(#6116) Those who protect pedophiles do not see a problem with pedophilia

      Trying to normalize the act of pedophilia is a task the republican party has embraced. We here in America are currently protecting a list of clients that frequently enjoined in acts of pedophilia. Which is sex with children. I know it is against the law and should be punishable yet those republicans currently in power do not agree and are withholding that pedophilia list to protect trump and others. You can see the lengths the republican party will go to in order to hold onto power. The republican party would let lewd and lascivious acts against children go unpunished if it benefitted them.
     Is that the kind of leadership you vote for when you cast your ballots? Are the acts of a vile nature so unimportant to you that you can dismiss them for your idea of a greater good? Is that the compromise you have made with yourself in order to feel worthy? The children victims of trump and others has a cost to them and they are paying it with each and every vote you cast for the violators. You trump voters are vindicating trump's acts of criminality with your votes. There are other republican candidates out there who side with a lot of your opinions so why trump when he is such a lustful sinner?
     If your child had been the victim of trump and his cohorts would you still feel the same? Would the harm caused to your child be less important a priority than giving trump your vote? As a good person in my heart I know this much about me. I would not protect and defend someone who violated a child of mine should I have one. I would not only stop supporting such a creature but I would be always holding myself back from doing a vengeful thing. I choose honor in my life and thought that many were the same. But it seems I am mistaken when a criminal who violates children is heralded as greater than his victims.

(#6115) Staying ahead of the curve

      I like to think I am out ahead of things but the truth is I am just ahead of the curve so that I can still see changes coming. Barely that is. Yet I will take it. For many of us things are going to be a lot rougher given the trumps and his republican allies. There isn't going to be much of any help for the working middle poor class and instead there is harm coming our way. We are already feeling it economically with prices for health care exploding to double at times for many of us. We have already seen the food prices jump significantly due to trump and his terrible tariff practices.
     Many programs aimed at helping the working middle poor class are being eliminated by trump as he continues to slice into poverty relieving programs at the federal level. His attacks on education are also making it harder for educational institutions to welcome a diverse student population. Our farmers are being hit especially hard with trumps crackdown on migrant workers who harvest our fields and orchards with exceptional skill. Life as we knew it previous to trump was difficult enough and now it is about unbearable. Knowing what is coming helps to plan whatever solutions we may have to offset the worst of what is coming. I don't envy us at this time in our history.
     Now trump is planning to have a military response ready for all 50 states. One doesn't have to be a wizard to know what could come of that. One thing I know for sure though is that we the people are not laying down and letting him reimage our personal freedom, justice, and liberty. He may think he knows what is best for us but what he doesn't understand is that we are far more complex than he will ever be. He wants power to rule as a purpose. We want the power to rule ourselves as a human right. We all only live one life in this existence so him making it harder for us to do that makes him a scourge he will never be able to whitewash!
     

(#6114) Democrats are fighting for health care!

      For those who are complaining about democrats not voting to open government here is why they are not voting to open government. Democrats want to save health care for millions of Americans. Now others may claim Democrats are the guilty party here let me tell them that it is the republicans who are destroying Medicaid and we democrats are not going to let them. The republicans could halt the Medicaid cuts in trump's wealthy tax cut law but they don't want to do that. Because it would piss off trump if they did and it would save people's lives which apparently is not a priority for republicans.
     All republicans have to do is add a paragraph to the bill they are trying open government with that states that the cuts to Medicaid in the tax cuts for the wealthy law no longer apply. But typing a paragraph for republicans seems too much for them as they continue to stall. Why do republicans want to harm the working middle poor class so badly? Why? Are we not human? Are we not part of the processes that make our country contribute to national and world economics? Why are we the dirge of creation in their eyes? Only a few can be extremely wealthy as the vast majority of the many cannot be. So are we to be the punching bag of republicans because we aren't filthy rich?
     Look at the record. The republicans do all they can for the wealthy while we democrats fight for universal health care. Democrats fight for raising the paltry republican national minimum of $7.25 an hour to a living wage of above $15 an hour. Democrats fight for voting rights for all citizens of America. Democrats fight to provide assistance to those who are in poverty while working toward solutions that lift folks out of poverty. Democrats fight for women to be the ultimate deciders of what they can do with their own bodies. Democrats fight to eradicate prejudice and bias aimed at women and racial ethnicity in the workplace and public square. Democrats fight for the rights of the vast working middle poor class while also helping the wealthy understand that paying their fair share is also a win/win for them.

(#6113) When law and order fails vigilantism rises!

      The reason we have law and order is to keep our citizenry safe from intentional harm. It isn't perfect but it is clear and precise when followed. Logic dictates that law and order is a deterrent to criminal activity when that law and order is consistent. When law and order is not consistent then those who are wronged because law and order fails, then other means of justice come into being. The category of this other form of law and order is called vigilantism. The problem with vigilantism is that it is not just about justice it is also about vengeance and emotional retribution.
     The reason we have due process and the presumption of innocence for people charged for crimes is that often enough those individuals are innocent of the charge. With vigilantism there is no due process nor presumption of innocence when a person is confronted for an offense. Many are guilty and should be arrested, however not all are guilty and are harmed nonetheless. Which is why we should not have a breakdown in law and order consistency. As to punishments meted out in real time once a vigilante has corralled the suspect there is no going back if the victim was innocent.
     Yet that is what will happen when law and order is not held to a priority status for all proven wrong doers. Vigilantes will mete out justice when they will and no defense for the accused is guaranteed. This lawlessness is becoming more plausible as the trumps continue with their attack on American cities. Once law and order is ignored by force is when all will have to adapt to a form of uncivilized comparative justice. The republican party has always wanted to bring back the days of the wild west here in America and that is where we are headed if we don't stop the republican party from divesting us of our civilized law and order.

