Friday, July 31, 2020
More than 20 million unemployed Americans are about to lose $600 a week. They need the money. They can’t find jobs. The House passed a relief bill. But the Senate is leaving Washington for vacation. They could fix the problem, but they just don't care. This November, vote them ALL out of office! SEND NO ONE BACK!
Wednesday, July 29, 2020
Donald J. Trump--the all-time champion!
I don’t know if President Trump is the worst president in US history, but he’s certainly the worst in my lifetime. I’ve been following presidential politics since the Eisenhower/Stevenson election of 1956--sixteen elections. In the last week alone:
★ A “highly placed White House official” admitted that federal officers were sent to Portland deliberately to stir up confrontation, in order to generate conservative click-bait.
★ The Department of Homeland Security announced it will not process DACA applications, in direct defiance of a federal court order, persuant to last month’s Supreme Court decision.
★ At the president’s insistence, funding for upgrades to the FBI headquarters building was included in the COVID-19 relief bill. This will prevent the building from being sold to a hotel chain that competes directly with Trump Hotels in Washington, DC.
To prevent such conflicts of interest, Presidential finances are handled by a “blind trust”. President Trump’s trust has only one trustee--President Donald J. Trump.
★ To back up his baseless COVID-19 claims, the president quoted a “noted doctor” who believes STDs are caused by dream sex with demons and witches, that vaccines make people lose their religion, and that many national leaders are reptilian space aliens in disguise.
★ In a news conference, the president admitted that he did not bring up the issue of Russian-paid bounties on dead US troops, when he spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Before Trump, any of these actions would have been grounds for impeachment. Donald Trump committed all five in one week, and no one minds. Perhaps this is due to the deadening effect of his continual barrage of misinformation. Wikipedia, in the article, “Veracity of statements by Donald Trump,” quotes several scholars who state (in peer-reviewed journals!) that he has made over 20,000 false or misleading public statements in four years. If he knew they were false, he is the world champion liar of all time. If not, he’s the champion ignoramus. If he knew some were lies, but believed the rest, he is both the champion liar AND the champion ignoramus of all time. No other world leader in history has even come close.
★ A “highly placed White House official” admitted that federal officers were sent to Portland deliberately to stir up confrontation, in order to generate conservative click-bait.
★ The Department of Homeland Security announced it will not process DACA applications, in direct defiance of a federal court order, persuant to last month’s Supreme Court decision.
★ At the president’s insistence, funding for upgrades to the FBI headquarters building was included in the COVID-19 relief bill. This will prevent the building from being sold to a hotel chain that competes directly with Trump Hotels in Washington, DC.
To prevent such conflicts of interest, Presidential finances are handled by a “blind trust”. President Trump’s trust has only one trustee--President Donald J. Trump.
★ To back up his baseless COVID-19 claims, the president quoted a “noted doctor” who believes STDs are caused by dream sex with demons and witches, that vaccines make people lose their religion, and that many national leaders are reptilian space aliens in disguise.
★ In a news conference, the president admitted that he did not bring up the issue of Russian-paid bounties on dead US troops, when he spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Before Trump, any of these actions would have been grounds for impeachment. Donald Trump committed all five in one week, and no one minds. Perhaps this is due to the deadening effect of his continual barrage of misinformation. Wikipedia, in the article, “Veracity of statements by Donald Trump,” quotes several scholars who state (in peer-reviewed journals!) that he has made over 20,000 false or misleading public statements in four years. If he knew they were false, he is the world champion liar of all time. If not, he’s the champion ignoramus. If he knew some were lies, but believed the rest, he is both the champion liar AND the champion ignoramus of all time. No other world leader in history has even come close.
Wednesday, July 15, 2020
Racism
“Every night in Basic Training, I got beat up by a big, Black bully.” is considered to be a racist statement, although it is the literal truth.
“Every night in Basic Training, I got to beat up a privileged little White boy. Black Power!” is not considered a racist statement.
Any statement involving race made by a white person is considered racist, regardless of the content, but no statement involving race made by a black person is racist, no matter how egregious.
“There were no Black students in my high school,” is racist, but, “There were no White students in my high school,” is not racist, because both statements are seen as expressions of White privilege. But the fact is, not all Whites are privileged, and not all Blacks are victims.
Black actors portraying historically White people are progressive, while White actors portraying Blacks, even fictional ones, are racists. Blacks who “passed” as White are commended for coming out, but Whites, who appear in blackface once, are damned for the rest of their lives.
