Well, it looks as though the cons are still looking for some narrative that makes George Floyd the bad guy in his murder.  He was on drugs, you know?  Smoked a joint, that’s probably what did it.  No, Fentanyl, that was it!  He was dead already, he just hadn’t died yet.  But, SINCE he was dead already a grown man sitting on his neck couldn’t POSSIBLY had done any harm.  Besides, there was an Asian cop AND a black cop in the area so a white man sitting on a black man’s neck until he was dead couldn’t POSSIBLY have anything to do with racism.  Besides, they knew each other from before.

Yeah, it’s a challenge getting around that whole ‘grown man sitting on another man’s neck until he died’ thing but the conservatives will keep trying.  They’ll repeat their false mantra as many time as necessary to internalize it…

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The truth is, I’m really kind of tired of conservative bunk.  This has been going on SO long, it’s just boring.  Yeah, I know.  You can form sentences.  You can be contrary.  You don’t need no stinkin’ evidence.  Someone’s opinion is every bit as valuable as someone else’s evidence.  Cons form contrary sentences just because they can.  It’s predictable, dependable, even.  Pick an issue.  If there’s ANY risk a con will be exposed on something, there WILL BE a counter story.  Can’t prove it?  No evidence?  Doesn’t matter, that’s the story and they’re sticking to it.

I operate on the axiom that a position that depends on falsehood for it’s defense doesn’t deserve to be defended.  Conservatives operate on their own “rule” that a position that depends on falsehood for defense has been cleverly defended and defending a false position could NEVER go wrong.  That’s why trash talking Covid-19 made it go away and ignoring global warming caused the great cooling (only 100 degrees at the North Pole the other day!) and it totally explains how all of those protestors keep forcing government possibly-cops to beat them and shoot them in the face.  That’s why sitting on a man’s neck for nearly nine minutes couldn’t POSSIBLY have done any harm.  That’s why they ALL insisted they wouldn’t mind being water-boarded – so long as none of them ever were…

All one need do is state their preferred position and – voila! – preferred position becomes absolutely, unalterably true.  How nice.  Here, let me try…  ‘All conservatives always use logic, intelligence, evidence, and expertise to arrive at conclusions.’

Well, crap…that didn’t work…

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I heard on PBS the other day that Trump has talked to his handler Putin as many as eight times since March.  The wanna-be dictator getting advice from the pro?  Perhaps they’re strategizing the next “election.”  How many Russians does it take to preserve the power of an insane person?  Sounds like the set-up of a bad joke.  I hope we never get to find out – but I’m scared.  I’m CERTAIN that if the “election” is left up to Americans and Americans alone, Trump is gone.  But I’m NOT certain that the “election” WILL be left up to Americans and Americans alone.  I oppose Russian interference.  Conservatives defend it.  Trump is depending on it…

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One of the stories the conservatives cling to is that the government – their government – would never take their guns.  Cons have told me that they KNOW military and law enforcement would refuse an order to violate people’s Second Amendment rights.  I agree.  My response is always that the cops and/or military (increasingly difficult to tell the difference these days) won’t be told they’re taking the guns of law-abiding citizens.  They’ll be told they’re protecting their loved ones from terrorists.  Cons always laugh at me.

So what’s the story of the protestors in Oregon?  Why, they’re terrorists destroying a once vibrant city and turning it into a flaming hellscape.  Trump’s possibly-cops gestapo seem to be very much enjoying their violations of Americans First Amendment rights.  They’re certainly enthusiastic about it…

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I wish Biden would stop dithering and just pick a freaking running mate, already.  I also wish he’d pick Susan Rice.  The only REAL knock on her is that she has never run for public office before.  But the more governing experience Americans can put into the Oval Office and the Congress to undo all the damage done by trumpery and the conservatives, the better off we’re going to be…

So…as Trump degenerates, he’s escalating.  In a bit of political theater apparently intended to whip up some support from his base, unidentified possibly-cops are grabbing protestors in Portland Oregon, putting them in unmarked vehicles, and hauling them away.  These possibly-cops are said to be from the border patrol a division of the Department of Homeland Security.  The Governor of Oregon and the Mayor of Portland have asked the possibly-DHS thugs to stand down.  The DHS has responded that they’re “on a mission” and will stay whether the Governor wants them there or not.