(#6112) An upcoming momentum swing

      We democrats have been under what seems like torture for the last year given the unexpected trump victory in the last election. Not only did he retake the presidency but he is even worse than the last time he was in office. Which is the torture we are experiencing. His dislike for those of us who are not wealthy is exasperating. He doesn't miss a chance to harm us when he can for the twisted pure pleasure of it. Not once has he done anything that helps the working middle poor class unless it is even more helpful to the wealthy. He only includes the working middle poor class as a strategy in some minor way in order to get his real purpose of enriching the wealthy accomplished.
     So far with his majorities in the Senate and House, along with his ideological advantage on the Supreme Court he has been able to take our society and turn it on its head. We are witnessing the devaluation of we the people in order to enrich and enhance the wealthy among us. His toadies in government are just like him with a beholden attitude to him that spells discomfort and pain to we the people. He has been checked somewhat by pushback from we the people and the federal district and appellate courts. That minor pushback has been sufficient for now but we the people need a stronger cast of allies to help us.
     In about a weeks time a cavalry of sorts will appear on the horizon to join the battling fray. There are elections taking place that if what seems to be the momentum will come to help we the people and degrade the trumps. A momentum that is fueled by the anger we the people are at trumps and their disregard for the majority of us. Elections in New Jersey and Virginia with other state ballot issues to be decided. not just the winners to be elected but by what margins! The margins will be the key to how we interpret the results and it is my feeling that trump will see that he is being discarded as a serious leader. We the people will go a long way toward nullifying trumps presidency if next week we do the deed of reclaiming our rights as a democracy from a wannabe tyrant.
     
     

(#6111) Just one more House republican needs to want to release the epstein files

      Every democrat in the House wants to release the epstein files. That is 213 members who are locked in to sign the discharge petition bill in the House. So 4 republicans are currently agreeing with the 213 democrats. For a total of 217. Since her election in September, Democrat Adelita Grijalva would also add her name to the discharge petition making it total 218. Yet her swearing in is being denied for that obvious reason. Ultimately when it hits 218 sponsors and then voted upon in committee the discharge petition will then move through the House for final votes. If the 218 remain consistent then the bill passes the House and then moves on to the Senate. If it passes there it will move to the president for his signature or will die with a veto, or will survive with a veto override and become law.
     The point I am trying to make here is that since the current House speaker is not allowing Grijalva to be sworn in she cannot be the 218th vote to move the discharge petition forward. However just one more of the 215 current republicans who have not signed on to supporting the discharge petition has a chance to do the right thing and expose the pedophiles who are in the epstein files. For the 215 republicans to sit back and do nothing is a black eye on them they are giving themselves. These 215 republicans are siding with pedophiles over morality and ethics. I say that because exposing pedophiles is a duty, especially for law makers, that we all have to protect and expose law breakers, particularly those who harm our children.
     Just one more republican is needed to move the epstein files disclosure another steep forward. Just one more republican out of 215 shouldn't be this difficult yet the allegiance to pedophilia is strong in the republican party. How can any self respecting soul allow this to be? I know this much. If the 215 republican House members refuse to help expose the pedophiles then their coming election attempts will be filled with attacks on their moral and ethical turpitude and will be fierce! Being a depraved person who protects child molesters and rapists is not something any decent honorable person would want to be associated with. Running to be reelected as a friend  and protector of pedophilia is what 215 republicans are currently facing!
     

(#6110) Clinton and Harris would have been great presidents

      What is really sad is that we will never know how great our lives would have been. We know how terrible our lives have been under trump and that is not helpful when we did it to ourselves. We let the worst natures of humanity guide us when we could have been heroes in our own lives. We Americans are a sad lot it seems. The point being is that we are so ingrained with our own differences that we cannot distinguish our similarities with a principled keen awareness. We the American electorate have shown that we are more concerned with blaming others for our own inadequacies than solving complex problems together.
     The reason I believe that both Clinton ad Harris would have made great presidents is because both care about all of us. It is my point of view that for starters women make better leaders in society because they are naturally attuned to caring more than men. Not all men but most. We have never had a woman president in our nearly 250 year history so it is difficult to ascertain specific conclusions about how a woman leader grades out against all the previous men. But I do know this and that is women are closer to the heartbeat of society making them much more amenable to the problems we face. We men are less attuned because we don't generally sense as intimately in the same way.
     We can now see several women leaders being elected in other countries. Watching how they perform along with the current women leaders just builds upon my opinion that women can be tough while also caring. It is strange that we here in America won't let a woman lead us when women have been leading families for generations to raise up the very men who now don't trust to vote for them. The insecurity is voluminous. How could you not trust a mother figure when the father figure is of the worst behavior and lacking honor? But twice the cad was elected while the women were not. In some alternate universe president Clinton and Harris were making life better and many were lifted away from a worse fate.

(#6109) Keeping America dumb is the republican strategy, don't let them dumb you down!

      Do your research! If you don't trust any news source then investigate the problem through objective eyes. Don't accept what is told to you, look into it yourself. What else are you doing that is more important than knowing the truth of what affects your life? As to what is important, let me remind you that living life is how we get along and survive. It isn't the most important thing about existence. What is the most important is understanding that we know very little about how or why we exist. So accumulating facts and truths as best we can is our way of learning and understanding how to think about how we live.
     We are not like the animals in nature that are mostly not conscious of time and space. We don't exist just to exist. We have another purpose in life. To build upon the knowledge we already have. To even move beyond our planet into the Universe where new laws of physics and their effects need discovering. We are by nature a curious species. Which is why we are not like the other animals who don't invent things and apply them to our societies. They don't record their learnings in ways that can be accessed by most anyone with a will to do so. Our species has a unique qualification when it comes to learning, we mostly want our young ones to know more than we do so they have a better chance of keeping our species evolving into more competent and skilled specimens of humanity.
     Our children are our hope for the future and keeping them informed beyond our own understandings is a natural nurturing desire. For those who do not hold dear the idea of a smarter more intellectual society, it is because they have an agenda that is more about themselves and less about the future of our children. The nefarious nature of republican politics is them being in control of what we think and how we should act. That is not free will it is akin to being property. I could scream from  the mountaintops that the republicans are not letting us remain as free human beings and many wouldn't understand or care since they seem to prefer being told what to do, much like herded cattle. I won't accept that and will fight for the right of all of us to pursue our own happiness while doing no harm.

