We've Lost The Plot

Happy Independence Day!

Well, we've made it 250 years!  Of course I took to my annual tradition of posting 4th of July trivia on Facebook.  I can't recall exactly how long ago I started doing that, but perhaps I'll look it up and make that one of my trivia posts about the 4th of July.  There wasn't anything big going on here, just the household, no big BBQ, not guests, just kind of a quiet day, and of course some World Cup matches that we had to watch.  Yesterday I talked about the kind of disappointing way this year is feeling, and how it's basically a missed opportunity because you only get the 250th once, and we ended up in the stupidest timeline, so it was lackluster and disappointing.

However, there's another side to it that I've been thinking about lately, and it's a problem that's been growing for quite some time. I've seen it a lot in my lifetime, especially when I look at the post-9/11 world, and the "War on Terror" that descended into the war in Iraq. There was a strong current of "you're either with us, or with the terrorists" and there was no room for dissent.  However, I know it didn't start there, it's been going on since the days of the Vietnam War.  I don't think it's necessarily been a choice exactly, but it's been slowly happening, and it's to a point that I think it's a rather big problem.  The more progressive side of things has kind of allowed the ideas of patriotism to slip away, and we've ceded that idea, and the framing of it to the right.  We've allowed the right to set the terms and the norms and we've kind of accepted it.  I've seen some push back against it, but I think that it's something that's going on.

Some of it is logical, because when you look at the history of this country there are many shortcomings that we have had.  Some of it also falls into the issue that the teaching of history has taken kind of a second class, or back seat, to the "more important" subjects of reading and math.  We therefore have a lot of people who are not quite sure how to approach our history, however to analyze it, how to contextualize it, and walk away with impressions that I don't think are fair or helpful. I think a lot of people have looked at the shortcomings and places where we have yet to achieved a "more perfect union" and thrown the baby out with the bath water.  We've said, these people in the past compromised on issues we aren't happy about, or set up systems that have grown to be a problem, or had beliefs that were bad, and therefore we are are terrible country.  Of course, that's not to say that it's not true that people in the past did things that today we wouldn't, and that we shouldn't be critical of those ideas, actions, or beliefs.  We definitely should be, but I think that by taking those failures and projecting it on the whole is not helpful, and it makes us lose a lot of support, but also makes us too pessimistic, which then leads right into the hands of the other side who says that government should be small and do nothing.  

I think a perfect example of this may come from what we celebrate today, the Declaration of Independence, and specifically the man who wrote it, Thomas Jefferson.  We all know that in the Declaration, Jefferson wrote that "all men are created equal" despite the fact that he literally owned men and did not see those men as equal.  He is reprehensible in that way, and it's a terrible point of view and belief system that allowed that to happen.  However, at the same time, those words have been used to push for expansion of rights and to move us towards that goal to make those words true.  The Declaration and the ideas were used as the Union pushed to end slavery, the ideas of equality were used as we pushed for civil rights.  We could look at it and say, "nothing these slaveholders made was good because they were terrible people, and therefore our country is a terrible country."  Many people do this, and I've spoken to them.  However, we could also say, "these men had terrible ideas, however, the system they set up allows us to hold them to their words, and push us in the right direction.  We haven't made it yet, but we can and we must keep pushing."

We can't let cynicism and negativity blind us to the tools we have and the pride that we should have when our country has done the right thing.  That's the thing about a democracy, it is not a linear path, it has ebbs and flows, and in the end it's up to us.  We have made great progress, we have had severe deficiencies, and we should know those deficiencies so that we can make progress in the future, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't celebrate our country and our past, because many just like us fought, and in some cases died so that we could continue moving the ball of progress towards that more perfect union.  We need to keep optimism and positivity and celebrate the victories without succumbing to the shortcomings and seeing it as all there is.  History is really the stories that we tell, and we can cast ourselves as villains because of the flaws, or we could promote the good, acknowledge the bad, and keep working to be better.  In the end, America is only a framework and set of ideas, what we do today will direct the course, and future generations will chastise us for our failures, but they should also celebrate us for what we were able to accomplish.  I think in the end, this idea for me often comes to the "boomers" who are regularly the villains in the story of today.  Look what the boomers did for x,y,z but that same generation also had those who marched in the streets, denounced the Vietnam War, and made strides in issues from the environment to civil rights to humanitarianism.  Now, we could say that those Boomers are bastards and fuck them, or we could realize it's more complicated, and that as a generation there are flaws, but also great successes. In the end, I think the progressive side needs to find a way to our own form of patriotism, because that's what we'll need politically because right now we've let the right define it, and lost large swaths of the country to those ideas.  

It's a bit rambling, but that's what happens with my stream of thought.

What Is The 4th of July In Trump's America?

We're coming up on the 4th of July, and usually it's on of my more favored holidays during the year.  Generally the holidays that involve cooking and such are the ones that I like the most.  But, I'm also a big fan of America, or at least the ideas of America and what it's all supposed to be about.  This makes sense as someone who works in history every day.  I mean, we spend a lot of time going to historic places, I read a ton of nonfiction about history, it's a big part of what I'm interested in.  Of course, being someone who's studied it, I'm also aware of the contradictions, the shortcomings, and the challenges that we have to make this a more perfect union.  But, in generals I'm pretty patriotic, in a healthy and realistic way.  Of course, this is one of those big year type of celebrations.  A quarter of  a millennium is a big round number that warrants some extra celebrations, and of course there are so many countries out there that have us beat and have shit that's ten times as old (I've been to Rome).  Still, it's a big marking period and in normal circumstances it should be a big deal and something that we all can get behind.

Unfortunately, it's not a normal year because we're being led by a narcissist moron who has to piss in everyone's Cheerios.  What could have been a moment of unity instead is being co-opted by the stupidest people and turned into something that's really just kind of sad and lame.  There's a "national county fair" which, could be something that's interesting, but it's just kind of weird and silly.  There's a big fireworks display, but it's disrupting the annual traditions because it's being turned into a national rally for the president to stroke his ego and that of his supporters.  It could have been led by a bipartisan commission that was set up, but all their money was taken and given to his partisan hacks to turn it into, not a celebration of the country, but a celebration of one party, one idea, and one side of America.  It's all really just kind of disappointing, and could have been so much cooler, and would have been with probably literally any other president.  I mean, If George W. Bush were there (despite disagreeing with basically everything he did and believed), I think it would have been a very normal and positive kind of environment.  

