Forcing Equality Down Our Throats

ACCORDING TO LIBERALS, black people, gay people, and transgender people, among others, have been mistrereated, historically. Mistreated since time immemorial, and sill, in the present. Enslaved, shunned, segregated, ridiculed; you name it, whatever form of mistreatment you choose, those groups have been subjected to it. Now, if not sooner, is the time to do something about it, goes the liberal thinking, since the United States is supposedly a country which aspires to and mandates equality, equal treatment. According to liberals, you have to actually do something, something tangible and measurable, instead of just declaring that from now on, all citizens will indeed, truly, and seriously be treated equally. Simply sayiing its so does not, will not, never has and never will, make it so. Society has to actually manifest the equal treatment, require its manifestation, implement it through concerted, defined action. Hence, affirmative action. Hence, gay rights. Hence, womaen's rights. And on and on. The conservative point of view seems to be that when you, when a society actually imements forced, required equality, such as affirmative action, you are simply using a new form of rcism, discrimination, to replace another, and that the new type, against white people straight people, is no better, really, or diffferent than the old pro white discrimanation anti-gay anti-black kind. Superficially, that conservative argument may sound and seem good and reasonable, and logical, and honest, but, alas, it is none of the above. Conservatives argue that Affirmative Action and gay rights gives those groups special protected status, and exclused all other groups, including white and heterosexual. This is a fatuous assertion, which would be true if all the groups were starting from a place of equality, which they most certainly are not. The so called "Special treatment" of social engineering is nothing other than action designed to equalize social status and treatment among all demographic groups, and does not have anythig to do with creating any privileged groups. eliminating all race based quotas will only force us back to a make believe color blind society, and, far from color blind, we the people will simply rebuild the same old barriers to racial equality our ancestors knew so well.

Head Scratching Over the High Court

IN RECENR YEARS the u.S. upreme Court has "trreated" us to some real head scracthers, seemingly inaxxessable, tortorous lines of logic nd definition. Formally designating money as a form of speech may be the one that takes the cake, so to speak. But there have been many other dandies. The supposdely "originalist" way of interpreting the constitution such that the founders intened all good American citizen to have the sacred right to arry in pubic any firearm from any century they so chhosse; how can that stretch of the imagination be outone? Sadly, shockingly, it can be, and has been. The pronouncement came in the form of a holy edict from Americ'as representative of of the conservative African-American community on the court. (This community must surely consist of at least a dozen or so people, but probably not many more. You have to look hard in most places to uncover a conservative African-American.) The edict stipulate that the constitution of the Unnited States of America is..now get this..."color blind". Is he referrign to the part which designates slaves as three fourths of a human being? Certainly, the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth amendments are far from color blind: they all address "color" meaning "race" directly, head on. One thing we know for damned sure: the white men who wrote and institutionalized the constitution were most definitely not color blind, Actually, nobody ever has been color blind, except folks who lterally are physically blind to all colors of all things, not just emotionally color blind to just race. Color blindness does not exist, but we still sometimes pretend that it does, a vestige of well intioneed but out of date, misguided liberalism, now far out of fashion.

Grieving

MY FIRST EXPERIENCE WITH GRIEF came early, vicariously. I was six, on the verge of first grade, in August, and my step grandfather died. My grandmother's grief ws so tangible that I felt it vicariously, with empathy six years old. Mymother, a realist, took me to the mortuary for the viewing. when my grandmother approacehd the open casket and wailed: "Oh papa, come back to me", I knew something was wrong, that no, he would not ever be "coming back" to her. I knew what death was, probably from watching westerns on TV starting when I was a toddler, watching gun slingers dropping like flies. Maybe I knew as much about death then as I would ever know or need to know, as much as I know now..Aging is an accumulation of sorrows, of the memory of grieving, again and again. Our grandparest die, then our parents, then our friends, pets, and families, and then..us. We accumulate grieving memories. So, we get used to it, and we harden, or, as I prefer to think, we grow, and grow stronger. About five years ago two of my beloved cats died in successive years, one from liver failure, one from kidney failure, and my grieving was profound, including hysterical sobbing on the telephone to poor, unprepared people. Two days ago my beloved cat, whom I raised from a kitten, who spent his life in my lap and in bed with me at night, died from a combinmation of illnesses, including heart failure. So now its back to grieving for me, forward into yet another time of grief. What amazes me are two things: how incredibly profound, comprehensive, all encompassing this grief is, how horrible it is, and..how I am responding to it. As I struggle through my latest time of grief I reflect that this time is no better than the others, perhaps even worse, but...I am responding to it with greater courage and wisdom. If nothing else, I have grown.

