Communicating

AMONG LIVE'S MOST FULFILLING experiences is meaningful communication. Meaningful communication with another sentient being, human or otherwise, with whom, for whatever reason meaningful communication is desirable. To finally feel the thrill of letting that feral cat or fox letting you get close to it. The first formal words spoken between new neighbors. A former friend from long ago, with whom you have been long estranged, finally sharing a pleasant word or two with you, even if you know it will never happen again. Thus must President Trump and North Korean supreme leader Un have experienced, must have felt something like this a few days ago when they shook hands at the border between North and south Korea, then walked a few feet into North Korean territory, and a few feet back into South Korean territory, making this the first time an American president has ever set foot inside North Korea. At least, we can hope they both felt that way; of the exhilaration of unexpected, successful communication, at long last consummated. For this, they both deserve credit. Even if the moment was purely staged, purely symbolic, purely theatrical, they both deserve credit, if noting else, for having done it, for having been there. It was enough to give the rest of us momentary hope, enough hope to hope that there might be mope, and the pensive wish that there had been more, sooner, between he two, with each other, and with many others, including us. Mr. Trump especially is well known for his normally ineffective communication, for his habit of slandering and insulting people, of engaging in barrages of verbal conflict with much of the rest of humanity, for his broken grammar, poorly constructed non sentences, and for his juvenile sounding phraseology. For him to simply shake hands with an adversarial world leader and to exchange a few civil sentences seems like a small step for one man, a giant leap for international diplomacy. The moment was fleeting, less than an hour, likely won't be repeated or enhanced, and, most obviously of all, entirely without substance. the truth is that Trump has accomplished very little with the North Koreans, let we lose sight, among all the smiles and handshakes, that the purpose is to convince Un to dismantle his nuclear arsenal, the ultimate purpose is to convince all nations to dismantle and destroy all their nuclear arsenals. Mr. Trump has come far, in a sense. He has come from hurling insults and threats at the North Korean leader to praising him as a person o whom he can talk, a person he likes. And might be much less than it seem.s Trump seems to have acquired the habit of destroying relationships, then repairing them, then giving himself credit for the repair work. What that means is that after all the bluster and fuss, he comes full circle, right back to where he was and should have been; with an opportunity for progress, but no real progress to show for it. Trump is no closer to disarming North Korea, nor anybody else in the world, than he was when he took office, no closer than Obama, Clinton, or any other American president ever was. What he has accomplished so far is nothing but symbolic bluster, with no tangible results. But who knows? maybe, just maybe, out of all the sound and fury, when all the hot air has finally died down, Trump will have accomplished the noble cause of making the world a tiny bit more peaceful and safer. At this point such a prospect seems little closer than ever, and indeed seems highly doubtful. but, who knows?

Asking Bob About Bob

I DISLIKE AMENITIES. There must have been a time when I was civilized, but that time is lost in the distant mists of memory, buried beneath decades of encroaching cynicism. Amenities are of the utmost importance, and, as the late great author Mr. Robert Heinlein pointed out, a sure indication of civilized society. When amenities vanish, so goes civilization, just as clean public restrooms become dirty as civilization declines, as Heinlein pointed out. I still refer to everyone, even children, as "ma'am" and "sir". I say "please", "thank you", and all the rest assiduously, and am assiduously courteous. I have great difficulty calling anyone older than I by his or her first name, preferring "mister" and "missus", even when people, as most people do, object to it, because I was raised that way. Most men seem to resent being referred to as "sir", although the ladies in general do not seem to object to being mammed. Were I to address my extreme elders, few though they are and becoming fewer, by their first names, my mother and father would strike me down from heaven, so I am caught, as it were, 'twixt a rock and a very difficult place. So maybe I shouldn't say that I do not like amenities, but I should say that I often do not ask people how they are, especially the people I see every day. If I see you every day, I am sure as hell not going to ask you how are you today every day. In that sense, I do not like amenities, probably because exchanging inquiries concerning mutual welfare on a daily basis seems to me...superfluous, insincere, shallow. Usually it seems to me that people asking me how I am are merely complying with social etiquette or trying to think of something to say rather than expressing a sincere interest in my well being. Of course, I'm wrong. More precisely, my pet peeve concerns the manner of their asking. During the past few years, it has become, I'm sure you have noticed even if you don't realize it, fashionable, faddish to inquire into people's well being in the third person. So powerful is faddish behavior in America, so imitative are humans generally, that the behavior has swept across the land, or at least across my part of the state, like proverbial wildfire. My name is "Bob". (Hi, my name is Bob! What's your name!?!). Ninety percent of the time nowadays, when someone approaches me and asks how I am, instead of saying "how are you?", he or she says "How's Bob?", speaking to me in the third person as if I weren't there, as if the person were asking someone else about me. It has come to the point where I always respond smart assily. I usually say: "I have no idea. I haven't spoken to him." Often I say "Why don't you ask him?". You wanna talk to me as if I am not present, I'll talk to you as if I aint present. The people who seem to think they are quite clever in inquiring about someone else in the third person never seem to think my third person responses are clever, particularly when, in a particularly clever state of mind, I say something like "I have no idea how Bob is. I never talk to the son of a bitch." People usually rephrase the question, in the second person, peevishly. Well, fuck 'em. Sometimes I explain to people that language is a very limited, inadequate means of communication, fraught with vagueness, inaccuracy, all manner of confusion, but that its the only game in town, and that therefore it is absolutely essential to have rules of language, and to have an agreed upon proper way of using the language, any language. If you're one of these people who doesn't know the difference between "your" and "you're", and most people are, or one of these people who uses the word "don't" when one should use the word "doesn't" - and most people are - then you have no business trying to become clever when asking me how I am doing. And indeed there is a direct correlation between people who don't know shit from shinola about proper grammar asking how are you in the clever third person. Inevitably, they are the same people. If "your" one of them, consider this: First, learn the basics, then become clever. And the next time you see me, just ask me how I'm doing, even if you don't care, and leave the "How's Bob" crap in the corner of your clever mind, with all the other linguistic nonsense and ignorance.

