Love & inclusion, the Much Better Ideas...

Words not bullets. Right?! We are supposed to win arguments with reasoned words, not weapons. 

Truth, reality, common sense, love, kindness, grace, open-minded, & open-heartedness. Those should be our tools and weapons.

We are working under the premise that humans beings are free to say whatever they want to say in the public square. Even if what they are saying, arguing, or promoting is hate, division, discrimination. A free & open society is supposed be tolerant of all viewpoints. We go with idea that the best ideas, the best arguments, will lead to the best outcomes. That is the implicit, foundational idea of a free Democracy. A free Democracy of Ideas.

Of course, the best ideas do not always carry the day. For proof just take a look at the current adminstration and their retrograde policies. Words like "fascist," "Nazi" and "Christian Nationalist" come to mind. And what if those arguments and ideas lead to oppression, discrimination, violence?

What if all those words and arguments are built on lies? What if the whole edifice of this MAGA movement is built on damned lies of hate & division? A nativist white supremacy that is at war with the Woke, the brown people, the black people, the liberal and tolerant?

And what if those ideas, those hurtful words are then followed up with retrograde, inhumane actions? Snatching people off the streets? Building concentration camps? Deporting people to hostile countries? Leaving them to rot in foreign prisons? Blowing up boats and killing everyone on board just because they can? Shouting down and attacking anyone who stands in opposition? Oppressing LGTQ+ folks, women, anyone not male, white or Christian?

How to tolerate the intolerant?! Aye, there's the rub. "What's so funny about Peace, Love & Understanding?" - Nick Lowe

What to do? Stand up for what you believe. Spread the good, kind words. Spread the Gospel of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion. I do believe it is the Woke Ones who have the better ideas. Good words, Good works. Love & Inclusion, the much better Ideas. Ha. Let me borrow woke-Jesus for a moment: Love & Forgiveness will set you free...

No Way to Live...

We live in a violent world. I am against it. Hate breeds Hate. Violence breeds Violence. It is no way to live. There are those who always stoke & and fan the flames of Division & Hate. They have a big megaphone, a political party, a movement, a President and a cabinet of curiosities. They will try to use any tragedy to their political advantage. What is their political advantage? Hate, Anger, Violence, Fear. Those are things that bind them together, and make them powerful and scary. They will refuse to admit the obvious: Too Many Guns in America. A lax attitude to Gun Control. Too Many Lunatics in America. Not enough resources for mental health.

This targeted killing in Utah illustrates the insanity of our Gun Laws. It is an open & concealed carry state. Theoretically, everyone in the state can be "packing," and, well, we know there are many unstable, unhappy, unhinged human beings wandering around. Guns & Unstable minds: a bad combo for sure. What will the hate-mongers now do? Probably continue to stir up the Hate, it is their go-to mode. The rest of us might want to take a moment of silence. We must keep our shit together. Don't lose our heads. Look to a better way and a better day.

Pay attention. Watch and listen. Notice. Who are the ones using violent rhetoric to stoke the hate & violence? This is an instructive moment for all of us here in the USA.

Let's Not Kid Ourselves...

Folk #1: "Let's not kid ourselves. These people are the worst of us. And they think that we are stupid. They think they can lie to us over & over and we will just accept the lies. I have to believe that they are wrong. I do believe most of us really do value truth, facts, reason, common sense. This ridiculous shameless lying about pretty much everything is just gob-smackingly arrogant, and corrupt. Our job as Human Beings is to see clearly. Not just to entertain ourselves with idiocies. Yes. I do believe we are off the rails. But I don't think it takes much to look up and recognize we are going down a dark path. We can easily change the direction of this Country. "A change of consciousness can happen in an instant." Maybe I am naive, but I do think my species is capable of brilliant, wonderful things. Still. I suppose it's going to be the "common folk," moms & dads, workers & students, rising up and declaring "enough," of the lies, the idiocies, the bad acts. This current administration is a total joke & abomination, a black mark & a toxic stain on all of us."

Maybe Not Going Away?!

Maybe this Jeffery Epstein scandal is not going away anytime soon? 

It seems that there is a massive coverup protecting many wealthy & powerful folks, including the current President, implicating them in knowing of, and participating in, terrible crimes. 

The President and his minions seem to be spinning furiously, trying to deflect, distract, and to bury the evidence, the facts, the truth.

