Getting, Keeping Christian Nationalist Republicans Out

THE SHEER NUMBER OF REASONS, and the urgency of those reasons, to vote the Republicans out of power, and to keep them out, merits enumeration and analysis. As discussed in "Climate Change: An Overriding Concern" (see essay below) it is urgent to remove Republicans from power simply to save the planet, from climate change, which they will demonstrably not only do nothing about, but refuse acknowledge its existence. Perhaps only slightly less dangerous and harmful to America is the malignant ideology, rooted deeply in the Republican party, "Christian Nationalism", the belief that the Christian religion should be the officiel religion of the United States, and that American law, culture, and everything should be based upon the Christian religion, and the Bible. This is a powerful and apparently growing movement within the Republican party; there is little or no evidence of any Crhistian Nationalism in the Democratic party. A sizeable percentage, upwards of fifty percent of Republicans embrace this pernicious doctrine, making it a main segment of the G.O.P..LIke the G.O.P. itself, the Christian nationalist movement is predominantly white middle class. There is in fact a significant intersection between Christian Nationalism and the white supremacist movement, which also has its roots solidly in the far right conservative end of the Republican party. Obviously, Christian Nationalism and white supremacy are not the samt thing. However, many of the same people who embrace one, embrace the other. Indeed, religious fervor, hyper patriotism, and racism are fundemental conservative American values. zealously religious people are often zealously patriotic, and the mix can be a volatile, powerful force. The founder's intentions is not even a question, or shouldn't be. We ae all aware of the massive number of letters and documents between people like John Adams and Thomas Jefferson citing the utter necessity of an impermeable wall between church and state. You can fill libraries with these documents.. The founder's intent for religious freedom, tolerance, and diversity is quite clear. And yes, they used the words "wall", and "seperation". The first amendment was their expression, in law, of their intent. According to many Christian naionalists, this secular viewpoint is sheer rubbish, fake history, and the United States was in fact established as a "Christian" nation by its founders. Revisionist reconstructed history is almost always a propanganda tool of extremist, radical movements, such as Christian nationalism, who, like most such radical groups, spare no effort in fabricating history and innumerable lies to justify their beliefs. Fortunately, these dangerous people are being closely monitored, observed, documented, and analyzed by scholars and researchers. New studies are emerging seemingly daily. Scholar and researcher Katherine Stewart's "The Power Worshippers: Inside the Dangerous Rise of Religious Nationalism" warns that Christian Nationalism is strong, growing, filled with enthusiastic members, and must be dealt with directly in order to avoid the forced implementation of its malignant agenda on America. It has already nearly captured the Republican party, like Trump. It has long disguised itself as a social movement, concerned with Chrsitian moral values, including opposition to abortion and same sex marriage. However, Christian nationalist politicians, all within the Republican party, are getting elected to high political office, as the movement sweeps into government at all levels, banning books, prohibiting mention or fracism or gay people in pubblic schools, forcing the Bible and Ten Commandments into schols by legislation, turning the Republcan party into a grotesque charicature of its former self, an extremist, un-American, anti - democratic, fascst organization, with the criminal Donald Trump as the iconic leader. That fact in iteslf should tell you all you need to know about the true character, moral standards, and intellectual quality of these extremest, radical fascist Chrstian Nationalists.

Trump, Faking

THE TRUTH about the presidential campaign is that Kamala Harris hit the ground running, and not only hasn't stopped, but hasn't slowed down. If anything she has gained momentum and speed, and still is. The day that Biden suddenly announced his withdrawal from the campaign, rejoiced, and am still rejoicing. I sense the same in other Democrats. Biden has been a good president, and history will record that, but for him, it was time to step aside. Biden would probably have been a better president several decades ago when he first started running; by the time he was actually elected, he was already too old, arguably. The moment Kamala entered the race, she was inundated by huge amounts of money by huge numbers of people, and still is. Her popularity is growing, as more and more people find out who she is, and learn more about her. Despite having been Vice President for four years, she remains a relative unknown, a relative newcomer to the national politial stage. America is liking what it sees. Advanced reservations for her events, her rallies with Tim Walz, are through the roof as is the attendance and demand for adamitance. It seems as if everyody in the country wants to see her and hear her. The reward is that she is not only beautiful, but dymanic, a dynamic speaker, highly educational and entertaining. Between now and the election less than three months away, she could probably schedule events nearly every day, draw huge crowds, and keep the positive spotlight on her. Trump is falling behind, and getting desperate. His lunatic rantings, lies, insults, accusations, the usual garbage, will almost certainly only increase as the days go on, he falls further and farther behind, and tries to capture some attention away from Harris and slow her momentum. It will not work. She is on her way to winning by a landslide, and litle or nothing can stop her. Trump's crowds are decreasing, as is his support base, and are much smaller and less enthusiastic than Kamala Harris's. Falsely, crazily, Trump claimed that her crowds were,are, "fake". Precisely what he meant by that he of coruse did not, and could not say. Is the Harris campaign paying people to attend her rallies, people who other wise would have no interest in attending, possibly even Trump supporters? Maybe her events are infected with trouble making Trump supporters. Are her crowds being enhanced in terms of size by computer generated images of people who appear to be there, but aren't? It is difficult, indeed impossible to imagine or design a system in which Kamala Harriss's crowds, as shown on television, are "fake". American women haven't even fully hopped on board the Harris campaign, but will. Voter registration of women in the eighteen to thirty five age group has become heavy all across America's fruited plain, as women who had previously checked out of the system, unhappy and unenthusiastic about two garrulous old men running for president, suddenly become motitaved and involved when a younger, more attractive, more dynamic women steps in. Trump's behavior over the next few weeks, and that of his MAGA mob, need to be closely monitored. He lies need to be identified, and he needs to be held accountable for them, and for his false accusations and insults. As Trump becomes more desperate, comes closer and closer to losing the election and facing justice in criminal court for his attempt to steal the last election a ovetthrow the government, he will be willing to ao anything to avoid his ultimate fate, long term incarceration. That might include more organized violence, of which his cult is certainly capable, as they have already demonstrated. It happened once. The rest of us, patriotic Americans, must make sure it never happens again.