But, instead here we are, and I don't know exactly what to feel great about.  We are in a rather shitty place, there's a lot of uncertainty, a lot of corruption, and things are not going in a great direction.  Because of this it's really hard to feel celebratory about the country.  It's basically as if we're going to have this awesome pool party, but a drunk asshole jumped in and took a giant dookie in the pool, so now who would want to get in?  So, what is it really to celebrate the country when we can see how flawed and inadequate or systems are because they were designed under the impression that people would have some moral fiber and stand up to the kind of nonsense that we are seeing.  That our branches would actually check each other rather than just acquiesce to each other.  That the safeguards would be ignored because it's become a parliamentary mindset of our side must always win in an environment that was not set up to work that way.  

What a disappointment.

It's Really Not The Nazis

 So, as a historian, here is a pro-tip: if it's not the Nazis (like it's not literally fascist Nazis) then put away the swastikas and stop comparing everything to the Nazis.  It's not the Nazis.

Mask mandates are not the Nazis.

Vaccine mandates are not the Nazis.

Socialism is not the Nazis (it's also not socialism - and Nazis are also not socialist).

Healthcare is not Nazis.

Democrats aren't Nazis.

George W. Bush isn't a Nazi.

There are Nazis.  They are out there marching around, lurking on the internet. Nazis exist. Amazingly, some of the people who scream the most about Nazis are the ones that support actual Nazis. They're also the ones that are most likely to do Nazi like things, like burning and banning books, discriminating against others, being white supremacists, being anti-Semitic, being fascist dickheads.

Really, every time you throw some swastika laden sign or flag every time the opposite party does something you don't like and call it the Nazis you sound like a clown. It just highlights that you have no idea about history, or current events, or really any of it, just simplified caricatures of history and events. It also unnecessarily ratchets up hostility that doesn't exist except in the minds of the people dreaming this stuff up. It's hard to lower the rhetoric when one side streams of Nazis and conspiracy theories, and the other side calls them wackos (which admittedly if you're going on about magnets in vaccines, and Nazis everywhere then I mean, the shoe kind of fits on that one).

The internet makes it hard because half to it is coming from bots, but maybe if we could just stop calling everything the Nazis and Hitler it'd be a small improvement.

Stupid Is As Stupid Does

You hear a lot from Republicans and conservatives that they don't like being called stupid and racist.  They don't like being talked down to, or to be accused of being ignorant. They. Hate. It.  Yet, then they turn around and do something stupid while waving something racist.  Today a bunch of Trump fans decided that they needed to plan a protest of Governor Whitmer's latest executive which says that stores like Lowes have to shut off areas of the store that aren't essential like the paint or garden sections, that lawn care crews can't be called essential workers, and that people can't go to their second homes. Some guys are suing because their 1st and 4th amendment rights have been infringed upon.  But today, what they decided to do was to flood the capitol in a big ol' parade of stupid to show how unhappy they are with this.  They blocked up roads, on and off-ramps, and entrances including to hospitals.  They waved the Confederate battle flag. They crowded together to "own the libs" and their social distancing guidelines.

Stupid is as stupid does.

I get it, no one likes to be called stupid. But, if you keep doing stupid things over and over again you are going to be called stupid over and over again.  However, this is what happens when one party in this country has spent the past forty years tearing down the government, attacking expertise, denying science, vilifying colleges and education.  Seeing crowds of people out doing the exact thing that will spread this thing, make people sick, and lead to death is the product of decades of conservative politics.  This is why a large segment of the population, most at risk because they lack healthcare, sick pay, and economic stability, are arguing that this thing is overblown and fake news.  They sit and watch all this happening, and somehow are now arguing that the possibility of 100,000 deaths is not a big deal.  They see this thing being bungled day after day, lie after lie, but are being fed a constant stream of bullshit and are still sticking with Trump when his failures are so obvious that there is a website ticking up the death rate every day.

If a group of people you know were telling you something, and one single friend told you something else and said that literally everyone else you know is lying to you and you can only trust that one person, you'd probably think that one person was the one you couldn't trust.  That's why those commercials say 4 out of 5 doctors recommend this toothpaste.  Yet, in Fox News world, if Fox was that one doctor they'd say it's fake news and brush their teeth with sugar-coated horseshit and pretend it tasted like mint.  Yet, they don't want to be called stupid. Time after time they do stupid ass shit, then get mad when tells them they're doing stupid ass shit. They get defensive and say, "well it's just my opinion." as if that means fucking anything.  Your opinion doesn't matter. Opinions are built off of facts and evidence.  When new evidence is discovered, your opinions should change.  This lot instead says it's fake news, and the evidence doesn't count because they want to cling to their opinions rather than shift them to something that is different from what they've been spoon-fed.

Sure, there is a point when measures like this could be authoritarian, but when they are temporary to combat a deadly pandemic, this isn't the time to cry about your 4th amendment rights which really seems like a stretch anyway.  If it were permanent, of it it was not a legitimate use of power then sure, a protest would be logical.  However, when it's something that has infected over a half million people and still growing, now is not the time. The thing is, by doing this they may have made this shit longer for all of us because I'm willing to bet we're going to see a spike because these human-truck-nuts went out and did the one thing we need to not do right now. 

For 244 years our country has asked Americans to sacrifice for the greater good, and at times that greater good was a load of horse shit (I'm looking at you Vietnam, Iraq II, Korea, etc.). We've been asked to ration, to send our kids to war, to help our neighbors, to donate to first responders, to pay our taxes on time to keep the arsenal of democracy going.  We've been asked to stay home.  This is not a sacrifice that is hard. Oh no. You can't buy gardening equipment and have your lawn crew out. Boo hoo!  This is not much of a sacrifice, so maybe all these little bitches should shut the fuck up. For some, they don't have jobs they can do from home, and I understand that this is hard for them.  But that's not who was out there on the roads showing their asses.  Those people are sacrificing.  They are trying to get through to unemployment offices.  They're trying to make their money go further because they are doing jobs that are basically expendable while the rich CEOs say that a living wage is too much to ask and healthcare isn't their responsibility. 

These MAGA shits are not working in good faith, and when this is all over there needs to be a reckoning where we deal with the absurd systems that are failing us right now. This pandemic has laid bare the inadequacies in healthcare, especially when linked to employment.  It has shown that the people who are paid the least are the most essential. It has illustrated what "making government small enough to drown in a teaspoon" really does when there is not proper funding of the CDC or WHO. It shows that the scariest thing isn't the words, "I'm from the government and I'm here to help," but that it's "I don't take responsibility at all."

This isn't the wild west, and "Governments are instituted among Men... to effect their Safety and Happiness."  Safety and happiness are necessary to allow us to pursue happiness and provide us with life and liberty.  "We the People of the United States, in Order to... promote the general Welfare," established a government.  This is what it was for, and when we've spent nearly half a century attacking it, destroying it, and acting stupid this is what you end up with.

So, if you want people to stop calling you stupid, then I guess you need to stop being fucking stupid.