Assigning Credit and Blame

SOMEONE RECENRLY TOLD ME, in no uncertain terms, that it was the conservatives who started the culture war. Either way, I don't care. I'm sure good arguments could be constructed for either argument. Hell, its just history. In all societies, change,to a point, is inevitable. The progressives constantly advocate for progress, change, and the conservatives always resist it. But it always comes, at one pace or another. Advocacy for change, opposition to the status quo, can easily be regarded as an attack on tradition, as starting a culural "war". Reacting strongly against change can just as easily be regarded as hostility towards inevitable progress, as a declaration of war against progress, so, there you go. But one thing you can always say about any culture war, about any social dynamic involving advocacy of change and opposition to change, is that, in the long run, progress always wins. No human civilization has ever contradicted this "law of nature", and probably none ever will. Change will be with us forever. In that sense, the progressive point of view will always prevail, and its opponents will probably always complain that the change is not a good thing for society. Yesterday I heard on the news about a pro LGBTQ rights demonstration somewhere, with an anti-LGBTQ demonstration simultaneously across the street. Some violence erupted. That's all I know aobut it, but its enough. The news item is a microcosm of our current American culture war. And if you don't think the progressive side, the side fighting for equal rights for LGBTQ people are going to win, think again. Its inevitable, because what they are fighting for, equailty, is the sacred ideal of our soceity, even though we blatantly disregard it in every nook and cranny of America, and always have. Equailty, social, legal, of opportunity, is our rallying cry in America, and that's the side the gay folks and trans folks are on. The conservatives are on the side of tradition, as always, and on the side of gays and transgenders going away, getting back in te closet, or better yet, reforming, renouncing their non heterosexual sexuality, as if that can be done with the flip of a mental switch. Heads up: the "culture" war will last however long it takes to gain equality for gay and trans folks, and not one solitary second less. As they say: "Deal with it".

Censoring

MY FIRST EXPERIENCE being victimized by censorship, best I can remember, was in high school, senior year let's say. Our school district, conservative in a conservative town, had an index of forbidden books, one of which was the great novel "The Catcher In the Rye", by J.D. Salinger. It seemed like every student had a little red paperback copy of it stashed in his or her locker, just for spite. The banned book list was, as I recall, supposedly fairly long, but I never verified that fact, nor did I now of any other banned titles. Evidently I was quite content to read between the allowable lines, with "Catcher" being the exception. But I do recall reading this book, enjoying it relating to it, relating to Holden Caulfield's struggles as a sixteen year old. I grok. Fast forward to my distant future, and I recall how shocked and angry I was when I discovered that my website, this website, had been blocked in the public library of a very small town near where I lived. One of the librarians in particular obviously didn't like me, and I almost suspect that one day she took a look at what I had been working on at the library computer, found out, and, being a right wing religious extremist, censored me. Far as I know, I remain blocked to this day... Heaven forbid that any of the good upright God fearing folks in podunk Arkansas should actually take a peek a the subversive writings found on this website. (see previously published essays, about 5000 of them, and counting,) I may have learned to hate censorship from my mother, who hated it, so she often said. I hte banning books, which is what Republican conservatives across these fruited plains are now, as everyone knows, engaged in doing - banning books in public schools. The good people, the open minded progressive, iltellectually free spirited and free minded peole all hate censorship of any kind. All fascists and proto - fascists seem to end up censoring their opponents. It is no secret that there are trillions of trashy books in thte world. Most people have read at least one. When you consider that each year tns of thousands of books are published on the United Atates and online alone, this is hardly surprising. Indeed, there are books which nobody should read, movies nobody should see, no songs nobody should sing. But that does not give anyone the qualifications or right to restrict another's cultural experiences, with the sared exception of the responsibility a parent has for the welfare of the child. And ethats the way it should be. Children grow up, and become responsible for their own reading list soon enough. The trick is to not try to stop them.

Going To School

IN SARASOTA, FLORIDA there is a unique shool, a college, an institute of higher education. Its called, creatively, "The New School", and has about seven hundred enrolled students. All the students are people who have displayed high attainment, in terms of grades and test results, at other colleges and universities within the state. A sort of honors college, if you will. Tes, latter day hippies, and so forth forth The campus, I have heard, is populated largely by progressive types; latter day born again hippies, new agers, alternative paradigmers, and the like. Its been extant for more than twenty years, and to a person the alumi members love it, lover their xperiences while attending, and to this day regard it warmly in their hearts and minds. But there is a problem,a rather recent one, the same recent problem which afflicts all Florida progressives and Democrats and advocates of complete academic freedom. That problem, you migt have guessesd is Governor Desantis. Demonstrably adverse to all things progressive, including "wokism", LGBRQ culture and progressive educational values, the Republican governor wants to essentially turn The New School into a Florida version of Hllsdale college of Michigan. Hillsdail college is a Formally Christian school, wheres The New School is purley public, which of course presents the first insurrmountable barrier, the one between church and state. Also, Hillsdale teacher purely hagiographic American history, taught from a conservative point of view, according to which these United States of America can historically barely do any wrong, and need to only be made great again, in the old of traiditional, conservative values. Already DeSantis has fired the old progressive board of directors and replaced them all with right wing sycophants of himself. Chaos reigns. Tenured profesors are finding out that the new regime has no respect for even the very concept of "tenure", and professors, without employment seurity, are leaving in droves. Before he's mercifully out of office, if ever, the New Sxhool will oubtles been reduced of an academic shell of its former self. That's why it is of the utost, most urgent imprtance that retired progressives from the north relocate immediately to Florida in droves, to change the balance of power in the formerly sunshine saturated state.

