Everything is in place to improve our society except the will of a few holdout democrats (#4472)

      I love the fact that Joe Biden has found the mindset that matches the majority of we Americans. His ideas for fixing our society are straight out of our progressive/liberal playbook. The importance of him being in this frame of mind is crucial especially given that our planet, and social/political/economic order is degrading with republican policies. As Joe Biden has shown, with the agreement of a vast majority of we Americans, is that addressing our most pressing needs is the path forward with an urgency that is apparent. The republican party has brought us to this cliff and now wanting to allow them to advise us in how not to fall off of it is absurd!
     Fool me once shame on you but fool me twice then shame on me. The republican party has already fooled us with their trickle down economics and white nationalism so needing them to join us in changing those paradigms is laughable at best and ignorant at worst. We democrats, due to the last elections, are in control and it is only rules, that we can change, that is stopping us from going full throat at our problems. The fear that some of our democratic colleagues are feeling is sad and unhelpful but that is where we are at the moment. I hope that those democratic colleagues are able to grow a spine in short order and then apply come courage to join the rest of us and do what needs to be done.
     Having Joe Biden exemplifying our policies with such conviction and logic is a huge beginning. Having the American electorate firmly behind him on those policies is also a huge beginning. But what is between those two dynamic forces is the legislation needed to make it happen. This really is simple when trying to figure this out. The idea of bipartisanship is a good thing when it is working but on all the really big and complex issues it is dead and gone. Sure republicans will work with democrats on less than complex and controversial subjects but that is all they will do. They won't work on voting reforms, climate change, assault weapon reform, and universal health care. Which is why we need to move past republicans and get this done on our own!

A presidential speech (#4471)

      Joe Biden is if one thing, an honest caring man. What is as good is that he is insightful. He can see that we the United States working middle poor class is in dire shape and he wants to correct that. For decades our middle lower economic classes have taken hit after hit on our ability to earn and participate in the American dream. All the while the wealthy have had the benefit of the republican agenda to increase their wealth exponentially compared to we the lower economic classes. Well that greedy paradigm is being exposed fully by Joe Biden and all he needs is a few republicans or obstructive democrats to get on board and help him reverse these decades long harmful trends.
     In his speech last night Joe Biden laid out his plans for doing just that and now what he needs is the will of a few politicians to help him achieve that equity. This really is a no brainer in that a healthy and thriving working middle poor class will boost our economy to heights not seen since the 1950's. What is keeping this from happening on the republican side is that they won't get much credit for this new economy and thus they surmise they will lose political power because of it. I do agree with their fear because when they don't put our working middle poor class first they alienate themselves from a majority of voters. Yet they choose to not represent the working middle poor class so whose fault is it that they are unpopular? Certainly not the working middle poor class's nor the democratic party's.
     What Joe Biden offered last night is for republicans to join we democrats in providing a fair economy to all and all they have to do is accept the offer to help. It is on them and if they don't choose to represent all Americans then their infamy will be secured. I know that it is tight in the Senate for passing legislation and the current obstruction to filibuster reform seems unmovable. Yet with the passage of time and no other coarse available I do believe filibuster reform will occur because if it doesn't the fate of our democracy becomes perilous. With Joe Biden's speech last night and Senate majority leader Schumer reiterating that legislation will pass, the future of our nation is bright indeed!

Voting rights, either for or against (#4470)

      There are republicans who think that restricting and making it more difficult for our United States electorate to vote is a good thing. At first glance this seems like an odd position. So naturally I being an objective person, tried to understand why it would be good to restrict and make voting more difficult. This is what I came up with. Nothing good! What it does for republicans is keep what they hope is the democratic voting majority from turning out in elections therefore giving them more chances of winning with their lesser candidates. The republican party has forfeited working for the American people at large and now only represent the wealthy and powerful.
     So anyone who thinks that giving the republican party its wish to deny voting is not a democracy loving individual. They instead are democracy killing individuals. So there is no debate as to why republicans are squashing voting rights, there is only the fact of it. We democrats on the other hand want to expand voting rights to all United States citizens and make it as easy to vote as possible. Why? Because we are democracy loving individuals who know that when we all participate in our democracy the better our democracy becomes for all of us. We are not trying to scam a power play on our citizenry, on the contrary, unlike republicans, we trust the one person one vote ideal.
     The difference is between we democrats and republicans is that if a vote goes against us and everyone is allowed to vote as is their right then we accept the result and then work to make our nation better. Not republicans, when they lose they work to deny voting rights and obstruct everything they can in order to claim democrats cannot govern. This game of theirs is getting old and the sooner we the United States electorate wake up to it the better our nation will be when the republican party is voted into oblivion. The same with our elected democratic leaders, the sooner they understand that they are being played by republicans in order to undermine our own party the better our nation will be.

Joe Manchin is becoming an Albatross around our necks (#4469)

      The idea that the filibuster in the senate is so sacred that our democracy is worth sacrificing is completely and utterly delusional. The pretzeled logic it takes to equate a senate rule that has been diluted over time as more a priority than protecting democracy is still illogical. No matter how Joe Manchin justifies his flawed reasoning he is still wrong to hold up life affirming measures aimed at reimagining our society while protecting the very institution that he serves in. He is a servant of our nation and yet he acts like our master. He is shaming himself with the outcome of his actions because he is causing the downfall of our form of government in the name of bipartisanship.
     Normally bipartisanship is a good thing when dealing with honest and rightfully concerned politically viewpoints. But that isn't what we have here. We have one political party, we democrats, who are trying to salvage the very idea of democracy with policies and practices that enhance participation on equitable terms. The other political party is not concerned with equality nor our democracy. Instead they want to deny voting rights, equal representation, and participation in redressing injustices. So this isn't about being fair this is about protecting and enhancing our democracy. Which in reality, if Joe Manchin would reason, analyze, and conclude, he would be less an obstacle to progress.
     I won't get into the dark theories as to why Joe Manchin won't budge on advancing legislation that would salvage our democratic manifest destiny but if he doesn't budge it would seem that he has some dark reason that is not worth the exponential harm he would cause because of it. Joe Manchin is at a tipping point now and if he doesn't find his way back into the democratic fold he will forever be known as the Albatross around the neck of our dying democracy. He will be kin to the worst of the characters that have lived in history and his name will be synonymous with the cowards who put themselves above the great harm and suffering they caused, or in his case, will cause. How shameful and despicable!

