156 days until the election (#4138)

     The trumps are using the protests to undermine democracy. Not only that they are purposely infiltrating the protests to incite them while blaming the protesters for the acts of violence they are perpetrating. So what must be done to reverse this? Either catch the infiltrators and expose them or stop protesting and giving the trumps the cover they need to dishonor our democracy. This is the last day of May so we cannot use the ballot box yet to end this national shame so outsmarting the trumps is our only course of action for now. Which shouldn't be too hard except that there is so much anger out there in our communities, especially communities of color that outsmarting them isn't the only option.
     Yet if we don't keep our cool and control the devious trumps they will make us out the villain. So calming down on our part is our best option. We can still protest but not at night when the trumps are best at their skulduggery. We can also set the trumps up by filming property being destroyed and the culprits doing it. This time is hard for those of us who love democracy and despise hatred. But it is what it is and if we aren't careful in what we do going forward the trumps will make the most of it. What has to be done is remove trumps from office in November but until then we must protect our blue wave election and actually grow it even more. It will take reservation on our part which is wise when dealing with thugs like the trumps.
     156 days until the election and every day is crucial in that we give no rest to them and their cruel brutish agenda. We must not relent our pressure on them nor give them an avenue of escape. We have them where we want them now and we cannot afford to let our emotions move us from our political advantage. The trumps are looking to cause chaos within our legitimate protestations so we have to be smarter than them and give them no platform to disguise themselves as us and destroy. The trumps only know one thing and they know it well and that is a mean spirited life style. So hopefully today and tonight our part in their framing of us will backfire like much of what they are all about.

157 days until the election (#4137)

     A night of restlessness was what we had across the country with some extracurricular activities into destruction of property and life. Many people gathered in cities around the country to protest in what can only be called a defiant way. Standing up to authority with courage is not common and last night we saw some courage from our citizenry. I am not anti-police but I am pro-democracy and the killings of people of color under the color of law is not democratic. So as the protests are fomenting the understanding from otherwise civil people can be all over the place. The anger that has been built up over centuries is now beginning to overflow. I understand this and support all my decent human being friends who want the end of our unequal social order.
     The resistance from republicans and many of the wealthy is an abomination. It sickens me that those of us who want our democratic society to work for all have to fight against those republicans and wealthy who only want their advantages and privileges to continue. I have no doubt that our collective conscious of a better world for all will win out but in the struggle that we have to have because republicans and many of the wealthy are not in line with us, defiance becomes necessary. We must beat back the selfishness and greed that underpins our opponents and then vanquish them from all political leadership. There is no good republican politician who stands for the working middle poor class. I will say that again. There is no good republican politician who stands for the working middle poor class.
     As such we must not let republican politicians and many of the wealthy off the hook with compromise to our principles. There are many democratic candidates waiting for their turn to lead and given the chance will show our nation just how well building our society around democratic principles without advantages and privileges can really be. No one is asking for a free lunch here just equal footing and the chance to pursue happiness without being shackled at the start. None of us is any better than another when we begin together. The separation in our ambition and drives occurs after we have all started out together. Our creativity and work ethic is how we define who we are not the color of our skin or the gender of our species.

158 days until the election (#4136)

     The riots in Minneapolis over the murder of George Floyd are a direct result of how the trump administration has allowed racial tensions to simmer and burst with no real care to the result. The rioting is unfortunate but given the long history of racial injustice and intentional harm it is no wonder that folks of color are outraged to the point of being out of control. I get it. I know what it is like to be so frustrated at the wrong in life that you cannot justify to yourself to accept it any longer. Like Popeye in the cartoon says, "I can stand so much then I can't stands no more!" Being treated as a second class citizen but expected to treat others as first class citizens has it's limit.
     I am not a black man but I am a human man who knows that there is no real difference between all of us and despite our individual uniqueness we are all one family. So to separate us out on factors like melanin is not only beneath human dignity, it is a crime against humanity. Stoking fear in those who have little education is a worn out trick used by small minded individuals who have no good intent. Those who are susceptible to being programmed are willingly following a pied piper who will use them to no good and then discard them as rubbish. Instead of seeing the obvious and standing up to the con men too may are not able since their inculcation has been biased since birth.
     I put all this blame on the republican party, and trump now for his lack of changing the direction of racism as a tool. The republican party has for generations been the foment of hatred to folks who are not white enough to be like their pureness. I am spitting nails mad with the idea that an all white race is superior to any other. There is no superior race within our human race. We are all superior to everything else but only if we apply our knowledge with humility. The trumps of the world need to be confronted at every instance and until they are moved to change their diseased outlook they need to be dismissed into a shunned paradigm where not even a leper would go.

159 days until the election (#4135)

     It is painfully obvious that republicans enjoy playing with the lives of others. It is a real sad commentary on the whole of our nation that with trump and his boot licking republican colleagues in tow that we have the most racist misogynist social order since the days of post slavery, and post women's voting rights. With today's republican party there is no doubt that a social order of hatred and disrespect under pin all that matures from them. It has been eye opening on so many levels that I don't have to count the ways it is obvious I just have to state it and stop talking.
     What will come of their horrible personalities and ways of thinking will be the argument that is made on November 3rd. Will the republican party continue to strive to master we who are not them or will we who are not them end their reign and begin to implement democracy back as our foundation? Should our society be made up of those who would shackle us or should our society be made up of those who would give all the opportunity to pursue happiness? These are really the foundational questions of this election. All for some or all for all? The choice is really just that simple.
     How we vote and how determined we are to actually cast a ballot when the voting time comes go hand in hand. It is one thing for me to say who I trust as our representatives in all public offices but if I don't actually cast the ballot I am just a hot air hollow man. When nearly 47 percent of us registered voters didn't vote in 2016 it is painfully obvious why we have trump and his gang of thieves and brutes as our "leaders". We must never shirk our responsibility to protect and defend our democracy and we have learned over the last nearly four years that the enemy is not just outside our shores but is within our shores as well.

