Finding solutions instead of just punishing (#2892)

     An enlightened society doesn't just punish those who end up on the wrong side of civilized law. An enlightened society looks to alleviate the reasons for those who end up on the wrong side of civilized law. It is how we improve our society and make it more accessible to those who would otherwise fall short. We don't need to whip ourselves with sticks to get ourselves to become better human beings, on the contrary we need to give ourselves carrots as incentives to prosper. Life is tough for so many and making it tougher is mean, cruel and brutish. Our past history has shown us that beating ourselves for not having the proper society to live in is demented. We need to improve our society so that more of us can contribute to it's success.
     What we are about to have in our national government is antithetical to progress and modernity. For some unthinkably illogical reason we have just voted to approve a neanderthal way of thinking as our flag bearer. Yet we live in a republic, made up of individual states that can and will determine their own destiny within the framework of our national constitution. So although the federal government may choose a course of politics that is demeaning and destructive within the framework of our constitution we individual states are free to choose a more modern and inclusive path within the framework of our national and individual state constitutions. Which is what we here in California, and other Democratic run states are doing.
     Here in California our voters were wise enough to elect a super majority of democrats to the state legislature and all top state government positions. We are in a unique position here in California, the 6th largest economy in the world to not only finance our vision for the future but to continue to improve the lives of our citizens despite the rest of the country falling back into punishing policies of austerity and inequality. We can weather this storm for the foreseeable future and hopefully rectify our national politics in 2020.

2017 will be going backwards (#2891)

     We just don't know how well we have had it with a democrat as president. For most his presidency he has had to hold the wolves of the republican party back. Well that will no longer be the case as a republican is now president and he is hell bent on tearing apart not only the social fabric of our nation but he is going to put us on a path toward global confrontation. I know that republicans favor the war machine far more than they favor the health and welfare of American citizens and as such with now a republican dominated house and senate with a likely conservative..ie, republican, supreme court in our very near future, the wolves will be freed to tear apart our American civilization like nothing we have ever experienced.
     Not only is our social society at tremendous risk of being devoured by the wolves but their insistence that global warming has nothing or very little to do with man made interference, our planet will continue to be polluted in the name of capitalism and the greed that comes with making a profit before all else. But there is even more that is going to be torn apart, like greater restrictions to our democracy through the denial of voting and the loss of other equalities based upon factors of wealth, race, gender and age. The republican push to make us a more theocratic plutocracy is now more than just a dream it will soon become most American's nightmare.
     So this coming new year is not an advance into our present with an eye toward the future of a modern enlightened nation, no, we are about to head back into a reality that is filled with pain and suffering for most all of us as it's outcome. A going backwards this coming new year is an appropriate analogy. I won't be celebrating the beginning of a new year because it signifies the worst of who we Americans have become and allowed ourselves to be. This is all done because we are ignorant and lazy when it comes to protecting our democracy. No greater shame can be on our heads than the outcome of this last national election.

The republican party is mean, nasty and brutish (#2890)

     Welcome to our reality liberal/progressives. Apparently our nation wants to be punished for being alive. Too many voted for the worst of our natures in key states than those who voted for the best of our natures. Why is the republican party mean, nasty and brutish? First is because they cheat, steal and lie. Yes, they rig, take and do not tell the truth of things for if they did they would be exposed for their middle class cutting agenda. Now I know not all things revolve around economics but economics is not only where they are middle class destroyers. Politically they are denying the vote to otherwise rightful voters. Why are they doing this? Because most of the voters they are denying the right to vote would vote against them. Republicans have targeted particular strategically disadvantaged areas and have successfully obstructed voting.
     Second, is that republicans have no soul worthy of human admiration. What do I mean by this? Simply, they curry favor with the wealthy by allying themselves with them to the detriment of the middle class. Obstructing wage increases, destroying unionization, and worst of all cutting social programs that help the poorest and most vulnerable in our nation. Republicans have no heart either since they are pushing to reverse the trend toward universal health care and are working to cut medicare and medicaid. But that is not all, they want to eliminate social security desperately needed by the elderly, paid into by those same now elderly workers all their working lives in order to have a retirement that is not subject to volatile and manipulative market forces.
     Third, is that republicans not only want to diminish women's rights, but they want to alienate persons of color solely because republicans feel that only white men deserve the best out of life. Under the cover of "religion" they are hoping to nationalize a one belief system that fits all and it is a white man privileged one. The arrogance of the republican party will be on full display and no doubt there will be a reckoning coming to them that surely their condescension will not allow them a forewarning.

Deplorable? More like the miserable (#2889)

     You know that old saying right, misery loves company? Well this seems to explain why so many voted for Trump and republicans. These miserable ones cannot abide that others would not be as miserable as themselves. So instead of working to make everyone's life better they just stiffen their jaw and make everyone as ugly as they are. I don't get it myself. We all control our own lives no matter what or who tells us different. We control how we want to live. It is our choice, not some abstract theory waiting to be proven. Yet these miserable ones feel like they have only one course to follow and that is to make others as miserable or more as themselves.
     I suppose there is quite a bit of jealousy as well. Their thinking would go along these lines: {How is it possible that someone other could be having a better life than me? I am a true American and I deserve to have a better life than those who are not like me?} This is what the miserable must feel. Do you sense the privilege that is underneath the questions? The miserable are miserable not because others are having a better life, they are miserable because they didn't learn how to have a better life for themselves. They are taking out their own shortcomings on others because that way they don't have to admit their own personal failures while holding onto some undeserved modicum of respect.
     It is hard to self evaluate in a truthful way but that is what each and every one of us must do in order to hold ourselves accountable to actual reality. I won't live like a miserable nor deplorable person because life is too short not to really live life. If I am not a happy person then that is on me regardless of how life is dishing out it's consequences. I work and try hard to achieve but if achieving isn't happening then I regroup and try again. I don't quit learning and get angry at others because their fate has been better for them. I actually admire them for their good fortune and rebuild my own hopes off of their example.