Everyone's A Little Bit Socialist

HOLD THE PHONE.

Did Andrew Yang die and his spirit possess conservative politicians? Suddenly today there are all these politicians who are calling for basically cash payments to Americans.  Of course, you've got Little Lindsey Graham out there all aflutter with how he doesn't want the big bad government giving people money so they can deal with this unprecedented crisis.  However, you've got big-name Republicans all the way up to the White House calling for payments to individuals so they can cover things while they can't work and while the economy takes a giant shit.

Here's the thing, this is a great idea, the reason we never do anything like this is that you've got these mega-corporations that pressure legislators into doing things that directly help them, and these things indirectly help lots of different people and places.  They want to ensure they get the cash, which is why the big banks and companies that need bailouts are the ones that get them.  When you give cash to people they use it for what they need, and that may be a little bit all over the place.  You can't control what they spend it on.  However, isn't that the Republican idea, that people can make the best decisions for themselves?  Isn't that "the market" which is always right and what they are always going on about. It's kind of like how they talk about democracy but don't' actually believe in it because they want to make sure they win and they keep their power.

The economy is going over a cliff here, and it can either be a little dip or a big fuck off terrible situation.  You want to make sure it's just a dip, then you need to put money in people's hands.  This whole thing runs off of spending, and the people who spend are not the rich or corporations.  We have seen that time and again.  You give tax cuts and they pump it back into themselves, horde it, or buy another boat.  We've been hoodwinked enough, and the big financial meltdown of 2008 is still fresh in everyone's minds and we all remember how the banks were too big to fail, but you and your family can fuck right off and be homeless, unemployed, and perhaps lectured for not thinking ahead.  We can't stand for that nonsense anymore. They just injected 1.5 Trillion dollars into the banks.  A better use would be to take that money and wipe out nearly all of the 1.7 trillion dollars in student loans.  Remember when they said we didn't have the money for that?  Well, you know what would help the economy? If I had an extra $1000 a month that wasn't going to student loans because you know what I'd do with that money? I'd spend it on home improvements, vacations, going out to dinner, maybe getting a new car.  That money would be pumped into the economy.  Others would use it to buy houses, weddings, and all the other things that would get pumped into the economy.

We've been fed the same line of bullshit of supply-side economics for nearly a generation, it's time that we throw that shit overboard.  The middle class has been ignored over long enough, and I say fuck the cruise lines.  They fly under the flags of other nations to avoid paying U.S. taxes and following U.S. regulations.  Fuck the airlines who charge us for the audacity of bringing a bag with us, or wanting to have a seat assigned to us before we arrive at the gate. Fuck the banks go charge us 29% interest on our credit cards, but give us 0.1% interest on our savings accounts.  It's time we try doing this in a different way.  Conservatives want to say it's all about the market, well give us the cash and we'll see what the market decides.  And remember, that thing you're doing now is what you were blustering on about being socialism a week ago. It's almost like you're full of shit.

The Good Old Days

Remember the 90s? Well I guess it was mostly in the 2000s because only the first half of season one of the West Wing was in 1999.  Well, we didn't really have anything else to watch today while we were doing stuff, so we decided that we would just put The West Wing on and have that going on in the background.  I love the show, and loved it when it was on too, though we came in a few seasons late. However, watching it now is a bit crazy because it seems like that sort of government where people act in responsible ways and operate in a way that conforms to the ways we expect people to act and work in government is something out of the past that we'll never see again.

We don't have responsible government anymore, we don't have politicians that operate on good faith, nor do they conform to the rules and expectations that we have built up over time. It seems unfathomable that a president could nominate a candidate for the Supreme Court and not have that candidate come up for a vote. To completely block the legitimate power and job of a politician just because you are of the other party seems unfathomable. A single politician blocking that undermines the constitution and the will of the people.  A president was elected for a four year term, just because it's the last year of that presidency it doesn't mean that his power is no longer usable. It's an usurpation of democracy.

I've often felt that a show like The West Wing would never work if the main character were Republicans. One of the main threads of the show was fighting the good fight, for things like equality, justice, and for the good of society. While there may have been a time when Republicans may have been for these things, it's been a long time since that happened. The current republican party is blatantly anti-democratic in their use of gerrymandering, voter suppression, and the things they've done to reverse the will of the people, such as when voters pass ballot initiatives and the legislatures pass laws before they leave office to keep those things from going into effect even though that's what the people have voted for. They don't fight for equality, but instead divide by vilifying immigrants and minorities. They pass tax cuts for the rich and ignore the majority of the people. They push economic policies that help corporations and dilute the power of workers to get a fair deal.

I hope that eventually we can course correct and get back to a point where we have responsible government with politicians who work in good faith for the people. I fear that people in the future watching The West Wing will think that it's pure fantasy that such a world could exist. I fear this is our new normal.  At the very least it can show us some things that we can strive for.

Picture(s) of the Day: 
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Having some fun at the bookstore. She insisted we had to go today, so why not?

Trump Is A Racists, And So Are You!

Today the President decided that he wanted to ensure the focus on things were on the more liberal wing of the Democratic party. I think he wants to have people, especially his supporters, to believe that the entire Democratic party is on the more extreme progressive wing of the party.  The biggest voices of that are candidates like Bernie Sanders and members of Congress like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, however the leadership is more moderate with Joe Biden ahead in the race, and Nancy Pelosi running the House as Speaker.  I think he also wanted to change the subject away from the focus that has been on the camps on the border, which doesn't seem to be playing as well as he would like. Therefore he decided to lash out at Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Ayanna Pressley of Massachuetts and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, saying that if they didn't like it, they could "go back" to their country. The problem here is that comments like that are decidedly racist. These four women of color are representing their districts in the congress of the United States.  All of them are American citizens, and three of the four were born here. 

There are a few issues here with these comments. The first being that these are textbook examples of things that are considered racist.  Government organizations that police racial discrimination actually publish information, and telling people to "go back to their country if they don't like it" is one of the examples of racist comments that could be considered harassment.  The second issue is that Trump himself spent a good portion of the Obama years criticizing the president and the country. His twitter is filled with posts that he would piss and moan about if people were tweeting the exact thing about him.  Yet, no one told him to go back to where he came from. He seemed to think it was his right to complain about things and use his first amendment rights, but suddenly some non-white women do it and they should shut up or go back to where they came from. 

The other issue is that this is not the first time that he has done something like this.  He had his comments about "shithole countries" and has been strongly against immigrant. He started his campaign calling Mexicans rapists and murderers, he talks about the country being "infested" and calls immigrants, "animals."  He has called white supremacists, "good people" and used racists dogwhistle language.  He had his administration's Muslim ban, and spent the entire eight years of the Obama presidency pushing the idea of birtherism, a racist attack against the first black president.  He was sued for discrimination in housing, and even after it was clear of their innocence was quite nasty about the Central Park 5. 