Inventing Religion

I AM FORTUNATE to have been parented as I was. Both my grandmothers were born in the late nineteenth century, both were devout Christians, both wore dresses to their wrists and ankles every day, under all circumstances. They both, had they had the opportunity, would have tried to force the Christian religion upon my sister and me, I am certain. I can't prove it, but I strongly suspect that my parents strongly admonished them that they were not, under any circumstances, to ever attempt to influence my or my sister's religiosity. They never did, and for that, I am grateful. Every human being should be allowed to invent his or her own religion, unhindered by external coercion. There are ample opportunities for role models and guidance. Any devout christian who wants children to be raise as Christians undoubtedly has faith that the lord and Christ will make it happen, without human help. Any parent who tries to force children to be Christians, or to be any other religion in particular can be justifiably accused of child abuse. Goethe said it best: "When I realized that everyone invents his own religion, I decided to invent mine." When I was twenty eight years old, under the influence of hallucinogenic drugs, I started believing in God. To this day, I still do. My religion is best summed up by a quote from Einstein: "My religiosity consists in humble admiration of the infinitely superior spirit which reveals itself in what little we, with our weak and transitory understanding, can comprehend of reality. I cannot conceive of a personal God who would sit in judgment over creatures of his own creation. Morality is of the highest importance, for mankind, not for God". I have never encountered a more beautiful statement of religious faith, a more sublime religious creed. When I was young, I absorbed through society the notion that to be a Christian made a person superior to people who were not Christians. I finally, as I grew older, realized that this is not true, that there is no reason to believe that it is, that the quality of a person's character was unconnected to a person's religious beliefs. actually, studies indicate that in general atheists and agnostics tend to be better people, morally, that deeply religious people. Recent studies also indicate that extreme religious fervor is a from of brain damage, damage to the frontal cerebral cortex, causing cognitive impairment, resulting in abnormally rigid and lack of creative thinking. My personal experience tends to make me agree with both these theories. Religion is associated with reverence for authority figures and deeply entrenched systems of thought, social organization, and patterns of behavior. Religions, all organized religions, tend to be rigid, unaccepting of change, and tend to resist new knowledge. At one time the Christian religion refused to accept that the world is a sphere. then it tended to resist teh notion that the Earth revolves around the sun. Even today it tends to resist the fact that human beings evolved from other forms of life, preferring to believe that a creator formed people out of dirt. this pattern of behavior causes me to believe that devout Christian are not my intellectual equal, but rather, are inferior. Any system of thought which refuse to accept reality must of necessity be considered inferior. Fundamental, evangelical Christians are even now revealing their moral and intellectual bankruptcy by their widespread support of an American president who is almost certainly a sexual predator, and is beyond dispute a pathological liar, a cruel man who hordes personal wealth and exhibits nothing but contempt and hatred towards anyone who fails to show admiration for him, and towards people who have the temerity to disagree with him.Anyone who has read the entire bible cannot fail to notice the barbaric, psychotic behavior of the Biblical deity. Their poor judgment may therefore be attributed to the fact that they have been influenced by too many poor role models, and not enough good ones.