The death of the American dream (#2888)

     Well that is how we ended. We elected trump with less votes and still have a Congress that is run by the middle class killing republican party. So here we go on a spiral downward toward our demise. What will be left is a nation full of poor citizens who have little hope of more than table scraps from the new small cabal of ultra wealthy. The problem here with us vast majority of poor is that we have no power. Our democracy has been dismantled so that the wealthy and their republican acolytes no longer have to worry about us. They will pack the courts with mean, brutish and nasty judges, hire larger police forces to keep us in line and grow the military so that their safety is assured anywhere in the world.
     From America the beautiful we are now America the fortress for the wealthy. Our push for equal rights, equal opportunity, fairness and justice will no longer be ours to hold dear. It will be for the wealthy to tell us what kind of dreams we can now have. We won't be able to make our own dreams come true based upon what is best about us, we will have to survive and that is how the police and military members will be forced to look at it as they enforce the will of the wealthy. Our nation has rotted from within and is no longer trustworthy of democratic ideals. Other democratic nations of the world will have to protect themselves from us as the new powers here in America will not want them to have what they took from us.
     This next period of time will damage us here so badly that even the idea of a new election in 4 years is not inspiring. the same dirty tricks and voter suppression that won the day for the nefarious republicans will surely be more evident and successful in 2020. I don't know what it will take other than civil disobedience to change what is coming at us but we had better figure it our sooner than later because it is coming and it will be killing many of us.

American arrogance is a disease (#2887)

     We Americans have been living off the hard work of those who sacrificed to give us the opportunities we have. It is not enough for us to be thankful for the precious hard fought victories for democracy and it's obvious modernity, we must give as well to help our democracy along. We, our generation, is the recipient of the benefit provided us by our early and late ancestors. We deserve none of it as it is only a gift. Yet too many of us strut around like we are some kind of demigods worthy of a by your leave from those who we condescend to. How utterly arrogant of us to think and behave like we earned anything of real value. We are the recipients not the creators. I am in shock over this last election which tells me that we truly are an arrogant nation who has no clue as to our pettiness.
     I call our arrogance a disease because we are not able to correct it ourselves. We need professional help in the sense of being awakened to our denigrating thoughts and horrible behaviors. How can anyone be proud of being a racist, misogynist or any other undemocratic pariah? It seems that if we ignore it and only focus on what is best for us, then selfishness becomes our credo. We don't call it that instead we point our fingers at others with unceasing blame. I have no answer for our current state of mind. I see it for what it is but I have no great answer toward curing it other than to expose it for all to see and hope that truth can overcome arrogance.
     There are too many in our American society who think that privilege and advantage should be theirs and only theirs. Our selfishness will be our undoing. The current political administration coming into power partly through foreign intervention refuses to accept the corruption involved and will only hasten our demise not so much from without but now even more dangerously from within. We will have no one else to blame when the dismantling of democracy is complete because we were too busy lording ourselves over others in some vain attempt to pretend we are better than we really are.

Despite our angst, a day to be content (#2886)

     I am not one to celebrate Christmas because it embodies a false narrative to achieve a happy outcome. I get the happy outcome but for me it will never be enough that the means justify the end. I would rather we celebrate what is good inside us without having to conform to a religious structure that too many of us find imaginary. Yet here we are again with all the custom around us trying not to be a negative so I find that putting on a smile and just being myself without the whirligig of the false narrative interfering with my day. Since most people are in a relatively good mood I don't want to upset that despite my indifference to it's mqkeup. Actually more than indifference but let's not go there. :)
     So smiling and doing good is on my agenda much like any other day so I am somewhat content not to rail against the ridiculousness we Americans are currently showing. Instead I will say nice things about what good there is left in us and be thankful for that small piece of the pie. Tuning out more than tuning in is something from my past that had a totally different meaning but it is well put here to identify my one day of ambivalence. I will watch the games on television and politely ignore the haters while fixing some little problems that always come up. I am thankful today for what little I do have and although I am thankful everyday for what little I do have I will make a point of expressing it today.
     If only we could have a day like today everyday and the only ones stopping us is ourselves. We are our own worst enemy but that is nothing new. Oh well, everyone have a wonderful day in spite of the foreboding many of us feel about the coming new year. I wish I could say I am thankful for that but what I can say is that I hope what I perceive as disaster on the horizon is just a cautious tale on my part.

Being bold in ignorance is the problem (#2885)

     Too many lately have taken to being advocates of positions that are wholly wrong or mostly inaccurate. Not only the usual suspects in the republican party voting block but too many also in the democratic party voting block. By degrees, the republicans are the worst offenders and that is why we are in the hellacious mess we currently find ourselves. But less so but no less disappointing is the ignorance displayed by otherwise intelligent liberals who think that we were the problem and not the democracy crushing republicans. I know that democrats are more nervous about things then we should be but to blame the last national loss on ourselves is despicable. Why in the world would I steal the shame and embarrassment republicans achieved and give it to myself?
     At times many in our party are just as blind to the big picture that most republicans are. I would have thought that despite our wrinkles within our party we could iron those out internally with a more open and frank discussion of out goals for the future and how we are going to forward our goals. These are important issues needing our attention but on the scale of how we lost and the methods employed by republicans to effectively steal our election and deny millions of their right to vote, our internal problems are much less a problem in the face of the democracy crushing republican party. Republicans are and will be the problem within our society and until we stop the nonsense of looking for blame from within our movement and focus on neutering the republican party they will remain our lords and masters no matter what we do as a party.
     Let me say this clearly for all to understand, the republican party is our problem and their denial of voting rights with their incessant lying and cheating in the media has to end. We have to make them pay for what is wrong and destroying our nation without offering ourselves up as an excuse to blame for their doing. We democrats are liberal progressives and if we don't fight to keep our liberal progressive positions in the forefront of the American psyche then we will soon become that extinct creature that once was a fond memory.