160 days until the election (#4134)

     Okay, the end of another block of 10 days. Now there are 16 blocks of 10 days left of trump's cruel appointed presidency. This is so bittersweet in that it is bitter because we have to endure him for 160 days until he loses the coming election and sweet because we only have to endure him for 160 more days until he loses the election. The double edged sword as a symbol. So yesterday trump began being fact checked by twitter and the rejoicing from all of us was heard. It has been far too long for twitter not to have been fact checking him since he first began his appointed presidential tweeting but better late than never is always preferable to no fact checking at all.
     So naturally we all knew he would not take kindly to being corrected in his large boiling pot of ignorance so of course he lashed out and threatened all of social media to stop fact checking him. He doesn't prove he was correct he just wants no one to dare challenge his opinion of what facts are. Well I can only laugh because otherwise I would want to do something far worse so I just shake my head and move on. Given the penchant of trump he will find the next new shiny thing that comes his way and then screw that up as well as has been his modus operandi.
     He is also crying foul about probable restrictions on the republican convention attendance held in a state, North Carolina, where the governor is a democrat. Because unlike most of his lackey red state republican governors, there is a real plan to halt the spread of the Covid-19 virus in North Carolina. So don't be surprised if one of the near by red states ends up hosting the republican convention instead where trump has an easier time controlling the attendance at his cult rally convention. Nothing much more to report other than a million other important things but I do try to keep these blog posts to around 250 words a post.

161 days until the election (#4133)

     Yesterday was supposed to be about honoring our dead from wars from our nations history. Yet to trump it was about him claiming to have sacrificed much for our nation. Sure he laid a wreath and acted the part of concerned appointed president but his lack of understanding what he was actually doing was exposed when he whined about himself instead. Nothing new here about his behavior as it is well documented that he believes we all owe him a never ending debt of gratitude and obedience. His ego driven mind is not one where compassion and humility exist, instead his mind is full of what is his best interest.
     Well I could live with all that yesterday as he didn't do anything through executive order or firing needed personnel to make our lives more a living hell. His trashing other different party politicians and generally invoking his vile thoughts to us is normal and I will take that every day for the time being. What he has in store for us today however may not be as tame. Yet that bridge will be crossed in tomorrow's post. All I care about is that we survived another day of the quickly receding trump appointed presidency. 161 days left of his obnoxious and cruel existence in our White House, plus his lame duck time of 78 days before Joe Biden is sworn in as our 46th president.
     What is also lifting to my spirit, another month, May, is about to get behind us and that 31 day block will soon be over. Does it seem to you that keeping count like I am is satisfying to me? Well it is because I was counting way back when trump was first declared the appointed leader in waiting, November 8th 2016, 1,295 days ago, and it seemed like an impossible feat to survive his occupation which will be 1,456 days (11-08-16 to 11-03-20) until he is declared the loser. Well the time is not long anymore and the end is quite clear to me now and that is why I am cautiously optimistic that I and those like me will survive the trump debacle. With the senate now clearly looking like a lean democrat scenario, I am smiling just a little bit more.

162 days until the election (#4132)

     I sort of like what I am doing here in the last 162 days of trump's removal. I think of it like this, every 10 days he clicks down another notch. So in 2 days he will only have 16 sets of 10 days left. That makes it easier for me to feel the end of his reign coming very shortly. He really is in the last throes of his appointed presidency and the glee I feel about that cannot be contained. Yet I know that he will be an asshole for the time left and there is no surprise there. One good thing though is that there will be another stimulus package passed into law sooner than later so he will be doing something good that we democrats have forced upon him.
     Now I know that many think that there will be no more stimulus but with over 42 million registered folks currently unemployed it is ridiculous that the republican party can stand to do nothing much longer. Already there are rumblings from vulnerable republican senators to get moving on a stimulus package because they know that they cannot expect a chance to keep their seats if the republican party is the reason for so many millions suffering economic disaster. I figure within a few weeks trump will be signing into law a new program to help the American working middle poor class because even he knows he has no chance at all without getting help to us.
     There is little time left for trump to be destroying our democracy although he is still trying to get more of his judges appointed and his never ending firing of Inspector Generals. Although there is less we can do about the judges the Inspector Generals issue can be corrected once he is out of office. There will be much for trump to answer for when his time in his appointed office is done and I personally cannot wait to see him come to his just deserves. But we are not there yet and the time left for us to keep building our blue wave is a higher priority for now. The countdown to trump being ousted is dwindling and I for one am just enough very happy about that.

163 days until the election (#4131)

     The one silver lining of having trump playing golf yesterday is that his attention was focused on cheating the golf course, not the American people. Not much of a silver lining but we will take any relief from his cruel appointed presidency. The hypocrisy though of him playing golf yesterday as the death count here in America is about to pass over 100,000 is that when President Obama was in office and oversaw the Ebola virus pandemic 2 Americans died on American soil. Which is tragic enough for sure but in comparison to trump who has let nearly 100,000 Americans die on American soil, his lambasting of President Obama back then pales in comparison to his own leadership now.
     But as we have learned many times about trump, he says not to do what he does with a fervor. The old saw of "do as I say and not as I do" comes to mind. So in the meantime he can go distract himself as much as possible because we the American people are really very worn out from his rubbing us the wrong way. Let him play golf every day left of his appointed presidency while we mark the time for his appointment to end. I would rather hear him brag about how he beat the golf course on every swing than hear him brag about how he beat down our American working middle poor class again and again.
     With 163 days left until the election trump must be getting the message that he will be a lame duck after November 3rd. So if he is at all the least bit aware, he should be getting in as many rounds of golf as he can because when he is finally out of our White House he will find that prison doesn't have golf courses. There is no scenario I can think of where trump is not convicted of numerous crimes with no time in lockup as his due. There is usually some dispensation for criminal like people who hold high office but in trump's case there will be no dispensation nor mercy. He has earned his coming due and for all that we stand for as a democracy his actions and behaviors need a reckoning that is justified and permanent.