Accepting Supporting Trump

IT CAN BE ARGUED rather easily and convincingly that Donald Trump is a traitor, guilty of treason. The argument would be predicated upon his refusal to acknowledge, let alone take action against climate change, which according to the Department of Defense is the greatest threat to the United States. Another argument would involve Trump's tacit collusion with Russian operatives during the presidential campaign of 2016. Arguments in favor of Trump's impeachment are too numerous to mention here, and are well known to everyone. The various manifestations of Trump's criminal behavior, and of his immorality, are so numerous, and have been described so many times, and with so little effect on both his supporters and detractors that they hardly seem relevant. By this time, those who support Trump do so with such fervor, in an almost cult like fashion, that it is almost impossible to imagine any revelation of information which might dissuade them from their loyalty. Trump put it best when he said that he could shoot someone down in cold blood on fifth avenue without losing the support of his base. Trump is no idiot; by making such astute comments he displays a rather deep understanding of basic human nature, deeper than most of his political enemies, and this understanding has allowed him to speak and behave in exactly the way necessary to retain the support of his supporters. If anything, the support of his supporters has deepened during his presidency. One Trump supporter recently said that no matter how often he lies, she will continue to support him, and that says it all. Trying to persuade people to abandon their leader is useless, as all who despise Trump must at some point come to accept. Nor need anyone continue to be shocked and outraged by the fact that an overwhelming percentage of American's devout Christians form Trump's core constituency. Trump's political enemies must take solace in the apparent fact that a majority of Americans voted for Hillary Clinton, do not support Trump, and that there is a large segment of the American electorate which is independent, does not have strong feelings either way, and can still be convinced to join forces in opposition to the MAGA agenda. If someone truly believes the nonsense that America had fallen from greatness before Trump was elected, but has snow become great again - as his supporters do - during his presidency, they are beyond the reach of reason; their loyalty is a visceral emotional response, and cannot be altered. All that remains to the anti-Trump crowd is to not lose hope, and to keep hammering away at the facts. One fact is that thousands of children are being imprisoned under miserable, inhumane conditions in the United States. Another fact is that when Trump became president, America was at peace with Iran, and now war seems imminent. North Korea is no closer to ridding itself of its atomic bombs than it was when Trump took office. More facts adhere. Trump inherited a strong economy from Obama, and there is no sound economic statistical evidence that it has measurably improved further under Trump. All over the world, governments and citizens of other nations despise Trump, and do not hesitate to say so. Trump, by openly disdaining international cooperation in favor of American independent policies, has driven a wedge between America and most of her closest allies. These facts are irrefutable, and they are not desirable. And perhaps the most salient fact of all; those who support Trump now are morally complicit in his behavior, and, like Trump himself, will have to live with the effects of their actions, just as we all must. For this, they are not to be envied.

Punishing Children

BEFORE WORLD WAR TWO, the border between Mexico and the United States was essentially open. There was no mass migration between the two countries, no fear of Mexico sending rapists and murderers north, and drug trafficking was of little concern, since there was no evidence of any great demand in the U.S. for illicit drugs of Mexican manufacture. The border was maintained quietly, and it was relatively easy for people to move back and froth between the two countries. World War Two changed all that. The fear was that the Germans might try to infiltrate the United States with paramilitary operatives, who could potentially do great damage. The Zimmerman telegram of world War One was still quite recent, in which World War One Germany had attempted to enlist mexico to instigate a war against the United States, but failed. Meanwhile, the United States, beginning under President Theodore Roosevelt, undertook a foreign policy in which it claimed the right, based partly upon the Monroe doctrine, to "police" Latin American countries, which in reality meant to economically exploit them. The twentieth century thus became a series of revolutions staged by American operatives throughout the region, in which duly elected socialist governments were replaced with dictatorships amenable to American corporate investment and exploitation. "The Tragedy of American Diplomacy", a seminal 1959 monograph by Wm. A. Williams, is still relevant. By 2007, there were actually more people crossing into Mexico from the United States than crossing into the U.S. from mexico, but the great recession of 2008 intensified northward refugee migration, as economic conditions worsened in Latin America even more than they did in the United States. There have been periodic mass deportations of illegal Mexican migrants from the united States. One, in the nineteen thirties under FDR, another in the nineteen fifties under Eisenhower, and most recently, under Obama, in which approximately two and a half million people were deported. The most drastic change in recent years has been under Trump, under whom the "zero tolerance" policy included the most inhumane treatment of asylum seekers yet: the separation of children from their parents at the border. Under extreme pressure, Trump finally signed an executive order eliminating this brutal practice, but the paperwork was sloppy, and to this day there are reportedly thousands of children who have yet to be reunited with their families, and thousands more being detained under cruel and inhumane conditions in detention centers. Recently the Trump administration argued in federal court that such children do not require basic hygienic necessities, such as blankets, proper nutrition, and blankets. Among the many false claims made by the Trump administration is that the practice of separating children from their families was begun under Obama. In fact, under Obama, children who sought asylum were detained only if they appeared at the border alone; they could hardly be allowed to roam freely in the United States, without care or supervision. Under Obama, families were not torn apart. Many Americans have seen the heart breaking videos of children, torn by trauma, screaming and crying for their parents. No decent person could possibly be unmoved by these images. Of all the arguably inhumane practices and policies of the Trump administration, and there are many, this is perhaps the most egregious. Every American should be ashamed that this has taken place in this country. Most of the "illegal immigrants' were merely seeking to be free from the grinding pervasive poverty in their own countries, and properly approached ports of entry, seeking asylum from conditions created, ironically, by the economically predatory practices perpetrated throughout Latin America by the United States, referenced above. A further irony is that president Trump's strongest base of support comes from the evangelical Christian community, which largely supports Trump's policies, and which seems to have forgotten to read the Bible, and to assimilate the teachings of Jesus into their personal belief systems.

