Gaming the System

While I was thrilled that Ohio’s Proposition 1 went down in flames, I’m not as optimistic about any deeper changes coming.

To recap, Prop One was a dirty trick unleashed by the GOP-controlled Ohio state legislature, solely to hamper the efforts to enact statewide abortion guarantees via referendum this fall. It went like this:

·       GOP passes bill eliminating “quickie” August referenda because of low turnout and high costs.

·       GOP realizes there is vast support for a November referendum guaranteeing reproductive freedom.

·       GOP develops their own referendum to increase the point at which a referendum passes, from 50% to 60%, and slides it into the August slot they just wanted eliminated. They know a 60% threshold will be much more difficult to achieve. It also may have given them grounds to legally challenge the abortion referendum, because it also called for petition signatures coming from all 88 counties, rather than around half, which was the previous benchmark.

·       Ohio citizens recognize this blatant end-around of their own will and vote down Prop One 57%-43%. (See, they didn’t come up with “60%” by accident.)

So, just like in Kansas and a couple of other red states, the right to an abortion was upheld by general vote. Naturally, many on the Left were celebrating this victory as a sign of more changes coming.

I wish they were right but I disagree. I don’t think it means anything in the bigger political picture. Sure, it’s linked with one party more than the other, but it’s not the same as pulling the lever beside someone’s name with a “D” beside it.

Like I said when the Kansas vote happened, “I think this motion was shot down because it was just an issue. There were no “politicians” tied to it, therefore, no personal baggage or smears. (Although I’m sure there was plenty of misinformation passed around.) I believe a lot of Republicans voted to maintain the right to safe abortions because they could do it without having to vote for a damned liberal snowflake commie pedophile Satan-worshiping Democrat.”

Look at who voted for these stooges who tried to game the system, in the first place. I don’t think it’s likely that they’re totally in play, when it comes to voting for people. Democrats should make a major push to flip the Independents, though. Just keep reminding people who is pushing the abortion bans and who is fighting to keep healthcare decisions private. Perhaps they can peel off a few rational Republican voters as well, but I’m not looking for a big sea change here. People are reluctant to admit they’ve been wrong.

Speaking of gaming the political system, remember back in April, when a NC state representative flipped to Republican after successfully campaigning as a pro-choice Democrat?

Here’s what I wrote about it at the time:

“Is this the new tactic from the Right? Instead of running against an opponent from a hard Blue district, just run an imposter who can switch teams. This is one of the most depraved things I’ve ever heard of. It shows the lengths these people will go to subvert the democratic process.

“Her seat is important because it gives Republicans a veto-proof Senate, so they can override the Governor at will. There’s nothing you can tell me to convince me this move wasn’t planned ahead of time because, at this time, political differences are so stark, there is little cross-over. A Venn diagram would show the parties in two unbroken circles, several feet apart.”

“Look, you can’t advertise steak and then serve chicken. Or in this case, a bowl of rocks. This one reeks of pre-planning, especially since North Carolina doesn’t have a provision for recall elections.

It looks like NC Democratic leaders are going to have to do a much more thorough job of vetting future candidates.

Now cut to last week’s headline:

Man, sometimes it sucks to be right.

Yep, she was a wavering Democrat when she was approached by the Republican House leaders and persuaded to run in the Democratic primary. (Like it should have been any of their concern.)

It’s fine if she wants to serve as a Republican, but FFS, run as a Republican! You can’t campaign as a pro-choice Dem in a hard-blue district and then turn around and disenfranchise every voter who voted you in! It’s the dirtiest of dirty tricks and Republicans would have a collective hemorrhage if this went the other way around.

I’d like to see an investigation into her finances, campaign and otherwise, to see if there was a mysterious windfall round about the time she was recruited by the GOP, and in April when she flipped. I’m betting that someone provided more than just “moral” support.

In other news of the warped:

This isn’t even about “Woke,” this is about suppressing the idea that children can be friends regardless of race, or in other words, promoting blatant, obvious, racism. A parent complained about a classroom poster that illustrated different colored children holding hands. The parent claimed it was promoting a personal ideology. She said her child was “traumatized and had to switch classrooms.”

How badly must these parents have fucked up this kid to have such a poster cause a meltdown?

What it was promoting was NOT being a bigoted, racist, asshole. But then this is Conroe, Texas, (about 30 miles north of Houston), and they apparently demand the right to be bigoted, racist, assholes. I mean, is cross-racial friendship really that controversial? Maybe in 1950, but surely not any longer. Except maybe in Conroe, I guess.

See, this is one more step in using the education process to promote Republican ideology/racism. After all, the best way to fight racism is to see Black and White children become friends early on. Then they begin hearing the inevitable racist remarks, they have their own experiences to fall back on, which may keep the racist messaging from taking root.

This parent, and the school system who is supporting her, is falling right in line with the new conservative ethos. (Well, maybe “Old” conservative ethos, which was kept better hidden back in the day.)

Perhaps the people of Conroe, Texas might allow for a more poster favorable to their own points of view, say, one depicting brown people on one side, white people on the other, and a giant razor wire-topped wall in between. And a moat filled with Ex-Lax, alligators, and explosive mines.

Sure, that’s a “personal ideology” too, but I’m sure the school board would approve that one.

Trial and Error

We had a bit of news last week, wherein a certain former president is being charged with some more felonies and starting to show the strain. And it’s almost as bad as the straining done by people trying to diminish his actions and get him off the hook.

First, we had a call from the Divine:

“Yes, pay no attention to the orange cretin behind the curtain, just keep listening to Fox “News. They’ll tell you everything you need to know. Republican Jesus has a plan. Republican Jesus supports everything the Bible’s Jesus decries and TFG is his prophet. A Proper Profit Prophet. Now keep going to trade school, because who needs to listen to a bunch of eggheads? Plus, these BMWs won’t fix themselves.”

Why are we not surprised TFG is already trying to find a more favorable judge before his trial even starts?

