tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5977625681756554695.post2929138767908953287..comments2024-03-26T13:46:42.738-05:00Comments on 4 Quarters, 10 Dimes: Continued Stray Thoughts on the Current Political ClimateDavidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03463621516644789183noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5977625681756554695.post-20124186370373876142018-01-09T16:38:42.721-06:002018-01-09T16:38:42.721-06:00Well, there we disagree. As my cousin (a gay man ...Well, there we disagree. As my cousin (a gay man in New York) said to me last year about Pence v Trump, "Oppression I can handle - I'm used to that. Annihilation is a different problem." Pence will cause immense damage, but it is damage we can repair over time. I am not convinced that the same is true with der Sturmtrumper.<br /><br />I will agree with you on the importance of gerrymandering and voter suppression. Those have been essential elements of the GOP strategy since 1980 and are the key reason they control the federal government now (as well as many state governments). They know they're a minority and they're looting the place while they can. I live in Wisconsin - in 2012 the GOP won 47% of the vote and ended up with 61% of the legislature. Gerrymandering is a key issue.<br /><br />I applaud your willingness to get involved in this fight. I'll be right there with you.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03463621516644789183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5977625681756554695.post-41531684604721998652018-01-09T14:20:32.961-06:002018-01-09T14:20:32.961-06:00I find myself continuing to think that impeachment...I find myself continuing to think that impeachment is (i) probably impossible - there is simply no way that even a few GOP senators will vote for such. The exception might be if (ii) Pence were not also impeached. And I disagree with you here: I think that Pence is a bigger threat. Dominionism plus deeper bigotry plus not being obviously incoherent. I also think that farcical as 45 is, he continues to be a point against which to rally, and that's useful.<br /><br />Gerrymandering and voter suppression are the key issues for the next few years. The census is a big part of that. **IF** we get a rational Supreme Court ruling on gerrymandering, and a competent census, and enough state houses in honourable hands to implement redistricting, and voting encouraged rather than impeded...then I will be surprised, delighted, and largely content.<br /><br />And I am planning to naturalise asap so that I get to cast one of those votes.Ewanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15587749873205076612noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5977625681756554695.post-71909774088635603772017-09-11T08:41:28.991-05:002017-09-11T08:41:28.991-05:00Don't worry, Lucy! I enjoy your comments imme...Don't worry, Lucy! I enjoy your comments immensely and take them in the spirit offered. :) <br /><br />I sometimes wonder myself why I keep writing on this issue, and it's good for me to restate it now and then. Gives me motivation to keep on doing it.<br /><br />Perhaps unfettered wasn't the right choice of words, then. He does have the codes, free and clear, but there are obstacles. I'm enough of a historian to prefer institutional obstacles to relying on individuals, but then institutions are made of individuals so there you go. I'm with you on this.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03463621516644789183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5977625681756554695.post-72339936933612588832017-09-11T07:39:00.860-05:002017-09-11T07:39:00.860-05:00Please do not misinterpret. Many times I comment o...Please do not misinterpret. Many times I comment only to encourage more. I (and I hope many others) value your thoughts on the Current National Nightmare Theatre Group. There are few, I think, better trained or positioned to expound upon their misadventures. As quite a few have encouraged: keep up the fight.<br /><br />The bone of contention, if there was one, lay only with that word "unfettered" - I strove only to point out that not only do rather well thought out protocols exist, but that ultimately those professional military personnel serve as a final barrier to the truly insane. Hopefully. (Damn well better - or we're all basically screwed.) Beyond that, we are in complete and harmonious agreement.<br /><br />This does not preclude the fact that there are 2,126,457,984,119.7 other ways in which the current administration could screw us all.