Joe Biden is proving to be formidable (#4468)

      I, like many of we democrats did not see this side of Joe Biden during the run up to the election in 2020. I knew he would be a good candidate against trump and that was the case but I didn't see the side of Joe where he has been championing progressive policies that are exactly what our nation needs at this time. It is unfortunate that people like Joe Manchin have to make themselves impediments to Joe Biden's agenda. We are still early days so it may be that Joe Manchin will come around eventually but I don't like him being so obstructive. Still, Joe Biden is not to be dissuaded and if anything Joe Biden is more adamant about getting things done in any way he can.
     Which is not the same with Joe Manchin, who cries for bipartisanship yet shows not such effort to make it happen. If Joe Manchin can get bipartisanship from republicans on legislation then so be it but either put up or get in line with the Joe Biden led policies since they are the priority, not Joe Manchin's vision of how legislation should pass the senate. Our nation is hurting and our democracy is under attack so unless Joe Manchin figures out why he is in office, to serve the people, we will be unsettled and divided more than ever thanks to Joe Manchin.
     Who will pay the price if Joe Manchin is not moved from his obstructive position? We democrats will be because the big money of the republican party will hammer home the fact that we cannot govern and get things done so why vote for us in the 2022 midterm elections. Yeah, that inept corrupt republican party will be able to paint us democrats as weak and ineffective. Which is more true than not because of Joe Manchin and his unworldly like loyalty to republican senators. This is still better than if trump had regained the presidency but what could be is what will be sacrificed at the altar of Joe Manchin and that is a horror of its own.

We need a good steward climate fund for the world (#4467)

      There are many reasons why some developing countries do not practice good climate processes in the present. They are not ready to economically effect green policies while they are still so dependent upon the dirty energy of the past to keep themselves viable. Which is why the need for a fund to reward and help transition countries to greener policies is needed. Much like a poker game, we all need to ante up, some more than others, in order to make the necessary changes to save our planet. The added benefit is that funds going to less wealthy countries will help them move into an economic period of growth that would have an effect outside their current infrastructure and financial needs.
     Stabilizing the nation states of our world will also allow for greater acceptance of democratic principles. We here in the US are not a great example of democracy as the republican party is adamant to show but once we put the policies of the republican party behind us the US will be able to showcase what and how democracy can bring through peace and happiness more so than any other governing system. When the people's of the Earth are involved in their own societies through equality, equity, justice and fairness then there are little to no divisions that would entail wars and harsh conflicts. Bringing all the countries in the world into a system that promotes the health and sustainability of our planet is the correct and proper thing to do.
     We here in the US have a president now who would and possibly could make the correct moves to lessen the tension in the world while building a system that improves life not only in the US but also around the world. Our planet needs to unite now because our technologies are expanding at such a great rate that not pulling our resources and talents together would be a waste. The Universe is about to feel our human presence and when we all are part of the great manifest destiny of space the whole of the world should be involved. We are an amazing species and as soon as we start exemplifying it in thoughts and actions the better for our species' survival into the generations to come.

Getting the Census back to normal after trump (#4466)

      The Census Bureau is no longer under the influence of trump and his cronies. Yesterday a federal judge dropped a federal lawsuit by those of us concerned about how trump was politicizing and manipulating the data. Because a settlement was reached whereas the status and data are now back to their traditional interpretations. The citizenship question is not to be included nor is the data on immigration. In the past the census was just counting people who are in our nation. Which is appropriate in deciding how representation is to be allocated per district. What trump was trying to do was jigger the numbers to allow for more republican control by not counting folks in democratic districts.
     The blatant partisanship of trump and this current republican party has not only fed the racist agenda of their dwindling base but it had been slowly deteriorating our democratic principles. The decision yesterday stops that attempt by the previous corrupted administration and puts us back on good footing as to knowing our national population. Getting this census correct is the main objective of we democrats while getting the best selfish outcome is the agenda of republicans. Nothing much changes with republicans as they are only interested in maintaining power through any means possible. But their attempt to manipulate the census has been stifled and defeated.
     What we accomplished in the 2020 election was so absolutely critical to our democracy. Joe and Kamala have been just what we needed and now if we can get the 50 democratic senators in our caucus to agree we can make some mighty paradigm level changes to our society, politics, economy and justice system. We must keep striving to stop the worst of what the trumps and republicans attempted to do to us and make sure that they or others like them can never do those things again. Getting an accurate account of our citizenry, whether democratic or republican, is what the truth demands and that is what we democrats live and fight for.

It is time for DC statehood! (#4465)

      The round number of 50 stars on our national flag is a psychological barrier to admitting DC as a state to all of us if you want to be honest. Yet round numbers are just an enumeration like all other numbers. The number 51 can be divided by 3, 17 times. So how it configures on the flag can be made to become interesting. Then considering Puerto Rico as the 52 state is also a number that can be divided several times to make for an other interesting configuration of the stars on our flag. When I was born there were 48 states in our nation before the adding of Alaska and Hawaii by 1960 to make the current 50. Both of those states are disconnected from our contiguous earlier 48 states so adding Puerto Rico would not be uncommon.
     But DC is part of our nation and it is even more populous than 2 other current states, Wyoming and Vermont, while barely trailing Alaska in population. The idea that we would have that many people living in the US without equal representation is absurd and needs to be rectified immediately. That republicans are not for DC statehood has nothing to do with a competent argument and everything to do with two other more nefarious reasons. The first being that as a democratic stronghold it would likely add 2 new US Senators to the democratic Senate caucus. The other being it is an area that has a large person of color population. And yes I will call the other reason a racist one.
     The House yesterday passed a bill that allows for DC to become a state. Now we need the senate to carve out an exception to the filibuster and have a majority vote on the House bill. With the idea of eliminating the filibuster all but impossible at the moment the better course is for a carve out of the filibuster to allow majority votes in the Senate for only adding new states. This is our best option for getting equal representation to DC which does not have an elected representative to the House who can vote nor any Senator in the Senate. Again, DC has a larger population than 2 existing states so how in the world can anyone be for democracy and not want equality for all it's citizens and call themselves a democrat? Do it!