We have to keep in mind, if something isn’t rigged in his favor, he thinks it’s unfair. It’s the Way of the Wealthy. As far as he’s concerned, he should only have to do business in front of judges that he appointed and they are obligated to be loyal and back him at every turn. Is that too much to ask? Believe me, as soon as his pet judge Cannon does something he doesn’t like, he’ll try to get her removed too. And she’s already on thin ice after trying to stall the documents investigation a few months back.

He wasted no time in making his displeasure with the proceedings known to his fans, by threatening the judge and prosecutors.

“If you go after me, I'm coming after you,” he posted on his faux-Twitter social media outlet.

Isn’t that exactly what Al Capone said in “The Untouchables,” when he was threatening Eliot Ness? It figures that TFG would use a mob reference, as he fancies himself a mob boss. And by “I’ll come after you,” he means, of course, his MAGA minions, who began producing death threats immediately.

And it’s all just good old American “free speech,” too.

TFG’s apologists are desperate to make the January 6^th case about free speech. The problem is that the indictment states clearly and directly that he is not being charged for his speech, but for specific actions, namely to create slates of fake electors and strong-arm VP Mike Pence into halting the ceremonial vote count so they could get the election rigging nailed down.

And even if Jack Smith WAS going after him for inciting his mob to attack the Capitol, the First Amendment is about the freedom to speak without government limitations, which he did.. It’s not about freedom from the consequences of one’s speech. If you call for the violent overthrow of the government to have yourself illegally installed as president, there will be consequences.

And as such, calling for attacks against the justice system participants calls for consequences as well. There is zero First Amendment impact here. But it’s what Republicans want you to think. All victimhood, all persecution, all the time.

They never make room for the fact that their guy committed blatant, obvious, crimes, right in front of everyone. And because they’re Republicans, the fight for the right to be above the law never stops.

Now we have a congressman who wants to defund the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security unless they “fix” their problems. Meaning stopping the legal and necessary prosecutions of their false idol (and building walls on the southern border.)

“Roy told host Shannon Bream on “Fox News Sunday” that Congress should withhold funding from the two agencies over what he characterized as the Biden administration’s “weaponization” of the Justice Department and for “leaving the border exposed. And I can tell you right now for all my colleagues, I will not vote for a continuing resolution or any funding for DHS or DOJ if we don’t get changes to both,” Roy said. “I want the border secure. I want DOJ restored to following the rule of law…”

So, it’s partisan “weaponization” when the DOJ goes after a politician who commits obvious crimes, but it’s NOT weaponization to go after a politician’s son, who has zero role in the government and there is zero proof of any grand malfeasance. AND it’s also not weaponization to hold hearing after hearing on a Democratic presidential candidate who used a private email server, also with zero proof of a crime, or even a negative consequence from using said server.

These guys are talking out of their collective asses. They used the DOJ as an attack dog from the Bush presidency to this last one, who made it their primary job to investigate political opponents and their supporters. (Remember the big GW Bush push to find voter fraud? The DOJ spent millions of dollars looking for Democratic voter fraud and couldn’t find jack shit… other than several cases of Republican voter fraud, which disappeared immediately.

I can’t even, with these guys. I just can’t even.

I can see another important battle ahead and that’s to get these trials televised. Obviously, these will be the Trials of the Century. It would be in every American’s best interest to follow them closely, but that’s exactly why Republicans will do everything they can to prevent the broadcast.

The last thing they want is for unvarnished proof of criminality to become publicly viewed. They want their people to get all their pertinent information from Fox “News” and the like, where it can be sanitized, alibied, and whitewashed. Fox will cherry-pick clips to show that follow their chosen storyline and disappear everything else. They do NOT want to see clips of the testimony broadcast that shows the Emperor not wearing any clothes. (Which I agree, NO ONE wants to see, not even Melania.)

Just go back to the earlier point… “Pay no attention to the news. We’ll tell you what to think and what to do. Who are you going to believe, us, or your lying eyes?”

I’ve seen it wondered, in various corners of the internet, why TFG’s followers still follow him, despite the mountain of evidence that he’s a crook, a cheat, a swindler, a con man, and all around bad person.

I don’t think it’s complicated at all. It’s just the combination of Team Politics and the aversion to admitting they’ve been wrong (for eight years.) It’s hard for most people to admit they’re wrong, but especially for Republicans. That’s their trademark… never doubt, never retreat, never admit, always double down. Accuse them of whatever they say you're doing. That’s why they will support this guy right up until he leads them off a cliff.

You’d think he would have lost votes from the families of everyone who followed his lead on COVID and then died from it. But MAGAs still gotta MAGA, and so it shall be.

We will never be able to reason with them, we can only outnumber them. And then prepare the protests for how we “stole” the election. Again. Because that’s the mindset.

“Either we win, or you cheated.”

Deny, misdirect, accuse, project.

We have to be prepared.

Headline News - Weasels at Large

I saw several headlines on my News home page that made me want to go, "Hmmmm.” Here’s one:

“We cannot allow this to stand.”

He doesn’t say, “Let’s see the evidence,” or “Where’s the proof?” Or even, “How could he be so stupid as to be caught trying to destroy evidence?” No, he goes straight to demanding that due process gets overturned and we go straight to acquittal. Or, not even acquittal, but dismissal of charges, for no other reason but that he and some other people don’t like it.

Why not just admit that “Rules are for the little people (and Democrats), and don’t apply to us.” I mean, how else can you interpret something like this, other pushing than a whole second set of standards?

There’s your real headline: “Republican weasel thinks he and his allies are above the law.”

When Republican politicians say “Law and Order,” it’s “Law” for us and Order… another private jet,” for them.

Moving on…

Obviously, Attorney General Kobach (of Kansas) didn’t watch any of the January 6th committee hearings, wherein they laid out in great detail how TFG was up to his nose in planning a demonstration outside the Capitol and literally banking on them preventing the Congressional votes from being counted. Again, we see them trying to weasel around things like eyewitnesses, phone text records, and video proof.

