

Trump Rule #12:  To be happy dictate, discriminate, accumulate, isolate, fornicate.

Trump Rule #13: Claim Christianity but pray there really is no God.

(additional thoughts as of 7/26/17)

Trump Rule #14:  It is OK to discriminate against all humans who lack the characteristics I was born with:  Anglo, male, heterosexual.  I was born with these characteristics because I am so smart.

Trump Rule #15:  It is OK to talk about myself and my issues and my view of the world everywhere I go because everyone wants to know. My thoughts are the best thoughts.

Why is National Health Care so Difficult for Republicans?

I will confess that watching the Republicans struggle with repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act has been one of the most amusing political events I have ever observed.  It is not that Republicans are stupid.  Nor is it that these events are without serious consequence.  It is that they are attempting to accomplish something that is totally outside their nature to accomplish.  Hence the twists and turns, and dead ends, and wringing of hands, and overall angst about the notion of a Republican Health Care Plan.  Such a plan is the equivalent of a Hulk School of Charm or of a James Bond Monogamy Seminar or an Elon Musk Improved Internal Combustion Engine.  Such efforts are just the antithesis of their nature, so any and all efforts are just, well, funny.  The very phrase, Republican Health Care Plan or a Trump Health Care Plan is so oxymoronic that I giggle and squirm and miss George Carlin very much.

Republicans do not believe that the government should provide anything to our citizens much beyond military protection.  They do not believe in regulating business for the purpose of worker safety, they do not believe in monitoring our environment to eliminate hazards and long-term negative impact, they do not believe in monitoring our food and water for safe consumption, they do not believe in earned governmental benefits like Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid.  They do not believe in food subsidies for the hungry.  They do not believe in public education for the masses.  They do not believe in government providing anything other than the fertile ground on which money can be made.  So to task a group with this mindset to design and develop a national health care plan that may actually help many of our citizens is an impossible task for them.  They cannot do it without hurting someone because they do not believe they can or should help anyone.

It was oh so easy to attack the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare as they called it.  It was a boondoggle, a government giveaway, an organizational disaster, harmful to the wealthy insurance companies and more limiting for the very wealthy medical practitioners and hospitals; something that never should have happened, etc., etc.  It was oh so easy to promise to repeal this act and replace it with something better.  But now that they have won control of the Executive and Legislative branches of our government and have set their sights on controlling the Judicial branch, they are flat stuck.  How in the world could folks with this belief system ever develop a program that will help those who need it the most?  So we hear crazy talk like cut food stamps to fund health care, cut social security or Medicare or Medicaid to fund health care, etc.  In other words, they only way they can imagine providing a service or a safety net for American citizens is to take away another service or safety net.  If they can do so and have a net sum zero game, maybe they can convince the most conservative among us that they have fulfilled their campaign promise.

And I roll and giggle.

Give it up guys and gals.  You are not capable of accomplishing your commitment.  You can develop a plan that hurts everyone, and especially hurts those who need support the most, but it is impossible for you to conceive of universal health care for the citizens of the United States.  The best you could do is hire a bunch of Democrats to write the plan for you and then get behind it.  Oh yeah, we tried that once and you did not get behind it.  No worries, your own health care will be provided for you and you will not suffer from your inability to provide such a service to others.  You are safe for now.

Brand New Freedoms in the USA!

We celebrate our Declaration of Independence today and take special note of the freedoms we enjoy.  It occurs to me we have freedoms to celebrate this year we have not had in years, or ever.  Here is my list of brand spanking new freedoms in the land of the free and the home of the brave:

The freedom to judge any race or ethnicity publicly and in a pejorative way.  For the longest time we shunned bigots.  We shunned those who would describe a person from any racial or ethnic group in a stereotypical prejudicial way.  No more!  Now, led by the President himself we can make snide remarks about Hispanics, Mexican-Americans, Syrians, Iraqis, Iranians, Chinese, Saudi Arabians, etc.  So feel free to blast a religious or racial group based on your limited understanding and not be shunned by others.

The freedom to openly practice misogyny.  For the longest time we have shunned those people who looked down on women, who treated them as second-class citizens, or as mere sex objects.  Now, led by the President himself we can make all kinds of snide remarks about women and suffer no ill consequences from enlightened men or radicalized women.  We can make references to their looks, their sex appeal, their menstrual cycle, etc.  We can even joke about grabbing their genitals.  Now that every woman who supports Trump evidently is in favor of having her genitals grabbed men are much more free to treat women in ways that has never been allowed before! 