164 days until the election (#4130)

     Another day down and one less day to count. I have been living on 24 hour cycles for a while now and it is uncomfortable. But I know that in about 5 1/2 months I will be able to begin to live from moment to moment without thinking about what next disaster trump and his republican cabal will pound down on our heads. It will be a renewing of my spirit at the end of this trump era and not a moment too soon. I am weary, as are all the rest of us who have been fighting back against all that trump and his republican mess throw at us. But it is the weariness that reminds me and others that it is worth it to stand up to the corruption and cruelty that trump exemplifies.
     I may be ready for one long uninterrupted sleep when this is all over but that is my prize for the future and not for now. I must keep the vigil on combating the never ending onslaught from the worst human being ever appointed to be president. His republican party is as guilty as well and should suffer the same fate as he when the voting time comes. There will be time to rectify and justify further criminal proceedings after the democratic majorities and president take their offices but for now just know that it is coming and it won't be merciful and accommodating. There is a time to make an example of behavior that is beyond outlandish and with trumps the time is right for it.
     So not only after the vote in the general election will we be a happier nation but we will also get to feel the justice thrust upon trump that is so well deserved by him and those whom colluded with him. A refreshing of our pride and honor is on the horizon and it is what we have been fighting so hard to reclaim. Our nation is primed to getting back on the world stage as a leader of good and great causes and that it is only 164 days from beginning is getting more and more exciting. The first days of trump being our appointed president were like a hellscape unimaginable and now with the bulk of his terror behind us a bright future is just around the corner, 164 days is not very long indeed.

165 days until the election (#4129)

     I almost wrote 365 days until the election when it is only 165 days. I suppose my early morning mind was stuck on the idea of 365 days in a year. How utterly mind wandering I was a few seconds ago. I have been saying for more than the last 1000 days how much I was looking forward to the next election. I can also assume it is my age showing and my mind slipping from reality even if for only a second or two. But catch it I did and then the horrible concept of me losing my footing in this war to replace trump slapped me back into instant reality. Nothing in life is more important than to replace trump on election day and there can be no slip ups along the way.
     It may sound alarming of me to say it but I, and most all others, are already living every day in the harsh reality of trump. So me being hard on myself and all others is not extraordinary, it is an imperative. A cold slap in the face is how we each need to start our days going forward just so we don't become immune to the daily trump debacle that he perpetrates upon us. He is trying to normalize his cruel and brutish behavior so that instead of him modifying his behavior back to respect and civility he is trying to modify our attitudes toward his contemptible and dishonest practices. Well not in my lifetime will he be allowed to do this to us beyond the next election when he will be replaced and adjudged.
     So 5 1/2 months from now the reckoning trump so well deserves is coming and all of us need to be as sharp as a razor's edge to make sure that not only is he replaced but his cronies everywhere are replaced as well. The republican party has done it's best to destroy the hopes and dreams of we the American middle poor class and we have long since his appointment been ready to stop the madness. Although we may be like me this morning, someone who slightly loses a second or two of focus, it is not helpful if we want to make sure that our democracy survives the current threat that republicans pose to it. Be like the focused Carl, not the momentarily lapsed Carl. :)

166 days until the election (#4128)

     Early indicators are that trump is trailing in the national popular vote and also underwater in his approval/disapproval polls. We are not talking close margins here either. For most all his appointed presidency trump has been about 10 percentage points negative in his approval ratings of accumulated polls. This is quite significant in that no president in my memory has been as badly perceived consistently over the span of a four year term than trump. As well he has been a drain on the republican party candidates for congress and state house offices.
     Which is at least satisfying in that it gives us a consistent picture that trump is not well liked nor admired. Given his penchant to thrash out at the working middle poor class and our planet it is no wonder from most of us. How he was appointed to begin with is now known and for it to happen again would be a miracle beyond any imagining. The mysteries around his campaign in 2016 have all been uncovered and with the help from internal and external forces he was able to confuse our voting electorate enough to dissuade about 108 million registered voters to not even bother to vote. Such will not be the case in 2020.
     Given the enthusiasm generated almost immediately to unseat trump, that showed itself in the 2018 midterms, gives the many of us real hope that trump will be defeated on November 3rd 2020. When only 53.1% of us voted in 2016, the same percentage will not be in 2020. I expect closer to 70% of us voting despite the real voter disenfranchisement perpetrated by republicans on our electorate. It is one thing to convince the many that voting is unimportant, but to outright deny voting rights to citizens is criminal. When the republicans are defeated in November the cost to them of their nefarious actions will require a harsh penalty. There is no stopping the blue wave vote that is coming and all republicans can logically do is run and hide from their well deserved fate.

167 days until we have a new president (#4127)

     I suppose now is as good a time to begin a countdown here on my blog. I write mostly about the crap trump keeps shoveling on we the American working middle poor class so why not begin the final countdown now? I mean I could have waited until like 10 days before the election but I cannot stand trump for another second so waiting that long to count him voted out is too excruciating even for me. I am a tolerant one for the most part but my tolerance for trump vanished just a few days after he was appointed. I had held out some hope that he would change his spots and be a better man after he was given the presidency but no, he didn't.
     It was a long shot anyway because I was so gut punched by his unlikely appointment that I was hoping for a miracle and the miracle was not to be. Not only has he been the vain glory hound that he was known for but he is even worse. His disdain for those whom he had a chance to help is overwhelming. He not only hates regular folks like us but he wants to punish us just for being alive. I guess my countdown idea is fueled by the world meter that is trying to count the Covid-19 infections and deaths. Keeping a pulse on the matter, this matter, that is so prioritized as the most crucial election of our lives is an imperative. So starting now and until the end of me or the end of trump I will give a daily account of how trump is the worst of who we are.
     The bright side is that in 167 days we will have a new president in waiting. Not until January 20, 2021 will we finally be rid of trump. All of his children as well as his bottom of the barrel associates. I can only imagine that the Senate as well will have new democratic leadership in the form of a majority along with a continued majority in the House. In 167 days we will finally be back to correcting the horrible fate 2016 wrought upon us. The worst of our populace will have to go back to dwelling under rocks with their slimy hatred and ignorance. The sun will shine on the backs of all we who have been trodden down by trump and it will be a nice warm feeling being in a country that no longer is the laughingstock of the world.

