I find myself a bit…confused at why Herschel Walker even bothers to respond when he’s caught, dead to rights, in a lie. The people who care aren’t likely to vote for him and the people likely to vote for him don’t care. So why bother? Worse? Everybody knows he’s lying. Everybody. The left tries to set the record straight. The right clings to his stories desperately wishing they were true – but now armed with a talking point to defend their otherwise defenseless positions.

On Bill Maher’s most recent episode of ‘Real Time,’ he suggested that the cons vote for irredeemable reprobates, liars, con-men, swindlers, and scoundrels as a kind of protest against the “woke” attitudes of the left. I agree the woke movement is somewhat over the top but the idea that someone, anyone, would hand power to such horrible people as some kind of retribution is just nonsense. It’s like saying they support the murderer because they don’t like the shoplifter.

I presume Maher is discouraged from talking about the damage done by conservative media. After all, he’s a media guy. A media guy attacking media for the damage media does might be seen as the very definition of pooping where you eat – a serious no-no.

Look, nobody ever said that ONLY cons are crazy. The left has it’s outrageous and faux-outraged element, as well. If you ask me, some elements of the left go WAY too far on WAY too many issues. They will attempt to shout you down if you stray too far from their preferred dogma. They are every bit as obnoxious as any element from the right. Enter Fox “News” or ONAN or any of the other right-wing media outlets. All they have to do is show a couple of the extremist lefties and pretend those represent ALL lefties and the right is whipped into a new frenzy of apoplexy.

They get away with it because nobody ever tells them they’re being deceived. They’re discouraged from accepting input from their political enemies in the same way a cult member is discouraged from listening to their families, friends, or anyone else who might bring information contrary to the cult-leader’s wishes. The right is not responding to the left. They’re responding to a caricature of the left. In short, the right wants to burn the forest because of what that witch tried to do to Hansel and Gretel.

It’s all great theater and grand laughing-stock – until one takes into account that these guys are getting ready to fight an actual civil war over the stories they believe. Now, to be sure, they appear to believe it will be the left who starts the war, not the right. (This wrongheaded position is based on their false belief that the liberals started the LAST civil war, too.) They feel like when the left brings the bullets, the right is ready to fight. Now all they have to do is get the left to bring the war.

History, it turns out, is littered with stories of wars being fought for fraudulent reasons. Our own once-great nation has several examples but the phenomenon is hardly confined to the imperial United States. It happens all the time and has happened throughout history. The thing I’ve always loved about history is the people. We always cover the events. We learn the dates of the events. We learn about the events on those dates from a distant point of view and there is commonly very little discussion of the effects of those events on the actual people who lived them. But that’s where I always go. (I’d say it’s one of the main things that make Ken Burns’ documentaries so compelling. HE focuses on the people, too.)

Some respected politician tells some horrifying tale. The common man, not knowing the truth, gets outraged and signs up. They get sent somewhere and start dying – and killing – in the name of the story. I wonder what happens to those soldiers if/when they discover the story they killed so many people over isn’t true. When Iraq War soldiers discovered that Iraq had nothing to do with September 11, 2001, they HAD to start wondering why they were killing Iraqis. When Vietnam War soldiers discovered that the Gulf of Tonkin incident was made up, they HAD to start wondering why they were killing Vietnamese. That is why, as it happens, I’m so concerned that the cons have such a nonchalant view of Walker’s lies. Political lies are FAR too often not just expediencies – they’re often VERY dangerous.

I’ll tell you this: I wish (I know) that I could get the cons to see they’re planning to start killing human beings – for real – over stories that are made up – before the killing begins. But if wishes were horses…

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Gavin Newsom continues to insist he’s not running for President in 2024. Words. He keeps doing things that look like he’s running in 2024. Actions. Actions speak louder than words. He has to say he’s not running. He’s a Party guy and he doesn’t want to ruffle any feathers should Joe decide to run again. He’s just (coincidentally) positioning himself in case Joe decides against it. As a side benefit, he’s also show-casing himself as a possible Vice-Presidential running mate.

The thing is, he’s “positioning himself” by aligning with corporate and hyper-wealthy interests. (I know. Ever since the cons ruined election integrity with their bullshit Citizen’s United ruling, cozying up to Richie Rich is pretty much the only option. But one cannot serve two masters. As he cozies up to the wealthy special interests, he increasingly turns his back on Joe Six-pack.) As the mid-terms approach, he’s taking part in two different campaigns. One is in support of Proposition 1, an amendment to the California constitution guaranteeing a woman’s right to choose. (Pro people. Yay, Gavin…) The other is against Proposition 30. (Pro-special interest. Boo, Gavin…) When I first saw Newsom was against 30 and suggesting it was a corporate giveaway to Lyft (the taxi service) I thought I’d vote as he suggested. The thing is, I’ve looked further into 30 – based largely on posts a friend of mine made in social media. (Thanks, Jeff!)

As nearly as I can tell, Newsom is misrepresenting Proposition 30. He invoked a boogeyman – corporate interest – in order to protect the true winners should Prop 30 fail, those making over $2 Million dollars a year. This is not even the first time Newsom has taken the pro-corporation, anti-people position. He does it from time to time. He’s just very good at “explaining” why he had to do so in this or that case. I even include the reality that politics is all about compromise. It’s just that he seems willing to compromise his support of Joe Six-pack more and more, and the more it happens? The less I trust him. Simple, really…

I’ll tell you this: Gavin can’t spend too much more time as Governor. From a political observer point of view, I think that whatever he’s going to do, he should do. The longer he’s in the Governor’s chair, the more he’s exposed as beholden to the wealthy and other special interests and not so inclined to care about the day-to-day concerns of the common man. I suppose it’s just life, but it’s VERY disappointing…