(#6108) Here is the deal with courage

      I am no expert at being courageous all the time. None of us are. We often just get a bit of luck and/or the correct circumstances appear to allow us the impetus in the moment to be courageous. Most of the time when we have to weigh whether to be courageous our own insecurities and fears have a part in it. Thus making the decision to be courageous much more uncertain. For myself in those instances I have already defined the lines I won't cross and then behave courageous in those moments. I don't let fear or indecision come into the logic because I have already made my decision should the circumstance arise.
     Why this is important to me is because I have been cowardly in the past and after having experienced cowardice I have made it a point to never be cowardly again. That is my goal. So if one of the scenarios approaches that I have already decided won't be tolerated then I am not considering a rethink, I am considering a battle plan. I understand that deciding my fate is risky in areas where my courage must be prominent. However, I also know that not risking because of fear is not who I am. The greater good is to be courageous when given the choice. Others have gone on before me to give me examples of heroism when fear could have been utilized. To those I admire and respect to my dying day.
     I often write about Nathan Hale and his penultimate response at the hangman's noose. He regretted having only one life to lose for his country. That statement of Nathan's was so powerful in my life once I understood that defeating fear in our lives is perfectly noble and standing with courage is perfectly correct. Again, I am no Nathan Hale but I do try to live up to his example. We re currently in a reality here in America where Nathan's words are prescient. So many of us are already gearing our minds toward a time when the courage we muster may have a cost and those many of us are secure in the knowledge that our contested price to pay is a worthy value defining who we are and who we will be!

(#6107) Another No Kings protest in November

     I have no real confirmation that there will be another No Kings protest in November but the scuttlebutt is that there will be. It makes sense since this last one was so overwhelming peaceful and massively attended. Families came out to protest with their children and pets. This was not a riotous event it was a lovefest for our democracy and an affirmation that we do not want a tyrant to lead us nor any other type person as a king. We are proud of our founding foreparents who gave all of us a new beginning away from the past dictates of authoritarianism. The fresh air of freedom is sweet and that resembled the activity of last Saturdays march.
     Many were hesitant to come out yet it was still the largest protest against an American president in history. Now that those who were hesitant to come out have seen the courage and defiance shown they are now inwardly drawn to join. What may well be at least a 10 million person attendance is more probable than not. We know who and what the trumps are trying to do to our democracy and where there was doubt before has now grown to nothing but disgust. The pictures of trump tearing down portions of our White House is the perfect analogy to what he is doing to our democracy. The visual image is a focusing catalyst to those who were not sure, but are now, that trump is that despicable.
     When Pearl Harbor was attacked from without our nation was revived into an anger that led to the successful end of World War 2. Now we are being attacked from within with military troops in our cities to strongarm our rights. A government shutdown that has us paralyzed with even courts being reduced as watchdogs. The trumps are not masking their attempt to overthrow our democracy by eliminating the governmental organizations that keep us informed as to threats and dangers. The trumps are laying the groundwork to stop elections if they see that they may lose some power. All along trump decided that he is not ever leaving our White House. He wants to be a king and the rest of us must stop him!

(#6106) We need a general strike in America!

      This is about preserving our democracy. That isn't a policy issue just affecting some. It is what we all need to have the ability to pursue our happiness. Without democracy we are just beholden to someone else and their demands for how we live our lives. The freedom we have today is not going to be the same if we don't keep our democracy from being destroyed. The trumps are not about democracy at all. They are playing a longer game of dismantling our democracy piece by piece so that we don't see the overall effect in real time. But that is what is happening.
     Like the frog in the slowing heating pot, we had better protect ourselves and our way of government before we all suffer the loss. Many of us are aware of the danger and are advocating for action. We just had a No Kings march last weekend that was a wake up call to many. What we need now is even more pressure on the trumps to understand that there will be no mercy for those who try to take our constitutional rights away. We the people have to band together in such a way as to be unmistakable in our message to trumps that there will be no king nor any tyranny in American politics. We are a democracy and will remain as such!
     Which is why the next step in our offensive to save democracy is to make it unequivocally clear that we will not stand idly by and watch trumps destroy our nation. Causing and attending a general strike is the way we let everyone know that we are against tyranny and authoritarians. When the movers and shakers of capitalism take note of we the people and our insistence that our rights remain then and only then will they be able to guide the trumps away from such destructive folly. The trumps are not reasonable people. They only respond to pressure themselves so we the people, through a general strike, must deliver that force. We are in tenuous times and that requires bold strength and determined vigilance on the part of we the people!
     

(#6105) After Saturdays No Kings rallies we know where our nation stands

      I pretty much didn't doubt that our nation would wake up eventually to the fact of trump and is desire to be a tyrant like his buddies putin, netanyahu, and un. Leading up to the rallies it was becoming painfully clear to even his supporters that he was not what we need here in America. Granted, he still has many who cannot wrap their minds around the logic of reality and will in all cases defend him into infinity. But that shrinking cabal is less formidable and more cautious now since they have been abruptly challenged in their daily lives.
     His supporters are being called out for trump's decisions. They are being blamed for separating children from their parents in the ice raids. They are being blamed for Ukraine finding it harder to survive given trumps penchant for loving putin, They are being blamed for the current government shutdown that is not ending soon given republicans won't negotiate with democrats. They are being blamed for not seating a duly elected representative from Arizona. In all ways the republican voter is to blame for electing persons incapable of leading America.
     The only things the republican voter cares about it seems are trumps talking points. Not that they are policy since he doesn't have policy, he just has threats and demands. The republican voter keeps justifying anything trump says as fact without regard to the truth or logic of his blather. The vast majority of us who are not his supporters are arousing and given the turnout Saturday we can expect more arousals in the near future. Even when trump threatened protesters with forms of violence we came out and protested. Now others who didn't come out due to trumps threats are realizing that the bluffing bluster of trump is no match for the energized courage to unveil our free speech and the will to apply it directly in the streets.