The republican party is the new mafia (#4126)

     This isn't about ideological differences when we traditionally think of the differences between democrats and republicans. Those days are long gone and when the spirit of bipartisanship is invoked it isn't a give and take of valued ideals, it is an extortion from the republicans and an acquiescence by democrats. The struggle of political will isn't based upon ultimately shared values it is now separated into democrats wanting to expand values that are honorable and respectful and republicans trying to force their narrative of narrowed scope cruelty that prevails upon the working middle poor class to the benefit of the wealthy.
     There is no debate here. I am not embellishing anything. The will of the republican party is to force itself upon all irrespective of value or honor. The will of the democratic party is to value life and happiness above all else regardless of station, race, or gender. So if there is an argument going on between the two political parties it isn't on the same subject. One has it's own narrowed interest at heart and the other has all interests at heart. The democratic party is more the mainstream party given it's dearness to our constitution and to higher human traits and behaviors. The republican party is now the new mafia, in that it wants control despite constitutional restrictions and will let nothing stop it from running all of our lives.
     As the new mafia party, republicans are ingrained with the concept that anything goes. Treachery, treason, bullying, cheating, even allowing for death to shape it's agenda. To be a republican now is to be a made person who is allowed privileges and advantages as long as they do the bidding of the mafia boss. The mafia boss is what trump sees himself as and although he is more coward than not he still likes to harm whenever given the opportunity. How this gang of would be toughs got instilled into our politics is not so much the question as it is the problem. Going forward in 168 days will be our chance to remove this cabal of criminals and to our great joy we will accomplish that and be done with them for good.

We have no sports to distract us from trumps (#4125)

     What trump has done that is unprecedented is he has allowed for things to get so bad that we cannot find may things to distract us from his cruel policies. By allowing this virus to catch on here in America before responding to it's threat all major sporting events have been cancelled. So no baseball during the summer months to entertain our hopes for our teams chances of winning a pennant. No off season preparations for our football teams both pro and college to organize their rosters for next season. No NBA playoffs to determine an basketball league champion. Same with Hockey.
     Plus all the other myriad college sports championships that fill the gaps between seasons for the major sports leagues. None of this is available because trump decided that the virus coming to America wasn't important enough to protect against. What trump and his republican cohorts have done to us is worthy of an anger unrivaled. Now my position is that we take that anger with us to the polls in November and vote trump and his republican stooges out of office. Then we will deal with them as needed after the elections and a new federal and states administrations are in place. Because a reckoning is coming but for now we must wait out the final 169 days until the election.
     One good thing about having fewer distractions is the attention now given to politics. More than a good thing actually a necessary thing. If we are to get past the gerrymandering, false information coming from fox "news", and the appointed president's bully pulpit, and I mean bully, we need to be aware of what not only he is doing but what he could be doing and is not doing. This stupefying experiment with a hustler conman as president must end and those who kept him in office when he could have and should have been thrown out of office during impeachment should also pay a heavy price for their collusion.

The silence from trump is deafening (#4124)

     After President Obama's commencement speeches yesterday the expected petulance from trump has not been forthcoming. I can only assume that he is being held in some captive form away from his twittler account. Or, it may be that he is dumbfounded which is what he really is and it took President Obama to bring it out in him. Yet, we have seen this before where there is a silence on trumps part to lambaste anyone who disagrees with his self conceived narratives. However it never lasts long and surely he will be removed from his restriction however it happened.
     But in the meantime it is calming especially since President Obama gave us all something to remember when he eloquently delivered hope for our future not only to graduates but to the many more of us who have not seen real leadership for nearly 4 years. This calm moment without the child trump thrashing and threatening is so peaceful that it is like a recharging of my batteries as it were. A brief moment of pause from the treachery and cruelty that trump displays on a daily basis. I am also clued in on how well conceived the President Obama speech concerning lack of current leadership may be confusing trump.
     A trap of sorts has been set and I fully expected trump to rush headlong into it assuming that he was the target of the speech. President Obama didn't name anyone as blame so that is the gist of the trap especially with the nature of trump to believe he is the end all to all things. Yet for some reason trump has not fallen for the trap yet but that may be because he is actually dumbfounded as to how to proceed. I know how trump has been however and it won't take long for any good advice he may have received about how he should frame his response. He will shortly disregard good advice and go back to his hole card of demeaning and degrading all things that don't hold him up to praise. It is coming, the end of his silence, and then he will find he has been had once again by the man he loves to hate.

