An Observation

The Republican Party now seems to consist entirely of people who spend the week hurting the least powerful members of our society: minorities, children, students, women, gays, immigrants.

They weaken the social safety net at every opportunity and let their corporate friends foul our air and water. They make sure the poor stay poor while the rich get richer.

They harass women who simply want control over their own bodies.

And they threaten, and sometimes murder, the doctors who help these women.

They applaud taking children from their parents and throwing them in cages.

They blindly support a man who is the walking embodiment of the 7 Deadly Sins-with a few extras thrown in for good measure.

Then on Sundays they all go to church and congratulate themselves on what good Christians they are.

We need to come up with new, stronger words than hypocrisy and hypocrites. The old ones have lost all meaning.

And Now, A Few Words About Evil...

There is a misconception about evil.

Some people believe that there is a Devil, who causes us to do bad things. "The Devil made me do it", in the immortal words of Flip Wilson.

And some people believe in vampires, and goblins, and zombies, too. Oh, and let's not forget whatever malevolent supernatural forces that Stephen King can dream up.

But the truth is that evil comes directly from men.

(And a few women as well)

Though evil comes in all colors, for our intents and purposes, we will focus on the evil that white men do--since white men are the primary force in the United States.

And, Jesus, there's just so much to choose from!

Men in nice suits, carrying expensive brief cases, working diligently to move the nation's wealth ever upward into the already bursting pockets of the .1% 

Or men in pickup trucks with Confederate flags pasted all over them.

And clean cut boys with rosy cheeks and dead eyes, carrying swastika flags, marching and screaming their way through an otherwise pleasant evening.

Right now, we have an extremely evil man in the White House. The kind of fellow who would gladly sell his soul to the highest bidder--if only he had a soul.

So, lacking a soul, he instead sells his country--my country--your country--to whomever offers the most.

He surrounds himself with evil. In fact, evil is drawn to him, like hungry flies to a huge pile of shit. The Barrs, Stones, Limbaughs, Hannitys, Flynns, Cohens, Millers, McConnells, and Grahams of the world recognize a kindred spirit.

And, knowing his place in the true order of things, he bows down to even greater evil whenever he encounters it. "Yes Vladimir. Whatever you say, Vladimir."

Thankfully, he's essentially a fucking incompetent, imbecilic, morbidly obese, grifter.

If he were evil and smart, imagine the damage he could do...

But, because he's a buffoon, there might still be time to save the Republic.

No God. No Devil. No Heaven. No Hell. Just us.

At Last! The Republican Health Care Plan

Pre-existing conditions: We're very sorry you're sick. You have our thoughts and prayers. But, well, health insurance corporations are people, too. And, uh, you can't expect them to go broke trying to help you. So, uh, tough luck. Try to live a healthier life style...next time. Ok?

Abortion: children, especially in their fetal form, are a gift from a loving and benevolent GOD. And you don't want to piss HIM off, do you? Sorry if you were raped by someone, even a member of your own family. (Yuck.) As always, our thoughts and prayers are headed your way. But that's all we can do for you. Abortions must remain an option only for wealthy Republican women, or the mistresses of wealthy Republican men. God understands. In fact, it's in the Bible. Somewhere.

Premiums: everything costs more than it used to. Funny, isn't it? Again, you can't expect insurance company presidents, doctors, and hospitals to sacrifice their lifestyles to subsidize yours. That's SOCIALISM! We are sorry that you have to pay more, seemingly every year, for what often mounts to bare bones coverage. But that's the way the health care cookie crumbles. Remember one thing: Capitalism is the best system yet for moving money upwards. Again, we have a limitless supply of thoughts and prayers, and we gladly send some more your way.

Drugs: some drugs that cost mere pennies to manufacture can be sold for hundreds of dollars to people desperate for them. Life or death desperate. That's supply and demand at its finest! The free market at its best! Is this a great country, or what? Big Pharma Rules! Sure, you can find exactly the same drugs for much less in Canada, or Mexico, or, well, practically anywhere else in the advanced world.  But you don't live in the advanced world anymore. You live in the United States. And we are headed backwards at warp speed. Wheeeee! Honestly, how un-American would it be to buy your desperately needed drugs from another country? 

Medical bankruptcy: life isn't fair, in case you haven't noticed. But maybe, just maybe, if you'd worked a little harder, gone to a better college, chosen a different career, been born into a wealthy family, or simply not gotten sick, you wouldn't be in this predicament. Time to look in the mirror, chum. Again, our heartfelt thoughts and prayers are headed your way. All you have to do is ask. Oh, here's a thought: have you considered Go Fund Me?

Synonyms For Republican Senators

Gutless.
Spineless.
Cowards.
Fools.
Punks.
Stooges.
Weasels.
Crooks.
Weaklings.
Liars.
Dupes.
Phonys.
Hypocrites.
Racists.
Traitors.