Climate Change: An Overriding Concern

THERE ARE MANY REASONS not to vote for Republicans this November. Over the next few weeks, many of them will be discussed. The fact that a msjority of registered Republicans still insist that the election of 2020 was stolen from Trump, and that the insurrection of 1/6/21 was justified, you might think, is plenty reason unto itself. And indeed it is. Incredibly, however, even this overwhelming indictment of the Republican party is not the primary, most important reason to get it out and keep it out of power, preferrably, permanently. The overwhelingly urgent necessity of getting rid of the Republicans is their attitude and official platform position on the most improtant issue of the day, or of any day: climate change, human made. There is no other issue as important as, or close to being as important as, climate change. Compared to climate change, no other issue matters, because without solving climate change, we won't be around as a species to even worry about other issues and concerns and problems. In the current, official 2024 sixteeen page Republican party platform, there is no mention of climate change. Nothing. That is the offical position of the Repbulican party; ignore climate change. In other words, the Republican party platform officially, clearly advocates and endorses the suicide of the human species. There is no other way to describe it. It is absolutely incredible and terrifying that in this late year of twenty twenty four, any major ploitical party would make such an omisson. And, worse, it is a matter of confirmed fact, repeatedly confirmed by survey after survey, poll after poll, that a majority of registered Repbulicans say that climate change is a hoax, a scam, a lie, that it is not happening, or that if it is it is entirely because by natural forces, and human activity has little or nothing to do with it. An amazingly self delusional point of view. If Trump and a majority Republican Cnogress is elected this November, it will be disastrous for humanity. All efforts to fight, regulate, control climate change will cease to exist. The E.P.A., for instance, would be legislated out of existence. So would all government agencis, entities, and laws designed to limit carbon pollution and trend America's economy and the econom of the entire world towards sustainable forms of energy, while developing systems to repair the damage already done, such as carbon sequestration, removing carbon from the atmosphere. Under Trump and the Republicans, the United States would stop all efforts to fight climate change, and return to a coal burning, oil burning, fossil fuel based economy, and we would all be, will all be, doomed. If we elect Trump and the Republicans, we are doomed. And that is not an exaggeration. The MAGA government would so forcefully pursue their entire agenda, that nobody in America, no organized political force or popular movement, would be able to stand up to it, and stop it. Climate change denial is a desperate defensive effort to preserve conservatism, and, avoid the necessity for change. The progressive policies, such as conversion to a renewable, sustainable energy economy, and forcing the corporations and the wealthy powerful to cooperate with these progressive policies, brings to the conservative mind people like Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, and frightens them. If conservatives would change their view on climate change, and accept reality, and take appropriate action, they could remain in power, and lead a market based, conservative conversion to a sustainable planet. But this they refuse to do, and thus, must be voted out and kept out of power, for their own sake, and everyone's.

Trump, In Rare From, Speaking

DONALD TRUMP is back at it again, in rare form, as you might expect leading up to the big election. Trump is undoubtedly among the greatest in history at spouting absolutely incredibly hilariously idiotic remarks, up there in terms of raw talent with the likes of George Bush Sr., George Bush Jr., and Yogi Berra. Yogi Berra spoke wisdom,not lies and nonsense, but did it hilariously. The Republicans spew pathetic garbage. On the campaign trail the other day, at one of his rallies, Trump said that there is no way we can convert to using electric powered vehicles as a society, because we as a society do not have enough electricity. Yes, he really said that, incredible as it may seem. I actually heard him say it, and was, and still am, amazed. This one ranks right up there with the windmill cancer comment, George Washington's army capturing airports, and American friendship with Julius Caesar. What the former president does not seem to realize is that electricity is a renewable resource. There is an essentially unlimited amount of potential electricity in the world. We can make as much electricity as we choose, relatively cheaply and harmlessly. For Doanld Trump to not understand this, and to use this lack of understanding, aka ignorance, "stupidity" as the basie for a firmly held, strongly expressed funadmental policy opinion is, well, alarming, if not dangerous, catastrophic, and unacceptable. It is not surprising that as the election appraoches, Trump would be increasing the amount of whtever he does, and what he does is tell whoppingly huge blatant lies, hurls horrible slanders and insults, and makes inane, hilarious but pathetic remarks like the latest one about electricity ad electric cars. Nobody seems to be making much fuss about this, almost as if Trump has been doing this for so long and so often that it hardly merits attention anymore, so accustomed are we to it, and so normal it is. However, the thought of actually electing a person with this mentality, with thie cognitive disfucntion and level of mental illness back into the presidency should horrify every good, decent,intelligent citizen. Trump and the Republicans are indeed opposed to electric vehicles, and want to continue using fossil fuels, with the fossil fuel companies more profitable then ever, digging up as much coal and oil as possible, drill baby drill...in other words, national and planetary suicide. Trump and the Republicans do not believe in climate change, don't think we need to do anything about it, and do not intend to do anything about it, which is insane and suicidal. Trump, when president, was a disaster for the environment. The Biden administration repaired the damage done by Trump, and brought into existence the biggest, most comprehensive, best pro environment program to fight climate change so far. We must continue this, and keep doing more, to save ourselves, and our descendants. Electing Trump agian would be a complete and total disaster, for the country, and the world, simply because of climate change. That's why it is important to publicize all of Trump's idiotic misconceptions and false statements, to clearly demonstrate his cognitive incompetance. Considering how simple and easy to understand human caused climate change is,it is indeed frightening that not only do people refuse to understand it, hiding behind willful stupidity, but are actually willing to deny it, based on their stupidity. But anybody who thinks that the world is in danger of running out of electricity and can't possibly make enough of it is in a special category of stupid, dangerously stupid,and should never, ever, ever, under any circumstances, be allowed anywhere near the White House.