Making Mistakes

So, like.....On Facebook one of my friends from high school posted a photo of his wife, nice looking, smiling happy young lady in her nineteen seventy nine wedding dress, and above the pic he said: "Happy 43rd anniversary Debra Ann!". Well, I have a hard time keeping my mouth shut. Sometimes, maybe I should, but not this time. I plunged in, typing a comment: "Hey buddy? Um....hate to be picky, but, um...well, I think this is your 44th anniversary, not 43rd". He shot back: "you're crazy". Daunted but undeterred, I gently demured back: "So, you think you got married in 1980, do ya?" He thought about it for a few hours, then typed back: "Well, Um..I aint really too sure...the more I think about it, seems like it was a lil further back, like, maybe in the late seventies".....Correctomendo, quipped I. The year was nineteen seventy nine. "That small red brick church downtown. Day was hotter'n hell."... Belatedly, he acceded, and we had a good ha ha lol. I think several dozen other people who had already left congratulatory messages also returned to the scene posted a few laughs, mostly emoticons depicating cartoon facial hilarity. Vauguly I wondered whether my classmate and/or his lovely bride had felt a wee bit embarrassed. Well, as they say, fuck it. who cares? If you can't even remember when you got maried, well, then..U gets what U deserves...I started playing tennis in the early seventies and found that I liked it, and could become good at it. By the mid seventies I was well on my way and enjoyed watching tennis on television. That was the golden era of McEnroe, Conners, and Borg, Borg being my fave of the three. The match was close, and exciting. Suddenly, in the midst of a long and important point, the ball going back and forth relentlessly, Borg, never at a loss for top spin, decided to end the rally once and for all. He wound up his backswing bigger than usual, and took a mighty swing at the ball, swiping the racket strings kinda sideways across and over the top of the yellow ball so as to induce his patented, and difficult to deal with, top spin. Only this time he didn't connect. He swung, but cut it way too close, and missed the ball entirely, which landed harmlessly on the court and stopped rolling at the fence behind the court. Love fifteen. I was agape, as I am sure so were most of the fans - in - attendance and members of the TV viewing audience. But not Borg. Utterly cool and unfazed, the famously stoic and taciturn champion merely went about his busines without so much as a smirk, grunt, or frown, and procedded on to the next point. What's done is done, no need for guilt or anger. Move on. As usual, he won the match. I learned something that day, and spent my ensuing tennis career trying to emulate his style, not without some degree of success. Just the other day on FAcebook I saw a post which pictured a young, maternal looking woman staring off into distance, as if searching her soul for ways to improve the world. The caption below said: "Stand up for our children!" Reading it too hastily, I somehow thought it said: "Stand up TO our children!"..Immediatly I reflexively responded: You Damn straight! To hell with this decline of discipline in the home and at school! Take their social media away, and ground 'em!" ( I was really fired up). I haven't been back to the post to see what fun, or ridicule, or scorn, people undoubtedly made of my misbegotten words. Goethe said that "Only by mistakes that really irk us do we advance" I might amend that to say: "Only by mistakes which really amuse us do we advance." Maybe I will go back to the post and take a look, but, I don't think I ever will.

Tired of Complaining

AFTER MONTHS, indeed years of complaining about Donald Trump and his supporters on the internet, and in real space and time, I begin to sense that my internal storm has begun to quieten, and my rage begins to abate. A storm has only so much energy before it "burns" itself out. I joined Facebook several years - ago it may have been about seven years ago, for the express purpose of distributing negative information about Trump and his followers, and to promote this website. Mission accomplished. I began by posting comments about them, then realized that everything I was sayig was being said by many other people, who in many instances were saying it far better than I. At that point I simply began "sharing" the anti-Trump posts of others. Everything I've ever said or shared I sincerely believed, and still do. But it becomes redundant, and there comes a time to stop the repitition, and, as we like to say, to "move on". My Facebook feed now consists of mainly of many pretty pictures of nature; bucolic scenes from wilderness areas, and pretty pictures of animals doing noble and/or cute things. Cats and kittens are my particular specialty. As we know, whatever you express interest in of Facebook by "sharing", you get more of. The wonder of algorythms! Thus as I scroll down my Facebook page I see fewer and fewer insults posted against Trump, and more natural beauty. I am content with that. In the "real" world of face to face human interaction, I am increasinly inclined to "let it go", to forego any remarks or responses to pro Trump comments made by his ardent followers. Let 'em talk. Haven't they that right? If indeed it is personal enlightenent to convert from pro - Trump to anti - Trump, anyone who is potentially "enlighten-able" will so become, without any assistance from me. In fact I know several people who have made that exact conversion, from pro to anti. I know of nobody who has converted from never Trump to forever Trump, and perhaps that is an auspicious indicator. I've always tried to take the "high road", admonishing people not to make crude, unkind remarks about Trump's intelligence or personal appearance. An idiot will reveal his or her idiocy far more effectively then I ever possibly could. Let us let Trump's words and actions speak for themselves, without my augmentation or editorializing. Those who, like me, despise Trump, all he stands for, all he says and does, and all his supporters say and do are generally not happy with this. They want to kepp the bombs dropping and bursting. That's fine. Let 'em. Maybe they too will finally, at some future time, find that they have fully vented their venom, and are done for the day. Maybe we will all reach a stage of casting votes, but not aspersions. I think I've lost more friends from the blue than from the red. I can accept that. But what I cannot and will not accept is a version of myself which fails to become more tolerant, more mature, more intelligent and more restrained than the one who existed yesterday and today. Isn't self improvement the ultimate goal in life?