Seems like  the perfect scandal for our time. It's been brewing for years & years on the fringes. Could it actually bring down a President? Hmmm... inquiring minds want to know...

"Touch Grass, Gravity is Real, Truth Does Exist, View of Humanity."

Let's define the "Touch Grass, Gravity is Real, Truth Does Exist, View of Humanity." What follows are some obvious truths that are under assault in today's America. Maybe it is sort of a ten-point, manifesto in response to the onslaught of disinformation and destruction...

1. Vaccines are good & essential.; they are fabulous tools and strategies to defeat debilitating and deadly disease.

2. Science and Science Research are essential to a healthy populace. 

3. The Covid Lockdown during the Pandemic showed that human beings can work together for the common good.

4. The Common Good is Good!

5. Democracy, Inclusion, Diversity, Equality are all essential goods.

6. Immigration is essential & good. America was built by immigrants, they are the life-blood of a healthy prosperous nation.

7. Aleternative energy sources will save humanity. Solar & Wind power are totally essential to a better, sustainable future for all of us.

8. Hilary Clinton was correct: "It Takes a Village." We can all roll up our sleeves and work together for a better life & a better day. That truly is the American Dream.

9. Multi-culturalism makes America strong. Diveristy is strength.

10. Education, reading, learning, oh yeah, really fucking important and good. Fact-checking, double-checking your sources, all essential to a healthy mind & society.

Side-note: Resisting the Fascists, Nazis and Authoritarians? Absolutely essential and critical at the moment. We must raise our voices, in support of the opposition and resistance to the retrograde forces amongst us.

Let the Facts See the LIght of Day...

There is a lot of dancing around the Jeffery Epstein case. Seems it is sort of radioactive. And, no doubt, it implicates many wealthy and powerful people, including Jeffery's best buddy, a current very toxic U.S. President. 

Julie K. Brown is the journalist who has reported on this case most diligently. What still needs to be released? Check it out. Julie compiles quite the impressive list. We are far from knowing the basic facts. Inquiring Minds really, really want to know...

Rooting Against Nonsense & Insanity...

Folk #1: "I'm a long-time, long-suffering Chicago Bears fan. So I know all about rooting for the losing team. Sure, there have been moments of glory, 1985 Superbowl Winners, but that just makes every season a bit more spicy. So, when I hunker down in the face of this anti-science, anti-reason, anti-logic and anti-truth, shite-storm unleashed by the current President and his boot-licking lackeys, and find myself rooting for the truth-tellers, well, I know it looks like a losing cause, but hope dies last, and I refuse to give up my my slender reed of hope lightly. So, yeah, rooting for Gravity, Truth, Logic, Reason, Science. I see Climate Change and Global Pandemics as major threats to the Human Species, and I throw my lot in with those still hanging onto the noble cause. We are swimming in lies and disinformation (monetized nonsense & insanity), promoted by the fossil fuel proponents and the anti-vaxxers; powerful, well-funded forces feeding us total bullshit every day. Flooded with Liars & Lies. We need some clear-headed thinking. There are voices of Truth out there, for instance, be sure to check out Paul Krugman today: Science Under Siege: A Talk With Peter Hotez and Michael Mann. This unhinged attack on Science, Fact & Truth is a coordinated disinformation campaign. Quite successful & dangerous. Let's turn to the shining beacons of light. That is where hope & salvation resides."

The Daily Slime...

Shite. What is the pithy, "sum up" line this morning? 

We are in the clutches of the worst human beings imaginable. 

Deal with that good people. The worst amongst us are "in charge," & sliming the rest of us. Every damn day. There will be future elections, pretty sure. A major house-cleaning will be essential. 

From Lawyers, Guns & Money, there's this: 

Commenter Brandunaware on some important secondary effects of living among the Trumpers:

Endless psychopathic surrealism.

In addition to them being the absolute worst people on earth there’s a second order effect where it’s impossible to respect anyone who treats them with anything but contempt. You see the news treating them as serious people and you realize you can’t trust the news. You have friends or relatives who act like these are real responsible people and you realize those people have no standards whatsoever. It’s crazymaking.