Our Supreme Court can save us (#2884)

     There is only one hope now that the republicans control the presidency, senate and house of representatives and that is our current 4-4 deadlocked supreme court. Justices Kennedy and Roberts are the moderate conservatives on the court and they do at times side with the working middle class. I hope they feel the extra pressure to do so since the republican control of the legislature and presidency will bring about fundamental changes to doing what is right, fair and just in our nation and by extension the world. We have only that hope left of the possibly next 2 years but likely 4 years.
     The one thing I do know about Kennedy and Roberts is that they see the big picture quite well and although they have been conservatively partisan in many instances the new dynamic may cause them to look at things with a more acute eye at preserving the ideal of democracy. The majority of voters said no to Trump and yet he won. Taking that into consideration and the balance that social programs provide to the masses I expect they will be less conservative in their approach as a balance to protect what may be the complete dismantling of a progressive agenda that has been a model for us and for nations around the world.
     Roberts and Kennedy have both shown a propensity to look at the bigger picture and if now isn't the time for that then when would be?/ I truly expect that the 4 liberals on the court, great minds and thinkers all, to be persuasive with both Roberts and Kennedy since they both have not completely sold their objectivity to partisan politics like Alito and Thomas. A new judge will be nominated and voted on come January or shortly thereafter and if another conservative is voted onto the court both Roberts and/or Kennedy will be needed to keep what is left of our society in a now a teetering modern mode.

To be born, to live, then die (#2883)

     I will focus here on the middle part. The living part. The unknown scares us, I get that, but in no way does being scared of the unknown keep me from trying to learn the unknown and make it the known, while also conquering my fear. I am a human being who is equipped with senses that give me input. I have a mind that reasons, analyzes and concludes with a memory both short and long term that allows me to store information comprehensively. I have the physical ability to interact with all of nature that I can perceive and the wherewithal to creative and innovate that which allows me to go beyond my own earthly surroundings. So the unknown, while scary, is little or no barrier to me to explore it.
     I surmise in this blog that we have an instinct of curiosity that drives us to learn and want to know. It is a part of who we are as a species. So our curiosity as a motivator and our senses as indicators, we are set by genetics to discover. That is the living part of who we are. Everything derives from that. So anything less than living a life of discovery is living as less than a human being. I for one prefer to be who I am. I have no desire to alternate my own destiny as a human to satisfy some illusory concept I or others may forward as more attractive or desiring. I have the function of my abilities and as such they are my most prized possessions.
     I say this because the life we live is not something less than special if we are actually living it. I also in this blog post forward that we are a caring species given that we nurture our young and pass along the information and knowledge we find most helpful for them. We care about each other in other ways as well as we commune together in society for the acquaintances, friendships and emotional bonding for family growth. That is the living as well, learning and loving as we can with a never ending will to push the boundaries of how and where we live.

It isn't the messenger it is the message (#2882)

     After seeing Trump elected it is as clear as day that the message is the attraction not the messenger. Trump is so flawed as a human being that there is no way he won with his character. He won because he said things, right or wrong, that people wanted to hear. What is truly unremarkable is that what people wanted to hear was mean and petty. I am so ashamed of our electorate in that over 60 million folks voted for Trump. Surely 10's of millions of those had to be women who by all accounts should never have voted for him based on his obvious misogyny. Yet women still voted for him. So a greater allure attracted them to him despite his contempt for them.
     So his message of fear and hate seem to be the winning message. How those who voted for him could put their worst natures out as the highest priority will baffle me for the rest of my life. But what I do understand of it initiates from a lack of common decency and inner pride in oneself. They may hide behind their smiles and their good works but their souls are corrupted. I don't do things for others as a way to show I am a good person. I do things for others because I am a good person. I have reconciled in my mind the necessity for me to be the bigger person and help along those who surely appreciate what I can do for them.
     Making our world more inclusive and more equal in opportunity, fairness and justice should be a common goal we all share not a condescension toward those who have been forced by the wealthy to seek help. Income inequality didn't get a hearing this last election as to what it is doing to our economy and by extension our democracy. When capitalism is the driving force of everything we do instead of democracy then we get what we are now receiving, a capitalist leading our democracy to it's death. Greed and selfishness are the motivators to wealth when no regard for those who make up the rest of our society are considered expendable. There is a tension that is building and when and how that metaphorical tectonic snap occurs is more inevitable than not.

We Americans cannot handle success (#2881)

     Mainly because most of us didn't earn it. We were given all our advantages to succeed without having to earn our advantages. Those who fought and died before us and even now are the ones who have earned the right to succeed. Those of us who sit back and let the others do the hard in life so that we can have it easy show us the real cowardly way to live as Americans. So many of the ones who are successful today do it off the sacrifice of others that they know it. That is why they act like cowards and don't allow for the good in life to supersede the bad. They will lose their unearned advantage and privilege if they do.
     That is why our American society is so reluctant to modernize and advance as an enlightened society, because we are afraid of being exposed for the uneducated hucksters we are. Well that is not hidden anymore if one person reads this post. There is only so much illusion and diversion we can employ to hide our ignorance in most areas of intelligent thought. We are a greedy selfish nation that wants to appear to be an enlightened benevolent one. The absolute absurdity of our society that allows for those who actually work hard to improve and build a good life to be stymied at every turn while the thieves and hucksters sit back and take the profit from those who have actually earned it.
     We live in a society that is set up to take from the ones who break their backs throughout their lives to give to those who can pick our pockets while sitting at a desk. Our day of reckoning has finally come about and instead of trying to fix our problems from within we are about to destroy from within what was left that was good about us. Maybe this needed to happen in order to bring us out of the shadows as a nation and expose our hypocrisy and thievery to all who even care to glance our way anymore. The world will move on without us despite the fear they have for our immaturity and explosive arsenals. We are like a spoiled child about to be either disciplined or left to our tantrums. I hope we and the world survive our petulance.

