(#4624) The republican party is out to destroy democracy!

      That the republican party is part of democracy does not matter to them. They know they cannot win elections on a major scale anymore so their lust for power has to be sated through rigging elections to maintain power. Then once they are back in power by their actions they will make removing them from office a crime. We are at a tipping point for our democracy and if you are not engaged in that understanding you will be just like those good folks who were oblivious and allowed the nazis in Germany to come to power. This iteration of the republican party is more concerned with power than serving our citizenry. They instead want our citizenry to serve them.
     Democracy has to be fought for if it is to continue and if we get complacent like we are now the jeopardy is that it will be lost. There will always be devious souls like trump who care not about equality, freedom and liberty. Instead they care about power, wealth and adulation. Their psychopathy is their ego and nothing else will substitute for it. We need representative leaders in political office, not the deranged who expect deserves without earning them. The republican party is not a party of democratic values as you can surmise for yourself given their push for democratic principled restrictions and obstructions.
     What the republican party is now is a bastion for the worst animal natures of a civilized society. Instead of honoring the social contract we all hold as necessary for living together, they demand special dispensations from having to participate fairly in our democratic processes. Their response to not receiving special attentions is to destroy the social and political construct we have built as our democracy. The idea that republicans feel they are more deserving of anyone else is an untreated disease that needs to be recognized. Otherwise the society as we know it in America will not be an inclusive one it will become like the concept that nazi Germany barely missed forcing upon the world 80 years ago.

(#4623) We will know today

      The process for getting President Joe Biden's agenda done has not been an easy one to feel comfortable about. The hang up has always been the two Senate senators, democrats Manchin and Sinema. For their own reasons that have more to do with leverage than ideology, they are bringing the negotiations on just about everything to a cliffs edge. There is no being in lockstep with the rest of the democratic caucus for those two. The problem is that time is now running short for action and they are still playing a game of hide the ball with their personal agendas. Which is not only making all of the political action needed to be taken stalled out but it could very well end up not happening at all.
     It not happening is not what anyone wants, the depth of our problem with climate change will increase exponentially without this human infrastructure bill, yet that cannot ruled out. Less than 48 hours from now we will know what the outcome will be on not only the two infrastructure bills but on the continuing resolution to fund the government. Lost in all of this unnecessary noise is the work that still needs to happen on a voting rights protection bill. Yet the importance of getting the two holdout democrats in the Senate to help pass the immediate bills before them is critical. As to the two infrastructure bills I heard last night a good narrative for the need for both.
     Because both infrastructure bills are two sides of the same coin. Without one or the other the sense of each is incomplete. So making sure that the human infrastructure bill is complete enough with all 50 Senators signed off on it will be needed shortly if the hard infrastructure bill that is going to be voted on Thursday will pass the House. Progressive democrats in the House will accept nothing less if they are to vote for the hard infrastructure bill. To me, all of this dickering is self inflicted and there should be some who pay for that self inflicting. I am not one to tell others how to serve their own lives but those who serve ours need to be held to account for what they are doing in denying our will.

(#4622) Fighting social constructs

      It is not easy being a civilized person and having to fit within an envelope that constrains and denies our natures. It isn't easy but it is possible. Accepting societal norms is part of living in a society that values enlightened knowledge. However being happy and comfortable about the compromise with our natures is often complex and chaotic. When we lose sight of our contract with society and the totality of it is when we end up making a mess of things. If I do commit to a social norm I cannot allow myself to lose sight of my decision. There is a trade off and I must honor that.
     Without social constructs we would be freer to be more our natural selves but that is not healthy in a civilized society. There are too many of us who would give into our animal urges and temptations to be able to survive. Liberty and freedom are what we all strive for but the notion that we each have an unbounded liberty and freedom while still being part of an enlightened society is impossible. Under no scenario can we be our animal selves while protecting each of our rights to be so. We would instead be denying each others rights so that our right to have and do what we each want would be prioritized above all else.
     Without laws and social norms we would be less likely to advance into a more evolved modern future and that is what our manifest destiny is all about. We as human beings are not capable of living without curiosity and compassion. We need curiosity and compassion like we need oxygen, food and water. So we accept the restrictions that society places on our individual natures as a price for coexisting together in a smarter and more efficient society. None of us is capable of doing all that is sufficiently needed but many of us are capable of doing what is sufficiently needed for all of us. The good of the many outweighs the good of the one in this instance. Hopefully we will remember that!

(#4621) Big week coming up

      Congress, well at least democrats, have a big week coming starting tomorrow. The infrastructure bills and the debt ceiling kerfuffle should dominate the headlines. What I am most waiting on though is the voting rights protection legislation. We will see if it gets any movement next week but if not then by the following week it should. As to the infrastructure bills the news media will harp on them and create controversy as to build up viewership but not to worry with Nancy, Chuck, and Joe putting their shoulders to it I am confident they will get done if not fully then close to it.
     The debt ceiling question, which is to pay for our nations debts already accrued, is still a toss up. The deal with that is every year we have to pay our debts and when trump left office he left us about 8 trillion more in debt than when he was appointed to office. So paying past bills is what this is all about so the idea that republicans wouldn't pay for their guys debt from the past is so hypocritical it is nauseating. The republicans through moscow mitch are threatening to filibuster the debt ceiling being raised so that money won't be allocated toward our already money borrowed.
     If the debt ceiling isn't raised and the deadline passes then the federal workers and social security recipients will not be paid. It is a doomsday type scenario that the republicans are playing Russian roulette with and it is a bullet in the brains of the American citizenry. Not only that but the good faith and credit of the United States will take a hit causing greater interest rates to come about. The world market as well will begin to tank in horrible ways that hurt the working middle poor class the most. So I expect that the republicans will block us from raising the debt ceiling because they love hurting folks that are not wealthy, who by the way will take a hit too but not like those of us who have no savings.

