STOP TRUMP!!! Save The USPS.

". . . absentee good. Universal mail-in, very bad."¹

Pop quiz: What's the difference between an absentee ballot and a mail-in ballot?

Being the smart folks you all are, everyone answered "none," right?

Precisely. That's a test the Jackass-in-Chief couldn't pass, because he thinks they're two separate things.

He also calls mail-in voting "universal mail-in," which isn't on anybody's radar except the states that have voting exclusively by mail:  California, Colorado,  Hawaii, Massachusetts, Oregon, Utah, Vermont, and Washington.

Here's the point: Tyrannical Trump has essentially said in so many words that he intends to disable the functionality of the U. S. Postal Service so that mail-in ballots won't go anywhere.

Of course Congress is into its August break, which I frankly find unconscionable. Right now they're the one group of people who might be able to do something about the Psycho-in-Chief and they're on vacation, treating the run-up to the most important election of our lifetimes like business as usual.

But the August break means your Congress critters will probably be near home, so it might be easier than usual to reach them. Please reach out, preferably by phone, and let them know in no uncertain terms that you want them to save the Postal Service. This will be especially important to you if you live in one of the vote-by-mail states.

We need to be fighting and making noise now if we expect success in November.


--- Diogenes, 8/14/2020

Share this with everybody you know.


¹ That absurd quote comes from an 8/13 "press conference" that was nothing but a campaign talk. Here's the link to the transcript: https://www.rev.com/blog/transcripts/donald-trump-coronavirus-task-force-press-conference-transcript-august-13

Too Stupid To Live (Repost)

I know--we're running past Diogenes posts the way broadcast TV used to do summer reruns. Just hang on a bit longer, please, and enjoy these if you missed them first time.

Today's title is the favorite saying of a former workmate. It's harsh, but there are some cases in which it seems apt.

To wit: People who blindly follow Donald Trump.

Near the top of the long list of things I do not understand is why anyone would follow Trump for any reason. I think they actually don't follow, because he has proven himself not to be a leader. Perhaps a better word would be adherents: they are drawn to him unconsciously, and just sort of clump around him.

Having thought about this for a while I've decided Trump's human conglomeration can be divided into four groups, as follows:

Toadies and minions

These are people who are in some way beholden to the unpresident or feel a strong attraction to him. The group includes his staff, the Cabinet, associate Supreme Court justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, and probably most Congressional Republicans.

For many politicians, bureaucrats, and functionaries, D. C. is Nirvana, the Promised Land, and El Dorado. Most of them are power junkies who prize being near the center of power above all. The closer they can bind themselves to the chief executive, the more power adheres to them. Many of this group don't care who the president is. All they want is to keep hanging on to a job that keeps them near the Omphalos of government, and they will do anything the incumbent asks of them to stay in it.

The Party Faithful

There is some overlap between this group and the toadies and minions, but it isn't huge. By and large these people have been staunch Republicans all their lives, and are likely the children of Republicans. A good number of them have been in office far too long. They still wistfully refer to the Grand Old Party, but deep down they know the Republican Party is broken. The president is nominally Republican, but they can't go to him to fix it, because they now know he's the one who broke it. Nonetheless, when November 3 rolls around they will hold their noses and vote for him, because, by God, they're Republicans, and they vote for Republicans, period.

The Mob

I don't know if The Mob is the largest of these four groups, but they are the ones who are most visible and make the most noise. I equate them with British yobs, who can turn any soccer match into a bar brawl.

They're not political. They come out for the action, to confront protesters and/or cops, to strut around shirtless waving Trump flags, to pointedly defy rules (e.g. wearing masks), and to shout slogans about foreigners and minorities. If they have a goal it is to show the Dumbass-in-Chief that they are men, too, and they identify with his anger and his displeasure with anyone who doesn't agree with him or isn't like him. (I'm sorry for all the masculine pronouns, but this group is testosterone fueled.)

The Fringe

This is the group I was thinking of when I decided on the title. The fringe is the group that gets their news from social media and takes as Gospel anything uttered by their ultra-right authority figure du jour, be it the Idiot Child-in-Chief, Archdemon Mitch McConnell, the faceless Q of Qanon, Sean Hannity, or their foreman at work.