(#6104) Democracy gathered yesterday

      The beauty of yesterday was in the coming together. Yesterday's tribute to freedom and democracy was in a word, inspiring, I wasn't sure how the day would play out given the trouble trumps would try to inject in our display to preserve our constitutional rights but it seems like most things from trump it was just bluster. So without his intervening chaos the true nature of democracy flourished. I left early for the march in my city because I am an early bird who likes to get going. So as I walked east on the early morning streets the 18 city blocks or so to get to Sutter's Fort where the march began, I was able to see my city wake up to its normal Saturday morning.
     In the midtown Sacramento area there is quite the mixture of businesses and homes with tree lined streets everywhere. Along my path to the fort I encountered several blocks of what looked to be a seasonal street faire somewhat happily hustling and bustling folks their wide variety of foods and crafts. Once at the fort however the mood was elevated to a higher level of happy. Everyone courteous and friendly ready to march to the California state capitol. So after some time we all faced west and began our march with occasional chants, drum beats, and the constant honking of horns from supportive motorists.
     I was even able to strike up a conversation with a man who was a year older than me when he asked if this was my first march since the 60's. We talked about life choices since we both pretty much have lived ours and enjoyed thinking about and remembering days gone by. To me the march was a celebration of not only free speech but of a community of souls who want to be able to live life better and not harder. We all want our stories about ourselves to have a contented conclusion despite the struggles we endured. Making life easier to live requires us to have the freedom to choose our own destiny. That is what marching in the streets is all about!

(#6103) Finding happiness within my humility

      I understand the joy of existing. Despite all the rigmarole of what seems like every moment, I am content. So much so that I can smile even when the pain and suffering within me is prevalent. It is because I have no expectation based upon privilege or deserves. I am fortunate that those who preceded us fought and died for me to have the liberty of freedom and human rights. If I do seem angry or stirred to heightened emotion it is because there are those among us who want to take those beautiful advantages from all of us. Even then in my diligence to rebut those soulless folks I am tethered to my core of being happy.
     I do not lose myself in my quests for better, instead I remain steady but nimble. Able to thwart the worst of who I could be because the better of me is brimming inside. I get to choose instead of react. In some ways it is an example of some wisdom and growth on my part. I don't demand my way, I offer it as something of a gift we can all share. I don't suppose to know your pain like you do because that would be arrogant of me. I don't act like I am better than anyone because in all my intention I just hope to not be worse than anyone. Reality is amazing in that I get to exist where I can experience life in all its surroundings. I am not sheltered away from what is out there to behold.
     We all inwardly hope to exist in our own way so that we can live the time we have the way we want to spend it. For those of us who appreciate what our heritage has provided for us we thank the universe for giving us what we need to build our presents and futures. We also thank our foreparents for being more than marauding nomads who only cared for themselves. They built societies for us to prosper in and move beyond the limits of our planet. They archived our knowledge and information so that present and future generations could add to our burgeoning remarkable enlightenment. I am humbled by all that has come before me and that is so inspiring and purposeful. I hope in my short time being alive that I can add, even if only infinitesimally, to the wealth of possibilities available for others to consider.

(#6102) Big day tomorrow

     I am not at my best physically but I am ready to march for no kings in America. That trump claimed he is no king is exactly the opposite of what he wants to be. If trump says he is not something then he is. If trump said he didn't do something then he did. He is opposite person. If you tell him he is something great even when he isn't then he will agree. He is the most upside down person I have ever seen in life. I have known some who were always quick to take credit for things they didn't do but with trump it is nonstop and never ending. He cannot help himself. He is caught in a loop of lying as a rule with no hope of breaking free.
     We the people tomorrow will get a chance to voice our frustration and anger in the form of words and our feet. We will march peacefully with our signs and wide spread agreement that trump and his ilk are bad for democracy and America. He has shown that the melting pot ideal, of which his parent and grandparents came, is not a value to him. Even though he benefitted from it. His goal of becoming a tyrant is revealed with his bootlickers doing his undercutting democracy bidding. He loves putin and other tyrants around the world so much that America's allies from centuries of tradition are left out in the cold.
     As each moment passes in this day I am even more pumped up to be part of an historic day tomorrow that should be filled with liked minded good vibes. We will feed off each others determination not to bow or bend a knee to trump and his lackeys. Truly there is strength in numbers and that strength tomorrow will be mighty. The bruising trump is going to get in his ego will not soon dissipate. There will be some reckoning he will attempt to bruise us back with but we are a hearty lot not like him. He is tender meat beneath his veneer of opulence and like any true bully will end up cowering at our resilience to defy the false confidence out of him!

