Monday, April 30, 2018

Keep building the blue wave! (#3377)

     There is a problem coming that isn't so much about policies. It is about complacency! As the summer comes around and more people are less inclined to stay focused on the issues of the day we will find our blue wave waning a bit. It is a crucial that we keep the pressure on despite the better weather of the coming season. Because all things aside, the weather will be what it is and so will the policies of our bitter rival the republican party. They will continue to dismantle all the good work of democrats for the last 2 centuries given any distraction on our part. They are like worms under a rock, the weather won't stop them from doing their creepy work.
     I know that it has been a long year and a half since trump was elected but we have about 190 days until the midterms and for us to lose momentum when it is absolutely necessary for us to have the largest wave election in history is unthinkable. Nothing about rest and relaxation is worth the utter failure of us to unseat the majorities in Congress this coming November 6th. Nothing! I know it will be hard but we cannot let our focus on the prize of a blue tsunami slip for an instant if we truly want to end the trump reign of disaster for the working middle poor class. I will be relentless in reminding us of all the damage republicans have inflicted and will inflict even more if we do not build our wave to its highest potential. I will rest and relax for a bit after November 6th but not until then.
     We cannot allow a normalization of republican politics to infiltrate our psyches. We all deserve better out of life than to be just an afterthought to republican officials. They may try to scare and terrorize us with their threats but we must not allow the bullies to win because we are afraid. Because if we act like we are afraid or are too busy doing other things, republicans will use it to their advantage in every way a bully could. They do not represent us the working middle poor class. They are not our champions! The democratic party is our champion and nothing in the world should prevent us from throwing out of office every republican everywhere there is an election. We will count our victories on November 7th but not to think and act like a total domination by us democrats is coming on November 6th would only undermine us and give republicans victories where they should have been kicked out on their asses!

Sunday, April 29, 2018

The importance of space exploration in the time of trump (#3376)

     The necessity of finding another planet for our human species to exist on is now more critical than ever. It isn't that our Earth is in imminent danger of being destroyed but instead it is not being protected from man made disasters under trump. The idea that man made climate change is a hoax and that pollution should be allowed are trump policies. So instead of a process we had been on to heal our planet from the toxic effects of the industrial revolution trump and republicans are now re-embracing those toxic effects as inconsequential. The republican party has colluded with trump to allow the worst of planet killing policies to go forward like there is no tomorrow for the rest of us.
     So the idea that our planet is going to be a safe harbor for our species and all the species that we interact with is now not being secured. So instead we who have any vision for our civilized future must make new opportunities become real. Those opportunities, short of ending the trump and republican reign over our planet Earth, must come from the outside and that is outer space. As our technology and innovation continues to expand so should our search for an inhabitable planet. It seems that trump and republicans are comfortable with the idea of either a religious rapture to take them from reality thus making our planet expendable or that they are just greedy thieves who only think of themselves while they are alive and the heck with everyone who comes after they are dead.
     Either way the neglect and disdain trump and republicans have for our planet is not to be left without us having another avenue to travel. Space exploration will hopefully give us that avenue. There are many planets being discovered that seem inhabitable. So finding a way to them and colonizing them is more safe than sorry when it comes to protecting our species. It would be a shame if we didn't use the intelligence we have evolved from our comprehensive understandings to keep our species in reality and not extinct. Having a back up plan is just one of the intelligent possibilities that I would expect from us because when it is all said and done, despite trump and republicans, we humans do have much more to live for and despite any nonsense about a rapture or just greed, we have more work and discovery to take from the unknown to make known.

Saturday, April 28, 2018

Threatening to start a nuclear war is not Nobel Peace prize worthy (#3375)

     Already trump is claiming to be the actuator of peace on the Korean peninsula. So much so that some flunky republican congressman is calling for trump to receive the Nobel Peace prize. It amazes me that a war monger like trump would all of a sudden think that he is a peace maker when all he did was threaten to kill half or more of the planet. That is not the actions of a peacemaker it is, on the contrary, the actions of a madman who is so much a bully that he doesn't care how many lives he puts in jeopardy in order to create the illusion that he isn't a coward. Then to have his acolytes reward his behavior with an award is mind numbing.
     I suppose he thinks that the ends justify the means and since he was part of the equation that somehow magically maneuvered North Korea into an agreement he is the one who made it all possible. That is the thinking of every narcissist who has ever been in a position to command. We will find out the reasons for the Korean agreement that are now not available for us to evaluate but for the trumps to claim some power over the situation is again in line with how republicans operate. They create a mess and then when it cleans up claim that it was their strategy all along. I would think that if I, a simple person with some education can see clearly how this is, that many others more learned than myself would be even more outraged at the avarice and pretense of the republican party. We all know they are craven and deceitful so why would we ever assume they are statesmen/women?
     All I know is that if somehow trump is given a Nobel Peace prize for stumbling us into near annihilation, I will be thankful for my old age and look forward to my eventual demise with little regret for not having to live longer in a reality that praises an idiot and destroys intelligence. The greatest thing in life that I admire is the intellectual comprehension we humans have evolved toward. But that no longer is our reality, when it is now that we believe that someone who lies, steals and cheats is the best we can show to represent ourselves in life!

Friday, April 27, 2018

We Democrats need to get behind the best chance of winning Democrat in every race (#3374)

     If there are two democrats running and one is better suited by their policies for that particular district or state then we must go with the one who has the best chance to unseat or fend off the republican. Like Conor Lamb in Pennsylvania, he was a much more moderate candidate, which was what was needed to win against the republican in that particular house district. Sometimes a much more liberal candidate is needed and sometimes a much more moderate candidate is needed. Each house district is different so we must match up the correct end of our democratic spectrum for each district if we are going to give republicans the boot come November 6th.
     Some say we are not being liberal/progressive enough and others say we are not being moderate enough. We cannot at this time have it one way or the other. We must carefully determine which particular candidate matches up with the voters in that particular district and advance the candidate with the best chance at victory. There is no one size fits all, it is matching the best candidate to win in whatever the perspective of the district is that we are contesting. These decisions are not easy because some districts are difficult to judge as to what is the best fit. Yet it must be done especially in states where the top two candidates move on from the primary. Like we have here in California where we have many good candidates running as democrats but with that they will dilute the vote and allow a republican or even two to move on with minimal percentage leads.
     So some democratic candidates will have to step down from running so the democratic party may move ahead with the best chance of winning. If we have learned one thing from the last election, it is that when we democrats are divided the republicans swoop in and win. So we democrats must get on the same page and do the hard work of putting our best chance of winning candidates forward whether they are progressive or moderate. Because a loss to republicans will only further destroy not only our party but our working middle poor class and give republicans more opportunities to destroy our democracy. So let's not fight on what must be done to get our party in the best position to win and remove republicans from the majority in Congress.

