Rants: My Political Ultimatum

There are two priority issues for me:

1) End the Perpetual War;
2) Single-payer health care.

No politician who does not have these issues at the core of their agenda has any hope of getting my vote. No party that does not have these two issues at the top of its platform has any hope of getting my support. I'm through fucking around. I've had it.

Reflections on the Elections: HRC Still Dissing Millennials & Others

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Hillary Clinton's campaign to-date seems to be directed with laser-like precision right at those who were automatically going to vote for her anyway. It more or less just pats those preconditioned voters on their collective heads and tells them how very *bright* they are for recognizing HRC to be the *most experienced* and *best qualified* presidential candidate EVER.

But for those potential voters who should be voting Democratic, but who are, at this point, still taking a knee to Hillary's theme music, she offers little-to-nothing. How DARE they question her supremacy? Did she not bring both Sanders and Warren to heel? Is that not proof enough for these idiots? Will they not come around now and be *useful idiots*? Time is running out!

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Reflections: Consummatum Est

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AN EXPERIMENT THAT FAILED

The endemic herd mentality and stubborn stupidity of the American people exposed by the current political season--on both sides of the equation--has been demoralizing to the nth degree.

And now there has been the threat that the entire election process will be co-opted by the DHS.

Turn out the lights and lock up the lab. Consummatum est.

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Reflections: The Omens are Evil

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Since the disgraceful demise of Bernie Sanders' bogus "revolution," this has become the most depressing presidential campaign season ever.
Perhaps the worst thing about it at this point is that it is predictive of even worse things to come in 2020. 
It is impossible to imagine either Clinton or the other guy serving more than one term; and even less possible to imagine either of them serving as a catalyst for any positive change in this society, or in this world. 
The likelihood for 2020 is that Ted Cruz, or Paul Ryan, or Mike Pence easily defeats some Democratic nonentity who is rushed in to replace a washed-up Hillary.
At that point, reality really sets in; a very grim reality.

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Reflections: The Right and the Left of It

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What conservatives want is a government strong (i.e. "big") enough to keep me from doing things they don't like, but weak (i.e. "small") enough to let them do anything they want.

What liberals want is a government strong (i.e. "big") enough to enlist the participation of all in the promotion of the common good, but weak (i.e. "small") enough to stay out of everyone's personal lifestyle choices, so long as they don't negatively affect the lives of others.

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Reflections: Mean Girls, 2016:

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I find it increasingly amusing to see all the Clintonian feminists, who could detect even the faintest whiff of alleged misogyny emanating from the Bernie Sanders campaign and react with claws out, now mutely indifferent to the rampant slut-shaming of Donald Trump's wife--or even ruthlessly participating in it. In this, they mirror the intellectual and moral flexibility of their bloodstained heroine. You go, grrrrls.

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Reflections: At Nadir

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I find this election season to be totally demoralizing. The followings of the two candidates who will oppose each other in the general election are absolutely cultic in their devotions. This devotion has almost nothing to do with these candidates' histories or political policy positions; it's all grounded in a hero worship that totally ignores their glaringly dangerous flaws. Both of them are equally lethal to American democracy and any hope for world peace. I grieve for my country. We are at nadir.
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Rants: The Death of the Left -- Addendum

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Last night the disgraceful corporate media utterly dissed Bernie Sanders by their combined failure to air his speech to his followers following his disastrous showing at the polls. 

 

The corporate media have been in the bag for Hillary Inc. since day one; this was only slightly more blatant. Bernie is finished, so they can ignore him with total impunity. 

 

It is noted that they provided wall-to-wall coverage of Marco Rubio's sad farewell speech.. Marco, you see, is a bench player for their team.

 

What a sorry shadow puppet extravaganza this whole political charade is again shown to be. Somewhere in Hell, old Joe Goebbels is applauding.

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Rants: The Death of the Left -- Super Bluesday

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 8:00 p.m. ET -- 3/15/16

Early as it is, it's already obvious that Democratic voters today have opted to play it safe and just hope to hold onto whatever it is that they have left. This is so disheartening: the Prevent Defense. Hillary Clinton is of the ilk that put those of us in the necrotic middle where we are today. The future is now. And now sucks.

The GOP voters, by contrast, are opting to do-or-die. They've had it with their establishment and are willing to take a chance on change. The disastrous end they will bring about will at least be swift and dramatic; not the slow death the compliant Democrats have opted for.

To the oligarchs go the spoils. Nice going, Sheeple.
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Reflections: Why Free College is an Empty Promise

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How stupid I've been. It just this morning occurred to me why neither Bernie, nor anybody else, is ever going to provide a free four-year college education for all.

The reason is that without the promise of free college on the other side of military service, it would be impossible for the military to keep enlistment levels high enough to man the perpetual war and line the pockets of the oligarchs.

It would mean reinstating the draft--this time with girls being taken--and that would mean living the 'sixties all over again, and then some.

Free college: it ain't gonna happen.

