(#6379) Our human species is in trouble

     The idea that basic foundational knowledge is filling the minds of our children is a mirage. I am no brilliant mind but I can add and subtract with some easy efficiency. I can read a book or a paper and not find it too difficult to follow the logic or story. In other words my education was well rounded within ordinary life events. What I am finding is that too many of our younger in the workforce are less adept at configuring, understanding, and rationalizing at basic levels. The reading, writing, and arithmetic of my learning was solid leaving me time to grow into more complex considerations.
     I don't know what the curriculum of our present day teachers are given to teach but it seems to be missing the mark in allowing for critical thinking to form on it's own. Are the students given information that doesn't let them decide if it is good or not? Are they being told what is good and what is not? For me it is kind to let people know when danger is afoot but it is also growth for people to learn to recognize the danger for themselves. We want to advance our children as thinkers in a world of creative innovation, not some bystanders who are clueless as to how to be part of that dynamic. What we shouldn't be teaching is our preferred ideals instead of an open panoramic vision of possibilities.
     I see so much of what is going on around us and how the lack of logic is incorrectly reinforced through opinion. Where the rules of logic are constant and widely accepted worldwide, opinion seems to be so easy to support that it makes logic difficult to break through. Time is always on the side of logic and opinions come and go with changing reality. If we move further from logic then less will make sense. If we move closer to logic then we become more understanding of how our interconnected world works. Logic in basic is premise upon premise analyzed for validity for ascertaining a conclusion. You can count on the conclusion always being the same given the same set of circumstances. That is reliance and we need reliance now more than ever instead of constantly changing opinion!

(#6378) Life is hard enough without trumps making it tougher!

      What will always be beautiful about the democratic party is that our focus will always be on lessening the burden on we the people. Just waking up is disheartening now knowing everyday that we have few options to our day other than the constant heavy burden of our responsibilities. It is soul crushing that just to stay even we sacrifice our time and energy in greater amounts that rip at our hopes and dreams. We have little to no time for our interests that are outside our budgets and meager bank accounts. It is like fools gold to think we can actually get ahead and live life on our terms instead of the terms of our forever growing indebtedness.
     At least with democrats at the helm the future looks brighter because democrats see our struggles and devise concepts to address them. It is more hope from democrats that give us a little bit more in the morning to tackle our day. Because we know from the past that democratic leadership has taken some burdens from our lives. The very same burdens that republicans ignore and instead exacerbate. My example has been consistent over the years in the form of the federal minimum wage. In 2009, we democrats got the federal minimum wage raised to $7.25. Little help from republicans who from listening to some in their party didn't think a minimum wage should be protected at all by law. So pay workers barely nothing if that is how desperate people are for anything by republican thinking.
     The trumps started a war with Iran because trump tore up the peace accord President Obama signed with Iran that was working. Now with trump attacking Iran, American service people are being killed and our allies are dumbfounded by trump's ridiculous and unnecessary war. Prices are going higher because trump didn't understand the dilemma of the Hormuz Strait. At home, so not only is trump trying to eliminate parts of Medicare/Medicaid but he is going after Social Security after the midterms. Well he would need control of Congress to do that and an election in November is when we democrats can stop him from any further harm to we the people of the working middle poor class!

(#6377) The republicans only need 15 more days to hide mcconnell's brain death

      I am almost at the stage of finding this whole situation comical but it is critical to who we are as a nation. Are we a bunch of sheep needing herding or are we each individuals who demand equal representation and truth! 15 more days will likely answer that question. If republicans get their way and hide the condition of mcconnell then they show us that we truly are sheep with them as the cattle dogs herding us wherever they want. If on the other hand we individuals find a way to force the truth of mcconnell's condition out then we will have shown the world that despite the efforts of trump and his acolytes we the people represent America and not this current cabal of filthy creatures.
     15 days is the countdown and for what it is worth I am not sure we the people, who are adamant about us being individuals, will succeed. I say that because over the last 15 days nothing has changed to provide actual proof. It is as if the running clock of time until August 3rd is just a inconsequential marker in time. To me the importance is overwhelming. Allowing the deception to win is akin to lying all the way to the bank. No one should be allowed to deny democracy it's right to the truth! This is the canary in the coal mine and those who think it is just nothing much to worry about are the ones who will eventually collaborate with republicans to lead the sheep once we are neutered of freedom.
     In 15 days, those of us who know just how critical this circumstance is need to find a way to break through the protections trump is surrounding mcconnell with. Be he alive or dead we don't know. Since there is no proof of life except doctored photos we can be reasonably assured mcconnell is dead or at least brain dead. Proving it within the next 15 days is our task and we had better get it done sooner than later. Governor Bashear has in a lukewarm way demanded to be notified of mcconnell's condition but his half hearted effort is not proving to be enough. He knows what the rest of us know he should do and he should raise the stakes to uncover the truth or be saddled as just another plough horse unwilling to go the distance with the race coming to the end.
     