Thursday, April 26, 2018

The republican party worries about democrats, democrats worry about our nation (#3373)

     You see this time and again where republicans politicians talk about losing power to democrats without ever saying why. They want a war against the democratic party and spend more time "inventing" problems within our democratic party instead of discussing why the majority of Americans are turning against them. The republican party is about what it wants as it's agenda and the democratic party wants what we the American people want for our agenda. We have seen what republicans want since the election in 2016 has given them the power to activate their agenda and it does well for the wealthy but not even fair for the working middle poor class.
     Generally, the republican party only respects power and wealth, it is no surprise since it is a party of the survival of the fittest. They don't care for the democratic ideal of equal opportunity for all since it would interfere with their system of advantage and privilege. We democrats on the other hand believe that there should be no advantage and privilege for the sake of it. We want a society that honors initiative and merit as the determining factors for our success but we also honor all our citizens with the right to exist and do as they are able without having to live in poverty and squalor. The difference between the republican and democratic parties is wide and obvious. If you are a greedy selfish taker then the republican party is for you. If you are a benevolent hard working giver then the democratic party is for you. Now you must decide!
     So as the republican party focuses on it's alternative news to try to tear down the democratic party, we democrats will focus on our nation and work to solve the problems that are not being addressed like growing education in all corners of our country while working with the local, regional, state and national governments to help create job opportunities that are befitting of our American innovative vision. We democrats believe in enlightenment and modernity. Progressing our nation in all areas of improvement and upgrade are essential to reclaiming the title of being the leader of the world into a prosperous and more intelligent future that certainly will happen regardless if we are part of it or not!

Wednesday, April 25, 2018

Arizona's congressional election yesterday (#3372)

     The republican won the district by about 5% points, well below the over 21% points trump won the district in 2016. Now that the republican has won and will be voting with the republican majority in the House for the rest of this cycle, we will have some more fuel to throw on the republican bonfire. Because this House seat is again to be voted upon in November. The same democrat who almost pulled off an upset with limited funds and little national attention will be running again. What the seniors in this district will become well aware of over the next 6 months is that this republican candidate will be going after their social security and their medicare/medicaid.
     The seniors in this district make up a large voting block in this district and it is logical to conclude that they won't be happy with their representative for trying to harm them. Enough so that the next time this district is in play in November it may well have a different result with the democrat coming out on top. The republicans may have won last night but the bigger picture is that they had a very safe district to maintain and instead of cruising to a victory they had to outspend and work their butts off just not to lose. What that says is that the momentum of the coming election is still holding fast as a democratic advantage.
     So although we democrats are a bit unsettled that the electorate of this district didn't see through the republicans enough to flip this district they did see through enough to make it close. That in itself is placating to us democrats because we know that the truth of things is starting to come to light and given that most people are reasonable enough to know when they are being harmed will change their habits and try to prevent further harm. We have a long 6 months to go until the midterms in November but these special elections practically every week keep us on our toes and allows us to maintain the fire we need to sustain if we are going to flip Congressional majorities in the House and Senate.

Tuesday, April 24, 2018

Do not resign yourself to trumpism, it is brutality! (#3371)

     The republican party has only one agenda and that agenda is to make the wealthy even more wealthy. They have no care for nor any respect for the working middle poor class that makes our nation what it is. They believe that kings should rule and serfs should obey and if they have to make concessions along the way that go against their agenda it is only because they see it as trick to fool us into believing they are not as bad as their agenda dictates. If they give us something once in awhile it will only be taken away along with other important life sustaining utilities. The survival of the fittest is their "democracy", not fair and just opportunity for all.
     In their world vision only takers, who can and may take at will are allowed the special privileges they mete out to their own. There is no dishonest way to financially or strongarm acquire wealth or power in their world. Peace is not on their altar of respect, unless it comes at the hand of unquestioned control. They will not relent in their quest to make life as hard as possible for the working middle poor class so that they can eventually break our will to be free of them and have the real democracy our nation was formed to reflect. This is a coup by the republican party that has shown itself to be an anti-democratic, pro-authoritarian one.
     So any normalization or acquiescence to trumpism and or the republican vision for our future is not to be allowed is if we want to keep our democracy. Do you hear me? There is nothing of value in following or being herded like mindless cattle to the will of those who would be gods. The generations that came before us fought like hell was at the door to protect their democracy and so we must as well because the hellish future republicans have planned for us in not far from the hell of our imaginations. I will never surrender to those who would take my freedom and force me to accept their thinking. I am a free man who will think and act on behalf of democracy and my liberty within it with every breath I have left in me!

Monday, April 23, 2018

Tomorrow's elections (#3370)

     The special elections in Arizona and New York state tomorrow is another opportunity for the blue wave to show its strength. Especially the all important congressional race in Arizona. Another red district in a red state that went for trump by over 12% points. That lead has been all but erased and is actually a 1% point deficit for the republican candidate as of 2 days ago. The reversing nature of this particular Arizona race is indicative of the rising democratic hopes and the sinking republican arrogance. The republican party did this to themselves by alienating the largest voting block in America, the working middle poor class.
     So if things go according to the recent past democrats will win this congressional district by at least a few percentage points and the republican party will further fail to hold on to their tenuous grip of majorities in Congress. The races in New York are the backbone races of our country as they are the back bench races that fill our ever growing roster of competent and intelligent democratic candidates into the next level of leadership. We must continue to take back our state houses from an overwhelming republican dominance and it starts with every special election going forward until the next midterm election and beyond. America needs its working middle poor class as the majority representatives of our values and vision for the future.
     It is incumbent upon all of us voters to get out and vote wherever there is a special election so that the current crop of republican office holders learn to understand that they have made a grave error and as such will pay dearly in the voting booth. I always get a bit anxious the day before these crucial special elections but as has been shown in the recent past my anxiety is not well founded. We democrats have come out and voted and independents have crossed over to our side. With such a determined voting electorate on the liberal side recently showing up at the polls tomorrow may well be a day of upsets as democrats sweep into new public offices but also upsets in the sense that republicans will be upset to see that they are being crushed under the mighty power of the blue wave.