A creative mind (#2880)

     My imaginings never stop. I suppose the creative side of me will not let me rest even when I am resting. :) My dreams are amazing and dull all at the same time. But it is when I am awake that my mind takes reality and imagines better. I can see worse but not as a choice I have to accept. Surely we all have those moments when our minds drift to places that are not good but we don't have to let our minds stay there. We can simply change the subject and then imagine something better. Unfortunately right now due to our politics many of us are in less than ideal circumstances so our minds tend to focus on the worse of what our realities may very well become instead of the better. This is why this past election was so important.
     Our collective psyche was preparing for improvements for the majority of us working/middle/poor class and now we must gird ourselves for a lessening or a worsening. But despite the anger and the depression that we are experiencing our minds are our salvation. We have to turn from the disaster that we imagine and rightly so that is coming and find ways to alleviate the doom and gloom. We need to rise to the challenge because one thing is perfectly clear to me. Our species has been fighting for millions of years to survive and evolve past all challenges theretofore. Why would now be any different? The oddity that we are doing this to ourselves is concerning but not ultimately defeating.
     I know it looks dark and dreary now but the light is still there far down that tunnel and if we just focus on it and prepare ourselves for what we can do to change this last outcome with a better one 2 years from now and then 4 years from now we can make the worst of what will happen less punishing. We hopefully then can get back on track toward a modern enlightened society that doesn't just serve those who least need it.

I am not much but what little that is I respect it (#2879)

     I have my principles that I live by and they are of course liberal and progressive with an ultra modern bent. I am tired of the old ways of brutish nasty natures that defend themselves with condescension and hatred. I won't accept them in my life nor those who carry such invective vile. So many have been purged from my life who do not share a vision of respect and honor for all of us to be an equal being without privilege and advantage. Merit and creativity are the measurements by which I judge our differences. If one is going to be lazy in life then so be it. Don't pretend to be something you are not. If one is going to cheat, lie and steal through life then admit it and don't pretend you are not a cheating, lying  thief. We are what we are and no amount of sugar coating or denial will change that reality.
     For those who are not lazy or corrupt, there is merit and creativity to bolster us along through life. We take the time to be honest about ourselves and our actionable behavior. We actually earn what we strive to achieve. There is no dishonest scheme to working hard or imagining greatly. That is the only way we move beyond being the base of our equality. We are still equal but some of us are more inventive or harder workers who want a few more rewards in life. We all deserve rewards just for being alive but some earn their extra rewards through honest work and innovative thinking. That is right and good and should be our creed.
     So those who are not able to understand progressive thinking or who defend the old ways of pain and suffering as just, need not even attempt to cross my path. I have one definitive course of action that I control and that is my presence with whomever or not I will allow in my immediate sphere. If you are not fighting alongside me for the equality, fairness and justice of all of us then you do not exist to me. Regardless of who you are what you want. I cannot tolerate those who would harm us and not help us, period!

Who will blink first, Trump and his minions or us? (#2878)

     The bully appears to be heading toward being our political leader although he DID NOT receive the most votes by huge amount but still seems to think that he has a mandate. Well to hell with his thought process! He doesn't have a mandate and if he tries to force us to accept his egotistical fascist agenda it will be up to us to back him down. How will we do that? We will shout our anger at him in unison and threaten to destabilize his foundation. We must be adamant and resolute or otherwise he will gamble that we will back down. Nothing is further from the truth in my mind but I was shocked that he was elected so I do not discount us becoming sheep at the first sign of a threat by him.
     I am an older dog who is willing to fight for what is right in this existence but I am not sure the rest of we liberal progressives are as willing. It would be a shame if we did not stand as sentinels on our principles and defend what we know is right. Nothing in life is a given especially if it has honor to it. Too many like the republican party are not assuaged by the noble idea of honor. They only see advantage and privilege because it doesn't matter to them if that advantage and privilege is gained by being the worst humans on the planet. Deceitful and traitorous or just actions to them to use when it serves their purpose without regard to the consequences and the laws of inverse proportionality, https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/inverse_proportion.
     Now I could be surprised by the rhetoric Trump has heretofore used if he figures it out that destroying our modern progressive society is not a good thing but I don't count on him having a revelation one would expect when the weight of our nation's future dawns on him. I expect him to stay the simple minded fool he is who is best at conning people into thinking he is some kind of messiah. Trump has always been drawn toward being enamored. He loves to be glorified but knows he can't be honestly because he is incapable of earning it through wisdom and intelligence. So the con will most likely continue and the pain he will cause because of his ego will be to all of our detriment.

The bull in the china shop (#2877)

     Our democracy is a fragile thing when it is being attacked from the inside. If an attack came from the outside we are formidable but from the inside we are vulnerable. It has been known for centuries that our democracy is only vulnerable when we ourselves fail to protect it from the forces of greed and bigotry. When we lose sight of what equality of opportunity for all is and how justice and fairness are to be administered with a blind eye, we will surely be incapable of defending ourselves from the rot that dominates on the inside. When we lose our democratic rights as citizens to our inherent liberty all that will remain is the shell we have protecting us, that being a protective force that is not subject to democratic controls like our expansive military then we are ripe for being sequestered by it and whomever controls that last bastion of what once was the tip of the spear of our great democracy.
     Trump is the metaphorical bull in the china shop and if we don't do something within our democratic appeals to stop him we will find that not stopping him will likely be our shameful and devastating epitaph. I would prefer to fight until my last breath to keep him from taking 240 years of progress and dismissing it as if the loss of life and treasure to bring it about meant nothing. I have no regard for those who spit on the memory of our fallen patriots that died giving their lives so that democracy may flourish. The old adage of "If they not be for us then they be against us" is valid here.
     Our democracy is at stake and the millions of lives that are caught under the hoofs of the rampaging bull Trump is impending. It is crucial that every American citizen put democracy above any other ideology and help to stop the out of control bull. Political arty ideology can be an emotional divider but what is worse is not having the liberty to even have a political party. Nowhere in our Constitution is the right to destroy our democracy and replace it with something else. We are at that moment in time and if the big picture is not held dear then we are all in for a dishonorable and suffering future.

