No One Is Coming to Save Us

2016: "Russia if you're listening..."
2019: "I'd like you to do me a favor..."
2022: "...So now I would think Putin would know the answer to that. I think he should release it."
-- Donald Trump, repeatedly imploring foreign despots to attack Americans

A few days ago, Fox Business News Stuart Varney asked Donald Trump what he would do differently from Biden when it comes to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

What would you do differently, Mr. Trump?

What indeed? 

Trump, a man who declares himself a military genius and who allegedly knows more than actual military generals, replied: 

“Well, uh, what I would do, is I would, we would, uh, we have tremendous military capability and, uh, what we can do without planes, to be honest with you, uh, without 44-year-old jets, what we can do is enormous, and we should be doing it, and we should be helping them to survive and they’re doing an amazing job.”

There you go, the vision of a military genius. 

It's like listening to some football player who's been hit in the head one too many times: Uh, well, I just wanna, uh, you know, get out there and, uh, you know, do the thing that we do, uh, you know, stuff with that is enormous stuff that we're doing every day, um, you know, with the thing, you know, that we do because that's how you do it and they're doing an amazing job! 

Even Varney couldn't believe the gibberish coming out of Trump's sagging ridiculous Big Mac hole. 

So he asked again, what would you do in Ukraine that Biden's not doing right now? 

I mean, you have to give Varney credit for hanging in there like a Russian general about to become yet another hilarious statistic in Western news media, but honestly I don't know how after all this time he couldn't see what was coming.

“I listen to him [Putin] constantly using the n-word [the what?] that’s the n-word, uh, and he’s constantly using it [wut? wut?] the nuclear word [OH] and we never talk of, uh, we say, ‘Oh, he’s a nuclear power,’ but we’re a greater nuclear power, we have the greatest submarines in the world, most powerful machines ever built, most powerful, and they got built under me [The only nuclear subs we're building are the Virginia Class which were ALL ordered and budgeted prior to 2014, Trump had literally nothing to do with it, but he's on a roll] most powerful machines ever built, and nobody knows where they are and you should say, ‘Look, if you mention that word one more time, we’re going to send them over, uh, and, uh, we’ll be coasting back and forth up and down your coast.’”

Get all that?

Trump's big plan is that since nobody knows where the submarines are (which is pretty much the whole point of submarines) we'll just go ahead and TELL THE ENEMY WHERE THEY ARE. 

We'll just tell the enemy where our secret weapons are. 

Genius.

While at the same time also, apparently, threatening nuclear war and basically daring Russia to do something about it. 

That's what Trump would do. 

I can't tell you how damn glad I am that he's not the guy doing it anymore.

Well, at least for the moment, but we'll come back to that. 

Because he's a fucking lunatic. 

He's nuts. Crazy. Barking mad.

This is Trump, literally saying in one breath that if he was in charge, he'd threaten nuclear war, global annihilation, and then minutes later openly begging political favors from the same guy he's threatening. 

He's insane. 

His gray spongy brain is a ragged tangle of cobwebs full of dead bugs and bad smells. 

If we are not as yet actually at war with Russia then it's the very next thing to it -- as Trump himself must believe, otherwise why would you threaten nuclear war?

And yet, here's Trump demanding Vladimir Putin produce some sort of compromising material on Joe Biden's son to somehow damage Biden himself solely in order to profit Trump. 

This isn't the first time Trump has done this. 

It's not even the second time. 

And at this point, if that isn't treason, it's the next thing to it. 

Yesterday, Congressman Matt Gaetz declared in apparent seriousness that if Republicans take back the House later this year, he intends to nominate Trump as Speaker of the House. There's nothing in the Constitution that would prevent this, and as ridiculous as it sounds I wouldn't put it past Republicans to do it solely in order to make liberals scream in rage -- because that's become the mean small ideology of the GOP in its entirety. 

Also, yesterday, we discovered there's a seven hour gap in White House phone logs, in Trump's records specifically, during the height of the January 6th Insurrection. 

Literally, at the exact moment Trump's supporters stormed the Capitol his official phone logs show no data. 

