Category: Politics

What has happened to this country…

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The USA’s Problem in One Image

The image below is circulating on social media.

There is so much wrong with this image, I am at a loss as to where to begin. While the majority of our Founding Fathers were deist, and many other presidents were not particularly religious, Abraham Lincoln comes to mind, Trump does not believe in anything except himself.  And I am even doubtful of that. I do not even believe him to be irreligious as that would imply he has thought, even if only shallowly, about religious beliefs.  If he has a god, it is green or gold. If I were a religious person I would view this depiction as a gross sacrilege. Come to think of it, I am not religious, and I still view it as a gross sacrilege. If there is such a thing as unholy, the definition is: See Trump.

What is sad to me is that politics and religion have almost always walked hand in hand.  Both are efforts to control the behavior of large groups of people.  Religion tends to pretty it up with ideas about improving the person and society, with ideas about aiding the believer to get to heaven or, more importantly, stay out of hell. Politics frequently dresses itself up as doing the most good for the most people, but often does not even bother with that. In the end  they are both about the same thing, power and control.

The melding of conservative politics with fundamental religions is as scary to me as various theocracies, past and present. There are good reasons the Founding Fathers were so adamant about the separation of church and state.

God save us from the religious.

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Quote of the Day – Marcus Tullius Cicero

Quote of the Day… not actually daily, but whenever I encounter one I think worth sharing and there are not too many in sequence.  I like quotes as they frequently distill a piece of wisdom into a brief passage, or make other points very succinctly – such as the witticisms of Oscar Wilde.

 “A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly. But the traitor moves amongst those within the gate freely, his sly whispers rustling through all the alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself.” ~~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

Yup, that Roman cat Cicero was prescient about our current situation in the United States… just saying.

Sad part is that he was writing about a situation in the Roman Empire 2000 years ago, and it still applies today. As a species, it seems we never learn some very basic lessons, we seldom learn from our mistakes.  What was it a renowned sage once asked, “are we suffering  the Arrogance of Ignorance, or the Ignorance of Arrogance?”  Either way, we are screwed.

And so it should not go.

To see more Quotes for Day, visit this link: Quotes for the Day

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Quote of the Day – Dolly Parton

Quote of the Day… not actually daily, but whenever I encounter one I think worth sharing and there are not too many in sequence.  I like quotes as they frequently distill a piece of wisdom into a brief passage, or make other points very succinctly – such as the witticisms of Oscar Wilde.

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“Find out who you are and do it on purpose. And do it with purpose. Don’t ever sacrifice who you are, your principles and your morals and your values to just try to get ahead in business. It ain’t worth it.” ~~ Dolly Parton

Dolly was famously loved by the LGBTQ community and was supportive of their right to be who they are.

“… [I do not] believe that we should criticize and judge other people. I think we should be accepting and loving. We are all God’s children. We are who we are, and we should be allowed to be who we are…. I just think that we should be more loving, more caring. We are who we are. If you’re gay, you’re gay. If you’re straight, you’re straight, and you should be allowed to be, you know, how you are, and who you are.” ~~ Dolly Parton

She has frequently stated:

“We’re all God’s children and God should be the one to judge, not other people.” ~~ Dolly Parton

For a great summation of the life and career of Dolly Parton here is a link to Richard Cox Richardson’s news letter, Letters from an American: August 26, 2026

She was a special soul.

To see more Quotes for Day, visit this link: Quotes for the Day

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Quote of the Day – Ray Bradbury

Quote of the Day… not actually daily, but whenever I encounter one I think worth sharing and there are not too many in sequence.  I like quotes as they frequently distill a piece of wisdom into a brief passage, or make other points very succinctly – such as the witticisms of Oscar Wilde.

“I don’t think the robots are taking over. I think the men who play with toys have taken over. And if we don’t take the toys out of their hands, we’re fools.”  — Ray Bradbury

I am more and more convinced that if we did not open Pandora’s Box with computers, we are doing so with AI (Artificial Intelligence).

I would make Kurt Vonnegut‘s debut novel, Player Piano, required reading.  It is not his best work, but it has an important message. Given that the novel was published in 1952, Vonnegut was amazingly prescient about our current world.

But then again, I would also make George Orwell’s novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four, required reading. I have read this novel three times for various reasons.

To see more Quotes for Day, visit this link: Quotes for the Day

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Quote of the Day – William Shakespeare

Quote of the Day… not actually daily, but whenever I encounter one I think worth sharing and there are not too many in sequence.  I like quotes as they frequently distill a piece of wisdom into a brief passage, or make other points very succinctly – such as the witticisms of Oscar Wilde.

Out, out, brief candle!
Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing. ~~ Macbeth, Act 5, Scene 5 by William Shakespeare

To see more Quotes for Day, visit this link: Quotes for the Day

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Quote of the Day – Frank Herbert

Quote of the Day… not actually daily, but whenever I encounter one I think worth sharing and there are not too many in sequence.  I like quotes as they frequently distill a piece of wisdom into a brief passage, or make other points very succinctly – such as the witticisms of Oscar Wilde.

