The end of death care for this year (#3165)

     The republican party has been promising their voters for the last 2 presidential elections to repeal and "replace" Obamacare. It seemed the promise they made back when Obamacare was enacted back in 2010 that they would finally be able to live up to that promise this year. Surely because they control the House of Representatives and the Senate, along with the presidency, the promise should have been as easy as eating pie. Well we now know officially as of today that it isn't pie republicans are eating, instead it is crow. How could this be you may ask? Well, simply put Obamacare is actually a good thing once anyone takes the time to read the law and research it.
     But republicans started out on the narrative that Obamacare was bad and as a rule they refuse to acknowledge that it is anything other than that. Despite Obamacare repeal finally passing the House through some real pretzel logic the Senate was unable to do the same. In the House with it's huge body to hide behind individual representatives could get lost in the wash of the vote and not have to reason their choice nearly as much as a Senator would have to do. So in the case of a few republican Senators, just enough to keep Obamacare repeal from passing, the repeal effort has died. Specifically because the window for passing the repeal bill with only a majority of 50 votes ends at midnight tonight. Now it will take 60 votes to repeal Obamacare which would be nearly impossible.
     So despite having the majorities in Congress and a republican President, republicans failed to keep their promise to repeal Obamacare once again. Which is just fine with we democrats since we know that Obamacare is far superior to anything we had before it was enacted. Now, can it be improved upon, of course it can but not by destroying it and then making things similar to what they were before Obamacare. In summary, republicans lied about the effect and design of what Obamacare actually does and then set about to demonize it. Now they had the chance to fulfill their quest to destroy something in actuality that helps Americans and they failed at it. So to conclude, republicans lied, then failed. How can we as Americans justify ever voting for them again? How, please tell me so I can understand?

Science and logic, care and curiosity, my beloveds (#3164)

     It took me a good part of my life to figure out that my passion for living dwelt in the sense I make of reality. Not what anyone else says or thinks but what I can derive from the formula of care and curiosity through science and logic. I don't have to believe in anything other than the facts and truths of reality. I am alive today boldly living in this environment, not some hoped for one based upon a blind faith. After filtering out the confusion of all things and the discombobulation that confusion helped create in my life that came at me during my younger years I am now at a place where just the facts and the possibilities the unknown present capture my whole self.
     I am not looking for a safe harbor here in reality so much as I am so damn curious about all things I don't know. Especially outer space and it's mysteries and evolutions. Outer space is part of me and I want to know more about it before my time is up. I have wasted much time being confused and if there is one thing I would do if I could is to clear up that confusion for others. Although I know that we human beings are biological data processors we are also a caring species that expresses that care in the goodness we try to do for each other. Nowadays it seems we are less caring but that is because too many of us are still confused and have allowed some pretty nefarious people to take control over our future.
     But the era of reason, analysis and conclusion is still all around us and in some short time we will be back to it as our formula for not only living but for feeding our imaginations and our purpose for living. We are a species apart from all others and as soon as we stop messing with our own minds and accept our destiny as the discovers of both time and space comprehensively, the sooner we all will have the sublime knowledge that all our lives matter very much. My heart is filled with the acceptance of my care for all living things as well as my mind is extremely satisfied to explore and be part of learning the unknown. I don't have to live like a robot who takes orders from others on how to function. I have free will and working heart and mind to guide me through science and logic as my vehicle.

With the legislative filibuster rule still in play, Obamacare needs two more days to survive (#3163)

     After September 30 the reconciliation time frame will be over. Which makes passing a bill in the senate more difficult since it will take 60 votes for passage, not 50. So as we count down the 48 plus hours left that republicans in the senate have to pull an infamous miracle and steal our health care, I am feeling more confident that they haven't any idea how to pull an infamous miracle. They have tried all the tricks in their filthy bag of ways to screw the American working middle poor class and now they are left with the what can only taste like defeat. However the finish line is still not been crossed so as I will always be, vigilant until the hour strikes into October.
     Just to look ahead for a moment at the next looming battle, we have the republican attempt to destroy the American working middle poor class again with giving huge tax breaks to the wealthy and then burdening the American working middle poor class with higher taxes and less services. The playbook republicans use is not surprising since they have been making the same moves to create an entitled society while diminishing equality of opportunity, fairness and justice. No matter how they dress up their old policies the effects always remain the same, more for the wealthy and less for the rest of us. If only republicans understood the need for a society that benefitted all, instead of a discriminate punishing society that only benefits the greedy and psychotic.
     Yet we cannot find a way to explain it to them since their thinking doesn't allow for logic and common sense to filter past their archaic survival of the fittest mentality. The republican party has abdicated the idea of having a society that keeps us all from wanting to harm each other for the idea of a society that wants to harm each other. They just don't get that when citizens are reasonably happy all of us are beneficiaries. There is no heart nor soul worthy of praise exemplified through republican politics and those that support it are of it's hollow ilk. So on we go obstructing and protesting every harmful brutish policy republicans keep forwarding until the voting time comes again and we can put these republican hordes out of politics.

3 more days and then I will know that our health care is still safe (#3162)

     I know that the republicans in the senate have decided not to offer their death care bill for a vote but I don't trust them one iota. Anything that comes out of their mouths is open to being a lie. That is my experience with them and they will not fool me. Yet 3 days to go is a good thing since in 72 hours they will no longer be able to pass any bill to destroy our health care. I will also give credit to those few republican senators who came out on the record as no votes in order to stall and now likely kill the republican effort to make us all suffer even more. John McCain, Susan Collins, and the dreaded duo of Rand Paul and Ted Cruz. Specifically though, Paul and Cruz came out against the death care bill because it wasn't harsh enough, yet they did help serve a purpose but that is all and will get nothing more from me unless I can serve them both a knuckle sandwich. :)
     But McCain and Collins deserve more recognition because they said that the bill went too far, which to me is an understatement since the bill was going the wrong way all along. So that is all McCain and Collins gets from me as well. So as the clock ticks down to zero in 3 days I will remain vigilant and keen to notice if somehow a last ditch effort forms. Unlikely for sure but nothing republicans do, especially when it comes to destroying honorable things surprises me. After the 3 days it will be mostly impossible for republicans to repeal health care with their death care because the reconciliation process won't be available, which is to say they will need 60 votes to pass their death care bill unlike the 50 votes they need now over the next 3 days.
     So if we survive, and it seems likely, over the next 3 days we will have done a remarkable thing. Although we liberal/progressives are the minority represented in the legislative, executive and judicial branches of government, we are the majority of the people. And being so we have forced the hand of this despicable republican government to our will and not their heinous one. People power is a real thing and we keep proving it. We will have opportunities to protest more in the coming months with tax cuts for the wealthy and more tax burden for the working middle poor among other policies coming from republicans. But our greatest protest is coming in about 14 months. the midterm elections where if we vote like our lives depend upon it, which is what is actually happening, then we can change the balance of power back toward the majority of the people in the legislative branch and in the states.