Yet, we know with absolute certainty Trump was on the phone during that period. 

We know this, because when you examine the phone logs of other Republicans during that same time, those records show calls from Trump. 

For example, Trump called Senator Mike Lee, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, and Vice President Mike Pence during that seven hour gap. This is not in dispute. He was on the phone, calling his own Vice President, calling members of Congress, and members of the media -- such as Sean Hannity. 

So, either Trump was using burner phones to avoid the Presidential Records Act in a premeditated violation of the law, or the official White House records have been deleted, altered, or forged again in violation of the law. 

There are no other options. 

Trump committed criminal acts. 

This not alleged. This is not speculation. This is fact. Trump committed criminal acts. 

Or, you know, more criminal acts. 

In fact, last Monday, Federal Judge David Carter in a case involving Trump crony and right wing lawyer John Eastman, formally stated: 

"Based on the evidence, the Court finds it more likely than not that President Trump corruptly attempted to obstruct the Joint Session of Congress on January 6, 2021."

"The illegality of the plan was obvious. Our nation was founded on the peaceful transition of power, epitomized by George Washington laying down his sword to make way for democratic elections. Ignoring this history, President Trump vigorously campaigned for the Vice President to single-handedly determine the results of the 2020 election ... Every American -- and certainly the President of the United States -- knows that in a democracy, leaders are elected, not installed."

Eastman was in court, suing to prevent having to turn over records of communication between himself and Trump which the January 6th Committee believes may show that he and the former President planned to criminally disrupt certification of the election, knowing they were committing crime. I.e. Trump's actions on January 6th were premeditated sedition. 

Unfortunately, neither the January 6th Committee or Judge Carter have the power to bring criminal charges against Trump. 

Only the Department of Justice can do that. 

And so far, the Attorney General has shown absolutely no interest in doing so. 

I know a lot of those on the Left would like to think there's some big secret plan afoot, that cases like this take time, etc, the DOJ is closing in and soon Trump will face justice. 

And maybe there is. 

Maybe Merrick Garland is a cunning and cagy general, scouting the enemy, gathering intelligence, moving his army into position, and perhaps one day he'll unleash a legal Blitzkrieg and those like me who are increasingly doubtful that Trump and his seditious cronies will ever be brought to justice,  yeah, well, maybe we'll have to hang our heads in shame and apologize. 

And if that day comes, if I watch them dragging Trump in chains to a traitor's just fate, well, then I'll certainly apologize for my lack of faith. 

But if it doesn't happen very, very soon, it never will. 

Because this isn't about justice. 

It's not about legalities. 

It's not even about what's right and wrong. 

It's about politics.

And politics are about perception. 

And there is no one -- no one -- who understands this better than Donald J. Trump. 

See those words up above. Trump's words. His big plan to defeat Russia. Gibberish. None of it makes any coherent sense. It's a brain full of spiders. Not one word of it makes any sense. It's disjointed mewling insanity.  

But Republicans don't care. 

Trump doesn't have to make sense. 

Trump knows this. Republicans know this. The mob doesn't give a shit what the words are or even if they make any sense. 

Look at the recent Trucker Convoy in Washington D.C. 

Big joke, right? You and I, we saw a joke, a ridiculous sad failure, a bunch of losers peeing on themselves and driving around in circles. They didn't even know what they were protesting. 

That's what we saw. 

But the other side? They saw defiance. Patriotism. Liberty. 

It doesn't matter if it made any sense, it's about what you see.

Because politics is about perception. 

And so, if the DOJ doesn't shit or get off the pot soon, they might as well not even bother. 

Because if Republican take back Congress this year, then just like those two impeachments, nothing the law does will matter. 

And Trump will not only have gotten away with it again, he'll likely regain the White House. 

Right now, right this very minute, Russia's official state media is calling for Russia's "Partner Trump" to be installed (their words) as President of the United States. 

That's where we're at.

Right on the cusp. Right on the edge of losing it all. 

So, in case I'm being too subtle here, in case you've read this far and you haven't figured out where I'm going, it's this: 

This is your 2022, 2024 CLARION CALL TO SHOW THE HELL UP. 