The freedom to openly criticize people with a sexual identity or sexual preference different than straight forward heterosexuality.  For the longest we have been working to treat human beings as human beings regardless of their sexual orientations.  Now, led by the President himself, we can ignore those people, deny them simply civil liberties such as adopting kids and getting married and suffer no negative consequences.  Not since Biblical times has such freedom to persecute ever been more supported by a governing body.

Companies and corporations have many more freedoms today as well.

Companies and corporate heroes can now use their own bigotry as a source of criteria for employment.  If a company opposes the existence of homosexual people or homosexual couples they can be denied employment.  Likely any company can deny employment now to women and other minorities as well.

Companies and corporate heroes can now give money without limit to political candidates they support.  And since conservative candidates are supported more by large companies than liberal candidates, conservatives have been elected in increasing numbers thanks to the unfettered gifts of wealthy conservatives.  Now this is a freedom with real benefits.  I give away millions to someone who supports the above freedoms, because they now have more money than the other candidates they win, and now the law reflects my new freedoms!  So cool.

Companies and corporations now can construct, produce and operate anything they want to without worrying about the impact to land, air, water or other living things.  What a great freedom!  We can put more people to work destroying the planet than ever before and pretend like we are not destroying the planet while maintaining our addiction to fossil fuels.  This new freedom must have come straight from the mind of God.

No, there is another new freedom that is much more likely to have come straight from the mind of God:  Companies and corporations may give any amount of money they want to a religious organization and receive tax deductions for such gifts.  Those religious organizations can now give those dollars to any candidate they choose or to support any cause they choose.  Best of all, the religious groups do not have to pay taxes themselves!  Churches remain tax exempt while funding political candidates, endorsing political candidates and aligning with certain causes.  Truly the ability for the wealthy to launder money through he church as tax exempt, allow the church to spend such money as they choose and allow the church to remain tax exempt is a new freedom inspired by all that Jesus taught.

So there you have it.  The new American freedoms we have not had before nor have we been able to celebrate before.  God Bless the USA!  Happy Fourth of July!

In Support of Maher and Griffin

I am a fan of Bill Maher and Kathy Griffin.  They are exceptionally bright showpeople, full of biting wit and often outlandish comments and behavior.  Their politics and their sense of humor may not appeal to you and that is, of course, OK.  But in the genre of funny critics of our current state few rank as high and perform as well as Kathy and Bill. 

So, I do not get the big deal over their so-called faux pas.  Did anyone really think that Kathy Griffin was actually holding the severed head of Donald Trump?  I don’t think so.  Was the gesture tasteless?  Yes.  Was it offensive to Trumpettes?  Yes.  Is it classic Griffin pushing the boundaries of humor?  Yes.  But, it was a joke, people. 

Does anyone think Bill Maher is a bigot?  I don’t think so.  His response to a Kansas senator who invited him to come to Kansas and work in the fields was, in my opinion, a funny comeback to a classic conservative remark.  This white senator implied generations of racial discrimination on American farms.  Maher’s response was quick and pointed.  In attacking that kind of thinking he amplified the point by pointing out that he was not field slave.  He was a house slave.  He used the lexicon of the Civil War.  Yes, a white man used the “N” word, but his retort was so on target, so quick that I stand amazed by the man’s mind.  He was not attacking Blacks, he was defending them.  Was his comment offensive to some?  Yes.  Was it classic Maher using shock words to wake us up to the reality behind our assumptions?  Yes.  Was he pushing the boundaries of humor?  Yes.  But, it was a joke, people.  

I am reminded of the terror attacks on Charlie Hebdo in Paris, January 2015, where Muslim extremists killed twelve people at a satirical magazine because they posted cartoons depicting Mohammed in ways they did not like.  We called such attacks terrorism.  We stood up for free press.  We honored the victims for pushing the boundaries.   We were horrified that a group would seek to harm people because they did not like the way their perspective was reflected in the media. 

So now, we want to punish Griffin and Maher for insulting the sensitivities of others?  Come on.  Supporting free speech means supporting all those examples whether we agree with them or not, whether we are offended by them or not.  Leave Kathy and Bill alone.  If you do not like them, don’t listen to them.  Otherwise, worry more about the people on our planet who cannot take a joke.