The art of the slang term "woke" (#4464)

      Stay "woke" as is the rallying call in the African American community and now the world at large. The term is about awareness and although it isn't used in the proper sense of the English language we understand why not. Evocative language has a tradition in American politics. We often say something in order to remind of another thing, like saying "dope" to mean "cool". Slang is catchy and since we seem to need all the help we can get in order to make important points the need for catchy slang terms is important. The opposite is true in the art of the term when like with "defund the police" meaning to change how police police. Being wise about how we use our slang terms is also important.
     However, the slang term "woke" is a wise utilization. It immediately captures our attention in that it is strange hearing the term used that way which triggers our need to understand it. Being "woke" is as artful as it gets with me as I am delighted with how it communicates it's message. Being aware of what is happening in our own society shouldn't need triggers for us to begin to participate. Life is not that difficult to understand. We here in the United States live in a democracy that cannot continue to exist on cruise control so being aware of it's functions and how it is actually functioning is more important than our own personal agendas.
     Many do not see it that way which is why the republican party still exists. To republicans, being "woke" is a bad thing since they are of the belief that only they can decide what is correct in our democracy, even if we need to keep our democracy at all! Which is why being "woke is so important. Our awareness is what the republican party wants to stifle as well as obstructing our participation in the voting process. If ever an enemy existed within our democracy the current republican party is it's face. So whatever we have to do to drive home the need for staying alert and aware. We must know what is happening around us in this crucial time of "wokeness"!

The correct verdict was given (#4463)

      Guilty 3 times on the 3 counts. Good verdict. Now I expect after the lawyers are done with their advice on sentencing that the murderer will get at least 30 years, without possibility of parole. He should end his life in prison if he survives the culture within those walls or not. There can be no exception to extreme punishment when it comes to unlawfully killing a citizen under the color of law. When we establish a baseline of punishment that is rock solid and a severe hardship for any perpetrator, we will then have made this type of behavior most difficult to do going into the future.
     The suffering the black race has had to endure in the United States of America is the real tragedy of our nation's heritage. For 402 years we the white race have had our actual and metaphorical knee on the neck of the black race and it must stop now! All steps ready to be taken must be made. There is no excuse for not ending the practice of legal and social prejudice. Logic tells us that all races of human beings are equal in existence. There is no reason for any law to exist that doesn't raise the value of all life to an equal footing. Our policing and criminal justice systems are rife with inequities aimed at bias and prejudice for not only persons of color but of people who are not wealthy.
     The gaming of democracy by those who would have advantage and privilege while promoting classism must end. Our laws can be written in ways that eliminate loopholes for those who are wealthy and powerful and don't want to stand for charges that you and I must stand for. There cannot be equal differing routes to justice when factors such as wealth and color are involved. There must only be one route to justice which is a route that all must take without any detours or obstructions. When we all feel the duty to obey our laws is when all of us will be better off. Because as long as the few privileged and advantaged keep getting away with law breaking the rest of us remain highly unsettled, vulnerable, and angry.

The verdict should already have been in (#4462)

      In my mind the verdict of guilty should have been given within the first hour of deliberations. I don't know what these jurors are doing but it doesn't have a lot in common with reality. Maybe they are being super cautious or don't want to appear to have already decided that the perpetrator was guilty before deliberating. But if I were the jury foreman I would have had an immediate vote as to where every one stands. For there not to be 12 guilty votes right off the bat doesn't portend well for justice. Our American jurisprudence system seems to bend over backwards to avoid the simple facts.
     I am all for both sides getting due process but not at the expense of the facts. The perpetrator killed the victim and nothing in the 9:29 second video disputes that despite the many ridiculous alternatives offered by the defense. That the perpetrator refused to testify in his own defense may also be construed that he had no defense for his kneeling that long on George's neck. This jury has already disappointed me and the longer it takes for a verdict of guilty to come out the greater the chance that there will be no unanimous verdict. All it takes is for one juror to vote against a guilty conviction to hang the jury and trigger a retrial.
     For too many reasons here for me to list a verdict less than guilty here would inflame not only the black and brown community but it will inflame many of we whites who are sick and tired of a system that continues to privilege and advantage white killers of blacks. If no verdict is available by this morning I fear that a tumult will be coming and there will be hell to pay for a lot of innocent folks who for every valid reason known cannot stand another white killer of black folks to be set free. It is my hope that the 12 jurors who took on this responsibility have the wherewithal to know that fudging facts to clear the perpetrator is not to be considered and if anything justice should be served with a swift and defiant early unanimous verdict!

