Saving Face

CURIOSER AND CURIOSER. Not merely Trump's progressively crazy behavior, his increasing criminality, but the support of his followers, which becomes more sociologically and psychologically fascinating with each revelation of presidential misbehavior. A handful of congressional republicans have come clean, have courageously pointed out that this situation is well beyond any derived benefit from circling the wagons and defending Trump. This Ukranian connection with Trump is, as they say, troubling, alarming, disturbing. Retired Senator Jeff Flake claims that if the vote were taken in privately, secretly, at least thirty five republican senators would vote to impeach Trump. But would they vote to remove him? Any republican turning on Trump loses the support base of the republican party, which, it appears, will largely go down in flames with their leader, rather than throw him under teh bus, for their own survival, as they did with Nixon in 1974. Eventually they will again, but not yet. Trump supporters will have to figure out how to get out gracefully without losing face, many are even now doubtless undergoing that process; we anti-Trumpers can help them, the process, and the country by making it easy for them to do it - to turn on Trump, and to save face. Tell them how courageous they are, that sort of thing. It is stark raving amazing that there are still so many who support Trump. This Ukrainian thing is beyond question. Dude was asking for help from a foreign country in getting reelected. That, we simply cannot have. Correct? The "arguments" being put forth by the right in defense of trump are already hilariously crazy, blatantly false, desperate, and will only become more so. You cannot possibly be a Trump supporter, sane, and believe that his conversation with the Ukrainian president was "perfect". To do so requires a great deal of self deception, at which conservatives in general and Trump supporters in particular are demonstrably adept. Now may be the best time to invest in a newer, larger pop corn popper. Trump and his gang are not going to go down without a fight, and neither are his millions of self deceiving supporters. But down to defeat they shall inevitably go, and just watching it happen, the movement dying one face saving person at at time, will prove fascinating, worth far more than the price of admission.

Saving The Planet

WHEN GRETA THUNBERG SPOKE to the United nations the other day, her face was twisted into a horrible, agonizing grimace of extremely anger, as she sternly upbraided the leadership of the world for failing to fight climate change, and thereby forcing her generation to do it. Her performance was shocking, alarming, convincing. The swede speaks perfect English with a slight English accent, and her emotional manner was sincere, persuasive, haunting. This is why her conservative detractors will soon begin attacking her in earnest, and already have begun. President Trump, doubtless thinking himself quite clever, tweeted that Greta seemed to be a happy, well adjusted young lady with a bright future, mockingly. His normal diametrically opposed to the truth self, Trump actually hit it with the notion that Ms. Thunberg has a bright and happy future. Actually she does, although she doesn't know it. That surreal picture of Greta standing in the elevator door at the U.N., looking at president Trump, as he walked past. If looks could kill, Don would be lying in state. The climate change updates get worse every time, and it now appears that we have no chance to survive. Or at least, slim to none. What is required in terms of changing our culture is far beyond any demonstrated willingness on the part of any nation on earth to accomplish. Greta Thunberg's twisted, anguished, youthful face may someday be seen by extraterrestrials as the last gasp expression of angry lost hope by the human species on a planet a thousand degrees hot. Or it may be that future human historians will watch her anguished, angry speech as the United Nations from long ago, and debate whether that speech itself saved the planet, or merely set in motion the behavior and processes required to reverse climate and save the world. We must hope and trust, the latter. If nothing else we can take comfort that future human historians, if there are any, most assuredly won't mock and ridicule Greta Thunberg like the ancient conservatives did.

