We're Number One!, 69
It Depends On Context and What You Can Get Away With
Deontology: The study of the nature of duty and obligation.
Possibly it’s merely the complexity and the increasing pace of change that might be outrunning our ability across the globe to comprehend what is occurring around us? But it also could be so much more….
Did three college presidents end up becoming instruments of both censorship and denial? Many of you may have seen it live on television: Three presidents of three prestigious—and expensive—American colleges had some difficulty explaining words like genocide, antisemitism and harassment to a House committee meeting, that is now a Republican cult controlled House of Representatives currently led by Michael Johnson, an absurd 19th century Christian theocrat and a leading supporter of the January 6 insurrection. This is all true. No names were change to protect the innocent.
I suspect there are more than a few members of this political body that are not necessarily all that uncomfortable with marching neo-Nazis mobs yelling “Jews will not replace us.” Hypocrisy, however, is hardly an unknown quality anywhere, especially along the slippery political spectrum in the U.S.
Do you remember the march in 2017 that took place in Charlottesville, Virginia, the tiki-torch bunch of nasty little wannabees. Oh but, “there are good people on both sides,” as one former, not-so-bright U.S. president said.
Still, there was something cold, chilling and empty as these three college presidents attempted to respond to the House committee. What the hell do you believe in! I felt like screaming out, regardless of any legal parsing of words.
Of course it’s clearly offensive about selectively enforcing codes of conduct, don’t you think. Leon Wieseltier, the editor of the magazine Liberties said recently, “We are a culture which loves victims and worships victimization and gives a great moral authority to the victims, but we don’t treat victims equally.”
Those Were the Days
I do miss Bill Clinton from the 1990s, along with the egregious, pompous twit and a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Newt Gingrich, whose goal in life was to get Clinton and blow up the system. Like most of these bozos, the Newt didn’t really have any original ideas about what he’d replace the “system” with, except for the usual reducing taxes on the rich, and for the not so rich, just take some personal responsibility for your shortcomings.
But less we forget, President Clinton was attempting to clarify, er, alleged blow jobs in the Oval Office with one of his employees. It depends on what the meaning of the word ‘is’ is Clinton said with a straight face in a video deposition. Hm. There was a bit of the entitled dirt bag under the good ol’ boy BS.
But Bill Clinton, from the bellwether state of Arkansas, wasn’t trying to destroy the Constitution and install authoritarianism-cum-fascism; he only wanted to parse some words because he needed to escape responsibility for his actions when finally caught.
We all can understand that, even though we may not want to. This of course doesn’t rise to “a level of moral squalor so profound,” as the writer and comedian Fran Lebowitz said of the treasonous degenerate Donald Trump. Oh you agree, don’t you? But maybe not. I do understand.
Yet consider my fellow Americans, fellatio with someone other than your partner is not a good idea in or near the Oval Office or maybe even with your partner, to be on the safe side. There are duties and obligations the President of the United States ought to be clearly aware of, from the trivial to the serious.
I know I’m drifting, but events arrive so quickly. I wonder if the citizens of Israel will get rid of their Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. After all, he is still on trial for criminal charges brought against him in 2020 I believe.
Along with being taken completely by surprise by the unexpected Hamas attack itself, Netanyahu most definitely did “kick the can down the road,” regarding Gaza with its more than 2 million humans essentially living under house arrest.
If you listen to Masha Gessen, the Russian-American journalist, Jewish descendant of Holocaust survivors and winner of the Hannah Arendt prize than what Israel is doing in Gaza may be much worse than “house arrest.” Netanyahu did virtually nothing concerning unlawful Israel settlements in the West Bank.
No one informed these settler-zealots that an invisible sky wizard didn’t give them a damn thing, no land entitlement whatsoever. C’mon, is it really so surprising that a nihilistic darkness like Hamas settled over the region? What would you have done?
What’s this got to do with anything you might ask, especially if you’re not an Israeli, a Jew, a Palestinian or even a Muslim? Yes I know, a complex question in a far too busy world, a world that many in the U.S. would like to get away from but can not or don’t know how.
The region is now a genuine powder keg along with being a humanitarian disaster and we Americans, oblivious or or not, are deeply connected, like it or not, to a region where gruesome fairy tales are firmly entrenched. It could end up costing us much more than money. No, don’t give a sigh of relief; we may come to to wish it were only money we had to part with. But, nevertheless, money will be part of it. Deontology is the study of the nature of duty and obligation.