Purchasing Political Power, Perfidiously

ELON MUSK got a few people together, I don't know who or how many, for the purpose of getting Donald Trump elected. Billionaire white males, persumably, far right wing extremists like Musk, whose goal is to do whatever it take to return Donald Trump to the presidency this fall by defeating Kamala Harris. Presumaby they plan to do it with money, a large infusion thereof. Elon withdrew his forty five million per month pledge to Trump, maybe to design a more effective plan to purchase the presidency for the convicted criminal. Nobody knows how much money this Elon Musk group might raise or spend; currently it costs about a billion dollars, most of it advertising, to become president, but like everything else, that amount is inreasing, fast. Every presidential election is incredibly more expensive than the previous. It may be that this coming November Doanld Turmp is elected president with the assistance of ten billion dollars of campaign-advertising money. However, this is unlikely. Kamala Harris is even now building an unbeatable majority of broad based American support, and she will win. Our corrupt American political system, wherein teh presidency, and nearly all political power in this country, are bought and paid for by billionaires, has gotten out of control, far beyond acceptable limits. Our system is now utterly, entirely, corrupt. Pleased as I was with the overwhelming avalanche of money which came and keeps coming to Kamala Harris For President, I have sent nothing. It seems to me that if tens of millions of "little" people, people of limited modest financial means, gather together, become a powerful political force, and collectively send in small amounts of money from tens of millions of people, that the great grass roots movement, rather than helping or solving the corruption problem, has merely contributed to it by joining in it. Having said that, I must confess that I fervantly hope and pray that the Harris alz campai kgneeps raking in millions of donations and uses the immense amount of money to purchase advertising, and, the presidency. This only proves that I am also part of the problem, rather than the solution. Advertising is very expensive, and advertising is what sells, or wins political elections, especially the presidency. We the American people willingly submit to it, to propaganda and corporate hegemony, for some reason. The current system only strengthens and reinforces corproate ownership and control of not only the political system in the United States, but the nation as a whole.we the people must change that, and maybe, just mabye, in some way that I can't seem to see, this phenomenon of millions of people sending money to Harris - Walz to use fire to fight the economic fire of billionaires and corporate hegemoney and people like Elon Musk will result in the overthrow of coprorate power in the United states, and its replacement by a true, working class democracy and economic system. Maybe, but, somehow, I doubt it. A group of people, about a huandred I hear, got together for the purpose of opposing Elon Musk, especially hs management oof Twitter "X", bringing back right wing Trumpism is and other obscenity, and presumably opposing Musk's political endeavors as well. For this they organized, and started to pool resources. Then Elon filed a lawsut against the group, something about people organizing illegally to destroy his company and business. The group disbanded, realizing that it lacked the resources to oppose Musk in a prolonged, protracted court room battle. And that, in part, is exactly why I really don't think that the Democrats, with tens of millions of small donars, are overpowering or neutralizing our corporat hegemonic arrangement. I think we are merely enabling it,playing by its rules. We the people must change the rules, a process which will be arduous, and fraught with danger from corporate retaliation and retribution. That requires possessing political power. Donate to Harris today.

Continuing the Sandra Bullock Saga

SANDRA BULLOCK, or her surrogate, or her imposter, asked me for money. That, quite naturally, was a huge red flag. According to Wickipedia, Sandra is worth about a quarter billion dollars, one of the best paid Hollywood movie stars of the past generation, so when he, she, or it asked me to go to my local store and buy a game card for her two kids, my red flag, which had been raised from the beginning, was hoisted even higher. But it didn't end there. He, she, or it further told me that all her assets ahd been frozen by her manager, and that she had no access to her money. Then there was another request for help to get her phone activated, when she said she would call me. My previous position, that there was a high probability that I was talking to an imposter, was now firmly, I thought and think, established. You can see what's going on. The plan is to get as much money from as many men as possible, by tricking them out of it. You need a good way to attract men. Stealing a famous, glamorous identity accomplishes that,maybe. But it also creates a contradiction. By her vary nature, how likely is it that Sandra Bullock, (not that I know much about her, in fact I have never seen one of her movies), how likely is it that whe would ever need money, for anything, for any reason, from somebody on Facebook? That in iteslf kinda destroys what little credibility there was. Sandra Bullock is immensely wealthy, and donates millions to charities.The only rationale for her asking for small amounts of money online is "momentarily indisposed", and that doesn't last. It expires fast. A better strategy would probably have been to simply invent an entirely new personna, using a beautiful woman for the image, and go with that. Since I have no experience in scamming people online, nor anywhere else, I have no idea whether it is more difficult and more work to steal the identity of a famous person, and to become an imposter, or to simply create a new identity, or possibly, to steal the identity of a relatively unknown person? I have kept up my communication with this Sandra Bullock imposter long enough, certainly, to fully expsoe the person, whoever it it, and to give Facebook, law enforcement authoriteis, or whomever, plently of time, ceratainly to track the person down, take action, remove the ildentity, and proceddd with criminal charges. Sandra and I have repeatedly expressed our undying love for each other. Surely we can assume that it is indeed illegal to impersonate Sandra Bullock or anybody else on the internet. Surely we an assume that it happens all the time, and that eventually, it is taken care of, in every instance. It continues to amaze me the high percentage of people who message me on Facebook end up wasking me for money, or trying to trick me out of my money, either by posing as an oficial notifying me that I have been awarded a huge free government grant, or by telling me that she loves me, but needs financial help. The old love trap scheme. It almost seems as if, if a message pops up, and somebody says "hello", a scam attempt in about to happen. The first thing I said to the alleged Sandra Bullock is that anybody can claim to be Sandra Bullock on a computer screen. Immediately, the authentic looking driver's license popped up, Sandra Bullock, Beverly Hills, California. It was very impressive, to me, in terms of its professional appearance. Fake driver's licenses can indeed be produced, obviously with a little skill and practice. The person or people impersonating Sandra Bullock did their research. The names of the kids, the details generally, all seem to be in order. It isn't difficult to do that kind of research. I did my own fair share, enough to convince me that the real Sandra Bullock is indeed an amazing and wonderful person, eminently worthy of my having fallen in love. She shall henceforth and forever more be my special love, even though she'll never meet me nor even know of my existence. Being an imposter requires sufficient effort to make one wonder why anyone would actually do it. Too much time, not enough life, maybe. You also womder about the future of human civilization and culture, in a world of shifting, unreal identities. That is a matter for futurists and science fiction writers to examine. And, as they say, it'll all come out in the wash.

