donald trump

Beautiful Angry Noise

A day… a lifetime ago, i expressed an unkind general sentiment concerning mono-theistic political activists in the presence of my children. My words were harsh… insensitive… but not altogether inaccurate. Not sure why the filter failed at that moment, but i decided to try and explain. Starting with this low, omnipresent, internal rumbling in my head… it plays counterpoint to tinnitus accumulated over the years. This rumbling, i have grown to regard as… a “Beautiful Angry Noise.” And on this occasion i let it out, unfiltered. Now i feel compelled to explain, and maybe in the process exorcise some radioactive trepidation felt in the run-up to the 2020 general election.

Where to start?

Ok… from objective observable phenomenon, it seems obvious, to me anyway, that humans can be junction points in a massive interdependent superorganism, greatly enhanced by the global Internet. Unfortunately, this view is not palatable to those inclined to monotheistic creeds, and i believe monotheistic-inclined political activists stand in opposition to the interests of this Earthbound (for now) superorganism. Their anti-science/intellectualism inexplicably damages, and perhaps even hastens humanity’s extinction, and this essential incompatibility is, i believe, partially responsible for the gaping political divide in the US and beyond. This essential incompatibility accounts for occasional “anger” prominent in the noise i live with… day in… day out.

The abovementioned Beautiful Angry Noise underscores my personal opposition to the counter-adaptive worldview of mono-theistic political activists, but it’s not directed at any particular individual… more toward a xenophobic monoculture, featuring a misguided sense of individual importance. This humming, omnipresent noise is in perfect harmony with my opposition to that xenophobic monoculture. A movement that is leading normally stable governments toward authoritarian back-sliding and desperate grasps for uncontested supremacy. At the same time, there are opposing movements. Take, for example, Islamic culture’s push and pull with gender politics. As well, take the white, puritanical Euro-centric cultures’ struggle with LGTBQ acceptance.

Contrary fringe movements leave chaos in sane gaps where people just want to find ways to do right by their loved ones and friends…. to be good stewards of the planet they call home, and to survive what amounts to humanity’s “technological adolescence.” If i have to be more specific, i would say the Islamic World’s “Jihad” with modernity should be none of my business. Unfortunately, to make it so, my tax dollars would have to stop getting spent keeping local populations in oil-rich regions not belonging to the US, down. When will this fine day finally arrive? I can name names here though, and I’ll start with any and all family, friends, or neighbors who supported Ronald Reagan or Donald Trump to the office of POTUS. To them… i say… just… stop. Please just stop. I imagine many of these supporters would gladly confess to being mono-theistic political activists… or card-carrying “Apocalyptic Christian Nationalists.”

But so what? Why would i call out Apocalyptic Christian Nationalists? Well… it so happens i was once a member, ready for the “days of trouble.” Ready to ultimately get called up to Heaven by my lord and savior, Jesus Christ, Father God, and the Holy Spirit. As an Apocalyptic Christian Nationalist, i was convinced that Earth, and everything on it was destined to be burned to the ground in a “final confrontation” between the forces of good and evil. EVERYTHING burned to the ground, accompanied by the cherry-red topping of unspeakable war carnage. But hey… NO WORRIES… according to the words of the creator of the universe… the forces of good are destined to prevail, and the planet will be returned to its original pristine “Edenic” state. All will be right again… with evil purged… milk… honey… and nourishing manna from heaven restored for all eternity.

You see where this is going, right? Apocalyptic Christian Nationalists aren’t concerned with effects of human activity on the global superorganism (don’t need stinking climate scientists), because… after the final smack-down between good and evil… everything will be restored to Edenic perfection.

So… now we have to find our backbone… because Apocalyptic Christian Nationalists think they have Donald Trump in their pocket… and THEY DO… because he only has power as long as they believe he will ALWAYS act in their interest. It’s no secret they believe Trump is literally an instrument of their god.

Seriously… this is our moment of truth. Do we let Mr. Trump and Apocalyptic Christian Nationalists burn the world to the ground with superstitious fantasies of good/evil escalating to a global scorched-Earth conflagration…? Or do we return to secular governance with religion and politics conducted in separate cathedrals?