Crossing the Line

THE FACTS ARE IRREFUTABLE, proven and established to everyone's satisfaction, beyond any reasonable doubt. Congress approved a weapons sale to the Ukraine. The president approved it, then put it on hold. He then called the president of the Ukraine, and during the conversation urged, evidently repeatedly and earnestly, that the Ukrainian government investigate Joe Biden's son's activities in the Ukraine, and seek to uncover corruption, dirt against the Bidens, Trump's political opponents. That, of itself, is problematic, highly. As to the exact communication, the words spoken by Mr. trump, maybe we'll find out more, maybe we won't. the whistle blower, whoever he or she is, wants to testify to congress, so, presumably, he or she thinks he or she has something worth reporting. The problem with Trump handing over a copy of the actual conversation is that, of course, it might be doctored, with incriminating words omitted. we have now reached the point, and actually probably reached it long ago, when the president absolutely must be removed from office, just to save the country, if nothing else. His perfidy, in word and deed, is pervasive, overwhelming. No amount of spin doctoring, the kind such as Trump's millions of supporters seem intent on desperately upon us, will suffice. the time has come, and likely has long since, for all Trump supporters to withdraw their support, and admit that they made a dreadful mistake. We elected a criminal to the presidency, and are getting what we deserve, cows coming home to roost, and all that. Anyone supporting Trump at this point is supporting a traitor, a president who at least twice has sought assistance from foreign governments in gaining and keeping power, first from the Russians, now, this. Trump was elected in the first place by welcoming and accepting foreign assistance, and by not doing anything to stop it. That's traitorous. Surely all good Americans agree that we do not want other countries deciding who our president is, do we? Nightmarishly, there is a good argument to be made, based on statistical evidence, that Donald J. trump was elected in 2016 because of and only because of two things; American non voters, and Russian intervention. To support Donald Trump at this point, to favor any other of action than his immediate resignation, is simply un-American.

Going Lower Still

GRETA THUNBERG, pronounced "Toon berg) is perhaps going to become to most famous person on the planet. Likewise, she may have an opportunity to become extremely wealthy and powerful, since wealth and power often if not usually accompany fame. one can even imagine the crass western press and public relations industry trying to turn her into some some of new age cute slender girl "twiggy" type of character. anything is possible. Greta, those of you who haven't been living on Mars'll recall, is the sixteen year old Swedish girl who last year started refusing to attend school every Friday, i protest of climate change and the fact that we the human race doesn't seem to be doing a damned thing about it, or at least, not nearly enough. She's a good student, with supportive parents, who seems to have figured out that all this effort she is putting into growing up properly will be wasted if humanity doesn't start effectively fighting and reversing climate change. She started by sitting outside her school holding a sign saying "climate change strike" or something like that, and being largely ignored, just another kid skipping class. Then, other kids, classmates and friends, joined in, and it become a local, then regional, then European movement, teenagers boycotting high school once a week in protest of climate change inactivity. Now, its going viral, in real time and real space, with real people. American teenagers are catching on, and once that happens, of course, they'll force the whole country to cooperate, as is the normal process in America. The American right wing hates her, of course. The American right wing is even going so far, going so low as to mock the young lady because of her autism. on camera, she appears to be fairly far along the spectrum, seems to sort of be in her own world, gazing off into the distance, speaking as if to people from a great distance. When someone suggested she meet with President Trump, she cogently and quite correctly replied that it would be a waste of time. One of my best friends, himself mildly autistic, told me: "She's autistic. she's going to say what she thinks." The way he said it, as if he knows, gave me a mildly disquieting feeling, and a sense of excitement. She and her movement are to keep growing and making a splash. She's got the personal charisma to become very influential, as she already has. Let the American right wing hate and make fun of her all they want. They'll rue the day they started taking on Greta Thunberg and her thundering herd, because eventually her gang will grow to include all of us, that is, all of us who were smart enough to not oppose or try to stop her.

