A forgettable year (#3986)

     Now that 2019 is in its last day I can honestly say that it was a regrettable one. Sure 2018 brought us a defense against trump in the form of the democratic led House of Representatives but that was 2018. 2019 has been trying and a hardship on all of us who still believe that democracy is the way forward. The trumps have shown they are not believers in democracy and have been making no secret of it. The reality of our times suggests that they are not alone in this narrative of hate and arrogance. The british people showed that they too are more racist and demeaning as a society with their vote to keep the conservative tory party in power.
     As my life winds down I suspect that if we do not overwhelmingly defeat the conservative republican party here in America that the future for those who survive me will be as bleak as I see the possibility of it. Which is horrendous and a disgrace. The hope for a world that punishes prejudice and greed is waning if we democrats do not win this next election with a powerful conviction to stop the madness of a survival of the fittest scenario. Our human race is at stake and the future habitability of our planet at risk.
     So goodbye to 2019 and for all that it wrought in its wake. The dawning of 2020 is still yet to be written but it begins tomorrow with a bang and that bang has to be a loud and clear awakening of the Democratic spirit that drives us forward into the day when no more shall a man or woman feel ashamed or angry because of their skin color. No more shall a man or woman feel ashamed or angry because they were treated differently solely on the class of people they came from. No more shall a man or woman feel ashamed or angry because they were denied an advantage or privilege others were given freely. No more shall we accept that republicans aren't anything more than the worst of humanity and summarily boot them out the back door of our ever evolving, forward moving, modern social, political, environmental, and economic mix.

Live to work, work to live, that is not right! (#3985)

     I am beyond those days now that I am much older, but growing up into my adulthood and beyond I remember that the angst of life was always with me. For those of us who were not gifted into really great families the path to find our way was so very hard. Being less well off  with a large struggling dysfunctional family kept us from achieving any continuity toward improving our statures through traditional avenues. The school of hard knocks were our teachers and the lessons were often hard pressed. We, a few of us managed to survive the hard knocks and actually made something of ourselves that resembles a bit of success, yet not without a cost to our souls.                                                If anything we may have a better perspective on life but the anger at the unnecessary struggle often clouds our serenity. We like to say that some troubles are Cadillac problems and some are down to earth horrible problems and though they are different they are often considered in the same vein. They should not be. Not having 5 pairs of shoes to choose from is not the same as having to wear the only ill fitting shoes one has. That angst I mentioned earlier was very real and although it caused much emotional disarray within my soul it did provide me with at least a silver lining. It made me produce when producing was hard. I used it as a catalyst to move forward into life instead of letting it tear me apart.
     Now that I am older I am still reminded of that angst and the idea that it was good for me is so profoundly ignorant at a minimum. No child should have to be raised without the nurture and care all lives deserve. The hardships notwithstanding, it was the demoralization and constant embarrassment that poverty and condescension afforded through peer pressure and our own sense of burgeoning doubt as to our own self worth. It is hard enough to begin life on a even keel but to have to do it from the bottom of the ocean is unimaginably cruel and shameful to the way our society is structured.

Ending racial prejudice will happen when we let our youth lead our society (#3984)

     Everyone who has a platform for ears to hear should be advocating for the end of racial prejudice. If I could I would make it so difficult for racists to practice or collude in racial prejudice that they would suffer the worst of penalties for it. No reasonable sentence would be harsh enough to convict people of hating other people solely on their skin color. It appalls me to even have to talk about this subject as it is so debasing and ignorant. A modern society does not have this type of problem within it that can be cannot quashed with extreme punishment.
     Which is what our society needs to do to end the vile dividing nature of racial prejudice. What our society also needs to do is to actively engage in our politics. There should be no less than maximum participation in our electoral process. We need to teach civics in our schools year round so that our children our brought up recognizing the value of their vote. The voting age should be lowered to 16 so that our children in school can begin to formulate their best ideas about how our government can better serve society while they are still in school. Children at 16 can already drive our highways and be legally married in most states so the idea that they are not informed enough is a bad opinion.
     We who are older should already know better but it seems that we are still being influenced by old paradigms. Our fears leave us as failures when it comes to discarding old nefarious traditions. Our youth are not as chained to bad choices as we are as the world in front of them is theirs to form and giving them the right to help shape it with some of our best information available in their schools will only make our society grow much more quickly into it's already albeit slowly emerging modernity. There are so many bright caring young people who need to have their hope turn into practice and we who are holding them back should be ashamed for not helping them attain their dreams.

Another year coming to a close (#3983)

     I cannot tell you how much I care about this year ending. It means that we will be starting the last year of trump being our appointed president. Sure he still gets to be president for 20 days into 2021 but he would have lost the senate by then. He will truly be a lame duck who is awaiting criminal proceedings. So in a few days the 2020 election cycle will begin with earnest. The primaries will start to begin over a period of several months and then we will have our nominee to run against the worst of a human being ever appointed to our highest office.
     On January 1st the countdown to the November 3rd. election begins. 307 days until that election date and for all intents and purposes the end of trump as we knew him. He will not go quietly and with all indications that he will attempt some sort of coup, but we are still bound by our laws and he cannot break them without penalty. He will likely be hauled off the White House grounds in disgrace but that is his due. Our votes in 2018 saved us from a cruel and brutish dictator and for that we are joyful. Yet trumps have caused so much damage and his enablers have been accomplices. They must go from government as well and with the likely blue tsunami coming they, most of them anyway, will be swept out of office too.
     So as I begin to look back on this year I am soothed by the fact of our great victory in 2018 and the brakes we put on the trumps and their democracy busting agenda. As well as the judicial investigations that showed trumps to be more Russian than American. The price for all of this will come due soon to trumps but it will not happen in 2019. In 2020 maybe, but for sure in 2021. Then the real celebration of American deliverance form the clutches of the greedy traitorous republican party will be fulfilled.

Sports, the elixir that keeps us drunk (#3982)

     No need to go any further in trying to figure out why we Americans don't get more involved in our own politics. Because sports both amateur and professional keep us from focusing on the bigger picture. We can get 100,000 people into a stadium every Saturday or Sunday but not to protest and march for our own rights. We would rather root on a team to victory than to protect our rights and the rights of our children. Is that messed up or what? Especially since our teams charge us ungodly amounts to even see them play. Do we get any benefit from our teams winning? No, but somehow we are gratified.
     The owners and the players do pretty well although the owners do much much better than the players. Just to keep it honest here our cities are actually paying these teams to play in them as an added benefit. Sure there are residual revenues that come in because of the successful teams but the cost to our society is much more than just thumping our chests like cavemen. Now let me be clear here also, I am a sports fan and follow all the major sports leagues both amateur and professional and having this conversation is a bit like kicking my own behind. But the fact is that we the sports fans are giving sports too much of our allegiance while sacrificing our democracy to a bunch of crooks.
     So how do we keep both our joys of sports competition and our democracy? We find a balance that gives both the attention they deserve. I know it is hard since our American sports are spaced out to being year round but we cannot afford to lose our democracy which is also a year round endeavor. Remember also that sports is used to divide us as a society and that isn't within the spirit of competition. We should be united despite our sports preferences and teams. There is only one highest priority in our society whether we want to admit it or not and that is our democracy. Everything else is attributable to having a free and egalitarian structure to allow us the choices we like and need to make.

Don't fall for the propaganda of republicans (#3981)

     The republican party wants to hurt average Americans to make life easier for the wealthy. That is it in a nutshell. Do not be persuaded by their attempts to turn us against each other. Republicans hate those who are not wealthy and even though the rules of society are against those of us who are of little wealth they still deem us unworthy. There is a fundamental flaw in the republican ideology that doesn't allow for the truth of things to filter through their lenses. They only see that they have "made it" and the rest of us as inconsequential.
     Instead of being champions for the human race republicans are instead only concerned with the wealthy and certain races of people. It is an abhorrent political party that puts race and wealth above the dignity of all of humanity. Yet we have too many ignorant and greedy citizens who cannot nor will not justify respect for humanity over their own comfort. I can understand making life a safe harbor for our families but not to the point of letting other families fall to extinction. There is enough to go around for all to be comfortable enough so as not to put others at risk to a human lottery of survival of the fittest.
     This ancient behavior of letting die those who are not strong enough to fend off all attackers is a miserable existence in a modern society. I cannot for the life of me understand how we the many are not able to rise above our own pettiness to throw off the chains of privilege and advantage. I get that some work hard to earn a greater share of value in the commercial world but not so much as to exclude others of basic necessities. I am embarrassed by our human species and it's inability to capture a moment in time where life can be so much better for all. If we cannot correct our present course of hatred and ambivalence then we deserve the bleakness our future will surely become.