Reconciliation as a legislative tool is up in 4 days (#3161)

     If there isn't a deathcare bill passed in the next 4 days then there won't be any death care bill passed this year. Why? Because in 4 days instead of 50 votes to pass the republican deathcare bill it will take 60 votes. With republicans having a 52 to 48 vote advantage in the Senate we have been fortunate, we being the vast majority of the American people, that the republicans have a few senators who have a conscience about killing American citizens for money. Just enough to make the 50 vote threshold unattainable for the rest of the unconscionable republican senate cabal. In 4 days the reconciliation period is over and so is the attempt to destroy Obamacare and replace it with deathcare.
     If the trump presidency is a period of short deadlines that are thwarted by democrats then that is how the rest of us will succeed. These next 4 days are as important to me as any 4 days I will ever live. I don't trust republicans to stop trying to destroy health care for the vast majority of us working middle poor class American citizens. With 3 republicans already out against the death care bill it is looking likely that the bill will fail to even be presented for a vote but I believe it will be presented and the 3 and possibly more no republican votes will have to bear an unbearable amount of pressure from the republican lack of leadership in the Senate and even more so from the goon in the White House.
     But what we have seen so far from the no voters is a determined will to remain a no vote. However I don't trust rand paul as far as him actually staying a no vote since he is a weaselly type cad who can be maneuvered like a puppet. Until Murkowski comes out as a solid no I am still concerned about the possibility that this trump designed deathcare bill still has a chance to pass. These next 4 days will tell the tale and if Murkowski comes out against it then I can feel somewhat cautiously optimistic that, like the previous deathcare vote, the three will keep their word to vote no. 4 days and the nightmare of republicans once again harming the majority of Americans by destroying health care will be in the past.

When not understanding freedom we get oppression (#3160)

     This past weekend we were all reminded of what freedom looks like when, in my opinion, an illegitimate president condemned a citizen for exercising his right to protest by not standing for our national anthem. When we have the most powerful political figure in America defying our constitutional right to express our opinion on any subject we are in trouble. The freedom of speech is the hallmark of a democracy. So for trump to be defying that guaranteed right he is confirming to me anyway that democracy is not an ideal he holds dear. In fact he has even shown his contempt for our flag by condoning the displaying of the confederate flag.
     The idea of trump trying to foment discord by playing on differences is nothing new. His remarks concerning race and gender are the opposite of conciliatory. His embrace of white supremacy and his demeaning of women is well documented. His attacks on undocumented immigrants is personal and vindictive. The trump regime is littered with those around him who find the same disvalue of humanity that he does. His whole presidential administration is a reflection of how trump views the world and in his own way he has brought on those to work with him who bow to him at his pleasure. This is not democracy this is a form of monarchy.
     All this to say that when our freedom of expression, no matter how uncomfortable is seen as unpatriotic is the tell. It is the opposite in reality. Our freedom of expression is inviolable and needs to remain so despite the division the trumps would infiltrate. The way things are going it is clear that trump does not want us to have freedom of speech if it is in contradiction to his vision for America, which seems to come from the right wing zealousness of fascism. This bullying of his to replace equality and fairness within our right to speak should alarm everyone, even the supporters now of trump because sooner or later trumps' ego will demand that his supporters pledge their allegiance to him, not to America and then what will they do?
     

The nightmare that is the republican party (#3159)

     Want to bet that no matter how the health care repeal vote goes, if there is one at all, and no matter how the tax reform bill goes, if there is one at all, the kochs will still support their republican lackeys this coming election despite them saying they won't. Like a lot of things republican, blowing hot air in the form of threats is their way of having a conversation. You know, just like there are good people on both sides of perpetrator and victim. lol. The republican party is full of the types that are without integrity and honor. There are some who exhibit so modicum degree of courage when it comes to principles of a higher order but even then they are not consistent with it.
     Every republican I know has a major fault that is irreconcilable to me and anyone who has the decency to require a minimum of respect. That the republican party is in control of our national politics and a majority of our states is abominable and even worse it is a living nightmare. I am not alone as many people I contact with feel the same overwhelming sense of shame. The actual majority of Americans are not republicans and the only reason republicans are in power is through their manipulations of election politics. The media is another area of their manipulations since they own too much of it. The tide of republicanism is upon us and how we fight against that tide will be the only saving grace for our democracy.
     If the rule of law is to survive then the facts of the truth must be let out despite any harm that may come to our institutions. Sunlight truly is the disinfectant we need to purge the underhanded schemes that are now unfortunately our norms. To wake up from this nightmare we need a few things to change. First we all need to vote when the voting time comes. No exceptions except for obvious reasons. Next we need to vote for the best option out there despite our own personal preferences. Remember, this isn't just about our own high and mighty values, it is about all our values so compromise to get better instead of getting worse is always the right thing to do. Unless you like the era of trumps and the path of hatred and destruction they have laid out for our future together.