Now imagine just for the heck of it how all this money that will be spent—$2 million, $2 billion, $20 billion could be divided up for health care, housing, maybe even for education. Yes a futile, time consuming exercise I suppose.
How To Become a Celebrity In America
George Santos, a former Representative from New York, who was booted out of office recently by the “esteemed” House members, has now reaffirmed that there is “a second act” in America especially for those that can contribute to the country’s insatiable bread & circus culture.
Cameo, as some of you know, is another video platform, where people can pay, ahh, “celebrities” to send personal video messages, no matter how ridiculous. Happy Birthday Mom. I can’t tell you where I am because the deep state is looking for me and my cat Lork. Love you.
You guessed it. George, the grifter, Santos is apparently making more money doing this than he did as a Congressman from New York. I bet some of George’s former constituents are proud of him and maybe even envious of the hustle he polished. Really, who doesn’t want to be an “influencer” like George Santos. Don’t you think?
Facts Matter—Really
Facts ultimately matter in spite of what’s passing for reality and truth in the U.S. at the present time. The problem is that too many of us, who ought to know better, are telling extraordinarily bad stories that don’t elicit feelings or engender authentic empathy or even provide a mental image that the average person can understand and relate to, regardless of whether or not that particular person might have experienced the same thing.
No, in so many cases, the context is not the issue or the central point and it doesn’t depend on the definition of what “it” is. Read the article, Kate Cox case reveals toll of US abortion bans in medical emergencies
There are so many good facts—real facts—out there that you can build a compelling, personal story around. Did you know that about 27% of the nation’s population lives in a state (post Roe) that doesn’t allow an exception for rape and incest. We call it tough love you betcha. Maternity leave, well not here. Don’t be ridiculous. Health checkup? What country do you think you’re living in? Medicaid? Hah, hah, get a job.
Did you know that if you live in a state like Florida it’s best you not have an LGBTQ child in school, dislike assaults on higher education, or get angry about a handful of narrow minded individuals that may want to decide what books can or can not be in the library. I know, these issues don’t pertain to you, sorry to bother you. Isn’t there a pickle ball tournament coming up soon?
On the other hand, if you live in Michigan, they have increased access to the polls along with increasing the state earned-income tax credit and repealed the state’s right-to-work laws, so that it’s now easier for unions to organize. Of course I know that some Americans don’t want unions. After all, those people thought $8 per hour was a good, honest wage 20 years ago. What’s this country coming to. Do you like what the “blue” state of Michigan is doing for you. Why?
Then again, if you live in Texas, there are attempts to restrict voting or gerrymander. I wonder why. But if you live in Maryland they are transitioning to a $15 an hour minimum wage.
Then there is health, which most people seem to be interested in. After 2014 life expectancy in the US began falling, and there are large variations among states. In general you are living longer if you live in a blue state and worse if you live in a red state, and life expectancy is widening across states.
For example, life expectancy increased to 80.7 years in Connecticut but only to 75.8 years in Oklahoma. Keep in mind though that “free market” health care is hurting the entire country. Best learn what’s going on.
A Note About Leaving Fantasy Land
For me, the historian Heather Cox Richardson, is a “national treasure” because she clearly explains the threads that run through our American history, the similarities, the ideals and the disappointments. But most important she has a story to tell about our history and why it should be important to everyone of us.
Richardson is now going across the United States promoting the idea that American democracy is worth saving and why it’s worth saving. Most important, she emphasizes, is that democracy (a republic if you choose) is not a spectator sport but requires on going participation from each one of us.
I know, the alternative siren songs at times seem so comforting and nothing is really required of us. They know what’s best for us. They will bring back the true America, the good American past. But they won’t do anything of the kind.
Well worth watching: Evening With Heather Cox Richardson: Building Reality and Creating Compelling Stories
What is very real is the arrival of 2024 and the presidential election. Hoping for the best is not the same as working for it.
On March 23 1933 the German parliament voted in favor of the “Enabling Act” which allowed Hitler to enact new laws without interference from the president of the German parliament (Reichstag). On August 1934 President von Hindenburg died. Hitler then merged the chancellory with the presidency and became the sole leader of Germany. The rest is history.
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