Trading Places

PRESIDENT TRUMP was cocked, half cocked, fully loaded, ready to go. Then, within ten minutes of launching an airstrike he had already ordered, he decided to inquire into the likely number of fatalities which would be inflicted by said attack. The number came back, one hundred and fifty, sir. Off was called the airstrike, and Iranian missile launching and radar installations were spared. One must, after all, behave "proportionately". The airstrike is on, the airstrike is off, like some sort of board game. The unanswered white elephant in the room is: why didn't the president simply make the likely casualty inquiry before ordering the military action in the first place? Could it be that our president is capable of behaving impetuously? Is it possible that our leader fails to adequately consult his military advisers before taking action, then reversing the action? When one considers that the United States currently has no Secretary of Defense, it becomes possible. The previous Secretary of Defense, acting, as nearly all of Trump's cabinet level positions are filled by actors, left town the other day amid accusations that he demonstrated an alarming pattern of launching aggressive strikes against his oft assaulted wife. For a president who has bragged that he can treat a woman any way he chooses because he is rich and famous, an assault oriented Defense Secretary would seem appropriate. When a nation elects a person as its president who was previously a high rolling real estate gambler, that nation might expect its president to behave in unpredictable, precipitous, vacillating ways. Suppose that a foreign country maintained a network of over eight hundred military bases around the world, launched and engaged in a never ending series of foreign wars of aggression for the stated purpose of promoting liberty, virtue, and democracy, but for the actual purpose of plundering the resources of other nations and making those countries safe for foreign corporate investment, and regularly flew spy planes within a few miles of the borders and shore of this, the United states of America. Further suppose that this foreign power had substantial military assets stationed within a few miles of the United States, had recently withdrawn from an international treaty which limited and eliminated nuclear weaponry of the United states, and was imposing crushing economic sanctions on the U.S. Then suppose that on at least one occasion this foreign power had facilitated the overthrow and replacement of the United States government, and its replacement with an American government specifically chosen for its amenability to the foreign exploitation of its mineral resources. You might possibly expect not only the American people but the American government to be a wee bit resentful towards this foreign power, and irresistibly tempted to shoot down a drone or two. Suppose you are given a choice between believing what the Iranian government says about the location of the drone which was shot down, and the version emanating from the Trump administration. This is not a hypothetical. You have a such a choice; between the Iranians, or believing Donald Trump. Dare you ask which of the two has the greater tendency to prevaricate, early and often? When one often yells "fire!" in a crowded theater, but the theater never burns down, one might expect that the time will come when the yelling will be ignored, and the yeller will no longer be believed, under any circumstances. Of this we may be certain: Trump did not call off the attack because he has compassion for Iranians who would die from it; he did so because someone, perhaps Vladimir Putin, had the good sense to remind him that a war with Iran would isolate the United States completely from the civilized world, and that Trump has no support from America's former allies. Also, the military would normally have given Trump as estimate of probable casualties before the airstrike was ordered. On this occasion either this did not happen, or Trump ignored what he was told. Either way, his story does not add up. As a former mayor of New York City once said: I wouldn't believe a word Donald Trump says if he had his tongue notarized.

Discerning Patterns

THE FACTS in the case are well known. In April, 1989 a young woman was brutally raped while jogging in Central park. Aside from the fact that it is not wise to jog, or to do anything else in Central park at night, it was a night during which numerous people were assaulted. Half a dozen young men of color were arrested, tried, and convicted for the crime, having confessed under interrogations, then later recanting the confessions. Upon appeal, the convictions were upheld, and they all spent several years in prison. During their trials, middle aged real estate wheeler dealer Donald Trump, whose own dubious behavior towards women would later come to light, took out a full page ad in the new York Times which proclaimed the young men guilty, and demanded justice. In 2002, a serial rapist, from prison, confessed to having committed the crime, and his confession proved true due to a perfect match between his DNA and the semen found in and near the rape victim. The wrongfully convicted men, having already served time, were released from prison, and later sued both the city and the state of New York, and won large sums of compensatory damages. In the event you are waiting to read that Donald Trump took out another full page ad in the Times expressing egret for his first full page ad, don't bother. It never happened. Such behavior is not part of Trump's character, and can never be expected from him. Eventually Trump became president, and said that not only was he not sorry for having jumped to conclusions, but that he still believes the "central park five" as they came to be called, were guilty. This, in spite of indisputable DNA proof to the contrary. Patterns become apparent. Donald Trump refuses to accept the findings of science, even when such findings are irrefutably proven, when they do not mesh with his personal opinions and prejudices. Donald Trump refuses to admit mistakes on his part. Donald Trump lives in his own reality, quite apart from anything remotely objective. No matter how cruel, unjust, and harmful to others the behavior of Donald Trump, he steadfastly refuses to acknowledge even the slightest hint of error, instead exhibiting a pettiness so great that it boggles the minds of decent people. Patterns emerge early in life. Most of what we are, we are by the age of five. After that, our personalities are fairly well established. Donald Trump has been lying, harming people, and doing so with no trace of self doubt for decades. As a former mayor of New York City once said: "I wouldn't believe a word Donald Trump says if he had his tongue notarized". Trump's time as president has been a ceaseless cascade of pathological dishonesty, vicious insults hurled at good people, and behavior no proper gentleman could possibly condone, let alone engage in. Not only is Trump not a proper gentleman, he is not a decent human being, and this assessment is based not on personal animus towards him, but rather, on rock solid, verifiable fact. That after over than two years as president he still enjoys a considerable degree of support among the American people says a great deal about the American people, and it is not good. The life and presidency of Donald Trump will eventually come to be regarded as one of the great tragedies of American history, along with slavery, and the genocidal extermination of an existing civilization, along with persistent, widespread poverty in a nation of abundant wealth, along with a history of wars of aggression instigated on false pretenses for nothing other that the conquest of foreign nations and the plundering of foreign resources. The amount of arrogance and pride the United States has in itself is one of the great miracles of human history, considering all that, considering the truth, considering the enduring popularity of Donald Trump among a significant percentage of the tragically misguided American people.