Just another day for this atheist (#3980)

     I wish all of you who celebrate this time of year for whatever purpose a most peaceful experience. Most all of us know that we humans should have many days of quiet reflective reverie. I am one of those who believes that we all deserve a lifetime full of happiness and honor. Yet too many on our planet do not even get a moment of reflective peace and pride in their environment. I do not admonish anyone who is not like me instead I celebrate our differences with as much vigor as I defend my own perspective. Yet only if our differences do not intrude onto one another in the public square.
     I am an atheist because I am one who puts his faith in knowledge and the will to discover the unknown. In all of my lifetime I have not seen the hand of any super being prevailing on our societies with the nurture of a creator. Nor have I seen any human uphold the structure of dogma that they prevail onto others. What I have seen is the attempt by too many to take dogma and pretzel it into a narrative that gives them advantages and privileges. So for me the idea of a religion based upon faith is more to do with control for some less than honorable strategy than it is to do with attaining a spiritual plateau.
     Yet there are some who keep to their religion not as a cudgel but as a salve to strengthen their own resolve. For that I give a thumbs up and recognize that just because I don't hold to their belief they have the right to do so when their faith in some being is not determinative in how my life is fulfilled within our democratic system. My complete embodiment of this physical and soulful state is entwined with what I learn of logic and science and the application thereof of those paradigms. I care for my fellow honorable humans just like anyone else but I don't attribute it to some higher calling. I attribute it to my nature. I am curious and I care. This is who I am and as such will always be who I will be.

trump needs to stfu (#3979)

     I am no particular holiday celebrator yet even I enjoy a break from the daily grind. So now when most are partaking of the holiday spirit we still have the loud mouthed appointed president making such ridiculous noises from his innards that most of us cannot enjoy a little bit of quiet. This holiday is purported to represent peace on Earth yet there is no peace with the small minded petulant one being his normal crass and incoherent self. I try to tune out his gravely concerning nonsense but I cannot in good faith to being a warrior for a truthful and rational society tune out his blathering.
     The time isn't quite right yet to be feeling more secure when so much is triggering his incomprehensible behavior. So apparently no rest for those of us who would love some rest. I suppose I do get to find out just how much punishment of his I can take which is some small silver lining but of no good usage for me going forward. Because when the voting time comes this next November 3rd. he will no longer be a source of constant consternation. We will have a president who was actually elected beginning the transition into our, since trump, unholy White House. It will be good to think of our nations house with a bit of reverence again.
     So to think that trump would be quiet for a couple of days while the rest of us recharged our inner batteries was ill fated to begin with. The trumps know no decency nor respect for the nature of our society. They only want what they want when they want it. So staying on track and rebutting the orange colored buffoon is a never ending job for now and getting a little bit of peace will have to wait until he is actually settled dust beneath our feet.

The incoherent trump (#3978)

     What is wrong with trump? As time goes by it is becoming clearer that there is a real problem that isn't being discussed with trump's inability to function as a human being. His erratic language and physical quirks are now as troubling as ever. He won't take a real physical with a real doctor and release those findings so we don't know what is going on. Now I say what is wrong with trump as a prelude to his physical being, I already know that he is a disgrace to normalcy and compassion. His inarticulate physical nature though is even more confusing.
     The time is now for us to now what the heck is going on with his physical health. We cannot as a country let him run our nation with so many important functions to attend. As well his being in charge of emergency situations that may arise if he is not physically capable of making life and death decisions. He is already a cruel and despicable person but to leave unchecked any debilitating mental functions within him would be like us playing russian roulette. The diabolical senate leader mcconnell is so down with anything trump does that he mcconnell cannot be a deterrent to a disintegrating trump.
     What we the American people are left with is a rambling incoherent appointed president that has too many backers without regard to his mental or physical health. This time right now leaves we the American people vulnerable to a whacked out president who may start something out of fiction that the many of us end up paying ultimate prices for. The other republicans in the senate need to either force mcconnell to put our nation first or they need to remove him through several options such as defecting from the republican party. Whatever it takes to get trump out and mcconnell out of the way has become increasingly a priority as trump continues to deteriorate before our very eyes.

The misrepresentations are coming (#3977)

     This is how the republican party is going to attack our blue wave. They are going to misrepresent, or in plainer language, lie about what we democrats have accomplished. While also lying about what they didn't accomplish. So the trick is to doubt anything that they say and then before reposting things you haven't actually read or fact checked yourself, do read and fact check first. The only way we don't win a blue wave tsunami election is if we get lazy and let doubt set in. Because that is exactly what republicans want, for us to doubt ourselves thus lessening our enthusiasm to get all our voters to vote.
     Republicans will do their part in suppressing the vote while also working hard to confuse we the electorate. The only opportunity they have to win is to make stuff up and make it hard for us to vote. They, the republicans have no policies for us nor a track record coming into the election they can point to and say that they are behind the working middle poor class. They have nothing but suppression and confusion as their working model for winning. So when you see some article that attacks democrats make sure you are careful about the intent of the article. I know we democrats are far from perfect but politically we are the only political party fighting for the working middle poor class.
     It isn't even 2020 yet and I see some normally intelligent people who are democrats starting to post articles of dubious authenticity because they are not as thorough in their fact checking as they should be. It is a shame that we democrats at times can be our own worst enemies by becoming complicit in the republican war on truthful information. None of us would intentionally do this but by not making sure our posts and words are actually factual we fail each other and those who would be like us. Like I said, the republicans have 2 narratives as strategies, one to suppress votes and the other is to disseminate inaccurate information attacking our democratic policies and positions.

The weariness of my mind (#3976)

     It seems unreal to me at times when I cannot even seem to put one word after another in a cogent and thoughtful way. Instead of thinking that I am getting oldtimers or something physically impairing like that I just remember that I am weary of both mind and soul occasionally and it reflects in my ability to be informative and yes, even witty. The last several years have been very hard on me in terms of just trying to keep up with the lunacy and cruelty of trump. Having to digest the illogical nature of the past few years has been pulling me down to a place of bone weariness.
     I am not as young as I was earlier in my life so the fact that I get tired and less able to discern the cutting edge of life is more difficult with the insanity of trump. I do however have a stored bank of information that will never depart my decision making and for that I do applaud the time I took to make myself self aware. Yet, I know I could be doing more to enlighten not only my own mind but to share new information in ways that attracts other learners. My biggest problem is that I am just flat out worn out! I hurt from the physical things in life that keep occuring and from the natural aging process because I fail to address my not being young anymore in my movements and actions.
     Although I am weary and less focused as I would wish to be I am nonetheless convicted as a martyr for a good and respectful democracy. Trudging forward is sometimes all I do, but do I will. Nothing in this life right now is more important than fighting with all I have to end the trump reign, and be part of a new day for American politics. So if you see me failing in areas where I could naturally be passing, then remember to give me a break and hope that I can find some time to recharge my soul back into a tireless relentless warrior for fairness and justice.

Will the Supreme Court uphold the rule of law? (#3975)

     We do know that the 4 liberal/progressive justices on the 9 person court will do the but the other 5 conservative justices are not likely to give the rule of law its due deference because of trump. However, the Chief Justice John Roberts may break from the other 4 more disrespectful members and vote with the 4 liberal/progressive justices. I say that because as the chief justice, Roberts has a much more telling legacy to preserve. He can be a partisan hack like his fellow conservative jurors or he can rise above the partisanship and join those who are for maintaining the separation of powers written into our constitution.
     The other 4 conservative justices will pretzel out some logic in their defense of denying equal power to all branches of government, even as they are in one of the 3 branches if it means protecting trump from certain guilt. But Roberts may not be inclined to do so. At times, like when he preserved Obamacare, he has shown he can rise above the noise of the illogical. In fact I am somewhat expecting him to on the trump issues now before the court. Because for one thing setting new precedence that all branches of government are not co-equal undercuts his own power going forward as well as making the next president more powerful than any other president in history.
     So when they decide the trump cases in the present they are also deciding the expanded role that presidents will inhabit in the future. To actually rule against what our constitution clearly prescribes will take some kind of audacity to begin with and I do not think Roberts will allow that. What I do expect is that Roberts and the 4 liberal/progressive justices will compromise to protect trump a bit but also deny his claim for complete immunity from any ongoing investigation. If this conservative majority Supreme Court were to side with trump and allow him to essentially change the presidency into a kingship then not only will our democracy be undercut in such as way as to cripple it permanently but it will spark an anger within our society that will not dampen nor hold back its anger.