The next round of stimulus (#4123)

     A 3 trillion dollar bill from the House was passed yesterday that addresses more immediate needs of the American people. There is also help for state governments that are overwhelmed by the 33,000,000 new unemployment claims made in the last 8 weeks. As well there is help for our national postal service that we have had since the inception of our nation and is written into our national constitution. There are other measures in the 3 trillion dollar bill that have real impacts for folks like the mail in ballot option that needs to be federally mandated nation wide to help combat contacting the Covid-19 virus unnecessarily.
     The Heroes Act bill passed the House and will now be sent to the Senate where it will get no action that is representative of republican care for the working middle poor class. But it is a statement made by democrats in the House that working families are the heart and soul of America and need to be helped while bearing the brunt of this disaster virus perpetuated by trump and republican ignorance. The real champions of our American citizenry are democrats and although you would think that the American citizenry would be overwhelmingly behind this the republican spin machines are humming along at break neck speeds to spoil this obvious temporary salve.
     What will happen in the end, how long it will take is up to the pressure we put on republicans to support many of this House bills immediate needs, is that republicans will stop playing with our lives long enough to whittle this bill down and then take credit for it. We democrats could care less who takes credit for it, like trump holding up the checks so that he could put his name on them, as long as the bill gets to become law. Because it is all about helping the working middle poor class right now. The large corporations already have their help and now it is past time for main street to get theirs. If trump had been on the ball about this virus we wouldn't need to be in this position to begin with and now trump is withholding aid to those who are most effected through his gross negligence!

Fearing trump is smart (#4122)

     To feel fear of a dire nature when thinking about criticizing trump is smart. Because trump is a cowardly bully and his response to being confronted is to lash out. So be afraid of him but never ever stop in your own way of working to end his political reign. I am more outspoken about him because I am not as smart as others so I put my neck out as a way of saying fuck you trump. It is my nature to be confrontational when the confrontation is a moral or ethical one. I am a do gooder in my soul so likely my do goodness will be part of why I end but regardless it is the way of me.
     Others who are smarter than I should at least not be as brazen in calling trump and asshole or reminding people he is a conman who could give a shit about anyone other than him and that includes his own. Instead resolve yourself to being a bit quieter in your disdain or even hatred of trump. Just make sure you are at the polls on voting day and make your mark against all that he represents. A quiet assassin as it were. Nod and be accommodating when needed but do not let your contempt for the biggest pile of shit ever to be appointed president of our country. In fact let on that he isn't the worst thing ever born even though he is one of them.
     So remain smart and adjust as needed to making sure your intelligence leads you and not your emotional brute strength as I often do. I am a volatile one who holds it in for the most part but these last 4 years have been trying my patience much more than shrub and I never thought that it could have been possible. The difference between all other presidents who were horrible human beings is that trump doesn't care if you know he is a vindictive piece of shit. He relishes in it that he can scare and bully others so that he can fulfill his ego maniacal agenda. Be afraid of him because he will try to get even as revenge is in his wheelhouse.

This time ignorance will mean death (#4121)

     People who defy logic and common sense are usually not in danger of losing their lives but in this current climate of ignorance many will. Those who refuse to understand the nature of this latest virus are putting themselves at risk because they will not get past their own sense of invincibility. As with the ridiculous ruling in Wisconsin yesterday where the State Supreme Court, a majority 4 republican justices, decided that the democratic governor's order to keep the state shut down was unconstitutional.
     Well the partisanship here is thick and with this defiant and illogical ruling many in Wisconsin will get an a real first hand experience with the deadly virus. That these folks now think that they are not at risk mostly because of this ruling, is the culprit. Not only blame goes to the 4 republican state court justices bur on the citizens who refuse to understand the science. The Darwinian effect is about to lay claim to many of them as they go out into public without protecting themselves from each other. Their sense of security is not valid regardless of the 4 republican ruling. Like with the movie, The Poseidon Adventure, many chose not to go up to the bottom of the ship when it capsized and then they paid with their lives, such is a moment now in Wisconsin.
     I sit back in my chair here in California and wish that Wisconsin had a state government and judicial system like ours here where we democrats for the most part understand that this virus is an extinction level event and treat it as such. There is pressure everywhere to reopen our society so that the economy won't implode but that pressure is from those who have much to lose financially not so much in threats to their own lives. We can survive this pandemic without killing ourselves over the temporary suspension of our economy. We need to wait it out and get better prepared with tests and a cure. Otherwise we are just making sure more of us will die for reasons other than logic and common sense.

Marking time... (#4120)

     Every new day I need to tell myself that there is more here to learn and come to grips with but underlying it all is the profound sense that nothing really matters until November 3rd. Yet deep down I know that everything still matters and I need to position myself within all that is going on but technically I am just marking time. Even my outrage is tempered. I cannot for the life of me get any angrier than I already am. Nor can I be surprised by what trumps and his republican party are capable of. What really hurts though is seeing still naive younger folks thinking trump is doing good.
     I get it that the less intellectual among us who have clung hard to god would somehow find trump appealing, yet that is still hard for me to grasp, but young folks? C'mon man! Still there are not that many and so I can live with the idea that some are just going to be fooled and that is how it is. But each day as I gather my waking thoughts, life is just about did trump expire during the night and if not then how many more days until the election. I would gladly forfeit all these some 170 some days left until November 3rd. if it meant tomorrow was November 3rd. I find it hard to be pleased with each new day when nothing but trump and his assholeness is the topic of the day.
     So time it is that I mark and although I eat, breathe, and sleep I cannot wait, and I mean I cannot wait until this time for trump is done. It will be done despite each new waning of our blue wave and then another day comes along and reinforces the strength of our blue wave. Like a roller coaster it will be and I don't like roller coasters any more. but as long as I keep waking up each new day I know that this time of perpetual anguish and anger is coming to an end. Marking time until trump is more a bad memory and even lesser a reality.