They propagate and embroider conspiracy theories with such outrageous premises that any reasonable (not to say sane) person would reject them out of hand. Yet they hold to these beliefs like religion because someone they believe to be in authority said it was so. It's easy to dismiss them as gullible fools and paranoiacs, but we would do so at our peril.

Because these people so desperately need something to follow or to believe in, they will believe virtually anything. They become easy to manipulate, and the darker corners of the Web where they like to hang out are perfect places to recruit and persuade them to a cause. If all this sounds just too "out there," I recommend this:

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/06/qanon-nothing-can-stop-what-is-coming/610567/ 

Don't read it before bed.


--- Diogenes, 8/13/2020     Reposted 10/14/2020

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Don't Laugh

Yesterday I caught myself chuckling about a Trump idiocy one of my colleagues here at Vox Populi had related to me.

It suddenly occurred to me to ask if it was really funny. It's almost too easy to laugh at the Lunatic-in-Chief. Even making up names to call him (thereby stooping to his level) makes the process seem whimsical. We laugh at him because he's such a pathetic caricature of a leader. We sometimes even cringe when he says or does something especially egregious, as if we feel sorry for him.

We must not. We must never let empathy or sympathy or compassion cloud our vision of what he truly is: cheat, liar, coward, bully, cretin, adulterer, traitor, imbecile, creep, criminal, ass, bigot, loser.

I am tempted to add mass murderer of the thousands of Americans who have died of COVID-19 because of his criminal negligence in not even attempting to find a response to the disease, but I won't.

The response Americans should have toward him is raw hatred, screaming incandescent anger, a collective emotional pulse to make his head explode, a nationwide prayer for him to contract a massive case of COVID-19.

The thing I fear most about this election is that the Biden-Harris campaign won't fight dirty enough. Republicans almost always fight dirty. It was they who gave us Watergate, the "birther" absurdity, Iran-Contra, and Earl Butz. And that's just a sampling since the middle of the 20th century.

Democrats tend not to get what it takes. They don't get rage. Not paltry anger, but rage: The head-banging, bare-knuckle, red-mist-in-front-of-the-eyes emotion that comes so easily to the Ragged Right. I'm not suggesting that Biden challenge Trump to a fistfight, but I do wish the Democratic Party could muster the gumption to launch an all-out dirty-tricks, in-your-face, no-holds-barred campaign.

They probably won't because they're afraid the Litigant-in-Chief will sue them, but what the hell? He'll sue them anyway. Might as well get sued for something worthwhile. And another thing: The Republicans will sacrifice anything and anyone for victory. The Democrats have to be just as heartless if they're going to win.

I'm not talking about our parents' Democratic Party here, or even my generation's. I'm talking about a party that is going to have to adopt some distasteful practices if it hopes to meet the Republican incumbent and his mass of goons, foreign and domestic, on a level field.

I don't care how melodramatic it sounds, this election will be for the fate of the United States of America.

The Constitution must remain intact if this country is to survive. I fear it won't if Trump is re-elected.


--- Diogenes, 8/12/2020   

J'Accuse

Not enough people are speaking seriously of the widespread criminal behavior that infects the Trump administration. So I will.

I accuse:

Donald J. Trump of treason for his secret collusion with Vladimir Putin and other potential enemies to interfere with the electoral process and to undermine the stability of the U. S. government.

Donald J. Trump of criminally negligent manslaughter for the deaths of 160,000 Americans from COVID-19.

Donald J. Trump of fraud and intent to defraud the American people with false promises and frivolous executive orders made only to enhance his chances of re-election.

Donald J. Trump of misuse of federal funds and resources for political gain.

Michael R. Pence of aiding and abetting the above acts.

The Cabinet, collectively, of violating their oath to "support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic" by failing to invoke the 25th Amendment, relieving Trump of his presidential duties.

Attorney General William P. Barr of criminal assault, attempted murder, and criminal trespass for allowing federal agents to occupy American cities and act against American citizens exercising their Constitutional rights.

The Congress, collectively, for malfeasance and abandonment of their oath to "support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic."

Addison Mitchell McConnell Jr. for inciting other members of Congress to act contrary to their sworn oath.

Addison Mitchell McConnell Jr. for conspiring with the president, other members of the administration, and other members of Congress selectively to block or promote legislation that would negatively affect the voting rights of Americans.