(#6376) Most of us exist within the bounds of normalcy, until we are attacked then all is fair!

      I have been doing a lot of self awareness thinking lately. Because I feel under threat from those who are by their choice mean and cruel. They are not naturally mean and cruel they choose to be. Knowing that I am finding my responses to their actions and words not only uncivilized but uncharacteristic of my grounded nature. Being curious about everything and also caring about everyone. Well not curious about everything exactly nor caring about everyone exactly but close enough. Instead I find myself angry and full of revenge type retribution to those who go out of their way to harm.
     I have this anger within me that is triggered by the creatures who harm. I can't say it is a good thing but I know it is real. So trying to figure out how to associate my feelings with how the law and social norms are handled is not easy for me. I want vengeance as an effect for the cause of their despicable behavior. Now I know that is me and not the whole of everyone but I am the only one who is responsible to me. So I must decide how I go about my anger and the justice it seeks. I am not deserving of anything I know that. However I am no laid back dude who lets the worst of us dominate the best of us. Something will need to be done not only for my own sanity but for fairness and justice to be served.
     Like with Luigi Mangione, he followed his sense of justice and committed the grave sacrifice as a vigilante. Not all of us are that motivated to express ourselves in that way. However he did and now the rest of the world is aware that such things happen. What drove him to such an act is understandable when the laws of our nation are not applied to those most prone to harm us. I get it! The causse and effect principle still applies though. Luigi will pay for his act despite the sympathy some may feel for his motive. I would prefer to channel my anger into a more acceptable action like strikes, marches, and voting. If the day ever came though when nothing we would legally do could save our democracy then the will to survive side of me would perk up!

(#6375) trump doesn't trade on policy, he trades on power!

      The fact that trump doesn't truthfully talk about his policies to help the American citizenry and instead tries to scare everyone is proof that he is not a representative of our American society. I didn't watch his bullshit session last night but I got the narrative of it. He knows he is doing terribly with we American citizens so he is trying to salvage his current presidential advantage of having the Congress in his hip pocket. So fear tactics and outright lies are his playbook. I for one cannot fathom the intent he is charging full steam ahead to implement. He is 80 years old and should be gardening or relaxing by the pool. Instead he wants to overturn our democracy for some perceived slight he may have experienced? I am guessing here!
     I suspect though that instead of gardening or relaxing by the pool he knows he is in a world of hurt when it comes to criminality. So possibly he is revenging his anger on we the people. Still just spitballing here. Whatever the cause is, the effect is troubling to rational people who are as clueless to his intent as I am. He tried to bully the international stage and so far it is failing. For a while it worked but then the rest of the world caught onto his act. We here in America and catching onto his act but will it save us from his determination to obstruct the coming election? That is the big question this morning. Do we sane Americans have enough clout now to destroy his coming rig of our elections?
     There are 108 days left before the midterm election on November 3rd. What can we do in these last 108 days to help to preserve our democracy? We can all who are eligible make sure we are legally registered to vote. We can join in on any marches and/or protests happening around us all over the country. We can call our representatives and demand that our states be protected from federal interference. We, every one of us, who are eligible to vote must have a plan to vote. No one sits this out because of some inconvenience. If we lose our democracy in the next 108 days the inconvenience will seem foolish because once our democracy is gone there is no getting it back in our lifetimes!
     

(#6374) Have no about it, trump is the head of the poisonous snake!