Facts and truths, this isn't that hard! (#4119)

     I am really disgusted with the way too many people are so prone to just ignoring what is correct and obvious. Not only ignoring, they seem to be able to accept their own irrational facts and truths. I, many years ago, gave up trying to talk in a logical way with them because despite it all they will not give up their irrational conclusions. So instead of frustrating myself I just keep moving information that is valid forward and ignore their attacks on it. The old you can lead a horse to water but you can't make them drink saw applies. What is most deflating is that as they choose to ignore reality it is reality that still guides.
     Much like with the current virus pandemic. Too many who choose not to believe logic are putting not only themselves at risk but the many of us who have intermediate contact with them. Their families and friends as well are at risk. There is an obstinacy to their thinking that just doesn't allow for anything other than their own narratives to penetrate the fog of their irrational thinking. As well there are national figures who perpetuate the myths that have encaptured them and like another old saw there is safety in numbers, which ironically in the case of this virus is the exact opposite.
     The prejudices and biases of our past, inculcated to our cores, have not allowed for the weak of mind to escape the clutches of ignorance. Religion, gender, and racial myths are the culprit and to our great disadvantage are not any time soon exposed to corrective critical analysis by our citizenry on whole. There are those who prefer the ways of antiquity because it allays their fears without having to face and conquer those very same fears. We are an amazing species together but apart we are the epitome of self destruction for no good reason. Time will tell our legacy but right now time is critical if we are going to survive our own undoing.
     

Hope for our future is on the horizon (#4118)

     A great article on Democratic nominee for president Joe Biden this morning, https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/05/joe-biden-presidential-plans.html. I have been privately hoping this type of change in our nominee would occur and it appears that the Covid-19 virus has stimulated that precise change. He is now looking forward to his administration, as our leader when he is elected president on November 3, 2020, with the same type of vision President Franklin Delano Roosevelt did during the great depression. Expanding and building new opportunities for our citizenry to overcome this horrible time of trump.
     Reshaping our society to better reflect what democracy stands for and bringing in all of our citizenry to participate in it. Championing rights that should long ago have been enshrined in not only law but in our constitution. Giving workers the chance to forge their own destiny without being forced to accept an unequal partnership. Looking at poverty and lifting that floor above what is considered acceptable by republicans today. Giving our seniors some dignity at the end of our lives that brings more than just surviving to our existence. Helping our youth to become educated without the penalty of heavy debt to start their lives.
     Making sure our women and folks of color are never again treated as less than equal in our constitution. Restructuring the way we do elections by increasing voter turnout and doing away with wealthy donors deciding who get to be our representatives. The future for our nation in the next few months is going to get even clearer for us despite the damage trumps and his republican party accomplices will wreak on us over the short time they have left in power. The ravaging virus and the failure of trumps to corral it is the spark that was needed to get our democratic nominee looking at our future through our eyes and that silver lining will be at least be some comfort going forward.

America is in real crisis with no real leader (#4117)

     We have leaders who are not our national leader but they can only do so much. Our national leader is a failure at not only being a smart forward thinking leader but he is a failure at being human. He is clueless and like a deer in the headlights, has no idea what to do. This Covid-19 pandemic is not a drill, it is the real deal and could likely wipe a large proportion of our population out of existence without a plan to combat it. Hoping it will go away like trump is bent on doing is not going to do anything helpful and surely will not stop the virus.
     Thinking like trump, who believes the virus will go away on it's own is beyond foolish while being reckless and grave. Other countries have shown that combating the virus as a real enemy of our species is the proper approach. For we here in America to be doing less than that is only inviting the inevitable unnecessary loss of life. That being said there is another aspect of our failed leadership during this crisis, our economy. Over 40 million Americans are now unemployed and many million others are underemployed. Yet our failed national leadership from republicans has no plan to assuage those who are in dire straights other than to force them back into a worse position of gambling with their very lives by going back to work prematurely.
     There are 177 days until our next national election but it might as well be a million years given the deathly nature of this mostly unchecked virus. There are not enough tests being given to our citizenry to be able to understand our next steps effectively while there is no cure for now and maybe not for some long period of time to come. So living with trump as our failed leader is compounding the nature of defending against a most deadly foe. If we Americans survive this time it will be nothing short of a miracle. Unless somehow trump and republicans can be pushed to act as mature adults and help the many rest of us fight this disease with intelligence and mercy we are all going to find the next 6 months more a living hell than a pursuit of happiness.

Find a cure and keep providing stimulus (#4116)

     The great challenge of our time is right now in discovering a cure for Covid-19 regardless of what idiocy is coming out of the trump's mouth. The virus will not just go away so making sure we put all our effort into researching a cure is critical. At the same time we need to stimulate the economy by paying our citizens stimulus cash so that they can maintain their lives as we mostly isolate from gathering together. 20 million and more have filed for unemployment insurance this last April making it the worst month for unemployment in the history of our nation by far. These folks need more than the paltry sums given by unemployment if they are to remain viable.
     There are a couple of proposals out there by democrats to supplement working middle poor class folks but republicans are being obstinate toward the idea. The republican party as a whole thinks that the working middle poor class is a bunch of lazy assholes who don't need help if they would just put themselves at great risk and go back out to work in a virus infected economy. Well that is not the solution as these poor folks who are forced back into danger will likely end up with the virus and become sick or death statistics instead of workers back on the payrolls. But republicans don't care as long as they can play god with other people's lives.
     Back to reality. Finding a cure is priority number one but a close second priority is to influx our society with monthly stimulus payments so that our citizens have a means to exist without unnecessarily putting themselves in harms way. The republican party has no qualms at all providing relief to wall street and that is okay as long as main street is taken care of as well. But republicans don't want to include main street and that is the problem. One cannot exist in success without the other so even as the prejudice and biases of republicanism are exposed they still cannot see their own illogic. The time for finding a cure is forever right now until we do and the time for providing monthly stimulus payments to our citizens is right now as well.