Respect is owed the honorable office of the presidency, not the dishonorable person occupying it! (#3974)

     Yesterday, for what should have been the third time in my life, nixon included, a sitting president has been impeached. Although only two presidents were actually impeached, nixon resigning from office to avoid the impeachment investigation, all three count towards the total for me. I will say that the Bill Clinton impeachment was not about a betrayal of country. The nixon impeachment was about the Watergate break in of the democratic headquarters by the (creepy) band of republican operatives to steal information related to nixon's reelection. The trump betrayal was about using power and money to coerce a foreign power to dig up dirt on a political rival for trump's personal reelection campaign.
     Both nixon and trump used the high office of our presidency to attack political rivals as a weapon in the complete disregard to our constitutional protections and safeguards. The office of the presidency is our most cherished public office position and for both nixon and trump to have weaponized it to gain an advantage for themselves personally dishonors them not our office of president. That is what the impeachment process was devised for, to protect our democracy from an out of control executive branch leader.
     So now both nixon and trump are stained with the disgrace of having sold their loyalty to themselves and selected others; and not to our democratic republic. This is the distinction going forward, that there is nothing wrong with our form of government just the people who occasionally occupy positions of leadership within it. There are no wholesale changes coming to how our government operates but there will be some tweaking of it to make sure that a sitting president must always answer constitutionally for any violation that is a nefarious action. There is no immunity to charges when the act rises to the level of impeachment. No obstruction is to be allowed when an equal branch of government is doing its constitutional duty.

No time for ignorant obnoxious people (#3973)

     The time in my life left for stupid hateful people is over. I will not be told or have demanded of me to be helpful. If someone was hat in hand to come to me and ask a favor then I would be willing to negotiate some response that is helpful, otherwise there is no time left to give. I had in the past been able to be bullied in doing the bidding of the bully through guilt or some other sense of duty. Yet no more. I see that as enabling the bully to keep on bullying for their own sake. No more. When you are a carefree happy go lucky kind of guy that deep down in my soul I am then some of those who know that have a bad tendency to use that to their advantage.
     When I make a decision now I am fully behind it even when it disrupts all that others may deem undisruptable. I make no apologies. In fact when it comes to family there is no delineation as to my principles. What was once family is not anymore because the old saw that blood is thicker than water is loyalty to shared interests not disparate ones. I will never recognize any family member who supports republicans and trump. The line there is drawn in cold hard concrete and will not be crossed until the support for such bad things has been disavowed. I will not compromise on the idea that helping to hurt people is excusable.
     Then there are those whose very being is about being a spoiled child grown into an adult figure whose life is nothing more than superfluously shallow at best, who think they can at their whim cause the actions of others to be theirs. Some are painfully obvious like trump and others are more inconsequential like a family member. Either way neither will prevail with me. I am a grown man given to doing what he sees as correct without demands or unasked for guidance. If others cannot find it within themselves to act within civilized behavior then to dust to them as far as I am concerned, which is no concern at all from me.

The pied piper trump (#3972)

     The lemmings in the republican party are following their leader right off the cliff of insanity. They have to because they are all in on him. They listened to the music he played and now cannot stop from its siren call. So to expect that republicans have a floor from which they will not go below is naive. They are going to follow the sound of their master no matter what any reality dictates. There a very few republicans who are breaking free from the lethargy of their trance but not enough to even put a dent in the march to the great fall down.
     Even they though are not examples of greatness only of fear for their own. Which is no noble or honorable position. So we who are immune to the greedy racist call that trump is trumpeting must keep our diligence and unending perseverance in denying trump the following he adores. The music he plays is deranged and demented but it feels so right to his ardent followers. They are unable to distinguish facts from fiction when all they ever hear from him is that only he is telling the truth. They have to accept his narrative because he is the only one who justifies their own hatred for others and greed as uncompromising.
     The pied piper trump is heading for the cliff and not even he gets that the great fall is to his doom. He is triumphant in his march and cannot see the end as real. Those of his most precious followers cannot nor will not see the end as well and with trump they will march of the cliff unawares of the grave peril. They are in delirium over their leader and cannot do anything that resembles an honorable stand for their own species. We who are not mesmerized by trump are the only obstacle to becoming his victims so the onus is on us to do all we can to end the reign of trump regardless of what happens to his acolytes. We have to save ourselves and not worry about those who will not save themselves. Such is the era of trump.

Intentionally letting immigrants die is murder. (#3971)

     I don't know what statutes we have on the books that would address this specifically but morally there is no question that willful, with intent to let a person die when under restraint, is murder. Playing god with human beings with no ability to protect themselves should be murder when death is the objective. There is no doubt now that letting those who are prone to becoming sick to die when a remedy is available is an act of murder. Now that may not be a legal definition but who in their healthy mind would argue against me? No one who has any belief in human rights for all.
     Yet there are those like the trumps who have no regard for the sanctity of human rights for all. Who think they are the masters of those who are weak and/or vulnerable. Not giving the free flu shots to detained migrants when already some of the migrants have died from the flu is intentional and murderous. These detained folks who are just trying to come to America and build a new life like all of our ancestors did are not able to go get their own flu shots. They are incarcerated indefinitely and are dependent upon the trump jailers for life maintaining options. That the trumps refuse to allow free flu shots to immigrants when they know that certain death awaits some of them is a calculated cruelty that has no place in a democratic society.
     Therefore the trumps who are not applying democratic principles and values to its policies are therefore not democratic. Let that sink in for a moment. How much longer are we to allow the unelected, appointed trump to kill people with impunity? The disgrace to America really does pale in the face of the murder that immigrants are experiencing but nonetheless is a mirror to the face of America for allowing it to continue. We the American people are all accomplices to this and for that we will never be able to shirk our responsibility. What comes for us after this era of trump has passed will no doubt be deserved. No longer is America the shining city on the hill. Instead we are a scourge on the world body politic that has no correct claim to decency nor courage.

trump isn't the tail that wags the dog, he is the flea that infests both (#3970)

     The American dream of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for all is an illusion in the days of trump. There is no American dream, only an American nightmare. Yet as time goes by and the symptoms of the virus become normalized we Americans are losing our minds to the fever. Much like in Great Britain where the too many majority were at ease with a brutish cruel political party in the tories. It is as if the nature of the human being is not striving to be better instead it is falling back into what we should hate most about ourselves, being greedy selfish beings.
     In the context of trump being an agent outside our body it is obvious that he has some ties to humanity but the ties are not humane. Instead they are ties that feed off of humanity like a virus needs a body to attack in order to survive. As the virus trump increases his chances to survive, the human species is made less whole and well. I suppose I should have alluded to trump as being a mosquito who spends its life sucking the blood out of the host human, yet the virus metaphor is much more appropriate. It attacks with a ferocity that belies any remorse or compassion. It has one purpose in life, to destroy all that is in its path.
     Whether you see trump as a flea, mosquito, or virus, it is the effect of all of them that best defines the nature of trump as he sets about to take from our healthy body and leave the waste of his gluttony. The very idea that we would allow this scourge of a human form to stay in office is beyond any reasonable argument. Yet it is the lack of courage from our body politic that has been his foundation. We know trump loses all arguments in the paradigm of democratic rule yet we don't seem to be able to act on the information in a proper human way. Instead we fall into a normalization of his continued bad acts and become immune to his daily despicableness.

Quality of life over quantity of life (#3969)

     It seems that too may are more concerned about living to an old age than living life with some edge to it. I say that because for all those who are banking on living a long life will find that the quantity of their decision is being outweighed by the lack of fight they put up to protect what is best about the quality of American democracy. Like we just saw over in England, where a once in a lifetime chance to overturn income inequality and prejudice was just put down out of fear and ignorance. Sometimes I wonder about our species and its ability/inability to see how societies work. We are not here to please the powerful, they are here to serve us the many.
     We the majority who are the working middle poor class have lost our insight into who really is the boss. We don't hang our heads or kick the dirt in embarrassment to no one! We are the best of what makes America great. we who get up every morning and go out and provide for our families and our own future. Those who have power have it only because we give it to them. When they are not serving our interests then we take that power from them and give it to someone who will serve our interests. We are not the followers here, we are all the leaders!
     So if the quality of our lives is vacant then we need to stop letting those who are denying our quality of life, yes, even ourselves, and get a bit hard on those who would stop our destiny within the greatest democracy the world has ever witnessed. We are not less than anyone anywhere! We are equal in all respects that matter. So our courage to claim our manifest destiny is all that is missing. We must have quality lives to live not just quantity of time with little hope. If fighting for what is sacred is needed then we all must fight to protect the dearness of our democracy. Where we all deserve the respect and dignity of our dreams without disparage from the greedy cowards.