So far so good on saving Obamacare (#3158)

     Yesterday was a bit of a good news day as John McCain came out against the death care repeal bill republicans are offering to harm America with. With McCain a firm no, the likelihood now of the bill even getting a vote in the senate just got less probable. The other votes for defeating this bill must come from Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins. Now there is the outlier no vote from Rand Paul but we cannot count on him remaining so since he is only voting no because the bill isn't horrible enough! So until Susan Collins confirms her no vote, which she is heavily leaning toward doing, and should make it known early next week we cannot put her in the confirmed no column. With  Lisa Murkowski the pressure and bribes coming at her are enormous so we will see if she can be bought.
     I expect that with no CBO score to guide her, Murkowski will have to go on intuition about what this bill does to the rest of the nation as she is getting enough bribery to protect her own state's constituents. I see Murkowski as being a bigger person than just worrying about her state and she knows she will likely be the one who will become the face of the repeal consequences if it passes. The Rand Paul vote is much more dicey, even though he says he is firmly in the no column. He is the junior senator in Kentucky with the senior senator being the majority leader in the senate who is orchestrating this death care bill for passage. I have no confidence that Rand Paul has any good principles within him and surely he will be swayed to vote for passage when the voting time comes.
     Now there may still be some surprise no votes out there but I wouldn't count on anyone other than McCain, Collins and hopefully Murkowski once again to make sure this death care bill is defeated. Hopefully some official initial report of a scoring nature to show Murkowski that this bill is the worst of the lot that have been offered will come forth. Surely she knows that already, given the takeaways that are similar to other scored bills. The first part of next week will tell the tale and if we are fortunate some more no votes will be made known this weekend but that is just hopeful on my part and not something that is to be expected. Like I said though, with republicans only needing 50 votes in the senate where they have 52 senators, we are doing well not to have already lost this battle we may well win despite the disadvantage in numbers.

I think Obamacare will survive (#3157)

     I know this seems rash of me to predict the survival of Obamacare but I have a couple of precedents to support my opinion. First the supreme court found that it did meet the parameters of our constitution several years ago, and that was a republican majority supreme court. Next it survived a republican senate a month or so ago because the alternative was abhorrent. This last ditch bill is even worse that the one last month and although trump is putting hard pressure on the senators who voted no last month to vote yes this month I don't see his influence as powerful. The senators who cut the legs out of the last health care repeal bill are still in play to vote no and there are now a few more who have not given a public stance as to their support for the bill.
     This is the final push for the bill to be passed under the special reconciliation time frame of only needing 51 votes to pas so we will know for sure in the next 8 days but my gut says Obamacare will survive. All the arguments about the horrid nature of the repeal bill are being forwarded and the comparisons to the last repeal bill are highlighting this bill's worse nature. The republican senators are struggling mightily to pass this bill but their hearts are not all in tune with the vileness of this repeal bill. I sense that there will be enough decent republican senators to vote no on this bill to either kill it or make the bill obsolete before it is presented for a vote. Either way I see a win for Obamacare. I am not here to try to show off anything, but I am here to pass along my gut feeling.
     Once this repeal bill is defeated then we can get to work on a bipartisan plan to stabilize the insurance markets and bring the rest of the states into the medicaid expansion. For me right now that would be a win for democracy and a win for all American citizens. The Koch brothers have said that unless the republicans repeal Obamacare and twist our tax code to favor them they will withhold campaign contributions for them for the next round of elections in 2018, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/26/koch-network-piggy-banks-closed-republicans-healthcare-tax-reform, so the republicans are motivated by this threat to do the Koch's bidding. But the bidding comes at a price to the dignity of each senator and the health of all Americans. I believe that the health of America will win the day and the Koch brothers will have to find another way to harm the hard working middle poor class of America.

Take our health care away, get slaughtered next election (#3156)

     The republican party doesn't seem to care about what the consequences are of them taking our health care away. They are laser focused on dismantling and eliminating Obamacare which is the "Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act". This law is designed to bring insurance companies in line with helping people with health care and not for them to continue to line their own pockets with money taken from those who are sick and desperate. In trying to repeal Obamacare the republican party is telling big pharma and the insurance industry that they can go back to setting prices where they want them instead of being forced to keep prices low.
     If the republican party does succeed in destroying the only tool we Americans have to keep health care for over 32 million people and keeping costs low for those who are left that can afford health care then there will be a price to pay. They think now that they are being pressured by their much smaller right wing base and billionaire donors but wait until they feel the wrath of the majority of Americans who are furious at their attempt to put the insurance companies and big pharma back in control. It is as if they don't recognize the power of we who are being denied a life saving law. Despite their grumbling that when Obamacare was initially passed that it didn't go through regular order, which is a lie as it did, http://www.snopes.com/aca-versus-ahca/, they themselves are pushing through this repeal effort with barely a hint of regular order.
     However this new repeal effort turns out republicans will pay next election. But if they get their repeal they will pay harshly as the effect of the repeal will begin to be felt and the horror of the effect will be highlighted by all. The republican party does not care if we Americans can afford or even deserve health care. They are the survival of the fittest crowd who have a leg up on those they would climb over so their greed drives them. There is no negotiating with a vast majority of them as they are in lockstep to not only dismantle the power of our democracy but they are rooted to undermining it at any cost. If republicans have their way we would be a plutocracy with only the wealthy in control of our lives.

I am not special, I am just normal (#3155)

     Often I wonder why others that I have met do not have the same passion about learning or discovering like I do. I used to think that maybe I was just unique that way and others were not. But that isn't it. There is nothing unique about me other than I am an individual like all others. What I have come to find out is that wanting to learn and discover is within all of us but we have to choose to utilize these curiosities individually ourselves. We have to make the effort to discover and learn. I know that I do and my life has been a value to me because of it. I am not out chasing the dollar or raising myself up to be admired. I am putting my nose to the problems in life and trying to understand them so I can help resolve them into solutions.
     There is no greater reward to me than to be part of the solution. I know this because the few times I have gained some wealth I didn't feel the same level of satisfaction like I do within me like when I can help to make life better. There is something unique about that for sure and that is what I am striving to experience. The older I get the harder it is for me to learn like I did when I was younger and it is because I am more complex now and the simple learnings in life have pretty much been achieved. So the hard learning is all out in front of me but that to me is a reward for getting where I am now. I love to learn, I love to discover. I could spend my whole lifetime just learning and discovering if it were possible.
     So I say this to all those who may chance upon reading this, don't spend your time chasing money, spend your time chasing knowledge. Not only will you succeed but you will find that your soul is more at ease and your outlook on life becomes infinitely more satisfying. Plus you will find that learning in itself is a method for attaining economic wealth as a side benefit. Not for me so much but for many it is true. In our normal human state of being learning and discovering is paramount to defining the attributes we human computers exist as. We are biological data processors who need data to exist otherwise our senses, mind and heart are wasted on us.