(#4620) Never vote for a republican again dammit!

      I don't know what the hell you are thinking but if it is to vote for a republican then you can just get the hell away from me because I will have bad intent for you. I am sick and tired of those who vote republican and want to be civilized people. They cannot coexist together, either quit voting for republicans or you are a traitor to democracy. No in between on this! That I even have to spell this out is absurd since it is as obvious as anything that can be known. What makes me even more ill is the idea that the stupidity of our nation is so thick that not even heavy doses of truth can penetrate the irrational republican defenders.
     Much like with Germany after it became a diseased nazi state, those who went along with it were caught off guard by its truly inhumane reality. Well we don't need to be caught off guard as it is all out there for anyone who has a lick of objective thought in their head. For those who don't then they are my enemies because they refuse to understand the danger they pose to me and all the rest of us. I will not tolerate their brainwashing with any mercy any more. The time for them to get mercy from me has passed just like any criminal who seeks leniency after being convicted and sentenced. Suck it up buttercups and know the effect of your cause.
     The rank smell and diseased carcass of the republican party is not an attractive one unless one likes living in pond scum. But too many still are drawn to republicans for their stands on hate and power. Those are the ones I would eliminate from society given a choice as to who should be ejected from our democracy. Only those who appreciate what democracy gives us should be allowed to interact in our society and our political processes. Traitors are traitors and there is no differentiation or dispensation for anyone who is a traitor. No do overs on betraying democracy! Once a traitor then always a traitor and punishments must be harsh and unforgiving. Never vote for a republican again or beware of the warning your choice will bring down on your head!

(#4619) The republican party shirking paying it's bills

      What do you call someone who won't pay their bills? A deadbeat or fraudster comes to mind. I prefer to think of them as conmen/women. They take what isn't theirs and then run from that manipulated theft. This is what is now the current republican party. Under trump they amassed massive debt and now that it is coming due the republicans in the House and Senate are refusing to either pay for their debt nor even acknowledge it. Why you may ask are they doing this? The answer is simple. By ignoring anything to do with their past debt they plan to go full out on blaming democrats for it. How can they do that you may ask? Easy, because the American electorate is too brain addled to keep basic facts in their head for more than a New York second.
     Now not all of the American electorate are incapable of knowing who the thieves are but too many are. The republican party has strategically determined that if they stay out of paying bills they accumulated they can gain in the 2022 elections. Now that does sound counter intuitive yet the sheep that keep voting for republicans are all in on falling for it. Like blaming President Obama for Hurricane Katrina when it happened years before Obama became president. It doesn't matter to republicans because they know their base are not nearly the sharpest nor brightest. The republican party is a manipulating one and no person of honorable conviction would ever be part of them.
     Which makes this real easy for the rest of us when the election time rolls around again. The simple reminder that voting for all democrats is the best way to get a good government. Never voting for a republican is the best way to get them out of seats of power. Win/win. We will soon see how the debt ceiling and bill paying fiasco turns out but know this, the democrats are going to do what needs to be done to pay that bill. However the republican party eventually acts in their theft, the fate of America's financial credit will not be allowed to falter nor crash. The republican party is holding the good faith and credit of America hostage so that they can try to score political points. Still want to be a republican?

(#4618) Police reform died from the republican strategy of delay and kill

      Once more we have seen how the republican party is as worthless as scum. They have no intent to do anything that helps the working middle poor class. Nothing! The only reason they signed onto the hard infrastructure bill was to give their wealthy donors a shot at getting some of that construction money. The republican party does not want police accountability, they want the police to be able to rough up our citizenry with impunity. The republicans would not touch changing the qualified immunity aspect that protects rogue police officers from being held accountable for incidents similar and exactly like the George Floyd murder.
     I cannot tell you how much this is a stain on our society that the republicans would rather have a strong armed militarized police force to muscle us like caged animals into their form of authorized vigilante justice. Without the benefit of judicial and lawful protections we the people are left at the mercy of the whim of any particular police officer. All the evidence to the contrary, the republican party finds that controlling our freedom and liberties as more essential than protecting them. It is not a one off as the republican party does the same by denying our right to vote instead of protecting and enhancing it. The republican party is at war with the working middle poor class and until we all understand the fact of this the end of our misery will continue.
     By making police officers monetarily accountable and held to criminal punishments that are not insignificant we the American populace will continue to be harmed and killed by police officers who know they won't be punished for extra legal acts against us. This is another reason why the filibuster in the senate needs to be abolished. There is no way police reform can qualify for reconciliation to get around the 60 vote threshold so getting the regular order to a majority vote is the only way we will be able to pass crucially needed police reform despite the obstruction of the republican party. Once again the republican party has shown us that delay and kill is their only option for the working middle poor class.