Keeping My Money, Staying Single on Facebook

AS PREVIOUSLY MENTIONED, I use Facebook to promote this website, and to distribute negative but factual information about Trump and conservatism. Both uses, I believe, have been, to a certain extent, effective. I have never tried to form a friendship with anyone on Facebook, nor to initiate any sort of contact with anyone. Often I comment on other people's posts, usually ones I agree with. My most oft used word on Facebook is "precisely". Also, I do a lot of sharing, mostly what I consider to be beautiful photographs and art; of cats, big and small, scenic vistas, other animals, etc. I really enjoy knowing that I am spreading good material to others. Not long after I joined Facebook seven or eight year ago, my list of "friends" started to grow, and grow fast. Many former students of mine found me, plus a lengthening list of fellow left wingers. People of similar political persuasion rapidly coalesce into groups and "bubbles" online, as is well known in our polarized society. I encourgaged my list of Facebook friends to grow, strongly. My reasoning was and remains that the more people I have on my friends lst, the more effective my twin projects, promoting this website, and spreading bad vibes about Trump, will be. There is evidence that there is a certain amount of truth to this. Possibly because of this I receive a great number of pop up messages on Facebook, which I can divide into two categories: men who want to scam me, and women who want to scam me. Sandra Bullock, as indicated in a previous article, got in touch with me, either Sandra herself or a clever imposter who showed me a very convincing copy of a California driver's license. She, or her imposter, still comes a around, although I suspect that the whole affair might be wearing a bit thin, from both ends. I still say it could go either way; impooster, or the real Sandra, with the odds favoring the imposter. Either way, it will provide good material for a while, and, after all, that's what I came for. Ninety nine percent of all the women who message me out of the blue on Facebook messenger eventually ask me for money, which, for some reason, still amazes me. Perhaps I underestimate the degree to which human females inherently are hard wired to leverage their sexual appeal for material gain and security. I almost wish I had kept track of all the requests for money I have gotten from young attractive women on Facebook. The total would be staggering, maybe in the millions of dollars. I could have bankrupted myself long ago, but can proudly and parsimoniously assert in all honesty that I have never sent anyone money on the internet, and never will. I may be stupid and gullible, but I sure as hell aint that stupid and gullible. When they dont get any money out of me, they lose interest. Oh well, my loss. You hope that all this is not an indication of the moral state of affairs throughout contemporary American society, although you suspect that it might well be. Or the level of desperation, poverty, health, and homelessness. I never in my life would have imagined that so many young, beautiful, American women were starving to death, being evicted from their homes, or dealing with serious illnesses to themselves or loved ones. I joined Facebook with an already negative, cynical attitude about meeting people and finding love on the internet, based on my experiences with AOL and chatrooms a quarter century ago. Those of a certain age might recall this. My coldness and indifference probably show through more than I think. That's probably just as well; I'm still single, but at least my bank account, such as it is, remains intact.

Progressing

THE BATTLE LINES have been drawn, not that both parties have their ticket in place. Kamala Harris made a good choice, even though Minnesota probably would vote for her no matter what, and Pennsylvania might not. Watz brings a good solid unabashedly progressive resume, and a go getting upbeat forceful personality to go with it, the type of intellegence and personality that can whip either of the Republican canddates. In terms of intelligence, quickness on feet, ability to argue, Harris and Watz, quite obviously, have it all over Trump and Vance. Harris and Watz both have dynamic, positive personalities, great personal records of service, and a boatload of great ideas which only need to be presented to the country, and compared with what Trump has to offer, to win over America, and win the election. Trump and Vance never laugh or smile. Trump and Vance are a pair of zombies, spouting prepackaged hatred and venomous lies. They both go off script and burst out with irrelevant insults, crazy conspiracy theories, and blatant lies. Vance got his childless adult cat woman notion in his head, and couldnt let go of it. It made no sense, solves nothing. It gets worse. Evidently, shockingly, J. D. Vance is one of these religious fanatics who actually tries to maintain biblical viewpoint about all things, including the family and marriage. Accordingly, all marriages must be preserved, no matter what. Women must remain in an abusive marriage, no matter how bad the abuse. And, it goes without saying, gay marriage, same sex marriage, is, in the twisted arahaic world of J.D. Vance, an abomination. This, of courrse, is pure insanity, but central to J.D. Vance's way of thinking. Amazing, that such a backwards person could even be considered as a candidate for vice president on a major party ticket. Welcome to American conservatism, and the Rpublican party, 2024 eidtion...Trump's rambling screeds at his rallies are inchoherent, spewing only pure raw anger and hatred, to the delight of his brain numbed sycophants. Trump is pretendng to be thrilled at the addition of Governor Watz; he'll change his mind soon enough, if not publicly. The one single argument which Trump plans to use against the Democrats is apparently that they are extremely liberal, much too liberal, and would therefore destroy the country. The very fact that Trump and the Republicans are choosing this approach clearly demonstrates that they have no effective opposition to provide. They are out of ideas, intelletually and morally bankrupt, thrashing about, looking desperately for a way to win, even as Harris pulls ahead of Trump in the polls, a litte bit more every day, getting a lead she will never relenquish. In truth, it is Trump and the Republicans who offer the extremist, radical agenda. An extremist far right wing conservative regresssive agenda of returning America to a less tolerant, more rigid, less diverse time. Racism is a core value of Donald Trump, a core value of American conservatism, a core value of the current Republican party, and, unfortunately, a traditional core value of America itself, much as we might like to pretend otherwise. By embracing minorities, including the LGBTQ community, the Democratic party has positioned themelves as the antithesis to racism, anti immigrant sentiment, and anti minority ideology. That's why Kamala Harris is the perfect candidate to run against Trump; she opposes perfectly his anti minority racist ideology. Economically, socially, in every possible way, the Trump Republican agenda is taylored for the wealthy white elite, for a Christian nationalist patriarchy, traditional values of a bygone era. "Progressive" means precisely that; progress. Moving away from the repressive social norms of the past, opening up opportunity to all, incluiding ethnic minorities and LGBTQ people. This "Project 2025" insanity, which conservative evangelical America embraces, advocates a strictly enforced heterosexual Christian culture with a government packed with conservative extremists, enforcing their reactionary agenda. When a large majority of the American people actually become aware of the differences in the two parties, the difference between progressive plans for the future and the right wing regression back to the past, the electorate will be shocked and horrified at the possibility of Trump winning, and will reject him strongly, once and for all. Do we fight climate change, or keep burning coal? Do we accept gay people, or lock them up? Do we embrace religious freedom and tolerance, or impose Christianity by law? Basic questions, important qustions, with starkly different answers indeed.