Sunday, April 22, 2018

Fighting hard for America's true spirit of hope for all (#3369)

     We here in America are the melting pot, not the entitled idiots who think deserves are only for them. They are represented by the republican party and lead by trump but they are a vast minority, how ironic, compared with we who hold democracy dearer to ourselves. So as the vile amongst us continue to bleat about their advantage and privilege the rest of us are continuing to fight against them to bring back the kind of leadership that celebrates diversity, equality and opportunity. For these are the traits that distinguish us from the dictators and the condescenders who would be kings.
     America has not become something else. We are in a battle to protect who we are so don't be fooled by the conmen of the republican party who are trying with all their limited intelligence to steal what is not theirs. They and their wealthy donors have swooped in and pulled of a great coup in our American politics through hook and crook. They are not the legitimate mindset nor heart of America. Although their political power is in force for now the time is swiftly running out on their nefarious ascension. The waking giant of the democratic party has been poked and we do not like a stick in our eye.
     There are few legislative victories for trump and his acolytes so the reversing of the trump executive orders will be immediate when he is replaced by a democrat. But we need our wave election this year and in 2020 to be so significant that we can reverse all the legislative damage done with veto proof power. The worst of who we are is currently showing itself and although many still support them the vast majority of us do not and we are preparing to wrest the power republicans manipulated away form us back. The rule of law within a civilization must be fair and just or otherwise we lose our democracy. We will not lose our democracy, so beware republicans who get in the way of the true spirit of America!

Saturday, April 21, 2018

Our future may look back on us specifically (#3368)

     If we think we can live our lives without an accounting we may be once again fooling ourselves. The technology that may be realized may allow us to look back into time specifically at we individual humans through some time warp protocol. So if we think we can escape from prying eyes it may be more by luck than design. I live my life so that no matter who or what looks at it it will be reflective of my values of compassion and curiosity. It is what makes me so rock solid in my evaluations of good and bad that surrounds me. I live the life of a good man, not just reflect it as an illusion. I know, I don't get all the whistles, buzzers and bells out of life but I get honesty which is the most valuable "trinket" of all to me.
     I do not discount anything that the future may bring given how we humans have the ability to comprehend and conclude. It is an amazing life that we humans are able to live and the knowledge that comes with it can also be amazing. So a "sovereign" outside the concept of god may exist to me and it is our future human race. So living like someone is watching is how I live. I try to live the best I can but sometimes temptations get so heavy but knowing that I can never count on a shortcut or that if I would deliberately lie or cheat it would be caught out no matter how clever I am is just the deterrent I need in times of weakness, which we all have.
     I am strong in my convictions but I am also fallible so in order to keep my vigilance I must think outside the box sometimes and when I consider all possibilities is when I see the simple truth that not being me in a noble way is to be a lesser me and not someone I would be proud of. I want to be the honorable man who lives to make life better for all and not just for some so when you see me railing against the injustice and inequities of life it is because I am giving of myself, not for reward but for the greater purpose of care. I have only this life and it is the one I am able to exemplify. Evaluate my life against what may be and see if I am worthy of being a humble man who cares more for the human race than he wants for himself.

Friday, April 20, 2018

Never normalize the republican agenda of brutality (#3367)

     When you have been hit so many times it seems like being hit is normal. Well it isn't, just like the cruelty of the republicans and their carnival barker leader isn't normal. After so much time having gone by and we are not yet dead through the recklessness of trump we still must not accept that as a gift and let him get away with the brutality he and his party inflict. It isn't enough that we are not dead, there is more to life than accepting the cruel dictates from an imbecile. He isn't an imbecile in the general definition of the word but in his vision it is one where little to no thought is given to anything that doesn't benefit him.
     I guess calling him a pejorative is uncalled for on my part but I have mostly given up trying to be civil with his uncivilized behavior. He lost the popular vote by millions and still was handed the presidency through an unholy paternal system of condescension. So for him to think he has some mandate when more voted against him than voted for him and also 46.9% of the voting electorate didn't vote is an absurd calculation on his part. But his narcissistic tendencies preclude him being objective. That the republican party has gone along with trump's own self importance over the good of the vast majority of our citizenry is the republican party's crime to share with trump. A reckoning is coming and for what shape it will appear is left to all who would imagine Karma.
     Being beaten down by the republican agenda to destroy the working middle poor class is not to be allowed in mind and action. I don't care how many times we are crushed under the jackboot of trumps and his republican accomplices we must never lose the spirit of our foreparents that is inherited by us into our very genes. We must continue to use every utility we have to waylay and obstruct the republican agenda while they still have power before the next election. No doubt republicans know the blue wave is coming and they have 200 days to do as they please to make our lives much more miserable until then. Normalizing anything trump and republican will only fuel their insatiable desire to harm and profit off the backs of the very people they are supposed to be serving.

Thursday, April 19, 2018

Nothing will change the coming blue tide! (#3366)

     The damage that has already been done to us the working middle poor class cannot be undone by anything trump and republicans may do going forward. They may give us some crumbs to make us feel a little less worse off but it won't be enough to change the coming onslaught against republican politicians. In 201 days we will again be voting nationally and the outcome this time, as opposed to 2016 will be much different. No longer will trump and republicans be able to say what they will or won't do. We have their record of what they actually did in front of us. They will try to lie, cheat and steal their way around their record but it is a fact, not some opinion or alternative concept.
    My anger against them is still burning brightly and if anything it can get hotter. So no escape for those republicans who enabled trump to do some of the worst to our nation's soul. The deceitful treasonous acts are coming out and the coverup of them is being exposed as well. We don't need politicians who are against us, we need politicians who will work for us! We democrats will get our chance soon enough as the less clueless of the republican politicians are already jumping the trump ship. It won't be long as the 201 days are whittling down to election day and no amount of little handouts from republicans will be enough to change our determination to oust them everywhere in America.
     As the special elections continue to show, we democrats are still raging good fights in red districts where we were never able to even begin to fight before. The Arizona 8th congressional district special election this next coming Tuesday is now a toss up with trump having won it in 2016 by more than 12% points. This district is a tough one for us democrats but with the democrat polling with a sleight lead with 5 days to go should make clear that no district in America is safe for republicans. The blue wave is still rising and the power behind it is an insatiable desire to punish republicans for failing and harming the working middle poor class.