Still blogging (#4461)

      When trump was appointed as president by the electoral college on Monday, December 19, 2016 I was sure that my blogging days were over. I knew what kind of cadaver he was and because of my opposition to him that he would find a way to crush me some way. Well it seems the job of taking care of the insignificant like me was too big a job for him. He proved himself inept from the beginning and that is the only reason I know that I am still here blogging against him and the republican party. Not that I would change anything as I knew what I was doing when I was doing it. It has been 167 days since the election and 163 days since the major television networks called the race for then President Elect Biden.
     So the end of trump as an appointed president is over despite his death rattles to the contrary. So my blogging days continue as if nothing ever interrupted them. I feel vindicated in many ways but most importantly is that I never stopped calling him a piece of shit! I never capitalized his name and never gave him an ounce of trust since his first days of being sworn in as the appointed president. I had initially hoped that he had hoodwinked the republican party and would come out as more a liberal/progressive but that hope lasted about one day. Let me be clear here, my hope was in no way probable. Just a "you never know" kind of scenario where it is so unlikely that you don't expect it. I was correct in my probabilities and although for a moment in time I had hoped for a miracle of sorts I knew it would not come to be despite hope.
     But today as I sit in front of my computer's keyboard I feel a sense of rebirth that although we endured the 4 years of a real dystopian state of being we are much stronger and clear eyed coming out of it. Not just me who has been advocating for a better society but the many who were not engaged in politics who now are! The decline in the republican party is their greatest internal threat because they chose trump and his vileness over the American people and it is showing as the republican party continues to choose trump over the American people. I do believe that a new horizon of awareness has emerged from the old paradigm of confusion and that my friends is why I will keep blogging about it.

Understanding ourselves (#4460)

      I won't waste anyone's time here trying to understand our mental side of things. Today I am more interested in understanding the physical. We all have but one body under our care and that is our own. So knowing what is going on with our bodies should be a priority for all of us. I know when I am hurting and when I am not. So I adjust my physical abilities to fit that constant change in my physical status. I do color outside the lines metaphorically at times but that is my ego trying to tell me that I am still stronger and more powerful than I really am. I ignore my ego for the most part but not entirely.
     So in those times that I don't ignore my ego because I am not perfect, I try to limit that urge to maybe doing a little more than I should but not a lot more than I should. I end up somewhere in between so there is that. As long as I don't add to the list of things I have to modify my physicality to then all is well. Yet I do end up harming myself in long term ways that seem to add to the pain threshold of some of my more chronic inadequacies. Plus the fact that I am getting older and my blood cells are not vibrant like they were in my formative years.
     I am no strict disciplinarian when it comes to taking care of my body like some who use a master plan regimen. But I am conscious of basic rules that help me along in maintaining my energies and manage my aches and pains. Life is a constant discovery of information and I try to keep up with a lot of it. I know my life is at the short end of the stick now so being somewhat in the scientific mode is a value worth exploring. I am not afraid of death but I do want to be agile enough throughout the extent of my life to make living it worthy of what it is to be a human being. I will continue to modify my behavior in ways that strengthen my current physical status as well as allows me to prevent further deterioration due to indifference.

I know what love feels like and I am happy to say it when it hits me (#4459)

     To say I am in love with someone is a serious statement that gives most humans beings pause to consider just what love is. How does one know if they are in love? We are not given a handbook on what these feelings we have mean when they engulf us. But for the most of my life there has been an abundance of love given toward me from my parents and other family members that the idea of what love is is not totally unknown. I have even fallen in love at times in my life only to find out that that love I thought I felt was more like lust or a deep infatuation. Being in love is unconditional in the most expected and unexpected ways. So if you are not willing to go any extra mile to protect that love then you should question it.
     For the most part of my life I can honestly say that I have not been in love with someone. Not that it was a bad thing but it wasn't a great thing. Being in love is special if even unrequited although the pain of unrequited love is a swift kick in the guts. But life is like that in a lot of ways. If it has a real value it has a degree of inverse reaction to it that is of an equal force. So not connecting while in love is a heartbreak, we endure, move on and then hopefully fall in love again with someone who maybe this time is willing to risk their love with you. So when a time like that happens then the world all of a sudden is a place where magic reigns supreme.
     I can say here that love can hit you when you are young and full of vigor for life or when you are middle aged or of an older age where you are maybe a bit wary but not closed off to the idea. I have lived so far through all of those ages and for me the idea that being in love is possible hasn't changed the degree by which I could feel it. Now I am not talking here about marriages of convenience or out of some desperation. I am talking about love that comes along when you had no idea it was coming and then bam! There it is the beginning of something that has the makings of a companionship that was otherwise unknown and yet miraculous. May we all experience in time some variation of being in love with a story to tell about it.

Another mass shooting and another wall of silence from republicans (#4458)

      Late last evening another mass shooting took place in Indianapolis and once again no outrage from republicans aimed at doing something about it. It doesn't matter to republicans if our whole society is in danger of being shot and killed, they just don't want to do anything about it. So why do we keep electing such horrible, greedy selfish people? Our nation cannot be so full of ignorant voting folks! How is it possible that daily deaths from firearms is okay and not worthy of a response? The fear that must exist in the republican party that without their high capacity guns they cannot feel safe in a democratic society. I am tired of living in a nation full of cowards!
     The Eagle is not the symbol of our nation now, the headstone in the graveyard is. We the American electorate are an embarrassment to all things enlightened. Most every nation on the planet is at minimum much more logical on the concept of not allowing a proliferation of decimating weapons as legal. Most civilized nations are beyond the simple understanding that weapons everywhere is not a good idea. Yet we here in America are convinced that without having an arsenal of mass destruction we are not free. How absurd it is that the freedom to kill innocent folks is viewed by republicans as more sacred than common sense gun legislation!
     I will never let myself become normalized to the tragic destruction allowed by republicans because they are scared little children with no courage. The republican party is a group of cowards who need to be relegated to irrelevancy. All of us who have a heart for the victims of these preventable disasters are angered at the obstructive nature of the republican party and it's shrugging off the deaths as just part of doing business. The only way we are going to change our society and regulate the ease at which murder can be accomplished is to get the republican party out of our politics and then pass the George Floyd Act to begin to put an end to easy access of weapons for the dangerous minds of the unwell.