Waiting for the boot on my neck (#2876)

     I am floored by the outcome of our election and as such the monster who manipulated his victory is about to put his boot on my neck. I know I am not the only one who feels this way and will feel the pressure of the boot on my neck. But it is coming and the only salvation that may be out there is the electoral college. Yet I know from experience that the bully monster will force them to his will as well. It is as if no law can stop the monster and his will is the law of the land. How this came to be is symptomatic of me mistakenly thinking that we were better than this. Now about 3 million more voters against the monster tried to overcome him but not even that was enough.
     Our national standing in the world just took a hit with the other civilized nations and we deserve that. Our inability to process that we should be helping the less well off instead of being jealous of them for their few advantages is exposed. How petty and small of us, we Americans. I had thought that we were the best of what the world should find example within. But no, we are not and if the world is keen to look they will avoid us like we have the plague. I cannot reasonably stand and be proud especially since I am still floored waiting for the inevitable boot to stomp on my neck. My reward for thinking that we were an advanced civilized modern society. There are elements of our modernity but they are diminishing because the condescension from the brutes in the republican party do not celebrate intelligence or critical thinking. Their master is force and power.
     I am older now in this stage of my life but nonetheless driven to stiffen up my neck so that when the boot comes down it won't cut off the airway that sustains my life. I will eventually gather enough strength to lift the boot off and stand to dust myself off. I will then stomp on the boot that would be on my neck and kick the ass of the leg the boot is attached to. But for now I will feel the burden of our national failure and mourn the opportunity we had to actually improve what I thought was a society that was unparalleled in the history of enlightenment.

Our worst natures are now acceptable (#2875)

     Apparently we all want to act like spoiled children and treat each other with contempt. How else could Trump have won the election. Certainly not with him being a successful businessman when he has a trail of bankruptcies behind him, court orders to pay fines for business related wrongdoings and unpaid bills to many hundreds of contractors http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2016/06/09/donald-trump-unpaid-bills-republican-president-laswuits/85297274/. He started out in life with a "small" (his word) one million dollar advance from his father so his beginning as a businessman is where most people hope to reach by the end of their lives so nothing based in reality about his pulled up by the bootstraps story.
     His characterizations about women didn't seem to affect his vote getting either, http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2016/10/07/donald_trump_2005_tape_i_grab_women_by_the_pussy.html. He also belittles women as objects instead of equal human beings in defiance of the laws of nature. So his attitude toward women must be a positive since more than enough critical voters backed him. We must be a sick society that we find the aggressive actions of a brute to women who not only birth us but our children acceptable. Aside from his misogyny that also seems to be acceptable is his "Christian" values of philandering. He captured the majority of the Christian vote despite cheating on wives one and two. Again, acceptable.
     I suppose what is the most telling trait that we Americans now find alluring and acceptable is his lust for fame in all it's glory. He doesn't just want to be president, of which he thinks of as an afterthought, he wants the glory that is attached to being president even more. The title of president is what he wants and the perks that go with it, not the job of president and the hard work to improve the lives of we Americans https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/beautiful-minds/donald-trump-s-real-ambition/.

Ignorance is a choice (#2874)

     I heard some woman say something in an interview about some information she heard on the radio and took it as gospel. I about cringed and then it struck me, this is how many people get their information and form their opinions. They take what is conveniently heard and without fact checking or even having a conversation about the veracity of the information they accept it as fact or truth. Again, something they heard on the radio. Those who broadcast on radio and television are under no obligation to narrate fact and truth. Most of the time they are inflating things or only reporting outrageous information as a way to make sure their advertisers continue to use their marketing.
     There is little to nothing I hear on any advertiser for sale broadcast, media print, radio, television or Internet that I take at face value. I double check as much as possible because I know that our laws allow for deceptive and duplicitous information spread. http://content.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1843796,00.html So those who take things from a convenient source and convince themselves without verifying that those things are factual and honest are only showing the rest of us how they choose to be ignorant instead of intelligent. I have been on my own little quest to see how in the world enough voters would vote for Trump. It seems to me that he has tapped into something within them that overcomes any words that may come out of his mouth.
     They want to be like him. Successful in public and private regardless of the way he got his success. They don't care if he was silver spooned, ruthless and despicable businessman, as many actually admire that about him. All they care about is that he is apparently wealthy and and arrogant about expressing it. They like his hard look at life and the idea of survival of the fittest as the only test of worthiness. It is shameful that so many of his followers are those who look down on those who do not do as well as they themselves. Instead of trying to make life easier for everyone to be part of they only want to make life harder for those whom they think are not good enough. This is our reality and it is not going away anytime soon.

When otherwise good people do nothing (#2873)

     We are there right now. The opportunity to do something that stops the nightmare we are on the threshold of is upon us. What will we do? Either change the outcome or let it happen. Two choices two different actions. the first action is to do nothing. Stay static and let things happen without putting up a resistance. What will occur is the nightmare becomes reality and we are left with being torn apart from the inside out. The second choice is to do everything we can to fight against the nightmare and change it to a new awakening. That is what we should be doing, everyone of us now that the nightmare is running amok for all to see.
     What happened in Germany nearly 80 years ago is comparative. An allowance for separation and hate to grow and flourish while otherwise good people did nothing. What we saw happen there was the slippery slope of hate work it's way from the "dregs" of society all the way to the "cream of the crop" of society. Once hate has a handhold it will not relinquish it's hold until it is utterly destroyed. We here in America are about to hand over the controls of our society to a man who worships hate and separation as a guiding principle. So first those of color will feel his wrath, then the poor, then the women and then the old and infirmed. When those have been castigated then the less productive and then the more educated who speak out against hate will follow until the last person in line in any group left will know the fear of hate when it is searching for it's next victim.
     Eventually only a few will be outside of hates tentacles but then when no one is left for hate to crush then hate will turn on it's masters. Nothing about our coming nightmare has a good ending so just doing nothing is helping the nightmare to come to reality. I know I will try to do everything I can to stop the oncoming nightmare but without many to help it will not be enough. Otherwise good people doing something is what we need and despite our political differences we have to work together to stop this nightmare because we are the only ones who can.