As it should have been, President Hillary Clinton (#3154)

     The latest news from the Mueller investigation into the Russian connection with our elections last November 8th are beginning to show the evidence of collusion between the trumps and the Russians to hack and finance our elections. Many have wondered what the motive for this may be, well really there are a few. First and foremost trump is a despicable human being and him trying to do anything, even commit treason to win the presidency is plausible. Second is that the Russians wanted sanctions reduced on them and with trump and some scenario involving blackmail as a motivator trump became their patsy. Now this one sounds a bit far fetched but consider that trump has done nothing but hail putin as a great man and as well has fought to defend Russian activities.
     My guess is that both played a key role in getting trump the White House. The vileness trump has displayed is certainly a clear indicator that he is not above being devious. No doubt he, like the republican party, is all in for doing anything to win power and wealth. The indicators for that is the disdain for the emoluments clause of our national constitution. He is all about his wealth and using the Presidency to increase it. As for the blackmail angle we have been hearing about a tape and given his lies about meetings with Russians before and during the elections leads me to combine his pro putin stance that indeed there may well be a blackmail angle that trump is operating under.
     We will know soon enough as the Mueller investigation has grown wide in its scope to capture many different aspects of behavior and conversation by those who work closely with trump. The time is coming shortly where we will see if our election for president and other offices were hijacked by not only the Russians but in collusion with Americans in the republican party. If this is proven to be the case and the facts align with the evidence of a stolen election then the proper course of action is to install the actual winner who had the election stolen from her. Again I say, President Hillary Clinton.

Civilization is being undermined by republican traitiors (#3153)

     The only God republicans honor is money. Never doubt that! They will say anything and as we have seen do anything to achieve their lust. We have laws here in America but it seems those laws only work against the poor and downtrodden while the wealthy and powerful republicans are mostly exempt. And now that republicans have stolen our election to give themselves power, through treason no less. The law is even more in their grasp to do as they wish with it. They surely are the minority here in America but act like they are immune to revolution if that is what we finally decide to do as the majority. Because the taste of freedom we majority have known will not go away quietly into any good or bad night!
     The time for rolling up our sleeves and firming up our jaws for a fight is upon us. We cannot let the republicans do any more and instead their influence and power must be turned back. Otherwise America as we know her will not survive and in her place will be the oppressive atmosphere of fascism. Any vote for a republican now is a direct agreement to destroy democracy and stamp out the ideals of equality, justice and fairness. How about that republican voters, is that your choice for your legacy? I for one will fight you hard and forever as long as I draw breath. Never have we faced such a despicable lot who have not an inkling of what sacrifice and duty mean to our Constitution. Never have we had such traitors openly colluding with our enemies to solidify their power base.
     The anger within me is as real as if it was part of my being. I had thought that joy would be our legacy in life yet it seems that retribution to those who would steal the American dream will be our attempt instead. Well so be it as reality dictates my thoughts and actions. I will not be one of those who burrowed his head into the ground out of fear for making a stand for democracy and the rights of all human beings. Instead I will not only defend my space but I will take space back from any of the republicans who thinks they can bully those around me. I will not, nor allow others to be treated thusly and they will pay harshly for discounting my resolve.

Republicans see humanity as mean nasty and brutish (#3152)

     The republican mindset of cynicism toward anything that enlightens or evolves is palpable. They have settled irrevocably on the idea that the human experience is a dirty nasty one. They see within themselves all the woebegone tells of animalism and that the idea that we can evolve or become more enlightened from our ancient roots as an impossibility. Their cynicism has us all dying off in some near time frame due to their perceived inescapable delusions about our natures. To republicans humanity is just not meant to exist beyond what we were originally imprinted to do to survive. It is curious to me that they cannot see that our survival techniques of antiquity were evolution to begin with.
     Since we are now not of such a survival mode we are changing into another dynamic and this republicans are not able to process into their way of thinking. Their minds won't allow them to consider logic and science as the norms of our society. They are still stuck in antiquity with the myths mores and superstitions that helped us along in that ancient beginning. Yet we don't exist in that beginning any longer much like we sapiens are no longer neanderthals, http://listverse.com/2013/03/18/10-transitional-ancestors-of-human-evolution/. You see the problem right? The republican party is more in tune with the "we were created not evolved" stereotype yet they are in a conundrum since most all evidence points to evolution.
     Their cognitive dissonance comes in handy though since republicans are able to separate fact from their narrative of ancient thinking as the only reality. Which is why when we discourse with them their inability to be rational about reality confounds us. Well we know the root of their thinking and it is not modern so debate on that scale is moot. I am not the animal that they would depict me as from history nor am I the robot they liken me to be if we continue with logic and science. The less animal I have evolved toward and the more logically thinking I become does not change my heart and the goodness of the soul within me. The republican party does not get that and because of their obstinance to maintain that we are filthy creatures our lives at the moment are in a state of turmoil.

With every cell in my body! (#3151)

     The final attempt to repeal Obamacare is happening now. We are waiting for the CBO score of how many people will be kicked off of health insurance but with this latest bill it seems that it will be a huge number, larger than with the previous versions of repeal. Well I can tell you this will not be a cakewalk to keep this bill from happening. The trumps know they are under the gun and must get this last attempt done before the September 30th deadline hits. That is when the congressional reconciliation process they are using expires and then it will take 60 votes to repeal not the current 50 + pence. We know that that squirmy idiot in Kentucky, rand paul, has said he won't vote for it but he is a gutless non wonder so we should not count on him keeping to his stated no vote.
     Then there are the two republican women who have shown that they are tough as nails when it comes to voting to take away health care for their constituents, Murkowski and Collins. So who is left? Capito has shown that she can be bought so there is no tough as nails moniker for her. It remains to be seen for now who will be the 3rd vote again against repeal since mccain has also broken and said he could vote for this worse version than the one he didn't vote for, go figure with him! All I know is that we have to get our focus on this last attempt that the trumps will be pushing mightily to get.
     There has to be a national outcry to stop this latest Obamacare repeal and if we do that then the repeal efforts will stop until after the 2018 elections. By then we may well have changed the dynamic in the Congress enough so that the republicans will not have automatic majorities to do as they will. But until then the next 14 days are the most crucial for those of us who do not want 10's of millions of folks to be thrown off of health care. It is insane what republicans are doing but I have been saying that about them since I came of age. They are a national embarrassment bent on hurting the helpless and kicking the underprivileged. With every cell that makes me Carl I will fight these assholes to my last breath and not ever quit until all my cells are done.