No more bullshit. 

No excuses. 

No more "both sides."

I don't want to hear about how disappointed you are with Biden or Pelosi or democrats. I don't want to hear any whining about how you don't like the choices. Any of this childish nonsense about how you want better choices. 

Too damn bad. 

This isn't about what you like, it's about your duty as a citizen.  

This is it. You can't depend on anyone else to save you, to save your country, to save your kid's future. 

You can't depend on Merrick Garland for justice, not in time anyway. You can't hang the future on some vague hope that somehow someone somewhere will keep these assholes from destroying what's left of this country. 

It's up to you. 

You have to show up. 

You have to keep them out of office. You. No one else. 

You show up. You browbeat your friends and family and strangers to show up. And you keep this lunatic and his lunatic party the hell out of office. Give the DOJ time to bring them to justice, if you believe that's what going to happen some day. Or at the minimum you just keep these assholes out of office and avert nuclear war and maybe that's the best you're going to get. 

Whatever way it goes, everything you care about, everything, is on the line. This is it. 

So I don't want to hear any infantile whining about how you wish it was different. No shit, we all do. But it's not and here we are. 

Time to adult, folks. 

You show up and you do your duty. 

You want a better nation, be a better citizen. 

The liberties of our country, the freedom of our civil constitution, are worth defending against all hazards: And it is our duty to defend them against all attacks.
-- Samuel Adams

No Happy Ending

Colonoscopies are undignified. 

That's what I said. 

Yes, I said it. 

If you live long enough, eventually the only words any doctor will say to you are: have you had a colonoscopy? 

Literally that's it. Doctor, I'm here for my eye exam. Have you had a colonoscopy? 

Doc, I've got a sore throat. Right, have you had a colonoscopy? 

Doc, I'm pretty sure I broke my arm, see the sharp end of the bone sticking out of my skin? Uh huh, when's the last time you had a colonoscopy? 

Doc, I'm having these excruciating chest pains, my arm hurts, my vision is fading out, I'm sweating like Donald Trump Jr. on a coke bender making a TikTok video... I hear you, so anyway let's get you scheduled for that colonoscopy.

Sooner or later there you are, on a table, naked, unconscious, with your ass literally hanging out in the middle of room full of people suited up with masks and face shields, cameras, lights, computer monitors and robot probes like an SpaceX mission to Uranus. Then later, while you're still dopey from the anesthesia and pumped full of sewer gas that's slowly (or rapidly) leaking out and you're sitting in a puddle of your own goo, they show you high resolution full color pictures of parts of your anatomy that you'd rather not see, with the person who's supposed to drive you home right there as part of the audience and ain't that a hoot? 

And maybe, if you're really lucky, they'll tell you that you have cancer. 

Because that's always awesome. 

I don't know, maybe that's a fun day for you. 

Me? I'd prefer to do just about anything else -- well, except for maybe watching that aforementioned Don Jr. video. 

Now, I didn't say it wasn't necessary. 

And I also didn't say you shouldn't get it done when your doctor tells you to. 

And I don't honestly see how what I said was in any way whatsoever at all controversial.

I just said, the whole process is undignified. 

Undignified. That's it. That's what I said. Undignified. 

And Twitter called me ... homophobic? 

Wait, what? 

No, no, you read that right the first time. Homophobic. 

I...

(long pause)

... honestly don't know how you get there. 

It's three days later, and still I still really just don't see how you got there. 

Nevertheless here we are. Homophobic. Cue the outrage. And then, I got to spend the next six hours hearing about how I'm an asshole (yeah, I did that on purpose, tough shit) because here are all these other procedures that are even more undignified if you're a woman. Rage! Rage! You terrible person, you! 

So, in summary, not only homophobic (and really, what the actual fuck?), but misogynistic too. 

Oh, and the people who have colorectal cancer? They were likewise mad. A lot of them anyway. 

What? 

What's that? 

Oh, right. You're right. You're right. I shouldn't take it personally. After all, the whole purpose of social media to be perpetually outraged at every jerk of the knee no matter how ridiculous. You're absolutely right. 

And I really don't take it personally, much. 