(#4617) Today is the day that democrats can all get on the same page

      The talking heads on the left leaning and right wingnut cable news shows have all been dithering back and forth about how the Biden agenda is crumbling before their eyes. Well I just don't listen to them anymore because I know that the metaphorical sausage making process is a messy and traumatizing one. But in the end most of us all like the finished product. The same can be applied here with the infrastructure bills, voting rights protections, immigration reform, police reform, debt ceiling considerations, among a few items presently being bandied about. Some think that President Biden has too much on his plate and all of it will come crashing down on him and by extension we democrats.
     That is not my position. Because what President Biden has done is diversify and allocate responsibility for all these considerations to many really intelligent people who have the best of intents to get them done. As well Joe has maintained a keen interest in them but at a distance so that they can be processed without him hovering. But as we close in on some very real deadlines, Joe is now hovering. In fact he is calling all the key democratic leaders to a meeting with him at the White House today. Because as the process of getting these policies into laws is continuing, the media is whooping up scenarios of the typical nervous nelly variety.
     Joe has got this and if we would just let the democrats work their magic in creating the greatest set of policies into law for our working middle poor class since President Franklin Roosevelt, then the angst that is being fomented would dissipate. After today's meeting with the most crucial democratic lawmakers I expect to see a united democratic party willing to go the extra mile to accomplish the Biden agenda that he promised to bring when elected. The success or failure will be Joe's to shoulder and the democratic lawmakers are his vehicle for deciding his fate. The democratic lawmakers also have a stake in this moment and they should know that their careers are on the line as well.

(#4616) Canada stays Liberal with overall about 58% of the total vote

      I stayed up late last night to make sure I was seeing the direction of the will of the people in Canada last night and I was comfortably assured that that will was a Liberal and further left leaning one. Which made me feel good even though the Liberals didn't get a majority they will power share with the (NDP) New Democratic Party who are even more excited to go left with societal policies, and (QP) the Quebec Party. With Prime Minister Trudeau being elected again and his task to form a minority ruling government, that task will pull his left leaning Liberals a bit more left which for me is a good thing. When you look at the totality of the vote with the leading parties the left is a solid majority and the right is still woefully lagging.
     Even though the Conservatives are ahead in the vote count for their party when all the left parties add their votes for a left thinking electorate it dwarfs the right. So all is okay in Canada for the time being. That is what I was waiting to see. I know our political stance here in America does effect the Canadian electorate view and vice versa for the most part so seeing that the left has done well is a harbinger for us to consider when thinking about the upcoming elections here in America. Our world is not that different in our wants and desires and it was shown last night that we from the left political spectrum are the answer to what our ails our societies.
     Well done last night to the 3 major parties, (Lib.), (NDP), and (QP) on the Canadian political left spectrum and it was good to see them garner the largest percentage of the voting electorate, around 58% of the vote. If we Democrats here in America on the left can get near that percentage with our national vote coming up next year we will dominate the political landscape here and revitalize our left spectrum policies for passage. This year we will get a few items in that left spectrum political arena passed but there are more that need to be addressed after our midterms in November 2022. The blue wave liberal progressive agenda is still alive and kicking because Canada just showed us so.

(#4615) Time to bring the hammer down!

      The arrogant twits in the democratic caucus who think they can dictate policy to Joe Biden will soon find out that their miserable little lives will become even more miserable. This is a no holds barred moment and if a couple of pissants think they are above the needs of the American working middle poor class then they are going to be rudely introduced to a demoralizing and treacherous reality. It is one thing to play politics in an arena where there are no victims but when it is in the only arena where all the victims are gathered then the little games of their psychopathic behavior will bring about an effect equal to or greater than their cause.
     Their posturing is pathetic and shows that they have ulterior motives for their actions. Nothing they say about obstructing or challenging the needs of the American people will defend their positions. They are out of the mainstream on obstructing and for that they are setting themselves up for the heavy hand of justice to come down on their present and futures with an Albatross around their necks. We democrats have worked hard to get to this point in our national politics and with almost all democrats on board to do right by the American electorate we will not suffer the discord of the fools who are putting themselves before the American people. We democrats are not like the republicans in that we actually want better for all citizens and no democrat should delay that.
     I have no doubt that Joe Biden will succeed against them and in time will get most all he wants from our democratic party but for now and as it is a crucial time he will not let the arrogance of a few interrupt a generational opportunity. The bullying from a few democrats will not survive its attempt to sway Joe Biden from his mission. In fact the bullying from a few democrats will backfire and cause them untold consequences that they have not thought about yet. We the American electorate are not going to let them get away with acting like republicans especially when elections are in our domain. The Manchin's and Sinema's of the Senate had better quiet themselves and act like they represent our democratic party!

(#4614) One person one vote!

      Corporations are not people and money is not speech. People are people and that is it. Speech is voice from humans and that is that! Corporations are economic gatherings of people, and Money is a tangible method for exchange. Do not confuse what are otherwise differing objects and subjects as anything other than what they are. Use a dictionary if you are still confused. I bring this up because the republican party wants to give the powerful, the rights of humans in differing forms while denying rights of humans in personal form. A quick change con artist would be proud. We Americans must not be fooled by the devious who want to make us their fools.
     Life really is simple if you know what words mean. You cannot be fooled by someone who challenges your intelligent with confidence yet have no basis for their claim. When challenged, challenge them right back with facts. It may be uncomfortable but it is a value that defines who you are and who they are. Fear is always present when confronting uncomfortable situations but more importantly courage is respected even though your courage may be dishonored. You live with yourself so you know what you will put up with but when it comes to your honor you cannot put up with much disgrace as otherwise you will fail your own sense of right and wrong.
     When our democracy has at its foundation the one person one vote concept it is then that all of us can participate in ways that are truthful and creative. Our society is so riddled with the falseness of the republican mantra of hate and division that we are still fighting for our rights instead of utilizing them. The coming voting rights protection bill that is being formulated and offered by Senate democrats is a good start but not the best finish. Yet from this bill we can improve on it as it is a strong foundation for protecting the one person one vote concept. It needs to become law and how that is accomplished is still a question. Let us hope that a way is found and from that, the beginning of the end of corporations are people and money is speech will occur!