And this:

Adding to my befuddlement is the fact that he’s every single stereotype of a loathsome shitheel from the last one hundred years of popular culture, all at once—the ignorant blowhard at the end of the bar, the entitled silver spoon trust fund asshole, the clueless boss who does nothing but create crises for his employees to clean up, the lecherous old man, the vapid self-important celebrity, the penny pinching miser who stiffs the honest working man, the oily corrupt politician, the cowardly bully, the draft-dodging faux-patriot, the scumbag crook who gets off on a technicality. He’s almost literally every repugnant trope from generations of literature, movies, and TV shows.

This is the man— the clown, the ignoramous—who ends our Republic? 

Searching for Intelligent Life...

Folk #1: Humility #1: "I don't know what I don't know." 

That's a good starting point. This morning I surf the internet looking for cold hard facts & spiky truths. I search out the truth-tellers. There are a very few out there. Seeking the Truth, speaking Truths seems to be too hard for most folks, or you know, maybe lots of folks are just not interested? As a species we seem to have tilted away from any sense of Truth or Reality.

A creeping thought sneaks into my head: "Searching for Intelligent Life in the Universe. It certainly doesn't seem be here in the Human Herd on this Planet." 

Ha. Maybe the intelligence here is to be found in the trees, the grasses, the mosses, the other large and small creatures amongst us?

The Yossarian Syndrome...

Folk #1: "Yes. Well. Maybe it's a little self-inflating, but I can't help feeling that I am the last sane person, the last non-crazy individual in a totally insane & crazy world. You know, let's call it the "Yossarian Syndrome." And, you know, I know that that idea is actually a totally crazy & insane notion. And I also know I am a very human being saddled with my own particular kind of crazy. It's a fucking hall of mirrors of madness. Still, this morning I look around and see the madness as a block-buster, world-wide phenonmena. And if the majority of my fellow human beings are totally, bat-shit cray-cray, well, being outnumbered is quite significant, and self-defeating, and kind of a hopeless situation. Where is the Law? Where is Rationality? Where is Truth? Where is Good Cheer? Where is Intelligence? Grace? Humility? Common Sense?  All those things seem to have fallen victim to the crazy & the stupid. "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad World." Maybe we need a new smart-phone app? You know REALITY! Download it from the app store, and live in it? Ha. That's a crazy-ass idea too. Yes. Indeed. It's kind of lonely over here. Yikes. 

Maybe Stupidity Will Win the Day?!

Folk #1: "Maybe it's the craven stupidity that will save us? You can't argue with stupidity. It really is a super-power. Full-on idiocy is impenetrable. Funny. Stupidity is also a double-edged sword. It has led us to an intolerable situation, but maybe it will be a our liberation? The stupidity & total incompetence of these wanna-be authoritarians will out pace the racism, the cruelty, the venality, the greed & corruption, and maybe it totally undermines the whole sick enterprise? Sure. Why not?! You know it's a stupid plot idea, a scenario written by a fool & an idiot, I mean, I don't know, maybe it's written by a blind monkey at a typewriter, but, hell, I'll take it. The stupid beats the stupid."

It Ain't Easy Being a Human Being...

It is true. We learn shit, you know, lessons in life. Primarily through experience. Or maybe by listening to someone else, maybe someone we trust, tell us about their experience. Or, you know reading; History, Speeches, Novels, Plays, Poems, Songs. Humans writing about what it means to be Human. There are arguments, contradictions, falsities, & half-truths, or maybe, in a more forgiving mind, imaginary dreams & visions.

We are also swamped with madness; lies, intentional disinformation, unreason, lunacies & stupidities. There are Humans out there who want to mislead, coerce, defeat & hurt us. It's just true. How to wade through it all, and make sense of any of it? I think we can easily get lost or misplaced, or confused, or self-sabotaging. We are very mallable, & fungible, and life is "time-sensitive."

Not sure the best way to navigate it all. One step, one word, one thought, one day at a time. What's real? What's true? What is clarity? And intelligence? I think we all need to work at being real and in the moment and to do the best we can at all times. You know, the trick is to "do the right thing." Which should be easy & obvious, but surprisingly often isn't. You can follow your head, your heart, your gut, but sometimes they truly do lead you astray. There is no guide-book, or sure-fire strategy. Sometimes your own experience can be a trap & prison of the mind. Feelings can be misleading & deadly. Sometimes, it's all a bit foggy and nebulous, and it is not always easy to see that which is right in front of one's nose.  We are all looking through a glass darkly. It just ain't easy being a Human Being.