Middle finger up to autocratic republicans (#4457)

      Our democracy is under siege and it is from within by the republican party. They have found a base of ignorant and duped voters who will vote for them regardless of what they do. It is a real illness of stupidity that permeates the republican party and anyone who aligns themselves with them will forever be known as the traitors who tried to destroy the democracy of the United States of  America. Those republicans who are sitting on the fence and just letting the republican party define itself as against women, people of color, and the those of us who are not the wealthy are as culpable as those who are openly defined by such parameters. The act of being silent and doing nothing in the face of an attack is cowardice and a neutral admission that they don't care.
     What is important is that our new president is steadfastly a democracy loving politician who will put his fists up to protect our democracy. We are also fortunate to have a majority in both the House and Senate where we can if we find the will, make the republican party irrelevant if they persist in their present course of obstruction and sabotage. The democratic leaders in Washington will soon catch up with the rest of us and tell the autocratic republican party to fuck off and then get to passing legislation and appointing democracy loving individuals to our highest court and administrative offices. I have spent what little if any goodwill I ever had 4 decades ago with rayguns and have had none left since then.
     I will not allow the republican party to take from our grand experiment the hard earned rights and privileges that have been paid with blood and treasure so that the republican party can come in and steal our heritage and birthright. I will be relentless in putting everything that is me on the line in order to fight back the dark forces of power and greed. If you are a republican heed my warning as I am not to be fooled by any of your deceptions and lies. You the republican party are a scourge to what is sacred in our democracy. You republicans want to take the best of who we are and subject us to your personal gain and power trips. Beware as the many of us are not at all cowered by your brutish and cruel political gambits! Instead we are infuriated and ready to mete justice down on your ill riddled heads!

What we did to the black race in the United States of America is beyond criminal! (#4456)

     Many remember the tale of when the Mayflower arrived at Plymouth Rock, Mass. in 1620. But few know the tale of the slave ship White Lion that landed a year earlier in Jamestown, Virginia bringing the first slaves to the North American shores. That would not be the last slave ship to arrive from Africa as over the next 240 plus years Africans stolen from their homes on another continent, were brought here to the Americas as property. They were free men and women in Africa but not in the Americas. Nearly 250 years later after enduring the type of suffering no one can imagine The United States had a civil war in order to free our nation from the infamous slave trade.
     But instead of treating our African descendant American born brothers and sisters in the human race with the human right of equality we further subjected them to a subset of class that discriminated, punished, and even tortured them for trying to realize the American dream. So for over 400 years now we the White race in America have shown that we are the real threat to equality that we only demand for ourselves. If ever a race of individuals deserved a recompense at the hands of another race of folks it is the black folks deserving it from we white folks. Yet even today we still treat our black brothers and sisters with such a disdain in an open and filthy way that I am sure we whites deserve something even more detrimental than reparations owed.
     I know many of us white race folks are of an integrating mind and that is progress but too many of us are not and that is the mental illness that began the slave trade to begin with. The depth of our white race depravity cannot be sugar coated or brushed aside with excuses or denials. We are the culprits in one of the worst human conditions for 400 years ever brought to the history of the world. Our collective shame should always be in our minds as we try to reverse that which we started. Bringing all Americans into our society with no condition as to race, or gender on an equal basis is the least we can do and surely not all that we should do for the lives we stole for our own personal gain.

The republican party is a disgrace (#4455)

     The Asian hate bill is going to be introduced into legislation in the Senate tomorrow and democrats are looking for  republicans not to filibuster the modest and narrow legislation. However we are talking about republicans in the Senate here so there is a great chance that the bill will be filibustered and then made more difficult to pass needing the 60 votes, ie 10 republican senators to vote with democrats. It is a test of sorts to show where the Senate stands on legislation that is by far neutral and limited. Yet as with all things that republicans do in the senate these days nothing is a slam dunk with them. they should just let the bill pass and vote for it but knowing them they will not do that!
     Which plays into the obvious narrative that there will be no legislation passed in the senate without republicans invoking the dreaded filibuster. So in effect no legislation will pass the Senate during regular order in this 2 year term. Which should give we democrats much ammunition to supply to manchin and sinema in rebutting their hope to have bipartisan legislation. There will be no bipartisan legislation if republicans are expected to vote for it. The reason is that if republicans give democrats a victory by helping them pass legislation they see that as hurting their chances in the next election. This isn't about the legislation itself which is sorely needed, no, this is about republicans keeping power and the hell with America's needs.
     I have been saying this for most of my life, the republican party is a disease that a healthy society cannot afford to entertain. We will never make life more livable for the vast majority of Americans while republicans control power. So expecting them to suddenly find their bipartisan hats is way too many bridges too far! This vote tomorrow on the Asian hate crime bill will once again expose the folly of expecting republicans to do the correct thing and help the American people. The only people that republicans want to help are the wealthy and the sooner everyone, yes you manchin and sinema, understand this the quicker we can get to passing laws that help everyone, yes, even republicans!

The republican party is responsible for most of the violence in the US (#4454)

      From ignoring the common sense of gun regulation to policies that keep the majority of Americans in poverty, the republican party is by far the direct cause of violence in the US. There is no doubt that generational poverty is a major reason why people cause violence due to their inability to escape poverty. From little help on the educational front to a lack of decent paying jobs, the angst that exists here in our America is palpable. Add in the endemic racism aimed at people of color and you have what we have now, a sort of police state the discriminates. The republican party owns these outcomes due to their ignorance and willful disdain for anyone who is not wealthy.
     I am not one to sugar coat the reality we are living in and in fact have been calling this out for decades. It is just now that it seems the the republican party has quit trying to hide it's antidemocratic agenda and is now instead trying to defend it. Well the effects of the lying from republicans over the lifetime of my existence is what we have now and no amount of changing the narrative of this fact will catch on. Republicans are the worst of who we are politically and socially. They want nothing for the working middle poor class while they want all for the wealthy. They also love to discriminate based upon their own fears of anyone not a white nationalist. Cloaking themselves in religion is not helping either.
     If our educated electorate here in the US does not fully awaken to the decrepit, vile nature of the republican party and vote for all democrats in the coming elections then our national illness from the republican agenda will continue unnecessarily. We don't need the political party of republicanism in our elections if what they offer is division and cruelty. They have no policy platform from the last election for anyone to look back upon and see what they stand for. They are against everything we democrats are trying to fix in our broken society but republicans have nothing to advance of their own. They are a worthless gang of thugs and ignoramuses who are the death of us if we don't stop them!