I wonder if the Governor can call out the Oregon National Guard to protect Oregonians from the possibly-DHS thugs?  She won’t, of course.  But it causes me great concern.  Apparently, there’s no depth to which Trump won’t sink to try to protect his position – including invading states he doesn’t like.  Conservatives have long said they object to Federal overreach.  My guess is, right now, the cons are all in on Federal overreach…

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There’s a guideline I use to judge the strength of a given position: Do I have to change or pretend not to know things I already know in order to try to “win” some political position?  If so, I should probably reconsider my position.  Here’s a topical example.

Let’s say I had asked you one year ago today what you might be able to tell me about face masks.  After thinking about it for a minute, you would likely tell me that you know doctors and surgical staffs use face masks against the spread of contagions in operating rooms.  You might also mention your knowledge that Asians have been wearing face masks against spreading illness and against pollution for years, perhaps decades.  You know what you would NOT have heard?  You would NOT have heard about how masks choke you out and force you to re-breathe your own carbon dioxide.

NOBODY ever heard of such a “threat” until the useless buffoon in the Oval Office decided to fight a deadly global pandemic with wishful thinking and insults.  THEN, some deceiving conservative “think” tank (Heritage, Cato, etc) came up with a story and sold it into the conservative bubble.  Suddenly, there’s a group in this country that will tell you – for a little while, anyway –  about the dangers of mask wearing.  The position is politics, not science, and to MY mind, when there’s a political motivation behind some position, the best thing a thinking person can do is hold on to information they already have.

I know the anti-mask movement is nationwide but in the area I live, the anti-masker’s adopted position is even weaker for one reason: this is fire country.  Over the course of the last several years, we’ve suffered one major fire after another.  Pollutants in the air were visible and everywhere.  We were ALL wearing masks.  We all learned about the N-95’s.  Never once, did I hear anyone complain that the masks might choke them out.

Wear a mask.  At this point, it’s pretty much the only protection Americans are going to get against Covid-19 until decent leadership arrives…

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Here’s just one example of how dumb/evil (you choose) trump is.  When Covid-19 hit, he feared (correctly) that the fallout from the pandemic was going to hurt his re-election bid.  So, he decided (incorrectly) to ignore it and call it names.  That hasn’t worked, of course, but now that he’s chosen his wrongheaded position, he’s going to stick to it no matter HOW many Americans he kills.

Had he been smart (or even marginally competent) he would have put Fauci in charge.  Let Fauci do his job, manage and defeat the virus, then – as trump will always do – take the credit for the success.  If Fauci fails (which he wouldn’t, since he’s the expert) trump has a fall-guy to blame.  Either way, trump COULD have won this thing.  But he was SO incompetent, he couldn’t even protect himself…

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In every country that has defeated the pandemic, they’ve used pretty much the same model: testing, tracing, and isolating.  Those of us unfortunate enough to be victims of the ‘Greatest Country on Earth’™ hear only about testing, testing, testing.  The tests results are slow.  People can infect others for DAYS between taking the test and getting the results.  I’ve heard nothing about contact tracing in the US.

It looks like Covid-19 is going to keep tearing away at this once-great nation from sea to shining sea until January 21, 2021 when President Biden begins an authoritative response – fighting conservatives every step of the way – that SHOULD have started in January, 2020.

One can only guess at how many Americans trump will have allowed to die by then…

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As it happens, there is one area of agreement I have had with many trump supporters: I didn’t believe him, either.  That is, I thought his shtick during the 2016 campaign was just that, shtick.  After the Russians put him in office, I thought (hoped?) he’d change his behavior, you know?  Just…stop performing and do the job.