(#6101) Enduring trump is like solving one problem after another

      I think of the movie The Martian where Matt Damon tells his class how to survive on Mars alone. Just solve one problem, then another, etc...and then you find yourself home. Much like with trump, He is a nonstop causation of problems we have to endure and solve if we are to survive. We have about 1 year remaining of a full on assault of our democracy until we can have another election where his current enablers can be removed from office. Now many out there including me think we may be vulnerable to a rigged midterm election so keep that at the forefront of our thinking for solutions.
     I take a picture of my ballot before returning it so I have a personal record showing how I voted. /Whatever we have to do to insure our votes are counted accurately is our solution. If we vote in such a way as it would be impossible to rig the votes then that is a comfort but we cannot expect that to be. As the trend away from trump is real we cannot become complacent in our vigilance or awareness. Besides our voting we need to keep pressure on the trumps. The coming no kings rally on Saturday is a true force that will shake trump and his followers. The relentless effort to get the epstein files released must not waver. He is petrified of that knowledge going public which is why Adelita Grijalva has not been sworn in to the House yet.
     The more pressure we put on trump the more he shows himself unworthy of our presidency. Even some of his followers are seeing him in a new and disgusted light. We are boxing him into a corner and he cannot find his way out of it except to threaten and coerce. We the people are not shrinking away from his threats because we know that if we don't finally stop him we all will be expendable. This is our rubber meets the road moment and none of us is excused from participating. I will be at our march here in Sacramento even though it is a somewhat physical hardship. What is even worse is not showing up and letting trump off the hook!

(#6100) No triumphs for putin nor trump!

     The world order that putin and trump must have imagined is nowhere in sight. We have we the people to thank for that along with some governmental institutions that have not fallen under their individual influences. Whereas putin is in a much better fascist position than trump he is still hampered by influencers within and without Russia. Meanwhile trump is well behind in the success rate of fascism here in America. The courts and the military are not aligned behind him to do his bidding. Thus he is left with executive orders and no chance of any destabilizing legislation despite controlling both houses of Congress.
     The tell in all of this for me with trump is that since he didn't immediately consolidate all power under him in his first couple of months he would find it more difficult as time goes by. Which is exactly the scenario now. Not only is he finding it difficult but he is losing some of the consolidation he originally started with. Many of his initial supporters are wavering away from him as his policies are an affront to them despite their lack of ethics in other areas. We see the voting trends in special elections, traditionally going to the party out of office is even more anti trump than traditional numbers.
     As Ukraine continues to destroy Russian troop advances and ignites energy and military resources deep inside Russia, putin is feeling the heat from it. We are getting ready for another march against trump here in America on Saturday and it should be huge. Both putin and trump tried to strongarm their ambitions and both are being thwarted by forces greater than them. Forces like honor, respect, decency, and the demand for a better world without fascists corrupting it. The tide has turned on both of these abnormal human beings. As the pressure keeps mounting both will eventually be just another postscript in the handbook of how not to exist in this world.

(#6099) How long are we going to give republican voters a pass?

      As our democracy is being dismantled before our eyes when will we hold republican voters feet to the fire for their part in it? Are we democrats not strong enough in our convictions to call a conspirator a conspirator regardless of the reason? The frog in the slowly boiling pot comes to mind. The heat slowly raised doesn't alarm the frog until too late when the heat becomes insurmountably deathly. We americans are in the same slowly heating pot. Will we do what we need to do to get out of the pot before it is too late? Raising the alarm about the heat is one thing, getting into action and then jumping out is another.
     I am a human being who is friendly and actually enjoys being alive. I hope the same for every other human being who can understand why. But those who don't cannot be allowed to dictate to the rest of us how we perceive no harm living. I give nothing to republicans who think that they are following a leader that segregates and denigrates as virtues. Yet even I must admit that nothing is not enough. I and those like me need to raise our voices so loud that it is unmistakable what we are communicating. We who know what is coming with a clear sight cannot get distracted by the minutiae of civility. We are not debating the chicken or egg first argument. We are trying to save our democracy!
     As republican voters go about their lives pretending to know more than they do are we going to give them a wake up call? Are we going to stop being polite with their borderline insane political beliefs concerning policy? Are we going to risk our standing in the communities we live in to make a point about truth, facts, and rule of law? Are we going to show them that being human is first and foremost our duty in life to each other, otherwise chaos and anarchy will be our future. The fragility of democracy is complacency. if we don't fight for equal rights for all human beings we are only biding our time to be run over roughshod by those who won't give a fuck about anyone else but themselves. Sound familiar?

(#6098) Hold the line!

      Whatever you think is most important to you get behind defending and/or improving it. Do not let trump and his bootlickers destroy whatever progress we have made without giving them a what for in the however a shape that takes. In my mind i think of the Ukrainian defenders on the little island at the start of the putin invasion of Ukraine telling the mighty Russian warship to fuck off! Or when the woman on the bicycle was flipping off trump in his motorcade. The little actions, words and gestures, we continue to express are the lifeblood of how much we care about normalcy, choice, and fairness.
     I absolutely dislike trump for his policies in general but what is even more disliked is his attacks on our democratic values like freedom of choice and the liberty to pursue our no harm to others happiness. He is taking apart the very equitableness we have built up over centuries to relieve bias and prejudice. He is directing segments of our society to deny rights and freedoms they enjoy themselves. He is bringing back prejudice as a policy for undermining what honor and valor previously exemplified. There are no selfless heroes in trump hellscape, just obedience to his nightmarish vision of what our lives should exist in becoming.
     We hold the line against trump because if we don't there will be no end to the taking of what is ours through nature, merit, and hard work and making it his to control. We are currently free human beings able to choose our destinies at liberty. What trump is doing in disappearing that freedom of choice is making us more into cattle who must be directed to exist. I am no livestock and neither should any of us be. We fought a war to free the slaves America controlled for over 400 years. We have to stop the movement of trump from leading us right back into that same scenario. Like the Ukrainian guard on the little island, a fuck you to trump is a start and then more to follow.

(#6097) Hey republicans, swear in Adelita Grijalva!