Wednesday, April 18, 2018

The condescending arrogance of republican politicians (#3365)

     With the republicans acting like the majority of us are beholden to them, the coming blue wave will be one for the ages. Instead of realizing that we are going to vote republicans out in droves, these very republicans are doubling down on their own self importance. We are mostly a civilized nation and our recourse for rebutting against these republican politicians is to legally vote them out. They know that and are willing to risk it despite the anger they instill in many of us. We must eat our anger or transfer it to other more productive activities otherwise republicans would be setting themselves up for a far worse outcome. Again though we are civilized and taking matters further is unbecoming an enlightened party such as we democrats.
     There are other less violent ways of taking down the greedy bullies of the republican party because we are smarter than them. Oh sure, they are good at manipulating and conniving, but those are not really complex strategies. On the other hand being methodical and determined with an eye toward justice we democrats can bide our time a bit with a strategy that ensnares republicans in their own lies and greed. If anything the audacity of republicans has hardened some of our core beliefs to include a less forgiving attitude. We are not mamby pamby democrats as republicans imagine. We are steeled and resolved fighters who have less compassion for the brutal nature republicans have embraced.
    So as republicans continue to abuse and neglect the real concerns of democracy, they are furthering themselves away from any hope for redemption. A sacrifice is under way with many of them as they know that their actions will make them outcasts but they yet don't know how that outcast effect will come down on their heads. They believe they can weather the storm of their crimes with little retribution. Let them keep thinking that if they are that reckless because when the time comes to pay for their arrogant condescension there will be no one left to shield them from their due.

Tuesday, April 17, 2018

Becoming educated is the key to our enlightened future (#3364)

     All of us take different roads to get out of life what we hope is a the best of what life can be. Many times we settle for things at the time that later we find was not nearly enough for our overall wants and needs. Yet we keep that which we choose in our early adolescence despite knowing better. I suppose the familiar becomes better than the best to too many of us. I think about myself back when I was just mature enough to be an adult and the difference between me now and me then is the difference in my own enlightenment. Back then I was brash and cocksure about so many things given my limited knowledge. But now that I have gone on and received higher education and earned my degree I find that my not knowing was all too much not enough.
     Before becoming more learned I dismissed possibilities as mostly irrelevant. But now that I understand the significance of possibilities I am captured by their utility. What is possible is now as vast and panoramic as my little view of reality was stunted. There are very few rock hard truths in the world and the sooner all of us become aware of them the sooner we all can continue to expand the base of knowledge we humans have founded. We move past the myths, mores and mindless traditions of our past by accepting that knowledge is the key to understanding that which had us baffled in recent ancient times. We are a new breed of human who does not need pacification to shuttle us through life. We need challenge and possibility instead.
     None of us is a cookie cutter prototype of some past definition. We are each new and provocative in our approach to life. We understand that the ways of the past can be helpful but they are not the guide to our future. Our era of being is based in logic, research and discovery. We are now at the threshold of an era of science, math and biologics that has changed the dynamic of the human experience. Our innovations and creations from the elemental table to more complex reasonings has us near a future that is beyond our atmosphere and the space outside of it. What will come of us in the next centuries will not only have amazed our foreparents but even now me as I can see our species adapting to any and all challenges we face.

Monday, April 16, 2018

White privilege is the product of cowardly white fear (#3363)

     The fact that we whites have privilege like no other human of color is telling. Instead of welcoming all comers on merit we choose to cheat, lie and steal to get an advantage. How utterly contemptible of us. If the system we live in is such that fear is the basis for it's functioning then the system needs to be adjusted. The injustices of the past in the racial differences department have not been corrected so that we all can move forward and until they are corrected the underlying seed of discontent will continue with hatred and brutality as the normal. It is a mindset for many of us that there is no color line if we are truly a democracy. What we as a nation have done in the past needs to be addressed and corrected so that human behavior for all can have the same starting point.
     There is a way to put the past in the past and that is to examine the present and eliminate that which continues to offer privilege and advantage based upon factors other than merit. A system to allow for a "catching up" for those who are disadvantaged needs to continue until the "catching up" has been achieved. We must also not lose progress on those who would be affected by programs like Affirmative Action. Increasing opportunities is the solution so that none are left behind. This is the least we owe to generations of non whites who have not been allowed to move forward based upon merit, and a way not to adversely affect this generation of whites who should not have to suffer for the hatred and brutality of their parents.
     The fear we whites cling to is unfounded. We as this generation have not been the oppressors of the past like our ancestors. We are the product of enlightenment and know our history is not our present or our future. Yet if we don't correct the lingering racial and social disadvantages inherent within our society we make ourselves culpable through omission as opposed to commission like our forebears. Either way, commission or omission, guilt is still founded until the problem has it's solution. I find it despicable that there are still elements within our white society that work hard to keep a color line drawn. If the rest of us whites do not end the practice of advantage and privilege we will be letting that small group of haters defeat the vast majority of the rest of us who know that democracy demands us to stand up for all of us not just some of us!