He has a long history of racism, and it's impossible anymore to call him anything other than what he is, a racist.  He is a racist that used racism to help bring him to the White House.  Immigration policy is not inherently racist, but when you demonize immigrants, calling them murdering animals, and then start putting them in horrid camps, then it's hard to deny the racism.  Telling people to go back to their country when they are Americans but aren't white, that is racist. For all of those people who agree with these despicable comments, these detestable policies, and this racist man, then unfortunately, you are probably a racist too.  It's pretty clear, either you rebuke this, or you are a racist. If you don't like that, then you need to start thinking about your choices.

Picture(s) of the Day: 
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Yes, it is July but Sal wanted to watch the Thanksgiving Charlie Brown special.  We recorded it two years ago to watch with her and she loved it so we just can't delete it.  Today we watched it again.

Giant Squid Of Rage

So, I haven't addressed politics in quite a while because lately it makes me want to burn down the entire world.  The latest in the long line of fuckery is the Mueller Report, Trump trying to exert executive privilege, Barr being an extra dick, and Don Jr. being a total twatwaffle.  I really don't know that I can take it because it physically pisses me off.  It puts me in a terrible mood, and makes me feel like there are no ways to get out of the mess that we are in.  There have been terrible situations like this in the past where we have gone down these terrible paths, where situations were even more polarized, but often when it got so bad the only thing that transformed the situation was a massive upheaval.  For example take the Civil War. The only thing that was able to reset the political situation was to literally tear it down and rebuild it following the war.  I worry that the only way that we'll be able to get to a reasonable place is to go through some sort of similar situation.  The problem is that we don't really want to go through something like that.

Perhaps though the issue is that we just have to get to the point where younger people are able to take over and return reason to the situation.  The problem is will we make it that far?  People think it's hyperbole when we talk about the existential threat of Trump and his administration, however they are working faster than ever at eroding the foundations of democratic liberalism.  Is that something that we can come back from?  I mean, let's say that he is defeated in 2020, however has not been held accountable for his alleged crimes.  If he were charged after being out of office, rather than defending their country and being reasonable the Republicans will use it to score political points against Democrats.  They will not work in a bipartisan way to protect the nation and the constitution. Instead they will put party first, which is what they've been doing for some time now.

I'm a hardcore Democrat.  I'm a progressive who wants major change in the nation to make it more democratic, more fair, and more equitable.  However, I'm an American first.  If there were a credible accusation against a Democratic president, I would support it being investigated, and if found guilty I would support the consequences because maintaining the nation's institutions should come first. I'm not optimistic about where things are going.  The Executive branch seems to have metastasized beyond their constitutional area, and Congress needs to reassert their authority as a check on their COEQUAL branches of government. I hope things work out, but I'm not feeling great about the future, even if Trump is defeated.  Every day he is changing the norm and I don't know if there is going back from the cliff that he has thrown us over.

Picture(s) of the Day: 
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Aw, man! Who gave them a convertible??? 

The American Dream?

For a while now as a Democrat, liberal, and progressive I've been pissed at the way that the Republican Party has seemed to feel they hold a monopoly on the ideas of American values. They've been pretty effective at it too, casting themselves as the party of a strong patriotic belief in America, that they are the defenders of American values, and the Democrats are not. They demonize Democrats in a way that I think is pretty unfair. Sure, the liberal side of things often cast Republicans as either rich asshole or hillbilly "real Americans." Though, that in no way attacks them based on their dedication to the country and the values that it represents.  Also to be fair, the Democrats or liberals in general can make some of the things they say easier. But that is true on either side of the political divide because you get people who play the stereotype on both side of things.  That is probably why stereotypes are formed to begin with.

There is already a large field for the democratic field, and I haven't yet decided who I plan to support, since it is still very early. I was an earlier supporter of Bernie Sanders, but after the last election and how things unfolded, it really soured my view of him.  Obviously if he is the nominee I will support him, I'm just not throwing my support behind him right now.  My interest has been grabbed right now by Mayor Pete Buttigie.  Again, it's still way too early to say I'm supporting anyone as they haven't even debated or put what they're thinking out there much yet. However, in some of his appearances he has had a few things to say that I think are what we need to hear right now.  One, he's going out into the Fox universe where you don't usually hear Democrats.  Likewise, he's also addressing the idea of American values and has addressed the idea that Democrats have let Republicans frame the conversation on values. We can't let them do that and we have to give our alternative.  He said that Republicans like to talk about how government regulations hurt freedom, and how as Democrats we can argue that not having stable health care hurts freedom also.  We can make strong arguments based on values and make sure that Republicans stop framing us in the same way that they have been.  We can use our shared American values to explain our policy. It's something that I don't think we've done as a party effectively for some time now.

I don't know who I'll end up supporting by the time we get to the primaries in less than a year.  There are good candidates out there.  I've been a fan of Warren for a while now, Mayor Pete seems like he could be an option, though when I first heard his name I totally wrote him off.  There are some senators that could be good options too. I want to hear them more, hear what they have to say in terms of policy, and hear them debate before I throw my support behind anyone. I think it's off to a good start and I think there are some good options. It's going to be an interesting race.

Picture(s) of the Day: 
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Someone got in trouble and just sat around pouting about it. What a little cry baby.

Let's Not Start That Again!

Well we aren't all that far into 2019, but we are already getting a crowded field of democratic candidates for the 2020 election. So far Senators Kamala Harris, Kirsten Gillibrand, and Elizabeth Warren as well as Representatives John Delaney and Tulsi Gabbard, and finally Julian Castro, Richard Ojeda, and Andrew Yangee have all either announced they are running or announced the creation of an exploratory committee (which is mostly just an issue with filings and fundraising). Some of these are people who have a lot of name recognition, others are new and not as well known. With so many people already running, people are starting to get behind people as they announce their bids for the White House.

That being said, we are still in January of 2019 and need to chill the fuck out about our discussions of these candidates. We are still over a year from the first primaries, so telling me now that there is ONLY one person who could POSSIBLY beat trump is not every wise nor accurate.  Naone of them have even run a campaign yet, they haven't outlined their platforms, and there is a lot of road between now and 2020 that can drastically reshape the political considerations and conditions. Likewise, it takes a lot of political purity to declare that there is only one person who could possibly beat Trump, and that is neither helpful nor productive. We need to have learned the lessons of political purity from 2019, and realize that we are going to vote for people who sometimes do things that piss us off or that we don't agree with because we live in a real world where lots of people have different ideas on how things should be and realize that it's better than the alternative of kids in cages, bans on people for their religion or sexuality, a Supreme Court seat, or more than one over the following 4 year term that will start in 2020.