Explaining Things to My Guatemalan Neighbor

I HAVE A FRIEND who lives across the street from me who is from Guatemala. He came here several years ago, and is a naturalized citizen, legal papers and all. I mention this only to assuage the rising anger of conservative evangelical Trump supporting Christians, who seem inclined to "welcome the stranger" only if the stranger is a person of light skin pigmentation from Norway, which is apparently Donald J. Trump's favorite foreign country. Never mind that most of the western half of the United States rightfully belongs to Mexico, from which it was stolen in 1846, the first of America's blatantly trumped up wars of aggression for the sake of territorial expansion, but certainly not the last. In a nutshell, the "illegal" immigrants pouring across the border from mexico can accurately be said to merely be reclaiming what they might call "the occupied territories". Only, they aren't pouring across the border. More folks are heading south than north, as Americans flee into Mexico for sundry reasons, among them drugs, bargains, and reprieve. America, alas, is a stolen country. My Guatemalan neighbor asked me whether it is true that President Trump and his vast hordes of supporters wish to deport millions of people who are living in the U.S. undocumentedly, and I said, yes, they so wish. Even as he launches his reelection campaign, which he actually launched the day after he was inaugurated, his orangeness has explicitly expressed his determination to so do, notwithstanding the impossible logistics involved. I didn't stop talking. I explained to my friend Jose exactly why he came to America, as if he didn't know. I explained that Guatemala is a country immersed in turmoil and poverty today for one, and only one reason; the United States of America. I talked about the year 1954, President Arbenz, the United Fruit Company, John Foster Dulles, IKE, the CIA, and the rest, as they say, is history. As Casey Stengel, the eminent historian and philosopher once said: "you could look it up". Never question the power or the willingness of the American corporate oligarchy to seize wealth from the teeming poor of other nations. I didn't want to talk about James Madison, but felt I had to. Little Jemmy, who stood five four and dressed in all black every day, which means he would have fit in well with the nineteen nineties, never for a moment intended to design a democracy, which anyone who bothers to read his document can readily see. My Jose, you see, thought that when he left Guatemala he was leaving behind a third world country wherein a charismatic strong man of a petty tyrant can come to power, with the blessing of the masses of men who lead lives of quiet desperation. He confided that he has since discovered that he was dead wrong. Donald J. Trump, he continued, reminds him precisely of a petty Latin American dictator, one such as might rule Guatemala. I jokingly remarked that considering what he got himself into by coming here, he may as well have stayed put in Central America, but that, on the whole, I am quite glad he didn't, because, after all, he is not wealthy, and the greater the number of non wealthy people in America, the greater the chances of there occurring a revolution of the sort Thomas Jefferson suggested would be necessary once every generation to procure and retain the blessings of liberty, such as they are here in the fun house that is our purely cosmetic in appearance only American democracy.

Protesting

I WAS RAISED by conservative parents to be a member of the establishment. That didn't work out. In the first grade I became a Yankee fan, and never recovered. In western movies i rooted for the Indians. As the Viet Nam war dragged on and on, I got the impression that it would never end, would be with me my entire life, and that I had therefore learn something about it, and form an opinion about it. After the big North Vietnamese offensive in early 1968 Walter Cronkite convinced me what I had already begun to suspect: that there would never be an american victory. By then I had already decided that the hippies and college students protesting the war on television every night were correct, and that those disparaging them for "unpatriotism" were wolves dressed as sheep. I wanted to join a protest, but understood that it was no place for a thirteen year old. I kept my opinions to myself. For over twenty years I wondered whether I would ever get another chance to protest an unjust american war, with conflicting feelings. I got my chance in 1991, when President George bush the first invited Saddam Hussein to invade Kuwait, then, when Saddam did exactly that, responded with feigned indignant outrage, military force, and death. Five hundred of us walked through a college town - I was an instructor at the university - and one of my students saved my life by getting between me and some super patriotic red neck who called me a "traitor". I was carrying a flag and a hand made sign which said "no war for oil". Like the Viet Nam protesters, we were on the right side of history, and humanity. Now I'm starting to wonder whether I might yet get another chance. America, under the criminal trump, is at it again. if there is a military strike against Iran, I'll be back out on the street, even if the street is in front of my house in my quiet middle class neighborhood. I would need to secure another flag, and decided what my sign would say. Dump Trump? We Are the Bad guys? First, Trump reneged on an america commitment, a perfectly good international treaty with Iran, reimposed sanctions, and inflamed the conditions for war. who know who attacked the oil tankers? The united States deliberately provoked war in 1846 and lied about it. The United States deliberately provoked war in 1898, and lied about it. the united States deliberately provoked war in 1964, and lied about it. The United States deliberately provoked war in 1990, and lied about it, then again in 2003. Everyone except the United States says that the evidence that the oil tankers were attacked by Iran is dubious at best, non existent as worst. Its time to start looking for bargains on flags, cardboard, and magic markers. I suspect that, if push comes to shove, fellow travelers will not be hard to find.