Sunday, April 15, 2018

The evolution of our species (#3362)

     We are from the dirt and the mixes of biologics and chemicals within it. Yes, we are the very same dirt we despise. A self loathing if you will. Despite our constant battle with dirt and all the other creatures that live on and within it we like with our fear are hard pressed to accommodate it with logic and comprehensive acknowledgement. We seem to be so involved in washing the dirt off of us that we lose sight of the fact that without dirt we don't exist. We even make up illusions to keep from having to admit how we came about and where we may go because of it. Our destiny starts from dirt and as a species will move beyond it eventually but not without first keeping our perspective objective about it.
     I know this much about life. It is an incredible dynamic. Not so much how we live within chaos and brutality, but the intelligent part where we learn and create new paradigms that in our reality did not previously exist. We humans are a magnificent species and our evolvement over millions of years from the very dirt we keep washing off us is beyond commendable. Yet instead of heralding the truth of our evolvement we instead work tirelessly to hide it. Like we are ashamed that our beginning isn't more noble than climbing out of the slime and muck.                                                                                   Well here it is for all of us to know we are not some cookie cutter creation from someone's imagination. We are varied and different much like we would be had we all come from different struggles to exist. I have no problem with dirt. I am fond of telling anyone that I am who I am physically because of all the dirt I ingested as a child. Playing in the dirt and absorbing it's particles is natural to a point. I do not condone living in a dirty environment but I don't scrub every particle of dirt off of everything I have either. I coexist with my naturalness as much as I coexist with my cleanliness. There is a balance because I accept my evolution from this very planet that gave me life. The dirt that makes it up is the same dirt that spawned my ability to exist. That is a fact with me as no other exception is valid or plausible.
     

Saturday, April 14, 2018

The due diligence of research because my word is my bond (#3361)

     Too many of us think we are smart enough to run the world. Too often I hear some say this and that about complex issues like they are masters and cannot understand why others are screwing things up so badly. It is remarkable that these souls who are barely high school graduates can be so confident without the backing of years of higher study. They think that information is mostly noise and their perspective about life overrules logic and common sense. So free to give their opinion on subjects that take decades of comprehensive building like it is 1+1=2. I am a learned man who appreciates the FACT that I am still just a journeyman in many areas of policy and process. Yet I do have a grip on enough of it to know that nothing is simple and nothing can have a short cut.
     When I do have a question about anything I think about what I know and then research that to see if it is correct. Only then do I go on and learn what I don't know so that my understanding of a subject is objectively increased. The old adage about measuring twice before cutting, can aptly be applied to what we allow to come out of our mouths as fact. I prefer to give those who have earned my trust some benefit of the doubt and then still check on the veracity of their claim. Why wouldn't I? If what they say is true they should appreciate that I am verifying their opinion or principle. I know when I claim something I am all for anyone double checking me so that they also can arrive at the same conclusion that I do and if at all I am wrong or not quite fully right I care to know so that I can correct any error on my part.
     But always due diligence is required especially with the resources we have at our fingertips. I spent many hours in the library growing up and became very familiar with the Dewey Decimal System. Now, I just type in the google box and off I go finding evidence one way or the other about most any subject. My word is my bond, is also an old saying that has meaning to me. I had lied before as a strategy in my younger life and learned from that that lying is a shortcut to a wrong. So I try with all my might not to lie and the only way I can do that is to be informed because my word is my bond and I cherish that as much as I cherish my rights under our American democracy to know what is right and wrong, as an example, within our political system.

Friday, April 13, 2018

Do we believe in religion to assuage our fears? (#3360)

     The stark reality of living on this planet without knowing the why of it makes many of us fools. We want to have some sort of order to hold onto so that the chaos of life is not so overwhelming. Our logical minds are willing to ease our logic in order to allow for different concepts of explanation to capture us so that we can interpret life and death more comfortably. It is not uncommon for many of us to seek a safe harbor when the storms come but at what price do we pay for allowing illogic to fold into our logic as acceptable? Are we just so afraid of life and death that we have to "imagine" an illusion in order to survive life?
     I bring this up because in the making the illusion real, we are also making our real reality less logical. There are those out there who would have us go to a nuclear world war to hasten on the rapture dogma of religion. The idea that an afterlife is equivalent or even greater than real life is for me " tin foil hat out there". I have been trying to think of why some hold onto the idea of a deity when in reality no deity has been shown to exist. All I keep coming back to is that reality is too scary for too many. They do not have the bold nature of courage to confront any problem with a solution that is real and provable. We are compromising the honesty of our real life in order to bring a disjunctive and contradictory order out of falsehood.
     The human experiment would go so much more efficient and logical if we weren't so afraid of living and dying. Fear, the arch enemy of our human history is still in control of our society's and it is such a waste to be afraid of something that came about through no effort on our part. Why are we so afraid of enjoying life with an intellect instead of fearing it with an illusion? I guess besides being afraid we are lazy. We don't want to put in the time to understand the physical and biological nature around us. I know that the rat race of life here and elsewhere consumes so much of our time but is it time well spent if we are only living a fantasy of sorts without ever confronting the reality of our own fears?
     

Thursday, April 12, 2018

The crazy coming to a head (#3359)

     With Mueller closing in on trump the noise from trump is getting more desperate. It is finally hitting home that although Mueller may have led trump on about not investigating him specifically, that is exactly what Mueller is doing. But in defense of Mueller, it is where the evidence is leading him. So trump knows he is guilty of somethings but does not and will not admit to anything while he continues to claim his innocence in everything. With this in mind trump is now sabre rattling war talk. How honest he is with this latest attempt to change the current investigative narrative is a toss up. It could be that trump and putin are just playing at threatening each other so that trump can have some cover or it could be more serious than that.
     This is where I get the crazy coming to a head headline. With republicans in Congress leaving in droves not defending their incumbent seats it is as if the rats are leaving a sinking ship. With that and the Mueller investigation delving into trump's legal adviser it is clear that many of the republicans leaving, whom many are in leadership positions, are in many ways implicated by emerging evidence. Occam's razor, the simplest explanation is usually the right one. Again though this could all just be some weird cosmic coincidence, lol. Regardless the ship of state that is trump's is leaking like a sieve.
     I see trump as a coward who like all bullies has more talk in him than action. So we will see how this next few weeks and months play out. I do know one thing for absolute surety, and that is that a blue democratic wave of voting is coming and it will swallow up so many republicans that the majority in Congress will change and with that trump will become even more irrelevant. If after the election Mueller finds enough evidence to charge trump/pence with criminality then that would be more so right and good and set the stage for trump to be gone before the next presidential election come 2020. The republican party has shined this light on themselves and by doing so exposed their corrupt and condescending nature as it correlates with leading our nation without most of us in mind.