Prehistoric day yesterday (#3968)

     Well did I get it wrong about how much better the United Kingdom and it's people are than we here in America. With a majority victory yesterday for tories the narrative I had been going with was utterly destroyed. I had assumed rather incorrectly that the British people were better than the low scum of conservative politics. It now appears that the British people are either ignorant to what they are doing or are less humane than normal. I suppose they are less humane as it would be difficult to be ignorant in this age of readily available information.
     For all the time I spent trying to convince the Brits to remain in the European Union, I now see after this election that they really do need to go. Their causes are not aligned with unity, instead they are segregationists who fear the loss of their own perceived identity. Instead of realizing that we recreate our identities every day the Brits have decided that the age old differences of race and class are still the moral high ground for them. It is shocking to me that this is so given that tory politics rewards the wealthy and not the working middle class but then again we have a similar strain of illogical thought here in America.
     The difference is though that we here in America are not to be fooled twice when it comes to having our pockets picked and our human rights stolen from us. We did allow it in 2016 when we were caught napping when we should have been on guard but that was then and this is now. There is no guarantee that trump and his cronies will be defeated come November 3rd. 2020 but the odds of it are better than even he will be run to ground. Unlike with the election in the UK yesterday when a strong majority chose to keep a conman thief and his party in power again. Again is the operative word here and for that the Brits will find that their brand of selfish nationalism will break their better souls hard!

Historic day today (#3967)

     The fact that it is in Britain is besides the point. We Americans seem to think the universe revolves around us but since trump we have been summarily dispossessed of that fantasy. Instead we are witnessing today the course change in world politics as the British people vote for the future of their society. Not only vote but vote in such a heavily participated way. I am one of those who thinks that the heavier the turnout the greater the vote for liberal/progressive ideals. All indications so far this morning have a huge turnout taking place. It seems that the British people will have their say in one very loud voice and that voice is for change at the top of their government.
     This is all premature at the moment as the polls have been suggesting a tory victory albeit a close one but I do not because like so many pollsters they didn't seem to conclude the unbelievable turnout. Like I say, and many before me, when the turnout is light the conservatives usually come out on top. When the turnout is heavy the liberal/progressives usually come out on top. Well so far the turnout is abnormally heavy even for me to have expected and I expected a heavy turnout. So again, like a few days ago I am going against all major polling in England and am predicting a Labour victory.
     I am not prognosticating for some value or recognition, I am prognosticating because down in my soul I know there are more good people in the world than bad people. The will of my soul expects the better of who we humans are to prevail in all ways except that I know that does not always happen. Like what happened here to us with trump. We got the short end of the bettering of our souls and we have for nearly his 4 year term been paying with suffering and demoralization. Which is why I can reasonably say that the British people will return their country to a more sane approach after watching we here in America, and elect leaders who actually care about them and not just themselves and their donors.

The news is happening fast (#3966)

     Much of the news lately has been about trump and his impeachment while other breaking news is about his court cases trying to hide his income from scrutiny and his staff from testifying. There is also a major election in Great Britain that will likely decide the fate of Brexit tomorrow. The month of December with all the holiday festivities going on is the backdrop for all the hullabaloo that is coming our way. Nothing like a full mixture of the fate of our nation alongside the happy feelings of giving. Yet here we are and for me it is no perfect storm.
     I am no christmas nor religious partaker so the festivities of this time are moot for me. I try to be a good person year round so this one month ordeal is normal for me without all the trimmings. Yet the importance of the impeachment outcome and the court cases is monumental. the Supreme court which is now a majority republican court may well be like the republican members in Congress and make up justifications whatever they may be to protect the most dishonest president ever  appointed or elected. I can pretty sure guarantee that Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch, and Kavanaugh will invent some defense for trump to shield his taxes and his staff from Congressional and judicial oversight. The key is the republican chief justice Roberts.
     Chief justice Roberts has at times shown a true deference to our constitution without creating a law out of thin air. It is my belief that he will be the swing vote here and likely he cares about his legacy more than the other republican justices. Roberts may well conclude that the framers really meant separation of powers in the literal sense and not try to pretzel some obtuse logic in order for trump to enhance the powers of the executive branch. Most of us know that the republican Senate will not convict trump of impeachment because as it appears they are as much in it as he is. So the best hope of getting at the truth of trump's behavior lies with the Supreme court and the rulings should take some form by next week.

Momentum has shifted to Labour (#3965)

     It is rare for me to delve into foreign politics but this time is special. I don't like the fact that the UK (Great Britain) had initiated a dubious Leave campaign a couple of years ago. It all seemed to be based upon right wing fears of immigrants. Which is suspicious since immigrants have proven to be exceptional in their ability to adapt to the host country. So like here in America, the impetus had to be more nefarious like hatred for others like what we have. Prejudice is a cowards approach to life and for the UK to fall for that old lie was demoralizing at the time.
     But I have been expounding for a Bremain campaign like all good folks in the UK have as well. They call it Remain but I add a B at the front to specialize it to Bremain. Well for some unfortunate set of reasons the British public has not been quick to recognize the dirty politics here keeping Leave as a viable option. My best guess is that the British news organizations have been somewhat complicit in maintaining the deception, given the bad coverage the Labour party has received over the years. However that is changing because the condescending tory party is less able to secret their austerity riddled agenda while the Labour party is all about screaming their pro working middle poor class agenda from the rooftops!
     So although there are only 2 days left before this snap election takes place on December 12th, the tide seems to be turning against a once perceived tory victory and a Brexit Leave finality. With Labour attacking austerity and offering a referendum on Brexit, the British people seem to be listening. It is my view, taking into account the latest surge in voter registrations and the ineptitude of the tory campaign that Labour will prevail with a victory on December 12th. I know it seems rather unlikely given the polling but it is my intuition that the major news outlets haven't been as trustworthy as they should be and if that is the case they would be touting a tory lead. I don't believe it and when the final votes come in I hope to be proven correct.

The poor among us (#3964)

     If you don't have at least one homeless person living near where you are then you are not of the norm. I can't go anywhere without seeing the effects of homelessness. On the streets I travel for regular store visits, on the back roads where shortcuts are now filled with homeless camps. Nor on the creek that borders my backyard. Everywhere is homelessness and with homelessness is the futility to do anything about it. One of my housemates yesterday, while I was out getting necessary roof patching supplies, was visited upon by the homeless man in the tent out in the creek area.
     He came to the front door begging for food as he was starving. My housemate said he looked terrible from the months of rough living and she was compelled to help him as he struck a chord with her. She gave him a sandwich and some chips which he devoured on the spot. It is always tricky giving help to those who ask for it as many use it as an occupation instead of a real need. Yet in this case my housemate convinced me that the fellow was in such disarray that no reasoning could conclude he was grifting for advantage. This account she gave to me when I got back from getting supplies shook me hard.
     I know what it is like to be homeless and without food to eat so I will always sympathize with those who are in similar predicaments. What to do about this close rough sleeper out back in the creek area. There is a church that borders another side of my property that is straight across from the area where the homeless man camps. I have thought about contacting them to see if there is anything they are prepared to do to help him. Since we have such a huge homeless problem in our state and I know of no real programs that can come and rescue this person from his predicament my soul is still rattled. As the wealthy continue to take the majority of the profits in our society I am unsure if we will ever get to fix the worsening homelessness problem and how many will actually die with no hope of an American dream.

Hope is always there (#3963)

     What do I hope for? Well let me see. How about a democratic blue wave unlike anything ever seen in our recorded history. That would be wonderful if it came in like a tsunami and swept most all republicans out of office this coming November 3rd. 2020. Now I am being optimistic here and of course would settle for victories in key races that give we democrats majorities in the House, Senate, and of course the White House. But if I am going to hope why not hope for the better and best than just enough? The reason I put my hope out for a democratic blue wave is because our society has been beaten and cracked for the last nearly 40 plus years and we need to get a lot of work done to repair it.
     I can foresee in my hope the rebuilding of our infrastructure putting 10's of millions of Americans to work upgrading and smarting up all our utilities and commerce related activities. I can foresee new laws that reverse the current horrendous economic income gap and start to pay average Americans the respect and dignity of living wages. I foresee the reversal of fossil fuels as our main source of energy and the increased production of green energy solutions everywhere in our nation. I foresee the day when health care is not excluded from anyone and senior retirement is not a death sentence.
     I can foresee much more but the gist of it is that the society we are now laboring under will end and a new paradigm of happiness will begin. Where the good of all the people is the priority and not the least of which the poor among us. I know wrestling this hope into reality will take some real heavy lifting but it is in the hard of doing and accomplishing things that we find dearness. I may be just whistling Dixie to no one but my hope is that despite all the difficulties that are laid bare before us the will to have a more perfect union will prevail.

