In 2 Podcasts (with transcript) from Robert Reich, a national treasure:
Robert Reich – The roots of Trumpism – Part 1
Robert Reich – The roots of Trumpism – Part 2
SCOTUS to the Citizens of The United States
Supreme Court of the United States TO the Citizens of the once great nation of The United States of America… screw you!
And with their EPA ruling today, they have said screw you to every human on the planet.
May God have mercy on our souls with this joke of a partisan court.
Rev. Joe’s Random Thought #7,459
yeah I know you did not ask!
I am going to start selling burkas online. This item of dress is about to become de rigueur in this country.
I read the headline today about the Supreme Court overturning Roe v Wade and I had the same feeling I had seeing the planes crash into the Twin Towers in NYC. The world has gone absolutely mad and fanatics are in charge. I am sick in my stomach and sick in my soul.
IMHO every justice that voted for this should be charged as an accomplice for the death of every woman who dies from a back alley abortion.
I cannot think of time I have been more disgusted by the situation in this country. The religious zealots, gun nuts and white supremacist have gained control of this country I once loved.
I am absolutely disgusted with the Supreme Court of this country. Between expanding of gun rights, overturning Roe v. Wade and declaring money to be free speech in politics they have sent this country over the cliff. And the saddest part is that they are not “practicing” law but partisan politics. That is not the function of the Supreme Court.
I going to say it again… please Dear God, save us from the religious.
Please Dear God No… Do not send Eric Greitens to the United States Senate
Eric Greitens is running for the United States Senate from the state of Missouri. He was briefly Governor of Missouri, but he was chased out of office. He resigned amid allegations of sexual assault and campaign finance impropriety. As the Washington Post put it:
“Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens left the state capitol in disgrace as he faced down two criminal charges, an ethics probe, and public fallout over reports that he’d had an affair with a hairdresser and then allegedly tried to blackmail her with nude photos.”
Somehow he managed to get much of that dismissed…
Just in case you do not know, RINO stands for Republican In Name Only aka Republican politicians that are not Trump supporters, that are not MAGA enough. The message of this video is abundantly clear, that MAGAs should hunt these folks down, and apparently with military grade weapons.
For the sake of me, I do know understand why this type of ad is legal, why any TV station would air it, and why YouTube does not take it down. IMHO, if one of these”RINOs” is murdered or even assaulted, Eric Greitens should be charged as an accomplice.
Please God No… Do not send Eric Greitens to the United States Senate.
Just for the record I did report this video to YouTube as promoting terrorism. I pray many folks follow suite.
Thank you YouTube to listening to many, many folks and taking this awful video down from your site.
Bat Sh** Crazy, Texas Republican Party Platform
A prominent historian, Heather Cox Richardson, puts out a daily newsletter, Letters from America, described as ” A newsletter about the history behind today’s politics.”
She had multiple themes today, much it about the January 6 hearings going in our national’s capital. A couple things really caught my attention, one was a quote from a very conservative federal judge that he uttered during an NPR interview:
“[T]he former president and his party are today a clear and present danger for American democracy,” Luttig reiterated to NPR’s All Things Considered.
And this gentleman is Continue reading “Bat Sh** Crazy, Texas Republican Party Platform”
Ghost Guns… Why are they legal?
Color me sheltered, I had no idea. These are deadly weapons that anyone can buy online. They are unregulated, no serial numbers, untraceable, anyone – and I mean anyone with a credit card or PayPal account can buy one online. I am betting an untraceable Visa/Mastercard gift cards would work just fine too. Wow! This is so very WRONG. Now here is something I would classify as sinful, the marketing of such merchandise. What is the lowest level in Dante’s Inferno?
More information available at BradyUnited.org
God, Guns & Trump: A Jeremiad
I was in Memphis, TN this weekend and saw this bumper sticker – God, Guns & Trump – on the back of a small, older pickup truck with Mississippi tags. 
The sad reality is that I could have seen this sticker many places; they are just more common in that part of the country. I live in St. Louis which is not what I would call a particularly liberal or progressive area, but it is an island of sanity in the red cesspool of MAGA Republicans of rural Missouri and southern Illinois. I see many bumper stickers of a similar ilk around here too.
God, Guns & Trump…To me this encapsulated the sickness that is currently inflicting our country.
God: While I understand people’s need for religion, I am not a big fan. My personal opinion Continue reading “God, Guns & Trump: A Jeremiad”
Flags Half Mast
When I was young it seemed to be an extraordinary event when the United States flag was flown at half mast. It was especially so back then as it did not happen that often. It is still a big deal to fly the flag at half mast, but it seems to be happening all the time now. Often it seems to be for victims of yet another mass shooting incident which are an absolute pandemic in this country. After the recent FedEx shooting in Indianapolis, there were two more of ONLY 3 or so people, one in Wisconsin and one Texas, this past weekend.
I am going to suggest that it would be easier and saner to leave the flags at half mast all the time until we do something about the availability of guns in this country – especially assault style rifles – and gun laws in general. The fact that we have failed to act on gun legislation, that guns have become so prevalent in our society, that mass shootings are so common, that guns are especially problematic in inner cities (there is nearly a gun death a day in St. Louis), is reason enough to be flying the flag at half mast. I am not so sure that we should not be flying it upside down as a signal of dire distress.
And so it goes.
Me siento avergonzado
Or in English, I feel embarrassed.
Since the events at our national capitol that the Military Joint Chiefs are calling sedition and insurrection, I have talked to two gentlemen in Central America. The young Mexican man living in Honduras was just incredulous. He could not believe such a thing could happen here. For many people in that part of the world, the United States is their dream.
The gentleman I talk to in El Salvador is a little more seasoned. He asked me if I felt like I was living in the middle of a Mad Max movie, referencing the Viking helmeted man. I told him I felt a little like I was living in a república bananera, banana republic. He agreed that it did seem that way right now to a lot of people living in real banana republics.
The new face of America is a 33 year old, wanna-be actor living at home with his mother. If you do an image search you will find this individual’s picture in a multitude of foreign news outlets. How very distressing.
Supposedly Trump made a comment about the insurrectionist wishing they looked a little classier. I immediately wondered, have you not been looking at your rally audiences for the last 5 or 6 years. He is not that much different from many of the folks I have been seeing at them.
I’ve been saying for years that we have become a lowest common denominator society. I am beginning to feel we are trying to divide by zero. As every programmer knows, if you do not handle this error it crashes the program.
What a sad, sad time for our country.
And so it goes.
Keep well.
Cynical Corporate Courage
I cannot begin to tell how glad I am that they are finally banning Trump from all these social media platforms. However, the cynical part of me is not applauding these corporations. They waited until it was obvious to even a blind, deaf and dumb Dungeons & Dragons wizard that Trump was not going to be able to steal the election. That is not my definition of courage. It is not my definition of being socially responsible. 
And so it goes…
Keep well.