      The republican led House of Representatives is refusing to swear in an elected representative from Arizona. This is about protecting trump from the release of the epstein files. As it stands right now there is a petition in the House needing one more vote to pass. That vote will come from Grijalva when she is sworn in. To prevent that from happening the speaker of the House, because republicans have a bare majority there, is not allowing the swearing in of Adelita Grijalva to prevent the bill from passing. The bill is to release the epstein files.
     To listen to the speaker defend his position is to suspend reality. He has every excuse possible to prevent the swearing in which is his duty. So not doing his duty to protect the release of the epstein files puts him squarely in the frame for protecting those in the epstein files. Clearly the files, which include names of prominent personalities including trump would become public knowledge and the speaker does not want to be part of the process that reveals criminal acts. So not doing his duty to his position as speaker and obstructing criminal evidence from seeing the light of day is not some alternate reality it is the fact of all of this.
     I don't know how much longer the speaker can withhold swearing in a duly elected official to the House but we are soon to find out. Threats and lawsuits are coming and the pressure trump must be feeling has got to be increasing. Which is why he is working his large ass off trying to distract everyone from the epstein files. A constitutional crisis is about to hit if the House speaker does not swear in an elected representative which will have to be decided eventually by the less than supreme court. How far will republicans go to protect pedophiles over democracy and their sworn duty to it?

(#6096) I wish people would be as committed to winning our democracy as they are about our sports teams

      The fervor over rooting for our teams every year in most cities makes me envious that we cannot have the same excitement concerning preserving our democracy. Sports teams are fun when they are doing well and not so much when they suck. But we never seem to stop our hope for them to win it all every year. I think back just last year when more than a third of our voting electorate failed to support our team America's democracy by not voting. I say that to illustrate the bewilderment I feel when all of our sports teams are built upon democratic principles.
     I suggest that the majority who didn't bother to vote last time in 2024 think about the priority to democracy when supporting our teams. Without democracy our teams would be rigged with no hope of a "miracle on ice" moment. I think of it this way. I love my sports teams but I would not take up arms to defend them. They are for fun and socializing in the best of fun ways. They are not the foundation of my life that democracy is. I wouldn't hesitate to take up arms to defend the democracy our founding foreparents gave us. I would protect it with my life in the same way Nathan Hale gave his life with his only regret being that he couldn't live to sacrifice his life again and again!
     That is the fervor I admire. It was real for Nathan Hale and sets an example that all we true democracy loving patriots should strive to attain when needed. Most of us are looking for purpose in our existence and one of the greatest we may involve ourselves in is to vote to keep our democracy a living promise to our future generations as well as people around the globe. Each sports season comes and goes but our democracy is the backbone of all of us. We all win when democracy wins and that is the greatest and most enduring celebration for all of we the people.

(#6095) No Peace Prize for trump

     The trumps thought they could buffalo too many into thinking he was worthy of a peace prize. The truth part is that most of us know the only reward for his behavior is prison! Yet he has escaped that fate and is still grifting on high. The ketchup on the walls at his skanky mansion must be reaching Jackson Pollock levels. That the Nobel peace Prize went to the denied rightful Presidential winner of the last Venezuelan election, and is a woman cannot bode well for trump's misery. Maria Corina Machado will be in trumps head causing him to fret and moan about how he was cheated in his surreal mind.
     To we rational logical people we see the Nobel committees decision as a wise one. Upholding the tradition of rewarding the underdog when matched against a larger cruel and brutish foe. For rewarding the better for the world when the worse is all the choice that is available. No amount of propaganda nor bullying should ever reward a conman who is so narcissistic that he fails to fight for the rights of all human beings. Maria puts her life on the line everyday. The only lives on the lone in trumps world are everyone else's. He is the epitome of a soul that has no regard for just and honorable deeds. His is about accolades, regardless whether earned.
     Every trump failure is a victory for We the People. He cannot bask in a fake glory and that is a victory. He may punish us further for our failure to grasp how brilliant and honorable he is in his own mind but that is the cost of standing behind the truth and facts of things. We the People will endure more of the grifter in the coming near future but soon these days will end and that will bring the biggest smile of all to my face. I rarely encourage negative things happening to people but for trump, putin, netanyaho, maduro and their wannabe ilk I reserve the right to wish nothing but the worse for them for their treatment of too many innocents who are now dead or suffering!

(#6094) When Russia is out of Ukraine then there will be peace

      All this false hope crap from trump about he will end the Ukraine war is nonsense. Unless Russia leaves all the territories they invaded the war will not end. It is only a war in the sense that Russia invaded Ukraine and Ukraine is defending itself from Russia. Otherwise the peace trump likes to tout he can achieve there is a mirage. No way putin gives back a large chunk of the Donbas and Crimea and leaves. So any deal brokered by trump will reward Russia for murdering Ukrainians. That is not worthy of anything notable except contempt! No way Ukraine will agree with giving concessions to the invader after more than 3 years of fighting not to concede.
     The moral high ground has always been with the brave people of Ukraine. Occupying the low ground of moral inadequacy has been putin and trump. So expect their colluded attempt to rob Ukraine to be just that. He bellows about a peace prize when all he should get is a criminal trial. Our current predicament in total here in America is a power grab by a deviant who has more than should be deviants as followers. Too many Americans in our culture refuse to understand the concept of freedom, liberty, and justice and should be relieved of those values in a perfect world. No one who cannot understand the honorable duty we have to democracy should be able to be elected to public office.
     When they are elected to public office and swear their oath to protect our national Constitution then they should be held to account for breaking their oath when they do break it. A loss of office with some punitive punishment that hits them with fines and jail time to serve as a reminder to anyone else of the same ilk. Our nation is too valuable to be left to the grifters and fools who are able to con their way into a positions of public authority. The time for correcting flaws in our electoral processes is here and after we are through the trump debacle we need to address that. We have never been this close to losing our democracy so those who couldn't find the time to prevent trump will now need to get involved or the next president of the United states may well be even worse a grifter than trump!