What trump is doing to America is a psychological Pearl Harbor (#3962)

     On this day we again remember the horrible events of Japan's surprise attack on our Naval base at Pearl Harbor, Oahu, Hawaii. 2,403 are officially recognized as being killed from that attack. Now trump hasn't physically killed a large group of Americans in a surprise attack but he has put so much harm on the psyche of the working middle poor class of Americans that we are a lesser nation because of what trump is doing to our moral compass and our democracy. His brutishly cruel approach to anyone not him is devastating and in effect soul crushing.
     That America is saddled with such a cavalier lout is shocking and embarrassing. Yet that isn't the worst of it. We now know that trump is very comfortable with being a devious vindictive traitorous conman. We, America are now in the depths of a despair that cannot be fathomed by any long knotted rope. As the Pearl Harbor attack shocked our senses the same is the daily experience under the never satisfied with destroying democracy trump. He is the answered prayer for our enemies and the worst nightmare for our allies. The idea that the republican party can hold onto him despite the boundless evidence of his terror is again unfathomable.
     The time is getting shorter for his presence on our political landscape and the just reward if I live to see it is him sitting in a prison with no hope for any parole. He is a menace and a vessel for those who would do our nation harm. As the end of the attack on Pearl Harbor gave us, a moment to gather our will to never let such an event happen again is the same with trump. When we are done with him we need to then take a moment and set about to making sure the circumstances of another trump like cretin will not come into power over our mighty nation.

Stark contrast between democrats and republicans (#3961)

     There is no equivocating the two parties with any sense of truth. We the democrats are for democracy and they the republicans are for a monarchy/autocracy. We the democrats are for equality of opportunity and in race relations whereas the republicans are against equality of opportunity and are segregationists. We democrats are for policies that help the working middle poor class, the republicans are for policies that only help the wealthy and the powerful. We democrats are for saving our planet from extinction while the republicans are too busy to acknowledge the climate crisis as real because they are too busy counting their ill gotten gains.
     I could go on and on but this is not the time for that. Instead I refer to the above as proof enough that any argument that the two parties are equivalent is absurd. So the choice is as starkly clear as clear can be. If you consider yourself a member of society with equal rights and opportunities then you should vote for all democrats running for election. If you are not predisposed to consider yourself one among many but instead see yourself as more important than others then by all means keep voting for republicans who most probably don't care about what you think as long as you vote for them.
     The voting time is coming and many states have registration deadlines for this coming November 3rd. 2020 election. So make sure you are registered to vote and then decide if you are one among many who are capable of greatness and vote for democrats or if you think you are the only one who is great and everyone else should treat you as a king/queen, if so vote for republicans. There is no middle ground here to stand on nor fence to straddle. Either you hate we the immigrant nation or you love we the immigrant nation. Figure out which it is you feel and then vote accordingly. There is no other option than (1) being a democratic patriot for democracy, or (2) as is increasingly becoming clear, a republican traitor to democracy. You decide!

republicans: the wealthy get tax breaks and subsidies, while the poor get nothing (#3960)

     I won't call it a war on the poor but I will call the hate for the poor. War to me is fighting life and death combative battles, which the hate for the poor isn't quite that but that some of the poor will die or become criminal to survive is a predictable outcome. Why do republicans so despise the poor while giving everything to the wealthy? It is the republican reasoning that the wealthy serve a far greater purpose than the poor and while republican policies keep the poor poor they do not care. Never raising the minimum wage while giving the wealthy every advantage to utilize the desperation of the vast many poor.
     Now the food stamps are being taken from the poor among us that is crucial to them surviving in real life. No one can afford to rent a 2 bedroom domicile, and are if lucky, barely able to rent a 1 bedroom apartment anywhere in the USA on minimum wage, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/minimum-wage-doesnt-cover-the-rent-anywhere-in-the-u-s/. Which is why right behind my house that borders on the creek people are living in tents. So taking away their food subsidy, which by the way is cruel when in comparison the wealthy are slathered with so much dough from our government that the food subsidies for the poor are dwarfed by them, is a bridge too far for the poor and advocates like me who support their cause.
     People will die and others will commit crimes to eat so how is it not a cruel and brutish act to deny the poor food that keeps them going? How is it that the hate for the poor is now policy? How is it that the wealthy who are already wealthy need more wealth from we the taxpayers? There is no assumption here to be made. The fact that the republican party hates the working middle and especially the poor class is indisputable. So we the working middle poor class, who make up the largest voting block by far have an opportunity to end the republican party of hate this coming November 3rd. First we need to make sure that we are all registered to vote and then when the voting time comes make sure we all vote!

Impeachment panel round 2 (#3959)

     As the House judiciary committee begins its investigation into the impeachability of trump we get to see a further understanding as to how this has all come about. The witnesses today will testify as to whether impeachment has been reached given the findings of the previous House Intelligence committee. Fact witnesses are being kept from testifying by trump but very shortly we will see if that is reversed in court. The findings of the Intelligence committee came from fact witnesses who all added to the overwhelming evidence that trump did in fact commit an impeachable offense(s).
     The House judiciary committee will lay out the process from which impeachment is determined. The fact that trump violated the constitution in the form of a quid pro quo is indisputable. Now we are being given the reason for triggering impeachment. The logic is sound and impeachment is required. The Senate is playing at politics by making it known that they, the majority republicans, are not going to convict despite not having had a trial yet. A predetermined outcome despite the evidence to the contrary. To say that the republican Senate is objective here is to lie like a liar. The republicans will do all they can to protect the soon to be impeached trump and for that they should find the kind of karma that is fitting their dishonorable behavior.
     This may be the second round but it is really just a hard hitting reminder that trump and republicans have soiled our constitution with their own power and greedy ambitions. If our nation is to survive the likes of these trump republicans then the rule of law must be upheld by those who represent we the people. If not then the alternative is to let our democracy die and give into the narrative that not all are created equal. We will know soon enough how this all plays out but do not be fooled by the lame ass excuses the republican party is throwing out instead of being earnest in rooting out lawlessness regardless of party.

The republican mindset (#3958)

     It won't matter if trump is overwhelmingly proven to have bribed a foreign official for his own gain. The only thing that matters to republicans is that trump keep tearing down all the progressive/liberal policies that have become law. When trump said he could kill someone on 5th avenue and get away with it this is why. The conservative party doesn't care about anything democratic unless it gives them power and money. They want their henchman in power so that the equality loving democrats like myself can be put down without a second thought.
     So no matter what happens in the impeachment process in the House, the Senate will never convict trump. They want him so badly that he can screw their wives, steal their money and take their children if it meant that we democrats were put down. So you can see what we democrats are up against. I for one quit trying to convince republicans to do the correct thing by our constitution long ago because I understand just how important it is to conservatives to destroy everything progressive and liberal that has become law and culturally acceptable. They want their vision of America to be the survival of the fittest in a wild west setting.
     So we the not republicans need to focus on combating the republican party as if it were enemy number one. With no hesitation and no mercy. The rabid nature of the republican party has no deserves left with us and no amount of squealing will get them any reprieve. I am a good person who does offer clemency when it is appropriate but not to the willfully hateful who only see clemency as a strategy and our weakness. We must not give them anything in this battle and we must keep on fighting as if our very lives were directly at stake because again, survival of the fittest is what the republican party is fighting for. No mercy for republicans and no stopping us from putting them into a no win situation.

When the law is insufficient as a deterrent then change the law or accept extralegal strategies (#3957)

     I am no one who would ever say that vigilante justice is appropriate yet when the rule of law is being dismissed then the idea of vigilante justice becomes real to many others who cannot abide a blatant unjust society. I would fight like all get out to change the rules of law that are failing because working within the system of rules is the best and most efficient process for equality and justice to prevail. Now there may be others who think that forcing the lawmakers to act through coercion and duress will bring change about more quickly. I am not one of those who does think that. Another can of worms is just waiting to be opened when we set out to force actions that are not within the law.
     I would hope that our citizenry would be wise enough to understand how important it is for all of Americans to live under the same umbrella of justice yet, at the moment we are not there. So electing politicians who will obey the oath they are given and put our constitution first and foremost is vital. Regardless of political party the role of our government is to be absolute in its function to protect democracy and the rule of law. Those who would challenge that, need to be put out with no uncertain doubt. I still believe that our democracy is the best vehicle for change without having to use vigilantism.
     Another election is 11 months away, 337 days to be exact, and at that time we will have the opportunity to change our society for the better. Whom we elect to govern our laws and policies is more important now in this age of trump cronyism. The need to end the disparity in how the wealthy and politically connected are adjudicated in comparison with the working middle poor class is within our grasp. The desire to rule by mob at times when the injustice of our system is being abused is understandable but not acceptable. We can make the change necessary to improve and protect our democracy but we have to do it with the rule of law and not from outside it.