People are not property (#4453)

      Whether as indentured or enslaved persons or even in a marriage, people are individual beings who are not to be utilized as property. I know how the marriage vows have morphed into the concept that mostly men believe that they control their women or how business operators treat their employees as unemotional tools instead of burgeoning living partners. The mindset that capitalism and religious dogma continue to undermine the value of the individual is real and often dictates to our society that those who are advantaged or privileged have the right to subject others to their advantage without equity or respect. There is a rot within our society that places inequality above democracy.
     We see it with the republican party as they are becoming less adept at hiding their ulterior motive of contempt for anyone they see as weaker than themselves. Instead of being magnanimous when the opportunity arises they are ruthlessly cruel in order to sate their own inadequacies. Each living being is able to live as a free human being. There is no exception to this despite man made laws that give power to certain people over the will of other people. A scourge of our human species is the wrong headed notion that people can be manipulated and taken advantage of to some reward or glorification. Where our society has admiration for the worst of what humans can do to each other.
     Our current society is broken when I look around and see what we are willing to accept that crosses the line outside the definition of human dignity. Certainly there are good and great examples everywhere there are people who live to respect and give dignity to others for the sake of doing what is correct. But they are not as prevalent as the ones who seek to deny respect and dignity and look for ways to control the lives of others to fit their own illogically conceived false narration. The terms of a contract between folks in marriage and/or in business must be so that the intent and respect of each party is absolute even beyond the limited function of law.
     

No expectations (#4452)

      I know what needs to be done and yet I am not going to let myself get caught up in the "it isn't happening" mantra. I am for sure hopeful but I am not going to burst a blood vessel over any of it. The most of us who are progressive/liberal know what must be done and even though we can barely do it it seems that a few of our politicians are reluctant for whatever reason. I get that the most of us are angry with the few politicians for not understanding what the most of us see as an imperative. I am just tired from it all but that isn't why I am not getting into a rage. I need my sanity and nothing it seems that I could say or do will likely change the few from their position.
     That will have to be up to others who have greater insight or influence than me. I don't expect a turnaround by the few but I do hope for it. I need to have other priorities in my own personal life to keep me occupied so that I don't become a raving lunatic who is insanely angry over what most of us see as absurd stupidity by a few. Instead I will keep posting about the efficacy of popular policies that would reimagine our society and advocate for them wherever and whenever I can. Taking the passion out of it helps me to regulate my inner mental health as well as keep the stress of it all from causing me physical harm.
     So having no expectations is a safe way of maintaining my sanity regardless of whether the few who are bottlenecking our democratic agenda continue to do so. I cannot change them into caring intelligent human beings who put their own personal agenda to the back while lifting up the good of the public to the highest priority. I can only hope that the powers that be can make the kind of inroads into the mislaid loyalty of the few to erode their indefensible positions. The good and great that may be accomplished is now and although I won't be getting emotional about it but I am not giving up on it. This window of opportunity won't be open for long so unraveling the chaos to some efficient order needs to happen very soon.

Waiting for Manchin to talk to Warnock (#4451)

      Yesterday Joe Manchin was pressed by CNN about the voting rights bill and his response was to say he was going to talk to Raphael Warnock about it. That these two haven't yet talked might explain why Manchin is clueless about how his stubborn stance on the John Lewis voting rights bill is going to make reelecting Warnock in a suppressed Georgia a near impossibility. I have little doubt now that Warnock will give Manchin the heads up on all that is at stake here including Manchin losing his senate committee chairmanships when the republicans are able to win back the senate in 2022 because Manchin doesn't want to protect voting rights out of some duty to the filibuster.
     I expect that in the next few days that Manchin will have a change of heart and be open to carving out an exception to the filibuster that will allow a 50 plus one vote on fundamental voting rights legislation. I may be a bit angry, but it has baffled me that Manchin could not see that his obstinance toward an exception for elections issues was fully thought out by him. I now understand that he basically doesn't understand the consequences of his unfounded albeit altruistic stance in relation to bipartisanship. It takes two to negotiate and when one is not willing to negotiate in good faith then the idea that bipartisanship should overrule common sense and logic is illogical itself.
     I also do still believe that Manchin will fall in line on many issues that we democrats are eager to make law but it will take a bit of time so I must be a little more patient. Remembering that we are only 79 days into the Biden administration is important. We are just beginning to adjust to how our new administration will reinvent our society. Keeping pressure on Joe Manchin by explaining in real simple terms the detriments that come with his flawed but noble stances will be critical. I do admire that he wants bipartisanship to work and that in the different world would be the correct approach but this reality is nothing like one in which the party out of power appreciates the will of the people. Instead this iteration of republicanism is more determined to undermine democracy than accept it's judgement.

