I have a friend that insists that zero doesn’t exist. Get him going and he’ll argue about it for an hour. Get a few beers in him and he’ll argue until he passes out. There are two major differences between that argument and that the argument that people are only illusions. The first is that he makes a very good argument for his case. The second is that there’s a sly smile on his face the entire time he’s arguing it.
The SOTU turned out as expected, to be nothing more than a glorified Campaign address, replete with undeserved pomp and circumstance for our DOTUS. The Trumpublicans present, were chanting “4 more years” early on in the speech. Don John almost exclusively addressed his own people on the right side of the chamber. A few Dems walked out. Pelosi offered her hand to shake when Don John arrived on the podium. He acted as if he did not notice. (Pelosi had warned her Dems to maintain decorum. And they did for the most part.) Pelosi pointedly tore up her copy of the speech after Don John was done.
I say, good for her, showing, at least, some wee bit of disrespect to the DOTUS.
Tim: Pelosi offered her hand to shake when Don John arrived on the podium. He acted as if he did not notice.He noticed. He dismissed her. Trump is the lion king. Pelosi's place in the pride is over.
History will record the tearing of that speech to be one of the very few examples of courage when a politician publicly scorned the “lying king”. Though I must say I have renewed respect for Senators Manchin (W. Virginia), Jones (Alabama), and Romney (Utah) as it would have been much safer to shrink down to the safe option of voting against impeachment. Bravo Nancy, if I thought one person in a hundred would believe me, I’d swear she was my sister. History will applaud her gumption.
Genus Homo, you must be Sapien, because your assertions are wise.
I thank you for your comment Tim and for something much more important; your willingness and that of others to speak out in opposition to what’s happening in this country. I hope this national nightmare comes to an end in November yet I’m not sure if it will. Donald t Rump will do anything to get reelected. I will not be surprised if just prior to the election he announces his intention to nationally legalize marijuana because he knows it will garner huge numbers of voters who care about this issue. He knows democrats who are flat footed as usual on this question will be caught totally by surprise and if this bubble economy hasn’t collapsed by then as it eventually will and if enough votes in key states are stolen the fat liar may again have his way.
Not hindered by any scruples he will employ the same tactics that enabled him to secure the Republican nomination. He doesn’t care about seriously engaging on real issues. If he even bothers to show up at any debate with his Democratic opponent, his single objective will be to get the audience to laugh at his opponent because that is the only skill he knows in dealing with adversaries.
An amusing note for you, A Trump reelection office about a mile from where I live has a huge blue billboard near the road with large letters (TRUMP) on it was visited in the night by someone who painted over the letter T and so for a few hours it became the RUMP headquarters. I was tempted to do it myself but some enterprising, clearheaded, patriot beat me to it. There is hope yet for this country.
History will record the tearing of that speech to be one of the very few examples of courageSeriously? What was courageous about tearing up a piece of paper - wonderful theater, but same old, same old bullshit from the Democrats, indignation and fainting spells, then they get back up and back in line with the trumpeter's script. Republicans, the more they can upset Democrat sensibilities the more victorious they feel and are.
It’s nothing more than late time comedy news, or is it news comedy, that allows most to laugh off their frustrations and get to sleep. Then the next morning they get up empty, with nothing of substance to offer in defense of America’s democracy.
Symbolic acts can be very powerful and I would say impeachment is far, very far from offering nothing in defense of democracy. What did you expect her to do, take a club to the back of his head when she sat behind him?
Symbolic acts can be very powerfulYeah, for the losers. Yippy. Accomplishments are way more powerful!
I expected the Democrats not to act like idiots. Refusing to hear the Republican motion regarding Biden, was an insane act political suicide, they lost the country right there. After that meltdown, I couldn’t really watch any more of it. But not matter what the subsequent revelations, Democrats enunciate a concise case that their grassroots and understand, get behind and defend. Then two fuk’n lousy articles of impeachment. You f’n kidding??? What in the world were they thinking? That the rest of it was already normalized, so too hell with it?
https://www.needtoimpeach.com/impeachable-offenses/
The Kavenaugh hearing, not being capable of bringing back to Jury Prudence, and the impartiality standard of our court system. Or standing up and expose Lindsey as the pathetic screaming bigot who thinks he can get anything he want by bully people*, push him back ask him directly why he’s screaming - then ask him why they are brainwashing people into believing that two thirds of the country should be hated and feared.
*And by gum, he’s been absolutely correct so far. Gotten everything and more from the cowering inarticulate Democrats.
Why not directly confront their behavior???
Why not directly confront the Republican drum beat of bald faced fabrication instead of ducking and mumbling???
Why not ask them directly to their faces about their moral grounding and American principle of the balance of power???
Why not confront their God of the EGO, whom these people worship with totalitarian fervor - (while demanding our total obedience to their self-created image of god that is nothing less than an idol to averice) ???
While Democrats can’t enunciate trump’s atrocities to the American people - or start sending letters to constituent that help inform and engage, rather that the same old crappy boilerplate money begging - but nothing else from their grassroots. All the money in the world won’t help these apparently intellectually bankrupt politicians.