America has 2 economies, one for the wealthy and one for the rest of us (#4115)

     With the official count now at 20.5 million jobs lost in April the Dow Jones is having a very good day. It is strange to me as I look at the Dow rising in profits while the tens of millions of Americans are not working. This is what I mean by the 2 economies. The Federal Reserve under orders from trump has been loaning large corporations trillions of dollars at no to negative interest while the main streeters like the vast majority of us here in America are being squeezed. After an initial paltry stimulus check, that many have not even received yet, the republicans in control are now denying any more help for main street.
     Instead the republican strategy is to tell the American working middle poor class that they need to get back to work in direct contradiction to what health care officials are saying about the Covid-19 future rates of infection. So as wall street gets the easy help it needs to keep on profiting, main street gets a kick in the ass and a demand that they get to work or else starve. I wish I were embellishing here but the facts are that I am not. The republican party has restricted social services so much now that the choice to either go back to work or have no governmental help is obviously coercion in the first degree.
     There will be a cost paid for by our working middle poor class in deaths that should not have happened and the cost to those whom caused this choice is yet to be determined. There will be no punishment for republicans if we don't vote them out of office in the coming election so to make sure that republicans are held to account for their inhumane behavior they must be defeated at the voting booth. It will be then and only then that we can break the stranglehold of the wealthy who use the republican party to perfect their economy while making sure our economy is always beholden to them.

trump fudging the numbers (#4114)

     trumps latest trick to make himself not look like a monster, one of several tricks he uses, is to redefine who had died from the Covid-19 virus and who didn't. Because if he can change the cause of death he can then lessen his responsibility for the deaths. Now I say lessen his responsibility with some sarcasm as trump never takes responsibility for anything that doesn't put him in some good light. Yet he knows that with the election just a handful of months away he has to maintain some semblance of mastery over the deadly virus. Too little though in that even if he is able to change the total count of deaths away from the virus, people will keep dying because he refuses to admit that this virus is out of control.
     For the most part anyway his unpopularity is baked in and there is little to nothing he can do about it although he thinks he can. For the last 3 1/2 years we have been suffering under his appointed presidency and there is no last minute respite he can leverage to sway us away from voting him out on November 3, 2020. He is toast so the only thing he can accomplish here is maybe a lessening of the total wipe out he will endure on election day and maybe a lessening of his legacy as the worst president in American history. I doubt it though because he may try like all get out to change the cause of death from the virus but he won't be successful.
     We all know what is happening and any whitewashing he may try is going to fail because to the victors go the spoils so to say and when trump is defeated badly this November we will begin to set the record straight about his appointed presidency. His tricks to remain in office will play out but will also fail and he will be treated with the contempt he deserves for all the mess he has made. So despite any fudging of the numbers his due will come. Like I have already said here, his unpopularity is baked in and there is no scenario where he can reverse the utter contempt the way too many of us have toward his appointed presidency.

The month of May (#4113)

     In spite of the greater immediate threat to our society, the Covid-19 virus, the countdown continues until the election and trump is voted out. The month of May seemed like an eternity to me last fall when I was aching for time to pass by and we could get to the end of trump's appointed presidency. Well here we are now well into May and I am almost giddy if I could use that word in how I feel about the time left remaining that we have to endure. The wild card of course is the Covid-19 virus and it's deathly effect on our ill prepared less than logical citizenry. Not only the harm to them but to us whom they will infect.
     The other crisis which is not being headlined as much is the unemployment situation which republicans have concluded needs to dismiss the worries of the virus in favor of putting people in harm as they are forced back to work. I say forced because republicans are cutting funding for those who want to make a choice as to their health. It is either go to work or starve. Given this choice many will gamble on the work and put themselves at a much higher risk of contacting the virus. If we democrats had our way we would keep people at home and give them economic relief to do it. Yet we democrats are not in control which is another reason for the many of us to vote in less than 6 months for every democrat running for any office.
     Six months ago when I was still counting the days down hoping to get to under a year I was beginning to get that feeling of hope that I so cherish. Hope is what I have within me that is building as each day passes. Much like a long distance run, with each lap the end gets closer and the will to finish is increased. Such is my hope as we get closer to November 3rd. It won't be long before the month of May is behind us and in all my life I have never wanted time to fly by so fast. Even now at my older age I would gladly give all these days before November 3rd away if it meant we could vote today to end the appointed presidency of trump tonight.

What does Cinco de Mayo mean to me? (#4112)

     The history of Cinco de Mayo is steeped in a victorious battle over the French in 1862. Yet that is not why I celebrate Cinco de Mayo. To me Cinco de Mayo is a celebration of a culture that is influential to most all things that happen here in California, and our nation as a whole. From when I was younger and Cesar Chavez was organizing migrant workers to protect and establish rights to now when "Dreamers" are the target of republican politicians and are now back to being fearful that the only country they have ever known will disown them. Cinco de Mayo is a rallying cry to not only respect but to honor.
     Sure there are parties and parades that give our continental brothers and sisters some relief from their struggle to be accepted but for me the fight to be recognized as equals here in America is the tribute for this day. America has been established as a nation for coming up on 244 years if we count from the day of our announced independence from Great Britain in 1776. Yet Mexicans have been a part of America since 1598, or continuously for 422 years of recorded history, https://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/presentationsandactivities/presentations/immigration/alt/mexican2.html. No doubt much longer since obviously recorded history doesn't include unrecorded history.
     It is auspicious that although Cinco de Mayo is a celebration of victory over France in a battle, it is also still a fight with America to be treated as equals and with respect. Nothing that many within our society here in America don't already know as particularly African Americans and women will testify. The melting pot ideal of America in our just recent past has been torn apart and now a doctrine of divisiveness is attempting to become our motto. But it is days like today, Cinco de Mayo, that we are reminded that we are still the melting pot of the world and our destiny as such will survive the callous haters who cannot see beyond their own inbred prejudices.
     