The women in my life (#3150)

     The women in my life have been incredible. They had to step up because the men, who were less incredible did a poor job of being fine examples of their own gender. If it hadn't been for the women I would have been far less than what I am now. In fact I can say with little doubt that I wouldn't even be alive if it hadn't been for the force of will the women in my life instilled in me through their own words and acts. This is why I think women should govern our society. Now there are some women who are as vile as the many men I know but there are far fewer of them than there are men. We men have fallen hard because leadership takes a commitment that is both grueling and continuous.
     I have not had the fortune to be married in my lifetime yet the women who at times were my companions were remarkable enough to be admired and loved. Apparently not loved in the way I needed to love them for a marriage to occur but loved nonetheless. Even in those relationships I always found that it was me that failed them, not them me. It is hard to admit that I am the root of the problem but it is truthful since I was never really sure how to function as an equal partner in those relationships. Regardless of my personal life, all the women I have held dear have been powerfully strong in their vision for what life could be like if we would just stop hurting each other. It makes perfect sense since we men have been treating and hurting women unfairly since at least the dawn of civilization.
     Well now women are not to be underestimated, especially by me since I have found that it takes real courage to be kind and helpful in life instead of being like many of us men who are mean, brutish and cruel. It is the traits that women exhibit and exemplify that draws my attention. I have no time for the bullying aspects that men feel they need to express to show they are "real" men. No, real men are kind and motivated to be helpful like women have been showing us for millenniums. It is the women in my life who have shown me how to be a real man and for that I am eternally their advocate and ally. When we decide to let the women in our lives govern how to think and act with respect and dignity is when our society will finally begin to heal itself of the worst we men have wrought upon it.

Policies drive my political affiliation (#3149)

     I am a liberal who is firmly in the democratic party. The reason being is that liberals who are the force behind the democratic party are the ones trying to institute policies that I am all for being made into law. Like keeping social security, medicare/medicaid, unemployment, food stamps, children's health care etc... These are the reasons among many more that long ago I decided my political affiliation. There is much still to do to right the ship of government like demanding that we have public financing of elections thus eliminating all the private interests that would choose our candidates instead of our candidates choosing their own agenda to be found good or bad by we the voters.
     Standardizing voting requirements across state lines so that all our American citizens can vote no matter what jurisdiction they happen to be in at the time of voting. There should be no hindrance to voting that is a burden to any class of citizenry. Standards for allocating the districting of voters should also be uniform in their design with no gerrymandering as a factor. There are other policies I and my democratic party also have an eye toward and that is maintaining and improving our standard of living. Minimum wages must reflect the dignity and respect we have for each other as a civilized society not a wild west one where people are played off against each other to lower costs instead of improving the products they market.
     Women must be given the same rights as men in all aspects of our society. From equal pay for equal work. Standards that do not discriminate in job placement solely on the color or gender of a person. Government is here to help our society improve and evolve into a greater ideal. Civilization demands it and if we are not on that track then we are pulling out the rug from under our own feet. Democracy is the vehicle and it should be driven with all due deference and honor. We as a nation have shed much blood and spent much treasure to not only protect democracy for ourselves but for many other nations throughout the world. America is best when we are protecting the weak and fighting the bullies. This is what we democrats do and why I will live all my life being one.

Keeping my sunny disposition while blistering all things trump (#3148)

     I had expected like many others a different result from the November 8th 2016 election. But since it didn't turn out the way I had expected my life has altered. Instead of being happy about politics for the most part and enjoying the advancement of our society into an even more modern mode, I am left with trying to enjoy the other aspects of life while tormenting the hateful rhetoric and despicable laws the trumps are trying to implement. In other words I have split myself into two halves of the same whole. the one half is relentlessly determined to obstruct, deny and call out all the rotten vileness the trumps stand for while the other half of me is bound and determined to remain carefree and happy.
     It is not easy keeping these two halves of myself in harmony but since this is who I must be now, then that is my problem to solve. What I need is for the light of day to hit the trumps and hopefully justice and fairness will end them from positions of power. I suppose it is selfish of me to think that the world should revolve around what I think but in a fair sense it is a selfless thought I have. Our world getting better for all. It is not such a hard thing to imagine nor a hard thing to work toward. So until the trumps are gone the two halves of me must coexist. I need to remain the happy go lucky guy I am in order to have an example of what life should be like when I rebut the forces who are trying to make life what it shouldn't be like. A counteractive example so that I never lose sight of what is right and good in the world.
     So as I look to find the happy in life I still must endure the struggle to make it so. How unfortunate that it is this way but no amount of burying my head in the sand will change the reality of this moment. Like many of us I thought the great battle for our democracy was over and that now the time for building a model society was upon us. Well it isn't and that fact needs to be understood by all! The most the trumps can hurt us is for 8 years. I expect at worst that he will survive just the 4 years and my hope is he will be gone much sooner than that. Yet we are where we are right now and despite me trying to be happy in the meantime there is much work to be done standing firm against the lying thieving trumps and blistering them with facts and truths at every turn!

Voter apathy led to this current dehumanizing era (#3147)

     46.9% of eligible voters did not vote in the 2016 presidential election, http://www.cosmopolitan.com/politics/a8265143/almost-half-eligible-voters-did-not-vote-election-2016/. To say that voter apathy led to our current dilemma is spot on! The most enthusiastic of voters make sure to vote but those who are not enthusiastic for whatever reason still must find it within themselves to vote or we end up with a government that is not of the people by the people for the people. Instead we get special interests that are not for the people as much as they are for themselves. There is one absolute responsibility we have outside of defending our democracy with arms and that is to vote for politicians who reflect the will of we the people.
     That 46.9% of us failed to do the most basic function required by our democracy shows a disdain for the process that validates our liberties and freedoms. I am appalled at my fellow countrymen/women who felt that their time was better spent doing something else other than claiming their right to participate in their own governance. Let me be clear here, there is no perfect candidate and never will be so not voting because we were angry over some perceived slight to our way of thinking is childish and dangerous. The best candidate is the one who needs to be elected despite their flaws in some areas of our concern.
     So instead of getting a slightly flawed candidate we got a tyrant who lied, stole and cheated his way to the presidency because not enough of us cared to stand up to him and his corruption. So not only are we abdicators of our own right to choose we are now cowardly for not being brave enough to stop the carnival barker who was a wolf in sheep's clothing. This is the most disgusting era of American politics I can ever remember and if not for my own indomitable will to see this era end I would have left this nation to you who cannot find the will in yourselves to throw the bums out! This next round of elections should prove to show whether we have learned this simple lesson that should have already been learned, that being vote like your life depends upon it because surely it will if you don't.

