Spring springs eternal, eternally springing at Springtime: How I felt some optimism today.

I have little faith in the nation's ability to right it's course, at the moment. Whether you are crestfallen at the utter lack of leadership from Democratic leaders, or despondent at the superhuman ability of Trump to gut the government without any seeming resistance, or feeling despair like all the others that our collective voice is being ignored in most cases, and actively-suppressed, in others.

But I do see a light of hope.

Part of that optimism I have (what, wait, who am I and what did I do with, er, uh... me?) about the nation's immediate future, is that Modern American Gruppenführers, Associated (MAGA) know what Goebbels knew: get the lie out there big, fast, and loud, because time is the enemy, as word gets around about our own Naziing-around.

Well, Stephen Miller and Elon Musk (both descended from a long line of Nazis) and everyone else connected to this Trump admin KNOWS that you have to be quick, fast, and an early-riser to beat the sheer mass of the American people, and the chance that they will catch on to your game.

You do not have time to waste, if you are trying to topple a nation like the US. And every judge's order to turn around deportee planes, and every court order to re-hire federal workers, and every burning Wankpanzer in the news does only one thing: slow down the coup.

Spring stands to demonstrate this, very shortly. I have seen more reports of protests, many staged by constituent groups most-beloved by America, but also most insulted and injured by Trump and MAGA. Today, I saw that veterans were turning out in numbers for their own protests not as a member group, but the core group. And they are emerging in greater numbers as the temperatures (both actual and metaphorical) rise.

Spring is coming. It is when we, as a species, collectively are going insane with cabin fever, and are just waiting for that first good day to get the Hell out of the house, and to keep being out of said house.

Spring is coming. People have been sitting on a growing rage, and are feeling the need to express it, and make catharsis. This makes getting out of the house even more pressing an issue for Americans.

Spring is coming: students will be getting out of school, and the Spring of 2025 will shape them now and for forever: that time it thawed and they went outside to punch Fascism in the face to save the nation (only, now, there will be no culture war separation, but class unity).

Spring is coming.

Spring is coming, and I usually miss the starting gun: that moment, between maybe 4:12 and 5:46 AM, sometime in April, when all the leaf buds explode and we have a canopy, again.

Spring is coming, and the buds will be busting out, all over.

Modern Tips for Health and Happiness: Footy Pajamas.

I really dislike pajamas.

Mostly, it is the legs creeping up while I lay there. Every time I turn over, they ride up another half-inch or so, until it feels like I am wearing knickers.

So, I decided about a month ago that I had a solution: I would wear socks to bed, and tuck the ends of the pant legs of my PJs into them, keeping them in-place.

But then, my shirt would get bunched-up and twisted, so I tucked IT into the PJ bottoms.

And thereupon I realized I had created my own adult-sized footy pajamas, and I was at peace with it.

I think all the world needs footy pajamas.

Zuckerswerves: How We Are Skirting the Facebook Censorship of our hopes for a Trump ending.

What are some metaphors you use to get around Facebook censors, when addressing how Trump should make his final exit from the stage (see, there's one already!)?

Some that I like are:

1. Long drop, sudden stop.

2. Hemp rope ride.

3. Air dancing.

4. Actuarial advancement/acceleration.

5. Needs to be fitted for a hemp necktie.

6. Needs to stand by a window in Russia.

Got any creative ways to express what we are all, in our souls, hoping to manifest in the universe?

Do I at all regret this post in any way, whatsoever?

Not in the ever-loving least, brother.

Play Responsibly

 

On morons and, well, basically this is about MAGAts.

A friend who is a teacher recently posted a picture of science denial fallacies, etc. A really cool reference or instructional tool. I like to see such posts, as I am biased in favor of science and demonstrable facts. But, they also remind me that a lot of people are just stupid. And they like it that way. In fact, they LOVE being dumb as a stump. I have tried for years to try to imagine the mindset behind that, to no avail. It is akin to trying to imagine the concept of infinity, or dividing by zero.

They have had decades to address their own ignorance, and for free, no less! Decades to benefit from the distilled wisdom of over six thousand REAL years, across multiple cultures and traditions, expressed through the best educational system and the freest society in the history of humanity, and, in fact, of the Earth itself.

Yet, they embrace being morons, and double-down when you do so much as LOOK as if you are about to draw the slightest breath in reply to their inconceivably abysmal foolishness.

And, a truly puzzling thing, to me, is that so MANY of them have college degrees, multiple degrees, in fact. And, yet, somehow they have failed to learn a damned thing about LEARNING.

I am more and more amazed, as I get older, that humanity made it this far out of the caves.

What the Majority wants.

Unfortunately, what the majority really wants, in my view, requires abandoning identify politics (current Democratic Party MO) and culture war (current GOP MO) distractions, and focusing on class issues, as it really has become the haves vs. the have nots (particularly in terms of raw political power and government control).

Things like a return to a progressive tax structure such as the ones in place after the Depression and WW2. Such a change would benefit a WHOLE lot of people who now consider themselves to be just temporarily embarrassed millionaires. I certainly believe it would drive economic growth across the board.

And, as I will demand until my final breath, a vast enlargement of the House of Representatives, which, in my view, again, would stand to eliminate most of the issues related to big money in campaigns, as well as reflect a far more fair representation of the American body politic, through mush smaller, human-scale districts.

But, both of these require going cold turkey on power addiction, and on the parts of a lot of politicians. Thus, it stands little chance of happening outside of unprecedented extenuating circumstances.

Silver Linings from my Box o' Wisdom

I was just thinking, as I doom-scrolled the internet, that even though it is pretty dark, these days, there is some cause for optimism.

Front and center is the arcane course through the court system that bogs down attempts at dramatic, extra-congressional changes.

Next, humans, especially the dumb ones, are slow to buy a clue on anything that doesn't fit their personal, "lord-get-me-through-this-day-I-beg-you," narrative. We cling to our personal biases until they, or we, snap in two. Then, reality becomes clear as a bell, and changes can occur.

In this regard, I am, and have always been, optimistic that MAGA voters cannot ALL be brain dead. At some point, some of them are going to recognize that they were taken, as I often say, for chumps. I must assume many of them spent life savings, and then some, supporting Trump, and, now that the pain is hitting home, it must be coalescing in their brains that chumps they indeed were.

Which brings us to another human foible: our pride.

Many of those MAGA who realize they were played are NOT going to take it well. And, they aren't the types to be quiet when they feel burned.

Hell, lots of them are gong to be gun owners, and the only contact they can have with DC is through their reps, who are now refusing to hear them in town halls.

This means lots of shot-up storefront GOP offices.

It is also obvious that Trump isn't meetng a single campaign promise that they repeated for him endlessly all campaign. I dare say that an insulted former supporter is going to be inclined to re-examine what they were told, and stand aghast at it all upon such reflection.

So, a slow system, a slow-to-learn population, and a prideful population that takes being punked pretty badly. What a wonderful combination.

All this, and reminding myself that we cannot ever see the end of the storm from the heart of it. We simply have to remember that storms pass.

Like Winston said: When you are going through Hell, keep going!

I have a feeling MAGA splashback could be a brutal, if entertaining and cathartic, thing. And I think it is coming.

Your mileage may vary, of course, but I am showing rare optimism, so enjoy it while it lasts.