We All Do Stupid Things at 17

When asked about Kyle Rittenhouse, Donald Trump, Jr. reminded the American people that we all do stupid things at 17.

“I remember when I was 17. I stupidly thought about enlisting in the military. Luckily, my dad talked me out of it by threatening to disinherit me. He was worried I would grow up to be a sucker or a loser.”

Jr. further stated, “Poor Kyle was in fear for his life when he shot three people, killing two of them. I mean, yes, he had to drive from another state, and was carrying an illegal firearm that he brought with him across that line to put himself in fear for his life, but fear is fear.”

“In the end, it was self-defense. One of his victims… erm… attackers… hit him in the head with a skateboard. All Kyle had done was to shoot peaceful protesters… erm… violent rioters… for not looting a store that Kyle was trying to protect. No, he was not hired to protect it, but young Kyle feels very strongly about Kenosha businesses. So much so, that he was willing to place himself between those businesses and those peaceful… erm… riotous protesters.”

Trump, Jr. then went on to remind the public that many Americans consider Rittenhouse to be a hero of the revolution… erm… protector of the country. “Yeah, that’s the ticket.” Trump, Jr. concluded.

No Responsibility

So, as long as we are talking about what Donald said to Bob Woodward about downplaying the virus, let’s talk about something else he said.

Donald Trump told Woodward that he did not feel he had any responsibility to understand the black experience in America. As a private citizen, Trump could get away with making that statement. It would still be quite an uncaring and glaringly shitty statement, but it would be his right.

However, as President of the United States of America, it is absolutely his responsibility to at least attempt to understand the experiences of every American he purports to represent. But, that is the rub, now isn’t it. Trump has spent his entire term in office making sure we all understand that the only Americans he supports are the ones who voted for him and continue to openly support him. All other Americans fall into the “them” category: us or them. I am one of the ubiquitous them.

Not only did Trump not feel any responsibility, but he also accused Woodward of having “drunk the Koolaid.” For those living under a rock, this is a reference to the Jonestown Massacre, where followers of Reverend Jim Jones were murdered/ committed suicide by drinking poisoned Koolaid (it was actually Flavor Aid). To quote the POTUS, “You really drank the Kool-Aid, didn’t you? Just listen to you. Wow. No, I don’t feel that at all.” His voice was described as mocking.

Trump admitted that there is institutional racism in the USA, but, went further by explaining that it is everywhere and is not as bad here. As well, he showed no inclination towards compassion for those who suffer from it, by stating that it is unfortunate that it impacts people’s lives. He then went back to his tired trope of feeling that, in his eyes, he has done more for the African-American community than any President since Lincoln. To emphasize his belief that life is transactional, he was upset at the lack of appreciation.

Trump then insulted the intelligence of his predecessor, Barack Obama.

Trump lives in a strange bubble of his own mind, which is then propped up by the toadies who surround him. It is time to pop that bubble.

Trump downplays the virus…

According to Bob Woodward, Donald Trump was aware of how dangerous Covid-19 was as far back as January, yet continued to downplay its severity. In the beginning of Feb., Trump told Woodward that the virus was “deadly stuff,” yet later in Feb., he proclaimed the virus would disappear like a miracle.

From day one, Donald Trump has used this pandemic for some perceived political gain. Even with all the scientific evidence of how bad this could become, he encouraged his (sometimes armed) base to protest restrictions put in place to flatten the curve of exposure. Yet, he only seemed to encourage these protests in Democrat-run states.

Of course, it was not necessary to encourage disobedience in Republican bastions. Governors, like Ron DeSantis, of FL, and Greg Abbot, of TX, have proven all too ready to listen to, and do, whatever Trump wants them to do, even at the expense of their citizenry. At a time when other (Democratically-controlled) states were beginning to get a handle on their outbreaks, Florida and Texas became the virus hot spots of the United States, and the world.

Trump claims that he downplayed the virus because he was worried about panic sweeping across the country. Of course, we know that panic did sweep across the US because of the high death rate from the virus. As of this writing, 194,679 Americans have died from Covid-19.

For Donald Trump, this has never been about protecting the American people. This has always been about him, like everything he does in his life. The pandemic gave him ample fodder to divide the nation, at a time when the President of the United States of America should have been fostering togetherness. Of course, it is hard to unify a nation when you consider more than half of it to be your enemy.

Edit: So… This has been on my mind all day, and I have been watching commentary on it as well. It has been suggested, and I believe this theory, that when Trump said he did not want to cause panic, he was not thinking about the American people. Rather, he was thinking about the stock market. In other words, he was thinking about himself.

Sports, the National Anthem, and kneeling

*sigh*

If I hear one more redneck rant about how football players kneeling during the National Anthem is disrespectful to veterans, I am going to start the next American Civil War single handed.

Let me be clear, as a veteran, I will tell you flat out that I take NO OFFENSE whatsoever to football players kneeling to protest injustice. I fought for their right to do this. We are a nation founded on civil disobedience. Our breaking from England was a massive act of civil disobedience.

If you are so upset about football players kneeling, by all means, boycott the NFL. But, have the guts to admit that it is because YOU are upset, not because you actually think veterans are being dishonored. Quit hiding behind us and quit using us to justify your anger.