It wasn’t just “expressing thoughts about the conduct of an election,” it was a president, after having been told by everyone, the media, Congress, his own staff and family, that he lost the election, nevertheless summoning a mob to violently overthrow a lawful government operation, for the sole purpose of keeping himself in power.

Given the power of the office, you can’t judge him in the same manner as when Cooter, down at the bar, rages about overthrowing the Commie Democrats. Cooter doesn’t have the means to facilitate such a thing and a president absolutely does.

If TFG didn’t think he was liable for the 1/6 uprising, why would he be trying to find out if he could pardon himself? Further, why else would his congressional minions like MT Greene, Gym Jordan, Ted Cruz, and the rest be seeking pardons for themselves?

This behavior is fine, to Republicans. But could you imagine what it would be like if President Biden were to pardon Hunter? They’d be apoplectic. And that’s because, again, they see themselves as above the law.

Moving on again…

Once again, we have a Republican operative openly discussing ways to keep popular opinion out of legislation that a small but vocal minority wants to pass. Think of that in terms of what America should be all about. This is supposed to be a democracy. Our government is supposed to enact what a majority of the citizens want. It is NOT their job to keep the will of the majority from affecting a position only favored by a few radical wingnuts. (Yes, if you think the government should have the right to force women to give birth against their will because the “rights” of an un-sentient blob of plasma supersedes those of a pregnant woman, yes I think you’re a radical wingnut.) The people are supposed to speak and the elected officials are supposed to get it done.

This is what Republicans do. They know their positions aren’t widely supported, but do they alter their positions? No, they game the system so that what they want remains in place. They enact Voter ID laws that ask for IDs that are the least available to their opponents. They limit voting precincts in their opponents’ stronghold areas and reduce the number of voting machines in those few precincts, thus doubly ensuring the lines will be huge. They rail against anything that will make voting easier, mailed ballots, early voting, drive-up voting, and even bringing refreshments to those wilting in the long lines expressly created by Republicans. They want to make it hard to vote… a chore… something that takes up your day. Because that’s the only way they win. Suppress their opponents’ votes and disguise their own intentions.

If they ever came out with an accurate “platform,” that truly showed what their goals were, their showing would make George McGovern look like Attila the Hun.

Cut taxes to the wealthy.

Kill Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.

Complete abortion ban.

No more than rudimentary education for the masses, no critical thinking skills taught.

End all foreign aid and humanitarian operations.

End immigration, especially of non-white people.

End FEMA.

Eliminate the EPA.

Drill the planet for raw materials and fuel until there’s nothing left but a dried-up husk.

End the estate tax. Hell, end taxes and the IRS altogether, which will…

End public services. I could go on…

All these things cost money that could otherwise be funneled back up to the 1%. And the filthy rich donor class who run the Republican Party are eager to find a way to make that happen.

I’m sure there would be some people that could be convinced to go along with such a platform, especially since it would be sure to own the Libs. Oh boy, how they could roll around in those salty liberal tears. But on the whole, Republicans would get beaten so badly they’d never leave their gilded throne rooms again.

So instead they suppress voters and game the system to keep a true populist agenda far from the halls of government.

Just look at what Ohio is doing to keep an abortion referendum from passing… they’re jamming in, at the last minute, a special referendum to require any future referendum to pass with at least 60% of the vote, rather than the current standard of 50%. (And of course, they’re using the 50% threshold for that one.) They’re sneaking this issue into what is projected to be a lightly attended August election, so the highly motivated anti-choice wingnuts have a chance at outnumbering the rest of the rational voters who may be too busy trying to make a living than spending a day standing in line.

All this is being done because they’ve seen how even in the Red States, people will turn out in droves to keep abortion legal. And the LAST thing they want is for it to be made plain how unpopular an abortion ban really is. It’s bad for the brand.

So let the games begin…

The End of America

Last week saw a story published that represents the most serious threat to the way our country governs, and even the Constitution itself, that I’ve seen in my lifetime. The New York Times ran a story, corroborated by the Trump campaign, about how in a second administration, TFG plans to remove the autonomy from the Justice Department and other administrative agencies, substituting loyalty to HIM over loyalty to the Constitution.

This would be bad enough in the hands of a sage and serious person with the purest of motives. But in the hands of a petty, petulant, tyrant? It’s the end of our country as an institution of freedom. Suddenly, we’re Saddam’s Iraq. Or North Korea.

With the power to prosecute and jail his enemies via the Justice Department, destroy their finances through the IRS, or regulate them to extinction through the applicable oversight agencies, this will become the United States of Trump. A whole country in service of a single egomaniac who has the self-control of a colicky toddler.

And I’m sure he’ll find a way to rope in a military/police faction, by adoption, or just starting his own, essentially turning him into a warlord.

Do you think there will ever be a fair election again? Hell, there may not even be ANY election again. They’ve finally figured out how to get around that petty matter of “public will” being articulated through elections. A plan like this only works if there are no further changes to who’s in power.

Is this the country our Founding Fathers imagined? Hell no, in fact, they took tangible steps to ensure that nothing like this would ever happen. This country was formed at the very core as a way to remove control of a country from a single man, “royal” or otherwise.

All the teary-eyed paeans to the US Constitution and veneration of the Bill of Rights coming from these “Constitutional Originalists” are pure lip service. If this comes to pass, you might as well break into the National Archives and tear those documents to pieces.

What I don’t know yet is the mechanism by which such a power shift would be executed. It can’t be that a president can just decide he gets all the power. I would think it would have to go through Congress. That could be the fail-safe that keeps this whole thing on the rails, assuming Democrats have control of at least one House. Although I certainly make room for the possibility that even a self-decreed self-anointment may likely be blessed by the stacked Supreme Court. That’s why at least three of them were appointed, to do their master’s bidding.