Lying, and Consequent Harassing

TWO WEEKS BEFORE THE ELECTION, according to Ivanka Trump, she was approached by her father at the White House. He told her that "No matter what happens in the election, well just say that we won. Fuck it." Thus was the genesis of the "big lie". Thus began our most recent national nightmare, a nightmare which nearly destroyed American democracy, a nightmare which is, tragically, ongoing, and shall remain with us as long as the Unitd States aspires to democratically elected governance. It began the night of the election, when Trump fulfilled his promise to his daughter and declared himself the winner of an election in which the votes had not yet been counted. Then, the harassment began. The victims were, and still are, election workers. As of now, more than one third of all election poll workers have been subjected to it. The harassment proceeded apace in the off year elections of 2018 and 2022, and can only be expected to intensify in twenty twenty four. Gangs of irate Trump supporters gathererd outside polling places on the night of the 2020 election, certain that their candidate was being unlawfully deprived of his just election victory. He wasn't. It beaars repeating that not one shred of evidence has been presented to substantiate Trump's false claims, which he still makes, of victory, claims that are still repeated and amplified by tens of millions of Americans. Election poll workers have been threatened with violence, guns pointed at them, rocks thrown into and through their car and home windows. They have been tailgated incessantly, and have received innumerable threatening phone calls and text messages and social media posts. So much so that many have been forced to quit, and many more are still considering that course of action. It is uncertain whether enough poll workers will be found in 2024 to properly operate thousands of precinct polling places. People are simply too intimated by and afraid of what might happen to them if they do decide to offer their services. Though this problem is widely and well known, it has not received a great deal of attention in the media, but, as the campaign converges towards the selection of the two finalists, it almost certainly will gain much more attention, especially if Donald Trump is the Republican nominee. Most tragic of all is that in the likely event of another los b either Trump or any other Republican presidentail candidate, the nation is quite likely to be subjected to more of the same, violent insurrection and all. After all, we have had our dress rehearsal.

Profiting From Perfidy

SINCE TRUMP'S LATEST SET OF INDICTMENTS, his popularity among Republican voters has increased from about two thirds (67%) to about three fourths, (75%). Among Republican presidential candidates, it pays to be perfidious. Possible psychological explanations for this are numerous, most having to do with loving an underdog, helping a man to his feet instead of kicking him while he's down, and so forth. Another way of looking at it is to simply assert that people who support Donald Trump politically see the worst of themselves in him, what they consider the best of themselves - he gives them impicit permission to be their angriest, least moral, least intelligent versions of themselves, which to them is a sort of liberation from the onerous responsibilities associated with good citizenship. In other words, instant empathy. Included among those responsibilites is good behavior and respectable moral values, neither of which is currently in evidence in conservative America. It may well be that when other impending indictments are handed dwon by their respective grand juries, his approval rating will rise to near one hundred percent, and all other eleven and counting G.O.P. candidates give up the ghost, and drop out of the race, knowing they are licked. Already they have mostly, cannot succeed. At some point, one must make unkind comments about one's political foes to rise to power in these United States of Animosity. Only Asa Hutchinson and Chris Christie have thus far had the gumption to come clean about Trump. All the others fear that their own chances will shrivel and shrink by alienating Trump's powerful support base, and are hinting at future presential pardons for Trump, if he is convicted, and they are elected. Precisely how they think President Biden and the DNC managed to stack all these grand juries with solid Trump - hating Democrats has as yet not been explained. But one thing seems certain; Donald Trump will apparently have no need to shoot some poor person dead on Fifth Avenue in order to bolster his ranking among conservatives, as he said he could do with no negative impact on his popularity. It seems evident that a murder one rap not only would not adversely impact Don the Con's electibility, it would actually enhance it. If we are fortunate, will will not have to live to find out.