I have my curiosity for knowledge, science and logic, what more could I need? (#3146)

     Well outside my heart anyway. Yet the question remains the same. I don't need magic, superstition or myth. I have reality and the awesome ability to interpret it based upon civilized factors. I find it a privilege to live in a civilized society where my basic wants and needs are mostly provided for. I was raised in a family where we were given the structure of education and discipline, well mostly discipline since I was rebellious in my younger life, and the opportunity to improve my station in life. We were and for the most part are still lower middle class and/or upper poor class yet the freedom we experienced allowed us to at least become critical thinkers if we so chose. I did choose to be a critical thinker and thus I needed to explore the boundaries of my chosen field of study.
     Curiosity is the impetus for learning at least something that catches our interest. I have that all the time. There is no limit to the things that intrigue me. The fortunate thing is is that for the most part I live in an open and free society that allows me to discover the answers to questions that were previously unknown to me. I have the foundational tools of science and logic to help me along in my understandings. For after a while the simple becomes the complex and there has to be a set of logical formulas that I can use that govern the sequencing of those simplexes into complexities. The same with science, it grows upon itself either adding or shedding theories as we comprehensively acquire more information.
     When proofs and facts change the dynamic of previous conjecture we must move on from the previous conjecture and apply the new proofs and facts. It has been this way since at least the dawning of civilized living. We don't change the rules of evolution to satisfy something that has no foundation in reality in order to make ourselves feel better! No, we jettison the outdated and unproven as theory and let them set aside from what is real and provably true. I don't live in a magical world, I live in a real world where the facts of biology and physics dominate our lives on this volatile planet. There is plenty of understanding of our environment that needs to continue without me adding in the myths and superstitions what makes us feel comfortable in opposition to our fears.

The lesson of the hurricanes (#3145)

     There are many natural events that are happening in our world and the fact that they are getting to be much more intense should end any discussion about them not being influenced by man made activities. The fact of climate change, despite republicans banning such words, does nothing to change the forthcoming wrath that we are significantly responsible for creating. As we will see shortly another aspect of republican denial was the need to upgrade and improve our national infrastructure. The damage through deaths and property damage are going to be incalculable. With republicans also against the American working middle poor class having livable wages to earn, the many who are in poverty are not able to protect themselves like the wealthy from the effects of natural events.
     I am sick and tired of republicans who would rather ignore having foresight in lieu of maintaining privilege and advantage for the wealthy. The republicans should not be in public office where the hard work of preparing our society for a better future for everyone is required. Instead the republicans only maintain a better future for the wealthy and themselves. These hurricanes are going to unleash the destructive force of nature upon us and despite the limited preparations we now have many will pay dearly who cannot afford to protect themselves or their meager way of life. No more than ever I am convinced that the republican party is not only devious and despicable but they are a miserable reflection of what the worst of America has become.
     I write this before the latest hurricane makes landfall on the continental United States and although it is my hope that this hurricane withers and veers away it is not the reality we are going to face. There will be those who could not afford to leave who will pay harshly and it is because we won't fix our economy away from the greedy unregulated capitalism and the mindset that only the survival of the fittest deserves the bounty of the marketplace. It makes me sick that there are Americans who are so cavalier with the lives of others. Not all republicans are mean nasty brutish souls but it isn't a surprise that those who are, are all in the republican party.

Resistance resistance resistance... (#3144)

     "You can't always get what you want, but if you try sometimes you get what you need".-Rolling Stones lyric. I am often reminded that I rarely get what I want but I do seem to do okay in the meantime. However with our current politics I cannot say that with any sense of confidence. But there is a reaction I have at most everything that is being tried by the trumps to destroy our democracy. I resist. I will not ever accept anything less than positive for our society. I will not! Now I can't legally stop the majorities that the trumps have to do their dirty deeds to us Americans and the world at large but I can scream at the top of my lungs the method and the intent of their destruction so that all can know what they are doing.
      There will be no hidden attempts by them to slide their corrupt agenda under the radar of the national electorate. There filthy contempt for the American working class will be exposed for its deviousness as long as I live. Now I don't expect that once they notice me that somehow I'll be around much longer if they think my vitriol at them may be detrimental to their cause to make the wealthy the only worthy class of privileged citizen. I put nothing past those who are on a single mission to disenfranchise and discount the masses as nothing more than cannon fodder. Death to the masses and condescension are traits reserved for republican politicians. Control and power are republican goals and nothing will get in their way not even treason to the stars and stripes.
     Money is not speech and corporations are not people but unlike reality, the republican majority supreme court has decreed it so. Well the republican dominated supreme court is wrong and not only that they are disappointingly unwise. They let their own greed and their own lust for power to drive their thoughts on what can be twisted into law, as long as it fits their narrative. Much like forcing a round peg into a square hole. Never in my life had I seen such a total lack of intellect from an independent branch of government until the trumps. The arrogance it must take to bend logic into a pretzel all the while not fooling anyone and still be so pompous. Resist resist resist.

Mother Nature will have her say despite the ignorance of us humans (#3143)

     If it isn't abundantly clear now to most of us critical thinking humans that our planet is an ecosystem unto it's own then we are still in for some hard lessons. With hurricanes, fires, droughts flooding and earthquakes happening with harsher frequencies we humans have to ask ourselves are we part of the problem or part of the solution. I know we cannot stop our planet from it's natural eruptive forces but are we fueling them to greater effects to our own demise? I can only look at the scientific reasoning and logical conclusions those analytics offer, https://www.edf.org/climate/9-ways-we-know-humans-triggered-climate-change.
     So given that we humans are part of the problem cannot we then stop our progression toward our own demise and then start on a path of creating solutions that alleviate our harmful contributions to our planet's warnings? Do we have to sit here and keep allowing the greedy forces of industry to remain short sighted about our environment so that they can continue to reap profits? How will they spend their ill gotten gain when our planet has unceremoniously booted us out of existence through natural disaster. Make no mistake about it, we are one supervolcano away from ceasing to exist as a species. The totality of the devastation that our planet can throw at us is beyond anything we can prepare for so it would behoove us to not piss of the lady that keeps our lives in existence.
     Our planet will survive any of her tantrums but we won't so if we can stop what we are doing to make her more volatile than she would normally be, then we can save ourselves in the process. We are beholden to our planet and no amount of greedy financial accumulation will be logical if we are no longer an entity. Turning our planet into a gray one instead of the blue and green one we were given will trigger the worst of what our planet can do to us in order to return to her preferred nature. She is alive now and has been since before humans existed, surely she would be better off without us if we cannot find it within us to be better stewards of her care.

