Well, now it’s been even longer since I’ve posted anything new………………..

Still burnt out from the incessant insanity coming out of DC, and who hasn’t gotten deathly sick of listening to talking heads repeating the same on TV day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year?
er me gerd!

It’s amazing to me that every night (with some shining exceptions) so many of the anchors and “analysts” who appeared nightly on CNN and MSNBC for more than three years, endlessly mused about “why” Trump would do this or that, “why” his cronies would say this or that, or “what could possibly be the motive behind” their policies, positions, and actions.

A few are still doing that. Seriously people? Are you deaf, dumb, and blind? Why are you still looking for the logic in any of it, or the “strategy”? THERE IS NONE AND NEVER HAS BEEN. You have got to realize by now, in all truth, that Trump is a pathological, sociopathic narcissist, a con-man, grifter, and cheat. And he’s still surrounded by power-hungry, honor-free folk who will do literally anything to stay in their ill-gotten positions. Whatever is good and decent be damned if it gets in their way.
It is truly sickening.

But things are finally changing! Off the top of my head here are the names of a few shining guest speakers who forcefully speak the truth about what’s really going on (in alphabetical order):
Charles Blow
Michelle Goldberg
Chris Hayes
John Heilemann
Karine Jean-Pierre
Don Lemon
Lawrence O’Donnell
Joy Reid
Maya Wiley
Jill Wine-Banks

and last but absolutely not least these former “Repuglicans”:
Ana Navarro
Rick Wilson
Steve Schmidt
David Jolly
Rick Wilson

Now these outspoken Ex Military, CIA, NSA, FBI folks: Jeremy Bash, John Bolton, John Brennan, James Clapper, Michael Hayden, John Kelly, James Mattis, HR McMasters, Matthew Miller, Malcolm Nance, Paul J. Selva, Richard V. Spencer, former Sec of State Rex Tillerson and others, frequently appear on MSNBC and CNN in increasing numbers.

This August, 73 former national security officials and other GOP officials endorsed Joe Biden for president.
In Sept, 489 retired senior military officers, national security officials and diplomats also signed a letter endorsing Biden. These included 200 four-star generals and admirals; 22 four-star retired military officers; former Cabinet secretaries; 5 former defense secretaries; former secretary of state Madeleine Albright and former NASA administrator Charles Bolden.

All of this makes me feel better, but I’m still holding my breath. Can’t begin to imagine what living in this country will be like if Trump gets a second term…………..

Here’s a link to more:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Republicans_who_oppose_the_Donald_Trump_2020_presidential_campaign

Nothing’s changed regarding my signing every possible petition that I support, while daily keeping appraised of current events. But now that’s obviously not enough, and I need to express my extreme concern about the direction our country is headed.

It’s been so overwhelming over the last four years to witness the “baffling”, ill-informed, and destructive actions taken (and threatened) by this president on almost a daily basis. Even the purveyors of news, no matter what media, have largely been able to deal with just one or two issues at a time.
The grave danger in this is that we were not seeing the big picture: a pattern of behavior that threatens not only constitutional crises, but most disturbingly, a gradual takeover of our government by tyrannical and anti-democratic actions. It’s always been very clear that this president deeply admires the “strong men” of this world – tyrants and dictators who wantonly repress and even murder anyone who gets in their way. He has frequently made choices that reinforce his desire to be just like them. But now during this Presidential election, which he has clearly lost, these actions have intensified and multiplied to a horrifying pitch.

We must not be so “politically correct” that we hesitate to raise the alarm! In particular Congress, which was created in order to maintain our democracy and its balance of powers, has shirked its responsibility to do so, fearing this tyRANT’s unleashed revenge upon them. (Which ironically they have consistently enabled!)

Even a cursory review of history shows that we do this at our peril, and the idea that this “could never happen in America” must be rejected out of hand. Serious vulnerabilities in the balance of powers, and fragility of the “conventional” political behaviors we expect (but were never written into law) have now been starkly revealed.