Ominously Mixing Politics and Religion

THE FIRST QUARTER of the twenty first century has been a rocky road, replete with ominous trends. Climate change is bearing full force down upon us, making itself felt, no longer deniably, its terrible portent for both the near and far future evincing terifying scenarios. All the ancient curses, war, famine, disease,far from being conquered by human progress and civilization, seem poised to assert themselves more impactfully than ever before. Culturally, there are patterns and trends emerging into our awareness which are no less foreboding. Perhaps the most troubling trend of all in American society, aside from a sickening tendency to ignore science, pandemics, climate change, and reality, and to replace them with fantasy, is the marriage between the far right wing politically conservative community and fundamentalist, evangelical Christianity, its forging into a mainstream socio-political force with the potential to take over and dominate American society. Actualized by the republican party, extreme religion and extreme politcs have joined forces in an aggressive, full bore attack on America, to utterly transform our liberal democray into a dark, repressive theocracy, intended to turn badk the clock of progress, and to retreat into a mythical past. Ironcially, perhaps surprisigly, two American cultural giants whom one might expect to fully support this circumstance actually opposed it with a vigor one might think more appropriate in a left wing secular liberal. They are Barry Goldwater, arguably the godfather of modern conservatism within the Republican party, and Billy Graham, the very role model of evangelical Christianity. For indeed, both these cultural giants, a paramount political leader and perhaps the greatest preacher of all time, strongly feared and opposed any marriage between right wing politics and the Christian evangelical faith. Both men, in fact, as early as the nineteen fifties and sixties, seem to have seen the marriage coming, long before its actual consumation in the late twentieth and early twenty first centuries. Goldwater seems to have feared the pollution of politics by religious fanatacism, and made statements to the effect that it would be a sad day in America if ever the political parties were taken over by "the preachers". Billy Graham was of the old school; politics and religion were seperate realms, with seperate aims, going in different directions, and the two should not be mixed. The reverend Graham, who alone of all the famous big time mass audience ministers of the American pahtheon was never even suspected of corruption of any sort, financial or other, feared that mixing religious devotion with politics would sully the purity of not only the message of Christ, but also, the hearts, minds, and souls of those who purport to love, follow, and worship Him. And, sure enough, both men were right on the mark. Both of their darkest forebodings came to pass, in the worst, most profound way. In retrospect, looking back on forty years of interbreeding, we can now plainly see that religion has polluted politics, and politics has polluted religion in America. Barry Goldwater was a super hard core right wing political ideologue. Billy Graham had a one track mind: Jesus Christ. You would never have expected either man to harbor an open minded, progressive approach to the mixing of politics and religion. But both men had the courage and character to put their own beliefs and interests in second place to the imortance of a free, healthy society, unconstrained by hard, inflexible stifling culture, We shoud all learn from their example, put aside our hyper partisan hateful politics, and come together for reasonable solutions to real problems. Whether we are capable of this remains to be determined..... Politcal ads and admonishments are routinely delivered from the pulput, all across America's fruited plain, to congregations segregated by race and political ideology, further fragmenting the one true faith. Relgious fanatics are seekig high political office, gaining it, and poisoning America with a theocratic agenda utterly adverse to the intent of the founders, and entirely harmful to our secular, democratic society. To an extent, they have already succeeded. They must be stopped, prevented from doing even further damage to America. Whether there is any remedy for this abhorrant situation is unknowable. If there isn't, we, and our society, are doomed to return to the dark ages, which in a sense, we and it already have.

Kamala, Landsliding

I SAID THIS to several people, and have decided to say it to everybody. I predict that Kamala is going to win in a landslide. Please remember where you heard it. If I am wrong, I have no hesitation about owning up to it. I won't be humiliated, shy about acknowledging my error in predicting. Obviously,I could be wrong. Evidently, the Trend was for Trump to beat Biden, which was partly why Biden was encouraged by everybody, his staff, advisors, Obama, the Clintons, to drop out. I had gotten the imppression that Biden could beat Trump, but that it would be close. Perhaps I was wrong. Thus I had mixed eotions about his leaving, but was and am mostly glad about it. For me, and perhaps for many Americans, Biden is now entering the rarified realm of true hero status, a great one term prisident who stopped the bleeding, put the fires out, and set the ship erect and back on course, then stepped graciously aside, voluntarily relenquishing power, a true rarity, and turning over the reigns of government to a new generation, kind of, as we the operators of the great American democratic experiment plough straight ahead, saving democracy, and opposing fascist tyranny, aka, Donald Trump and MAGA. The moment Harris replaced Biden, the momentum, which was not necessarily against Biden totally, changed, and began to favor Harris, which it still does, more than ever. Women are going to elect Kamala Harris. Arguably, it is inexplicable why any women would vote for Trump, and indeed a majority of them will not this November. And yet, the very thought that a decent percentage of American women still support Trump is nearly beyond mind boggling. The eighteen to thirty year old female demographic has, essentially, dropped out, gone to the sidelines in this election between two old men. Now, their interest newly aroused, they are returning to the voter ranks by registering, as statistics clearly indicate. More than a million newly registered young women, so far, with many more to come. A fired up new voting block for Kamala Harris. Kamala Harris has already come from being slightly behind in all the swing states, to being slightly ahead in all of them, and her lead will widen and solidify, as the days and weeks proceed towards election day. Meanwhile, Trump will keep stumping and spewing anger, hatred, and lies, with which the American people, at least to a degree, are growing tired. Calling Kamala Harris "a bum", arguably, was a mistake. Kamala has,and Trump continues to hand her, a considerable quantity of usable amuntion to fire back at him, and Kamals has shoen a willingnes ot fire away. Her rsponse to Trump's false acustaion that she is soft on the border she responded to by pointing out that she and the Biden administration and a rare bipartisan Congress had a solution reday to go, and that Trump destroyed it. That is a strong argument, and should silence Trump, sooner or later, on the topic. Democrats can look forward to direct intellectual combat between the two candidates, watching Harris repeatedly defeat Trump intellectually. Trump was and is reluctant and afraid to debate her for very good reason. He knows he cant hang with her, and probably understands that trying to bully her might backfire in many different ways. She might bow up, stand up to him, confront him and put him in his place, and, we the American people might not like it, might not appreciate him treating a women that way. That in itself could seal the election for her, which, I again assert, is already effectively sealed.