No Russian dictator nor American tyrant have sway over me (#3142)

     In each person's life there is a line in the sand moment. Mine was drawn many years ago when I realized that if I didn't speak up and call the truth out for all to hear I was not being the human being I thought between my ears that I was. Knowing in my mind and heart that I am a decent respectful person is not enough. I had to prove it so that it has real value for all to see. I am no thief or liar nor cheat. I am a good person who will not stand by and let bad people bully or otherwise have free run against those of us who are too afraid at the moment to act. I have crossed my line already so there is no going back. There is such a relief in knowing that whatever happens to me, I am true to myself and being courageous is at the top of the list.
     This is how we all should live our lives. Where we put our courage before our fear. I know it is easy to say and so difficult to do because many see that their lives are just beginning or their lives are finally making good sense and don't want to gamble with sacrificing their lives to make political points. Well let me say this about that. Political points are what keeps wars from starting, political points keeps the least among us from cruelty and suffering to ultimately death. Political points are what keep our own dignity and respect alive to teach to our offspring. Weigh the cost of being more cowardly than courageous and then tell me that doing nothing to upset your particular cart is a better option.
     So when the bullies in charge of major nations or the loud bullies in the neighborhood try to hold their power over us it is because we let them instead of saying no to them and then staring them down with a look of "I'm all in on stopping you"! Our own personal lines in the sand have to be real and matter. We cannot fake our courage. It has to be real regardless of how scary that is. Be willing to lay it all on the line for what is right about we humans and then you will find that you have never felt more alive when the bullies, dictators and tyrants shrink back to under their rocks where they need to be sent. I had to learn to be courageous by looking at others be courageous and then I knew I could be too despite the fear that brings. Courage grows on you and then eventually you find that being courageous about most all things is as natural as breathing air.

Not even the concept of a God bullies me! (#3141)

     Here is how I see it. First I am not a believer in any man made religion. None! But let me get to some reasoning first. If there is a God and the God says I have free will then so far so good. But the problem comes when the God says that if I don't believe in him and follow the God's "commandments" written by men who were allegedly inspired by the God, okay that is weird, I will not be able to enter some Kingdom of a Heaven and instead am forced to live in a Hell of everlasting fire. So the idea of me having a free will sure seems to me to be irrelevant. Because either I do what I am told by some men who wrote what they thought the word of some God was relaying to them, or I am burned in hell for eternity.
     Of course there is the second line of reasoning which is that it is all made up in order to instill fear into us so that we become pliable as useful resources. Not such an outrageous thought given the nature of we men who can't seem to do right by all of humanity. Control is our big problem and with a form of religion that makes it clear we have little to no choice to follow, the control becomes available. We are still a fearful lot we humans and the use of fear by old institutional forces to maneuver humans into some compliance is a value that they don't want to lose to enlightenment so keep the myths, mores and superstitions alive in order to keep us where we are easily suppressed.
     So if there is a God, I don't care for the God because I will not be told how to live my life based upon a threat. If there isn't a God then why would I follow the dogma that powerful forces want me to accept for their own benefit? I live my life for me. I have my own principles of honor and doing right without the need for an artificial one. I don't need to believe in any religion to feel safe from life, on the contrary I fight to make life safe for all that I can. I sort of laugh when fear presents itself. Fear, if not used for caution when caution is necessary is a detriment and is a useless paradigm and not something I would ever shy from. I live in courage and being a coward is not part of that. Live one life and enjoy it without being shackled by religion or those who would put a collar and rein on my neck.
  

Holding Dreamers hostage to build a wall (#3140)

     The latest in terrible news from republicans besides wanting to start a nuclear war with North Korea is the republican strategy to kick 800,000 immigrants out of America who were brought here as children. The reasoning here from the dastardly republicans is that they will hold off kicking the Dreamers out if Democrats will agree to build the wall between the US and Mexico. You do get how despicable this don't you? Now if you are still for republicans I need you to look in the mirror and ask yourself what kind of person you are who would use the hopes and dreams of nearly a million law abiding immigrants who know no other home but here in America.
     How low a person do you have to be to threaten children and young adults to get your way when you already have majorities in the controlling executive and legislative branches? This right here is so despicable that if I were to cuss here to show my contempt it still wouldn't be enough to express my real anger about this. Using young folks who for the most part are some of our best neighbors and most industrious souls in our society. They should be granted immediate citizenship without delay yet now republicans have once again shown how despised they are as human beings in using these young souls as bargaining chips like they are nonentities.
     This wall that the narcissist in chief demands from us and Mexico is a straw man in that it will serve no great societal purpose other than to alienate our neighbor to the South. But it will fulfill a campaign promise the trumps made to his racist violent base. He cannot seem to keep any of his other campaign promises but this one he goes to hostage taking for? I cannot tell you how many ass kickings I would give if I had the cloak of invisibility. How many republicans are there who want to hurt America through racial, misogynistic punishing and insufferable policies? Like Popeye says in his cartoons, "I can stand so much and then I can't stands no more!"