Rendering Justice

THE AMERICAN JUSTICE SYSTEM, like the United States generally, is a Heinz 57 hodge podge of traditions and theories borrowed from other, older cultures, mostly English. The fact that the U.S. has fifty one judicial - legal systems only complicates matters, and makes necessary an entire comprehensive theory of law, called "conflicts". "Conflicts of law" is the system which determines original jurisdication for litigation, and litigation which involves activity inmore than of of these United States. My father (1918-1986) was a tort lawyer who studied under one of the greatest jurists in American history, Dr. robert J. Leflar (1900-1997), who spent decades teaching at the law school at the University of Arkansas. The law school at that university is now named in his honor. He also had a "side job" teaching in the summer at the New York University School of Law. At various times both Supreme Court Chief Justices Earl Warren and Warren Burger flew across the country to visit with Dr. Leflar, and to get his advice and knowledge concering some issue with conflicts of law, a subject which the Supreme Court often, with ultimated jurisdiction over all fifty state legal systems, has reason to be involved. I had the great honor of meeting Dr. Leflar when I was about fifteen years old. My father took me to the university, presumably to get me accustomed to the environment, since we all knew that I was headed for college, somewhere. He also wanted to swing by and see Dr. Leflar. I remember dad telling me that we would have no trouble finding Leflar: simply go to the law library, and he would be there, with his nose in some volumnious legal tome. That is exactly what happened. the esteemed professor walked with us around the campus, and although we were accompanied by a retinue of other people, I will never forget aht Leflar spent the entire time paying attention to me, the runt of the group. Dad had brought with him a valuable, old law book, which he donated to the law library, which greatly appreciated the gift. Years later, I was in graduate school, and dropped by Dr. Leflar's office, with a new copy of his autobiography, "One Life In the Law" tucked securely under my arm. I left it with an administrative assistant, with my request that Dr. Leflar autograph it. Indeed he did. When I returned to pick it up, he had written to my father: "With fond remembrances for days gone by". When I presented it to my father, who was by then himself retired from legal practice (although his former professor, Dr. Leflar, was, amazingly, still working , at the age of eighty two), he burst into tears of joy. Maybe that's why I have, even in today's legally chaotic environment, a deep and abiding respect for the system of justice in the U.S.A.. With people like Robert J. Leflar as role models, its easy to be respectful.

Taking the Low Road, Liberally

CONSERVATIVES ARE NOT ALONE in their often illogical, unreasonable responses to the topic of the day: the proper treatment, within the criminal justice system, of Donald J.Trump. Although Trump supporters amaze us on an almost daily basis with their jaundiced views of facts and their tedency to replace facts with alternative facts, Trump detractors chip in, in their own way contributing to the illogic. Many were unhappy with the seemingly special treatment afforded Trump at his arraignment. Most common is the complaint that the judge not ony did not confiscate Trump's passport, but that she didn't even require bail to be posted. Furthermore, no mug shot was taken, Trump never appeared wearing an orange prisoners jump suit, nor was he burdened by leg irons and handcuffs. Definitely preferential treatment, according to progressives. I responsed by tring to point out that a mug shot would have been totally unnecessary; everyone knows what Trump looks like; he is hardly likely to run from justice and "blend into the crowd". Or, at least, he would have ennormous difficulty getting away with it....I also tried to counter with the viewpoint that for Trump to keep his passport was actually a good thing; maybe the courts should have given him money as well - who knows, maybe he would've used these items to leave the country, and not return. If you try, it is easy to imagine Trump on the beach in the south of France, luxuriating in the pampered life of a retired aristocrat, well out of harms way, and, more importantly, far enough from human society and politics to prevent him from doing any further harm. I'd take that offer in a heartbeat....Problem is, Trump never would. I want to ask every Republican who insists that Trump is the victim of a politically motivated campaign to destrooy him, the following: What if Barack Obama had left office with a garage full of Top Secret documents, at first denied he had them, refused to return them, and tried for months to obstruct the process of returning them. Would he have been indicted with federal criminal charges? Would the Republicans be screaming to let the poor guy alone, stop "weaponizing" the justice system, and leave poor Barack Obama alone? Would their reactions and attitudes been the same for Obama as they are for Trump? As they like to say: you be the judge. The Americal legal and judicial system, with all its faults, remains the envy of the world in its administration of justice and protection for both victims and criminals against arbitrary justice, confrontational and inconsistent though it is. Peopel who attack it merely becaue it does not perform to their hopes and expectations, as we are now seeing among the MAGA crowd, are doing a great disservice to teh very nstitution wih=ich protects them, and to their own country.

Taking the Low Road

TRAGICALLY, SHOCKINGLY, but no unpredictably the reaction to Trump's multiple indictments on the right wing of Capitol Hill sank to the lowest common denominator, as the Trump movement, (oh, surprise), took the low road. Republican menbers of Congress are apparantly almost unamimously claiming that the whole affair is part of a massive conspiracy of Trump haters to "get Trump". Purely politically and personally motivated. This, of course, is insane, vile, pernicious. A few moments of logical thought should make it clear to anybody how complicated and unworkable it would be to actually force someone into the federal justice system for purely political reaons; for one, how would Trump's enemies go about stacking the grand dury with partisan Trump haters, without getting noticed or caught? Or how can it be possible for a conspiracy of thousands of people needed to steal a national presidential election to perform its task without anyone noticing or finding evidence for the theft? That they would do this, take this horribly false, malignant point of view, which is so blatantly, obviously, transparently false, reveals much about their intellect and their moral character, just as their insistance that the election was stolen reveals the same. As if the grand jury in Florida was chosen beceuse of hatred of Trump as the only prerequisite. It is obvious by now that if indeed the Donald really were to shoot somebody dead on fifth avenue that his legions of cult followers would blame it on the anti-Trump conspiracy; they made him do it, somehow. Explanations are never a problem with this crowd, because sanity is not a requirement. Among Republican presidential candidates, only Chris Christie and Asa Hutchinson have the intergrity to refer to Trump's classified document heist in negative terms. Asking a Trump supporter about Trump's behavior and the response will almost invariably involve Hillary Clinton, Hunter Biden, and any number of other people, as if bad behavior can be justified by pointing to somebody else's bad behavior, or fabricating it. Just as everyone should read the Muller report, everyone should read the indictment, which is about forty or fity pages long, much shorter than the voluminous Muller report. Nothing but diversions, and distractions. The indictment makes the case agaisnt Trump so compellingly, so convincingly, that it seems obvious that Trump is guilty as hell, so to speak, beyond the dishonest capabilities of even the most ardent MAGA members to discredit by distorting. But they'll keep trying. Themore duly authorized indictments come down against Tump, and the more overwhelmingly the evidence suporting them, the more twisted, crazy, and fantastic will become the defenders of Trump with their false realities, in their unceasing crusade to put lipstick on a pig.