Personally, I've always been a fan of Elizabeth Warren.  She's tough, she has a history of fighting the big systems that have financially rigged the system in favor of the rich. Her positions are consistent with the message that Bernie Sanders has been pushing, and I look forward to her campaign to see what she has to say.  Regardless of the choices, as long as it's a reasonable choice I'm going to vote for them.

We need to pick the best candidate and make sure they win. We need to be sure that whomever the person is that we make sure they win. There are no sidelines on this one, and you'd think that we would have learned that after 2016, but I think some of us still haven't done that.  We used to understand this idea, indeed during World War II we didn't care for the communists, but we sure as hell helped the Soviet Union. We understood that there were big stakes and we had to realize that.  As Churchill reportedly said, "If Hitler invaded hell I would make at least a favorable reference to the devil."

Picture(s) of the Day: 
Picture 19

While getting dinner with Scott and Gus, Sal got a gift to help her play restaurant. She then decided to wear her new apron, and take all our orders so that she could serve us dinner.

E Pluribus Unum

You don't have to go far to see that we live in a greatly divided country.  We live in bubbles that seemly are impervious to information from the outside. We have our own media to consume that reinforces our own preconceived notions, we have platforms like Twitter and Facebook that filter our content to pick what we most want to see, banishing anything we may disagree with. We event talk down those who we disagree with, not taking any time to hear what they have to say, what their perspective is, and by no means do we ever concede that they may have a point.  

It often seems these days that party comes before country, when in fact it should be country before party. There is evidence of this to an extent on both sides, but there is by no means an equivalency between the parties on this. The far left had the Bernie or Bust crowd that would not go beyond their narrow party to support what was best for the country, using weak arguments of how it should be rather than realizing the reality we live in. On the other side, it seems that the entire Republican Party, with the exception of a few principled members, have opted to support a proven liar rather than their country.  

Washington feared the rise of political parties, owing to the formation of the Federalists, and then the rise of the Democratic-Republicans in response to them.  He feared that the rise of parties could undermine the will of the people, the ideas of popular sovereignty, and lead to party members doing whatever it took to win, rather than do what is best for the country. In his farewell address he stated, "However [political parties] may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely in the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterwards the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion." 

It seems that America did not heed Washington's warning because that 'course of time' has proved that his fears had merit.  Cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men have subverted the power of the people. They have done this through gerrymandering, voter suppression, attacks on the press, brazen lies to terrify the electorate and maintain their power. Rather than holding to the ideas of the will of the people, they have distorted the system to ensure they maintain their power, regardless of what the people want. We see this on countless issues where there is a clear majority, from higher minimum wages and health care, to action on gun control and climate change.  The people have voiced their will, but have been overruled by the majority party that accounts for a minority of the population.

It appears that the country is in a bleak place, unlikely to emerge from the stalemate. We're told how polarized the world is, we hear the nonsense coming from the rallies, Fox News, and the talking heads. However, I think we are led to believe that it's worse than it really is. The groups that believe the nonsense, the nuts who wear tea bags on their hats, the QAnon whackadoodles are really a small portion of the world. It's easy to be convinced that we're in two different worlds divided by an ocean, and while that may be the case for some of us, I don't think that's where the majority of the people are. Most people don't get involved in politics, most people want to go about their lives in the most comfortable way they possibly can.  Most people aren't the militants types, they aren't living in the politics day to day, they share more beliefs than differences. The never ending shitstorm pushes us to the tension and conflict, it overpowers the hope. When we think that we can't reach those that disagree with us and we succumb to the futility of reaching common ground it does more harm and further alienates us. We are seeing that we are not divided with each election. We see that when we stand and push back against those wishing to turn back the hands of time, we can stem the tide.  We need to resist the fatigue, make our voices heard, and remember that the values that unite us as Americans are stronger than the hate and fear that is being used now to try and divide us. 

"We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature."             

                                                              -Abraham Lincoln First Inaugural Address, March 4, 1861

Picture(s) of the Day: 
Picture 63

Any visit to Target requires a picture with the Target dog, as I've previously posted. I don't think I enjoy the new goofy cartoon version dog. I preferred the old, realistic dog that looked like he went to the gym a little too much. Do you even lift, dog?

The IRS Is Good

I don't know why people all wait till the last minute to do their taxes. I mean, sure there are people who have super complex tax situations and it takes a while for them to get their shit together, so they of course get a pass. However, for those who have pretty straight forward situations, like, do it as soon as you have all your stuff.  The IRS is way better if you do your taxes early on because we did ours less than two weeks ago, and we already have our refund. I suppose the downside of this is that we are going to miss all of those, "use your tax return" sales that pop up, but we aren't going to buy anything so I guess it doesn't matter much.

I don't think that the IRS gets much credit because no one likes to pay their taxes.  Well, I mean, I don't mind paying my taxes because, you know, I like clean drinking water, and I like that we give grants to kids who can't afford to go to college, and all the other programs that I support like the NPS, NIH, NASA, etc. I also am sick of hearing/seeing millennials complain about never being taught how to do their taxes in school. First, that's what parents are for. Second, everyone is so different that it's hard to teach you how to do something because there are many different approaches.  Third, it's not that hard, just fucking do it. Like, get your forms from the mail, get your TurboTax, or whatever program you want to use, and just do it. It's not really that hard. It's not like it's rocket science. Stop acting so helpless when you've been asked to "adult" for five seconds a year.

So, thanks IRS for being so efficient and giving me all my money so quickly. You get a lot of shit, but you are good at doing your thing.

Picture(s) of the Day: 
Picture 42

My little helper who was very excited to see I was "fovvling" when she got home and ran inside to get her snow shovel and helped me do the entire walkway. By help I mean that she tried to scoop up snow and mostly just dumped it on the area I had already cleared. She's the best helper ever, and I loved how excited she was to help.

I Think I'd Better Go.

The other day someone was wrong on the internet. Now I know that may be hard to believe, because the internet is full of lots of useful information and truth. It was one of those posts where I immediately roll my eyes because it's so simplistic in the handling of a excessively complex situation. In this case it was a post about the budget, and to add on to that, it also wasn't about anything recent, it is five years old. The basic premise is an attack on budget cuts by pointing out that government workers earn pension salaries, and perhaps if we want to make cuts that is where we should make the cuts.

This is one of those arguments that makes sense on the surface until you actually have to think about it for a fraction of a second longer than it takes you to hit the share button. Basically it compares the low "average" salaries of deployed troops, and the low benefits coverage of those on Social Security, to the six figure pensions of the president and congress. Why should we pay so much to those people, when we pay so little to the others.  Fight the man! Get the pitchforks! THIS CAN FIX THE BUDGET!