So far, I haven’t heard a single Republican criticize this effort, which now becomes a new plank in the GOP platform… perhaps the ONLY plank. They’re all in on it because they mean to grab some for themselves. Hell, Mitch McConnell and his mega-donors will probably have TFG rubbed out once all the steps have been taken and the pieces are in place. He’s not going to let all that power get wasted by some narcissistic ass clown.

With that kind of power in hand, you’ll see the real Republican agenda. IRS? Gone. Minimum wage? Gone. Social Security and Medicare? Gone. Food assistance? Gone. Reproductive freedom? Gone. (OK, they’re halfway home on that one already.) CDC and National Institute of Health? Gone. Any program that serves the average citizen will be replaced with more ways to siphon money upward.

This is such a bombshell, I can’t believe the Republicans ever let a word of it escape. They must be pretty confident in their voter suppression tactics for 2024. And the fact that this story hasn’t become political suicide just shows how fucked up this country really is.

This. Must. Be. Stopped.

Right in its tracks. The fact that it’s even been proposed shows how little the Republican hierarchy cares about the will of the people. It’s All Power, All the Time. And they’ll use every emotional ruse in the book to misdirect their misguided fans until they find out way too late, that they’ve made a tragic mistake.

Democrats need to make this campaign issue number one. Every candidate needs to ask his opponent if he supports such action and get them on the record. And if the answer is not “Hell NO!” then rip them to shreds for even considering such an assault on American Democracy.

There is no “both sides” bullshit on this one. Nothing analogous has ever come from the Democratic side, this is 100% Republicanism. This is a heinous power grab, being executed by a wannabe mushroom dictator. They tried to wrest power from the voters once already on January 6^th, and this is round two. If we allow it, we deserve the dystopian hellscape that’s guaranteed to follow.

Cocaine Bluz

My first thought when the story broke about the bag of cocaine found at the White House, was that it was probably a plant. But then the more I thought about it, and the more information that rolled in, the more sure I’ve become. It just doesn’t make sense any other way.

·         The obvious and immediate reaction is “Who the hell would be so daring as to bring their coke to the White House, but then leave it in some storage cubby?”  Do they have drug-sniffing dogs at the White House, because I know the metal detectors won’t pick it up? Why wouldn’t you keep it with you? It’s not like anyone will randomly ask you to turn out your pockets. It doesn’t make sense.

·         Isn’t cocaine still really expensive? I mean, maybe it’s a bargain now, I don’t know, but last I heard, the cost was nothing to sneeze at. What user would buy a supply and then walk off without it? It doesn’t make sense.

·         There were no fingerprints on the baggie. So we’re to believe that some coke fiend who’s brazen enough to smuggle drugs into the White House, who intends to come back and retrieve his stash, is going to wipe the prints from the bag? Or wear gloves in July? This doesn’t make sense either.

·         No one was identified on camera as leaving it there? Sounds like someone knew where the cameras were, maybe an insider or past regular visitor.

These points only make sense if the intention was to leave the blow there all along. Republicans are trying desperately to smear President Biden with something…anything! But nothing is sticking. Hunter’s laptop… nothing meaningful. Influence, payoffs, bribery, inside lobbying… they got nothing but accusations from people trying to save their own asses. Zero proof, zero evidence, zero impact.

So what do you do when your party’s entire focus is scandal-mongering? You create one yourself. They send a lackey into the White House with instructions on where to leave the coke. I’m pretty sure they knew where they could get their hand on some.

“Did someone say, ‘Let’s blow this place?’”

They’re in and out without issue, then it’s just a matter of waiting until the stash is found and revving up the Right-wing outrage machine. Finally, there’s “proof” of something, because there is now a tangible piece of evidence that can be pointed to.

They ignore the fact that Hunter Biden, as well as all of the Bidens, were out of the office at Camp David during the entire period in question. That’s just more of the cover-up. Basically, any exculpatory evidence is considered part of the cover-up. That’s how everything plays with the Republican Conspiracy Theorists. Discard anything that doesn’t fit their narrative. Heads, I win, tails, you lose.

Best of all, it plays right into the pre-arranged talking point of Hunter Biden (and by extension, his whole family,) being coked-up maniacs, hell-bent on running this good country into the ground. (How, I don’t know. By making the average person’s life better? Turning the economy around? Pushing for student loan relief? Bringing down the price of insulin? Republicans seem to have a problem with all of that, but can’t really tell you why.)

But that’s the problem. The Biden Administration has quite a few wins under their belt, so Republicans have to find a way to distract the public and throw some stink on the Administration. And then suddenly, they find coke in the White House.

Notice how many times the media phrases it as cocaine “near the Oval Office,” or “in the West Wing,” rather than "In a cubby area where visitors store their things." They’re playing right into the GOP’s hands. Granted, a juicy scandal is good for ratings, so you’d expect even the straight media to cover it. But they’ve bought into the Republican slant.

I think there’s also the possibility of this coke being unintentionally left by a visitor, but the odds against so many coincidences are vast. I believe that coincidences can happen, but when you start stacking them up and they all break just the right way? I don’t buy it. Nothing is THAT coincidental in the modern, zero-sum, ratfucking world of Washington.

Maybe in twenty years, another White House insider book will come out and someone will cop to the scheme. But until then, I don’t think we’ll ever know for sure unless the FBI has been less than forthright in their characterization of the case. I don’t believe there’s any action to cover for the Biden family or other Administration personnel… there are too many FBI agents that would love to break a big high-profile case like this. Regardless of political motivation, people usually seek promotions, notoriety, and pay raises, so I don’t see a cover-up lasting very long. But without hard evidence, it’s just another DC mud-sling-athon.

Sex Ed Hysteria

A couple of weeks ago, I received a troll comment containing a screed about what’s supposedly going on with sex education. The reason I consider it a “troll” comment is that it was completely off-topic from the post, mentioned backup graphics that weren’t in evidence, and had that breathless quality that says “I’ve been passing this around for months!”