Of course, the House of Representatives is chock full of Republicans who are even worse.

Hard to believe, I know.

But true.

A Nagging Suspicion

Optimism is one of the foundational values* of this great land of ours.

You know, the whole "tomorrow will be better than today" bit.

After all, the first few generations of Americans were screw-ups who had to leave wherever they were for one of several reasons: Religious, political, legal, or maybe just that they had failed to achieve any kind of success in their native lands.

So they came here, to the Land of Hope and Dreams, like it says on the brochure.

And for many people and many years, it was just that...

Recently, though, I've had this nagging suspicion that maybe, just maybe, we've already seen the best of it. The good times are rapidly ending and it will be all downhill from here.

Probably not a Cormac McCarthy dystopia in my lifetime; but certainly unpredictably unpleasant times ahead for my children and grandchildren.

Let us list some of the many things that will queer the deal for the generations that follow us:

Climate change. For a "Chinese hoax" it's amazing how wide spread and enduring it is. I don't want to go too far out on a limb here, but I think the 98% of climate scientists who agree that it is man made and therefore men can do something about it might be right, and the 2% or so that argue against human causes, and who, by the way, are usually bought and paid for by oil and other extraction industries, might be wrong. When California burns to the ground, Miami is completely underwater, and bits of New York City, too, maybe the 2% will finally come around--if the checks from the Koch brothers and the oil companies stop, that is. Until then, by all means let's Drill Baby Drill!

Antibiotic resistant diseases. All those goodies they shoot into our chickens and cows and pigs to make them healthy enough so we can eat them, have several "unintended consequences". One is that strains of microbes pop up that fewer and fewer drugs can combat. We are nearing a pandemic of some unknown origin, and there may not be anything we can do to stop it. Oh well, you didn't want to live forever anyway, did you?

The worldwide lurch to "strong men" leaders. All dictatorships are essentially the same: one man in charge; his family and a few trusted people making out like bandits, literally; and much suffering for the masses. Everything for sale to the highest bidder, including the right to pollute the air and water. And you either acquiesce, or are labelled an "enemy of the state." There have always been a handful of dictators scattered across the planet, though in the latter part of the 20th century they were usually isolated in inconsequential backwaters. These days, however, it is extremely discouraging that many millions of Americans seem to be fine with this approach to governing.

So, here we are. The optimist in me says there's still enough time to "fix" things. The pessimist says we won't.

It was fun while it lasted.

 *(That and an amazing ability to gloss over all of our failures--but that's another story.)

Send In The Clowns

So the time has come for Moscow Mitch McConnell to have his show trial. Stalin would be so proud.

Of course, in Stalin's Russia the innocent were convicted, and here the guilty will walk. But still...

Let's sit back and watch the gutless Republican Insane Clown Posse, led by Mitch and that Belle of the South, Lindsey Graham, dissemble and distract, whatever it takes to muddle the proceedings. That remains the only thing they're really good at.

To be blunt, what we have here is a bunch of traitors, bought and paid for by the Russians, with Moscow Mitch acting as bursar, doing their damnedest to keep an idiot, a crook, a liar, in short a complete embarrassment to the nation, in office. 

"Follow the money" and you will end up in Moscow.

Witnesses or no witnesses, it won't make any difference to the Trump Cult.

They love their boy. And won't believe anything negative about him. In their tiny, malformed brains he is them and they are him. A match made in Hell.

Send in the clowns? Don't bother. They're here.

Priorities

You might think that if you lived somewhere where the mill or factory had closed, your first priority would be some sort of retraining program so you could find a new job, perhaps in a newer technology that isn't going to disappear next week, or next year.

Wrong. Your first priority is to make sure that no woman can have an abortion.

You might think that if you had no healthcare, your first priority would be to support any plan that made healthcare more available and more affordable, so you wouldn't put off treatment until it was too late, or go bankrupt over hospital bills.

Wrong again. Your first priority is to make sure that no one from Latin America makes it into the United States--with or without papers.

And you might think that maybe, just maybe, we have way too many guns in the hands of unstable people, and keeping everyone, stable or not, away from military style firearms and unlimited ammo is a sane idea.

Silly you. How can you be so wrong?!

Finally,  you might think that if you lived anywhere affected by climate change, which in essence means if you live anywhere on earth, your first priority would be to insist on any and all efforts to save our sorry asses from the worst effects.

Also wrong. Your first priority is to support any and all Israeli efforts to punish the Palestinians and make the Middle East even more unstable. Because Jesus is coming back for the End Times and the Rapture, and who really cares about the environment? Greta Thunberg? That LOSER? Fuck her! We're going to party with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost!