Pearls are to be clutched

American Christians are offended.

Sorry, let me narrow that down: American Christians are offended, this week, by the Olympic opening ceremony, which they all assumed was an attack on Christianity, even though none of it had jack and shit to do with Christianity.

Why is it ALWAYS about the poor, fucking Christians?

<SIGH>

American Christians (tm) are in a constant search for something to be offended over, reading offense into the most mundane things, and from a completely shallow and self-centric worldview, as if no one in the world is allowed to be anything except carbon copies of the offended.

Anyone with any shred of understanding of anything outside that man-edited book of fables and tall tales knows this had nothing to do with Christian anything, period. You're offended? Fine. 99.99999% of the world isn't. Let it, and the pearls, go.

Do you complain about the decorations when you attend someone else's party? Because that is what this consternation is: I don't like the decorations at your party.

Well, then, go home and leave the party-goers be.

This only offends offense-driven Americans who have absolutely nothing else going on. It is almost fetishistic.

Alright, I happily relent!

I think we may be seeing the break-through of a trend that has been obvious for many years now. Specifically, America being saved by a woman of color.

I have noted many times (elsewhere), how it often seemed to be women of color who come in and clean up the absolute mess made by white men. No matter what, you could always rely on these women to make things right, or as right as a disaster can be made to be.

They have toiled under the repressive and oppressive actions of establishment white men and women throughout our history on these shores. And yet, so often they manage to rise above the bullshit and straighten things out in the community.

Now, we see (through what may have been an incredible quirk of fate), a white man realizing he has no path to the finish line. A finish line he has been pursuing for forty years. His record has not always been a good one, with regard to how women of color were treated, but he made up for this, somewhat, by selecting a woman of color to be his VP in 2020.

And, now that he can read the writing on the wall (and got some lectures from fellow pols), he is stepping aside to clear the way, allowing that woman of color take the baton going forward.

I was pessimistic for the last few weeks about how things would play out, but I have to confess that I am somewhat giddy that Kamala Harris will be the Democratic nominee (sure, it isn't official, yet, but give it a week or two for the convention to rubber stamp it, most likely with unbridled enthusiasm).

Harris is in the most unique position of any politician in our history: a woman of color who has risen to the second-highest elected position in the nation, and is now running on her incumbency to attain the top job.

It won't be a cakewalk, but she is in an incredibly well-positioned place to take the election. Perhaps by a large margin, as the polls are up dramatically in key demographics since the baton was passed, showing a desire to see her win. The enthusiasm is historic, and even I have been unable to avoid it.

She is just getting started, but with this now becoming a race between a felon and a career prosecutor, her opposition is reduced to the sad caricature of a man we always knew him to be. And she looks larger by the day, towering over him. I look forward to her cross-examination.

Meanwhile, HIS chosen running mate has immediately become a drag on the ticket (even earning the moniker of "Shillbilly," which tickles my heart). HE initially backed out of a scheduled debate, because of the new, scarier opponent, only to waffle back into considering one because of the shame he was made to feel for cowering before a black woman. And his continual jabs at his prior opponent's age have, as happens whenever a fool pisses into the wind, come back at him.

Suddenly, a race that was fraught with trepidation and worry has become one of hope: Kamala is coming to put things right.

If she chooses Pete Buttigieg as her VP, all bets are off, and they may as well just give them the keys to the White House without the complication of an election.

But I want that election, of course. Not solely to see her win (which I fervently DO), but to see Donald Trump absolutely humiliated and tossed on the ash heap of history (although I would be content to see him thrown into a prison cell).

We may finally see a woman of color show the nation just what is possible when you pass the torch of leadership around equitably. We may see the ultimate in cleaning up white men's messes. This will be nothing new, of course, but it will be a glorious smashing of the glass ceiling, and the ultimate manifestation of the greatest struggle our nation has ignored for centuries: a woman of color asserting her rightful place as an equal partner in our great experiment.

In order to clean up nearly 250 years of white leadership's mess.

And I am SO here for it.

About that funny little picture on the blog

So, I have a picture for the blog that resembles a Federation outhouse from the Star Trek universe. I thought I'd explain where it came from and why I use it. It is nothing complicated: I am a lifetime fan of Star Trek TOS, and I have a strange sense of humor and aesthetics. All the follow-on series have been meh, but give me TOS any day, man. I am a Kirk-Bones-Spock man.

When I was young, I had the Enterprise blueprints. I had the Star Trek compendium, with its graphics and charts, depicting vehicles, Federation organizational charts, etc. I was a true Star Trek nerd. I even showed up to fourth grade with a Star Fleet dreadnought I had fashioned out of cardboard, which elicited a response from someone who would later become a friend, and which I often chuckle about still: "That ain't no Star Trak!"

Anyhow, when I was starting back up to writing here, I happened to also be playing around with image-creating AI. Given my warped sense of humor, I asked it to show me what a United Federation of Planets outhouse would look like. It went through a couple of refinements, but I finally settled on the image currently in use. I was quite happy with it, too. I mean, you can look at it and know what it is, without reading this explanatory post.

I was tempted to caption it with "Where some men have gone before," but that seems like a cheap laugh. So, I leave it there for you to see, and to create your own internal dialog, explaining how it came to be, and what adventures have taken place there.

It is a bit of levity in a troubling time.

Frankly, I'd give almost anything to be on that other planet, looking at that outhouse, rather than on THIS planet, which is turning into an actual outhouse.

Be good to each other, and remember to wash your hands before returning to work.

Waiting for the fall, this Fall

Friends, it looks like it is going to come down to us if Donald Trump is ever going to be held accountable for his crimes against the nation. No white knight is coming to save us, and the powers that be are myopic and focused on their navels. We are all the little Dutch Boy, finger in the dike, hoping the floodwaters will subside. Hoping against hope that we will make it through Christmas unscathed.

I am sorry to say that I doubt we will come through without some injury. Because, either way, I fully expect that there will be violence in November. 

Whether it is celebratory or in despair, it will come from Trump supporters. I don't say this for impact or effect; I think it is an inevitable outcome of not having dealt FIRMLY with their existential threat to the nation while we had a chance.

MAGA is a powderkeg of assholes with severe compensatory issues, just waiting to take their infantile anger out on anyone, whether in response to a loss, or in celebration of a victory. They are the worst of a bad lot, and there will be a reckoning for allowing them to have guns, and never holding them accountable for a damned thing, again, while we had a chance.

Despite this, be proactive to the last, and vote this Fall. Vote like it is your last chance, because it will be if Trump wins.

The first speech Joe Biden should give to the nation, in a series of calm fireside chats.

"Look, I know this is going to be hard to hear, but I gotta say it: you and a lot of good Americans have been abused by Donald Trump and the Republican party. I mean it, I have been sitting here, watching them take you for suckers, and it makes me angry, because you are good people. 

But, to them, you are nothing but a vote and a recurring credit card charge. 

They know that you are afraid for the future, and they have weaponized that fear to turn you on the people trying to save the nation. 

Let me address one way in which they are taking you for suckers: look, I am a Democrat, and let me tell you, not a single one of our meetings ever included promoting pedophilia. Now, just, just... Let that sink in. They told you that preposterous lie about raping babies just to BAIT you into their bidding. And let's get one thing clear: there is no pedophilia problem within the party, or in its policies and platform. 

The only people with an intense, almost fetishistic obsession with pedophilia, are Republicans. Did ya ever think WHY they might be so obsessed? Did ya ever wonder where their proof was? Well, don't worry, I have the answer for you: every Republican accusation is a confession, giving you a glimpse at their criminally twisted minds, which, for some unknown reason, are focused on adults raping children. And, they have NO PROOF. If they had proof, I would ask them to bring it to the Justice department immediately for investigation and prosecution. But, four years in, and they have no proof. Just look it up: when have they ever told you a name and a location? Never. They are lies, all lies, all the way down.

So, let us recap: there is no pedophilia caucus in the Democratic party, and, until the Republicans come up with evidence--good, hard evidence--you can take it to the bank that they are peeing on your leg and saying its raining. Thank you, and may God bless the United States of America."

SHOW US THE EAR!

Remember when everyone was hounding Biden as unfit because he is an old man, and how they flogged that dead horse hard and long, until Trump got hit by broken plexiglass?

Since then, not a single journo has hounded Trump and his team, asking if he has PTSD, is he still fit to serve, why is he hiding Ronnie Johnson-Jackson's medical report from the public, is there something to hide? What is he hiding? Let us look. WHAT ARE YOU HIDING. SHOW US THE EAR!!!!!

Joe Biden could hiccup and the media would be writing his obituary and bemoaning the fact that we have a cadaver for a President. Meanwhile, that fat orange calumny machine, Donald Convicted Felon Trump, could vomit up a family of little green trolls wrapped in funky, dark mucous while shitting pus out the back end, and the media would be silent as a mouse fart.

Give me a British journo any day of the week, and twice on Sunday, man. They would be on this like white on rice.

Vance

 I prefer Vivian, frankly, but it looks like JD Vance is Trump's VP pick.

So, Trump continues to associate with whores.