Still, homophobic? 

Are you kidding me?

But, I'm getting ahead of myself. 

Remember those old home improvement TV shows? 

Like, actual home improvement shows. 

Remember those?

Back in the 1980s and 90s. Shows like This Old House, Home Again, and Hometime. Dean Johnson. Jojo Liebeler. Robin Hartl. Norm Abram. 

Remember that? 

No?

Well, I guess if you're not old enough for a colonoscopy, you're probably not old enough to remember Bob Vila

Anyway, if you were a homeowner back then, especially if you were fixing up an older house, they were pretty great. They showed you how to repair things. How to renovate on a budget. How to build a new kitchen, knock down a wall, overhaul a bathroom, landscape your yard, how to hire a contractor or how to do it yourself.  They'd give you great ideas, show you what tools you'd need and where to rent them, what kind of materials to use, and walk you through the various steps in detail. 

Moreover, they were fun people. Likable. Interesting. No drama. Every week you'd tune in and see a new thing, a new idea, something you could adapt to your own situation. 

America was a different place back then. 

I'm not saying it was great. But we still had this idea, somehow, that we could make things better. 

Things changed. 

One day, suddenly it seemed, all the shows were about buying some rundown place, renovating it the minimum possible amount, and selling it for a profit. 

Oh boy, profit. 

At first those programs might show you how they were doing the renovations, but unlike actual home improvement that really wasn't the point. And it wasn't long before they dropped even the pretense.

Now, these shows are about drama. 

Oh my God! We've got a problem! Termites! Bad Pipes! We're Going Over budget! Everybody is mad at everybody else! You're fired! What are we gonna do? What are we gonna doooooo?!

Over about 30 years, these shows stopped being about practical solutions and became manufactured outrage for entertainment. 

Reality TV. 

You're wondering where the hell I'm going with this, aren't you?

You're trying to figure out how I got from social media being mad at me over a colonoscopy to Love It or List It, aren't you? 

But, that's it, right there. 

That's the whole thing. 

Somehow over the last four decades, we went from looking for simple, practical solutions to literally manufacturing ridiculous drama so that we can be outraged for our entertainment all the damn time. We don't care about fixing stuff, we want to watch people shouting at each other. 

Home renovation not your thing?

Then take a look at the evolution of cooking shows over the same period. 

We went from how to make a decent meal to a red faced asshole screaming at some poor cook about what a goddamn failure they are. It's not about cooking. It's not even about food. 

It's about humiliation for entertainment. 

And goddamn, don't we just love that? 

Of course, the evolution (de-evolution?) of these shows is nothing compared to what's happened to the news.

So, what am I'm saying here? TV rots your brain? 

Maybe, but the point isn't that these shows, and by extension social media, are causing the downfall of humanity. 

That's not what I'm saying at all.

These shows are simply a reflection of who we've become as a people over the last 40 years. 

We've become a race of beings who are perpetually offended and outraged. 

We thrive on it. And if there's nothing to be outraged about, by god, we'll make something up and be mad anyway! You're not enthusiastic about getting a colonoscopy? YOU HAVE OFFENDED ME!

We can't just live our lives. 

It is not possible for Americans, or increasingly anyone else, to just be happy. 

Oh, but it's so much worse than that. 

See, we can't allow anyone else to live their lives either.

We absolutely cannot tolerate the idea of anyone else being happy. 

We have quite literally reached the point where we as a people, as an ideology, as a society, seemingly can only find self-worth in outrage.

This wretched worldview is bad enough when it results in the kind of bizarre manufactured indignation that I illustrated up above as a lede into this article, but all that happens then is that I take a break from social media until I stop thinking that maybe nuclear war might not be such a bad idea after all. 

As nasty and insane as social media is to me most of the time, I, as a straight white male, am not in any way oppressed or diminished by it. 

I can, and do, walk away when I have to. I have that luxury. 

I have privilege to ignore it if I want to. 

Others, far too many others, cannot escape and the actual real consequence of this contemptible worldview is that it results in real, actual, terrible oppression. 

The real horror is that this oppression exists for no reason, for literally no reason at all, other than that we as a society have come to glory in the humiliating domination of others.