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Reflections: Hillary-Shrillary

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The ship of state is sinking and the passengers and crew are too busy squabbling among themselves to grab a can and start bailing. 

When one can't criticize HRC's history and the policies that she's supported during and before her political career without being called a misogynist, the discourse is over. 

The unavoidable perception is that Hillary's campaign, with its knee-jerk finger-pointing and labeling (one is tempted to use the "S-word" here) is creating more misogynistic sentiment than it is correctly identifying. 

If she is the candidate, and if this continues, I predict that she won't win. Kiss the SCOTUS good-bye.
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Reflections: Berniebros

If this "Berniebro" phenomenon is symptomatic of a deeply ingrained societal strain of misogyny, I find it strange that there were not "Barrybros" operating in a similar fashion in 2008. Has this epidemic of misogyny erupted for the first time just this campaign season?

I can't help wondering if at least some of these "Berniebros" do not constitute a dirty tricks squad, deployed by the DNC to discredit Bernie Sanders and help ensure a victory for the Establishment candidate.
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Reflections: Some Thoughts on the Elections

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As for Hillary vs. Bernie:

Well, certainly if you're going to vote at all for a potentially viable candidate, Bernie is the best choice. That said, he's too much of a hawk for me to be very happy with him. If the perpetual war isn't ended, none of the other problems are going to be adequately addressed, because there won't be the funding available. So, as far as I'm concerned, the difference between Bernie and Hillary, or even any of the GOP assholes, is largely cosmetic.

As for Bernie’s “Political Revolution”:

To me, what it boils down to is that Bernie was an activist in the '60s and must remember well what happened in the presidential election of 1968 and again--to a lesser extent--in the election of 1972. So for him to imply that a "revolutionary" change is going to occur now, within the two-party system, is disingenuous. If he were a true “revolutionary,” he would have run as an independent and not worried about what that did to the Democratic Party (to which he does not belong.)

The choice between Bernie and Hillary in terms of workable policy is basically a coin toss.

The one thing that I care most about is ending the Orwellian perpetual war in the Middle East. And on that consideration, the difference between Bernie, Hillary and any of the GOP thugs is basically another coin toss: they are all hawks, even if it is for slightly different reasons.

As for a Michael Bloomberg candidacy:

I really can't take the prospect of a Bloomberg candidacy seriously. In the first place, nobody in fly-over territory knows who he is, or cares. And he doesn't have time to tell them. Americans don't like New York, or New Yorkers. Other former NYC mayors have had presidential aspirations and quickly found that their tenure in that office was minimally negotiable, at best—more probably, a negative.

Bloomberg is a rich Jew. Many Americans, whether publicly or privately, don't much like rich Jews. Bernie is at least not a billionaire. He is rich by the standards of ordinary working people, I suppose--but it's not his primary claim to fame.

Bloomberg running would just be a stunt--like Nader's candidacies were stunts--not a thing to be taken seriously.

Add to that—Bloomberg is boring. Boring doesn't sell; particularly not in today's political climate. I think the idea of a Bloomberg run for president is a non-starter.

Finally, on the subject of a Bloomberg candidacy, people in fly-over territory would vote for another Kenyan Marxist who's coming for their guns faster than they would vote for a New York Oligarch who's coming for their Super-Sized fast food sodas.

As for Bernie’s demographics:

It's also true that Bernie Sanders is originally from New York City. (At least a small percentage of the Americans who know that Bernie is originally from Brooklyn also know that Brooklyn is part of New York City.) 

Bernie, however, has had the good sense to get out of that vile place where his mother happened to have been when he dropped from the womb and into Vermont: Bernie is now a full-fledged, gun-totin' Green Mountain Boy! He’s been inoculated against his New-York-Jewishness by the fresh mountain air.

As for Donald Trump’s chances:

It's true that Donald Trump, who has drawn a fairly large number of enthusiastic followers, is both a billionaire and a New Yorker. But he is also a xenophobic fascist. Americans like fascists. Atlas Shrugged continues to be a best-seller sixty years after its publication. But I don't really believe that Trump will get the nomination. One way or another, it will go to a career politician, because The Machine is stronger than any individual.

Reflections: The Thorn in Hillary's Side

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 Slick Willie could pass himself off as a "good ol' boy" and connect with the masses. But Hillary just can't convince anybody that she is essentially anything other than an elite, Seven Sisters, Establishment team player. And that tune is just not playing on the people's jukebox any longer.
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Reflections: The First GOP Debate

This is how my friend, Robert A George, ranked the opponents after last night's debate:

 1. Kasich
 2. Christie
 3. Rubio
 4. Paul
 5. Bush
 6. Trump
 7. Walker
 8. Carson
 9. Cruz
10. Huckabee

I think this is a pretty good take. I, however, was not as impressed with Rand Paul as Robert apparently was. I thought he came off looking like a prematurely aged, spoiled adolescent. I'd put Trump where Paul is, and rank Walker and Paul at 9 and 10 respectively. I think Carson at 8 is spot-on. I expected him to be better; he was lame. Ditto, Cruz--but I'd move him and Huckabee up by virtue of ranking Walker and Paul beneath them. Kasich is probably charismaticly challenged, but overall he was the least scary of the group. A Kasich-Fiorino ticket would be the one that I believe would draw the least scorn from the rest of the world. Perhaps it will emerge that Fiorino belongs on the top of that ticket.