(#4613) Unregulated capitalisms greed infects us all

      Without a cap on the top of how much anyone or any entity can accumulate there will be fewer and fewer who can participate in capitalisms opportunities. When a few are in control of the greatest share of resources and wealth funds the less likely it is that all can participate in capitalism except as an otherwise pawn for those few. When I imagine capitalism I imagine everyone having a small but profitable business that either is self run or pays livable wages to it's employees. I don't imagine single monoliths that control not only it's own personal decision about what a livable wage is but also controls our politics to make sure no law is passed that interrupts it's decision about what a livable wage is.
     There are only a few things in my existence that I consider of value. My labor being the greatest of these. Next is my knowledge and imagination. When my labor is downgraded to a space that is only occupied by more disrespect than appreciation I know that capitalism is not working for me. When that happens it is generally because democracy is being thwarted by greedy capitalistic motives that have nothing to do with a healthy society but more to do with ulterior motives by those few who control too much of our resources and wealth funds.
     This isn't too difficult to understand. Logic explains it if we just look at the big picture and know that democracy is the container that all other paradigms exist within. Capitalism is a subset of democracy but when capitalism is elevated above or to a greater degree than democracy then we won't have a fair and just economic system, no, we will have a greedy economic system that is controlled by those who cannot nor will not rule with wisdom or fairness. They instead will rule with their own concept of greed when it comes to how the rest of us live our lives. Capitalism must never be given a higher status than democracy. Which is why capitalism must have a reasonable and merit based cap on the amount of resources and wealth funds any person or entity can acquire.

(#4612) No dereliction of duty by General Milley

      To hear the republicans talk about General Milley, you would think he was a traitor or something. This is just another reason why I despise the republican party. All he did was ram home with the personnel that would have been advised by trump to start a nuclear war with China that he needed to be in the loop. Not that he was required to be in the loop but that he was adamant that he should be kept informed if a nuclear trigger were ordered. He also let his counterpart in China know that the United States had no intent to attack them out of the blue. These are wise and correct moves by the chief of staff of our national military.
     If I had been him I would have done anything necessary within the scope of my duties to prevent an unstable president from doing something so horrid as to initiate an attack on anyone in order to remain in office as a strategy. General Milley was in the small circle that regularly met with trump so it isn't as if he couldn't see the desperation of trump to pull out all the stops to remain in office. As the truth of the trump desperation in several areas of his control have come to light it was an imperative that General Milley pushed the envelope of his ability to thwart a horrific scenario that would not only cost American lives but would put the world on the edge of mass disaster and humanity at the edge of extinction.
     General Milley may take some heat from his decision to protect America and American lives but to me he is a hero to civilized behavior and a stalwart defender of the democratic rule of our government. That the republican party is the defender of trump and his irrational behavior is just another reason for me to dismiss the attacks they are aiming at General Milley. I instead focus on the fact that General Milley took steps that help insure not only a transfer of power, regardless if it was peaceful, which we know it was not, but he also instilled faith in the rest of us that there was someone close to trump's inner circle who would be willing to fall on his sword if it meant preserving our democracy, by stopping trump from killing our citizens for his own personal gain.

(#4611) Defending our Constitution

      Yesterday, I was privileged to see first hand on C-span2 the floor speech by Democratic Senator from Virginia Tim Kaine. It was to me like Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota described as extraordinary and I would even go further and call it crucial. Tim explained that his oath of office was never the first thing he thought of when thinking about his job description as an elected official until just days after him and his colleagues being victims of the January 6th trump conspired insurrection. He said that his oath of office, to defend and protect the constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, is his real job description, https://m.box.com/shared_item/https%3A%2F%2Ftimkaine.box.com%2Fs%2F1q23ey1711az1npx795x8hj0u8nm9ttg?fbclid=IwAR379A5x62ECnuDY-J_UBcmZzq1TEQJCSHygs54SPRfNRASggeNE6OnGIv4.
     I was so proud to hear Tim say what he said in defense of the new voting rights protection legislation that is now supported by all 50 Democratic/Independent Senators in the Democratic caucus. With impassioned speeches like the one especially from Tim yesterday I cannot see any way at all for the filibuster defenders to continue to defend the filibuster or not want a carve out for voting rights protections. The idea that they would be dismissing their constitutional duties in order to defend a rule that is not constitutionally mandated when the right to vote, which is constitutionally mandated and under attack, is illogical, nonsensical, and a violation of their oath.
     I know that the Senate filibuster rule, that is designed to make legislation difficult to pass, has a function in an otherwise collegial and respectful way may be useful. However, our politics is beyond all that wishful thinking and the cold hard truth of it is that the republican party will never be a fair and honest party that puts the needs and rights of the working middle poor class alongside those of their base, the wealthy and powerful. The only alternative, which Tim Kaine exposed yesterday in his floor speech is for Democrats to seize the moment and pass voting rights protections in any way possible which is showing to be through at least a carve out of the filibuster.
     

(#4610) NO to the recall wins big

      Like any major election day, I was a bit nervous about how this one would turn out. I remember vividly the confidence I had in 2016 with Hillary Clinton. Only to be shell shocked all night long as the returns came in. Even though that was 5 years ago and what seems more like a lifetime ago, It is etched deeply into my existence. In the 2017 elections for New Jersey and Virginia the confidence began to come back with big democratic wins in those two state races. In 2018, the return of Nancy Pelosi to the leadership of the House was exhilarating. Then the defeat of trump and the takeover of the Senate as well in 2020 renewed my faith in American elections.
     With this large triumph over the trump directed republican recall here in California last night I can now rest easier that the worst of what happened in 2016 and began to end in 2017 is over. It took us having to live through 4 years of worry that our lives were about to end to get to this point so breaking from that worry is not going to be easy. Yet with the turnout and vote for the NO on the recall it seems that our blue tsunami wave that began in 2017 is not letting up. That the leading vote getter for republicans last night went through the trouble of conceding and being somewhat gracious in defeat was a victory of sorts as well since trump republicans are not easily convinced they lost.
     Now we look forward to those same state elections that took place in 2017, in November 2021. That is in about 6 weeks so the early voting will begin in earnest very shortly. For our blue wave to show it's longevity we will need to advance our democratic base even further in those states to cement our view that democrats protecting democracy is the popular choice. A blueprint for electing democrats is being devised and in California last night was tested. It passed with glowing results but there are still some areas we democrats need to improve. Our male Latino outreach needs to be expanded and fortified and our common sense approach to facts and truth, needs to be more readily amplified. But we know our strengths and also our weaknesses so let us get to work on both going into November and 2022.