I am dishonored by people who do not believe that their fellow Americans have a right to protest what they see as systemic injustice. If you want to take the politics out of sports, quit playing the National Anthem prior to the start of the game.

The anthem started being played during, and later before, sporting events to gin up enthusiasm for WWI recruitment. That, in and of itself, is political.

I do believe that some of you cannot admit that what actually upsets you is that people of color are getting “uppity” and forgetting “their place” in society. If we are a society that respects the right to protest, then we must respect the right of these sports figures to kneel in protest.

Oh, if you really want to do something to honor veterans, I would suggest that you should lobby Congress to quit voting down EVERY SINGLE BILL designed to benefit veterans. Then, and only then, might I see you as having a moral argument behind your outrage.

Until then, you are just a bunch of assholes.

Nazis

I started this blog in an attempt to be a reasonably objective observer of our modern times. I stopped for a while. Something about it rang hollow in my head.

I finally figured it out. I am not an objective observer. History is, and always has been, subjective. I am a subjective person.

We are currently debating whether or not Nazis should be tolerated in American society. I need to repeat that for my own self. We are currently debating whether or not Nazis should be tolerated in American society. I am having trouble wrapping my head around the entire concept.

Don’t get me wrong. I know this country has a racism problem. It is practically built into our foundations. It needs to be addressed and redressed.

But, that being said, the idea that we should, in any way, tolerate Nazis in America is beyond absurd. Over and over, people have talked about how certain protests dishonor veterans. I will address that in another post.

Let me talk about dishonoring veterans, our nation’s WWII war dead, and any other single person in this nation, or in the world, who sacrificed so much to end this scourge. At least they thought they were ending it.

Nazi-ism not only did not end, but, it seems to be flourishing in the new climate that is Trump’s America. I am left with a hollow feeling in the pit of my stomach.

So much so, that I must remind all of you what Nazi-ism really stands for.

WARNING: WHAT FOLLOWS IS VERY DISTURBING.

This is Nazi-ism:

This is Nazi-ism:

Does this hurt yet?:

I know (at least I hope I know) that these images are hard to view.  That is the point.  This is what Nazis do.  This is who Nazis are.  They are not good people.  They are not misguided.  They are an evil that has no place in the world.

They cannot be tolerated.  The Tolerance Paradox states that a tolerant society cannot tolerate intolerance.  It is insidious.  It infects.  It must be ended.

The exception to Godwin’s Law…

Godwin’s Law:

“As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Hitler, that is, if an online discussion (regardless of topic or scope) goes on long enough, sooner or later someone will compare someone or something to Hitler or his deeds.”

Like the fabled Murphy, from Murphy’s Law (Edward Murphy arguably paraphrased a mathematical theorem), Mike Godwin actually exists.  He is still quite alive and kicking (the phrase was not uttered until 1990, as the internet was proving to be the land of modern trolls and not the philosophical paradise we all first imagined).

Mike Godwin, after the Charlottesville riot, proclaimed that, by all means, we should call these people Nazis.

As far as I am concerned, the leading legal mind on the subject (Mike Godwin is an attorney) has handed down a ruling.  Nazi-ism has no place in the USA.  This movement must be destroyed.

Haters gonna hate…

I am amazed at how hard this post has been to write.  As a Jewish person in the USA, I have seen and experienced profound racism and anti-semitism.  I have even been forced to leave a small town in a southern state due to my religious beliefs.

Minorities in this country will tell you that the racism has always been overt; I am one of them.  However, white privilege is being able to plausibly deny systemic racism, even in the face of so many news reports documenting it.

To most of white society, racism is something that has nothing to do with them.  They are not affected by it, so it is just too easy to look away.  It is easy to see it as an aberration and not the norm.

Even the news helps.  When a white terrorist is shown in the news, they are depicted as lone wolves.  An aberration.

But, they aren’t.  Hate groups exist on almost every level of our society from fringe militias to, now, mainstream political organizations.

Just as our current President.  More than one overt racist works in a high level position in his administration.  We all know who Bannon is to Trump, but can anyone tell me what Sebastian Gorka does for the administration?

This, alone, emboldens the hate groups.  Immediately after his election, this country saw a rise in hate crime.  This is not entirely true.  The hate crime has always been here, but now, the news has found a reason to report on it more.

This also emboldens the supremacists and Nazis.  As the old saying goes, “It is better to be infamous than to have no fame at all.”  But still, the haters used to hide their faces in the shadows.

The fact that our hater-in-chief (he started his real estate career discriminating against minority renters) can be so prolific in his rants and tweeting for, seemingly, every subject under the sun, but remains silent about a race riot is probably the most emboldening thing to the haters.

It is silent assent.  But, it is assent.  It is proof to the scum that they don’t have to hide behind masks anymore.  In their eyes, this is their country and getting rid of minorities (both cultural and religious) is equivalent to “making America great again.”

Charlottesville was a perfect example of this.  Even the klansmen were exposed.  This is their America.  To them, and to a lot of us, the President is one of them.  So why hide?

