“Holy, holy, holy, LORD Brother Donnie…”

 When we first moved south we stopped at a motel in Covington, Kentucky. Early Sunday morning I got up and turned on the TV and there was one of ‘those’ preachers. I had never actually seen a faith healer in action so I was fascinated. Mr Healer called a deaf woman up on stage, stage hands helped her up. He told her and the audience he was going to heal her. Hands over her ears he cried, “In the name of Jesus say, ‘I am healed!'”
 Puzzled look.
 ”In the name of Jesus say, ‘I am healed!!'”
 Head tilts, She still had a puzzled look
 Finally he slowly parsed his words, making sure she was watching, “In the name of Jesus say, I… AM… HEALED!!!”
 Still with a quizzical look, slowly she says, “I… am… healed???” Read more

Courtesy bunw.com

 When I write my columns sometimes I write out of passion, sometimes logic, and sometimes I have written several potential columns but I keep thinking, “I am writing about what everyone else is writing about. So what am I missing? Is there something important that we aren’t writing about?”
 This is one of the last kind of columns. I am guessing it won’t be popular with many. But it is, I fear, the only way forth from here. And, since I love literary and movie metaphors, we’ll have a few of those too.
 We have those plotting amongst us to turn the nation into a rather brutal one party dictatorship. And it’s not Republican, Liberal, Democratic nor Conservative. For now we could call it the Trump Party, the MAGA Party. Think of them as worse than Harry Potter villains, if you wish. There’s even magic involved, bad, pathetic magic. Worse than the most untalented magicians you’ve ever seen. Magic no one with an atom of common sense is buying anymore.
 But as January 6th showed it has nothing to do with common sense, and it’s definitely NOT fiction. We can’t just walk out of the theater thinking there’s some happy ending, or wait for a sequel to resolve the situation. Waiting is the worst thing we can do. They do, and will, commit murder if it suits the cause. They will do anything to get and keep power; including pipe bombs, putting cops in the hospital… so much for “blue lives matter” …beat cops with flag poles and the flag… so much for respect for the flag. Smearing feces all over the halls of Congress. And just keeling is “offensive?”
 There are many ways we defeated Donald Trump this time. Let’s consider perhaps the most crucial: bases, and how keeping a very diverse base together is important to keep worse than Voldemort villains from destroying the country, and what little freedom we still have. I go there because the win certainly had far less to do with better stances, popular opinions or any solid, firm, agenda.
 Part of the winning base was progressives: those who sincerely loathed Donald Trump; more than they loathed the less than progressive stances previously held by Joe Biden. Those who also understood what a danger another Trump term posed for the country. Then we have the Democratic Party base that Trump tried to marginalize, minimize, even kill. Example: during a time of COVID mail in voting was the better, safest, option. Kill the post office. Kill blacks, more vulnerable to COVID than others and a big, reliable, voter base. And lastly: not to diminish them at all, Republicans, like The Lincoln Project. They recognized Trump for who he is, has always been. Smart enough not to be sucked into the cult. That Trump is NOT a conservative or even Republican. Certainly not in the tradition of Buckley or Goldwater. Not even Reagan. They refused to bow to the dictatorial demand for loyalty, bow to Trump-ian political correctness, goosestep to Marmalade mind’s demands.
 You do know that’s how his hair got that orange, right?
 Jokes aside, in this column I am addressing ALL of this extremely wide base. We have one more mission and EVERYONE is going to have to compromise to get where we need to go. Read more

 As a gun owner I write to chide some gun owners, some who claim to be defending gun owner’s rights. Not because I want more gun regulations. Not because I want confiscation. Not to push gun registration. I doubt enforcing or even passing gun laws like what some want would be all that feasible in America. In a country with a long history of gun ownership and resistance to gun laws? I am beyond skeptical.

 So that is not what this is about. It’s about how something is desperately wrong with some of the gun community. Something has changed from when I was young. Something deeply wrong, even sick. And that’s all too obvious.
 There have been words said, there have been acts, there has been behaviors that any decent gun owner should be the first to condemn, the first to rise up in fury, the first to agree we must hold to account irresponsible gun owners. When an armed lynch mob attacks; cheering on putting a bullet in public servant’s head, no responsible gun owner should support that: no matter how much they disagree with that politician. They certainly shouldn’t just very briefly condemn a terrorist lynch mob using with just a few measly, weaselly words when not doing so has become politically in convenient… then try to redirect that blame on those being attacked, abused, killed. Even if these “others” have done inexcusable things. What others do never excuses bad behavior. Gun owners should be the first to join those who insist this stops here and they all be arrested, held to account. Read more

 Oh, blessed be the silence! The daily 12 year old bully taunt driven drivel has dried up on the social network that could be accurately named just by dropping all but 4 letters; “TWIT.” Now our daily dose of drivel is driven by such horrors as Biden wears a Rolex and the pathetic cry, “Don’t be so divisive!” (Intended sub-context: “Only WE are allowed ‘divisive: even if we’re violent, murderous, insurrectionists.”)
  Interesting how all those ‘precious’ “back the blue” cries have also dried up. I guess murdering the blue is OK if it’s insurrection.
 Interesting after the past 4 years how Biden wearing a Rolex is even considered to be important enough to comment on.
 Interesting how, through the Pentagon, Donnie’s recent Defense Secretary appointment blocked the National Guard by placing major restrictions on DC’s Nation Guard; pre-January 6th, doesn’t bother many Republicans one whit. May I suggest a new RNC slogan: “Blue lives matter… not?”
 Interesting how so many still backed the cowardly insurrectionist-in Chief after he plainly said he would be with them, but instead quietly slithered back to the White House. Unlike the Benghazi lie about Barack and Hillary watching and laughing, to joyously be glued to his TV and revel in the rampage he inspired.
 You know who I just cast Trump as in the Garden of Eden story, right?
 For a very brief moment I heard some stink being started about the Biden’s dogs being part of some outrage. Made no sense and I admit it was so fleeting I have already forgot. But I’m guessing the ghost of Socks the Cat must be chuckling at such all too familiar nonsensical, silly, attention seeking right wing noise machine blather. At least Socks is still reading secret messages sent to him, assumed to be sent by Satan… I guess.
 The perpetual, hyperbolic, right wing noise machine has always been kind of of like a constant dumping of dirty kitty litter into the media mainstream. Notice I don’t use Republican Noise Machine like David Brock did in his book. It has gotten so bad… (Think of “bullet to Nancy Pelosi’s head MTG Majorie Taylor Greene.”) …too many on the right don’t qualify as Republicans or traditional Conservatives: not Buckley, not even Barry Goldwater.
 Perhaps the best metaphor for the past 4 years would be a petri dish overflowing with toxicity.
 So I can’t revel in either the silly or the silence. Read more

 The past 4 plus years remind me of an episode of classic Trek called Dagger of the Mind. America has been locked in a room where the nation is forced to listen to repeating claims, like one that started in 2015 and never ended: if Trump loses it always MUST be rigged.
 Keep repeating claims as if they are proven facts and weak minds believe.
 Was there ANY way he and his enablers would have accepted losing? A rhetorical question like, “Is water wet?” You KNOW the answer.
 Early AM, can’t sleep: the TV is my lullaby with New Age music on 856: Direct TV. Or one of the exploratory channels featuring shows like, How the Universe Works or Unearthed. Shows interesting, but not interesting enough to keep me awake.
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 Hey, I found 3 channels I never noticed before: Idea, SALE and Xtra. Let’s see what’s on them! Infomercial. Infomercial. Infomercial… god, doesn’t Direct TV have enough infomercial channels? Like far more than half of their channels? Read more