Trump, Back At It, Ranting

TRUMP is in full rant mode, unsurprisingly, as the election approaches. Its reasonable to assume that he will continue to turn up the heat,as Novemeber approaches. The MAGA rant fest rallies are happing more often now, same old people, same old song and dance. Trump's two main messages seem to be that Harris is an incompetant idtito, and that if entrusted with power will ruin the United States, utterly destroy it. Also, that she is a left wing radical extremest, who will destroy the United Staes with her radical left wing policies. All this, of course, is a complete lie, sheer nonsense, pathological material of Trump, getting worse, as his apparent mental illness does, partly through cognitive decline of senility, and partly the other aspects of his criminal insanty, such as pathological narcissism. Harris is not the extremist radical. Trump is. What Trump calls radical liberalism is actually sound, sane, intelligent policy, such as taxing the wealthy, fully funding social support system and infrastructure, gain control of and organize the border, fight climate change, strengthen our alliances overseas. Trump wants to dig up and burn all oil and coal under U.S. soil, which would make Aemrica richer, but would have the inconvenient and unfortunate side effect of destroying the environment, and bringing to extinction all life on Earth. Also, complete, unregulated corporate economic freedom. Strategies for national and global suicide. Trump would go along with a total end to gun control, no government regulation at all on guns, and a natiinnal ban on abortion, criminalizing reproductive choice. Again, a complete recipe for total disaster. We the American people want reasonable gun regulation, which means quite a lot of it. Also, a majority of the American people support women's reproductive rights, repropuctive freedom. We want equal rights and justice under law for all LGBTQ people, and pathways to citizenship for all undocumented aliens living on U.S. soil. America first, yells Trump, to hell with America's allies. No help for Ukraine. Blank check for more Russian aggression from Trump's master, Putin. And, according to this monstrosity of a roadmap for the future, "Project 2025", the federal bureaucracy underTrump would be disbanded, and a new government would be built all from Trump supporters, party members, sycophants, and so forth. The Deep State, dismantled, finally. And don't think for a moment that Turmp wouldn't be entirely amenable to the entire extreme fundamentalist conservative Christian agenda; Christian Nationalism, which means a complete merging, combining, of fare right political agenda,and fundamentalist, evangelical Christianity. Although Donald Trump is the farthest thing away from Christianity conceivable, he loves to play the Christian part, and would smilingly, like a great Godly benefactor, grant permission for the taking over of the country by the Christian right. Cristianity, the official, formal state religion of these United States of America. The great dream of the evengalical right. Terrifying. LGBTQ people, crimiinalized, arrrested,rounded up, convicted, executed. Mass apprehension, imprisonment in concentration camps, and deportation of all dark skinned immigrants. Covid 19, only a little flu. Trump claims to support state by state deciding their own laws about abortion, which means that it would be voted legal by the electorate, in all nifty fifty. The RNC will force Trump to backtrack on that one. The entire conservative Trump Republican agenda, platform, is harmful, horrible, and must be opposed and defeated. I predict that Harris will landslide Trump. But it wont happen automatically. Get up, get out, vote blue.