Sit down, John.

Ok, there are a few problems with this scenario.  The first being that the numbers are greatly off. The presidential salary was nearly double what it actually is, additionally, the average pay for a deployed soldier is tricky, and most attempts at it are higher than reported on the graphic.  The bigger issue is that it gives a terribly wrong impression that these can in any way balance out.  There are around 42million seniors, and 11,000 deployed service members in Afghanistan, compare that to the 600ish people who draw a congressional or presidential pension and it doesn't matter. If you took that pay, and you redistributed to the 42 million people it would give them each a raise of $0.91. In terms of using it to "fix" the budget, it accounts for 0.00095% of the annual budget, and 0.0055% of the national deficit. Basically it's an empty argument that does nothing to address the problems of budgets, or benefits. Quite simply it doesn't matter. Not to mention that it also gives the impression that every member of congress gets this amount for life the second they step down. Like all retirement plans, it's something you get when you are of retirement age, and it depends on how long you served as to the amount you get.

The reason I have a problem with this is a few, first it gives the impression that there is just this easy fix where you do this one thing and you can clap your hands and be done. It's not that simple. We have a $4 Trillion budget. That's a number so high that people really can't fathom it. Further, we have a $666 Billion deficit.  Again, a number so high that people really can conceptualize it. If you want to make changes it's going to take work, compromise, and some pain in either tax hikes or program cuts, or most likely both if you want a deal. Is this to say that we can't do it? No. We certainly can and I'm sure if we had two responsible parties who both operated in good faith then we could find a workable deal.  However, we don't, and instead have Republicans who want to destroy the federal government (and I don't say that hyperbolically, they literally think none of the social programs passed since Roosevelt are legitimate and should be ended).

The other beef I have with the graphic is that it is a swipe at our federal workers, and it delegitimize their efforts in the minds of the electorate. It gives this idea that they are something that we aren't, that politicians are other, that they are corrupt, and they are feeding off us. Recently my representative, John Dingell, retired after serving in the House for 60 years! He deserves a pension just as much as anyone else who served at a corporation for that long. He also is a citizen from Michigan who worked hard and did the best for his district. These sort of graphics and arguments surplants the idea that WE are our government, and instead posits that the government is something else, that does its own thing for its own interest. It's a cynical view, and it's damaging our country because it makes people apathetic and think that their involvement doesn't matter and is unnecessary. Such an outlook is dangerous for a republic, and we have seen them fall over the centuries.

In the end after confirming my facts and working on a response for probably the better part of an hour, I decided that it wasn't worth it to comment on. We are to the point that people expect to post any nonsense and not have any resistance to it because it's their opinion. It would be more trouble than it was worth with those involved, so after writing all the reasons that they were wrong, I deleted it. It still bothered me, but I wrote a blog instead, that no one will read, and that won't matter.

Picture(s) of the Day: 
Picture 33

Have I ever mentioned that I hate this book? Like, everyone thinks it's this great book, and I think it's a shitty book with terrible lessons. The boy is an asshole, and the tree gives up everything about itself to try and make it happen. Then the boy only ever gives a fuck when he's an old piece of shit and needs to sit on what's left of the tree. Fuck that little boy.

The Phantom Tax Break

Hey, remember that big tax break that was supposed to be like the best thing ever for everyone and we were going to benefit so bigly that nothing had been so HUUUUUGE?  Well, I got all my tax documents and it's about time to start filing our income taxes. So, we went and did our usual process, entered in all our stuff, finished up, and guess what? Yeah, nothing really changed from last year. Is this because the break will be fore the 2018 year? 2017 refund is still on the old system? What's the deal with the tax break?

They have adjusted our weekly paychecks, and there has been a slight bump in the take home, but it's really not enough to be going on with, and really I think I'd rather the government keep it and actually pay the bills and make sure that, you know, schools don't suck.

Or, perhaps this was all just a big con for the rich to get a shitton of money and the result is that we get a few extra buck, but then take it up the ass when we have to cut all the things that average people want and need. We know this is the case. We know this is just another  of the trickle down lies, where the only thing trickling down is the piss and shit the rich assholes of the GOP drop on us (and apparently gets Trump off according to some reports). But, alas, the boobs of "real America" have been conned as they always are, and never seem to get it. Reagan fucked them, Bush Fucked them, and now Trump is going to grab them by the pussy, and fuck them. Then they'll blame the Democrats because of black people or immigrants, or kneeling during the national anthem, taking their guns, or HER EMAILS, or whatever nonsense small brain bullshit that gets them all riled up.

People say that you can't be condescending to these people, or else they'll never be on your side. Well, they aren't even on their own side, why the fuck would they be on my side? They were warned of all of this, and attacked the messengers as "elitist snobs" who "don't want their kids to die in school shootings" and "think everyone should have healthcare" and "believe the rich aren't paying their fair share."

God, fuck us, right?

Picture(s) of the Day: 
Picture 26

I adore her imaginative play. She's been into playing restaurant/tea party lately where she has to take down your order. She grabs a coloring book and a pencil and writes down what you want... and by that I mean she writes down exactly what she tells you that you want.

The Stupidest Shutdown

I've had a few days to process and considered the current events, and I've determined that this has been the stupidest shutdown. How in the world have the Democratic leaders been so inept to stand their ground enough to get a shutdown, and end it on the vague promise from the most bad faith actor, Mitch McConnell. The man who stole the supreme court nominee of a president, the man who is about as honest as our president. Why in the world bother with a shutdown if all you wanted was a promise that they would bring up DACA later, because they said that before the shutdown. In short, the Republican talking points are the ones that are being listened to, and all political leverage was given up. In the end they made a spectacle, for nothing, got nothing, and now are getting slammed for it. What was the point? What are you doing? And why are you giving up the only leverage you have?

Why is it that congress can have overwhelming support for something, and still do nothing about it? Why can we have 88% of the public want a thing, but because some fucking redneck racist hillbillies don't like it, the Republican party bends to that minority? This party does not operate in good faith, and something needs to be done about it. They need to be held accountable for doing what the American people want, and not be safe to stand an absurd line with no political consequences. That tells me that the congressional seats are too safe if you can not do what the majority of the country wants and face no opposition for it, and it's not like it's a single representative, it's many.  Districting is clearly broken in this country and needs to be fixed so that what people actually want, like a path to citizenship for DACA, gun control, funding for infrastructure, and a congress that listens to constituents not only the rich donors, but the voters.