We live in a profoundly racist society. If you are White, you are a racist by definition, but if you are Black, you cannot be a racist, no matter what you do or say. This is bullshit. The two most racist organizations in America today are the KKK and the NAACP. The differences between them are great. The KKK is criminal, violent, and secretive, while the NAACP is legal, open, and political. I greatly prefer the NAACP, even though I am White, because I detest violent, criminal bullies. But both organizations were specifically formed to advance the cause and power of one race over all others. In other words, they are racist.
There are NO neutral statements. “Every night in Basic Training I got beat up by a bully” seems to be neutral, since no race is involved. But when it is learned that the bully was Black and I am White, the statement becomes racist in retrospect, even though I was careful to exclude all such references, because Blacks have been beat up by Whites with impunity for centuries, and have not even been allowed to complain. So my statement of plain fact, with no judgement and no indication of race, becomes an historically racist statement. There is no way to describe or refer to race neutrally.
This limits my options for dialog with Black people. I can listen to them. That’s fine. But the moment I open my mouth, anything I say can and will be held against me. It is very hard to find a Black person who is willing to have an equal dialog with a White man. If I once had a Black girlfriend (which I did), it’s assumed it was I who broke up with her, and that I did it because she was Black. If I have a Black friend, it’s assumed I am acting out of White guilt. Jews, Chinese, and Native Americans can have friends of different races, and they’re just friends. Why not Blacks?
Please don’t bring up slavery. Jews (like me) were slaves long before Blacks, longer than Blacks, and much more recently than Blacks, and are still objects of racial persecution today, even by Blacks. The first slaves imported into America were NOT Black. They were Irish. Really. By the thousands. You don’t even hear about it today. Chinese and Native Americans were also enslaved, and even subjected to genocide, which is arguably worse than mere slavery. Yet neither the Irish, the Jews, the Chinese, nor the Native Americans see everything in light of their race. Only Blacks make neutral dialog with other races impossible. Why is that? Can someone please tell me?
“Every night in Basic Training, I got to beat up a privileged little White boy. Black Power!” is not considered a racist statement.
Any statement involving race made by a white person is considered racist, regardless of the content, but no statement involving race made by a black person is racist, no matter how egregious.
“There were no Black students in my high school,” is racist, but, “There were no White students in my high school,” is not racist, because both statements are seen as expressions of White privilege. But the fact is, not all Whites are privileged, and not all Blacks are victims.
Black actors portraying historically White people are progressive, while White actors portraying Blacks, even fictional ones, are racists. Blacks who “passed” as White are commended for coming out, but Whites, who appear in blackface once, are damned for the rest of their lives.
We live in a profoundly racist society. If you are White, you are a racist by definition, but if you are Black, you cannot be a racist, no matter what you do or say. This is bullshit. The two most racist organizations in America today are the KKK and the NAACP. The differences between them are great. The KKK is criminal, violent, and secretive, while the NAACP is legal, open, and political. I greatly prefer the NAACP, even though I am White, because I detest violent, criminal bullies. But both organizations were specifically formed to advance the cause and power of one race over all others. In other words, they are racist.
There are NO neutral statements. “Every night in Basic Training I got beat up by a bully” seems to be neutral, since no race is involved. But when it is learned that the bully was Black and I am White, the statement becomes racist in retrospect, even though I was careful to exclude all such references, because Blacks have been beat up by Whites with impunity for centuries, and have not even been allowed to complain. So my statement of plain fact, with no judgement and no indication of race, becomes an historically racist statement. There is no way to describe or refer to race neutrally.
This limits my options for dialog with Black people. I can listen to them. That’s fine. But the moment I open my mouth, anything I say can and will be held against me. It is very hard to find a Black person who is willing to have an equal dialog with a White man. If I once had a Black girlfriend (which I did), it’s assumed it was I who broke up with her, and that I did it because she was Black. If I have a Black friend, it’s assumed I am acting out of White guilt. Jews, Chinese, and Native Americans can have friends of different races, and they’re just friends. Why not Blacks?
Please don’t bring up slavery. Jews (like me) were slaves long before Blacks, longer than Blacks, and much more recently than Blacks, and are still objects of racial persecution today, even by Blacks. The first slaves imported into America were NOT Black. They were Irish. Really. By the thousands. You don’t even hear about it today. Chinese and Native Americans were also enslaved, and even subjected to genocide, which is arguably worse than mere slavery. Yet neither the Irish, the Jews, the Chinese, nor the Native Americans see everything in light of their race. Only Blacks make neutral dialog with other races impossible. Why is that? Can someone please tell me?
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