<br /><br />LucyLucyInDisguisehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08169432604954981941noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5977625681756554695.post-63171991973905853512017-09-10T20:16:43.611-05:002017-09-10T20:16:43.611-05:00Yeah, I do return to this particular subject more ...Yeah, I do return to this particular subject more often than I suspect most people care to read, but it's important and to be honest it's mostly for me. Sometimes you just gotta holler. But there is something to be said for not letting up, for continuing to bear witness in times of trouble, for speaking out rather than remaining silent. As a straight white middle-class man I have the privilege of being non-political if I wish to be, and the responsibility to use the privilege I have for the betterment of my country and everyone in it. And so I holler.<br /><br />It was a close-run thing with W, but not nearly as close as it is now. I worried under Bush, but I worry far more now. And I'm a whole lot angrier about that. It's my country, and I will not stand idly by while barbarians drive it to ruin.<br /><br />I am aware that the US military is made up of highly trained professionals who understand the power they wield far better than the current president does and who are sworn to uphold the law, the Constitution, and the values that have made this country great (blind obedience not being one of them). But there is a difference between an unlawful command and a stupid one. As C-in-C, der Sturmtrumper has an awful lot of leeway when it comes to lawful commands, and that leeway encompasses a great many situations where those commands are strategically unwise, morally bankrupt, tactically stupid, and deeply counterproductive. That's the grey area I worry about most.<br /><br />I hope that the trained professionals of the US military would resist any use of nuclear weapons unless absolutely necessary, but that's a different issue, I think.<br /><br />I don't sleep well anyway. I just add this to the pile.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03463621516644789183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5977625681756554695.post-64702152907959875032017-09-10T16:15:53.386-05:002017-09-10T16:15:53.386-05:007. I do not, will not accept the idea that this pr...7. I do not, will not accept the idea that this president, or, for that matter, any duly elected President of the United States has "unfettered" access to this country's nuclear arsenal. I can't do details, even this far removed from the incident, but I sat in my office one night when the silos were open and we were literally on the brink, listening to the chatter on the 'back channel' - no one was willing to insert the keys, let alone turn them, because one idiot had an itchy trigger finger.<br /><br />Our military men and women are trained professionals. They understand the destructive power they wield. More importantly, they understand and believe in their sworn oath to protect and preserve the Constitution first, and obey the LAWFUL commands of their superior officers or the CIC second. Refusal could come as simply as the guy or gal who is currently carrying the football to refuse to hand it to the Idiot in Command. The UCMJ gives broad interpretation to that whole lawful order gig.<br /><br />This is not to say that all is well - only that there is hope in the human capacity to recognize the absurd and refuse to act. It does not eliminate the possibility of incompetents, fools, idiots, or bad actors.<br /><br />Sleep well.<br /><br />36. I would argue that we only barely survived W - it was a very close run thing. A very close run thing indeed. We may not be so fortunate this time. <br /><br />Though hope springs eternal.<br /><br />As for the rest - spot on, as usual. <br /><br />(Except, maybe that whole "on [scratched] record" thing. Thankfully, this is not the only subject upon which you expound so poetically! <<< I'm not at all certain that you're all that "poetic", either. Lot's of reason, but almost nothing rhymes!)<br /><br />[Insert emoji of your choice here]<br /><br />LucyLucyInDisguisehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08169432604954981941noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5977625681756554695.post-19654606618811261832017-09-07T16:12:57.508-05:002017-09-07T16:12:57.508-05:00Thanks!
Mostly I want it on record that I do not ...Thanks!<br /><br />Mostly I want it on record that I do not accept what is being done to my country by this rogue regime.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03463621516644789183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5977625681756554695.post-67517233818334891822017-09-07T14:57:48.813-05:002017-09-07T14:57:48.813-05:00Keep on blogging Dave it is so nice to read someon...Keep on blogging Dave it is so nice to read someone who is really paying attention and aware of what is going on. So many people are too busy or too blind or too ignorant to see what is in plain sight. It's refreshing to know others see things the same way and are as outraged as I am. I have had to give up the TV news because I can't stand to look at the idiot in charge or listen to the lying BS from him and his sycophants.<br />Buckyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07328637513892445567noreply@blogger.com