I didn’t publish it, as I said, it had nothing to do with the post, but I still wanted to take a look under the hood and give it a thorough examination.

Here’s the comment in its full raging glory (name edited, although it was surely an alias):

Read in full here or see below to go bit by bit.

“When the Sex Education in Public Schools Debates started, the normal people stated this would be a slippery slope… the Left said they were being silly…”

Ah, the Slippery Slope argument, one of the weakest of all rhetorical devices. They usually call for a series of highly unlikely actions to get to where they want us to fear going. Normal people don’t rely on Slippery Slope arguments, people with weak arguments do.

“We just want to teach biology to the kids to help prevent unwanted pregnancy…”

100% True

"Well, They Were Lying…of Course.”

Of course? Not hardly. There are no liberal committees devoted to turning the nation’s children into raging sex addicts, regardless of what the sex-averse and incel Right allege. And if there are, I’m pretty pissed about missing the meetings. Someone should have called me on the Blue Leftie Bat Phone we all have.

“The basic Sex Education curriculum is no longer “Basic”… it is now about Every Weird Sexual Fetish that those Leftist Lunatics can come up with…”

Oh really? That’s an awfully broad brush. I mean, there’s a huge difference between sex/health studies from, say, first grade vs. middle school, vs high school. Different levels should get a different level of detail. I wonder what they consider a “Weird Sexual Fetish? Probably just being gay. While they’re painting recognition of same-sex relationships as “grooming,” they might as well add some sizzle.

“Doubt me?”

 Every word.

“The following is graphic………but it is part of the curriculum the left wants to teach your children….. you need to know what they are doing….”

And here’s where we get to the missing graphic, which is no doubt as salacious as it is fake and misleading.

“Just take a look at what was given by a Planned Parenthood Sex Educator–Planned Parenthood is one of the providers that commonly helps schools teach sex ed in schools, and it provides a lot of curricular material that is used by “educators”–to 9th graders at a school in Saskatchewan. It is an ABC book to teach Sexual terms.”

I would love to have a look at it, and I’d also like to know the audience for whom it was actually created. Look how the writer mealy-mouths the allegations… Here’s their gist:

·         It was created by Planned Parenthood,

·         Planned Parenthood  also helps guide school curriculums, (news to me, I doubt it, but OK for argument’s sake)

·         Therefore that makes this graphic an actual schooling tool.

The author claims, without evidence or proof, that this was used with a 9th-grade class in Saskatchewan. Is she sure it wasn’t Timbuktu? WTF? But even if true, any teacher in any area is capable of doing something unusual at any time. But that doesn’t make it a national or universal truth.

And what the bloody hell is wrong with learning terminology? Ninth graders should be literate on biological and sexual terms. Like it or not, they’re capable of fucking, so they might as well learn the lingo.

“The left does not rest, they do not stop....they do not forgive, they do not forget.....there is no compassion or Mercy in them.”

You heard it… The Left is the Terminator! “Come vit me if you want to fuck!”

“The Left will teach your children anything they wish about sex, and you are powerless to stop them.”

And there it is, with Sex Ed as it is with any “ed.” The right wants people ignorant. If only we could somehow explain, in simple words, that knowledge of an action does not imply intent to engage in it. And with sex, ignorance kills. Study after study has shown that depriving kids of sex ed and information on contraception does not keep them from having sex, it just makes it more likely for them to get pregnant when doing so.

“Then if your child wants to become the other sex or want an abortion, the state will hide these facts from you and take over parental rights to your child to "take care of it".

I ask, when does a person have the right to self-determination? Not all parents are Ozzie and Harriet. Some are quite awful, ignorant, bigoted, violent, and controlling. Sometimes the State needs to assert control, when the parents are lacking in parenting fundamentals. Sometimes “hiding these facts” will save a child’s life. While I think that last snippet is overwrought hysteria, every situation is unique. Sometimes outside influence is necessary, and sometimes it’s not. There’s a lot of wiggle room and nothing is served well when surrounded in such hyperbole.

“Again, you are legally powerless to stop them, not by the Constitution, but by the post-Constitutional government in place today.”

One hundred percent bullshit. There is no “post-Constitutional government” in place today, just one that is opposed by a bunch of sore losers and reality deniers.

***

I feel the only answer is age-appropriate and comprehensive Sex Ed classes in school.  Parents can feel free to supplement the classes with their own moral bent, but depriving information is never the way to go.  Because with a lack of hard-core, factual information, kids will get the dirt elsewhere: from TV, movies, their idiot friends, and Internet porn.  That information is guaranteed to be rife with rumors, innuendo, and misinformation that can potentially be fatal.  Is that really a good alternative?

I remember when I was in 6th grade and we were all gathered together for assembly with the boys in one session and the girls in another. Our principal, a tall, lean, dour, bi-spectacled man, led us through the biology of fertilization, culminating in the mysterious statement that “the man’s sperm then goes from the penis into the woman’s vagina.” Then he asked if we had any questions.

By this time, my little head was swimming. We were supposed to do that? With girls?? I was WAAAY too shy to even consider doing something like that, no matter how far into the future that would be.  And all of our parents, grandparents, neighbors and such did THAT? Gross! But still, one thing puzzled me even more, so I put up my hand. The principal called on me.

I stood up and asked my question: “How does the man know when the sperms are going to come out?”

The principal coughed a few times, looked around furtively, and said, “Um, you’ll know.”

Well, that was no help! I didn’t know. I looked around and none of my friends knew. Hmm. I’d have to watch that.  I could be running around on the playground one day and bang! Stuff would be coming out and I’d have to hurry up and find a vagina to put it into.

See, there was so little context regarding the entire situation, our big Sex Ed Speech made everything an even greater mystery. 

(I bet my principal told that story for years. He ought to owe me a royalty.)