Further, if you're going to push the issue of DACA, then you need to hold to it. The democratic base is fired up about this, because these are Americans who need to get the paperwork done so that they can live their lives. This is a non-negotiable with the democratic base that needs to turn out this November, and I think this nonsense over the weekend is going to hurt that. We see a leadership that falters after a few hours, and gives up all political leverage. Democrats need to stop worrying about what Fox News is going to say about them, because those viewers are NEVER going to vote for them, but the Democratic base isn't going to show up if these politicians crumple every time the bullies in the Republican party threaten to take our lunch money. In the end, this was the stupidest shutdown that got nothing but bad press, and a less enthusiastic democratic base, we've managed to pull defeat from the jaws of victory in a typical Democratic fashion. Way to go, dumbasses.

Picture(s) of the Day: 
Picture 22

Sal loves to visit "GramGram" and this time got to do something that they both love to do, look at pictures of Sal.

Christmas For Republicans

As I was sitting here watching commercials for upcoming holiday movies, I had to wonder, how much do Republicans hate Christmas? I mean, what lesson does Paul Ryan take from movies like It's A Wonderful Life? That movie is very clear about what it thinks of bankers and men at the top. Jimmy Stewart is the everyday progressive fighting against the top of society.  Does Speaker Ryan see that and think that poor Mr. Potter, a job creator, is getting a bad rap? That he's being victimized by class warfare? Is Scrooge, a job creator, being harassed? I mean, if he paid his employees more, he wouldn't be able to hire so many? Though, I suppose at the same time Scrooge would be a libertarian's model of how people should be donating and running charities, not governments. Though, those people are conveniently overlooking the fact that Scrooge was underpaying his staff, who could barely feed themselves, much less donate much to charity, and that the well off were hoarding their money, which is what they do instead of donating it to others.

It must really be the worst time of year to have this kind of nonsense shoved in their faces. Stupid liberals and their class warfare. Hm, maybe they should be careful before they start going on about the war on christmas. Perhaps we should put Jesus back into christmas, it might remind them that it isn't about consumer capitalism, but about generosity and giving to the less fortunate. These fools are wielding a double edged sword. To try and gain political points by the fictitious "war on christmas" they are forgetting (or perhaps have no idea) the ideas that Jesus stood for. I mean, I'm not a christian and even I know that. Give to the poor, love your neighbor, help those less fortunate, down with the rich and powerful. So, do it. Make it all about Jesus, because the freaking angel doesn't come down to help Mr. Potter, he comes to help George Bailey. God doesn't help the rich guy destroy his competition in the pure capitalist world, he brings together all the people who George has helped to come up with the missing money.

Likewise, for our donations this year I'm looking to charities fighting the greedy Republicans that are in office. I'm looking for charities that are working for equal rights, for women's rights, who believe in climate change and want to do something about it, and who believe in our core principles as Americans, such as freedom of the press, of religion, and that we are better together giving and helping, than we are when the rich take the largest piece of the pie. I hope they see movies like It's A Wonderful Life and squirm a little knowing that they are the Mr. Potters, and that he isn't the one who wins in the end. I look forward to 2018, because Yes We Can make a difference, and it's time to get to work doing it.

Picture(s) of the Day: 
Picture 129

The other day Sal wanted to go get Mexican, but we were going to the Wayne County Light Fest instead. She was super bummed about it, and so we had to take her so she could get her "chips and dip and cheese." She also like tortillas.

Tax Scam

Well, they finally passed something. It had to happen eventually. Though I'm kind of shocked that given the fact that they had no problem exploding the deficit, and that they had all the power in Congress and in the White House, that it wasn't worse. I mean, they've been talking about ending the "death tax" for decades, and they could have but they didn't. Why? They also reversed course on a number of other things like taxing tuition for grad students who get it covered because they work at the university.  I'm not sure if they decided to keep the tax credit for adoption, which of course is of interest to us given it's something that we're looking into.  They passed it so fast, it's hard to know exactly what is in it, and what isn't. Plus, there were so many different versions of the thing that it was hard to keep track of the ever changing mess.

What is clear is that this bill is for the rich, as we knew it would be. This is like all the other cuts, where they throw a bit of a bone to the poor to make them feel like they got something, and then gives huge cuts to the rich. Then later the poor get pissed because the roads are shit, the schools are shit, veterans don't get paid, medicare gets cut, and all the other things that those tax dollars that just got cut used to pay for. It's a scam, and American's let it happen, and voted to let it happen. They allowed themselves to be duped into voting for people who want to fuck them over by acting macho, complaining about foreigners, and bashing LGBT and Muslim people. But it's all a distraction and a scam. Republicans are the party of the rich, and the poor are stupid to vote for them, no matter what.

For me, this probably will cut my tax rate, I'll get more back. Sure, that might be nice, but at what cost? I want nice schools, I want funding to take care of the environment. We spend too little on maintaining our national parks, cleaning our water, and doing all the good things that governments are supposed to do. I don't want that money back, I want them to make sure the rich pay their fair share, which they don't. They've been cutting their taxes since the 1950s, and they don't invest in jobs, they invest in themselves. I'm done with that. Perhaps someone should get the Republicans some history books about how the people of France felt about economic inequality, and consider that before they make comments about how we should eat cake.

Picture(s) of the Day: 
Picture 127

I'm not sure if I wanted to focus on the E, the V, or the votives. It's kind of a cool picture though

Cutting Back

I've cut back on my news consumption, specifically the podcasts that I've been listening too. It's just putting me in a terrible, hopeless mood. Sure, we've had some good election days in the past month or so, but everyday it's a march into darkness, and listening to it, even from a liberal perspective is just draining. The only way that this is going to get better is to flip one of the houses next year and flipping the White House in 2020. Until that happens we are just going to keep going down this terrible path.

Sometimes I wonder if I'm just too partisan, and being absurd like conservatives were during the Obama administration. However, when I sit down and think about it, the things that are pissing me off and dragging me down are things that are going to fuck over Trump voters too, they just don't realize it because they aren't versed enough in politics and how the parties and systems work so they vote against their own interest. Now that may be condescending, and that may piss off conservatives who don't like being talked down to, but that's the basic fact.  Take the tax plan that is probably going to be passed. It will fuck over everyone to help the top. This is not new, this is the same stale trickle down nonsense they've been peddling since the 1980s, and George H.W. Bush was right when he called it voodoo economics. This is what they were going to do. It's what they've been beating their drum about for ages. We all knew that if Trump won, and Republicans controlled all the levers of government that they would create a monstrosity that benefits the rich. Yet the poor fools voted for him anyway, and will now pay for it.

It kind of gives me satisfaction when I see some guy interviewed on the news who is screwed, because we all told him so. But they never learn.  But, I can't stand listening to it, at least right now when I'm in high stress school and trying to get things wrapped up with the unit I'm teaching. Maybe on break or after the break I can engage again, but right now it's too much.