I know where i stand… and i confess getting a bit over zealous in my private conversations… hence this inadequate attempt to explain. Nevertheless, i will continue to channel the Beautiful Angry Noise… but at the same time, i want to reaffirm support of constitutionally guaranteed religious freedom. And finally… with all of that said, can we, PLEASE, also honor our responsibilities? In a world of diverse experience and worldview, we know that freedom is NOT unlimited. Specifically, a person or institution’s religious freedom is not said entity’s liberty to cram it down anyone else’s throat. Satanists, Zoroastrians, Stalinists, Muslims, Hindus, Scientologists, Mormons, as well as Evangelical Christians, etc. are free to keep their personal spiritual practice within the privacy of their own homes/cathedrals. If they’ll agree to do that… i will agree to engage our practical differences in the open forum of Democratic Pluralism.

Long live the Beautiful American Stew…!
Long live the separation of Church and State…!
Long live the Beautiful Angry Noise!

What is a “resource based economy?”
How can we survive Humanity’s “Technological Adolescence?”

Enough with the Whiney Baby Crap (Election, 2016)

So… the election is over, and whining has become a bi-partisan activity. Before the outcome was known, some of The Donald’s supporters were openly threatening “Another Revolutionary War” if he lost the election to Hillary Clinton.

Meh…

And Johnny Depp predicted DOOM if The Donald was elected…

Double meh…

Lemmie tells ya folks … it’s all breathless, bogus, fear mongering bunk, and I’ve seen my share.

Brought into this world April 19th, 1959, and by the 22nd, my first dose of “the fear” was served up by the prophet of the Branch Davidians, Florence Houteff. Ms. Houteff declared the apocalypse foretold in the Book of Revelation would proceed on this date.
In 1963, my three-year-old old self took another dose, when Jeane Dixon and various Indian astrologers predicted a planetary alignment would bring destruction to the world.
In ’67, King hell doom-monger, Jim Jones was already at it, recounting (out loud) he had visions of a nuclear holocaust set to take place.
The same year, UFO prophet, George Van Tassel predicted of the southeastern US being destroyed by a Soviet nuclear attack.
In 1969, failed musician, deeply troubled waif with mommy issues, Ch-ch-ch-Charlie Manson predicted an apocalyptic race war, and we know what that got him.

In my lifetime more than a dozen stoned-on-Jesus ravers have tried to infect the rest of us with the fear by predicting grisly details of the book of Revelation, quite literally, as described, they still believe it. Who on earth still listens?

Anyhoo, my life, so far, has included a persistent pearl string of nasty doom predictions, all have turned out to be bunk. Let’s not even get started on the y2k crap… 😉 Friends… come what may, all of this will pass. Hillary … The Donald … we’ll survive it. We survived Nixon, we survived Clinton, we survived Bush the Jr. (barely), and we just did eight years with the nation’s first non-white president. Let’s cut the doomsday dreck and figure out a way to work together, shall we? Well… shall we??

Confessions of a middle-aged “Bernista”

Yes, I confess… I am a middle-aged, white, male Bernista.

Alas, Bernie did not get the nomination, so I have to make a choice, and I’ve also chosen to declare it out loud and in public. I am, without reservation, endorsing Hillary Clinton for President of the United States. Why?

FIRST…

I want to make it clear that my endorsement is not merely due to Donald’s Trump wreck of a campaign. It does resemble a grisly accident, the kind desperate news directors salivate over; sensational, provocative, lurid, even bloody at times. The Donald has, so far, received far more free publicity than anyone should ever be allowed, but so much for that. The truth is, I’d support Clinton’s bid even if it were the lesser of two evils. For one, I believe The Donald is spectacularly unfit to serve as president of the United States, if for no other reason than his paper-thin ability to handle criticism.

Seriously… I want him nowhere near the red button.

LESSER OF TWO EVILS???
The Donald’s campaign may be a train wreck, and I may have preferred a Bernie Sanders ticket, but truth told, Ms. Clinton, is no slouch. In my opinion, she’s as or more qualified than any president serving in my lifetime (born in 1959).

YES… I WILL ELABORATE…..