Bringing Out The Good

A BUS LOAD of senior centerians, on its way back from a farmer's market excursion, I'm there to help watch over an eighty six year old in poor health but still able to shuffle around the square. In the seat in front of me, an eighty eight year old is talking to an eighty year old, about the holocaust. the eighty year old, an evangelical right wind extremist, of of those, says to his elder, I swear: "It could happen happen here to. The democrats are pushing it." I swear that's what he said. For a moment I wondered whether I had dropped acid before breakfast, then forgotten about it, or losing my hearing, and having auditory hallucinations. Then I almost started hoping for either option. I slowly accepted the reality that this sort of insane notion is exactly what one of these extreme evangelical right wing nut cases would actually believe, or pretend to, or try to. Then there's the lost cause southern sympathizer at the center who said that FDR and Lincoln were the two "sorriest" as he put it presidents ever. I have to put up with a lot of that, but, so does America. These people seem to have no idea how low they have sunk, how deranged they are, and how horribly wrong to proclaim themselves "Christians' while fully supporting Trump, and either embracing, agreeing with, or ignoring all his horrible nonsense. Donald J Trump, as president and as a person, is the antithesis of Jesus, his teachings, and behavior, and all these extremely zealous tongue speaking fanatic Christians know it, unless they are severely mentally challenged, which some of them must, according to statistical reality, be. Extreme religious zealotry and extreme conservatism are forms of, caused by brain damage, new research seems to indicate. They do not really believe that the Democratic party wants an American holocaust, or that all the investigation of an questions about Trump are "witch hunts", or nothing but fabricated accusations, or that Trump is innocent of any wrongdoing. No reasonably intelligent, honest, sane person could believe any of those crazy right wing fantasies. But the followers and supporters of Trump, like Trump himself, do not like reality, so they fabricate their own version, without any regard whatsoever to the verifiable, objective reality all around them. Trump supporters have long since revealed their dishonesty, and inability to accept and form rational opinions about reality. We are left with the horrifying conclusion that as much as forty percent of the American people are criminally insane, or at the very least seriously mentally ill. The fear and anger among them is palpable. So are the arrogance and narcissism. Its like we've been told: Trump isn't the cause; he's a symptom, a symptom of the condition of American society and culture, of the american people. Our best hope is our knowledge is that people are complicated. Somewhere inside these self made deplorables are the qualities we seek from within everyone: intelligence, honesty, and reason. Our task is to find ways of bringing them out.

Coming Clean

AT THE SENIOR CENTER, where anything that can happen does, dude comes walkin' in about lunch time wearing a brand new bright red ball cap with the message "keep america great:Trump 2020". i was shocked, though I shouldn't have been. His name, after all, is, believe it nor not, "Bush", but, unlike Barbara, obviously didn't leave the Republican party because the rise of Trump. I've known him a long time, he's sort of a friend of mine. No, neither of us said anything. I tend to think that he has seen the "Unfit to serve: Impeach Trump" bumper sticker on my car, and that he knows its mine. I quickly figured out; that's going to be their gimmick, isn't it? To try to reelect the great reprobate by claiming that, somehow, during Trump's first term, America has regained its greatness, because of Trump. I hadn't really thought about it, because its nearly too weird to even contemplate, but its all quite clear now. We the still sane people of America must never underestimate these Trump people. They can do almost anything, and are quite willing to. These are people who so despise the progressive movement that they are perfectly willing, even happy, to follow a leader who was helped getting elected by Russia, knew about it the entire time, and welcomed the help. If that isn't treason, we should redefine "treason". For that, if nothing else, this president should be impeached, removed from office, indicted, tried, convicted, and incarcerated. Although I have no intention of discussing politics with conservatives in the future, I wish at least one among them would suddenly muster up the honesty and integrity necessary to acknowledge Trump's constant lies, condemn him for it, and also say something disapproving of his generally ungentlemanly behavior. I can understand somebody supporting Trump's policies, but I cannot understand why nobody who supports him seems to care about his horrible personal moral character. The fact that they don't mind it indicates that they share it. If you voted for Trump you made a silly, and terrible mistake. If you paid attention to his behavior during his presidency, and either ignored it or failed to condemn it, perhaps you should question your political and moral priorities. If you support him at this point, you're morally bankrupt, no better than he. The evangelical Trump supporters, the most disgusting of them all, think they have created a clever response to their support of Trump: they have forgiven him for his sins, as Christ forgives us all, under certain conditions. That, of course is as phony, dishonest, and pernicious as they are. The evangelical Christian community tries to justify their support of Trump, because they know perfectly well what everyone knows; they can't.What Trump has said and done during his entire presidency has almost invariably been exactly the opposite of Christian values, and all Christians, even those who support him, know it. What the right wing Bible bangers want is not Christian values, but a return to a patriarchal, white male dominated society, supported by a theocracy, a return to the past, which is exactly what Trump and all his supporters want. The fact that they will never achieve their goal will cause them to act out their anger in violence for a time, before expiring, exhausted.