The Supreme Court, collectively, for taking blatantly political stands in violation of their oath to "administer justice without respect to persons, and do equal right to the poor and to the rich, and . . . faithfully and impartially discharge and perform all the duties incumbent upon me."

Chad Wolf, Acting Secretary of Homeland Security, FBI Director Christopher A. Wray, and Secret Service Director James M. Murray for grossly endangering the American public by colluding with members of the administration not to hamper the actions of a clearly delusional president.

To this list I add five crimes Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) allege Donald J. Trump committed in connection with his shadowy dealings with Ukraine: 

• Bribery
• Soliciting foreign campaign contribution
• Coercion of political activity
• Misappropriation of federal funds
• Obstruction of Congress

Treason and bribery are specifically named in the Constitution as impeachable offenses. 

The penalty for treason is death.


--- Diogenes, 8/10/2020

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The Open Road

Americans tend to think of it in capital letters.

The Road is a path to new worlds, new people, adventure, and excitement. The Road can take you to oceans, mountains, deserts, and swamps. It can lead you around and through this magnificent land of ours. It offers smooth cruising and white-knuckle cliffside corkscrews. It's the route through old-growth forests and seedy downtowns, to monuments and burned-out neighborhoods, to waterfalls and bayous.

The Road is a legend peopled with wanderers, vagabonds, hoboes, and minstrels. It carried the Great Migration that saw some six million Blacks leave the South for Northern jobs and equality; it gave hope to three million Okies headed for the promised land of California; it's where you go if life becomes unbearable.

The spirit of The Road is best represented by one iconic machine: the motorcycle. Sturdy, agile, and fast, bikes are the ultimate statement of freedom. They're a way out, an escape. No other vehicle represents a quick getaway quite like the motorcycle.

It's estimated there are about 13 million motorcycles in the United States. We all probably have some stereotypical image of a biker, but considering that eight percent of American households own at least one bike, it's almost certainly wrong. Ask anybody which movie best typifies biker culture, and you'll get a range of "wild" answers from "The Wild One" to "The Wild Angels" to "Wild Hogs," and any others, and they'll all be right. Bikers come in all sizes, colors, races, genders, and socioeconomic strata.

Every August thousands of them gather in Sturgis, South Dakota. You remember South Dakota, right? The state governed by pro-Trump COVID-19 denier Kristi Noem where the Fool-in-Chief hired an audience to watch him read a fifth-grade history lesson about the presidents carved into Mount Rushmore before having a photo taken that appears to show him joining them.

But I digress. Governor Noem has imposed virtually no COVID-19 restrictions anywhere, so for 10 days beginning the day before yesterday Sturgis is going to be one huge viral swamp.

I've taken a couple of days off to research this year's event in order to avoid the trap of stereotyping, and I offer the following with reasonable certainty.

Yes, the biker community is heterogeneous, but this year's gathering is likely less so. The 80th Sturgis rally is now estimated to draw between 100,000 and 250,000 bikers and aficionados. That is a lot, but way down from last year's attendance of nearly half a million.

When throngs of people with a special interest are reduced, true believers are the distillate, and I expect the majority of Sturgis attendees are going to be hard-core freedom-loving bikers who aren't going to wear masks or observe COVID-19 precations generally. Sturgis is a party, with lots of drinking, drugs, back slapping, hugging, and sex. Crowds will be shoulder-to-shoulder at bars, concerts, and other rally events.

Sturgis is an international event, which means anyone infected there could pass the virus on to a great many people. Not surprisingly, a lot of attendees are Trump supporters. Why? It's not political. They identify with his "I'm number one," "take what you want" attitude and his incessant anger. Not a few of them, I suspect, are "Sons of Anarchy" wannabes.

Native American communities have closed roads that lead to Sturgis and banned rally traffic on or through their territories. I'm sure the residents of Sturgis wish they could do the same. They were overwhelmingly opposed to the rally this year. But the event brings a lot of income to area businesses. Money talks, and the city council listened.

Thanks to Governor Noem's laissez-faire policy and the city council's avarice, the 2020 Sturgis rally may be remembered less as a party and more as a visitation by the Grim Reaper.

I hope not. I really do. I love The Road, and would hate for anyone's experience of it to be tainted by disease. Still, those who live large and take unnecessary risks have to expect some payback.

Ride fast, party hard, suffer the consequences.


---Diogenes, 8/9/2020


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