In the aftermath, however, they are finding out why they should continue hiding.  After being exposed, some of them are having their lives destroyed.  I hope so.

But again, this is nothing new.  In Denver, in 1992, the haters came out in force on Martin Luther King day.  At least one of them learned his lesson the hard way.  Cockroaches stay in the shadows for a reason.  The organizer of that rally lost his job.  I was surprised to learn we worked for the same company.  I was gratified by that company’s response.

Hate is ingrained in our society.  The one good side to Trump is that white society in general is now forced to see it.

We are at a nexus.  Either we sink into the hate, or we recognize it and eliminate it.  Silent assent must end.

Which side are you on?

Creating a legacy of dismantling a legacy.

So, Lord Cheeto von Trump has just gutted a nationwide program to combat teen pregnancy.  This will shock you (/sarcasm), but this is an Obama era program.

The only “successes” Trump has had at all during his presidency, aside from Neil Gorsuch, is the systematic dismantling of the legacy that Barack Obama has created.

The Trump administration has ended a retirement savings program, a program to arm Syrian rebels, protections for undocumented immigrant parents, and has scaled back the nutritional requirements for a school lunch program.  Why?  Because they came from the Obama administration.

Of course, we cannot forget his obsession, along with Congressional Republicans, to end the ACA.  The Donald is the father of the birther movement, loudly claiming that his “investigators” have found things you would not believe.  Of course, this supposed information was never revealed.

Why is Trump so obsessed with Obama?  There are several reasons that could answer this.

First, Obama makes a good foil for Trump to keep his base fired up amid the scandals that are plaguing his administration.  The people who support Don the Con are, to a large degree, the same people who were so adamantly opposed to Obama to a very racist degree.

Second, destroying Obama’s legacy, to some extent, makes Trump’s presidency look better than his predecessor’s.  Given that Donald has so few victories to brag about, he most certainly needs everything he can find to try and add legitimacy to his administration and his goals.

But, let us put all that aside and look at Trump the man.  He has a narcissistic personality that brooks no embarrassment.  We cannot forget the roasting that Trump took at the hands of both Obama and host Seth Meyers.  Trump was fuming afterwards.  He lashed out at Seth Meyers in the aftermath.

But, why did Obama take his shots at Trump?  The correspondents dinner was in April of 2011.  Donald began his birther claims in late March of 2011.  While he was a true statesman, I cannot blame Obama for firing a few shots “across the bow” at Trump for his racist rantings.

Donald had been flirting with a presidential run, and in previous elections had declared his candidacy.  However, in olden times, people realized that he was a joke candidate.  Oh, how many of us long for those times today.

The bottom line is that Trump was embarrassed.  He began his run, in earnest, to regain what he saw as a loss of stature in the political world.  Donald cannot let go of old hurts, and believes in revenge against his “enemies.”

The damage that the Federal Government is doing right now to real American families and individual citizens boils down to Lord Cheeto wanting to hit back against a perceived slight from Obama.  Nevermind that Trump is the one who picked that fight.

In Trumpland, Trump must always win.  It does not matter who gets caught in the crossfire.

Donny, diplomats, and demagogues

President Cheeto von Trump, today, thanked Vladimir Putin for expelling 755 diplomats from the US diplomatic mission, in Russia.  The expulsion, as you may remember, is in response to tougher sanctions signed into law by our golfer-in-chief.

Some people would argue that Trump signing the sanctions is proof that there was no Russian collaboration to help him win the election, but, we must remember that Trump was placed in a position where he could not refuse to sign the sanctions.  Had he vetoed the legislation, overwhelming bipartisan support in both houses of Congress would have made it very likely that Lord Cheeto’s veto would have been overridden by a Congressional vote.  A loss like that would have been even more damaging to his Presidency than, well, he is himself.  Still, the legislation was not signed until negotiations between the Executive Branch and the Legislature weakened the sanctions somewhat.

But, his response to the expulsions is what I am here to discuss.

Trump thanked Putin for expelling the diplomats, stating that it will save the US a lot of money on payroll.  Now, this can be read many ways.

  1.  This response can be seen as both flip and calculating.  A move that an expert in the art of political brinkmanship  would use to show an opponent that we will not be cowed or forced to play our cards before we are ready.  Yeah… no.  I hope you had a good laugh at this one.  I did.
  2. Trump plans on actually removing these diplomats from the payroll, thus putting more Americans out of work. (Remember all those manufacturing jobs that Trump “negotiated” for that are being off=shored now anyway?)
  3. Trump, who has time and time again shown how little he knows (or cares) about the inner workings of the Federal Government, actually believes that these people were just fired from their jobs by Putin.  This is the one that I am voting for, honestly.

The only calculation that I believe is going on in Cheeto’s minuscule brain is to see how long all this will take people’s minds off of the investigation into his campaign’s collaboration with Russia to affect the outcome of our last Presidential election.

Not long enough, Donny… not long enough.

Though, you have already shown that your backup plan seems to be complete nuclear annihilation of the planet, resulting from your little dick wagging contest with Kim Jong Un, and North Korea.  War takes people’s minds off of scandal, doesn’t it, Donny boy?

But, that is a post for another day.