The gravity of this situation was predicted in a book published earlier that included the opinions of 27 psychiatrists and psychologists (gleaned from hundreds of opinions according to the author). Their conclusion was that they had to speak, out of a duty to warn, because Donald Trump is dangerously mentally ill and presents a clear and present danger to the nation and our collective mental health. Even more recently another book, written by a CIA psychological profiler, delves deeper into Trump’s pathology, and paints an even more frightening picture.

There is, unfortunately, only so much we citizens can do on our own. But I hope at least you’ll contact your US Representatives and Congress-people and demand that they seriously confront this crisis.
If this insanity continues, we must be prepared (as I said in an earlier post) to put on our powdered wigs and shiny-black buckled shoes and start marching!

The NRA, in my opinion, is guilty of aiding domestic terrorism and wanton murder. Their gun-ridden hands are covered in blood. They and other such organizations should no longer be allowed to make political contributions – having horribly and persistently abused their right to “free speech”.

We are obviously such an immature country that we can’t manage to work out reasonable limits to such freedoms, especially the “right to bear arms” which is absurdly inappropriate for these times and extremely, dangerously, misinterpreted. It’s illegal to yell “fire” in a public gathering, drive without a license, not pay taxes (unless of course you are wealthy) etc. Seriously??

I do my best to support worthy causes, though I have not recently joined a march. However, the latest wanton slaughter and brave, out-spokenly honest mobilization of survivors from the high school in Florida, may just be what gets me to put on my best walking shoes (despite no shiny buckles). At any rate, I will at least be making a monetary contribution to their movement, despite doubts that it can make a lasting difference on the national scale. (Although quite impressively, they were able to move the sycophantic governor of Florida to enact some changes to their state gun laws.

If I’ve learned anything from the current political situation, it’s that our system of gov’t is not always the shining and effective model “we” have always claimed it to be. Our founders could never have imagined these irresponsible abuses of rights and power. They assumed persons elected to any highest office would (in general) be mature, responsible, thoughtful, logical, minimally corrupted, and actually capable of responding appropriately and readily to such crises. They also thought they had built in proper and effective safeguards for abuses of power that might occasionally arise. Oops……..

(Might also be time to cease claiming we’re “the best country in the world” – which is highly offensive to the rest of the world at any time, and downright embarrassing now.)

If our so-called “representatives of the American people” don’t do something REAL about the yearly slaughter of tens of thousands of individuals in this country they are nothing but barbarians and killers themselves.

The “causes and motives” of these killings that everyone on TV obsesses about become a distraction and an excuse to do nothing. Because let’s face it, no one seems truly capable of doing much about the profound societal causes.

What IS relevant is the AVAILABILITY of almost every kind of gun to virtually ANYONE who wishes to buy them. Background checks may sometimes help, but history shows that most of our mass killings are committed by people who DO NOT SHOW UP ON BACKGROUND CHECKS!

And the so-called “strict constitutionalists” conveniently ignore this vague language in the 2nd Amendment: “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” (seems there’s a part missing)

The persistent refusal by Congress to address a matter of such monstrous impact, is a gross dereliction of duty. THEY WORK FOR US, yet demonstrably do not feel any true sense of responsibility for our welfare. It’s apparent their only concerns are an irrational fear of the NRA and not getting re-elected.

It’s also obvious that the only thing that could change any of this is a massive citizen-based movement which no one will be able to ignore –
and that’s what the folks in Washington should really fear, if it ever happens…….

In my early 20’s I was a member of a local Socialist organization in San Francisco for a few years. Though I’ve since identified consistently as a Democrat I still believe in the fundamentally compassionate principles of Socialism.

It’s very frustrating that associated groups/people are so stupidly and broadly vilified here in the US. They get a bad rap because, I believe, the essential principles of Socialism and Communism were deeply compromised due to being instituted in places that were not sufficiently developed to support the system, and became corrupt and severe to compensate.