Indicting Trump

THIS TRUMP INDICTMENT on charges related to his evident theft and hoarding of top secret documents when he left office is, we must bear in mind, only the beginning of Trump's interaction with the justice system. There are still probably indictments to come relating to his incitement to insurrection on January 6, 2021, and his post election attempt to coerce the Attorney General of Georgia to fabricate eleven thousand seven hundered and eighty votes, one more than he needed to win the state against Biden. These ases will be in the federal court system the rest of Trump's life, and maybe the rest of most of our lives. I share teh glee among progressive Trump -haters over this dramatic development. Not so much "Schadenfreude", or whatever the heck it is, wanting other people to suffer, but rather, because, damn it, its about time justice caught up with Trump, the obvious criminal. All the way to the election in twenty twenty four, these lawsuits will be growing and building, as will Trump's campaign for the presidency, and, quite likely, the enthusiasm and loyalty of his supporters. In 1920 socialist labor union organizer Eugene V. Debs, while in jail, received about one million votes for president, in the election won byWarrren G. Harding, who died about a year later while in office. Trump's journey, or attempted journey, back into the White House promises to be dramatice and entertaining, and the behavior of his cult following will be no less interesting to observe, as they become increasingly angry and active with Trump's gradual but steady legal and political decline. And lest we forget, Trump has already tried to illegally remainin office by organizing and inciting a violent attack on the United States government, in which several people died and dozens of police officers were maimed for life, and his cult follower - supporters were with him every step of the way, and still are... Indeed, a majority of conservative Christian Trump supporters say to this day that the insurrection at the Capitol was a good idea. They see nothing wrong with Trump's behavior, his conservative Christian supporters. That tells us much about their moral character and intellectual abilities. That shows us clearly that they indeed are capable of anything, including criminal activity and violence, and, you never know....what if Trump decides to organize and order them to start a civil war in the streets of America? In America, you, or anyone can become president, even while in jail. God bless America.

The Corrupting of The People

THE 'L.E.A.R.N.S." ACT passed in Arkansas and was signed into law by Governor Sarah Huckstabe Sanders. "LEARNS", as you might suspect, is a crazy, contrived acronym:Literacy...Empowerment...Accountability...Responsibility...Networking...School Safety...Just a bunch of good sounding words, strung together to spell out the word "Learns"...By this you migh deduce and extreme creativity and brilliance of the part of those who thought it up. If so, you would be mistaken. Before becoming governor of Arkansas, Sanders spent the better part of two years standing in front of the national media, looking into the camera, and spouting thousands of lies on behalf of President Trump. that evidently endeared her to Arkansas conservative voters. Now, she is proudly, diligently trying to sign into law the toxic false educational agenda of the far right. The LEARNS ACT is another example of the right wing disease, the progenitor of "Trumpism" still sweeping the country. It bans books, bans acknowledgement of racism and homosexuality in Arkansas public schools, because conservatives prefer that they didn't exist, and thus, thou shalt not. Sheer insanity, propaganda, indoctrination, false fascism, this abominable LEARS ACT, and, for that matter, the entire far right wing twisted educational agenda. The act steals money from public education, public money raised by the taxpayers, and gives it to private schools. The Republicns seem to have forgotten their own dogma, that free enterprise only works without government interference, that socialism is bad, and that therefore public money must not be used to assist private enterprise. Thousands of librarians and public school teachers hate the LEARNS ACT, probably because of its canctioning, mandating of book banning, and legislated theft of public school funds and their transfer to private parties. Therefore thay have filed a lawsuit in federal court over it, and a federal jusge has put the damnable, contemptible mess on hold; effectively delaying or possibly even prevenitng it from ever going into law, God willing. All over america these cazy and crazier far right wing wing laws targeting LGBTQ people and indoctrinating children with lies is being given stron opposition, in the courts and in he media, especially among intelligent, educated people, the sort who oppose Trump. It seems likely that eventually this current upsurge in far right fascism in America as manifested by the Republican Party, will subside and be For the moment, however, it is tragically, very much alive, it not well and the sacred crusade agaisnt it thus must carry on, vigorously.