We all have a duty to good and those who won't are ripping us apart! (#2956)

     You can tell the good people from the bad people easily enough. Good people work to help make our world better whereas bad people work to make others suffer. There is no mystery here as to what purpose is the most exemplified as to what a human being should strive to achieve. There should be no way anyone profits in our society if they are cheating, lying, and stealing. Even worse if they are colluding with our enemies to subvert our democratic processes. Any time I see anyone trying to make it harder for our citizenry to vote I know they have an ulterior motive. I don't necessarily need to know that motive because it isn't a good one and it should never be allowed to occur.
     When we see wrong being done we stop it, not let it continue until we have all the facts. Wrong is wrong and no amount of persuasion should ever change that. Regardless of income or race, the same rule of law must prevail. Until our society reflects this undying devotion to equality of not only opportunity but of punishment for the same crimes we will not move onward from our teetering democracy. We may be around 240 years old as a democracy but that about 240 years has been difficult and strained in the battle to unseat power that has its roots in privilege and advantage.
     So when a political party like the republican party has a stranglehold on our institutions of government it is our duty to break their grip as nothing republicans do is of service to all Americans. In fact the only thing republicans do is to solidify our power as theirs and help the wealthy turn the working middle poor class into a servitude class with little to no escape. Wrong is wrong and for far too long the republican party has been immersed in their own desires with no respect nor admiration for the hard work of we the backbone of America. Their condescension of the working middle poor class is proof enough that they deserve the backside of our modernity and with nothing less gracious than a boot out the door of progressive enlightenment.

Card carrying member of the ACLU (#3955)

     Well they did send me a card for giving them a donation. I didn't ask for one they just sent me one as a thank you for supporting their cause of fighting injustice. Fighting injustice seems to be a full time occupation now for the ACLU because republicans in power are prone to denying basic rights to our minority populations and making it difficult to overcome their denials. Like the case in Alabama where republican officials have passed laws requiring specific types of legal identification and denying other legal identifications. They demand that the citizenry have driver licenses or valid non-drivers licenses as a hard copy identification.
     When Alabama wanted to close most of the drivers license bureaus in predominantly minority areas they were thwarted by a federal investigation, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/23/us/politics/voting-rights-alabama.html. Now the latest form of repression comes in the form of voter purges. The reality that republicans are always in full steam ahead mode on denying voters their access to and ability to vote is the reason the ACLU is in a never ending battle to protect our most basic and fundamental right from being denied by republicans. If it isn't clear to you that making voting easier and much more desirable is the heart of what democracy is then you are not living in reality.
     That any of us have to be a card carrying member of anything that has a never ending fight to keep our rights to a democratic society is the problem. Not the ACLU nor those others who fight for their rights, the trouble is the republican party which cannot win elections without taking rights away from those who cannot defend their rights. There is no sugar coating what republicans are and what they are doing. They are stealing our democracy and transforming it into an advantage and privilege paradigm which only serves the wealthy and powerful. I am a card carrying member of the ACLU and I can always find a few coins to give them to fight the good fight of protecting our rights from the republican party.

What trump did to our allies the Kurds sickens me (#3954)

     The disloyalty that trump perpetrated on the Kurds so that he could get in favor of the Turkish strongman is reprehensible. Actually words do not contain the ability to express my complete and utter disgust of the fake human being trump. Leaving our allies behind on the battlefield to be slaughtered is a crime against the very fiber of my soul. I am no war hawk unless attacked or defending from death of others but this kind of treachery by trump is the worst of what we Americans are now known for. Never should an ally or fellow soldier be left behind. Never! Yet as a strategy trump and republicans decided that the death of our allies was a gain for our nation.
     Think about that for a moment. The death of our allies is a gain for us in the mind of republicans and their dishonorable leader. I cannot fathom what kind of hell the republican party has become and for the life of me the ones who cannot recognize the traitor trump is as astounding. The morality and ethics of the republican party has no anchor. They pick and choose their justifications from the blowing winds. There is no honor nor nobility to their quest to demean and destroy our democracy and the principles it hitherto fore had been built upon.
     If this is what America now stands for then the corruption is complete and the reversing of our democratic destruction is now impossible. If we do not wrest control back from the little dictator trump and his acolyte republican party then the shiny city on a hill will no longer exist. We will be known not for our liberties but for our treacheries. We will not be a beacon of democracy but a waste bin for hope. We will not show the world the example of what it is to be the best human species ever evolved, instead we will be the example of regression to the worst of our human natures for the sole benefit of the greedy and the power mongers.

No politics today (#3953)

     So I decided just now that this post and any I make today will not be about the horrendous republican party and their death wish on all that are not them. So while I will be talking about trivial things and funny captions and memes I won't be correctly insulting and demeaning as inhuman any republican who crosses my path. Just because they don't take a break from doing nothing but harm to all the rest of us doesn't make me want to retaliate today. I will calmly sit back and enjoy a day of leisure that we democrats fought hard and long for while the stupefying republican party does everything in its idiotic power to subvert and destroy all the good we democrats have accomplished.
     Taking a break from calling them the most callous unimaginative vulture cult that has ever existed will do my soul some good as it has been a sentinel at the outpost of rebuttal for all these trumpian years. Instead I will relax in the knowledge that we democrats are going to crush the very life out of republican come November 3rd. 2020. I can assure myself that removing my foot from off their necks and out of their asses will for one day give me a little reflection on just how much I need to continue defending against them come tomorrow. So I hope they appreciate that I took a day off from calling them the most corrupt slithering set of human beings ever to have crawled out from their rocks.
     In conclusion I hope republicans will also stop for at least a moment and reflect themselves on the true meaning of being thankful, yet I am no dope nor naive. Although I won't attack them hard today I know within them is not a democratic way of lifting up all when they are down but rather stepping on the heads of those of us who are not inclined to be a rogue nor beast. But enough of this kindness I am doing for them by not taking them to task on this thanking day. I wish all of us a calm peaceful day of hope while the republican party can find their own illusions somewhere between my kindness to them and the harshest concept of an imaginary hell they can find. :)

The good news is... (#3952)

     The good news is that the work I had done on my flat roof a couple of months ago weathered a harsh rain storm yesterday. The first rain we have had in many months by the way. I checked all the repaired areas from above in the house and no water anywhere. Of course and story that starts out with a lead like the good news is surely has a but coming. Which this story has. I found out the day before yesterday that my water pump had gone out and the two serpentine belt pulleys needed to be replaced. So careful shopping and as luck would have it I got all my new parts for right at about $100.
     I had the pulleys delivered to my house as they were out of stock at the auto parts store and they arrived yesterday. So my brother John and I began removing all the obstacles in the front of the motor that would let us get at the leaky water pump. After a few fits and starts we got there and again with some difficulty we got the bad water pump off. It was biting cold out there in the carport at about 4pm with the rain lashing and the wind blowing making the 40 Degree temperature feel like subzero. Anyway it was a good time to stop and we did so that today we could get a fresh start and put things back together with the new parts.
     If all goes well enough we should be done in a few hours with everything and me out giving my truck a test drive. It never ceases to amaze me how things turn on a dime out of nowhere. My truck has less than 60,000 miles on it so the water pump giving out was a real surprise but getting the thing repaired for about $100 is not bad for what it could have been at a repair shop, ie no less than $500. I can understand why the charge would be high because of the difficulty at getting not only to the water pump but the special tools needed to take it off. Luckily my brother john has special tools as his vocation was motor repair on cars and especially boats. What will today bring? Hopefully more rain so that I can at least feel good about my roof repair operation.

Truth telling (#3951)

     The rest of the honest world has no problem with proving we are not criminals. We supply facts and details about our whereabouts and links to other people as witnesses. Unlike with trump and his cabal of followers. They think that they can prove they are innocent by ignoring investigations and providing no details as to their whereabouts and associations. They have executive documentation that could further prove their innocence but they are unwilling to provide the documentation or themselves be a fact witness to absolve themselves of any wrongdoing.
     So what should we the rest of the world take from this hiding from the charges that the trumps are employing? Think of it this way. Say you or I are accused of a crime, how do you think it would go for us if we just ignored the subpoenas and refused to even be questioned by legal authorities under which we reside? No doubt our arrest would follow immediately and the presumption of innocence falls away. Well I feel the same about the trumps in that they are refusing to cooperate with the legal authorities and will not release that which has been recorded under the umbrella of public record. The fact that they are hiding evidence and will not allow themselves to be questioned tells me that they are guilty to some degree of the charges being levied.
     The innocent do not hide from the law. The innocent do not bury evidence that would absolve them of guilt if they were not guilty. Logic, the if/then paradigm, dictates that if a person acts like a criminal and refuses to defend themselves from criminal activities then they are most likely guilty of whatever charge is being forwarded. This is not space travel here. The guilty hide while the innocent work to provide all evidence to absolve themselves. So it is now going to be up to the Supreme Court as to whether the trumps are forced to hand over documents that they are hiding and testify under oath. I know that the Supreme Court is and should be wiser than me so the only course of action here is to make the trumps answer to the charges. If not then we can also conclude that the cover up of trumps is in full cooperation with the conservative majority on the highest court.