America, on the verge of becoming a Russian satellite state (#2872)

     This is what being uneducated has done to us. We are about to go from being the world's only superpower to being the lackey of the new world's superpower, Russia. We can still stop it but I don't know if there is the will to do it. From what I have heard secondhand, many trump voters are giddy about him winning at any cost, even to subservience to another nation that is not a democratic one. How has it come to this? There truly are some evil wealthy souls in our nation. They made their wealth off the back of a democratic capitalist society and are in a head long dive to ruin the same very system that afforded them their wealth.
     The Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court has said nothing about how his and the last conservative majority has allowed this to happen with rulings that subverted the right to vote for non republicans and gave the wealthy unlimited opportunities to influence the elections with their boundless cash for false advertising and untruthful attacks on good decent opposing candidates. Why hasn't our Supreme Court weighed in on the direction our nation is taking away from democracy? Our nation has been duped by men who are not heroes. They are cowards who steal a nation instead of leading it by earning it's respect.
     I have lived long enough to see this happen and it torments me that it may come about. I have no solutions except to scream it out that we are being manipulated by cowards and traitors to our history and our destiny all for the lure of riches. I am ashamed today to stand proud as an American when our nation is ripping apart from within through the efforts of the republican party. They sow the seeds of distrust and misinformation as if it were something of value to the world. I cannot abide them and even though I am at the twilight of my life I will not stop doing anything I can to stop them and return our society back toward democracy.

The test of our character (#2871)

     I had thought that the election was a test of our character but now it seems that a foreign power has interfered with out election and therefore clouds the results as to our intent. So now instead of the election being a test of our character our response to what Russia has done to our elections is the test of our character. If we cannot find the will to object to our democracy being literally influenced enough to change it by a bad actor then we all deserve to be losing our democracy. I have been pronouncing this for so long it is like a bad dream for me. We are losing our democracy because we don't care enough to pay attention to it.
     Well now we are all paying attention and being presented with the evidence of a foreign power trying to thrust it's will on our political apparatus, what will be our response? To me what Russia ie.. Putin has done is a clear act of war! He has dared to manipulate our political process as if he were a spy trying to gather information about our defense and offensive strategies. It looks to be he has gotten installed into the presidency a willing culprit to his plan. Not only does Trump not want to accept the classified briefings detailing the Russian involvement he doesn't want any investigation to further along the process of exposing the acts.
     So we the people are left to resolve this dilemma. We must put aside our practice of ignoring reality and turn off the entertainment as a diversion and focus in on what is actually happening in real life. We are in a constitutional crisis never seen before in modern history. Our democracy has been subverted by a foreign power with a willing accomplice placed at the head of our government. Will we Americans we stand for it? Will we drop the irrelevant act of being too busy to care? The test of our character is upon us and now is when we need to see who we are and what we stand for otherwise we have just been taken by fool and a foreign master pulling his strings.

Death by a thousand paper cuts (#2870)

     Our society here in America is about to experience this phenomena. Why would we ever elect a political party that does not have our interests at heart? I do not know the reason specifically but regardless, the outcome, over a period of time, is going to be very painful. It is as if our national psyche wants to harm ourselves. We are crying out for help but in a way that is destructive. I look upon us as having self punishing tendencies without hope. It is bewildering to me that we were on the verge of really making ourselves into a model for all the world to copy as a society and we just shrunk from the opportunity. All we had to do was vote for the candidate that was going to help us along into modernity and a democracy that looked to improve justice and fairness.
     Not only that but we have driven a stake into the heart of our future by electing that republican party that will turn away from climate change action and turn away from cleaning up our pollution inspired policies. We have done a disservice to our planet yes, but we have also done a disservice to our seniors, our children and all of the working middle poor class. What is unfathomable is that the ones who allowed the republicans to come to office are the ones who are most going to get hurt by choosing them. We are on a self loathing crusade and as we continue to harm ourselves the further we get away from the political cures that will slave our wounds and improve our future.
     Death by a thousand paper cuts is what is coming and no one deserves the blame more that we ourselves. Republicans didn't lie to us about what they would do. We just chose them to do it to us and now that it will happen we must accept our choice since we made it. Now I know we all didn't do this but we are part of this democracy and therefore must live with the consequences of our affiliation. I am not looking forward to the pain and suffering but it seems that I and those like me were overruled.

I am a humanist (#2869)

     I make this claim because I believe in all things human and not in anything beyond that. I don't need to believe in any religion, myth or superstition in order to justify my morality or my ethics. Take this blog for instance. In the heading of it's cover page is a claim that we human beings have three dominant instincts, compassion, curiosity and survival. I order the compassion and curiosity above the survival instinct but in no way without the survival instinct firmly implanted within both. Still though survival is a key instinct not to be discounted as less than important. With compassion, care if you will, and curiosity, which is our wonderment, we have the two main reasons for our evolving growth.
     With compassion and curiosity, we have life with a purpose. We recognize that we have abilities like senses to accumulate data and memories to store that data. In our minds we can reason, analyze and conclude the data into not only simple understandings but also into complex understandings that continue on into comprehensive understandings. That comes from our curiosity. What comes form our compassion is our need for connecting with each other. We are not automatons, we are biological beings in need of an understanding of our emotions and related behaviors. Our species nurtures us from our infancy to our maturity in most cases. We are bound to each other in ways that even extend out to the "lesser species". We have a "heart" within us that demands our attention to each other.
     For me to make up or need a symbol of righteousness to know that I am worthy as a human being is ludicrous. I get my bearings from my human nature, my compassion and my curiosity. Now you may wonder how I deal with our lesser natures of harm and derangement. Simple, they come about due to a lack of both compassion and/or curiosity. Much like emptiness is filled like a vacuum with whatever is available if it is not already filled with compassion and curiosity. My compassion and my curiosity are my fulfillment. They serve as my principles for living as a human being worthy of any moral or ethical equivalent.