(#4609) The writing is on the wall

      Since the Biden inauguration we who are clear eyed about how republicans operate have been shouting for a filibuster carve out for voting rights protections. Although Joe Biden was able to get an infrastructure bill passed with republican help it was only a hard infrastructure package that is dwarfed the human infrastructure bill that no republican voted for in the Senate and House. So the hope that republicans would get behind a voting rights protections bill when the republican party is going all out to suppress voting rights is ignorant. The only way a voting rights bill can pass the Senate is through a carve out of the filibuster, or complete removal of the filibuster, or somehow through a cleverly nuanced budget reconciliation process.
     Joe Manchin and his other reluctant democratic senators are going to come under extreme pressure in a New York second as the time for passing a voting rights protection bill is right now. Most likely this morning or later today a Joe Manchin led voting rights protections bill will be offered for a vote and when it most certainly will be defeated from clearing the 60 vote threshold Joe Manchin will have it confirmed to himself that republicans are not going to support his attempt to protect voting rights. It is at that moment that Joe Manchin will be faced with using a filibuster carve out for voting rights protections.
     The republican party is all in on suppressing the vote so they will not support anything that cripples their effort to keep poor and disadvantaged eligible voters from voting. What Joe Manchin and others like him need to realize is that without at least a carve out all sitting democrats in both the Senate and House will become the minority party because republicans were allowed to cheat their way into power. It is either that or use the carve out to protect voting rights. The calculus is simple! I expect that Joe Manchin will eventually agree and with him the other reluctant democratic Senators to at least a filibuster carve out if the voting rights protection bill is not somehow passed under budget reconciliation.

(#4608) Truth comes from the tangible, not the imaginable

      The air, ground, water, fire, these are tangible realities that exist. Our species must have differing amounts of each in order to survive. I shouldn't have to explain how we need each for us to exist. Without the air we cannot breathe therefore cannot exist. Without Earth we have no where to exist. Without the water we cannot have a body to exist in since our bodies are made up of about 60% water. Plus we cannot grow food to survive. Without fire our species would have frozen over during the several ice ages of the past. In essence, without the tangible we do not exist. The idea that we can forego any of these necessary life giving paradigms is unintelligible.
     I don't exist on concepts like religion, myth, or superstition. I exist because of the tangible. Logic dictates that to be without any of these life giving paradigms we as a species will cease to exist. So basing any truth on anything less than the tangible will only come out wrong. We as a species build from the foundation of truth and the truth is hard, cold and knowable. Yet as humans we give the truth life through our existence. We can utilize the tangible to create innovative opportunities that are grounded in fact and logic. When we go wrong it is because we put our wherewithal behind non tangible concepts that are more fiction than reality.
     To believe something that is not tangible is to believe in the hope of it not the reality of it. Now being hopeful is a positive thing but it is not a truth, it is a well wishing. I sometimes wonder how so many of us cannot distinguish reality from hope. I get that we all want something better but until we address the truth of things nothing will get batter. I am no one who ignores reality in order to pacify anything. I live in this world where the truth endures despite the many who wish to not admit it. Which makes my life and other's lives much more difficult. Because the tangible is our beginning and our ending as it is in reality so accepting that and then trying to rise above the simple becomes that much more possible.

(#4607) When I am rightly corrected in anger I don't respond well

      Everyday I prove that I am human by making some kind of a mistake or more. It is not uncommon for me to find that I have not done enough or misunderstood something. I know myself and am not surprised nor startled at the possibility. I actually like it when others point out my mistakes and for the most part am humbled and remorseful to correct the mistake with apologies all around. Except, when the one or others who point out my mistake(s) with anger or condescension I automatically go into I don't give a fuck mode. In fact I will get contrary and try to defend my mistake with some obscure idiotic attempt. Not because I know I am right, but because I am pissed off at the person who is belittling me.
     I know that is not how to handle these types of situations. But the idea that others would rip me a new one because I unintentionally made a wrong choice is a real trigger for me. They think that I am a substitute target for their anger at something else and tear into me because it was convenient. Instead of being polite or even civil in telling me there is something wrong with what I did. I am okay with that when it is done without an ulterior motive. I suppose because I am writing about this today I will think of better ways to handle the rude ones who are correct in their correcting me but are wrong about how they deliver their correction to me.
     Life is about learning right up to the end of life so I will keep doing that and try not to blow a gasket or act irrationally when confronted with these types of situations. I am a humble man for the most part until my anger is triggered then it is all hands on deck with my defensive reactions. I need to upgrade my responses to a more intelligent variety where I turn their harsh rebuke of me into a more reasonable retort. I do make mistakes, but not because I don't care, no, because I do care and I am a human being. I don't want to ever make a mistake especially when others are either misinformed or hurt by it. There is never an intentionality to my actions to be wrong. Being civil or even polite is the way I respect others when I spot a mistake and I would hope I would get that same type of courtesy when I make a mistake.
     