Unfinished house (#3950)

     The more I look at this house the more ideas I get for how I want it to become. I am of limited funds so I won't be getting anything done quickly but that gives me the time to study and figure how I want things. I have some options in what I am doing and it is kind of fun tinkering with how I may proceed. It is like each morning I stare at a particular area of the house and start to visualize an outcome and then modify that vision as I go. Sometimes even discarding the vision and giving myself some time to realize another vision. There is no rush on my part because for one thing I am secure in what is now as well as no one is pressuring me to change things.
     I tell people that this is where I plan on dying when that happens so the constant changing of this house to make it appealing to me is my purpose. There was so much work that had to be done since I first moved in about 7 years ago. I have accomplished quite a bit and although there is a ton more to do it isn't critical for me to get done. I have made it somewhat cozy here and repaired where absolutely needed so now I am down to a more aesthetic set of desires. Surely I am not done with necessary changes but they will expose themselves given a bit more time. Like the work I got done this last summer to patch on this flat roof where needed but the first rain will let me know how well that went.
     There have been a few bugs in the electrical system but my knowledge in that area has solved those issues if not permanently then at least satisfactorily for now. All plumbing issues are known and have been addressed yet still there are future issues that must be reckoned with like the water heaters and sewer. All in all though the outside appearance and weatherization has been addressed except the backyard siding needs to be upgraded. The inside is where the most work needs to be done if you don't consider the need for a pitched roof on this house. Most of the inside is modern enough but there are areas where I keep trying to imagine something different. This house, like me, is unfinished and together maybe we will finish each other as our time together grows toward our eventual ending.

We are still out of sorts (#3949)

     Try as I may I cannot shake the uncomfortable feeling I live with because of trumps. They have infected my soul with their never ending corruption and hatred of our American democracy. It is as if I am diseased by their very existence. I wish I were exaggerating but unfortunately I am not. Never before in my knowing has a longer period of pure disdain existed within my emotions for anything this infamous. The appointed trump and his lack of administering democracy is grating at the very heart of my soul. For me to wish anything, and I mean anything positive for him and his cabal of grifters, liars and idiots is long passed. I am one to give decent people chances to correct misbehavior but not with the willfully incomprehensible.
     There is a distinction in our species of those who see what we can do together and those who would never have such a thought. I had not thought that was true but it is correct isn't it? Some will never become fully human in the sense of knowing empathy and remorse. They only have their own inhumane sense of what is acceptable and with them that is fluid depending upon the circumstance. Luckily they are a minority and not the many. The rest of us see the hope in recognizing that we are all equal in our rights and opportunities. We get the message of the melting pot and instead of cowering from it like trumps we embrace it as our own.
     But for now with the trumps demeaning and condescending to anything that doesn't stand for greed and prejudice, we are left with muddling through to the time when we can put an end to trump and his ilk. I for one am counting each hour now instead of days because I have to find ways to fortify my own values lest they devolve into the retribution I so want to unleash. But for that ability to constrain myself there would be no difference between me and what trumps represent to the world. The time will come either in my own passing or the end of this insanity we are disgraced with and when that time comes, if I survive, maybe I will find that my "sorts" have come back into their proper place.

Waiting for the other shoe to drop (#3948)

     This time now between the alleged end of the impeachment hearings in the House and the next step is a sweet one. I say that because the end of the impeachment hearings is not a done deal. With a few maneuverings left by the impeachment committee several things could occur. First, just waiting and taking time allows for a few court cases to come to fruition and give the House more moves in their subpoena strategy. As well the time that passes brings to light new information about the bribery trump has instigated while adding to the damning evidence. As a bonus feature the pause now is just adding to the anxiety that trumps are feeling and that anxiety is what we need them to feel so that they squirm and relent.
     I love this time, not the holiday time but the impeachment time because for all the harm trump has done there is now a mechanism that is proving fruitful in exposing the underbelly of the trump criminal intents. The fact that trump is off balance with fear of being caught out legally he is not as disposed to destroying our democracy. His time is spent trying to defend the indefensible instead of calculating how to further cripple the working middle poor class for his wealthy donors and the vehicle of the republican party. We are also being treated to the close saboteurs of our nation who are sticking their greedy little necks out to defend trump.
     All of this with the backdrop of the next election looming so the boon now to we the American civilized people is a win/win twofer. The impeachment committee need not rush to any judgment yet until all avenues to get subpoenaed witnesses before them. At the moment we have time on our side and as long as trump is feeling the angst of legal pressure we should keep him there as long as possible. Because not only are we occupying space in his head over impeachment and those ramifications but we are keeping him from a free run to disrupt the rest of our democracy that still exists. Waiting for the other shoe to drop is my new favorite time of the year. :)

The give and take of change (#3947)

     Change is inevitable and not so easy at times but at other times it is easy and only requires the will to accept. I know for myself that I am settled into a routine at times and changing that routine is not welcome despite its necessity. So I do what I should and accept that nothing is deserved nor owed. A resignation to the endless churning of the wheels of progress. What unwanted change has taught me is profound. When I have changed from the safe harbor I built I find that my new view is even better. My life is like that most of the time because just when I think I know what it is about a new wrinkle appears to throw me off from my understanding perch.
     Which given the lunacy my life has been about for too much of it is probably and most likely a good thing. :) Yet still change can be unnerving and chaotic. However life is like that especially in a reality where 7 billion or so of us inhabit an ever decreasing land mass. So going with change has been my modus operandi because not going with change leaves me with worse options going forward. I am a pragmatist and can see the future through my own eyes so denying myself rational evidence is to me not to be borne! If the modernity and enlightened view does not prevail in our nation then the rest of the world will fall to lower levels of existence.
     So change I will and doing the hard of changing with a glad heart. I am no wise man nor some mystic who knows what anyone else should do but I do know myself and for me to cling to the past and or a bad situation is not going to happen. In my older age I am well aware that moving forward is the only option to choose and although it is a pain in the ass, at all times it is necessary to uphold the logic and honor of our democracy with the best nature of our species. The end result of changing is a fresh perspective from which to build a better vision for others to come along and accept and to build up as well.

I've noticed a change in my demeanor (#3946)

     Ever since the sondland hearing yesterday I find that somehow I have become more clam inside my soul. I must qualify that though because this morning I used a derogatory term against myself for doing a ridiculous thing. So not quite peace and nirvana within me as I need to definitely school myself on not using derogatory terms no matter whom I am using them on. But besides that I am much more in tune with a sense of calm that I hadn't experienced since November 8th, 2016. Nice segue correct? :) I immediately went into a funk that moved through many levels of disgust and downright anger until yesterday.
     With the appointed president's own ambassador flipping on the republican narrative to a truthful one the pieces of the corruption trump is being investigated for fell into place. This is the beginning and nowhere near the end as far as this corruption scandal goes but the basic facts of what happened have been established. There is still some republican apologists floundering around about showing perfect proof but in our own minds the evidence is clearly what it is being portrayed by in so many different testimonies. The corruption is taking the shape of bribery and no amount of nuance around the edges is changing that outcome.

     So with that evidence of a conspiracy being given yesterday somehow I have my bearings back. It is like I have been living in an alternate universe where up is down and the sky is butter. But now the birds are singing and the wind is gently blowing with the sun shining through in its majestic way. Life is back to normal for me and thanks to an inept trump and an arrogance that belies his fake persona, life is good again. The time will come for trump to pay his tab for all his infamy and this time he won't be able to stiff we the client. Maybe now the last years of my life won't be spent fighting to keep sanity in our lives and instead be aimed at making this world better that when I first got here.
     

Defense of trump, he doesn't know what he is doing but his handlers are keeping him on track. (#3945)

     I heard an astonishing defense of trump from slick rick santorum last night. He actually said that the people around trump dismiss about 80-90% of his demands. As if this is the solution to trump doing things that are unconstitutional and offensive. So all is well, nothing to see here. I still live here in America, not some fantasy land that republicans have devised to protect their power structure. If an idiot is in control and the advisers think they can control him then we are all doomed to whatever whim the idiot chooses to ignore as advice. Who are these advisers and I now I didn't vote for them to be the proxy president!
     That is their defense of trump for the impeachment proceedings. They are not going to convict him in the senate as long as they can claim that trump is really not serious when he says serious things. This type of nefarious defense will suit the republican party and most all their followers because it is most likely true with much strategic lying in as well. Actually trump does mean what he says and that is not to be devolved into something that doesn't matter given who is interpreting it. If we let trump get away with this defense of "I am an idiot but I am under control by others" well then we deserve to have him in our lives as a punishment for our own stupidity.
     I don't have the luxury of doing and saying things that have two equally plausible explanations and may pick and choose which explanations never harm me. Neither should our appointed president be able to simultaneously live in both the real world and make believe alternative one. He, trump is unfit for the duties of the presidency and no amount of incredulous illogical thinking will ever make it so. He needs to be held to account in the real world without the defense of "he only means it when it is correct", or otherwise he cannot be held to account at all. The republican party and trump himself are grifters to the core and their lame ass excuses are just another symptom of them being caught out and having no "real" defense for it.