      I am only human. I try to be the best human I can be but I fail when it comes to the deserved destiny for trump. He is a simpleton and fragile minded egotist but the depths of his disdain and depravity are bottomless. I would otherwise feel some pity for people like him but he is beyond that from me. Which is why I fail sometimes at being the best human I can be. Some people are born into this world only to be dispatched with hoped for extreme emergency. He is that type along with putin and netanyahu. No sympathy from me nor remorse from me hoping their ends are immediate. With trump the poison of his politics stops with him.
     None of his sucker fish acolytes can match his nefarious inclinations. He is the all in all when it comes to the destructive maga movement. Once he is severed from the republican party the damage that is left cannot be pieced together by growing a new head. The snake will slither around with no sense to it's movements except to die. That is my conclusion to the whole debacle we are facing. With the health of trump being hidden, as it must be deadly serious, we may be closer to the head of the snake closing its eyes for the final time. How that makes me feel is what bothers me a little bit. But not enough to make me feel less human. The good of the many is greater than the good of the one kind of logic.
     I am sad in a way when any human dies. No matter the devilry they embraced. Because in the final analysis we are all human and what any of us does reflects on all of us. So in that sense trump will get at least an acknowledgement from me that although human he was in contradiction with the better and best traits we all humans have as our choices to live. His choices are what appalls me and his ending will actually cause a relief within me. We all go sometime and he has lived 80 years so he cannot say he didn't have enough time to get his life correct. He did and didn't choose to do it. So as a bonus as it were, the trump ending will be agreeable with me and the death throes of the republican party that embraced him will suffer their choices just as gravely!

(#6373) We the people need to take turns carrying each other!

      Every day that goes by is another assault on our liberty by trumps. The daily grind of it all is at times both grueling and oppressive. I know for myself this daily attack on our liberty to be free and egalitarian as it is leaves me with little strength left to employ on my necessary daily duties. The relentless onslaught of trump saps the energy right out of me and makes me want to give up and find peace somewhere else. But that is just a fleeting thought. However, it does describe in an accurate way just how overwhelming trump can be since he is desperate and scared. I do my best to overcome my trump induced lethargy but not always am I successful.
     Which is why we need each other for support. Some days I cannot engage in defending our democracy the way I would normally because my mental fatigue is dominant. Normally I shrug off the lack of energy and produce some anyway from deep within my marrow. But age is another factor now. I cannot summon the will to grind on when my physical ability is sorely weakened. I have to take some time to replenish my energy so as to continue to fight at the level I expect of myself. This isn't a pity party this is just being real. So when I see others out there doing the good trouble of defending and attacking those who would subject us I am encouraged and grateful. I see you and what you are doing to help we the people.
     If I had my druthers I would be relentless in my defense of our democratic society. But my druthers notwithstanding I must now allocate time to recharge as a strategy so as not to weaken myself and cause myself serious burnout. The battle we the people are having with the trumps is real and on every front in our lives. For those who fight with trump I despise you with all my being. For those of we the people who fight against trump I am humbled and honored to fight along side you. I wish I had more fight within me but what there is within me you will have all of it. We the people will win out against trump and his acolytes but not yet and the battle rages on with all of us doing what we can to survive and become victorious.

(#6372) Call a special election in Kentucky!

      When a sitting US Senator is medically unable to contact anyone outside his handlers then the obvious act is to replace him. Make the sitting US Senator reach out personally to inform the powers that be in charge of having a functioning US Senator representing Kentucky. The old saying of ask for forgiveness instead of asking for permission axiom. If the sitting US Senator is fine then he will proactively contact the Governor, who in this case is the power that is in charge of replacing him if he isn't available to function. Put the onus on the sitting US Senator instead of possibly being duped by the sitting US Senator's handlers.
     The handlers keep trying, unsuccessfully, to imitate proof of life from the Senator in question. After trying to be professional about learning the health of the incapacitated Senator the fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me axiom comes into play. The handlers have already made fools of themselves so surely the Governor will not let them make of fool of himself. So forcing an election to begin will make sure that if the Senator is functioning he will physically produce the evidence through an in person meeting with the Governor. That should prove to be satisfactory. The sitting US Senators handlers cannot be allowed to control the narrative of how the law works to replace an incapacitated Senator.
     Why would the Senator's handlers want to slow walk the physical reporting of their Senator? Because if he is incapacitated then a special election must be called if before August 3rd. The handlers don't want that special election to occur as it would hurt heir chances of maintaining that seat and deny the handlers the opportunity to control who should run for the seat in November. There is nothing mysterious here about the motive of the handlers. What is highly suspicious is the denial they keep extending about the real medical condition of the sitting US Senator. Enough with the shell game republicans! I urge the Kentucky Governor to call the special election and then let only the Senator respond if he is able.

