So…Gordon Sondland now stands accused of inappropriate behavior with three different women, once in 2003, once in 2008, and again in 2010.  Did he do it?  Who knows.  He said/she said.  If he did, he should pay the appropriate price, whatever that may be.  But…

Doesn’t the timing seem just a bit suspicious to you?  Only after Sondland makes clear he was working Trump’s Quid Pro Quo with Ukraine he get accused of bad behavior?  My first notice was from ProPublica, an ostensibly left-leaning outlet.  But left-leaning outlets can be wrong, too.  More, left-leaning outlets might be a little TOO quick to accept junk during an investigation.  Remember Dan Rather?  He had a solid story that Bush 43 is a deserter but fell for fake documents to back the story up.  Too quick.  Story dead.  (Bush 43 is still a deserter, though, imho…)

Maybe ProPublica has been taken in.  Maybe not.  Maybe Sondland did as charged.  But I’m certain that Gordon Sondland’s misbehavior has zero affect on his testimony under oath: “Was there a Quid Pro Quo?  The answer is yes!”

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I’ve been thinking about  our harsh and brutal society, recently.  One of the messages that plays over and over is that ours is a world of winners and losers.  We focus mightily on the winners.  But what about the losers?

If you’re great at business deals – or just a great con-man – you get to be in the “winner” category.  But what if you’re too honest or just bad at such things?  Do those people deserve to suffer?  Can our society REALLY not do ANYTHING to help people who can’t help themselves?

Many philosophies teach balance in all things.  If that’s a correct position, then for every “winner” there has to be a “loser”, yes?  We’ve all heard about the guy who finds a priceless art work at a garage sale and makes a mint.  What about the schmoe who sold the piece, not realizing what it was?  No, I don’t think he should be cut in.  I’m thinking a guy like that might well have gone through his entire life making choices like that – selling the priceless art work in a garage sale for five or ten bucks.

I think our society is rife with people like that – people with a lifetime of poor choices and mistakes dogging their today.  I know it’s a “wouldn’t it be great” concept but I think our society should pay more attention to the people who LOSE in deals…

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I have a friend who poses a question from time to time.  He asks, since semi-automatic weapons have existed for over 100 years but mass shootings are a relatively new phenomenon, what changed?  I have an answer for him.  He’s conservative in his politics and a gun rights advocate so I don’t think he’ll LIKE my answer but I think I’m correct.  What changed?

The radicalization of the right by corporate media.

The conservative bubble spends massive amounts of time, money, and energy making sure the conservative base stays worked up; angry and afraid.
“They’re coming to take your guns.”
“They’re coming to take your jobs.”
“They think you’re stupid.”
“They want to destroy Christmas.”
“They say you’re a racist.”
“They want to make you a slave.”

It’s no wonder people get angry and set out to “defend” themselves.  None of those things are true, of course, but the consumers of the conservative bubble will not accept any information from outside the bubble and those message just keep repeating – so they don’t KNOW the messages are false and they get angry.

So that’s my answer.  That’s what changed.

The radicalization of the right…