(#6093) Inside looking in

      We who have voted and railed against trump since before he ran for office are the ones most acutely aware of his miserable traits. We have known who he was since before his television show. An incompetent slow witted hater who couldn't lead a business let alone a nation. We know since published reports and pictures of him with the notorious child rapists epstein/maxwell and a civil conviction for rape that he is a lascivious pedophile who would rather violate children sexually than not. He has no inner compass about right and wrong only what he can get away with.
     As many more come to see who trump really is added to those of us who have known all along we are finally getting to a point where trump is starting to feel the pressure of being a laughingstock criminal. He may still hold the power of the presidency but he is not admired by a vast majority of Americans. The percentage of us now is well over 50% and will continue to grow with each passing word out of his mouth. Those in his inner circle are finding out that their lies to defend him will come back to haunt them. What they do going forward, double down or quietly slip away is yet to be determined. But just know this, we the people are not forgetful of what he and they have perpetrated.
     For those of you on the outside looking in the horror of trump and his cabal is disappointing fueled with anger. We on the inside who know how you feel are just as exasperated. But know this, he is not going to last a whole lot of time longer and with each passing day our obstruction of him is even more resolute. Soon a day will come when the announcement that he is not able to be functional in the office of the president and that day will be special. Sure his appointed lackeys will take over but they are not as vile as he is and although their time will go on it won't be for long as we the people are ready to shit can the adjudged maga trumps into prison and out of power.

(#6092) If not for Ukraine's courage to stand up to putin Europe would be at war!

      In my lifetime Ukraine is the greatest example of hope and pride I have seen and felt. Many events have happened in my li9fetime that swelled me up with pride like the falling of the Berlin wall, Neil Armstrong walking on the Moon, and the election of a black man as an American president, but Ukraine fills me so deeply with pride and joy that nothing compares for me. It isn't just a flash moment where a sudden change occurs. The falling of the Berlin wall was decades in the making much like the moon landing was nearly a decade in the making itself. The election of Barack Obama was sudden in the sense that it was mostly unexpected however more than a century overdue.
     What Ukraine is doing is incredible. The whole of the country for the most part has been united in their ambition to remain Ukraine, a sovereign nation. the big bully on their border has been threatening them for decades even annexing Ukrainian territory. The threat from putin in 2022 for Ukraine to give up and surrender to Russia or be invaded kicked off such a massive alliance in Ukraine to deny Russia any condition of surrender except for Russia to pack up its troops and go away from the approximately 1000 mile long Ukrainian border with Russia.
     That putin ignored that response, he attacked Ukraine with the boasting claim of taking Ukraine in 3 days. He had nearly 250,000 troops on the border when the attack started and on this date more than 3 years later he has lost more than 1,117,000 troops. He has decimated his army to the point of using commercial vehicles to attack with. Ukraine has exposed Russia as an incompetent power with no modern sense of warfare except brute force. Meanwhile Ukraine goes all out to protect their troops and citizens as a rule. Ukraine has taken the Russian threats and built what is fast becoming an army the envy of the world. All because they wouldn't cower to a tyrant! I love the freedom fighting Ukrainian people!
      

(#6091) Without the courts we would be without our democracy!

      I and others said that trump was a threat to our democracy but not enough people got that message. Certainly the media let us all down and should be held to account once we survive this and we sill survive this one way or another. If the courts had not stepped in to confront the unconstitutional attempts by trump et al. to smother our freedoms to death, we would all be pledging allegiance to trump not to our democracy. I am so proud also of our military leaders for standing up to trump when he tried to cajole them into swearing a silent allegiance to him through his bootlickers.
     The courts and military leaders give me great hope now that our democracy will survive and we are not the cowering fools trump thought we were. He bargained that we would roll over when threatened and what he is finding out is that we don't roll like that! We stand and show our resolve. The trumps are not done with their intimidation tactics that are not insignificant. However, their attacks on those who do defy them through the rule of law will find punishing consequences for those who did the deeds of dishonor and criminality.
     Even some trump appointed judges are putting our constitution above the wannabe tyrant and that has to be chafing his big ass! His self appointed supreme court lackeys are  not a sure bet for him either. As more of us stand up to trump the more of us will join in because as always there is strength in numbers. We who are not going to be intimidated by trump regardless of his threats will not relent and hope soon that the vast majority of we the people stands with us. Once we are a much greater force than trump can manage he will be deposed from his nefariousness. Democracy is the most precious gift that we the people have been given and should always be defended from law breaking outlaws like trump!

(#6090) We can learn a lot from sports

      I recently paid attention to a game where in the first half of a football game one team played about as awful as they could. But in the second half they played about a well as they could and when the final second ticked off and ended the game they found that they won by just enough. This reminds me of our current political dilemma. Somehow we voted into office a really bad person and he is living up to his bad reputation. But it seems like in the football game just referenced, after being duped by a disreputable grifter we are fighting back against his rhetoric and actions.
     Now it is too early to say how this dilemma of ours in the political arena will play out but my guess is that when we the people put our energy behind a common cause we are highly likely to succeed. It is still early on in the metaphorical second half but the impetus is now on our side. Although the degenerate is still causing havoc we are not sitting on our hands fretting over the outcome. We are actively fighting back and even some of those who supported the cruel one are now turning from him and speaking out against him. That is what turning the tide is! Defections from the cloud of confusion into the clarity of reality.
     For those who say emotions are not important I will remind them if you make us emotionally angry you will learn just how badly you judged emotion. Many of us are very clear on the subject of democracy and what it entails and we will not let a grifting conman take it from us. The many of us know that stopping what we are doing in order to preserve freedom, liberty, and justice is greater than the everyday mundane of existing in a world without those virtues. I can feel the momentum of a reinvigorated electorate and with a catalyst like defending democracy vividly clear, we the people are on it. We may have lost the first half of this surreal governance but we are not going to lose the whole of it once the final second ticks off.