It is September and we are all not dead yet (#3139)

     So far so good as to still being alive. I had thought that trump would have at least killed me off much earlier. The silver lining, other than me still being alive, is that he is inept as much as he is hateful. So although we will be lucky to escape death under his dictatorship, we may just may survive it because of his inability to annihilate us with efficient cohesiveness. We have already seen him thwarted in policies that he promised not to destroy and then promised to destroy and finally ended up doing little damage so far. With a sad excuse for a human like trump we were fortunate that his mind is addled by narcissistic tendencies which makes it difficult for him to work in conjunction with his nefarious republican majorities in Congress and the Supreme Court.
     Thankfully there is an investigation in the background that has him spooked so that along with his inability to live in a rational real world we may just slip by his control. Now the odds are still in his favor of killing most of us but at least we are this far along and it hasn't happened yet. If this is scary to you then good. Maybe you will wake up and realize just how important it is in a democracy to vote. Maybe the fact that our nation is on the verge of extinction will be the cold hard slap in the face the many who didn't bother to vote need to get them up to speed about our current danger. Let's hope so since all we have left is some resistance and a few legal moves.
     I will wait until December to blog in another post about where we are if I am still here. There is one thing I know for certain though is that trump doesn't scare me. All he does is infuriate me to the point of me wanting to stand in his way every second I have left to live. My life is nothing compared to what the trumps are doing to our nation. I would be honored to figure out a way to stop this trump madness but as yet I have been unable so all I can do for now is write about it and declare my allegiance to America and not to the trumps and their wanton desire to kill us if we don't bend our knee to them.
   
   
     

If democracy were a patient, democrats want to save it but republicans want to kill it (#3138)

     We the American people are on life support at the moment and there are two doctors waiting to treat us. The first doctor is the democratic one who wants to try all the science and creative innovation available to save us. Knowing that a little bit of everything combined may just be the formula for us to get healthy and live long lives. Then you have the republican doctor, who after looking judgingly upon us turns and walks away with no remedy for our ailment. Because republican doctors don't think that we all deserve to be healthy. Only those who can afford to be healthy are allowed a remedy from them. Otherwise just let nature take it's course no matter the ailment or affliction. The difference between these two doctors is life and death in most cases so which doctor shall we have as ours?
     The republican party is well decided that democracy is not for all Americans any longer. We as a society of all the people are not their concern any longer. The only ones who matter to them are the ones with enough money to pay for it. Capitalism it seems has run roughshod over democracy so that now not only does money have speech but the entities that control it are considered people. This is the effect of what greed can do. Greed is now a virtue not a sin. Look at the churches that preach prosperity, they hold up the golden calf as not a symbol of what ruins societies but as one that improves society. Well if greed is what will build America into a future, one can only surmise that very few will survive the survival of the fittest scenario as equals. Most all will either be killed off or made as servants to the few who succeed.
     The form of our democracy will no longer exist and in it's place will be a society that measures a person's respect and dignity by the size of their wallet or purse. Where character and personality are trivial and instead the acquisition of wealth, through hook or crook, is the standard by which we are judged "human" enough. Think about this for a moment, those who can lie, cheat and steal better than those who are honest and noble will be judged as greater souls if their bank accounts are fuller. This is what the difference is when we talk about which party did you vote for. Democrats want to save the patient and republicans don't care about the patient except to go through their pockets looking for spare change.

The arrogance of bluffing with bullshit instead of the humility of dazzling with brilliance (#3137)

     It is so much easier for the lazy and procrastinators to utilize baffling with bullshit to cover their ignorance than it is to be humble and dazzle with brilliance. We don't even have to be brilliant most of the time, just honest with some effort. Yet ignorance seems to be the choice. I suppose it is a short changing short cut thing where people think they don't have to think because others will do it for them thus making their lives less complicated. Yet to trust others to think for us is a trap waiting to be sprung by those who prey on others for benefits. Skating through life is a choice but it has it's consequences. Not only do we not know what is really going on around us we are unable to comprehend it at a crucial moment's notice.
     We abdicate the one unique thing about us, our ability to reason, rationalize and conclude. The one amazing facet each of us individual humans has is our understanding and comprehensive analytics. We can take a new thing and add it to what we know and it can change our whole perspective if we allow for logic and common sense to guide us. But we have to be willing to be objective and not so set in our ways so that we fail to see the differences in what is real and what we want. I don't mind that my hopes and dreams are rarely answered. I have them anyway and just every now and then one will come into being. I accept that the vast majority of the time that my hopes and dreams will go unanswered. It is the way of things with 7 billion people on the same planet. Yet that does not stop me from advocating the truth of things based upon society approved calculations.
     I had hoped that all of we humans would at least try to understand and form new ideas from the same base of knowledge. Yet it seems that many humans are content to form rationalizations that are not grounded in logic nor common sense but in some hoped for ideal beyond the laws of physics. Apparently it is easier to baffle everyone instead of impressing them with a wise brilliance. I prefer to remain silent rather than baffle with bullshit. It is beneath me as a functioning human being to disregard honesty and fact so that somehow I can gain a benefit at the expense of some others. I try to live to the ideal, not bend to the cursed. I would have hoped I wouldn't be in the minority on this but that seems to be where the other many of us are.

The worst with trumps is yet to come (#3136)

     It has been a tempered disaster so far with trump at the helm but the worst is yet to come in my opinion. His fumbling through his first 6 months has allowed him to learn, although inadvertently, what he can do better to make things worse. His on the job training to screw our democracy is in no part due to a calculus, no, it is due to a hateful trial and error. He will come to realize that in order to destroy the best parts of America he needs to bribe and cajole better within his republican party. If he knew how to be a leader he would have already accomplished much damage in the area of health care, immigration, taxes and what's left of women's rights etc... But it is dawning on him that his bullying ways can only get him so far and unless the hoped for mental break with reality hits first he will eventually stumble on the formula for putting many working middle poor class citizens in our graves.
     He has not been bashful or used ulterior motives to mask his agenda. He lied to get into office but since then his true nature has been on display ever since. What is absolutely astonishing to me is the base support he still receives. I could not have imagined that 5% of the country would be for him now but we still see close to 30% still rabid about his, as they see it "successes". The trumps are not all stupid or ignorant, they are mostly just anti-democratic and hateful. It seems that being anti-democratic and hateful has a large enough following here in the what was the land of the free that it would be difficult to force the trumps into a more conciliatory paradigm. So they will continue to stumble less and gain more traction for their enlightened society destroying measures.
     There may be some hope for a respite though if legal considerations are confirmed and adjudicated. However we have seen that the safeguards we thought were inherent within our democracy to prevent a power grab toward authoritarianism are simply an illusion. The more than 200 years we have been a democracy have made for some complex and institutional changes in our government that could prove to be too daunting for the trumps to crumble but given the trump disdain for logic and facts it doesn't make me feel comfortable that trump would understand his limitations to obstacles but instead charge ahead with a lust of mowing them down. The further the trump regime continues on at the helm of our nation the closer we get to being lesser subjects instead of equal citizens.