But first I want to assure you, dear reader, I’m trying really hard to stay on the high road here. I could use some help, so please wish me luck. To start, I’d like to call everyone’s attention to the broken and bitter elephant in the room (pun intended). To wit, many Americans deeply distrust and vehemently dislike Ms. Clinton…. why? I suspect this animosity is a reflection of the ugly partisanship growing steadily since the “Fairness Doctrine’s” demise. The removal of the doctrine’s rules on public service broadcasting unloosed a tsunami of unfair, unbalanced right-wing bile, embraced fully by folks all ‘et up with fear and loathing for the declining supremacy of white middle-class males. The divide was further exacerbated by an unfair/unbalanced media fixation on a trumped-up “War Against Christian Culture.” This combined with relentless dishonest attacks against Ms. Clinton beginning in earnest with her first attempt to facilitate health care reform in 1993. Top all of that off with Ms. Clinton’s real flaws, missteps, and weaknesses, and you have an ideal witches brew fit for a perfect witch hunt.

BUT IS SHE A PERFECT PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE? NO FREAKIN’ WAY…

Clinton cannot blame a “Vast Right Wing Conspiracy” for all of her troubles. Ms. Clinton has earned a measure of suspicion and/or ambivalence. Cases in point, 1.) the closed meetings of first health care task force. 2.) The “Whitewater” debacle. 3.) The personal emails destroyed after leaving the State Department. 4.) Her reluctance to disclose a recent bout with pneumonia. 5.) The exorbitant cash earned on the speech circuit. And 6.) Her severe lack of personal charisma.

SO… WHAT DOES SHE HAVE?
TRUE GRIT… like Mattie Ross! I agree with the Washington Post’s assessment of Clinton’s career. I see it as a series of hard knock learning experiences preparing her for the environment. Example, when the walls came down on her health care reform task force, she did not give up. Instead, she reentered the fray helping to hammer together a more modest but essential reform expanding health-care access to economically disadvantaged children.

GRIT EXHIBIT B…
Ms. Clinton’s election to the Senate in 2000 also comes to mind. Those who remember the 1990s might think her justified in holding a grudge or two, especially toward Republicans who supported the relentless, lurid, and futile investigations against her husband in the impeachment and Senate trials. But it wasn’t to be. According to the Washington Post, colleagues in both parties found her to be, businesslike, knowledgeable, intent on results, working across the partisan divides, with little regard for personal credit.

WARTS AND ALL…
And though Ms. Clinton’s use of a private email server as secretary was misguided, in my opinion, it does not rise to the level of high crimes. Hell, who doesn’t want to simplify their email situation?? I have EVERYTHING forwarded to my private account, mainly because I don’t want two or more over-cluttered inboxes. I can barely manage one. But alas, I’m not dealing with highly sensitive classified information, and Ms. Clinton’s slow, grudging explanations worsened the damage. I also recognize Ms. Clinton should not have allowed an aide to go on the Clinton Foundation payroll while still at Department of State. This was a failure to maintain a clear separation between the foundation and the government; an integrity lapse she will not likely repeat.

STILL TRYING TO STAY ON THE HIGH ROAD HERE…

However, with all of her flaws and mistakes, The Donald makes Clinton look squeaky clean. She has released years of tax returns. The Donald will not. She has voluntarily identified her campaign bundlers. And The Donald? The Clinton Foundation actually is a charitable foundation … The Donald … well… he did get a lovely portrait of himself.

…TRUTH…
Ms. Clinton, as opaque as she sometimes appears, is Saran Wrap transparent compared to The Donald.

So … it is what it is: This white, male Bernista is committed to supporting Hillary Clinton for President of the United States … there … I said it out loud. Now, what do I expect from a Clinton presidency?

Relentless commitment (even The Donald recognizes this),
Seriousness of purpose,
Flinty resolve, even in the face of powerful resistance, and,
Good old-fashioned “public service” ethic, focused on achievements in the public interest.

What else do I expect from Hillary Clinton?
As much as I expect from anyone else … the best she can do.

LOSING OUR MINDS AT THE END GAME…
Folks, this is a potentially historic moment, and I find it deeply troubling that any woman would support a move to repeal the 19th amendment in effect denying women the right to vote. WTF? There is no excuse for this straight-up crazy talk. Even IF highly motivated to head off the prospect of Clinton’s supreme court picks.

C’mon folks… we’re not turning clocks back…. hello!?!?
I see the recent #RepealThe19th as proof some of us have finally lost our minds. Please, close your eyes and try to imagine someone pushing a movement to repeal the 13th amendment… seriously… ?!?!?

Let’s keep moving forward…
Let’s elect Hillary Clinton…
Let’s make history!!

Cheers… Loopcircus