(#6089) Victory will be so satisfying once the head of the snake is gone

     There are two people on this planet who will be celebrated for their non existence. One here in America and one in Russia. Either no longer with us will cause millions to billions to finally feel like there is a brighter tomorrow. The lives of those who are currently in their crosshairs will be spared the real danger of being used as disrespected tools and throwaway disposables. The remnants of what will be left in their no goodbye wake are still nefarious but not as dominant. Which is why when either of them goes a great sense of hope will return with a promise of happiness while remaining wary of their bootlickers.
     I know I will keep enduring until their times are up but then I will actually smile inside at the new beginning we will all have to share. A beginning where the worst of what these two have been doing starts to wind down and be replaced with anything more humane. That has always been the benefit of surviving through horrible times just so the joy of the ending of the terrible times can be experienced. In this case more specifically the return to democracy and the ascension of democracy will be the result. To the people of America I say welcome back to our tried and true melting pot. To the people of Ukraine I say welcome to liberty, freedom, and justice where all can be possible for everyone. To the people of Russia I say never give up on being free from tyranny.
     The hearts of these two criminals are beyond redemption as they both have spent their lifetimes destroying the freedoms of others. There is no redemption for the blackness that fills the place where their honor should have been. To them I say you have been a plague on Earth and your choice to be so will not be forgotten. Your infamy will be recorded with the worst of what human beings can become. For the rest of us who will smile inside and out when your times have come I say thank you for your service to America in standing up to the threats of real harm when the time came about. We who fight for world wide democracy cannot stop until we have it regardless of soulless tyrants who punish us for our conviction.

(#6088) I will never stop advocating for Ukraine!

      Like out founding parents of our American Revolutionary War, Ukrainian citizens seek to control their own destiny. Like America, Ukraine wants to establish democracy as their form of government. As we colonists in America struggled to attain our freedom from another country that attacked us, so does Ukraine. One big difference here is that our colonists didn't have our oppressor on our largest land border. Our oppressors had to travel overseas to try to force their will on us. Not so with what Ukrainians are dealing with. Which raises my admiration for their intent even more than our own here in America.
     Our oppressor when we were fighting for independence where a mighty force in the world and we were more like a rag tag outfit. Yet our rag tag outfit was in possession of one thong our oppressor did not have. The will to fight to the death for our freedom. That is the main attribute that Ukrainians share with our earlier ancestors. Ukrainians are not deterred by threats and statistical impossibilities. They, like our foreparents, knew that living life under the yoke was not an option for freedom loving human beings. What is happening in Ukraine today in this moment is hard on my heart because I understand their quest to have the right to control their own destiny.
     What all of us who enjoy the freedom to live our lives on our own terms should be doing is supporting those who are striving to reach that same level. It is the duty of all of us under freedom to help those who are not there yet. Our whole human being population must be able to live the same as we the free currently enjoy. Those who fight against democratic principles of rights of humans need to be confronted everywhere they exist. For now though we are witnessing the struggle Ukraine is putting up to thwart the oppressors who would not only make them wear their oppressive yoke but to die if not worn in cowardice.

(#6087) America is too complex for the foolish trump!

      My initial fear that trump would overwhelm us with a ferocity has been allayed. Instead he stumbles forward with his inept attempts to show he is more than a fool. We see what he is doing and everyday more people are becoming aware of his vulnerabilities. He isn't the one sent from on high to bring about salvation to the masses. He isn't the genius he often proclaims himself as. His trail of broken promises is even starting to have an effect on his most fervent supporters. He is becoming the wannabe king with no clothes on.
     Yet those who hitched their stars to his wagon are not easily dislodged. They have staked more than their careers to his success and will do nothing less than everything to prop him up as long as he is still breathing and then for a while longer. Those are the ones who are the most dangerous right now as they are far more calculating than the simple minded trump and his delusions of grandeur. Yet even those die hard sycophants have underestimated the massive complexity of thought and action that we the people are capable of bringing. Do not push us against the wall and demand we knuckle under to duress and coercion.
     What those who think they can corral and control us always fail to realize is that we are not cattle to be herded. We are amazing thinkers and doers of out side the box imaginings. The forces that would deprive us of our democratic values do not know the cost we will spend to keep them. We are not the go into the night silently type. We instead are like a dormant volcano suddenly ready to erupt. There is no force on Earth available to the despots and demons of the world that we have not been unable to unleash ourselves when push comes to shove. Beware those who would try because the wrath of the victimized is salved with the retribution turned triumph on the heads of those who would try.

(#6086) We know our own faults but we still give others hope

      It is surprising to me given how little I pay attention to these kinds of things but I have recently learned some people I have never met have actually heard of me. In a positive way nonetheless. Now that is not something I am too familiar with. I have had some momentary accomplishments that caught the attention of some before but not like this. This attention comes from me just being the good me as much as possible. I used to waver between the good me and the less good me out of some kind of convenience I suppose. But not as time has gone by. I strive everyday to be the best me possible and it is forming into a routine for me that does not need to be calculated. I just am now.
     The hope that has come about for me to see is when meeting someone for the first time and hearing them say oh you are Carl. I have heard about you. Not in some embarrassing or nefarious way but as someone to be admired. I don't delve into the depth of that admiration suffice it to say I just modestly accept the compliment. What I do as routine seems to be having an effect on some who don't get to see that kind of positive routine regularly enough. When you keep just doing the correct thing it seems to be welcoming, at least to some. For me it is necessary because of my own faults and how I choose to address them.
     I am totally aware that my life is well into the last half of it so doing things properly is a stubborn goal I will not compromise. I wish I had started this earlier in my life but then wishes don't work when there is no going back. I prefer to think of my finally becoming and defining who I am as a miracle of sorts to me anyway that at least arrived when it did. There is no handbook for how to live in a world full of evolving complexities and variations. But what we can do is approach every second of our lives with the focused purpose of honor, dignity, and respect. I will always put my best foot forward and then react to how that changes the world around me. I am not a problem in the world anymore and that is at minimum a fulfilling purpose.