Another day with nails going into trumps coffin (#3944)

     This is the season for hope and justice. I am not a religious person so the whole santa claus, christ on a cross myths have no sway over me but the impeachment hearings are a gift worth receiving. I mute the republican attacks on valorous American witnesses because I cannot stand the traitorous narrative republicans are trying to promote in order to protect their golden calf trump. But during the democratic questioning and witness statements I have the volume turned up in order to relish in the bravery of our courageous witnesses.
     The witnesses so far are foreign service officers who have all served under both republicans and democrats so for the republican stooge congress persons to disparage their decision to honor the subpoenas served on them is anti-democratic and treasonous on the face of it. But the democrats under the leadership of Committee chairman Schiff have so far been able to keep the narrative on the testimony and not on the republican attempts to muddy the waters. The truth will out if we can get the testimony that is sought and nothing the trump apologists can do to stop it will prevail.
     Many others of the trump administration have dishonored the subpoenas served on them and ongoing actions are under consideration as to making the obstructionists pay for their choice to dishonor our constitution. We are a democracy with a constitution that honors the valor and nobility of equality, fairness, and justice. With the obstructing republicans dismissing these values they are by default appearing as accomplices in the guilt that is still being laid out. Their actions to protect the appointed presidents nefarious strategy to coerce and manipulate foreign powers through blackmail to act as his proxy in order to undermine our elections in his favor will be included in the final conclusion of guilt by not only the appointed president but by those whom would lie and stay silent for him.

Be the best version of yourself! (#3943)

     If you are like me you need to see others do wonderful things in order to know what it is like to do wonderful things yourself. I am one of those trial and error guys for the most part so seeing examples of goodness and greatness helps me to design my own life along those same parameters. But I am not those whom I emulate, I am just me so finding out who I am was first on my agenda. Taking into account the totality of my life I start at my young age when my innocence was still abundant. I would watch others and see them fall short of doing the correct thing and get totally confused by it. But life taught me that not all nor even most were practicing the best of who they could be.
     Needless to say I got used up by many before I realized that doing the correct thing wasn't in the heart of many. So I began to build my cynicism as a wall to protect me from the ones who needed to help themselves before ever helping anyone else. But before that came about my heart was always in the right place in living a good and great life. What happened next after the cynicism is a whirligig of confusion and chaos. I was lost at sea so to speak and nothing I did brought any safe harbor to my shores. Living with the idea that the best version of myself was not the norm in a world full of different priorities left me rudderless and beholden to the wind of the day.
     Yet I found myself, the innocent version, again when I applied myself to higher education and understanding the nature of our species in given circumstances. I began to understand the demands on others as they tried to live a life of worth and that they often fell short and were as lost as I was before I got my understanding of who I was back. I was always a child superhero in my mind who would help wherever help was needed. I understood that my nature was a good one and that the only way for me to live my life with purpose and clarity was to reclaim my passion for being the best of who I was and could be. I took a long road around to find myself again and for anyone out there who is finding this same troubling but ultimately successful path I hope you find your way back to the best version of yourself much earlier than I did.

This is the political ending of trump! (#3942)

     I have sat here at my desk day after day since November 8, 2016 in a hope that I would see the end of trump in our lives. Well this is the beginning of that hope. This last week we have witnessed the first hand evidence being told by those who were there and negatively affected. The damage the trump administration has done to our government is overwhelming and will be the end of trump as our appointed president. It doesn't matter if the republican controlled senate does nothing to end his time in office. We the voters have seen enough of him to last us a lifetime and will see him no more come November 3rd. 2020.
     What else is clear is that his influence is shattered now not only here at home but abroad. Even his new buddies, the dictators of the world, laugh at him when they feel like it. He is like an island that is shrinking from the climate change of rising seas and his followers are the most desperate incoherent types left in our society. So the end of trump is now in full swing toward the final days left for him to hold sway over our society. I don't expect him to end his full term in the White House because he is running out of leverage and him resigning under some agreement with democrats is about all he has left. What the courts do after his departure is up to them but needless to say they will do something.
     My bones have ached for this time to begin and now that it has my bones are feeling relief and even a little premature joy. Because trump has been the worst thing to happen in our nation since I have been alive and that is some pretty heavy company he has with nixon and shrub. But trump is an egomaniac who cannot tell the truth even when it benefits him it seems. That our nation survived him and his lust to become a king is in no small part due to the resistance of folks like you and me and the abject failure of trump to logically organize his "coup". The republican party has helped trump to take our nation hostage and they too will be held to account when the time comes for them!

The final death throes of trump? (#3941)

     After yesterday's witness account of how trump bullied the state department so that he could coerce an ally into doing his personal bidding, trump had to go get his own real attorney, barr at justice to defend him. Everything I just wrote is evidence that this appointed president is struggling to change the narrative from the truth of his behavior and actions. He is desperate to point out some other shiny object for the rest of us to focus on because his own pattern of selfishness and deceit are too understandable to the world at large and makes him see himself for the fool and master harmer he is.
     With more damning evidence to be given the first of next week we the public will be able to cement our view that trump is a cad and bully who is not very adept at his coercive and intimidating strategy. He broke the law when he asked for something else on a personal level to harm someone who is challenging him in this coming election by using allocated funds to another country as bait. He isn't the god he thinks he is and when the impeachment vote comes it will be well earned by trump. He must be feeling the walls closing in on him but will he be able to withstand the pressure or will he thrash about before finally succumbing to his legal consequences?
     I think he will succumb because his nature is not one of a virtuous one. He will obfuscate and obstruct for now but others who are being sucked into his failing sphere will likely not hold to their loyalty to a man child who cares nothing for them. Some will go down with him out of some ill conceived duty that is secondary to our constitution and rule of law. So be it. But others will not and although they will still find themselves in legal jeopardy, they have a better chance to rehabilitate their lives for eventually doing the correct thing. These last few days have been fascinating in that watching the walls close in on trump has kept the rest of us hopeful that this unimaginable nightmare is finally coming to a close!

Will trump resign? (#3940)

     That trump complained that the impeachment hearings are tough on his family tells me that he is using his family as cover and that what he is really saying is that the impeachment hearings are tough on him. Because we all know that trump has little feelings for his family beyond their usefulness. Well today will be as tough on him as Wednesday was so we will see how the toll of all of this weighs his decision making. To me it has been fun for trump to be a bully with impunity and when the fun starts to wane then trump sinks into sulking, especially when he is caught out for lying and thuggery.
     Nothing would surprise me concerning the fate of trump at this moment and if anything him working behind the scenes to leave the presidency with some kind of immunity from further prosecution almost seems more than improbable. Yet I know how trump likes his persona to be adulated so him giving up is not attuned to that. Yet his fate is less certain now and he must be weighing all options. His bluster will not prevail any longer nor his threats regardless of how subtly backhanded they are. He is increasingly finding himself in a shrinking vice and the pressure he must be feeling will likely cause him to squirm.
     To what degree the squirming will affect his unstable rationale is yet to be determined but it has to be a big factor in any further option he chooses for his escape. He may try to weather the storm of impeachment much like kavanaugh did at the sham senate republican confirmation hearing but that would not fit his persona either. The radicalness of his character makes it very difficult to assess his next moves but let it be known that they won't be moves he wanted to make. We the American people through the democratic controlled House are making him face his ill deeds and it is not making him any more predictable yet he is in trouble and that is how we want him!

I am 64 not 20 anymore! (#3939)

     I am talking to myself but it seems I don't listen to myself in the area of physicality. I keep trying to do things that I did when I was in the prime of my younger self. I know this because after yesterday, I feel like I got run over by no small truck. Yet in a few days I will feel a bit better and sure enough I will go back to thinking I am superman, without the cape that is. lol. Yet as I do the efficient leveraging of a young strong man I do realize that if I don't it will be a much more difficult chore especially when I don't have the help required to do it like a 64 year old man.
     So I am caught between the reality of do it now or wait and do it when I have help. I am a stubborn soul and the winner of these types of choices is usually the now over the later. But then I pay for it with aches and pains that destroy my sleep and my ability to walk upright with any ease. But I don't ever seem to take into account this outcome of the doing it now. Yet the project is done and for that I find some solace in my suffering.
     I suppose I have some psychological disorder that prevents me from rationalizing my age and ability in the present with the hard task I am about to attempt. Or I am just not sharp enough mentally to accept that the price I pay is a heavy one. In my decision to get the job done physically my mental equation on the cost/benefit analysis takes a hike. I guess my lazy approach to reconciling my objective outcome is concerning. Yet the bravado I fall to is my old friend and constant companion it seems. As I get older I might have to accept that me being 20 in my mind is never going to change and if something befalls me because of it then that is just the price I will have to pay for my choice.