The Corrupting of the High Court

UNLESS YOU HAPPEN TO BE a far right Christian conservative extremist, you have noticed over the past few years, or perhpas past few decades, something going very wrong with the United States Supreme Court.Its been filled with far right wing extremists appointed by far right wing presidents, with the help of Congressionl extremists, who jammed nominees through and succeeded in preventing any decent, reasonable nonimes from even being considered. In his new monogrpah: "The Super Majority; How the Supreme Court Divided America", Michael Waldman, President of The Brennan Center, a progressive think tank, explains this judicial tragedy, wnd elucidates what precipitated it. He focuses on the most recent court session, last summer, 2022, when the court overturned Roe v. Wade, greatly loosened gun rights restrictions, even as the nation is besdieged by a national epicemic of gun violence and mass shootings. the court overturned a law in New York City whcih had been in effect for over a hundred years, prohibiting carrying guns in public. Now, Anyone on the street in New York can legallly be bearing a firearm. The Court greatly weakened the power of the Environmental Protection Agency to protect the environment, even as climate change roars down upon us, more each day. Conservative judicial extremism. The problem with all three of these decisions is that they are insane, unreasonable, contrary to progress, harmful to the country, and utterly without actual legal basis. This is the same judicial misguided philosophy which ruled in 2010 that money is speech, thus allowing for unllimited amounts of unaccountable money to be injected into political campaigns. They call themselves, thes wacky jurists, "originalists", meaning that they consider it absolutely manditory to read and interpret the constitution exactly the way its authors did. Obviously, they don't actually do this. The idea that they do is a scam, a lie, a false pretext to burden America with a conservative extremist society, legally. for instance, by "bear arms", the founders meant "serving in the military." Today's right wingers have reinvented the phrase to mean "a private citizen taking a gun with him wherever he goes..carrying a weapon". In colonial times, gun laws, firearm restrictins on owning, carrying, and using, were the norm. But every man was required to serve in the military, the local well regulated militia. It was the nation's defense, its national army. Ou rcontemporary right wing extremists now have us all armed to the hilt, out in public. And the mass carnage continues, all because of a grostesque, deliberate misinterpretation of the constirution by the people who claim to know, understand, and obey it the best.

Going Around, Coming Around

PERHAPS THE TWO MOST INFAMOUS GOVERNORS in America, at least in progressive circles, are the twin titans Greg Abbot of Texas and, last but least, Ron DeSantis of Florida. they have much in common, both levaing a veritable litany of nefarious policies on their (one can hope) way out the political back door. Both are eihter fascists or trying hard to impersonat fascists, which is of course what the Republican party and conservative America in generla seem to be doing. they favor banning books, teaching children that racism and homosexuality do not exist, among other imatinary social paradigms. And together thay have beenperpetrating and continue to perpetrate, at least for th eeimte being, their most insidious, nefarious plot of all: shipping immigrants seeking asylum out of their southern conservative Christian states and up north, usually to affluanet progressive communities, like, saym Martha's Vinyard, plush neighborhoods in New York, and so forth. Investigations of this have come inevitably, and are beginning to reveal that the immigrants are lured onto buses by fals promises and deception, and dumped off up north with no money, food, or help from their senders, only brokin promises. This rasises all kinds of legal questions, as seemingly everything in these United states of litigation does, questions of kidnapping, breach of promise,..again, all sorts stuff. And now, finally, the Attorney General of the great state of California is filing federal suit agains the pair of smart ass punsk, (Abot & DeSantis), both of whem doubtless think themselves soo very clever and brilliant and presidential. They have a valid point; federal government policies, or lack thereof, is allowing their states to be inundated with to many new resideort of the American people. Playing games, abusing people, and behaving aggressively and divisively is not the way forward. But then again, since when has any conservative Christian Republican ever had the foggiest notiong about the best way "forward", rather than "backward". Law suits filed by various agencies in various states against this kidnapp and dump scheme are starting to be formulated, and should be making their way through the court system in the near future. Maybe the justice system witll remedy this deplorable gubernatorial behavior. If not, maybe the American people will.