A moment in time (#4450)

      Time is a funny thing. Every now and then a bit of it becomes so recognizable as an opportunity to change the whole dynamic of how our Human society in the U.S. can function. Now is one of the moments in time. A democratic President. A democratic majority House, and the slightest democratic majority Senate. First of all let me say that it is has been a decade since I could actually look forward to watching either C-span channels without being disgusted by either one or both being under republican control. But besides my own personal like, an opportunity to pass legislation without any republican input is available.
     Yet we have at least on democratic senator who will not let us use our democratic presidency and bare majorities in Congress to reshape the political, economic, and social order of our country by eliminating a senate rule that was initially designed to nullify minority votes. The allegiance to a rule is now to be equated in the same context as democracy itself. One is a subset of the other. The rule is a subset of democracy and even then that comparison is embellished. The rule is an antiquated effort at maintaining illegitimate power in a democracy that is being denied because of it. So my consternation at the one democratic senator who has laid down the gauntlet on moving from his protecting the filibuster at all costs position.
     This moment in time will not last beyond the current set of circumstances and not taking advantage of eliminating the filibuster will go down in history as an infamous miscalculation of a perfect storm of opportunity. For all the misfortune to have a single critical democratic senator so incapable of conjuring up the courage to manifest the destiny we Americans so richly deserve is nightmarish. This moment in time will likely not occur again and what will come next is at least a generation of nothingness. A slow death of obstruction by the republican party that is intent upon moving away from democracy to autocracy. Shame on Joe Manchin and anyone else who is so unwilling to be part of what could be.

When corporations mobilize against voter restriction laws (#4449)

      Left dangling there in the title is what happens next. We will see how their opposition to state laws aimed at denying access to the voting franchise will affect republican lawmakers who depend on their donations for campaigning. Money does influence republican politicians since their party is based upon wealth and greed. If they begin to lose their donors over denying voting rights then expect to see republicans squirm as to how to proceed. The republican party needs to suppress the vote if they have any chance at all of winning elections. So how they balance a united corporation front against them with their strategy of winning by denying voting rights is their current dilemma.
     I am flabbergasted at the idea that the republican party would even be an option for voters when their sole strategy of denying voters the right to vote is so commonly known. What the hell kind of nation have we become when a political party has a chance at national power through anti democratic tactics? It is an embarrassment for me to be in our nation at a time when such racism is publicly pervasive. Shame is not a method or tool to use against the republican party as they have adopted a psychopathic approach to ignoring emotion and conscience. So denying them funds for their political campaigns seems to be the best option.
     Corporations are not people but what they produce is capital. That capital attainment is contingent upon them being able to operate in a free and open society. What republicans are now offering is a society that is not only restrictive but closed off to many without a voice. Such is not the type of pathway any corporation should want to travel down. Which is why they need to raise their collective voices against anti democratic laws and ordinances. Sitting quietly on the sidelines while funneling money to democracy busting candidates is no longer an option for them. Their neutrality is over so they had better come to grips with choosing to side with or without democracy!

The good guys always helped society (#4448)

      Growing up as a child I used to watch television, black and white in my day, concerning how heroes and the good guys were portrayed. One thing always stood out about the people I admired, albeit mostly fictional, and that was their dedication to helping other people or society at large. They were selfless and courageous in their acts and behaviors so much so that I wanted to be just like them. But like all things in life we often are mislead and are deviated from our early innocent understandings of truth. Not that they were wrong but because we trusted others who were not doing their best to be truthful.
     But as was the case with me and no doubt similarly with others is that after being off the early chosen path I had for myself I reunited with it later in my life. So much so that for me to think of myself of anything less than a good guy would be counterproductive and untrue overall. I am steadfast in living as a good guy, maybe not a hero but someone who would sacrifice for the better if the moment arose. I suppose being that young and knowing how I wanted to live my life was hubris considering I had not the confidence yet in too many areas of my life. I was distracted because I was unsure about life as such and for that I am sorrowful.
     Yet I found my way back early enough in time with what is left of my life that making a difference for the better and best has not been a fool's errand for me. It has been real and effective. I tolerate little of foolish and immature behavior when it is expressed with a cavalier attitude backed by ignorance. I reward those who find that being a good person and a hero type is also their preferred choice of living. To care and to wonder is the impetus for my blog and I might also add behavior that posits the better and best and not behavior that negates the better and best. This world will be better for me having lived in it and that will be my legacy to everyone who has a heart, mind, and soul for our amazing human race and all living species' that are under our stewardship.

Full court pressure on the republican party over voting rights restrictions and denial (#4447)

      The time for playing around about this issue of denying voting rights is past time! The republican party are the only ones who are blatantly restricting and denying voting rights to our electorate. There is no dispute so let us all acknowledge that there will be a spot light put on them that will only get hotter! The only way to really make the republican party pay for their anti democratic agenda is to cut them off from all private campaign financing. There will always be some who are anti democratic and they will always support republicans. But for corporations who are beholden to all for the success of their products, they must be made to feel direct financial loss if they don't stop supporting anti democratic republican candidates.
     That we would even have to threaten boycotting their corporate products in order for them to stop giving money to the republican party is in itself an insane dynamic. Why would anyone support destroying democracy when it is democracy that allows them to exist? They are supposed to be intelligent enough to be able to ascertain this without the many of us having to remind them. Well we will do more than remind them we will make them hurt in as many ways possible until they enlighten themselves to who they are and what we allow them to be. So until they actually come out against all candidates, federal and state who want to restrict and deny voting rights to eligible American citizens then to hell with them on a rail!
     We democrats have another job to pay attention to and his name is Joe Manchin. He needs a primer in what his obstinate stance will accomplish. He will lose his senate chairmanships and his ability to influence legislation after the 2022 midterm elections because of his inability to vote with his democratic caucus. The democracy destroying republicans will find the way to get back their majorities in the house and senate and then Joe Manchin and his family unfortunately will be vilified in the present and future for being the judas to our party and our nation. I don't want to think that this scenario will become fact but if we don't move him off his current position I can guarantee you this will happen!