Resisting Progress

FIFTY YEARS AGO homosexuality was a crime. The worst insult was "queer". Now, gay folks marry with the approval of the American legal system. Fifty years ago African-Americans were marching and rioting not for any sort of equality, which everyone knew was impossible, but for decent treatment. Even with all the racism in American today, the situation is much better than it was fifty years ago. In today's America, racists are at least sufficiently ashamed of their racism to tend generally to conceal it. Wives were the chattel property of husbands. Now, women are continuing the long process of gaining gender equality, and are rapidly moving in large numbers into the ranks of our political leaders. So, America not only is changing rapidly now, it always has tended to change rapidly, being a vital, volatile, turbulent and extremely creative culture. And in America, the change has always tended towards progress, towards better attitudes, better ways of doing things. The trend, the arc of justice, has indeed been gradual, and sluggish, but it tends towards gender equality, acceptance of diverse sexuality, more cooperative economics and stronger community structures, more, not less, international cooperation. The trend of American history is to move from the traditional to innovation, to change, to progress. This is why Trump and the current incarnation of the conservative Christian movement, as embodied in the Republican party, is in dire peril of becoming extinct. Every year, more and more Americas accept the reality of man made climate change. Its embarrassingly slow, but its happening. And I hate to break it to you followers of Jerry Falwell Jr. and Franklin Graham, you millions of right wing evangelical Christians: the gay folks are out of the closest, and here to stay. you tried to exterminate them, you failed, so, give it up. Its becoming a more liberal, progressive world, despite the recent epidemic of extreme right wing populism sweeping through the western world. That will burn out, soon enough, thank the lord. Ultra nationalism is as outdated as religion, free market capitalism, and all the other conservative sacred cows. Repairing the damage from climate change, eliminating all disease, establishing sustainable, efficient, effective economic systems with reasonable living standards and equality.....all of these are doable goals for human kind over the next half century, if we simply stop arguing bout it, and start doing it. For that, what is required is a outcry by the billions of the world's poor, demanding all the above.

Surprising Sanders

WHEN I FOUND OUT that Bernie Sanders would be attending the annual Wal Mart shareholders convention, I had mixed emotions. Shock and surprise, mostly. A Good healthy does of joy and excitement. No small amount of fear and dread. heart pounding anticipation. Strong, mixed emotions. I had no idea. I never woulda thunk it. Bernie Sanders, the king of the champions of the working class, inserting himself ins the very bosom of stock owning, corporate capitalistic America! I immediately started trying to imagine the details. had he been invited? Was he responding to an invitation, or was he intending to go in protest? Would he be allowed inside the building, or would he be limited to screaming through a megaphone at a few dozen protesters bearing signs saying Pay the workers! If he were allowed to speak to the assembled multitudes of upper middle class share holders twenty thousand strong, what, on Earth would he, could he say? Let's keep those profits soaring? how would he be received, a flaming socialist in the midst of the land of material wealth for profit? When I mentioned the event to a friend, my friend said "He'll be outside. They'll never let him inside the building". It turned out that Sanders was indeed allowed inside, had been invited, gave a speech, in which he said "You might think that any family with one hundred and seventy billion dollars could afford to pay its workers a living wage"...and got cheered. Not a frenzied, maniacal MAGA Trump-Hitlerian cheer, or anything like that, but, a good steady, solid round of applause, from what must have been mostly conservative capitalistic types. Go figure. The three wealthiest families in American have more combined wealth than the bottom half of the entire American population, amazingly, Sanders reminded his audience. IN many cases, people are both employees of Wal Mart and shareholders both. This is how working class values force their way into a shareholder convention, against the wishes of the billionaire owners. Most American agree with Sanders, more than agree with Trump. Surveys consistently indicate that the United States is a majority progressive country, which favors taxing the wealthy, greater economic equality, and increased pay for the lowest payed workers. When sanders read into the record a proposal to change Wal Mart policy to favor and assist the interests of the workers, the billionaires owners thanked Mr. Sanders for presenting his point of view, indicated that there was no way in hell anything he said was ever going to happen or made any sense, and went right on rolling with the billionaire oriented long standing Wal Mart agenda. What else would you expect? The poor people greatly outnumber the wealthy, which is why the wealthy do not want democracy, and have always prevented democracy from existing. But most people in America agree with Sanders. The trick is to get them to vote.