(#4606) I hate this day!

      Having watched on television the horror of the attack on America by a calculating group of terrorists 20 years ago and being able to do nothing, I am still scarred. I hate that shrub didn't understand his daily briefings enough to abort this attack, and because of that failure led our nation down a path of misery and deception for 2 decades. I am still angry that we went to war against Iraq and Afghanistan when none of the perpetrators were either Iraqi nor Afghani. 15 of the 19 were Saudi's but we didn't seem to care about that. 2 were United Arab Emirate citizens with one each from Lebanon and Egypt. I would count 20 perpetrators because I include a 16th Saudi, bin laden.
     I am still angry at the thought of those poor souls on the upper levels above the plane attacks who had no escape whatsoever and instead had to know they were about to become dead. I am sick at the thought of all those first and second responders who had contacted deadly illnesses because they tried to save lives on that fateful day and were for years denied benefits, no thanks for less than nothing once again republicans! I hate this day because the greed of our capitalistic society ferments hatred around the world at us because we are ruthless in applying our form of selfishness.
     I hate this day because it reminds me that there are problems bigger than all of us that are not being addressed. Because this day reminds me that another strategic catastrophe is just around the corner because we have not the will to face up to our own inadequacies. This day is a remembrance day for the souls lost on 9/11 and those are the ones who I will keep in my thoughts but the shadow around us all is not the effect on that day but the cause and we still as a species have not come to terms with it. What we fail to do as an objective species will eventually define the end of our era.

(#4605) I am like a kid seeing rain for the first time

      Late last evening I sat out in the rain because for rain to be here in Sacramento California was quite a treat and for me entertaining. I know the seriousness of our drought and the real need for rain to dampen the current burning fires here, but at a micro level, for me, it was all about me. I am one of the few who loves rain more than I love the shining sun. I was raised in Sacramento and a few other California towns so being hot and sun tanned most of my life I have gotten my fill of that extreme. I also lived my middle years up in the north Seattle area and know rain and snow well also.
     I am no young buck anymore so being quiet and enjoying nature is my new paradigm. I yearn now to be back in the Seattle area where the rain is a constant friend and the snow a special guest once in a while. Here in Sacramento I rarely get to see and feel rain and honestly only experience snow when I go up into high elevations. Now even high elevations don't automatically mean snow as the drought and lack of rain is turning the beautiful state of California into more desert than green farmland. So when the rain came last evening I was excited like a kid and went out and sat in it for at least half an hour. The warm temperature allowed me to wear a t-shirt and cutoffs with no shoes so I could absorb the precious water from the sky.
     This morning I got up early like usual and went out back to water my trees, bushes, and plants as a weekly commitment and while out back got some more of that unexpected rain. So there I stood in the dawn of the morning absorbing the rain into my face. I don't know when I will get to feel the rain on my face again but for today I am well satisfied. The weather prognosticators don't hold much hope for more rain anytime soon but at least this little water from the sky respite was happily accepted. It isn't often that I can feel like a kid and when it happens I smile and remember the times in my life when similar occasions occurred and how happy I was to be part of it. I need more rain in my face. :)

(#4604) Helping people is who we are, not hurting people!

      I see in my newsfeed on Facebook this morning an advertisement from my state of California telling me how to get rent relief from Covid if needed. I don't need it since I own my home but many others do so I posted the article to my wall so others can see if it helps them. To me this is helping people when they need help. It is like when food banks offer food to those who have none. Unlike in Texas where they just passed into law restrictive voting rights and abortion rights. Neither of these help people in their normal daily lives in fact they are designed to hurt people!
     I don't know what is going on in Texas with the majority of voters who keep these republican politicians in office for the pain of losing rights and not getting necessary help when it is needed. Someone will have to explain to me why our lives are so different from each other California vis a vis Texas. Life is complicated and for anyone to think that we can live it without help is dishonest. California voters, of whom there are approximately 25 million, overwhelmingly have decided that a government that helps its citizens improve their lives is much better than one that makes their lives harder.
     Texas voters, of whom there are approaching 20 million, are still opting for their state government to leave them alone and leave them to the mercies of fate, if any mercy at all. The rationale is that all Texans should be able to make their own way in life. Despite the fact that their rights and opportunities are handcuffed. Like when the current governor of Texas says that he will stop all rapes as a solution for stopping rapes. The absurdity of his comment is in line with the state of Texas thinking that people can do without help when they need it. The struggle for the soul of Texas is taking place right now and in the 2022 election we may see the state of Texas begin to resemble the humane strategy of California and help its citizens instead of hurting them.

(#4603) The partisan infrastructure bill should be 10 trillion over 10 years, not for 3.5 trillion over 10 years

      There is so much to do in our nation to right the wrongs of the past republican administrations that the dollar amount needs to reflect the actual damage. With 10 trillion over 10 years Congressional Representative Alexandria Ocasio Cortez figures this: ..."that the U.S. could “realistically” need $10 trillion over 10 years to “create tens of millions of good union jobs in this country, that can shore up our health care, our infrastructure, our housing, and doing it in a way that draws down our carbon emissions.”", https://thehill.com/homenews/house/545917-ocasio-cortez-eyeing-10t-over-10-years-for-infrastructure. A long view for sure and that to me is wise. By patching things with intermediate measures we are not taking into account the most efficient way to redirect our economy and our society on whole.
     I know that the 2 current infrastructure bills being considered are about 4 trillion and could go even lower yet are not small attempts. They at least are a beginning toward addressing our problems however we should be doing more than just beginning. We should be attacking the problem with an eye toward eliminating the problem. I am not one who would take an aspirin for a broken bone and be satisfied with some relief. I want the bone reset and taken care of until full recovery. Such it is for our hard and human infrastructure maladies. They need the full attention and action required to not only repair the damage but to rebuild the paradigms.
     So when I hear some democrats complain about the 3.5 trillion price tag for the human infrastructure bill I want to capture their attention and make them understand that solving a problem requires a full understanding of what that problem is and not just some amount in a ledger. The time for solving problems is right now with the majorities we democrats have. Not tomorrow, not next week but right now. Not only will getting done the real solutions needed for our Democracy help most all our citizenry but it will also cement in our politics the democratic party as working for it's citizens and establish a baseline for whom to trust with our future.