(#6371) The passion of the democratic party is undeniable!

     For those who think that we should ignore our passion I have one thing to say to you! You will be ignored! My passion fuels my curiosity so I need to be unchained from sitting on my hands and keeping my mouth shut! As the highest priority in my life, needing to know is what drives my existence. With our democratic party there are many who would rather not create waves when faced with controversy. They would rather ride out storms of chaos by sitting idly by and allowing the force of the emotion to dissipate on its own. They don't like creating waves and instead prefer the calm of ignorance to the whirligig of processes designed to find fact!
     I am no back seat bench sitter. I am in the fray of what stirs my principles and honor to activate. If falsehoods and misrepresentations in the guise of lies inundate our social conscience then I will not sit idly by like too many who are gun shy or once bit twice frightened. I have heard more than enough times directly not to question democrats about things that may help republicans. Well let me say this about that. I am aware of what shooting ourselves in the foot is all about but if a benign question triggers a scaredy cat response then that is ridiculous. If we democrats are wrong on an action or behavior then we need to address it. No one looking in at our party will want to be part of a cowering willful strategy to ignore.
     We democrats are the movers and shakers of our society. The only thing republicans have shown to care about is to rein in our democratic efforts to improve society for all of us. We democrats care about all of us and want life to be about pursuing our happiness without doing harm. It is our nature to be emotional when one of us is being singled out and harmed for no other reason than some difference than what republicans claim to be within their biased and discriminatory manifesto. We democrats on the other hand have our manifest destiny literally tied up in our constitution. In our bill of rights. In our egalitarian approach to solutions that look to improve not diminish. Our emotion drives us to want to know and that should never be stifled to quiet our curiosity for fact and truth!

(#6370) As fate or something else would have it...

      I woke up this morning to the announcement of the death of lindsey graham. He was a republican US Senator from South Carolina. His great claim to infamy was his cowardly embrace of trumpism after initially calling trump what he is in a tempered way, "a race-baiting, xenophobic, religious bigot.". I say tempered because we know trump is also a rapist who is misogynistic with women. As well he is a grifter and a liar on a grand scale. Be that as it may however, graham turning on a dime and then becoming one of trumps greatest supporters tells you all you need to know about graham's lack of integrity and honor.
     My first thought was that the focus on whether mcconnell was dead would be lessened and time gained for republicans to run our his death clock but then I dismissed it as being too conspiratorial. However it was one of my first thoughts. Because I don't trust trump at all and I know he would do anything to save his own ass, including literally destroying those around him. Time will have to determine more about graham but as to mcconnell, the clock is running toward August 3rd. As I welcome the departure of graham from the senate I also feel uneasy about what comes next. I admit wholeheartedly that my anger at republicanism is at a boiling point but not high enough to want vigilante justice. At least not yet!
     But if that is what we are looking at then our near future is less predictable and surely more angry. If this was something putin orchestrated then that is another story and could well be the step we Americans need to go full bore with Ukraine against Russia. Again, an autopsy will be more precise about the cause of the graham expiration and that will take a little bit of time to know. In the meantime I will stay focused on all efforts to weed out the truth of the republican sketchy narrative about the mcconnell live or dead shell game. If no foul play was involved with graham then this reminds me of when scalia died out of the blue and blame was flying everywhere until the facts of his death became certain.

(#6369) My priority concerning America

      As a democrat I absolutely want the end of the trump regime. As a democrat I also want to adjust our society so that creatures like trump never have another opportunity to regain power in our society. So the highest priority for me is to end the trump debacle. Everything else that I want to happen has to take a backseat for now. My progressive political desires for a more fair and just capitalist/social and egalitarian society are not going to be possible until the end of trump is accomplished. So right now instead of focusing on the intra rivalries we have within our party I am purely focused out on the wrecking crew of republican destructive design.
     After we replace republicans in the November election we can then begin to decide the path forward for our democratic party. Honestly I can't hardly wait for that since no matter how our democratic path is laid out the benefit will be positive and forward thinking. We factions within the democratic party are not that dissimilar in our desires it is just the methodology that we argue over. Which to me is proper and good to keep us on whole balanced but fairly productive. These are the minutiae that will have to wait for the trigger that will allow it to begin in earnest. The defeat of republicans wherever possible in the midterms must happen first. So for me I am settled into keeping a steely eyed focus on how to keep our elections fair and getting our democrats, independents, and fair weather republicans out to vote in en masse.
     Nothing happens unless we end republican rule in the House and Senate. With both those chambers of Congress back under democratic control the creature trump is neutered. He can still stir the pot but we the people through the democratic party will have a legitimate recourse to confront and stop him. So as we the people keep voting for our representatives we must remain vigilant to the highest priority, defeating republicans in as many elections in November as possible. We democrats can do this but we cannot lose sight of the greatest prize. We will get our day in the Sun again but not until we have defeated the corrupt and lascivious republican party. Only then will we be able to iron out our own wrinkles within policy.