Seeing the Obvious Future

AT LEAST A YEAR AGO if not more, this website make a prediction whicih, in reality, is not all that bold. Not like we went out on a limb or anything when it said here that the Republican party would end up havingmany presidential candidates for twenty twnety four, that they would all be face with the same problem - Donald Trump - and that out of sheer desperation and necessity they would all, beginning gradually and escalating over time, savagely attack Mr. Trum, verbally. they would use his record in business, personal affairs, and in his four years as president against him so bluntly and directly that they would begin to sound like a bunch of Democrats. If you think about it, how else could it have been? What other alternatives were there? None, actually. We all knew all along that Trump would have a lot of company in the next election, and that his opponents in the Republican primaries would be hard after him, by necessity. As the campaing wears on, the process will only grow; it has already begun. There are now about a dozen Repbulican dandidates, and a couple fo them have already started going after Trump. As the election approaches, and Mr. Trump continues to lead in the polls over everyone by a wide margin, the other candidates will grow desperate, and will realize that there is no way for any of them to win the G.O.P. nomination without attacking Trump directly. Already DeSantis, in a lame, sissified sort of way, has begun insinuating that Trumpism is a losing agenda, and that he, DeSantis, represents the only hopeful future for the Republican party. Former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, who seemingly has ltle or no chance to actually win the party's nomination, has plainly, clealy siad that Donald Trump is not qualified by run for or be presdient, because of the January 21, 2021 Capitol insurrection. Interestingly, only Hutchison thus far has had the honestly and courage to say this, obvious though it is. Eventually, the other candidates will say it too; they'll have no choice, they'll be pressured by the question. Its been over a year now since we admonished our readers to purchase a bigger popcorn popper, sit back, and get ready to enjoy the vultures vs. Trump show. Well, the show has begun, and will be getting better each day. Don't forget the butter and salt.

Remembering

TINA TURNER was not one of my favorites; I don't always understand and appreciate greatness. but her one hundred and fifty millionalbums speak volumes. For me, an inveterate rock n roller, Tina's music always seemed a bit over the edge in screeching screaming, gyrating body, and sexual content, not that I'm a prude or anything. A musicologist pointed to me that in terms of her title "the Queen of Rock", she really doesn't have much competition, rock n roll being heavily dominated by males. The reaction to her death was beautiful, warm, loving, and interesting. Interesting as a sociological phenomenon. The most obvious conclusion is that Americans simply, dearly love entertainers and celebrities; celebrity entertainers, of whom Tina was most certainly preeminent. Journalist Chris Hedges, who has been all over the world and experienced many diverse cultures, cogently points out that in America, we build monuments and shrines to our entertainers. We almost worship them as Gods, a pantheonn of glorious enshrined people who obtain sacred status in our holy canon of luminaries by making us smile, laugh, yell, and applaud. We start by emprinting their hand in wet concrete, to preserve the print forever, andgive people, millions of people, the chance to actually see in person the hand print made by John Wayne, Kate Hepburn, whomever. We certainly venerate entertainers more than military heroes in America, and perhaps that is a good thing. The tombstone in Paris for Jim Morrison is impersseve, a modern looking solid square bolck of dark granite in a cemetary in the middle of paris, though Morrison's marker is sorta hemmed in by older, larger monuments. I intend to find out why he is buried in Paris, even though he was there when he died, and liked being there, having lived there for awhile. Perhpas his father, the naval admiral, decided that it was best that qay, more appropriated, to give Jim a resting place where he could at once be prominent, and at ease in relative solitude. Admiral Morrison provided what I consider to be the best, most beautiful eulogy ever given by anyone; "My son possessed a unique genius, which he expressed without reservation." Or maybe the one at architect Christopher Wren's modest marker; "If you want a monument, just look around". Christopher Wren was the great seventeenth century English architect who designed almost every prominent building in London, massive granite structures, many of which remain today. I really like Einsteins's idea of being cremated and the ashes dispersed at an undisclosed location. I like it for environmental and spiritual reasons; Einstein simply didn't like the thought of long lines of tourists standing at his grave, taking pictures.

Fleeing the Trap

AMIDST THE CHAOS AND TURMOIL, the dissension, back and forth, the "strutting and fretting", a question comes to mind. Do the people who still support Donald Trump's political ambitions, and there remain tens of millinons of them, reamin supportive in spite of Trump's glaring inadequacies...or because of them? By "glaring inadequacies", it thould be readily apparent what it meant. The litany of crimanal activity, blatant prevarications, moral and intellectual sins of enormous variety and extent, needn't be recapitulated. That he Trump, might become president again, as indeed he well might, against this backdrop, seems astonishing. I know many many Trump supporters. They're good people, almost to a person. They say and do crazy things though, leading to the suggestion that with regard to their love of Trump, they are doing their thinking on a purely emotional level, and are putting their intellectuals attributes, whatever they may be, on hold for the duration. On the "in spite of" side of the coin, they seem to have a penchant for compartmental thinking; burying the negatives out of view, and on the "because of" side, the answers become vague, having to do mostly with the three great pillars of Trump support: freedom of guns, immmigration cessation, and lower taxes, less government, with a religious based culturally traditional value set. A friend of mine bet me a cold case of imported beer in 2021 that within a few months, Turmp would be back inpower as president. He's been mad at me ever since I made him pay up. (What did he expect?). once he told me that he knows damned good and well that climate change has nothing to do with human behavior, because he is a geologist. How he figures that is anyone's guess. Support for Trump is all emotion, and based on anger at a rapidly diversifying American culture, with "white" people decline as a percentage of the general population, and gay and transgdner people demanding recognition and respect. For Trump supporters the rate of change in America is far too great, and they want to take us back to a simpler time. Although they never mention Trump's many examples of horrible actions and deeds. In most cases, they are aware of them, even if they twist and distort so drastically that a premeditated and well organized attempt at violently overthrowing the government becomes a guided tour, or a harmless rally that sorta got out ot hand.