Worst the Democrats are just as incapable of accepting critique and learning from their mistakes as Republicans.
Trust me I’ve tasted their resentment of anything beyond white bread feel good feedback many a time. Been trying to talk about it for a while.
http://citizenschallenge.blogspot.com/2008/08/historic-snafu-in-need-of-revisiting.html
Come to think of it that might not be a bad idea, oh well too late now,
We’re doing our best green but fear and general ignorance, the two strongest allies of Donald Trump seem impervious to logic and reason. Fear is not hard to elicit from a person because it has an ancient evolutionary lineage whereas reason has a much more tenuous hold on the human mind and requires rational persuasion. One springs from a deep seated reflex for self protection and looks backward. The other is a product of intelligence and imagination and is forward looking. A backward path we’ve already traveled seems safer than one that leads us into places we’ve never been. That’s why wrestling matches are far more popular than ballet performances.
Thank you for posting Green.
Is it media in its many and varied forms or an obtuse and uninformed electorate? How can people who can’t even define the word socialism be so sure they’re opposed to it? The uninformed regard socialism as antithetical to individual freedom when in reality personal freedom is not possible without some measure of “socialism”. The term is easily obfuscated when conservatives link it to communism even though an enormous political chasm separates their proper meaning. Ask any Scandinavian if they think they live under communism and while you’re at it ask them if they’d prefer the American style of government.
We ALREADY HAVE socialism AND capitalism. T rump has provided socialism in his giving many $ billions to farmers for example. Tax money given to wealthy corporations, IS CORPORATE socialism. What we need is more socialism for the people who really need it.
Whoever wins the current Dem race, there have been strong gains for the future for the most liberal progressives. But this will all be lost if T rump is re-elected. In that event, T rump will consolidate his dictatorship and we will have (possibly irretrievably) lost any semblance of democracy.
If “the young” want Bernie to be POTUS, NOW is the time for them to manifest revolutionary levels of support for Bernie. It is time for them to show their political strength, NOW. He can be POTUS if they show up in hoards in all of the primaries still to be contested.
If, otoh, they are just going to send bands of vegans to attack Biden at his events, they might as well stay home, since Jill Biden will simply block them like she’s an MVP left tackle controlling a wannabe pass rusher.
Otherwise, if they don’t yet have the juice to get Bernie nominated, their best bet is to keep getting Dems elected until someone like AOC is ready to be POTUS.
So c’mon young people!!! Get Bernie nominated!!!
But if you don’t, you damned f’ing well better vote for Biden in the general. (Being passionate is insane if it causes you to do things that are destructive to you.)
Tim’s point about farmers is apt. How many of those mid-western true blue, red blooded Americans who spent their lives railing against the evils of “socialism” promptly and gladly cashed their government provided checks and saw absolutely no contradiction in doing so?
Our holdover paranoia from the cold war about communism and socialism is, in fact, fears about AUTOCRATIC communism or socialism. NOT DEMOCRATIC Socialism.
Autocracy (not socialism) is the enemy of democracy. From where lies the danger of the USA being an AUTOCRACY? That would be from our DOTUS (our above the law Dictator of the United States) who admires, looks up to, even falls in love with AUTOCRATS.
The hope is in the young who see through the cold war propaganda and prefer socialism over capitalismOf course those who lounge around on the couch, play video games and text 15 hours a day want lite beer, lite thinking, lite responsibility and lite communism. Their world is gimme land, a suburb of utopia. The young have no experience of earning the comforts mama and daddy have showered on them. They feel entitled.
They really believe there is a free lunch, they believe they have a right to it and anyone who tells them to get a job and earn their own living is just being mean.
Wow, that’s a pretty dismal view of America’s youth.
They really believe there is a free lunch, they believe they have a right to it and anyone who tells them to get a job and earn their own living is just being mean.Ya know, that's what they are saying about you and your generation. California had free college not that long ago. I paid $30 per credit. That same university is $230 today. Jobs were easier to get, good jobs. There were more unions and non-union jobs had to keep up with the benefits. I'm at the end of the baby boomers, so I felt the early effects of the generations that are doing worse than their parents, but the trend towards more worser is continuing.
What about the big corporate interests that are potentially in danger due to the emerging T rump recession? Do you not believe, for example, that our tax dollars will not be given to the airlines to keep them in business, if necessary? Corporate welfare is, also, socialism. But hey, we need to have airlines.
The arguments about socialism are bogus. Elements of socialism are simply a part of well functioning modern democracies. The arguments about capitalism are also bogus. The world functions on capitalism. It simply has to be prevented from doing willy nilly damaging exploitation of people and resources.
We have a govt with elements of socialism but grounded in capitalism. That’s the way it has been, is, and will be. Right now we ALSO have Autocracy embodied in our DOTUS. IOW, we are closer to having a govt like Venezuela with T rump in charge, because he is already a dictator (above the law). And he is willing to use any means that he can get away with to do what he wants. So if a bit of socialism is necessary in his trade wars, then we have a dictator who uses socialist practices.
And T rump is not a benevolent dictator. He is a Narcistic dictator.