We Democrats need to take the initiative (#2868)

     Any procedural option. Everything that can be done to preserve what we can of our democracy should be the only option. As republicans have shown us, taking advantage of the rules is the new paradigm. No more gentlemanly agreements to observe rules of decorum. Republicans took their gloves off more than 30 years ago, since Reagan, so we Democrats are behind and have been allowing a one sided fight to happen for far too long. It is well past time for us to show Republicans that we can street fight with the best of them. Any option to use to our advantage must be employed. I don't care how much Republicans cry and stamp their feet that we aren't playing fair. Hypocritical, since Republicans can't even spell the word fair anymore because they never employ it themselves.
     If it is a constitutional allowance we must take advantage of it if it gives us an edge anyway anyhow. I am tired of Republicans dictating the agenda through obstruction and obfuscation. We Democrats are far more clever than they are since they all seem to ignore the processes of reason and analysis. We Democrats on the other hand are more precise about what we can and can't do we just have not had the will to craft a strategy that takes advantage of our insights for fear of being labeled master deceivers. Yet that is what Republicans have been doing at every turn so for us to try to stay above the cunning of advantage taking is our problem. We must play on the same field that produces the winners if we are to be winners ourselves.
     The moral high ground notwithstanding, if all it gets us is the defeat of our very democracy that houses our ability to self govern, then it is imperative that we evolve to include whatever constitutional procedures that allow us to keep the Republicans from destroying our modern civilization. Republicans may have been utilizing every advantage they can think of for decades but we Democrats are wiser and more clever than they are so let's prove it by beating them at their own game by using every advantage we can articulate that is constitutionally allowed to further our agenda and diminish theirs. I am past being mister nice guy and I suspect most of us Democrats feel the same.

An indistinguishable life (#2867)

     Once I realized this about myself I was disappointed but not surprised. At an early age of course I thought I was destined for greatness beyond imagination. As if destiny had me born for a purpose so intensely magnificent that there could be no other reason. Yet here I am at the twilight of my life and the best I can come up with to describe my life is indistinguishable. There was no great true love for me, nor offspring. There was no great wealth and honor for me there was just me trying to survive in a world that had billions of us to support. So faced with my reality I accepted that I was not distinguishable nor special beyond the normal.      The pause here is for me to again reflect on the truth of that last statement.
     So what has my life been like instead of my early imagining? Nothing of note to spend time describing. Initially satisfying my own selfishness and greed but that was short lived because despite my utter failure at being "the one" I was still an honest decent person within. I like telling the truth of things and being honest in my thoughts and actions. So after my short period of not being my principled self, I turned inward and formed from that who I am today. Indistinguishable certainly but not insignificant. I have a purpose in life that carries me forward in a peaceful and reasoned way. I don't give up on what I know is right and I fight for what is right at every turn. I don't tolerate those who lie cheat and steal not will I give a second of my life to those who cannot nor will not admit they are wrong.
     I suppose I have become a better example of what it is to be a respectful human being who has dreams and hopes that are greater than myself. I foresee a future for we humans that leaves behind the foolishness and pettiness we hold so dear in this current era. I foresee a future for we humans that celebrates what we are and who we become without prejudice or hate. I foresee a species of human being that has the courage to learn with conviction and honest intent to be greater and more evolved than we are currently. I foresee who we should be and not so much the fear we cannot seem to let go of.

Our future is in outer space (#2866)

     The days of manifest destiny are now aimed above our heads. No longer are there frontiers to be discovered and settled. We now must look out beyond the sky to find our next undiscovered frontiers. We know that beyond our sky there is no such luxury as air to breathe nor food and water at the plenty. We must manufacture these things and more in order to proceed. But we are an amazing species that can and will do these things so that we can find out what we don't know. It is part of who we are to know what we don't. We have exhausted our curiosity on this planet and now our curiosity demands that we move further out from our protective lifestyles.
     We are not giving away our world here on Earth but we are prepared to launch ourselves from it in order to grow as a species. We will come back to Earth to recharge and replenish that which we need to continue our exploration. We will build habitats beyond our planet and we will house our species within them. As we get closer to conquering some of the more practical physical impediments to life beyond our planet we will increase our ability to survive even further out into space. Thus allowing us the opportunity to discover even more unimaginable answers to questions we have not yet even begun to fathom.
     This is the beauty of outer space, learning new things while answering old questions previously unanswerable. The physics we know from our time on earth is just a small part of what the physics is like out beyond our reach. We will learn and apply that learning to what we know and make ourselves an even more destined species to reach the end of time and space. It is a hope that once we get beyond time and space that we find a whole new set of questions to ponder and answers even further beyond the end of things as we can imagine. Anything is possible and for us to begin to know that we must force the will of our minds to the best of our abilities. It is in outer space now where our quest is waiting to begin.