And far too often, that oppression, that true horror, is lost in the seething noise floor of our perpetual outrage over idiotic nonsensical things. 

While my Twitter feed was working itself into a righteous over-caffeinated woke fury over some imagined homophobia on my part, Florida made it illegal -- literally illegal -- to even say the word "gay" in public schools. 

What's that? 

Oh, now you're mad at me about that? The new law doesn't really say any such thing? 

No? 

Yeah, actually, it does. 

Classroom instruction by school personnel or third parties on sexual orientation or gender identity may not occur in kindergarten through grade 3 or in a manner that is not age appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards.

May not occur. 

May not. 

No exception. 

In Kindergarten through grade 3 or in a manner that is not age appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students.

And who decides what is age is developmentally appropriate? 

The state. 

The governor. 

The political party who came up with this hateful bullshit in the first place. 

That's who. 

So don't you dare try to tell me that's not what the law says. 

And if it's illegal to say gay, then it won't be long before it's illegal to be gay. 

Which is what just happened in Texas, where any parents can now be sent to prison for life -- simply for affirming their own child's sexual identity. 

For being supportive of their own children. Imagine that. 

Well, you don't have to imagine it. That's the thing. 

This is America. This is what we have become. The ideology of self-determination and personal freedom, so long as you only identify yourself in accordance with the state's accepted definition. 

Meanwhile, back in Florida again, a second bill just passed the Senate making it illegal to discuss race in public school -- specifically racism. It will be quite literally illegal in the state of Florida to teach  actual American history. 

And this isn't just happening in former slave states. 

Or the Bible Belt. 

There are more than one hundred and fifty similar examples of pending legislation in nearly every other state in the Union. 

Florida and Texas are only the first, they won't be the last. 

But ... why?

No, that's not a rhetorical question. Why? 

Why would anyone care? 

Why do you care what sexual orientation anyone else is? What skin off your nose is it? How could you possibly be offended by what pronoun someone else uses? How does it affect you personally? How does teaching that our nation once held human beings in bondage and treated them as less than livestock diminish you personally now? 

Of course, it doesn't. 

But, it's not about that, is it?

No, it's about outrage. 

Outrage at the very idea that someone else should know their own identity -- because that's what history is, identity. 

Outrage that someone else should be free to chose their identity -- because that's what freedom actually is, the right to define yourself. 

While social media is yet again outraged at some imagined slight, very real people are being erased from our society. 

That is an outrage. 

This is about an ideology that claims to revere freedom, but is daily reduced to seething yellow-eyed violent rage over the idea of someone else choosing a pronoun. Over someone learning that their ancestors were property. About the idea of actually trying to make the world a better place. 

This is about a people who see themselves as victims, who literally liken themselves to Jews being pushed into Nazi gas chambers, even as their own endless privilege allows them the freedom to take a month away from work and drive their trucks across country to protest an oppression that exists only in their own fevered brains -- while some of them are literally flying the Nazi swastika and how the fuck does that even make any sense? 

It's about a people whose sense of self-worth is measured entirely relative to others, and so they can only feel superior if those others are made less -- it is the swaggering self-assurance of a bully. 

It is about a people who've been conditioned to believe that worth is measured in bombastic chest beating, in physical strength, in power, in size, in bulk, in muscle, and most of all in the willingness and ability to visit violence upon others. It's about the biggest truck, the most powerful gun, the greatest wealth, the loudest voice, and the largest flag. And the biggest hardon. 

It's about self-loathing. 

It's about fear. 

It's about an ideology that can never ever be happy with itself and thus can only find satisfaction in the humiliation and subjugation of others. 

It's about those who profit from hate and outrage and who think there will never be an accounting. 

Writ large, this is Russia's invasion of Ukraine and it just might end in nuclear fire after all. 

It's about a culture that is the end result of decades of manufactured artificial outrage -- so much so, that it's become self-sustaining and thus you must find offense in the most innocuous of things while real injustice goes unchecked all around. 