Picture(s) of the Day: 
Picture 124

I wasn't able to go as I had a lot of work to do, but Sal went to see Santa with her cousins. Obviously she's still not a fan of Santa.

Bending The Arc Of History

Alabama.

A democrat just won in Alabama in a post Trump world.

Ok, I'm shocked to be completely honest. Hearing things, watching the polls, and knowing the mindset of the people who vote for someone like Roy Moore made me feel like there was no way he wasn't going to win. Trump voters seem happy to cut off their nose to spite their faces, and it seemed like it was impossible for them not to do it in this case.

Then again, perhaps not. There was talk about how the people didn't love the media attention, especially the kind of attention. This made me think of some of the books I read for my history class this semester. We read a book called The Dark End of the Street, and it covered the civil rights movement. I was somewhat shocked to see in that book that people in Alabama were not happy with the type of media attention that segregation and civil rights violence bestowed on their states. Is it possible that something similar happened tonight?

What is clear is that African Americans came out strong, and that's the reason for this win. This is important for a few reasons. One, it shows what happens when voters turn out. When people show up to vote, they make a huge difference. Tonight, it's a difference that could literally save lives because now they Republican control in the senate is only 1 vote. That means they can't lose votes if they want things to pass, and these Republicans can not get their lives together.  It's also important because it sends a message that people are not happy with how things are going, and they are showing up. They showed up in New Jersey, they showed up in Virginia, and now they've showed up in Alabama. We need everyone to show up next time in 2018. Finally, it makes it clear that Democrats can be competitive. Doug Jones ran on a democratic platform. He was open about his stance on many issues that don't play well (so we thought) in states like Alabama. But he won. We need to be competitive. We can't think that some areas are just a lost cause. We need to provide an alternative, even if we don't win. It needs to happen in every election at every level.

In his speech Jones quoted MLK about how the arch of history bends toward justice, and that this was that arc bending tonight. I hope he's right. I hope that our love affair with absurd politics, and vicious nonsense is waning. I've begun to worry that at the current rate the only way to repair this is to go through some calamitous event like we did in the Great Depression, World War II, or the Civil War. But perhaps we're stepping back from that brink.  Perhaps things are better than they seem. I have a little bit more faith in Americans after today. Not a ton, but a little.

Picture(s) of the Day: 
Picture 120

One of Sal's photos from her christmas photo shoot. She decided that she needed to wear the hat and sunglasses after she'd spent a bit of time taking regular photos. She's so full of personality, I love it!

The New Gilded Age

The late 1800s was called the Gilded Age. It was a period of time where there were inequality was great, and the rich, built huge mansions, which you can visit at a number of sites, such as Newport, Rhode Island, or the National Parks Service in New York. If you haven't been to one of these mansions, it's hard to explain the vast size, scale, and opulence that these people lived in. Think Downton Abbey, think Vanderbilts, think Daddy Warbucks. I mean, look at the "Great Hall" of this building.  This was someone's house, but it looks more like a train station, or nicer than any hotel lobby that I've ever seen. The rich, thanks to industrialization, transportation, and abusive powers of corporations, and those at the top were able to build these palaces and live in a way far different from most Americans. The inequality between those that lived like this, and those that lived in poverty are stark reminders of what things used to be like. These people had a huge leg up on anyone else in the country. 

The rich and ultra-rich today still have a huge leg up in this country. I've lived a life that allows me to see that. I went to the best school I could get into, and pay for. And I know well how much inferior that experience was in comparison to the greater schools in the country that helps to provide superior networking. I've seen how those that come from better off positions are able to give their kids a jumpstart ahead of others. The inequality is still ever present in our nation, and it short changes millions of people who work their hardest but still can't make it, through no fault of their own. Most don't dream of actually living in a house or life style pictured above. They just want a fair chance. They want a job they can feel good about, a house, a comfortable life, and a good life.

Today I woke up to the news that I expected to get. Late in the night the Senate of the United States, propelled by snake oil salesmen disguised as Senators passed their despicable tax reform bill. This after weeks of lead up claiming it was a "middle class tax cut" the beneficiary of this legislation is the rich. The rich, who have seen a boom in the accumulation of wealth have been given an excessive and deplorable tax cut, which will eventually be paid for by the middle class in the form of cuts to our social programs; paid for by the poor through cuts to Medicaid; to the elderly through cuts to Social Security and Medicare. Not satisfied with the millions and billions they already have, they have pushed for more. And the Republicans have paid those that they work for: The Rich. They are creating a new gilded age. A new period of vast inequality, and a further raw deal for the average American.

What is most galling about this all, is the Trump supports, who went on and on about "making America 'great' again" and have bitched and moaned for eight years under Obama about how elite he was, and voted for a pathological liar based on the promise of helping them have been hoodwinked, and they don't even understand that. They voted for a party that is going to make their life considerably worse, that will see them fall further down. And they are too stupid to learn the lesson. The lesson that has been taught time and again, the Trickle down hoax that they have put forth for four decades which has done nothing to help them. They get distracted by the homophobic asshole who doesn't want to make a cake for a gay couple, or the Puritan nut who thinks that a trans person is going to attack them in a bathroom, or the racists vilifying immigrants and minorities. They are still out there supporting these people, despite the fact that they are about to be completely screwed over by their policies.

It's left me angry. I'm pissed off. I'm pissed off at the electorally illiterate segment that thumbs their noses at facts. I'm angry at the BernieBros who pushed their nonsense. I'm pissed off at Republicans who have cheated the system to gain unearned power and have rigged the system in their favor through gerrymandering,  propaganda through Fox News and Sinclair Broadcasting Group, through the un-American practice of obstruction and the theft of the Supreme Court, through the destruction of facts and trusted institutions, through attacks on the 4th estate. At times, over the past year I have wondered if perhaps the United States is no longer the place I think is best to raise my family in. I question if we've passed a point of no return. I feel discouraged and hopeless for the future because even with a change in tide, the majority will need to be so large that it can not be blocked, like was done during the Obama years. I do not see the strong response, nor the coordinated attacks on this. Where was the filibuster? Where was the action? What was done?

I worry for the future.

Picture(s) of the Day: 
Picture 110

Long ago I received this cute little piggy when we were new apartment living kids back in the early 2000s. It's been one of my favorite ornaments every year, but alas tragedy struck this year. While unwrapping christmas decorations, Sal had one and dropped it on the brick mantle. I heard a cracking noise, but didn't see what it was. Eventually Becky got to the little piggy and noticed that he had a missing leg. Mystery solved. Turns out it was more than just a leg, he had cracked clean in half, though hadn't come apart. I glued the leg back on, and hung him up. Alas, gravity ripped him in two. He's been glued, but as you can see the breakage is clear. Doesn't really matter, I'm keeping him forever.