As Marx wisely pointed out: a society must be sufficiently developed for Socialist ideals to be fully realized. And though admittedly, the leaders of these social movements ignored his warning and really screwed up, no political system is ever perfect. So, in developed countries which understand all this, Socialist principles are embraced but modified to suit the realities of their particular societies. They consistently rate as the best places to live, and the happiest people in the world. Go figure.

In the US the Dems are the closest we get to a viable social(ist)- oriented party. At our core, unlike the Republicans, most Dems believe the principle role of government is not to protect our sovereignty and position of power at all cost, but to provide (social) services and overall support for our citizens. And the idea of building walls to keep out “unworthy aliens” is anathema.

Unfortunately all political principles are at risk here because of our ridiculous, long and expensive electoral process, blind devotion to the promises of capitalism, and pervasive lobbying! Faced with these challenges, most US politicians of all stripes seem to forget what their job is and who they actually work for. They are continually in campaign mode, trying to appeal to everyone they can in order to be re-elected. So rather than being the norm, solidly principled politicians are rare beings to be celebrated.

But sadly, like Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama, these individuals are more often labeled as “weak” because they aren’t blustering blow-hards with itchy trigger-fingers, and a propensity to ignore or minimize the history, norms, achievements, and perspectives of other nations. God-forbid we should ever try to learn anything from societies that have been gaining experience for thousands of years! No, we have to reinvent the wheel every time we’re confronted with a new challenge, because we think “we know better” than everyone else. But in reality we’re quite unsophisticated politically and socially. Seriously, we can’t even handle more than two parties, let alone a woman for president. “Sad”

I honestly consider “blogging” (in broad terms) to be a nasty business and generally a huge waste of time. But I may have it conflated with tweeting and all that nonsense which, I’m convinced, contribute massively to an alarming increase in self-absorbed narcissism and dumbing-down of our culture. (Witness the daily discharges of DJT.)

 I do love that these new venues for self-expression, accessible to virtually anyone, are very democratic, and that the availability and dissemination of information has so vastly expanded (if also dangerously fraught with inaccuracies, slander and falsehoods.)

There’s now so much free-for-all “sharing” out there that it’s overwhelming, and I feel quite lost in all of it. However, as I don’t want to depart this earth having left nothing behind, this is part of an effort to ensure that may not happen. So I shall persist, at least for awhile, until lack of inspiration, appreciation, or response overcome me……………then again, I must have some hope or I wouldn’t bother at all, and I am quite stubborn and tenacious – as anyone who knows me will gladly attest to.
So there’s at least a chance I won’t just turn to dust without leaving any other trace behind.

Climate change is obviously producing very negative effects in many areas of the world. Many parts of the US too, but fortunately not where we live in the Northwest – yet. Last night, I think it was, on the news they showed a weather map of the US – our tiny area on the map was very strangely the same color green as Florida and vicinity! The rest of the country was blanketed in white and other colors which indicated very bad weather.

I’ve decided to stop using the term “global warming” because right-wing crazies point to all the cold and snowy weather as “proof” that such a thing doesn’t exist. They are certifiable and don’t have a shred of sophisticated understanding of anything (though in their stoney little hearts they probably do realize their days are numbered, so they’re digging in their heels and throwing fits about anything that bodes of even a tiny bit of progress, change, or inclusion of anyone they deem “unworthy” (ie: poor folk, certain immigrants, people who don’t marry the right people, those who have the “wrong” religion or skin color.)

Sometimes I wonder if the human race will ever evolve to the point where we actually qualify to be called “civilized”? We’ve been around more than 100,000 years, but I’m called impatient by folks who believe we have made “a lot of progress” since the days of marauding conquerors and “barbarians”. They think we are evolving and excuse our barbarity because we’ve only been here a short time in the great span of things.

Um, really? We are still at war most of the time, or threatening to be; we still have many more nuclear weapons than anyone rationally can justify as deterrents; we still suffer thru the devastation that greedy corporations create at will; we obviously think nothing of wrecking our environment and exterminating other species, and even our own species. These are just a few of many examples of how primitive we still are, but those defenders of us humans stubbornly tout us as the vastly superior species. Yeah, whatever……………