Rants: A Translation from Facebook

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 A couple of days ago, I posted the following on my Facebook timeline.  Several people read it and expressed their agreement, but it did not evoke the controversy that I expected. Evidently nobody read it who was willing to question its validity:

All ideological conservatives are essentially either gullible or evil. If gullible, they are also, consequentially, prone to being evil-doers. If essentially evil, and also intelligent, they may endeavor to drive whole herds of the gullible into such things as war and divisive hatred of the Other. Thus, conservatism, although it uses religion to recruit gullible mobs to be used as it suits a particular conservative agenda, is in reality antithetical to every major religion in the world. Conservatism is evil because it is founded upon selfishness and greed, both of which things are destructive to agape which is central to true religion.

 I don't know whether to be pleased or disturbed that his rather harsh estimation of contemporary American political conservatism raised no howl of protest.
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Rants: All Scam, All the Time

I don't know about anybody else, but the result of my crashing disappointment in Obama has been that I've simply stopped following politics; I've realized that it's all scam, all the time. Politics is a television show, staged for the sole purpose of mentally/emotionally herding the bleating merinos toward the economic abattoir. Anybody who makes it to the top of any particular political ladder--congress, the senate, governorship, POTUS--has long since been bought and paid for; he is working neither to express the will, nor for the good, of the American people. The media are, needless to say, in uniform compliance, in that they treat it all as "real," even if seeming to be in strong opposition. Ergo, Rachel Maddow is as much a whore as anybody on Fox News in the final analysis.

Rants: The Current Rage

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The rant below is one of my comments in a thread at Vox Nova concerning the recent controversy over mandated birth control in health insurance coverage provided to employees at Catholic institutions, such as hospitals and universities. I first quote an excerpt from another readers' previous comment, and then launch into my own screed:

@ Henry Karlson –

“This is also something constantly forgotten when bringing up religious liberty: it is not just our religious beliefs that are in the nation.”

The fact that you even need to point this out, and the fact that the whole discussion of the issue is entirely pointless without this fact in mind, is precisely indicative of the type of Catholic exclusionary thinking of which I have been complaining with regard to the question of the closed communion.

If it is not possible to be a good Catholic in a secular and pluralistic society, then perhaps this is not the best society for Catholics to inhabit? I say this seriously. This nation was originally founded by Protestants. And the Calvinists (and other Protestants), against whom I continually hear some Catholics railing, founded it in order to be able to live according to their own beliefs.

Maybe the Church should just get out of the hospital business? I’m sure that for-profit corporations will buy them out. Maybe Catholics should not be running colleges and universities if they necessarily need to be employing non-Catholic staff who will want to live according to their own religious beliefs (or lack thereof?) Or maybe they need to shrink to whatever size a fully-Catholic staff will be able to support?

Nobody is asking Catholics to use birth control (although apparently they do so anyway.) Nobody is asking Catholics to have abortions. The idea that it’s fine and dandy to use medieval Scholastic verbal gymnastics such as “material cooperation with evil” to try to control – in very fundamental ways – the lives of non-Catholics, is just wrong. In this country, it’s wrong. And I’m not sure in what country it might be right. Can you think of one?
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Reflections: Whose Money Is It, Anyway?

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Here’s the thing: what is being called the 1% is behaving intelligently, if it is intelligent to act in one’s own best interest, even at the expense of others. They are sitting on trillions of dollars that could be used to create jobs. But they won’t use it unless the government will give them a guarantee that the government will do nothing in the future to hurt their bottom lines. They have been raking in record profits and they want a guarantee that this will continue for them, regardless of how the rest of the country fares. This is what they refer to as “free market capitalism.” It would be funny, were it not so disgracefully cynical.


If, however, you are not a member of the 1% and are voting for politicians who are supporting “free market capitalism,” you will have been led ask yourself a question and to answer “Yes” to it, when you should have answered “No.” That question is this: “It’s MY money, isn’t it?”

No, it’s not. You should listen to Jesus, not to Ron Paul. When Jesus was asked if it was proper to pay taxes to Rome, he asked to be shown a coin. When the coin was produced, he asked “Whose picture is on that coin?” The reply, of course, was “Caesar’s.” You know the rest of what he said: "Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's, and unto God that which is God's."

If you don't believe in God, fine: simply substitute "society" for God and proceed accordingly.

The money is not yours. When you answer “Yes” to the question, you sell yourself out. You might want to think about who it is that has made that purchase.
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Reflections: Charming the Savage Breast

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EARTH(MOTHERS) TO BACHMANN & PALIN:

H/T: Darwin Catholic via Kyle Cupp

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