As it turned out, we 6^th graders got most of our practical information from another classroom source: The Encyclopedia. Seriously. After lunch, before the teacher would get back to the classroom, one of the kids would do a “reading from the Good Book,” meaning the encyclopedia entry for “Sex” or Reproduction.”

I was still pretty sure the encyclopedia had it wrong. There was no way that was how babies were made. It was just too icky.

I’m sure kids today are far hipper to such things, but still, they’re kids. Without proper context, it’s no wonder young people have so many misconceptions about sex. If we’re going to do something about curtailing abortions in this country, we can’t just preach “no sex” and then put the screws to young adults or troubled couples when something goes horribly wrong. And no matter what grade level, we can’t have schools pretending that gay people don’t exist. Imagine the damage being done to the kids of gay parents in Florida right now. Kids are liable to bring up any topic in the classroom. Teachers need to be able to deal with it with sensitivity and acceptance, without fearing for their jobs.

The world is just not the same as it was when today’s parents were kids themselves. Standards change, details change, and cultural moods change. We owe it to The Children to teach them openly and honestly about all facets of sex. 

How To Destroy Democracy in 6 Easy Steps

The 2023 SCOTUS term sure went out with a bang, huh? Geez, it was like a Federalist Society wish list, foisted upon the country by the Six Justices of the Apocalypse…

These are major hits on women, gays, and education, Republican Enemies 1, 2, and 3. To all the Democrats and Independents who didn’t vote for Hillary, this is what you’ve wrought, a wholly predictable assault on civil rights, human rights, and the right not to be taken to the cleaners by the banking industry.

Democrats need to come out on fire, this election season and hit these decisions hard. These were Republican priorities that almost exclusively benefitted themselves and their benefactors, at the expense of the average citizen. This is what happens when the Right is in power; they rig the system evermore so in their favor.

It’s especially galling that in the Web Designer sued for the right not to have to set up a web page for a same-sex wedding, it turned out that the plaintiff never actually fielded such an inquiry. She just wanted to discriminate on spec. Or her backers did… this had test case written all over it.

While in theory, it sounds bad to force someone to do something against their will, I think societal rules for business should supersede an individual’s cherry-picked mythological notions. If you open a business in America, you should serve anyone who walks through the metaphorical door. If your religion prevents that, then try another profession. It’s really no different than a vegan cashier refusing to ring up a customer’s steak.

And to make clear how egregiously discriminatory this is, just replace “gay” with “Black.” There is zero difference. Both are innate characteristics. If you can’t refuse service to a Black person, you shouldn’t be able to do the same to someone gay. Although I should pipe down about that… Banning service to Blacks is probably the next item on the Racist Right’s agenda.

Anyway, it’s not like Republicans are against forcing people into doing things they don’t want to do, like having a baby. They just prefer to be the ones doing the forcing. As I always say, Republicans don’t really do “principles,” they do “wanna’s.” They will espouse any principle they’ve decried in the past if it supports something they wanna do now.

The pursuit of education really took it on the chin as well. It’s old news that Justice Junket Thomas campaigned to get rid of Affirmative Action, after having used it himself, but it still makes my brain explode. “Benefits for me, but none for thee.” That’s the conservative motto, right there. Or in other words, “I got mine, now go eff yourselves.”

It’s revolting how Republicans frame this as eliminating discrimination. Yes, the poor downtrodden white kids. Such hardships you would never know. Because now, “Victim of Discrimination” = “White kid who didn’t get into his first college of choice.”

And then those who mortgaged the farm to get a college loan at an insane interest rate guaranteeing that it will never be paid off will continue to pour money into the open gullet of the banking industry rather than into the economy at large, where various vendors and employees can feel the benefit. That’s what Republicans are pushing for.

The more young people have to carry debt, the more dough rolls into the banks, and the more people have to accept crappy jobs for crappy pay because they have to keep servicing that debt monkey, the better it is for the top 1%.

That should be the next GOP Slogan: 

"Judge Smales in 2024: The world needs ditch diggers too!”

It’s no accident that tuition has spiked over the last 30 years at the same time college loans became prohibitively expensive. The upper crust doesn’t want educated people, they want pliant workers who will take orders without question, and believe anything they’re told on Fox “News.”

And if it’s anyone who’s going to get those degrees, it’s gonna be nice, White, suburban kids, and legacy students. People who will take their MBAs with a shot of whiskey and replace their dads in the boardrooms one day.

Now, the only question is, will anyone remember this next November?

Happy 4^th of July. Not.

The Timeline

Just for grins and giggles, I want to tell you about a project I spent some time on last year. Like most of my endeavors, it was pointless but fun.

I will help you to know, I am a record keeper and collector of things, from LPs, CDs, and DVDs to ticket stubs, photographs, cards and letters, whatever.

Last year, I finally acted on an idea I’d been kicking around for a long while, about creating a “Timeline” of my life. To be specific, an Excel spreadsheet featuring stuff that’s gone on, from the day I was born, to yesterday.

I figured I was uniquely qualified to create such a thing because of my collector’s nature, meaning I have a ton of sources to go to, to match dates with events.

I started with a list of places to which my family and I had relocated, then added every 10^th birthday. Then it was time for the spreadsheets.

I have full spreadsheets that include every concert (108) or sporting event (325) I’ve attended, and medical issues I’ve experienced. (Yes, really.) I created those soon after I got my first computer in 1999. I just started with every concert I knew I’d seen, cross referenced them with the ticket stubs I still had, and pictures I’d taken. The sports events were almost all based on ticket stubs, along with some occasional date-estimated remembrances from my youth. It really wasn’t too hard to do. Once you have all your old history added, you just take a minute or two to add the rest as you go. And the internet was a big help in coming up with final scores and attendance at long-ago games. (Yes, I tracked a lot of data, right down to the game jersey I wore, so I could keep track of the mojo effect.)