Coming To Terms

MAYBE I SHOULD STOP getting my news from Facebook. I get most of it from NPR, which I love and trust, and a bit of network and local TV news. Who knows what to believe? Trump really did say that windmills cause cancer, correct? He said: "They say windmills cause cancer". That's what he said, right? The usual vague, generic "they".... Who are they? I live in my own little Facebook bubble, like most people seem to. A progressive community, no conservatives, some religious content, but not overwhelmed with it. I would have a hard time staying in a conservative discussion group, and in fact tried to and couldn't, with a group of my high school classmates, years ago. The headlines on Facebook are great, but can they be believed? One said: "Pentagon tells White House to stop politicizing the military". It was referring, presumably, to Trump allegedly ordering that the warship John McCain be hidden from his view during his recent visit to Japan. Did Trump really call the Mayor of London a "stone cold loser"? I'm not sure where I heard that. Several places, I think. The news on Facebook is absolutely crazy, seemingly tailored to my exact personal tastes. They do it, of course, by keeping track of everything you and I click on and respond to on Facebook. Facebook is taking over the world, controlling everyone. My question is: how much of what I read comes from Russia? The stuff I get is all anti-Trump, so, maybe none. It might be the conservative bubbles that are being infiltrated and manipulated by the Russians, putting up the pro-Trump anti-liberal stuff the hard core right wing evangelical Trump supporting community loves and eats up. When they interfered in the election, the Russians did not do it by feeding anti-Trump material to the liberals, or pro -Trump stuff to the liberals, which would be pointless. Liberals would delete pro Trump material, not share it. The Russians created and targeted a large amount anti-Hillary anti-liberal, pro Trump material towards someone..but who? Towards the visible conservative communities, is the answer, understanding that those groups would eat it up and tend to share it, and spread it around far and wide, and thereby reel in by mere chance as many of the undecided vote as they could. The shot gun effect. Actually finding the undecided vote would be vary hard to do, since undecided people don't tend to send out vociferous messages exposing themselves, proclaiming their proud undecidedness, like vociferous, inflamed right wingers do. The plan was to give the Trump supporters the weapons to sway undecided voters. The Russians manipulated the right wing, not the left wing. This is one of the reasons Republicans so vehemently denied Russian interference, until the proof was so convincing they no longer could. Now they no longer do. Just like they will no longer deny climate change, when the climate gets so crazy that its obvious and undeniable. They cannot deny that either Trump, his assistants, or both told the navy to hide the McCain worship. Because we all heard Trump insult McCain, repeatedly. In all these cases, the truth makes the conservative Republican Trump community look very, very bad, and its going to get worse. Meanwhile, Facebook is trying to make me happy by feeding me all this lovely anti-Trump material on my feed. I lap it up. But that doesn't mean it isn't true. Hell, I'm already anti-Trump. Nobody needs to feed me fake anti-Trump news to make me that way. I try to share it with independents to increase the anti-trump community. Why not? What's true and what's not will have to be sorted out later. later, and constantly, as it keeps showing up. But the Russians were feeding anti liberal pro Trump material, probably all fake news, to conservatives. It would be fake because The conservatives already get the real news, without Russian help. And that is partly, dear world, why the pro Trump wight in america is so shockingly dishonest, with such an incredible amount of lies and nonsense in which they firmly believe. The American right wing, millions strong, is a veritable fake news machine, alarmingly. Only the truth, and proof of the truth, will destroy this evil machine. We must prove that Obama was born in america, that climate change is real, and that Democrats do not deliberately create social programs to keep people dependent, beholden to Democrats. And there are a billion more right wing lies where that came from, all waiting to be disproven and laughed at.

Sorting Us All Out

IT IS OBSERVABLE, and has been observed by many, that extreme political conservatism and extreme religious devotion go together. People who are devoutly religious generally tend to be far to the right, politically. Such people embrace tradition, which is manifested in ancient, widespread, long standing religions, and long standing political institutions and beliefs, the hallmark of conservatism. Research shows that the actual brain structures of liberals and conservatives are different, and that the two political types can be identified by preferences and behavior ranging far beyond mere political policy issues. Liberals tend to embrace innovation experimentation, and change, conservatives prefer tradition. Liberals flock together in cities; conservative live in suburbs, small towns, and rural areas. Liberalism and conservatism are styles of thought, and life. The two types can be sorted according to what cars they drive, the houses they live in, and the clothing they wear. This has all been confirmed by extensive surveys and scientific analysis. Other patterns emerge. Conservatives are more attuned to threats and danger. They tend to see they tend as a dangerous place, while liberals tend to view the world as full of mystery and beauty. imaging of the human brain reveals more. People who are extremely religious and extremely conservative have abnormal structures in the cerebral cortex, brain damage. This brain damage impels such people to reject creative thinking in favor of received knowledge from authority figures, and to reject exploration in favor of rigid dogma. Liberals and conservatives think fundamentally differently. The extensive research and its results regarding this topic are widely disseminated, comprehensively verified, and easy to access. Conservatives, in large numbers, refuse to acknowledge climate change, evolution by natural selection, and many of the discoveries of modern science. President Trump not long ago said "they say that windmills cause cancer". At least one Republican politician, a conservative, announced that sea level rise is caused by too many rocks being thrown into the oceans of the world. Another conservative politician claims that windmills slow the wind down, and therefor cause global warming. People who say such ridiculous things are either trying to get a laugh, defend an indefensible political agenda, or suffer from brain damage. Nearly all the violent mass murder terrorism in the United states is inflicted on society by people who harbor these sort of beliefs. Nearly all the incredible conspiracy theories, including the theory that something called 'the deep state' is attempting to overthrow Trump, that the world economic system is controlled by a small elite group of elite, secretive oligarchs, and that the Mueller investigation was a deliberate attempt to oust President Trump in a coup d'etat, organized and orchestrated by the "deep state' (Which does not exist), emerge from the ultra conservative, ultra religious segment of society. When communicating with people who hold such beliefs, one should take into consideration that people who have brain damage cannot be blamed for their illness, and must, if possible, be treated with humane compassion, difficult though that often is when listening to them.