(#6368) Whether progressive or moderate we democrats are united against republicans!

      There is a lot of animosity being shown toward democratic candidates who are deemed unelectable or out of touch. Neither is the case. Because for once in my life every republican on every ballot everywhere is a supporter of a nefarious creature almost unreal. They support trump whether loudly or silently as expressed in votes on policy that happens every day somewhere. The abomination that is trump and him being a republican would instantly change my party affiliation if I were a republican. Yet all current republicans except just a few are still identifying as republicans. That in itself should tell you all you need to know about their lack of character and personal lack of shame.
     Now about our democratic party. We have some in the left and right who are extreme and to me that is normal. The problem is when we try to formulate an equation to help us figure the best path forward to securing majorities in the Senate and House this coming November. Often there is historical data that drives our opinions but in this instance in time I am not a fan of historical data. Instead I am a fan of what is happening right now. Because of republicans, our economy is a wreck. Our foreign affairs are disintegrating daily. Our social lives are being threatened by thugs on the streets. Even our elections, which are the main focus of republicans, would deny 10's of millions of citizens their right to vote.
     To me the historical data is a part of how we decide to move forward as a party but it is not the overriding factor when considered against what we are all facing right now. So the voters in their districts and states will vote not only on their anger but their vision. That is how it should be and fortunately that is how it will be. History teaches us that some things tried over and over need a different attempt. While we also learn from history that perseverance is a rewarding value. If we try too hard to be trained seals we are using less of what comes natural to us and that natural, although sometimes messy, is really who we are, seals notwithstanding!

(#6367) A couple of thoughts on mitch mcconnell

      Whether you forgive me or not about whether to believe republicans when they say mcconnell is doing okay or not is outside my ability to control. However, I do not trust those who will not verify with fact. So instead of just taking their word for whether mcconnell is healthy, I would go ahead and just assume he is not healthy. Facing an August 3rd deadline to have a special election to replace him I would proactively start the process or at least obtain a speedy court order justifying an immediate interview with him. If that proves obstructive then I would as I saw someone suggest in a Facebook comment go ahead and call for the special election and let mcconnell come forth and prove he is still able to represent.
     Instead of asking republicans for proof of mcconnells health, force mcconnell to prove his health or face being replaced. This way the onus is on mcconnell to prove he is healthy and not some shell game republicans wish to play with the truth. My rule of thumb is to prove every republican claim or statement as a fact before even commenting on anything they may say. After seeing enough of trump and his constant flow of lies and knowing republicans support him you can see why I take this stance. There are still 24 days left before August 3rd and that is plenty of time to immediately start a process to uncover the truth of his present condition.
     Normally this wouldn't be a huge deal with me if mcconnell was too ill to continue since he is not running for reelection and his term is up January 3rd 2027. But there are two objections in my mind that won't allow me to accept his rocky term ending smoothly. First, the republican party is most likely lying about his physical state. That in itself is enough for me to focus my attention on this circumstance. The other being the obstruction mcconnell did to President Obama on antonin scalia's supreme court seat. For me there are no free passes for mcconnell. He and his liars in the republican party get no benefits of any doubt anymore! If they won't let the Governor see mcconnell for him to verify his health then trigger the special election and let mcconnell prove the Governor wrong!

(#6366) There is no greatness to America with trumps in charge!