It has been mind-boggling to discover he wasn’t performing and it wasn’t shtick.  What we’ve seen from Donald Trump seems to be the very best he has to offer.  I think we can all be forgiven for not believing such wreckage of a human being could function on this planet for 74 years.  NO ONE will be forgiven for continuing to support him now that we know…

German Chancellor Angela Merkel: “We are seeing at the moment that the pandemic can’t be fought with lies and disinformation, and neither can it be with hatred and agitation.”  She also said, “Fact-denying populism is being shown its limits.”  She didn’t specify any particular country so…there’s no way to know who she might have been referencing…

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I’ve been reading, recently, that the Trump campaign has found it’s voice and is going to run on a “law and order” platform.  THEN, Trump commutes the sentence of Roger Stone, a felon convicted of lying to Congress, tampering with witnesses, and obstructing a House investigation.  So much for THAT angle.  The only message he can offer now is that he supports the law but only when it doesn’t apply to him and his…

…I submit his base won’t care, though…

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There was this…oh, okay…”person” by the name of Ayn Rand.  She’s mostly known for writing fiction intended to appeal to the 13-year-old-boy mind.  She has this quote, “Reason is not automatic.  Those who deny it cannot be conquered by it.”

This seems to be the driving mantra of conservatives, these days.  If you’re unclear as to her intent, let me re-phrase her comment for her.  “If you’re an unreasonable asshole, you can’t lose!”  Now…technically, this is correct – as far as it goes.  The part she failed to mention is that you can’t win, either.  See, if you’re wrong, you’re wrong and your refusal to admit you’re wrong doesn’t make you right.  It just makes you wrong AND an asshole.  Sadly, I have some experience with this.

When I was a young man, a friend of mine and his at-the-time girlfriend once gifted me a knife for a birthday present.  It was a little two-blade pocket knife.  They told me it was a Swiss Army knife.  THEY meant it was made by the Swiss Army Knife company.  (It’s important to note the knife bore the logo of the Swiss Army Knife company…)  Because it wasn’t the 50 blades and a corkscrew variety, I said it wasn’t a Swiss Army knife.  I kind of meant it as a joke because it was so different from what people envision when one thinks of a Swiss Army knife.

My friends were surprised by my response and assured me that it was, in fact, a Swiss Army knife.  For reasons I can’t explain to this very day, I just went into full-on Ayn Rand asshole mode and insisted it was NOT a Swiss Army knife.  That was my position and I dug my heels in.  (No, I’m not describing my proudest moment…)  Bear in mind, I had NO basis for my position.  I had NO information to support my position.  THEY had bought the knife.  They knew who made it.  It bore the Swiss Army Knife company logo.  But they could not – under any circumstances – get me to confess it was a Swiss Army knife.

Short version?  They moved from surprised to confused to irritated to outright angry.  You will not be surprised to learn that my bad attitude ruined the party and they left early and angry.  (For the record, we’re still friends.  I apologized and they graciously accepted…)  The point is, at no time was I correct.  Sure I couldn’t lose the argument because I wouldn’t confess the error.  But I couldn’t WIN the argument, either, because I was just absolutely, completely wrong.  I was just being a contrarian, in the best Ayn Rand asshole tradition.

It’s clear to me that the conservative bubble has tapped into – and plays on – that contrarian model for many, many people.  I think it explains the anti-maskers.  I’ve watched for years as one issue after another comes out and immediately, the conservative bubble goes into overdrive making up “defenses” or just planting the contrarian asshole position in their base.  Covid-19 was such a threat, though, that initially, even the conservative bubble thought it best to use masks and play it safe.  After all, the conservative base is made up of olds and they’re very vulnerable.  But then, someone in the bubble noticed that it had created a kind of unity and the ONE THING the conservative bubble CAN NOT tolerate is unity.

Next thing the world knew, the US started seeing armed old men marching on state capitals and demanding “liberty” (that is, “liberated” from their homes) and the anti-mask movement was born.  Now, many of them are being “liberated” from their lives but the anti-maskers are dug in and will readily declare there’s not anything anyone can do or say that will change their minds.  I believe them.  They’re still wrong, though.