Evolution, it is a basic human function (#4446)

      It is quite dumbfounding to listen to those who deny evolution as a necessary process. We humans have been evolving since even before we crawled out of the gooey sea as it was. The exoskeletons, the mollusks, and we the vertebrates have been evolving since our early molecular bonding on this planet. Of the 3 main categorical species known in general knowledge, we the vertebrates have been the most forward advancing in the evolutionary timeline. Nothing about us is static. Maybe in the short term like a lifetime one may see little change but a lifetime is but a millisecond in the overall time we have been viable as a species.
     So nothing anyone would conceive to say about evolution being a fiction is worthy of anything other than to be laughed at and then discarded. Even as we evolve over the length of our own time we can see multitudes of singular and complex evolutions with our physical shapes and as well our mental understandings. Evolving is what we do and no species on Earth is devoid of evolution. So the makeup of our existence is founded on change. Those who do not accept evolution as a fact have left us with too many who are not informed enough to even be talking in public but even worse holding public office. I find it incredulous that being afraid of the truth is better than accepting the truth. Yet here we are.
     I will continue to evolve regardless of what others around me do if they choose not to accept reality. My life gets harder and others' lives do as well when some of us gum up the works with their fears and how dumbing down appears as a result of their fears. Adaptation to our environment is of the greatest concern now as we have let the forces of climate change continue to the point of causing disruption to our normal above planet activities. There is time to reverse more devastating effects but it will come at a cost. Can we get enough of us to understand that life is about change and what change is needed now to keep things from getting exponentially worse needs to occur now without delay!

Trust your instincts (#4445)

      I know this sounds like another political post about the horrible republican party or the fighting mad democratic one. That being true about both party's it isn't necessarily the focus of this blog posting. Trusting your instincts can overflow into many different paradigms all at once and it would behoove one to understand how trust works and when to apply it. Trust is a gift that should not be given with a carefree attitude. As we all should know from our own personal experiences, trust is often abused and laughed at by those who are only in life to gain from everyone and anyone they meet. If you are unsure about that just wait another day or so and watch someone prove it to you.
     I am not a cynic by nature but the fallacy that we are all good honest people is overblown. Sure we do weed out those who are of an obvious untrustworthy nature but even then we find that we are incapable of filtering them all. Especially when they are long time friends or family. I don't hold to the blood is thicker than most things because when wrong is wrong, those who allow it are just as wrong. Then there are times when we must just stick our necks out to see if trust is something to offer in good faith so that trust can be returned. If it works for respect, which I respect everyone when I first meet them and then respect veers or stays as time dictates through their thought and behavior, then it can work for trust.
     None of us is in a position to lose trust without some pain or suffering but there are no trust gauges attached to us so that we can read them before trusting so taking a gamble is the only way to begin to find out. I had thought I could live the rest of my life without needing to discover new trust but it seems that I am happily mistaken. I try and that is all I can do when an improbable opportunity arises. To move from the improbable to the probable there is work to be done and the value of that work is based upon the reward to be attained. We all have our wants and needs so deciding when and how to meet those wants and needs requires us to put it out on the line and see what opportunity breezes in.

More voter suppression laws waiting to be passed in red states (#4444)

     What is it going to take to get Joe Manchin out of his bipartisanship stance when it comes to voter suppression laws? I would think that this would be a no brainer on his part to protect democracy? I suppose he doesn't see it as that and is otherwise convinced these voter suppression laws are not suppressive. I cannot fathom his thinking and at this point he needs to have his feet held to the fire for him to explain to us why he isn't concerned about voter suppression? I am sure the forces that be are working on him now to get him onboard with the rest of the democratic caucus but they are not moving fast enough!
     The work needs to be done now before any more time is lost on the soul crushing republican side. Joe Manchin is a democrat and he needs to be fully aware of his effect on 100's of millions of citizens here in America. Because any vote denied is a loss for all of us. We all need to participate if democracy is to work. I just have no further words to express my incredulity with Joe Manchin and his posturing for political favor. This time will pass shortly and his antics will either break the democratic party's back or reinforce our back with solid federal legislation. It is really all down to him.
     The other less known democratic moderates will come along without the ego that Manchin is exposing so he really needs to make his demands within the framework of the legislation and pass the final product or explain to all of America why he deems democracy saving legislation is not worthy of our society. He has put himself into a conundrum of a situation and he needs to extricate himself before the anxieties and anger begin to boil over onto our finest hour in American societal shaping political opportunity. Do you hear me Joe Manchin? Shit or get off the pot and let's keep this thing rolling!

AOC is right on! (#4443)

      Last night on Rachel Maddow's show Alexandria Ocasio Cortez spelled out that the vision of Joe Biden's infrastructure plan was encompassing the problems we face but she took some issue with the amount he is asking for to accomplish the goal. Instead of 2.25 trillion over 8 years she advocates and explains that 10 trillion over 10 years is the amount we need. Not to get into the weeds on this here, she did reason her conclusion based upon the logic of the cost of fixing problems in whole not in part. It was a masterful stroke of intellect she displayed as well as a command of the issues. Even Rachel, herself no novice to logic, was happily taken aback by Alexandria's argument.
     Then followed by Lawrence O'Donnell who picked up the hot potato and put Pete Buttigieg on the spot asking him what he thought of AOC's proposed amount and he like the young wise man he is showing himself to be explained that the infrastructure bill could always be improved upon. That even heavy moderate Joe Manchin was for 4 trillion in infrastructure spending along with taxing the wealthy, AOC made a strong argument for progressives to expand the infrastructure bill beyond Joe Biden's initial ask. I am well pleased with AOC as she is showing her intellect in a very profound and convincing way. We need a major overhaul of so many of our societal paradigms and being shy about proposing big numbers is not needed.
     From waitress serving others to president of the United States, I can easily see her future at this pace. But that is the future and the now is where we are at. I hope the House is as giddy about proposing true legislation of solutions that mirror the real problems that we face and my gut tells me that Nancy Pelosi is like me, ready to create new paradigms to solve old problems. The next few months are truly going to be exciting to be part of and that is how life should be lived. Making the impossible possible and then making more impossible possible. We have it within us we Americans to finally overcome the failures of republican leadership in working to implement a working middle poor class friendly agenda.