Evolving Religions

THE EXACT NUMBER of religions in the world is difficult and evidently impossible to determine. Estimates vary widely, depending on the source of information. Nearly everyone seems to agree, however, that there are thousands,; estimates range from a mere four thousand to as many as eleven thousand. You might think we could figure it out exactly, but evidently cannot. Part of the difficulty consists in defining and identifying what a religion is. All of the world's major religions is highly fragmented into thousands of local units, all of which have their own unique set of behaviors, observances, beliefs. Is each one a different religion? Every religion in the world has adherents who proudly proclaim that theirs is the one and only "true" religion, and that all the others are false. That they all might be true seems difficult to believe, that one and only of them might be true seems dubious at best, that all of them are false, mere fantasies of the human mind seems to fit all the available evidence. The United States of America, that cradle of cultural creativity, has given the world several made in America versions of Christianity: Mormonism, Pentecostalism, Christian Science, Jehovah's witnesses, Scientology, among others. Religions are being born constantly, and old ones are dying, just like individuals, societies, species, planets, and ultimately, universes. Although traditional Christianity generally rejects to natural process of evolution as false, the Christian religion is, and have always been, evolving, right before our very eyes. Much scholarship has been and still is devoted to studying human religions and religiosity, and science has given us a few conclusions. There is no evidence that religion makes people better people, or that religion makes countries better countries, or that religion is a positive force for civilization. In fact, quite the opposite. In the United States, the most religious parts of the country tend to have the highest crime and poverty rate, the lowest educational achievement rate, and the least religious parts of the countries have the edge in quality of living, across the board. There is no law of nature which says that systems of morality or moral behavior must be based on religion. Morality, ethical philosophy, is an entirely separate domain from religion. Religion is generally considered by academics to have been humanity's way of dealing with the emotional and intellectual challenges of life in primitive times, while the human species was in a state of ignorance. It may be that religion, as humankind advances in its knowledge of nature through science, will become obsolete and fade away, and be replaced by a reverence for nature based on scientific fact, rather than mythology and superstition. Considering how detrimental organized religion has been historically to human progress, and remains to this day, the sooner, the better.

Inventing God

RATHER LATE IN HER LIFE my mother said that she had no trouble comprehending how old she was, but that she was freaked out by how old her children had become. She died as 93, and would now be ninety nine. More than ever, I now understand what she meant. although I don't have any kids, and am admittedly at times freaked out by my own age, sixty four, what really freaks me out is how old the children of my peers, friends, and high school classmates are. Many of them are middle aged, sliver haired. Here I am, long since old enough to be a grandfather, nearly old enough to be a great grand father. Yes, I am now a senior citizen, resisting the idea of surrendering my illusion of still being young. A few days ago one of my best friends' children died suddenly in his late thirties, and for me the shock may take awhile to wear off. I have known this kid since he was in kindergarten, and now hear he is, in the middle of middle age, and dead. what a complete nightmare, this is. I want to go into denial. it may be that this kind of situation is why I believe in God, why I began believing in god when I was about twenty eight, or so. Not any anthropomorphic deity associated with any of the world's religions, but rather, my own personal sense of intelligent design in the universe. Believing in God comforts me. it also inspires me. whenever I make any sort of reference to God in a conversation with others, I also make it a point to mention that I am not a religious person, merely one who believes in God. That seems to confuse a lot of people, strangely. It would seem to be s simple enough situation to understand, for anyone of reasonable intelligence and open mindedness. Often people will share some very bad news with me, and I will respond by mentioning that my belief in God helps me endure tragic situations, and I don't even mention anything about religion in particular. Goethe said: "When I realized that everyone invents his own religion, I decided to invent mine". That is exactly what I did. As a young child, I realized that religions exists, and learned about Christianity, including the fact that everyone seemed to be one. But I believed from the beginning that the choice was mine, and for that I thank my parents, for respecting my freedom. I find it amazing and horrifying that so many people consider it virtuous or desirable or absolutely necessary to raise their children to share their parent's religious faith. WE should all be free to invent our own religions, our own God, and the wonderful truth is, we are, if only we realize it.

Trump, Trying To Do Good?