Wednesday, April 11, 2018

Partied hard, worked hard, now hurt hard (#3358)

     My generation was a unique one. From the end of the second world war to the landing on the Moon, we were a generation that changed the culture of America and the world. the greatest generation set it all up for us with the sacrifice and bravery of winning a world war that, if wasn't won, could well have put us back in the dark ages. But they did win and we their children not only enjoyed the benefit of it but we went on and reshaped how people acted and thought for most within our society. There has been a falling away from our cultural advances and for that I am disturbed. But regardless the effect we had on life after the war was monumental.
     We found that stereotypes were not a good thing, we found that expressing one's individuality was. We discovered that the mundane was unacceptable and forged new exciting lifestyles that fed our hubris. Which leads me to how I grew up. I played sports, studied and partied with the best of them. I was a bit of a renaissance man of my own time. I could fit in with the jocks, the stoners, the nerds and not miss a beat. I broadened my horizons to encapture many disciplines and chaoses as it were. So although I lost out on being great at a few things I was good at many. For me I was a young man full of life who traveled to harsh regions and worked/partied hard in physical occupations. Just like me to gravitate to work that not only required great strength but daring since much of it was as dangerous as work can get.
     But now that I am older the hubris has waned and the physical abilities have subsided while the partying has stopped. What I have left is my meager belongings and the aches and pains of a rugged life lived at times, with a breakneck speed. Yet now I am more sedate and contemplative as a rule and limit my hard work to necessary goals. It is amusing to me that although I am nowhere near the man I used to be I still work like I am 20 years old, hard and fast but only in short intervals. My body tells me what I can do now and it barks at me loudly in short order. My mind is still sharp and for that I am most grateful. I can spend more time learning new things and understanding older things with the advent of the Internet. My early life was unique to me in that I rarely followed convention, yet it was for me the perfect path for my inner soul to mature and guide me to the peace and contentment I enjoy today despite the pain of the enduring of it.

Tuesday, April 10, 2018

The awakening against trump (#3357)

     For all his defiant denials trump is beginning to slip in his previous support. Not in a significant way that would be all too deserving but in the middle where he had been given the benefit of the doubt. That middle was the key to him gaining enough votes in key states for him to be appointed president by the electoral college despite him losing the popular vote by nearly 3 million. Well trump has taken that "gift" and spit on the ones who gave it to them. But to his credit he knew most of them would accept his spitting on them with a shrug. Well that time has come to pass. The middle no longer accepts his disdain and dishonesty as they are being confronted with the incontrovertible evidence of too many legitimate allegations.
     In my experience it would take trump being caught in an act of treason to pry him from his core base but then again with mounting evidence he was a traitor his base is still behind him so I would be dead wrong on my experience as providing an accurate logical deduction based upon previous history. Either way though, trump is left with too few and too radical of a base for him to parlay it into anything further going forward. We are only nearly 2 years into his 4 year term so we may have to weather his democracy destroying ambitions for a bit longer. However, given the midterms and the democratic blue coming he won't have a bunch of cowardly republicans as a majority to serve him as a colluder does.
     It is heartening that with each special election we are seeing a changing of the guard in the state houses away from republican ideology especially coming from the deepest of red republican states. The end is coming for trump despite if he survives Mueller because he won't have any majority in Congress to fall back on. I am so proud of the effort by our democratic party in not succumbing to the mind numbing, gut punch that was November 8th, 2016. Instead we caught our breath and reinvigorated our minds and hearts to fight with all we have using truth and logic to expose the trump and republican agenda to kill our democracy and steal the legacy of our massive majority working middle poor class. Our awakening together will be the tsunami that is the blue wave come November 6th 2018 and beyond and there is absolutely nothing trump can do to take that from us!

Monday, April 9, 2018

Protecting our democracy (#3356)

     What we have learned from trump is that our democracy is at risk for overthrow from within. The republican party in collusion with trumps has exposed a weakness within our governmental controls to keep our democracy safe. When the leaders of the other 2 branches of our government are subservient to the executive branch and not an equal branch of government then we the people become vulnerable to an inside hostile takeover. It isn't just that occurring but it is decades of lack of interest by too many of our voting public. When only about half of our eligible voters bother to vote it is easier for the more nefarious within our politics to manipulate conditions to allow for swaying outcomes to their liking.
     It is on we the people to actually exercise our franchise to vote otherwise like what is happening right now laws are being enacted to further restrict voting for eligible voters. We are now doing something about gerrymandering but for the last few decades gerrymandering has taken the power of our vote and dwindled it down to less than equal under republican map drawing strategies. The rise of dark money in our politics by the worst of our wealthy has also taken many of us away from even considering joining in the political process as candidates. When we get to public funding of elections we will have made our way to the candidates having to offer their ideas for leadership instead of their personal attacks and disinformation campaigns protected by the dark money advertising.
     Our democracy is ours and if anyone is going to protect it it is us. So getting registered and then actually voting every time the vote is available then that is exactly how we protect our democracy. We vote in those who are honest about helping our nation grow for all of us and throw out those who are only there to protect the best interests of the worst of our wealthy. The time is now for us to come together as a democratic party and all of us participate when the voting time comes. It will be then when we see how democracy works and the need to protect it will lessen with each republican defeat. There is only one party that is working against the best interests of democracy and that is the republican party so join with us democrats and be a democracy defending patriot by casting your precious vote for all democrats on the ballot!

Sunday, April 8, 2018

Remembering brother Jim (#3355)

     April 8th has come along now 14 times since my oldest brother passed away from a heart attack. It seems strange now that I am more than a decade older than the last time I saw him but what is still as fresh as snow in my mind is my brother's smile. As we got older in life we got closer. We had our moments growing up but he was 3 1/2 years older than me so initially we didn't run in the same circles. But as we both grew older we found that we could help each other at times and those were the best memories for me. When I was struggling with alcohol and trying to change my life Jim was there to not only encourage me but to make life easier for me in the little things.
     His unselfishness of time when he could have been spending more with his immediate family exemplifies his compassion and his determination to help push me into a better way of life. Jim reminds me that it isn't about just ourselves like so many think. It is about giving of oneself when the time for giving is needed. Since that time I have turned my life around and have my big brother Jim as one of a few to thank. I miss him and his passion for life. Why some of us can go on and others can't will always trouble me about life, yet I wouldn't have gotten here without Jim making some sacrifices for me. An oldest brother taking care of one of his younger ones. I guess we siblings got that from our mother who is still the mother hen of all the chickens.
     Jimmy set the path for all of us younger children to see how to live and grow in life and for that he will always have a cherished place in my heart. Not all of us siblings have the heart of our mother but my brother Jim did. He also was a curious George in that he wanted to know many things which is what happened to me as well. If Jim could have been a scientist no doubt he would have been a happy man but like many young men from our generation the idea of marriage and children hit him in his teens and he moved onto to be a family man and provider. Again setting the example of what love and respect in a relationship looks like for the rest of us younger boys. Happy Birthday Jimmy (66) and thanks again for always being my oldest brother in life and now in death.