I created the medical thing after I had my first atrial fibrillation diagnosis and treatment, because I figured I’d better keep track of that stuff, since there’s no way I was going to remember all those names, dates, drugs, and procedures. And you know that’s always the first thing new doctors ask for.

So with that as a framework, I then dove into my journals. I’ve kept journals of sorts throughout vast swathes of my life, starting in 8^th grade. I have a book that covers 10^th and 11^th grades, and then appointment books from my sophomore though senior years of college. I ran my life with those appointment books, in which I not only recorded classes and assignments, but parties, nights out with friends, and romantic entanglements. It was a wealth of information from my young life.

Once I was out of school, I journaled again from 1985 in my first solo apartment in Toledo through 1988 in Cleveland, in 1990-92 in Albany, with another appointment book from 1995. I had one journal just for describing my softball and rec-league hockey games. I tended to journal the most when I was alone, especially when living in another new town.

To fill in some more holes, I have a year by year school book with old teacher documents and report cards, photo albums with records of family trips and riotous Barn Parties, digital picture files from the non-film camera age, old Far Side calendars I’d kept from the 80s, and info from Facebook and other social media outlets.

With all this information in hand, I sat down and went through it all, page by page, looking for anything that might be vaguely interesting. The whole thing probably took me about a month to do. As of today, there are 1019 entries.

This is a snippet of the Timeline. I started using my collage appointment book at the beginning of 1981, so you can see the increased detail afterward. Note: CC = our college Commuter Center, Renee's was the local dance club.

Yes, there was much I didn’t put in the Timeline. Maybe one day I’ll go thought and make a “Director’s Cut,” with all the scenes that didn’t pass the initial editing. That’ll draw a hard R rating though.

So, why did I do all that work? Just for the hell of it, I suppose. I thought it would be a fun experience. And I did learn a lot. In fact there were several scenarios that I realize I’d mis-remembered regarding the order of events that may have happened in a relationship. But there was no arguing with the dates recorded in the appointment book or journal. Data trumps my faulty memory every time, (especially data I created myself).

And now that I have a searchable database of my life’s events, why not inflict it on my Facebook friends and family? So every day, I do a search on that day’s date and see what turns up. If it’s something I think might be interesting to a cross-section of Facebook connections, I write up a paragraph or two, especially if I can come up with an applicable picture to go with it. And yes, there’s a LOT that I skip, usually stuff that would only be interesting to me.

So now, should I accidentally become famous (or infamous) for doing something monumentally great or stupid, my biographers will have a wealth of information left behind to reconstruct my life story of being either an inspiring example or cautionary tale.

Comic Sans Respect

I may be getting extra crabby as my age advances toward geezenhood, but I saw an editorial cartoon in our local Baltimore Sun this weekend, that just pissed me off.

It was ostensibly about bosses wanting their employees to return back to work, and the workers not wanting to, which would have been fine. The struggle is real and so it’s fair game. What pissed me off were the inferences about stay-at-home workers, because as someone who has been 100% working from home since March 2020, I have some skin in the game. Here’s the cartoon:

You have to remember, everything you see here was put there for a reason. Nothing is accidental. Here’s what I see:

Lady sprawled on the couch with a laptop, surrounded by pets. So they think we lay around like slobs all day? Not so. I have a small office room I go to every day to work remotely on a desktop unit at 8 and emerge at noon for lunch and then go back until 5 when the day is over. There is no laying about.

Lady is holding a full glass of wine, with a bottle in the crook of her arm. So we’re drunk? If my manager can’t tell from the work I’m doing whether I’m drunk or not, SHE should be fired.

Bag of “Lardo” chips and a soda can wedged between her and the couch back. So people who work from home are fat slobs? Believe me, there are enough fat slobs in the office environment. There’s no need to cast aspersions here.

Empty laundry basket on the floor, overturned cup and bottle on the floor. Again with the slobbiness.

Hair in a messy updo. Well, there is no longer any “up” in my “do,” and hasn’t been since I was in my 20s, however, I always shower and put on clean clothes before I start the day. Granted, I’m wearing comfy clothes, but why not? Literally, no one can see me. (I may join conference calls but I don’t even have nor do I want a PC camera. I have no intention of having to feign interest while someone drones on about business metrics during a video call.)

If you put all these visual slurs together, you come to the traditional businessman’s conclusion that if we elves are not under Santa’s close personal supervision, the toys will not get made on time. They think that people only want to work from home so they can slack off. It’s a fallacy, but it’s what many of them think. Bosses want to be able to look out upon their domain and see all the worker bees toiling away at their workstations. It’s visually satisfying, but that’s not a valid reason to force employees back into a mind-numbing, time-sucking, money-losing, daily commute.

I have never in my life been happier at my job than in the last three years of remote work. I get two and a half more hours of my life back every day because I can set my alarm an hour later and then avoid a 90-minute round-trip commute. I don’t have to pay for lunch in a cafeteria or restaurant, nor bring in uninspiring bag lunches. I either have leftovers or make something simple and much cheaper than what I’d get at the office. We don’t have to have a pet sitter come and let our dog out when he needs it. I get to avoid tedious small talk and chit-chat, which I loathe. And best of all, I no longer have to suffer the open floor plan the company inflicted on us 8 years ago. I’d never been in such an uncomfortable office situation in my life.

So yes, I plan to hang onto working remotely as long as I continue to work. The last thing I want to see is the daily rag casting monkey poo on my integrity, giving the Powers That Be more backing to start recalling people to the office, like it or not.

Now, I don’t think that’s going to happen with my company, which has been very generous and forward-thinking when it comes to work/life flexibility. They look at my work… if it’s done, I’m good. If it’s not, I’ll get called up for it. And that’s as it should be. They allowed me to apply to work 100% remote and then granted my request. If they were to go back on that agreement, well, that’s when I would retire, on the spot. My boss knows this too… I’ve tossed that out before just in general conversation. And because I’m really the only person that does what I do, they’d better think long and hard about whether this is the mountain they want to die on.