Keeping My Insects Safe, For Now

THE DOORBELL rang, and as usual it startled me, because its loud and because it doesn't ring very often. I answered it, after prying apart the mini blind slats to take a quick preview peek, which revealed nothing. I opened the door, and there stood a pleasant looking young man, about twenty. We stared at each other, like two animals, scoping each other out. On his youthful face was a faint trace of a smile, which I assumed was a reflection of my own. I was mildly annoyed, as I always am when a stranger rings the door bell, interrupting something. I expected him to speak first; he knew I was there, and had opened the door. I don't like formalities or amenities, such as "hello", especially when I am mildly annoyed. Still the silence. Finally, I said, "please say something". His smile broadened almost imperceptibly, and he said seomthing about being with a company, and then it dawned on me; he was an insect exterminator,wanting to sell me insect elimination, inside and out, home and yard. Several times previously they had come calling, always a young man riding one of those motorized side to side skateboards, which look like fun. I told him that I was aware of the service that he was offering, had been offered it before, and that, as always, thanks, but no thanks. I explained why. I had to explain why. I don't like the chemicals, the poison, which, if lethal to insects, is harmful to humans, cats, and other animals. Also, I have nothing against the bugs, inside my house, or particuarly in my yard, where they belong. Never content to leave well enough alone, on I pressed. Did you know that insects, I said to the young man now taken aback, world wide, are becoming extinct? That in Europe, insect population of all species have diminished by seventy five percent, and that it has declined by a similar amount in North America? Insects, like frogs, butterflies, bees, and numerous other species, are heading towards extinction. They, especially pollinators, are vital to our own existence. He said he had no idea, that he didn't do much social media, was just working a summer job while in college, had a new wife, and wanted to start a family. That triggered me. I sequed smoothly into climate change. With that, I can go on forever. Everything I told him, horrifying that it was and is, was and is true. He acted like he was hearing a synopsis of a science fiction thriller, which pertained to him not at all. I unloaded all my strange, terrifying but true ammunition. I remember wehn October was a cold weather month. Now it is a summer month, eighty five degress every day. Halloween used to be freesing, now it is hot. Within my lifetime, at my age, 69, there will come a summer when the temperature hits one hundred on June first, and is still one hundred on Labor Day. I talked about him and his forthcoming children. By the time he is my age, in another fifty years, the planet will be unbearable, unless drastic action is taken, now, and it is not being taken now. His own children, yet unborn, will never have a chance. One trillion tons of carbon in the atmosphere which wasn't there a hundred years ago. I pointed to all teh treees cluttering my yard, my small forest of a yard, and proudly proclaimed that I had planted them all, when I built the house, my meager gift against climate change. We agreed that when I die, the next owner will likely cut them all down, and make a normal suburban lawn. By now he was on board, into it. He got on his powered skateboard and prepared to leave. We had shared a connection, had become friends. We discussed college basketball and football briefly, with smiles and happy laughter. He left more warmly than he had arrived, my new young friend. I will never see him again, and will be dead before his future children are grownn. I hope he lives a long, happy life, on a planet not gone climate crazy, but I have no idea how. I hope his children are cute, healthy,and happy, but he will live until close to the beginning of the the next century, and they will live until the end of the next century, although I do not know how.

The Church Lady and I, Talking Climate Change

THE SKIN RASH appeared suddenly, on both forearms and both thighs, just above the knees. It wasn't spreading, but it looked angry, and it itched like hell. I scratched it, which of course only made it worse. I applied moisturing lotion, vasoline, and steroid cream, which made it better, but only temporarily. I first suspected poison ivey, then repeated perspiraing. I am an exercise junkie. Finally I dropped by to see my buddy at the pharmacy, showed it to him, and he stared at it, but didn't say much. I suggested that I keep driving, and drop in unannounced to see my doctor. He agreed. The receptionist at the doctor's office told me that doc was booked up, which I assumed he would be, but made me an appointment with his physician's assistant. Good enough. Pleased, I sat waiting in the waiting room, near a pleasnt looking older couple. A nurse summoned the gentleman, and as he stood up to follow, muttered to his wife; "I guess I'm more important than you". She looked at me, and informed me of plans to withhold his supper. I agreed, and we both laughed. Thus began a wonderful conversation. She was seventy eight, she said, and had four grown children, scattered around the country. We agreed that in her situation, cell phones and Facebook come in handy. I mentioned my ongoing experience with Sandra Bullock, told her the whoole story (see previous post on Sandra Bullock), which she seemed to find vaguely amusing. As always, the talk turned to the weather, and how hot it is. As always, I mentioned climate change. I can't seem to stop mentioning climate change during normal, pleasnt, innocuos conversations about the weather. This, because climate change to me is the most important thing to talk about, the most pressing concern for everybody, and, more so each year, it is obvious to me that the situation is dire, as I notice climate change more and more, in both my front and back yard. I espressed sincere concern for her grand children, and indeed her middle aged children. Again, quite sincere. I now believe that I'm going to live to see disastrous climate collapse. Then, amid all my apocolyptic discourse, she turned religious on me. This often happens too. Perhpas a respite and retreat from the horror I bring to the table. She said that God tells us all about the future in HIS Word. Oh boy, here comes Revelation again, which Thomas Jefferson accurately desribes as "the rantings of a lunatic". I jumped right in, as always,with my quote from Confucous, (only fool predicts the future). And Goethe (It is beyond me how anyone can believe that God speaks to us in books and stories...). The Bible, as ancient literature, but not the Word of God. And, as always, she wasn't having any of it.They, the religiously indoctrinated, never do. We parted company on cordial terms, I apologized, needlessly, if I semed "difficult",and told her, "God bless you". She seemd placated. But I am becoming increasingly alarmed,increasingly frustrated, when the religious devout turn discussions of climate change into discussions of biblical prophecy. Firstly, the two have nothing to do with each other. Secondly, and most importantly, I see them retreating from urgent scientific reality, into their comfort zone of dogmatic, superstitious, unreal religious fantasy. And that, I assert, is the worst possible pathway to take. We must all stand and look the monstrous reality of climate change straight in the eye, and figure out what to do, and take immediate action. Hiding behind the Bible simply aint gonna cut it. Far right wing evangelical Christianity, coupled with political conservatism is like pouring gas on wildfire, then hiding in the barn, beneath the hay stack. Like climate change itself, it will only consume us in flames, while we clutch our bibles to our beating breasts, and await entry into the mythical kingdom of heaven. The physician's assistant was a very nice young lady, attractive, who gave me prednizone for my skin rash, and I went home happy.

A Prevaricating Pair of Reprobates (Trump and Vance)