Forgetfulness (#4111)

     Here I am this morning realizing that in all my hustle and bustle of yesterday I forgot to send out a post on my blog. I can tell you that it has happened just a few times over the course of the last 11 plus years but it always brings me down when I realize it. I am no more human than anyone else so making mistakes is part of my daily life yet I do try diligently to make sure I post everyday even when nothing is swirling around in my head for an inspiring conversation. So it seems that like yesterday my mind is less than exhilarating so I will talk about my forgetting.
     It isn't that I actually went all day without thinking about posting yesterday. I did think about it a couple of times when I was busy and tried to remember to sit down and turn some kind of thought into action. But each time I remembered that I hadn't written a post yet, I soon forgot again as I am finding it harder now as I am getting older to keep my order of operations intact. My memory is not what it was at my more youthful stage and even then it wasn't spectacular. Yet the daily posting of this blog is a priority with me and yet still I forget. The many other times I nearly forgot I somehow managed to remember before the daily deadline passed but not this 5th overall time.
     5 misses in over 11 years is not horrible yet it is not great. Every morning I do my same routine and writing the blog post is one of them but occasionally, or rather rarely, I find that interruptions either outside myself or by myself is the culprit. Yesterday I had it in my mind to build 2 screens for windows that were in need of them and started very early to beat the heat. I thought I would have had plenty of time later in the morning to write my blog post but it seems that the further I get from my usual allotted time in the early morning for writing the more susceptible I am to forgetting. Such was the case yesterday and this morning I am full of regret for my comfort overruling my duty to myself and my one little daily ambition.

Missed a post, so a makeup one (#4110)

     As is customary for me when I miss posting on a day, the next day I write a makeup post to soothe my disappointed soul. It is strange to me that this blog posting has become like an old friend in that it is so much a part of who I am now. Naturally because I am in each of these posts up to and beyond my neck so missing making a post is personal to me. Like looking in a mirror each morning I find that I get a glimpse of my soul and inner being when I sit and write about whatever subject it is in my head or heart at the time. Yesterday there was no burning subject nor personal experience that was thrust upon me to my bursting so I forgot and let the day slip away without making a post.
     Which in itself is tragic because rarely if at all can I go one whole day without some subject reaching deep within me and ripping at the fiber of my existence. These days with the ignorant and brutal trump spending all his time wreaking havoc over the top of us the excuse not to have some subject for deliberation is inexcusable. Yet like a few days in the past my mind did not take me to my normal and instead slipped into a bubble of irrelevancy. I am ashamed that I allowed such a thing to happen as I am one who is trying always to be vigilant as we keep crawling closer to the next general election. Vigilance is not taking a day off. Vigilance is remaining alert and focused.
     Nothing I did yesterday was as important to me as writing my daily post yet somehow I managed to put that concept on its head. Again I go back to me being human and not as set in my ways as I would like myself to be on principled and honorable actions. Yet when my humanity does bring its inconsistency to my life I can either beat myself up or learn a lesson. If you know me at all it is the lesson I will choose and be grateful for it. Those of us who find that knowledge and information are crucial to our lives also find that making mistakes is less about our inability to be perfect and more about our understanding that we will never be perfect.

The arrogant tiny minority (#4109)

     The right wing nuts in America supported by wealthy right wing nut billionaires are making a little bit of noise and all of a sudden everyone is grasping their ankles! Bullshit! Fuck those little assholes who want to keep spreading the virus. Let them catch it and then let's hear them complain about not wearing a mask or gloves! I am sick and tired of the stupid here in America who cannot tell a rational thought from the shit that comes out of their asses! There are 10,000 times more of us who know that sheltering and distancing is the proper procedure during a pandemic when tests are limited and no cure is to be found.
     The wealthy media seems to want to push the narrative that opening up our nation to the commerce as usual is a choice. It isn't a choice if we want to keep from getting infected. The only reason they would want to open way too early is that they don't like the stimulus money being given to the working middle poor class. Oh they love getting it themselves but not for the rest of us. So instead they are trying to force the hands of those in power to do their bidding instead of following the logical path. We must not let the wealthy nor their media types to influence what we know is the correct pathway to follow. If it means giving the working middle poor class more stimulus or increasing unemployment benefits then so be it, Not forcing workers back into a deathly working environment.
     So when the media follows those idiots out protesting to make our society unsafe quit covering them and writing about some positive spin on their side of it. Because their side of it is a gamble with death when no gamble is needed to win out against the virus. These are not two sides of the same coin here. They are advocating death for profit because they don't like giving money to us while we try to end the virus. The real pull of wills is in this and we will see who wins out, government for the people or government for the wealthy. I would like to think we the people will win out but I know that with trump and republicans in charge it will be difficult for us to win against the brutal profit makers.

186 days until the election (#4108)

     Just over 6 months by a couple of days until we finally get our chance to end the appointed presidency of the scoundrel trump. As each new day arises in our lives we are just that much closer to our nearly 3 1/2 year quest to end one of the most shameful and destructive eras ever in our American history outside of full on war. This has been all self inflicted by trump and an equal part by the republican party. 6 months more of this incredibly horrible time will seem like eternity but it won't be and before we know it the time for ousting trumps and his petty little servants will be upon us.
     All the marches and all the protests we participated in not even considering the thousands upon thousands of hours spent online advocating for a fairer and more just world is about to pay off. As each new month clicks on the calendar we are just that much closer to savoring the sweetness of democracy first hand. Those tens of millions who sat out the last presidential election are not going to do that this time and they are primed to overwhelmingly vote to replace the most arrogant selfishly cruel inept leader our nation has ever had. Yes, worse than any you could possibly try to argue for.
     On November 3rd 2020 a determined vigilant voting base of nevermore trump will cast or have cast ballots to elect anyone other than trump and his fellow sycophants in Congress and statehouses. There will be some republican office holders who will survive but only because they are so gerrymandered into their offices or because they have actually tried to stem the trump tide by going against his demands. But few are these types and the rest of the cowards who enabled him are going to feel the sting of defeat as the mighty and huge blue wave voting block will be all over them. A great day is coming and in a short 6 months we the best of our nation will have triumphed over the despicable thieving brutes who would destroy our democracy.