We have become a people who pretend to oppression, who scream in outrage at the slightest of imagined offenses, solely in order to drown out the anguished cries of those who are the true victims of tyranny, inequality, and injustice. 

Outrage isn't the opposite of calm, it's the savage antithesis of reason. 

And far too many of us have given up on making the world a better place. 

Break

 

Choose to be optimistic. It feels better.
– Dalai Lama

Take a break

I remind you this morning that as terrible as things appear to be, it's important to not let this feeling of pervasive doom overwhelm you.

Yes, yes, I know. It feels like the end of the world out there a lot lately. 

It does. 

And no, it's not that easy to remain optimistic or shake this sense of depression. I never said it was. 

But you need to do it anyway. 

Not just for yourself. 

Not just for those you care about. 

But for all of civilization. For the future. 

I interact with something on the order of half a million people every day, and I'm increasingly seeing a rising sense of dread. I feel like I'm drowning in it some days. 

And why not? Dread, doom, gloom, horror, terror, pessimism, these are the things that sell. That's what make you the money. 

Rage, that's what gets you clicks and likes and that -- that terrible popularity -- is the real currency of our modern world. 

Hate sells, that's where the profits are -- and the prophets. 

Trepidation, fear, anxiety, those are what put asses in seats. That's why religion and politics are so popular. Be afraid. That's the message of both, be afraid, be afraid, fear God, fear the the Commies, fear the Socialists, fear the fascists, fear immigrants and gay people and trans kids and vaccines and don't forget to put your money in the plate. 

Folks, the world is always going to hell. 

Always. 

Every damn day. 

It's always something, war, plague, disaster, angry gods, burning nuclear power plants, fire and poison toads falling from the sky, Nickelback. Something. 

Social media makes it worse because we tend to see the things we want to see, doom-scrolling it's called, and we select for it. We go looking for the things that make us afraid, that make us feel this sense of doom and dread and fear. 

This isn't new, of course. Religion has done it for millennia. Look at the Christian Bible. That second part, the whole second half of the book, it's about hope, right? About being a better person and making the world a better place. But you drive around my little Southern Town, and every alleged Christian church has a sign out front and it's all doom and dread and fear and Hell. The sign never says "Do upon to others as you would have them do unto you." It's never "feed the hungry, clothe the poor, heal the sick." It's never any of the kind, optimistic words their prophet allegedly said. No, it's always fear and wrath and the threats of a small and miserable god. Inside, it's the same, fire and brimstone and damnation and what kind of moral and loving god has to threaten his followers with eternal torture?

But without that fear, no one shows up. 

There's no profit in kindness and optimism. 

It's the same with politics. Any politician who pushes a message of hope and optimism, fuck that guy. We want anger and rage and ... well, yeah, just look around. I post a thread about Nazis, something that took me ten minutes to whip out, I get ten thousand likes and retweets and shares. But I post a picture of nature, a bee in flight for example, an image that is the culmination of literally years of effort and experience and skill, the pinnacle of the state of the art, I get five comments and one of them is something about how it reminds the commenter of Donald Trump. 

I'm not complaining, I'm simply pointing out that when we moan about how everything is terrible, it's often because we are deliberately ignoring the things that aren't. 

I see this every day. Americans drive $70,000 trucks, smoke $200 worth of cigarettes each month, consume more calories in day than half the world gets in a week, watch 900 channels of cable TV, and bitch endlessly about how terrible they have it -- how they're just like the Jews being herded into the gas chambers, how they're oppressed worse than the slaves, how their privileged lives are just the worse thing ever. And they feel this way because the man in the pulpit, the man on the TV, the man they voted for tells them how they are victims, how they're being oppressed, how terrible they have it every damn day. 

You know, it's easy to think everything is terrible and getting more terrible when you spend all day looking at terrible things. 

There are a lot of loud shitty people in the world, and the Information Age gives them all a platform to shout their rotten halitosis in your face all day. 

Look, I'm not saying you should dismiss what's happening in the world. Not at all. 

I'm not saying you should ignore all those terrible things, the hate, the injustice, the misery. 

But take the time to look for the good things too. For your own sake. 

Block the haters, fight only on your terms, and take a break when you need it.