Only two years to the next national election (#2865)

     Other than obstruct and rebut Trump for the next four years we do have a chance to make a dent in his term. In two years we are going to have a national election that will effect 1/3 of the Senate and all of the House. As well as all the state and local races all over the country. I have come to grips with the likely scenario that what we have gotten as a result of this past election will be our reality. So while too much of our progressive liberal agenda of social programs and cleaning up our planet will be dismantled, not all of it will be over the next two years so we have a real chance of convincing an otherwise skeptical electorate that republicans really are what has kept our society from modernizing and becoming a more democratic nation.
     So let them begin their carnage and as they do and it affects those who voted for them let's make sure we call them out and place the blame squarely on their shoulders. Now is when we must be sentinel in our purpose of leaving no doubt that republicans are causing the harm we are about to feel. Our only purpose is to broadcast with fervor their complicity in stealing our American dream from us. Republicans used every dirty trick in the book of dirty tricks to confuse too many so we have to make sure that the confusion over who is destroying us is not deflected. It will not be easy but if we democrats get on the same page and fight instead of wallow in our disappointment, we can turn this around so that in 2020 we are ready to reclaim the moral and ethical high ground over the thieves of the republican party.
     The 2020 election is a critical one in that the 10 year census will take place again and we must never allow republicans to win like they did in 2010 so that they could unfairly gerrymander the House so that we democrats could never be in the majority. I am for fair elections and fair districts but republicans do not hold to such principles, they are a win at all costs party because they don't represent the people, they represent the wealthy. Getting the ball rolling back in the right direction in 2018 is now our main objective.

Life is brutal enough (#2864)

     The nature of this existence is tough enough without us intentionally harming ourselves. I think about how our species has had to survive through the "water" era early in the beginning of our evolution. A constant awareness to the dangers of the other two animals that began their water era at the same time. We are Invertebrates, generally with the other two species being Exoskeletons and Mollusks. We Invertebrates waged a struggle against the other two for millions of years in the water in order to survive and eventually crawl out of the water and become land dwelling animals. From there we have been savaged by the climate and the ordering of our own particular needs to survive.
     We are now a civilized being that has become the master of this atmosphere and the land and water beneath it. We human invertebrates have conquered all known life and are as such in control of our destiny. So it is up to us to master our minds so that what our future holds is not only based upon the powers of reason and common sense but our own inherent will to survive. Which leads me to today. For whatever it is worth I do admit that we are still in the early stages of human enlightenment but we are progressing rapidly in innovation and creativity while unfortunately falling behind in the will to change, from now more than ever, archaic hurtful practices.
     Humanity has survived in this current evolved state for hundreds of millenniums and it will take an act of total self destruction of our own making or of a universal catastrophe we have no control over to end our march toward a greater awareness. Why we choose to struggle to make life simpler for ourselves is one of those paradigms that boggles my mind. Yet here we are prepared to allow the worst of what we should never be become what we are going to be. It is an insanity of epic proportions that our mighty species is paralleled with our less than mighty powers of modern conceptual thinking. As our creative minds are waiting for the soul of our analytical minds to catch up and end the harm and suffering we place upon each other that is regressive, and a failure of due care that we should be displaying.

Flight or fight (#2863)

     Over the last few weeks I have felt both of these desires. First the flight since I cannot imagine I am surrounded by so many uncaring brutish and harsh people to have voted in a con man who is all about himself and nothing much more about the rest of us. It is unfathomable that he got enough votes to be even competitive let alone enough to win strategically. Of course he is still losing ground in the popular vote overall to his worthy opponent by well over 2.5 million votes as of this date. But due to the patriarchy of the electoral college he is allowed to win the presidency while losing the popular vote. All this to say that his conniving has gotten him his prize and that prize will cost the rest of us dearly so who wants to be part of that?
     I know I didn't. Besides the gut punch feeling I had for several weeks after the shock of his victory I couldn't logically convince myself that this country was in any way the leader of the free world based upon the outcome of the presidential race. If I am one thing it is a liberal progressive and we have a strong will to have democracy with it's equality of opportunity, fairness and justice at it's core. Now that our democracy is about to be unraveled I was struggling as to how I would see myself within this new alarming paradigm. But it took a few weeks for me to come out of the shock of what's about to happen and realize that there really is only one thing for me to do now.
     Fight. Because this is my country and I damn well will never allow some carpetbagging fool to maneuver his way into destroying 240 years of hard fought struggle to build what is the greatest foundation for a democracy in the world. I will fight republicans and their new monster leader with all that I have and I will do it with my feet firmly planted on American soil. I have taken my early depressive sickening feeling and turned it into a mighty roar that will tolerate very little in my march to crush any attempts by republicans to destroy our sacred trust handed down for generations through blood sweat and tears. I honor my predecessors with my fighting now.

My hope is strong however my respect for some is gone (#2862)

     My own personal voyage has been one of self discovery. Many trials and errors and now finally a vision for myself and the world I would like all of us to live in. However, I am not the master of my reality in the world in general so I have to live with whatever the reality is that the rules of our society allow for me and the rest of us. There are many things I hold dear that will never be diminished as principles for my life. Regardless of situation or circumstance I have my grounding that will be with me until I am no more. Like my hope for curiosity and my compassion for what is right and good in life. These are the values that sustain me when the rest of the world seems to have gone mad. I am still me and for that I am fortunate that I found out who I am over some troublesome times.
     I won't change from who I am and what I hold dear. But there are those who have shown that they care not for what is right and good in life. They have otherwise chosen to be the worst of who they are, racist, misogynist, and otherwise uncaring for the difficulties and plights of others. A lack of morality is their credo yet to talk to them they act innocent of being brutish and harsh. I cannot fathom such people who are so confused in the logic that dictates their actions that they believe they can hide behind their confusion with denial. Such folks have lost my respect and once my respect is lost there is not much hope of ever getting it back.
     If those who wish to ask for forgiveness once their understanding of reality returns to them in an enlightened way then they may, over, time receive my forgiveness. But that happening is not likely since most people are too stubborn and afraid to admit they were duped or didn't know what they were doing. Either way, my respect is still gone. Little that my respect matters to them however so no big deal anyway right? I am a good man who wants all of us to have better lives. If my respect is unworthy to them then I don't see them ever finding their way to admitting they were wrong and asking for forgiveness for the unheralded damage that is coming to we the most vulnerable.