There’s an old saying, a chain is only as strong as it’s weakest link.  We, the people, can never do better than our weakest link and I believe the conservative bubble intentionally creates “weak links.”  Since the absolute weakest link currently occupies the Oval Office, I think the rest of us had better buckle up for the long haul because we’re in for a rough ride unless and until competent leadership can be found…

YOYO
By now, we all understand the traitor Trump’s failed strategy for dealing with Covid-19: ignore it.  Now, there’s information that the White House has unified it’s message into ‘We’re going to have to learn to live with it.’  I see the message as “Screw you.  You’re on your own.”  We are, too.  Since the White House has abandoned it’s proper leadership role in this matter, we’re just left to fend for ourselves.

This is the small government, leave-it-to-the-states approach conservatives think they’d enjoy.  This is what it looks like.  One state makes a good decision based on science and it’s neighbor makes a different, poor choice based on some guy’s gut feeling.  The science state ends up losing to the gut feeling state anyway because viruses don’t give a fig about your politics…or mine.

Decent leadership would have been nice during this time, though…

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It’s the economy, stupid!
The truth is, Trump thinks he’s going to revive the economy and that (and his Russian buddies) will get him re-elected.  So he chose to ignore Covid-19 and try to force the workers back into the fray – an acknowledgment that workers, not the so-called “job creators,” are the life-blood of the economy.

Forcing people back to work has had two predictable results.  One, the June Jobs Report looked, comparatively, fairly good.  Two, Covid-19 infections have shot through the roof.  States that were trying to “reopen” are now starting to “reclose.”  I’m guessing the July Jobs Report won’t be so rosy…

For now, the deniers will point out (they’d better hurry, though) that deaths have not spiked.  Deaths always follow the infection rate.  The why is simple: more people start showing up at hospitals.  At first, the hospitals are able to care for the sick but before too long, the number of sick begins to overwhelm the capacity of the hospitals and the facilities have to go into triage mode – that means picking and choosing who gets care and who dies.  THAT’S when you’ll see the death rates spike.

And in the meantime, the economy is going back into limp-along mode.  Trump’s self-absorption is killing Americans…

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Amnesty
I think we on the left need to offer a short period of amnesty to trumpsters who would rather NOT be tarred with the stain of racism so closely associated with Trump.  By now, the evidence of Trump’s racism is so clear only the willfully ignorant could pretend they don’t see it (Keyword: pretend).  I even take into account how the conservative media constantly scrubs and white-washes (heavy emphasis on the ‘white’) Trump’s image.

But the mountain of evidence is undeniable.  As nearly as I can tell, Trump’s entire campaign strategy for 2020 consists of reaching out directly to racists with his “comforting” message of being one of them.  I think most people accept the idea that one can judge a man by the company he keeps.  (That’s a one-way street, in this case.  Trump’s acolytes might like to “keep company” with him but there’s no way in hell he would hang around with any of them.)  Trump keeps reaching out to white supremacists.  THOSE are his people.  THOSE are the ones he’s counting on for re-election.

That means we’ve come to a crossroads.  Look, you likely don’t see yourself as a racist.  Most racists don’t.  Maybe you really aren’t.  But how can you be okay with racism unless you feel it a bit yourself?  Perhaps your loyalty to Trump was based on other aspects of his policies.  Whatever.  You’re about to be stained forever by your association with the racist Trump.

Look at the thugs in this photo.  I’m particularly struck by the guy on the left, just to the right of the guy pouring sugar on the woman.  He’s just staring.  He’s not actively participating but he’s not doing anything to stop it, either.  He’s with the mob.  He allowed himself to be in the photo standing against equality.  He will forever be associated with this hateful little event because of where he chose to be in that moment.  And if you’re a trumpster, he’s you.

So…as a one-time good deal, I offer a short period of amnesty in which any and all heretofore trumpsters can publicly disassociate themselves with the Orange Disaster, and I’ll believe you and accept what you say.  How about, one week?  After that, I’ll know you’re at least…okay with racism.  Even if I don’t say so directly, I’ll understand you as a racist from here on out.  Fair warning: your association with Trump is about to become an entry on your permanent record, one you can’t erase…

…and we haven’t even started on his treason, yet…