Saturday, April 7, 2018

trump attacking freedom of speech (#3354)

     Now that the Department of Homeland Security has been directed by trumps to document journalists, bloggers and media influencers on a list, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/homeland-security-seeks-media-monitoring-services-for-journalists-media-influencers/, it seems that anyone critical of the idiot trump may be silenced because of the threat of retaliation. The fundamental right to redress our grievances is being attacked by the narcissist trump because his ego cannot handle bad opinion of himself. He wants to be beloved while he hates those he wants to love him. A conundrum for him for sure, illogical and idiocy for the rest of us.
     But unlike in Germany when hitler restricted and ended free press, we Americans are not going to stand, sit or lay down for it! I know for a fact that I won't. Instead I will ramp up my vocal perspective on the wanna be king trump. I will further be relentless in my scolding of him on any and all matters he opens his big mouth on. His mind is like a one sided coin, it only benefits himself and as such he fits the profile for not only a narcissist but, lacking empathy for most all he reflects, his psychopathy. I will never surrender to that type of individual because in my life I always confronted such assholes and told them to go to hell or somewhere where I wouldn't be tempted to smack them!
     I will never tolerate a bully nor a loudmouthed jerk, which by the way trump is both in full! If anything in life here in America is worthy of waking the slumbering democracy here, stealing our freedom of speech should qualify. The closer we get to the midterm elections the higher the blue wave will be because the little boy trump cannot keep his filthy greedy mouth shut and those of us who call him out for being a heaping pile of shit will make sure he keeps letting his tantrum ideas out. He is a disgrace to life and if were up to me he would already be in prison. Yet our democracy demands it's process so be it. Yet the electoral college, partisan gerrymandering and voter restrictions need to be undone! The asshole trump will get nothing less from me!

Friday, April 6, 2018

Nothing will distract us from wiping out republicans in the oncoming elections (#3353)

     The republican party and their Russian bots will not distract us from the power of the building blue wave we are creating. Like the improbable huge polling lead snapshot of the Tennessee senate race yesterday, we democrats are wired together so that we cannot be divided by the propaganda and dishonesty of the dying republican party. The republican party is in its death throes so it will be lashing/throwing out at any and all with everything, including the kitchen sink, in order to derail our methodical advance toward reclaiming our democracy. We have our sights set firmly on preserving our government as for the people, not for the republican rich.
     Over the next 6 months the desperation of the republican party will be exposed in their attack ads trying to divide us from our common goal. They want us distracted and pointing fingers at each other while they worm their way back into some of our good graces. They are down heavily right now but with enough dirty tricks to deceive some of us they may hold onto power. We cannot let them get away with their inevitable attacks on the decency of our candidates or our political policy platforms. The republican party will lie, cheat and steal in every fashion to make us look worse then they are but we are not wide eyed innocents anymore. We have seen them brutalize our working middle poor class and no amount of propaganda nor misinformation will be able to save them if we democrats keep our heads up and eyes on the prize of democratic majorities in Congress.
     The next shiny object strategy won't work like it has in the past with us democrats because we are all out of giving fucks for the next shiny object. We are worried about our children, our elderly, our health care and our social security. No shiny object rises above these pillars of a civilized society. So when the heavy hitting begins just remember that no matter what republicans say, they are the ones who are tearing down our democracy so that the wealthy can be even more wealthy while the working middle poor class gets less and less. It sucks to be a republican right now and that is their due for all the crap they have heaped upon us the rock and backbone of our American culture.

Thursday, April 5, 2018

No republican left standing (#3352)

     Let me be perfectly clear. There is no republican worthy of a democratic vote, period! They have had their chances to help the working middle poor class and everytime they have chosen to help the wealthy instead. Occasionally they vote for something we need but it isn't a high priority and they act like they are on our side but everytime we really need something they always vote no! They all need to go, everywhere. I know that it is impossible to get rid of all of them unless their base voters turn on them but in the meantime where their base voters aren't enough to save them they need to be replaced.
     So many times, in the past, the republican party has shown itself that they do not care about the working middle poor class. So now that everyone who had doubts about that before should be up to speed on the veracity of the republican failing to us. We are the vast majority of Americans yet we are treated as unwanted orphans. It is that type of arrogance that fuels the republican agenda and if we don't stop it now when it is obvious to all then we are not going to be able to save our democracy. Nothing will stop the republican party from taking over our government and handing it to the wealthy private sector to make new rules for our lives outside democratic principles. You do get that right?
     So from all the special elections right up to the midterms and beyond we must keep the fight going as hard and fast as we are able. Our very democracy depends on us ousting republicans wherever feasible and then even beyond. We have no other alternative! So let's all get registered to vote and vote like it is the last breath of our lives. There is no room for any republican who can be replaced by a democrat. No republican has the best interests of us the working middle poor class as his base and so they must all go! I will keep writing about this right up until the blue wave tsunami election sweeps most republicans out of office and then more so until the time of trump is in our rear view mirror!