(#4602) Congress needs to stop it's recess!

      Tradition be damned when our nation is in such a state of confusion and disarray! Congress needs to be back in session so that the powers that be can exert the type of influence needed to pass Joe Biden's working middle poor class agenda. Taking time off from work when work is exactly what we need our Congress to be doing is counter productive. It also allows for the opposition to change the narrative from what is needed to what isn't needed. Obstructing and misinforming is going on at a high level because our representatives are not legislating about the truth of things.
     I know the Senate will be back in a week and the House will be back in 2 weeks but so much can happen in those empty days that even considering to ignore the possibility will increase the likelihood that the republican party will undermine our attempts to perfect our union. I am tired of republicans creating narratives that are wholly untrue and destructive while we democrats are not in DC to rebut them. It is easy to lie all day long about things when no one is there to challenge the lies. Our media has shown that they are more interested in reporting all they hear regardless if what they hear is true. So we democrats need to be legislating as a way to totally combat the worthlessness of republican rhetoric.
     I may just be being antsy about things but I have learned over time that to get things done the pressure is best applied when the work to get things done is non stop. No time for recesses or breaks, just nose to the stone and when the President's signature in on the necessary laws to improve our society then is the time to take a breath and then stop for a break. Come back to work now and get that work done so that those of us who are proud to be democrats can relax a bit because our representatives are on the job and getting things done with the same hubris and fervor that we expect you to exemplify.

(#4601) Unions and Democrats gave us the Labor Day holiday

      Due to the courageous work of American Railroad Union leader Eugene Debs and like minded union workers in 1894, then President Democrat Grover Cleveland signed into law the Labor Day holiday, https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/labor-day-1. Previous to that too many worked 7 days a week for 12 hours a day to make just enough to survive on. This has been our history over fighting for workers rights and why republicans are so against anything that helps the working middle poor class. Nothing has changed much with republicans as they are still the party of the wealthy and that involves keeping wages low so that the worker pool is large and desperate.
     What Labor Day means to me involves keeping the momentum of safe working conditions and children from being exploited for low wages. It is a day that reminds us that before workers stood up and fought through their unions, the corporations and large companies had all the say in how they treated and paid their employees. Workers were not respected nor desired once their maximum utility had been worn away through slavish unfair work practices. Unions changed that and that is why the powerful corporations and companies would like to see unions disappear. Then they could get back to mistreating their workers to their own financial advantage.
     The republican party is the catalyst for causing worker discontent as they do as their corporate donors desire. A vote for a republican is a vote against worker rights. This is but one area where republicans would dismember the social safety net. They would eliminate social security, medicare/medicaid, unemployment insurance, food stamp programs, equal rights for women in all respects. The list goes on and on and it is very important to republicans which is why they are trying to restrict voting and make it difficult for the working middle poor class to vote. Thanks to unions and Democrats for bringing us a Labor Day holiday and for continuing the fight for the rights of the disadvantaged!

(#4600) The level of hatred in the republican party for humanity and democracy!

      I often say that I hate republicans and then I get some blowback about not being like republicans. Well that is not my understanding. The republican party hates things that stand for democracy and I hate republicans for that, not for things that stand for democracy. Is that clear enough? I am allowed to feel my emotions when the emotions I feel are a natural progression of protecting the best of what humanity can be. When democracy and human respect are under attack I damn sure will get angry and put my emotionally charged reaction to bear on those who would take what we have built and smash it to pieces! I am not above fighting fire with fire when the time for that is upon us.
     In fact I wonder what the hell is wrong with others who are not as angry as I am when it comes to all of us being under attack? Do you not perceive our way of life in a democratic society as worthy of fighting for? Do you not get angry when some would take our rights as human beings away because they want to deny us our liberty and freedom to live in a civilized and just society? I wonder how you cannot hate the similarity to a virus that republicans often emulate? Let me say this, I am not prone to being a rebel who wants to fight for the sake of fighting. Instead I am a calm man who when provoked by the determination of the republican party to hate us will return that hate tenfold!
     Our civilization will not survive unless we defend it. It is that simple so those of you who find that hating is an abomination no matter what circumstance had better rethink that and allow for hate to exist when it is aimed back at the haters who began the hating. There will always be those who think that defeating hate with love is the correct course and I too would rather that be true but that reality with republicans is moot! The republican party is actually banking on us not hating them so that they can resume their overthrow of our democracy. They want us to be the good little sheep who will let them rule our lives instead of us ruling our own!

(#4599) The nefarious republican agenda is exposed for all to see!