I just resent that there’s a faction of the American corporate power structure that thinks you’re not doing your job unless you’re suffering for it. This cartoon feeds into it by denigrating those for whom life in the office is not optimal.

I wonder where this cartoonist works. Do you think he comes into the newsroom every day to crank out panels amidst a sea of desks? I strongly doubt it. I’m sure he has a nice at-home studio with an easel and an array of pencils (or whatever they use). In which case I say, “You want people back in the office? You first.”

In Other “News”

Is this not the most “No Shit” headline you’ve ever seen?

To be fair, MT Greene was talking about being educated on a specific topic, not the general principle of being uneducated. (Although it still fits.)

She was trying to run some shit by the CDC Director, who told her that if she’d like, she could come and educate her staff on how to read and interpret the data in recent CDC reports. But the noble Rep. Greene would never let things like facts, data, or being educated interfere with her preferred talking points. She was trying to claim that the CDC was covering up what she asserted were vast numbers of deaths caused by COVID vaccines, by citing a report from the CDC themselves. The only problem was that this report was tallying deaths by various causes, post-vaccination, including getting hit by a truck.

But why let facts get in the way of a good rant, right MT?

I am getting so tired of these shit-kickers…

True Crime and Punishment

At last, we’ve learned of the Great Orange Tyrant’s comeuppance in the form of 37 indictments over his disregard of document security protocols. Not sexy, but it has teeth. All the names you’ve heard of people convicted of playing fast and loose national security secrets went to jail.

I still don’t think TFG will ever see a day behind bars; I’m positive that if convicted, there will be some kind of sweetheart deal worked out, like home confinement. He only ever wants to stay in his own properties anyway, so I don’t see that as much of a punishment.

I’d like to see the justice system come up with some kind of creative approach so that the punishment for these convictions at least stings a little bit.

For example, maybe they can ban him from using a golf cart, or only allow him a one-iron and a wedge in his golf bags. And he has to hit from the “lady’s tee.”

They could replace all his gold fixtures with aluminum or tin.

Or they can remove all the ketchup from his house detention and only serve chuck steak, cooked rare.

They can put every TV channel on MSNBC and take away his cell phone.

Or even better, tune the channel to some network that will never mention him, like BBC or something. Maybe Al Jazeera.

OR, eliminate all the news stations and limit his viewing BET.

If they actually want him to grow and learn while away, they could limit his TV watching to Sesame Street, in hopes he might pick up a more grown-up vocabulary.

They should eliminate all newspapers and magazines, but fill every room with books. Big ones, with no pictures.

Or if they really want to screw with him, they can take the last 15 minutes of the season finale of Celebrity Apprentice was pre-empted for Obama’s announcement that we killed Bin Laden, and run it on a loop.

No spray tanning, makeup, or hair products.

They can limit his visitors to Don Jr. only.

They can make him stay on his property in Scotland… Not only will the time zone put him out of kilter with the US, but he’ll also be surrounded by pissed-off Scotsmen, which is no place to be. Although I’m sure he’d learn a whole new assortment of slurs and obscene terminology. (And I mean that with the utmost respect and admiration for the Scots. They can string together the most profane stream of filth and vulgarity imaginable and make it sound roguish and charming.)

What I’m saying is that, if for the first time in history, they’re going to convict the first former president, it needs to at least hurt a little. There absolutely must be a deterrent to obtaining the highest office in the land and then prostituting it out for one’s own financial reward, or else that will become the new normal. We’ll be electing people based on how hard we think they’re going to grift. There has to be a better way forward and it starts with some meaningful convictions for the most noxious white-collar criminal ever to hold office.

I am concerned about Judge Cannon presiding over the procedures. She's already shown that she's willing to ignore the law and put her thumb on the scale to obtain a free pass for TFG. And I don't think she'll recuse herself of anything... This is the reason she was put there. They may remove her, or neuter her rulings, (if we're lucky) but she won't step down.

Having a Stroke

I almost wish I was a golfer, just so I could quit out of outrage over the Saudis' hostile takeover of the professional game.

From today’s Baltimore Sun

I can swear up and down that I’ll never watch golf again but it would only be the hollowest of gestures. I haven’t watched a minute of golf since Tiger was a rookie and I wanted to see him shake up Augusta.

I consider golf one of those things that’s fun to do sometimes, like bowling or darts, but painfully dull to watch others do on TV. And as George Carlin used to say, it takes up entirely too much room in our country; land which could be put to better use to house the homeless. It’s expensive, it’s a huge time waste, and it takes a lot of time and money to become any good at it.

I have a set of clubs my (ex) wife got me back in the early 90s… I used to golf with her dad. It would be funny to watch us stride up to the tee box… Me, a tall, athletic-looking 30-something and a stooped-over, silver-haired 70-something. Then he’d whack the ball 170 yards down the middle of the fairway and I’d smash a worm-burner into the left-side trees. I used to say my “golf game” was more like “gardening” for all the soil I’d displace.

Anyway, I can’t even sell my old clubs because the state of the art has surpassed them. Everyone now has a driver with a head the size of a softball, made out of metal that sounds like it was stolen from a nuclear reactor core. Geezanium or something…

I read today that the Senate is going to investigate the takeover and look into revoking the PGA’s tax-free status.

I’m not sure that’s going to be as painful as it sounds. I’m no expert on the golfing administration and hierarchy, but I’m not sure they have any earnings or holdings to tax.

It reminds me of when Congress was talking about revoking the NFL’s tax-free status, back when kneeling down was a big controversy, but they overlooked the fact that the NFL had no monetary worth of note, to begin with. The money was with the 32 individual teams, not an overall entity. But let’em check it out. Anything that upsets this apple cart is fine with me.

But it’s a testament to the concept that Money Talks, to see that this bloody regime can just throw their blood-soaked oil money in the right direction and walk away with an entire international sport.

Maybe they just needed a sure-fire market for sand.