“All governments suffer a recurring problem: Power attracts pathological personalities. It is not that power corrupts but that it is magnetic to the corruptible.”  ~~ Frank Herbert, Chapterhouse: Dune 

I agree with the first part of the quote, and even the statement that it is a magnet to the corruptible.  However, I believe that political power in and of itself can corrupt all but the strongest of personalities.  Even if they start out with good intentions, what it does to lesser souls… well Katy bar the door.

Unfortunately, we have way too many of those lesser souls in government at all levels.  But it seems to have always been that way.

As an aside, the first two books in the Dune series, Dune and Dune Messiah,  are among my favorite novels, science fiction or otherwise. The novels later in the series were good, but at one level he was just churning more out as they were so popular.

To see more Quotes for Day, visit this link: Quotes for the Day

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How Wealth Inequality Spiraled Out of Control | Robert Reich

This country has more problems than a monkey on a rock, but to my way of thinking, this is one of the biggest, the out of control, growing wealth gap.  The issue is explained very clearly by one of my favorite “pundits”, Robert Reich.  America has never been a very fair country, but it is certainly the goal we should be aiming for.

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Public Comment Period: Proposed Monumental Arch at Memorial Circle

Submit your comments at: https://savingplaces.org/monumental-arch

Yet another example of El puta pendejo‘s ego run amok.  No matter how you spin it, this is a monument, aka Arc de Trump, to the insatiable hole that is the tRump’s ego.  I had no idea that it would have such a drastic and negative effect on what the National Park Service is calling the viewscape. However, it right in line with his defacement of the White House and his attempt to plaster the obscenity that is his name all over Washington, D.C.   I see it as slap in the face to all veterans buried at Arlington and to Lincoln as the 250 foot tall Arc with dwarf the Lincoln Memorial and the entrance to the Arlington Cemetery.

And what a horrible waste of tax money when he the Republican party are doing their best to take away health care and social program from millions of Americans.  Does his hubris, his cruelty have no bounds?

If you have been to Washington, D.C. you will know that this space is perfect the way it is.

The Romans used to march defeated armies through their arc in Rome.  I suppose Cadet Bone Spur needs a place to march the defeated Iranian army through.

May Isis save us all.

From the National Park Service website:

National Park Service is accepting public comments on this project until June 15, 11:59PM MT. Learn more below and on nps.gov.

If you submitted comments to the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) or Commission of Fine Arts (CFA), please submit again to NPS. This is a new comment period for a separate government entity.

Members of the public have the opportunity to provide input on a proposed Monumental Arch at Memorial Circle on the George Washington Memorial Parkway, near Arlington National Cemetery and along the Potomac River.

The location of the proposed Arch will interrupt the highly significant relationship between the Lincoln Memorial, across Arlington Memorial Bridge, to Arlington National Cemetery and Arlington House. One of the most symbolic landscapes in Washington, D.C., the vista was designed to represent the post-Civil War reconciliation of the north and south of the United States.

It is because this viewshed carries so much meaning to the country that the National Trust has raised concerns about the proposed Monumental Arch, whose scale, location, and design will disrupt this important visual and symbolic vista. In addition, the Arch will dwarf the Lincoln Memorial and disrupt the long, open, and uninterrupted viewsheds, overwhelming the entry to Arlington National Cemetery—the hallowed resting place of 400,000 veterans and their families and a powerful reminder of American military sacrifice, selfless service, and national unity, all within sight of the monumental core of the Nation’s Capital.

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Borowitz has a point…again

While written as satire, this absolutely nails the results of the disastrous policies of this malAdministration. I have no idea how these folks sleep at night.  I can only believe they no conscience, no shame, no regard for their fellow human beings. It is beyond my comprehension that after all this, there are people that still support this convicted criminal and obviously incompetent occupant of the White House.

What El puta pendejo has done to the White House is simply a microcosm of what he is doing to the United States.

May Kumugwe save us all.

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A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again.

From Dr. Strangelove… Slim Pickens riding the bomb down

The caption of this post is the latest insane quote from our so called POTUS.

“A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again.” ~~ Donald J. Trump

It sounds like he is threatening to wipe out a whole country. For what? They did not bow down to his royal ass? Of course, this is referring to Iran and oil shipments. The problem with tRump and his malAdministration is that none of them are chess players, they are not even checker players.  They cannot see the global chess board one move in front of them.  How else could they start an immoral, unneeded war that was urged on by the madman in Israel, and the power hungry, greedy leader of Saudi Arabia?

Might does not make right.

Truth is I really do not know what to say.  This is beyond comprehension. This is not the country that I have loved and been proud of for most of my life. Not by a long shot.  This cluster f*** is even worse than I could have imagined. I would have never envisioned the United States as a terrorist country, but we are fast becoming one.

For a more nuance and scholarly take on the the catastrophe that is dangling over us like the Sword of Damocles go to Paul Krugman’s video for today:  Our Darkest Hour (read the transcript – it is quicker and easier)

What has the MAGA mob gotten us into.  May Huitzilopochtli save us all.

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