WHEN I FIRST HEARD that Trump had cancelled a top secret meeting at Camp David with the Taliban, I quite naturally assumed that the president was, as usual, lying. Why wouldn't I? Why wouldn't anybody? After all, dude has lied close to twelve thousand times since he took office, all twelve thousand of them extremely well documented, on video, audio, paper, you name it, in front of thousands of witnesses. Nearly twelve thousand outright blatant lies, an average of about twenty two a day, or so. What's makes Trump's behavior so incredibly pathological is not merely the frequency of his lies, but rather, their gaudy, outrageous tendency, and the ease with which they are identified as lies, as if Trump simply doesn't care about being caught lying. As if he somehow, strangely, inexplicably wants to be caught lying. The most bizarre current example is Trump's continued insistence that hurricane Dorian might well have hit Alabama, despite the National weather Services's strong denial to the contrary. Former New Jersey governor Chris Christie, an on again off again Trump front man, claims that Trump knows exactly what he's doing, and ks deliberately encouraging his opponents to focus on the Alabama hurricane gaffe, distracting from the other major issues which are hurting Trump, such as his refusal to address or acknowledge climate change, and his chaotic border and foreign policy. obviously, this is all nonsense. In no way does the president know what he's doing, because laughing in amazement about Trump's incredible lies, and his defense of them, does no prevent anyone from criticizing his horrible policies, and condemning his indecent behavior. Trump's horrific talk and disastrous policies will continue to garner more than enough attention from the media, and the voters. But apparently, for the first time in history, Trump was telling the truth, and there indeed had been scheduled a secret meeting with the Taliban, which Trump cancelled because of the death of an American soldier in Afghanistan. You just never know. Most diplomacy and foreign policy experts believe that inviting the Taliban to America to negotiate was a stupid idea, because it would legitimize the terrorist group. On the other hand, give old dishonest don some credit for creativity. At least he's trying, or seems to be, to end an endless, idiotic war. I have nothing against conventional wisdom and thinking, but at the same time, I am a firm believer in "thinking outside the box", as Trump obviously did on this occasion. Sometimes progress and results require it.

Racist to the Core

PEOPLE ARE FLOORED, but pretend not to be, when I tell them that racism, contrary to being ancient and inherent in human nature, is actually a fairly modern invention, there having been no mention of it prior to the middle of the fifteenth century. A new and modern way of thinking, this racist business. Americans are also floored, and usually don't bother to try to pretend otherwise, when I further assert that our beloved United States of America is and long has been the most racist nation on the planet. Americans don't like hearing that. Americans don't like hearing a lot, all of it true. We prefer our fantasies in America, of which we have many. Among them, that ours is a "Christian nation", that racism is a thing of teh past, and that government regulation impedes business. In America, we have many fantasies and misconceptions. When the greedy immoral vultures who landed at Jamestown in 1607 finally realized by 1619 that they were not going to be able to turn native Americans into slaves, kill them, nor steal their allegedly huge stockpiles of gold and silver, they decided to purchase slaves. So much for America's founding on Christian values, until you remember that the Bible, including Jesus, condones slavery. Just a week or two ago we "celebrated" the four hundredth anniversary of slavery in America, and which it can be argued still exists; we are all slaves to our American cultural racism. Slavery was from the beginning justified by Christians as reflecting Christian values, which indeed it does. In 1790, mere months after the United States in its current incarnation came into being, congress passed ans George Washington signed into law a bill which required all naturalized American citizens to be white. The law was finally repealed in 1954. That, one must admit, is pure cultural racism, full blown. In other words, a core cultural value, a core American value. our constitution actually defines black people as three fifths of a human being. Now, that's racist. In my entire life I have never heard an American suggest that this part of the constitution should be removed. By luring, intentionally or otherwise, the white supremacist community put into the open, Trump has, if inadvertently, fully exposed the fact of enduring, pervasive racism in America, and its alarming extent, even while Trump and his supporters foolishly deny it. Racists, of course, always deny being racist. The right wing racist community is but one of Trump's core constituencies. Among others are Christian nationalists, white people who want to turn the United States into a Christian government, mostly conservative evangelical republicans, who are every bit as dangerous as the white supremacists, fascists, confederate flaggers. What they have in common, other than Trump's disease, is that they must all, for the good of the nation and the world, be voted out of power.