Here's a picture of a bee. 

I'm taking the Mini and my wife and going to drive the beach road. 

See you tomorrow. 

Hasta la Vista, Baby

Todd and Janelle are dicks, but I've gotta warn them. You got a quarter?
-- John Connor, Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991)

I know. 

I heard.

The January 6th Committee announced that they have pretty solid evidence Trump himself personally by his very own hand totally committed some crimes. Personally. Himself. He did it. Crimes. Yep, it's true. 

Oh boy! 

Right? Oh boy! We got him now! Ha ha!

The press is beside themselves this morning. The phrase BREAKING NEWS! BREAKING NEWS! fills my social media feeds and the alert scroll running down the side of one of my screens is red with glee. 

We got him now! This time for sure!

Whenever this comes up, and it does come up repeatedly on a very, very regular basis for the last year -- Breaking news Trump committed crimes Oh boy -- those who follow me on Twitter see me quote Edward Furlong as young John Conner from Terminator 2, i.e. "We really got Skynet by the balls now, don't we?"

Heh heh. Man, I love that line. 

I love how wrong that kid was. 

See, they had the robot arm and the microchip brain from the first time-travelling terminator and without those, Cyberdyne would never be able to build Skynet and thus humankind would be safe from nuclear war and killer robots. 

Right? You saw the movie. 

They had the microchip. They had the arm. Now, all they had to do was destroy those key items and they'd save the future. Yah! And they spent the next 45 minutes of the movie trying to do exactly that, ending with Robo Arnold giving the world a big thumbs up as he melts into the molten steel and saves the day.

Yeah.

We're saved!

Except...

...there have been what? four sequels and at least three reboots since then and it seems the future is still producing murder robots and Skynet (or Dominion, whatever its calling itself these days) is just fine up there in the future and it's still us who are the endangered species. 

"We really got Skynet by the balls now, don't we?"

I mean, don't get me wrong. It's a great flick. 

But every time I watch that movie and they get to that line, I laugh. 

Yeah, Kid, sure. 

Where am I going with this? 

Here: At this point, if the big "breaking" story doesn't prominently contain the words "Trump Indicted" you can just save telling me about it. Because I just don't care. Oh, wow, they found evidence Trump committed more crime? Well boy howdy, how about that. 

I guess he's going to jail now! 

I guess we really got Skynet by the balls this time. 

Except, he's never charged. 

There's always another sequel. Always another reboot. And he just keeps on being Trump. 

And goddamn if it don't look like we're rushing towards a future where we're the endangered species and not him. 

So, you know, unless the Attorney General finally decides to get off the pot and start charging this asshole before suddenly it's the next election and he's the fucking president again, I got other things to do. 

Like move to Mexico and start training my kid to fight murder robots. 

John Connor: We're not gonna make it, are we? People, I mean.
The Terminator: It's in your nature to destroy yourselves.
John Connor: Yeah. Major drag, huh?
-- Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991)

Recap: Mar 1, 2022

Proudly Ignorant. 

Deliberately Stupid. 

Ragin violent hate. 

Open racism, white nationalists, jingoism, shallow brainless patriotism.

They are gun humping conspiracy nuts who embrace sedition, insurrection, treason as virtues and loudly raise up  foreign despots as their heroes.

This is the pinched bitter screaming face of the Republican Party today.

This is what the once venerable Party of Lincoln has become. 

A fist, smashing in the face of Liberty. 

History shows again and again and yet again, that a political party and an ideology that accommodates and encourages this yammering ignorant hate cannot build anything.

It can not build anything. 

It can only destroy. 

This mean small ingrown ideology can only make the world a worse place, never better.

This kind of mindless slavering hatred and greedy bitter lust for power is exactly what led to the war in Ukraine -- and every other atrocity throughout history. 

This horrible worldview is precisely the vile bilious hatred condemned over and over by the very religion these people claim to believe in. They are the selfsame antichrist they claim to fear. 

If Republicans do not remove this vile cancer from their midst, then they have become a disease upon the body politic.

And sooner or later, like any other malignant tumor, we're going to have to cut them out. 

Before they kill us all.