      The only way to make America great again is to flush the filth that is trump. He has done one thing that is somewhat helpful. He has exposed his conspirators! We know the who, the how, the why and the where. What we don't know is the when it will all end. We cannot even assume he will relinquish power after his term ends if he lasts that long. So the when remains elusive for now. Like with mcconnell, we cannot even get open facts about his physical condition. We are only allowed spokespersons views who provide no proof. Same with trump and his failing health. We are left to guess what his symptoms may tell. There is no greatness in deception. No honor in omission.
     I have tried to think of greatness in my time and it only happened a few times. When we Americans landed on the Moon, and up until trump, our support of Ukraine to withstand the Russian invasive onslaught. So the republican slogan of making America great again begs the question when was that? Is it more like when racism and sexism were predominant? Is that the great again you republicans seek? Was it before Franklin Roosevelt and the New Deal policies? Was it before slavery when people actually bought and sold people? When are you referring to America being great? My version of American greatness always involves the positive rights enhancing betterment of our society. Not the domination of it by ruthless creatures!
     In a way the slogan make America great again has exposed our American inability to even control our own political and social processes. We condemn those who would try to be egalitarian as commies and pussies. As if wanting to make sure life for all human beings is devoid of suffering for the sake of suffering is a denigration. Heroism is the ideal I see when one takes on the mantle of harmony. Heroism is the ideal I see when one takes on the defense of truth. Heroism is the ideal I see when poverty and hunger are greater priorities to solve than wealth accumulation. Heroism is the ideal I see when the strength of our honorable convictions outweigh any personal attack or harm. We will all make America great when we all stop trying to be privileged and advantaged as a rule instead of as an exception.

(#6365) My dog Billy

      Billy is a golden brown long haired Chihuahua. When my pug died early in January 2013 I was devastated. I knew Niky was sick and had been giving her twice daily diabetes shots for about a year. But when she could go on no longer I took her to the vet and together we put her down. It broke me doing that and I will never forget that raw emotion. Well not 5 days later my neighbor dragged my sorry ass down to the animal shelter here on Bradshaw road in Sacramento. I took one look at Billy and he filled my heart. He was 2 and a half years old then and now 13 and half years later Billy is 16. He has seen better days and is afflicted with physical problems like all of us older beings.
     But, and I say but, because he is still a happy little doggie. However, like with Niky, I know I am spending the last of his days with some dread. I am fortunate to have had him this long and I know he could very well keep going several more years. He has no obvious illness or terminal diagnosis. But like with Niky I am spending more time with him and making as much of his remaining days more at ease for him. This is the thing with our pets who are precious to those of us who get it. They help fill the loneliness in our lives with a unwavering loyalty and admiration that cannot be purchased.
     When the new dog or cat or whatever pet arrives the thought about how it will all end is not really considered. We just dive into the vast possibilities and enjoy the newness of our amazing relationships. But time has a way of making us come to the knowing of how things will or must end and it is the last thing we want to have happen. The mortality of those beings we want around us is constantly being challenged so despite when it occurs naturally we still feel the impending pain and loss. With Billy we are not there yet and hopefully I will get much more time with my little friend for life. With all the pets I have had and lost it has always been my absolute privilege to spend my life with them!

(#6364) Learning the how of why!

      It doesn't matter what the process, asking why is the first step. That way we can learn the how of it. If by then it makes sense then keep doing that process. If not then stop and change whatever is troubling about the process. Like most of us we see a troubling part of a process and want to change it but are too often faced with forces that do not want the process, whatever it is, to change. So then the question of why they don't want to change the troubling process emerges, and begins a new question of why. One why question about how a process works does wonders for our ability to think of ways that make it better if needed. From there we use our creativity to brainstorm a different and more effective solution.
     That is how logic works as well. We see something that can be improved upon and then go about the process of actually correcting the problem. If only our society would be rational about making things better for all instead of only making things better for some. I understand the dynamic of how you compromise your principles for some individual advantage but for me that is not honor nor a noble intent. It seems that honor and noble intent is not a value like riches and fame but that is in the eye of the beholder. My rationale for trying to be the best of what humanity has to offer is greater than my mere existence. I don't know the why of my existence but I won't compromise what it does mean to me.
     I know that is a bit cryptic but it makes perfect sense to me. It is all about what ifs, if you can allow me the consideration. That is me though. For all of us the better of our natures should be the rule and not the exception. Similar to the fairy tale call of the sirens causing the ships to crash on the rocks, the allure of wealth and fame is similar and just as infatuating. My values of learning and knowing stem from my insatiable curiosity. I want to know all there is within my ability to grasp the concepts. I admit I am not as sharp as I had hoped to be but I am not dull either. So as I keep questioning the why of things I continue to learn the how and that is where I can be useful when the how is insufficient to properly address all our needs.

(#6363) Our elections need to be protected from our capitalism and nefarious manipulation!

      Public financing of elections is the proper way forward. Where the candidates debate each other on the policies they envision. Currently we have straw men/women being promoted as candidates with money behind the scenes. Instead of a grassroots leaders arguing for his/her version of a fair and just democracy, we have groomed candidates of special interests flooding the airwaves with their pretzeled policies. Where name recognition is desired over the value of their opponents arguments. The unlimited money now that is allowed by the republican majority of our compromised not supreme court is undercutting too many grassroots candidates from ever getting any deserved traction.
     It isn't just unlimited and dark money either that is failing our democracy. It is laws like the compromised electoral college where the majority of votes in an election is subjugated to delegates in each state. Wherever the vote is being diluted from the voters through a secondary process that can deny the majority vote getter an election is where the will of the people is being dishonored and abused. No matter the reason for the electoral college although it is not an honorable one either, the purpose is to allow for a subversion of the one person one vote logic. As an example, both Al Gore in 2000 and Hillary Clinton in 2016 won the popular vote for president but neither was allowed the presidency because the electoral college gave their two republican opponents the presidency instead.
     There is only one political party fighting for equality in our elections and it is the democratic party. There is only one party fighting to maintain dark money and the electoral college in our elections and it is the republican party. For me this is the red line. Any party that is not on the side of one person one vote, or not on the side of public funding of elections is an enemy of democracy. No one who is an enemy to democracy will ever be viewed by me as anything other than that. We the people need honest and good hearted people running for elections. Not the current cabal of republicans who are just straw men/women for their moneyed masters.
     

(#6362) The threat to democracy is from the republican party!

      It is the republican party that is trying to disenfranchise those who are poor or married through costly identification documents. Not normal documents that we use everyday in our lives but ones like passports and original birth certificates which are expensive to attain. It isn't just getting the passport or birth certificate, it is getting the documentation needed to get either. Who does this effect? Well obviously the poor who would never need a passport in their circumstances. But the real group of people are the women who get married and change their last names to their husbands. Since their married names are on their drivers licenses, social security cards, current voter registrations, current US passports, Deed titles, Bank and other financial accounts, along with employment records. Married women face much harder and more difficult obstacles to having enough proof to change their current voting name to their original birth name.
     So it isn't just an extra cost, which is akin to a poll tax, that women have to bear. The federal minimum wage is still at $7.25 an hour so it would take a person on minimum wage nearly a weeks worth of work to have enough just to get the opportunity, not counting the extra cost of getting the documents necessary for proof, for the passport. The idea that republicans are addressing some major flaw in our voting is a lie since there is practically like 36 cases of voter fraud in the last 20 years with well more than a billion ballots cast. The numbers don't lie but obviously republicans do lie. Why would they lie you may ask? Well the reason is that a majority of these folks who would need enhanced proof of who they are vote for democrats.
     So in the final analysis it is voter suppression by republicans because they do not want to be judged by their value and worth. They want political power and are willing to deny your democratic rights to keep or attain it. It is that simple. We democrats on the other hand are not in favor of making voting harder for Americans. In fact we are working to make it more convenient for our citizens to cast a ballot. By extending mail in ballot periods previous to the election. Adding drop boxes in more locations for ease of use. In all facets of voting it is we democrats who encourage our citizens to vote. We would like to see 100% turnout for every election. Because democracy works best when all are readily able to participate!

(#6361) I love my country but hate what trump and republicans are doing to it!

      Like being between a rock and a hard place. My country is the hopes and dreams of the oppressed who seek freedom, liberty, and justice. It is also the home of the privileged who don't understand their own historical place within it. These two concepts are unfortunately in competition for what our future will be like. It just shakes me to my core when I see folks who think they are what America is and not what we each think our nation is for us. Their privilege is oozing from them in ways that make we want to vomit! It is a mind gone undeveloped. Their ideal of narrowness is in opposition with the expansiveness the rest of us demand!
     Each of us has a say in how we manifest our futures. In our private spaces we are welcome to live our pursuit of happiness without doing harm. In our public spaces we adhere to principles of democracy where each and everyone of us is equal in our being. Instead, in the public spaces, we are being herded toward the directives of others without our freedom and liberty to pursue with doing no harm. Anything that unjustly discriminates for one discriminates for all. So if laws are passed to curtail equality to conform to ideologies that we do not all hold then the nature of our government and society has been compromised. There cannot be laws that hold one ideal above another when both ideals are the same.
     I will truthfully admit that after I learned that trump was going to be president for the first time I seriously considered moving to Canada. Such was my utter gut punched feeling. But after a week or so I recovered from my guts painfully hollow void and reinvigorated myself into a determination to fight back against trump and his willful plans to uproot our democracy and install himself as a king. We, and I mean a vast majority of us fought back and won in 2018 and then again in 2020. We regained our democracy but were not careful enough to protect it again from trump. He is now doing his worst to finish what he failed to do in his first term. Again, I and the rest of we the people are fighting to once and for all put the chaos and destruction of trump in a place where it will never again become a threat. Happy 250th Independence Day!

(#6360) Packing the court and adding two more states!

     The opposition to trump and his republican cabal is to beat the hell out of republicans in 2028 and then show our determination by adding 4 more justices to the supreme court and finally bringing in Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico into statehood. There is much more like ending citizens united, national health care, and restoring control over their bodies to women, but at the top of my list is a correction to the heavily partisan supreme court and the lack of voting representation to nearly 4 million American citizens. Both are equally an imperative but if one had to be first I would want the court to be expanded as the highest priority.
     The conservative and maga influence on the court is outright shameful. Their intent to interpret established law through the eyes of donald trump is absurd and a disgrace to the heritage of the court. The court was also expanded back in 1869 to its current number. The pathway to expanding the court to 13 is available and should be the highest priority to the hoped for new democratic administration in 2028. At the same time, because we democrats are well versed in multitasking, the addition of Washington DC and Puerto Rico as the 51st and 52nd state should be prioritized. As current territories of the United States of America, these territories are not represented in Congress. They have representatives, (delegates and Puerto Rican resident commissioner) who attend Congress but are not allowed to vote on final passage of Congressional legislation.
     So in reality nearly 4 million American citizens have no say in the laws that they must abide by. That is absurd and must end as quickly as possible. Other American territorial entities must also be given workable and fair time frames for their statehood as well! The era of trump and his diseased politics is nearing an end so when 2028 comes around and that election is held the hope is that the democratic party will be well placed to seize the levers of government and with that the choices to improve the lives of all our citizens. It starts with reshaping the supreme court with a majority of objective minds instead of a current majority of subjective ones. It also starts with giving two territories the immediate right to representation under taxation that is the founding of our original 13 United States of America!

(#6359) We the people demand a better way of life!

      I don't mince words when it comes to we the people. We are every positive stripe of possible being. There is no boundary or restriction when it comes to the no harming pursuit of our happiness. We only exist to know the better and best of who we are and whom we will become. There is no limit to what our possibilities will envision as we are the most advanced civilization of beings to have ever existed in our vast knowable Universe. Nothing has shown itself as more intellectual nor humane in our cosmic domain. But we the people are not all in tune with the majesty of our existence. There are forces within our species who are less noble and principled to the community of humanity.
     It is those forces that are threatening the very evolution of our species beyond our current abilities. They are demented in their vision of not only humanity but of existence itself. It is as if they think all of existence is wrapped around their lives. They see themselves akin to what our sun is to our solar system. The center of all things. Well we the people are in need of a species reckoning. Our species is not dependent upon any one or handful of individual beings for our happiness. We only need each other to build our futures with equality, freedom, liberty, fairness and justice. Once our collective foundation for life is secure then our individual hopes and dreams can begin flourish!
     We the people have to secure the safe harbor of democracy to its fullest. Once our democracy is vaulted beyond nefarious interference is then when we can apply our own individual and/or collective merit and fortitude to create our moments in life that give us purpose. We all vary in our vision for our lives and that is the amazing beauty of we the people. We don't cookie cutter each other into shapes and forms that we decide. We experience true democracy and shape and mold our own lives as makes us happiest. There is no guidebook or rule to living, only perfecting our democracy and doing no harm, to then chase our most precious dreams and hopes. We the people demand the better and best for all of us!