Wednesday, April 4, 2018

We the many see right through trump (#3351)

     That trump thinks he is hiding his deviousness is laughable. Everything he does reinforces the view we the many have of him. He may be deluded in his thinking that he is getting away with all his crimes but we see him and know that his time will come when he pays dearly for his deviant childish arrogance. Like any criminal who has many secrets involving not only himself but others he eventually becomes a liability and that liability is taken as a threat by those who are in line to pay for it. With the boxing in he is doing to himself he will find out long after it is too late to change his fate that his fate has already been set in stone.
     Anyone who intentionally or otherwise travels down the path of a dark reality will know that the only light left has long been extinguished for them. Like making a deal, the cost comes due. So in the meantime as we are stuck with the imbecile who thinks that lying, cheating and stealing are the American way. but soon enough his time will be over and although trump has harmed our society he has not mortally wounded it. We will recover from this and as a silver lining to all the madness trump brings to our lives he has done us one huge favor. He has united us against him and his republican minions to the extent that now most all of us are engaged in the fight to bring him and his minions down. The end of the majorities for republicans throughout America is nearing and soon enough will be over and a new day for us will begin.
     In six months time the next election will be held and for all the hell we have been through for the last 18 months we will have come out of it a stronger society and a much more diligent democratic party. The reckoning we the majority of Americans have been waiting for at least through elections will be a sweet victory for the correct and good way of life. We will begin to repair our world reputation as we staunch any effort by trump to damage our way of life even if he survives until 2020 and is not brought up on charges by the Mueller investigation. Either way though after November 6th 2018 a new majority in Congress of democrats will set the agenda and make trump do as we bid him to do. He may scramble and fight but he will lose what is left of his influence if he does not then begin to succumb to the will of we the American people.

Tuesday, April 3, 2018

Don't live beyond your means (#3350)

     Most people I know including most of my family are trying to keep up with the Joneses. They think that the American dream is to have what they want. What they don't get is that they want too much! They are more concerned about appearances than they are about being examples of good people who live good lives. They fake their goodness so much that it is just second nature for them. They also cannot give up the idea that they "deserve" more than what they actually have. Always trying to manipulate the system so that they can avoid any cost that they should be honoring. They really do miss the boat on what is right for the world instead of just better for themselves. Greed gone amuk!
     I keep my life simple. If I owe taxes I pay them I don't try to wriggle out of them by playing fast and loose with illusions. There is no real way to live life other than to accept it's responsibilities and then honor them. No shortcuts aimed at diminishing responsibilities in lieu of principled behavior. Many I know still want the big house with all the trimmings even though they cannot afford it any longer. The illusion of theirs to still be looked upon as "special" is based upon falseness. I know it is hard to admit that we are not the mighty economic engines we may have been in the past but admitting it and then changing to fit the current situation brings back real honor, not false honor. I personally don't care what anyone thinks about how I live. I live real and I make it work barely but it does because I honor it.
     So accept whatever situation you are in as to your own economic situation and reduce as needed. Reality dictates that, which is an image that is real. Sacrifice and change as needed to adapt and then keep your honor in doing things right without cheating yourself and all that you are duly bound to hold with dearness. Our democracy requires us to interact with a sense of purpose and respect, not one up someone or something when they are not looking. The shortcut takers and the cheaters have that as their legacy, not me. I accept my obligations and gladly fulfill them because I honor and respect the necessity of making our democracy work. If we all carried our load with pride the lift to our democracy would be much easier for all of us.

Monday, April 2, 2018

Several times I have given up on my hope yet here I still am going strong! (#3349)

     The title of this blog is named for how I saw the world just 9 some short years ago. We elected our first person of color to the presidency and all things at the time seemed possible. What I didn't know was the deepness of the hatred in so many of us and it's ability to manifest itself into a dark and tumultuous place. Our first president of color, half black/half white, was vilified like no other president in our history and it was from the far right wing of the republican party where all the prejudice and while we are at it, misogyny reside. The terror riddled narrative they propagated was brutish and beneath contempt! Yet they prospered in that they drew many millions to their cause and disrupted one of our overall better president's agenda.
     I was about to feel a little bit better after our president surviving his 8 years in office without an incident of dishonor nor personal abuse, when we were ready to elect our first woman president and by total votes actually did. However given the patriarchal nature of our electoral process we were denied that right. This is when my hope began to wane and dry up. Somehow through hook or crook the worst nightmare of a president was installed. My hope hit its bottom when he was able to seat a radical right wing judge on our supreme court. I began to rouse myself from this ghoulish nightmare but then a tax law was passed that was and is certain to further crumble our nation's economy. Hope fell off again to a despairing level.
     But just as I was feeling as low as one can feel about the reality we in America and the world by extension were facing a new light began to shine on the horizon. The special elections that come between our major elections every 2 years began to show that our nation had awakened from our disinterest in politics to a nation that had only politics on its mind. Democrats were doing great where previously we struggled and republicans were declining where they previously were growing. A reversal from the normal of the last several election cycles invigorated many of us including me to the point now where I am back to being full of my hope for our nation and our ending this nightmare of trumps that began on November 8th, 2016.

Sunday, April 1, 2018

Irrelevance has no place in our dialogues (#3348)

     Those who are fringe personalities seem to be the ones who spend the most time saying controversial things in order to bolster their image. The old saying of bad press is still good press is their intent. Well I am sick and tired of what some never was has been says about what is important to me. First off they get wrong what is important to me and second off they are so clueless that anything they do say is a waste of time even hearing or reading. What is even more galling is that their illogic gets disseminated out and others comment on it from other forums. It is like a bad virus being spread wherever we let it. Well enough of it already.
     If I need expert advice from a sought out expert then that is what I do. I don't listen to some garbage mouthed neanderthal tell me about how I should live my life or what my honorable principles should be. If anything doing the exact opposite of their ramblings would be closer to what I hold dear than anything they directly say. So why should we give them the space to breathe out their bile? We shouldn't and instead just avoid them like we do to potholes when we are driving. Nothing good can come of entertaining them. Irrelevance is uninformed bias and prejudice as a strategy. Remember that! Anyone who makes no sense in their demands of us should get nothing from us in return except our consternation from them wasting our valuable time.
     It is hard enough convincing people who have open minds of new and difficult at times paradigms so when the irrelevant stick their noses in it makes our learning comprehensive understandings that much more difficult. We have to wean any and all who are less than expert or those who keep giving unsolicited advice from clogging up our forums for narrations. We liberal progressives want an intelligent evolving society that captures innovation and technology while continually honoring the diversity and equality of our magnificent democratic experiment. The worthlessness of the irrelevant is never going to be sufficient to require our attentions so let's stop giving it to them!