Seeking Equality

AMONG THE MANY infuriating proclivities of American conservatives is their tendency to utter banal platitudes in support of lame arguments, then convince themselves and behave as if they have in fact brilliantly articulated some eternal verity. Stuff like: "guns don't kill people, People kill people". One of them once took great joy in reminding me that during the civil rights struggles of the nineteen fifties and sixties, it was often as not democrats, not republicans, who got in the way of achieving legislated civil rights by voting against civil right legislation. And, it was the republican party which was founded as the anti-slavery party, in opposition to the democrats, in 1860. What they fail to mention is that all that was a very long time ago, things have changed, and now, the democratic party, not the republican, is the progressive party, although teh republicans began as a progressive movement, but rapidly got sidetracked by money. you can always anticipate some historically proficient republican to point out that the democrat party was in antebellum times the party of slavery. And so on, blah blah blah. what are they trying to prove, that our modern 1019 version of the republican party is more supportive of cultural diversity and social equality than their democratic opponents? Really? Somehow, I just do not see the MAGA Trump movement, which appears for all the world like a white Christian nationalist mob, being on board with LGBTQ equality, racial, gender, and religious equality, and multiculturalism, anywhere near the extent of the democrats if at all. More to the point, the people who supported rather than oppose slavery, the people who supported rather than oppose civil rights and racial equality, these people were, and still are, the liberals, and the pro slavery anti civil right people were, and still are, the conservatives. The issue is liberal conservative, not republican democrat. Human begin by nature are not inclined to create societies based on equality, or, for that matter, families, groups of friends, or organizations based on equality. Humans by nature are a lot of hierarchical little critters. To created a society, a nation, or a civilization with social equality, which includes economic and political equality, requires social convulsions sufficiently powerful to overthrow the status quo, which in every case is a pyramid, a hierarchy. That's the essence of liberalism, or, as we say nowadays, "progressivism"; the desire to change society by instituting cooperative planning. Conservative prefer tradition, liberals, change. Beyond dispute, the world is forever going to change, one way or another.

Comparing Hitler and You Know Who

ON THIS, the eightieth anniversary of Hitler's invasion of Poland, the event which directly precipitated world War Two, it seems relevant to make a few remarks about Hitler's relevance to our current situation. History does not repeat itself, but it sometimes rhymes, if only roughly, and the past is the most valuable instruction and guidance we have for the present. If Donald Trump doesn't stop mouthing an incessant torrent of nonsense, including vicious attacks on anyone who fails to kiss his ass, a steady stream of what socio-psycho-politically have come to be called "big lies", and a veritable torrential outpouring of small ones - if he's not careful, people are going to start comparing him, his administration, his rise to power, and his supporters to Hitler and the NAZIs of the nineteen thirties through World War Two. If they haven't already begun. He (Trump) fell into the part naturally, from the very beginning of his presidential campaign in his anti-immigrant "they're sending criminals, rapists, drug dealers" rant, what with his openly arrogant defiant attitude, based on anger at the supposed "establishment" over some imagined grievance. The crowds gathered at Trump's rallies, and were seduced, America's angry right wing, just as Hitler entranced Germany's angry extreme right wing into his NAZI movement. This whole business of picking out, isolating, and hammering some alleged "enemy of the people", such as foreigners, the media, or liberals. Trump does it just the way Hitler did. Using the anger towards and fear of these imaginary enemies to rally support and justify dictatorial behavior, at which Trump is just as good as Hitler. Trump's frequent vague references to his remaining president beyond two terms, at the demand of his followers, is alarmingly similar to Hitler's similar suggestions concerning his own perpetuation of power. Many of Trump's followers are now claiming that not only has America been made great again, as a result of Trump's presidency, but that now it is necessary to keep it great, by extending Trump's rule and power. Frightening. From ten very beginning of Trump's presidency many of his opponents, who tend to be just as ardent as Trump's followers, and more numerous, began referring to Trump as "another Hitler". I have always been very reluctant to do this, because I know well that history does not repeat itself, and its tendency to thyme has limitations as well. but the longer the Trump administration continues, and the more i witness his behavior and the behavior of those who support him, the more I am inclined to agree with the Hitler comparisons. Trump's followers are simply way too willing to ignore or lie about the truth to support Trump. They deny climate change, as does their leader, and they ignore Trump's outrageous lies and attacks on others, only because they see Trump as their best hope to turn america into a White nationalist Christian theocracy, in which minorities, such as people of color, transgenders and gays, are relegated to second class status. Trump and his supporters will ultimately be denied their malign agenda, but only because in the United States, unlike nineteen thirties Germany, we have a sufficiently strong democratic structure to root out the kind of malignancy posed by people like Hitler, Trump, and their misguided supporters.