      For 50 years I have been sounding the alarm about the republican party and it's cruel and undemocratic agenda. When I was 14, I was advocating for the voting age to be lowered to 16. But it wasn't and instead it was lowered to 18 from 21 in 1970, 26th Amendment. Still though I had my politics figured out the correct way. My grandparents were both staunch democrats because they had lived through the roaring twenties, https://www.history.com/news/roaring-twenties-labor-great-depression, and the obvious horrible great depression of the 1930's. The working middle poor class struggled to survive while the wealthy grew their income. Today the history of the selfish greed of the wealthy and their enablers the republican party is replaying.
     I vote in all elections because I know how precious my vote is to me. With my vote I get to participate in our democracy and with my vote I get to fight against those who would take it from me. Like with world war 2, our democracy was threatened from outside forces but not like today where our democracy is threatened by internal forces. They, those that threaten, have the same outlook on life. Both see others as less than their white selves. They also hold that the master slave concept of government is more in tune with their ideals of them being deserving.
     My steely conviction to democratic principles makes me a lifetime democrat and the values that are instilled within the democratic party of equity and opportunity for all, to name a few are foundational. The republican party is one of nasty segregation and the idea that humans are tools to be used by the wealthy. Not partners in successful enterprise but utilized as disposable. All of this is now in the open as the pandemic has revealed the inequity of our society and the republican party as those who are fighting to keep that inequity as the status quo. We are all human beings who have the right to exist in our democracy with respect and opportunity. The harm that republicans are still causing all these decades later must end now when we can see the enemy and he is our republican neighbor!

(#4598) No republican takeover of the House

      Even with the gerrymandering that republicans have already installed and the redistricting maps they are going to manipulate, the republicans forgot one important thing, policies. They are the most hollow political party on Earth. The only thing they stand for is lying, cheating, and stealing. They sit down for everything else. So when it is time to vote in 2022, the options will be do we want nothing and worse to happen for ourselves and our society for years? Or do we want to keep democrats in charge so that actual policies will help the working middle poor class? As the republican party continues to gut itself with horrific acts and behaviors fewer and fewer voters will follow them.
     So when a cad like kevin mccarthy beats his chest and says that republicans will retake the House it is painfully obvious to me that he is as delusional as his master donnie trump. The House will remain in democratic hands and our advantage in the Senate will increase. How do I know this? Because not even the Independent voters can stomach much more of the treasonous and selfish republican party. So between democrats and independents voting to keep the democratic majority in charge the republicans will be left with tantrums of despair and calls for fraud. They figure that historical trends are on their side but ignoring the fact that republicans are snakes that everyone can see will be their undoing.
     I often wondered how republican voters could stay true to their current form of politicking and I have come to the conclusion that they can't much longer. First the idiocy of Covid denial and anti mask and inoculation stands have depleted their ranks of rock solid voters. I mean c'mon, killing off your own base to what end? Plus they have totally alienated those who are at least intelligent enough to know that logic and science are the foundation of our society. If common sense and the scientific method go away so does the civility and structured life of the social contract. Chaos is a hard thing to keep voting for but if you are a republican it is your only reason for being if you keep voting republican.

(#4597) The awakened democratic giant

     It is plain as day to me that the pundit crowd has just not figured out that we democrats are engaged whether we tell them that or not. They do their polling and expect that they are touching the pulse of the nation. Well they are not as accurate as they would like to think they are. I heard all the belly aching about how the republicans here in California were positioned to steal the governorship because we democrats are typically lazy and unengaged in our own political future. How the republicans were fired up to replace Gavin Newsome and were already counting their chickens before they were hatched.
     Well that is a scenario that is more desired than real. We democrats here in California are not the same democrats that allowed the rest of the nation to sleep while in 2016 trump and his cabal were appointed. Since the mess of 2016, democrats nationwide have been turned from our lives to directly focus on defeating republicans and electing democrats. As will be shown here in California the democratic base here is ready and able to defend the governor's seat. We are not to be messed with when it comes to this phony recall election despite the national media trying to play it differently for it's ratings and profit margin.
     We democrats who are 46% of voters in California are now settled into being steady reliable voters and although the recall election is still 12 days away several million of us democrats have already returned our ballots. 4.6 million ballots have been returned so far and at least 55% of them are from democratic voters. I expect that the Independents who are about 24% of the eligible voters will split comfortably ahead for democrats. The republican party at about 24% of the electorate and the media that supports them will keep their narrative of promoting themselves as worthy of the governorship but the voters who are the real deciders will not be swayed by republican misinformation and lies. We democrats are here to stay and lead our state as well as the nation in 2022.

(#4596) Selfishness is the problem

      We always knew that being a greedy person would likely get you wealth but being selfish and greedy is how you keep your wealth. I personally think that being ambitious is okay but not greedy. Ambition gets one to a place where dreams are realized if things go their way. Greedy is like taking all the marbles and going home. Greedy is bad, ambition is good sort of. Yet the worst is selfishness. If I have all the marbles and will not play then no one gets to play marbles. When I was a young person growing up marbles were way cool and everyone had some. But in today's society, very few have marbles and rarely does anyone get to play.
     Selfishness is a disease of thought. What brings on selfishness? A mindset that there is never enough and what there is needs to be yours. For me personally, I think selfishness is a mental disorder. Sure I want some things for my self but not all the things or everything. There is a line between what is normal self accumulation and all out accumulation. In today's society there are the wealthy who cannot seem to get enough and then there are the wealthy who won't let any wealth go. Greedy and selfish in different forms. Our democratic market based society is at a loggerhead. Something is going to have to change or the whole system of democracy will crumble.
     For me I could care less about being selfish. I have never been one who has an ego to feed. I enjoy life in the simplest forms without having to judge based upon the dollar. I need to be healthy, fed, clothed, and sheltered and that is my selfishness but beyond that everything else is negotiable. I don't see the world through the lens of having things. I see the world as a place where all have what they need. The extra stuff is good in moderation and occasionally experienced but the idea of wanting it all is absurd when our world has so many who have so little. There are finite resources so hogging them all up is a death sentence for the vast majority of human beings.