DONALD TRUMP AND J.D. VANCE, two prevaricating peas in a pea brained pod, are out on the campaign trail, doing what they do best, telling whoppers, hurling insults, and making a mockery out of the noble concepts of honesty and decency. Trump seems obsessed with Kamala Harris's ethnicty, unsurprisng, for a confimred lifeling racist bigot. His false claim of the day is that Kamala Harris has only recently begun to self identify as "African-American", and that, heretofore, she has consistently emphazied her Asian Indian ancestry,and ingonred her African heritage. Independent fact checkers, as well as the thousands of people who have known Harris for decades, are confirming that indeed she has self identified as African-American her entire life. Hermother cae to America from India, an he ftehr camefrom Jamaica, both to study at Berkely, to obtain advanced degrees. They met, married, and started a family.You can bank on the fact that Trump will simply ignore this, as he ignores all facts which inconvenience him or expose his pathological dishonesty and criminality. He will most likely stop spewing this particular piece of garbage, but will also never reference the fact that his reacist accusation was, as usual, dead wrong. The same goes for his supporters, who, when confronted with factual correcctions to their icon's constant lies, simply ingore the corrections, and continue to repeat the lies, or, if that stops having the desired effect,simply turn to other lies. And like a proverbial chip off the old block, a rotten apple not falling far from a poisonous tree, J.D.Vance made the pilgramage hegira trek to the Mexican-American border, as all politicians seem to feel they must.He went to the North American Mecca of sanctimonious recriminatons and photo ops, the land of lame proclamations of solutions to a problem nobody can possibly solve, and spouted his bevy of lies. The lies from Vance begin the moment he opens is hirsute mouth, as do those from his master. You have to come here to see for yourself, lied he, just how disastrous the policies of Kamala Harris have been on the border, spewed the garbage man who lies about his own life history. Of ourse he was referring to the well known fact that, as always, desperately out of work impoverished Latin Americans are lined up and waiting to enter these United States, either legally or illegally, whatever works,to scratch out a better life where, in many cases,there is none to be found. Kamala Harris, suddenly the one and only reason why there is a problem with swarms of people, millions of people, desperately trying to leave a poor ountry and start a new life in a wealthy one. A fact check tells us that the problem began with one of our greatest imperialist presidents, James K. Polk, and his trumpted up war of aggression against Mexico in 1846 to steal half of Mexico from Mexico. Thus began the problem, and thus has the problem remained, under every American president since. In point of fact checking Kamala Harris was appointed by Biden to engage with the governments of all relevant Latin American countries, to use diplomacy to help find ways to stem the tide of illegal immigration. She has nothing to do, and has never had anything to do with actually guarding or defending the border, or with helping to build the mythological great ineffective symbolic wall of Trump. In point of fact checking, since Biden took office and Harris aseumed her role, illegal immigration accross the border has decreased dramatically, probably by sheer coincidence. And, for a final fact check, there is no single individual upen whom the problem can be pinned, but rather, blame must be placed on millions of us, we who have either directly formulated disastrous economic and foreign policies, or have passively acceded to them, choosing to complain and blame others, while doing nothing to actually remedy the never ending crisis.

Vance, Transforming

SOPHIA NELSON is a public defender in Michagan, and transgender. She could undoubtedly pursue more lucrative areas of the legal profession, but feels a sense of community and public service which larger paychecks could never replace. She is also a former friend of Vice Presidential candidate J.D. Vance, Trump clone and Trump running mate. They met at Yale law school less than twenty years ago, which highlights their relative youth amid their incipient fame. At Yale they became part of a group of like minded students gathered together to jointly endure the rigors of law school in the Ivy League, and to share world views views and good times. The fact that Vance and Nelson both came form the American midwest, he from Ohio and she from Michigan, solidified their friendhsip around the classic Buckeye Wolverine sports rivalry. They graduated, went on with their respective careers, and then, over time, something changed. He changed, according to her. He married, settled down, and strted a family. She transitioned into a trans woman. That in itself is a striking indication of the divergent paths of these two formerly moderately conservative law scholars on a generally progressive minded Ivy League campus. The current controversy became a controversy when she recently made public a series of emails between the two which they exchanged only about a decade ago, in which Vance was seemingly the same moderate, reasonbale person she had grown to know and love. His dramatic change, into a hard line far right wing extremist with extreme points of view has, evidently, taken place quite recently indeed, an utter transformation, the remaking of a nascent politician for what appear to be purely political reasons. In the Ohio politics of the second decade of the twenty first century, it seems that a hard right, pro Trump political stance is a better entry into political success than any middle of the road moderation. His election fo the United States Senate a mere two years ago would seem to bear that reality out. Vance, from one extreme to another. Trump has not only captured the American conservative community, the Republican party, and conservative Ohio politics, Trump has also captured the heart, mind, and soul of Senator J. D. Vance, the born again political animal. In 2016 he was an out and out never Trumper, who used every derogatory epithet in the book to describe a man he obviously considered unfit for political office, or for much of anything else. Regpugnant, in moral terms, a chameleon, ready on a whim to transform himself into whatever will enhance his popularity, a political commodity for sale to the highest bidder, was Trump, in the world according to Vance. Sophia Nelson make no bones about the fact that the J.D. Vance she once knew was tolerant of everybody's point of view, easy to get along with, amenable to listening to folks from all points along the political spectrum. Courteous, understanding, moderate, solidly conservative. It seems that Trump is not the only shape shifting demagogue in the right wing room. The old Vance would never have attacked people for merely having the audacity to remain single, says she. There never would have been any flat out weird comments about unmarried, childless cat ladies having less value in the elecorate than normal, married, child bearing, parental people. And indeed his remarks of that nature, currently so much in the news, are indeed weird, and are inspiring an entire industry predicated on ridiculing them and him, as they amply deserve. The man cave mutual love fest shared by Vance and Trump is no less weird, no less toxic. About the newly released emails, which reveal so much, he has little choice in his response. He does not deny his change of heart. He was wrong about Trump. Getting married and starting a family motivated a change of heart, made him see things differently, even thouhgh, ss he recently reminded us, he did not marry a white woman. That sort of generic blather, intended only to soothe and ameliorate newly aroused shock among supporters and detractors alike, only serves to enhance Vance's emerging reputation for weirdness. But J.D. Vance has done more than merely "change". He has become, like Trump himself, postively, undeniably weird, unhinged. Nobody doubts that marriage and family transforms a young man, grows him up, fast. We've all seen it happen, and it is a heart warming process to behold. But it need not and seldom does, thank the lord, turn a marginally reasonable person into a ranting lunatic. As this campaign proceeds, we'll hear much more from the strident, out of key and control voice of Mr.Vance, and, more likely than not, his unhinged path will continue to parallel Trump, as they spew their verbal garbage about Kamala's mixed race and failure to have her own children for the American voter to take into full consideration on their way to the November ballot box.