Trump's Kobayashi Maru

The Presidency is an unwinnable game. It's an impossible job at best. How do you reconcile a Constitution that nobly aims to protect the rights and lives of every individual and every minority group with an electoral scheme that rewards gerrymandering, dirty tricks and plain old corruption to generate some artificial consensus by majority rule. Hell, if Obama couldn't do it, who could? Donald Trump didn't think he'd win the election. He didn't want the job, but he craved the fame.

Now, he's stuck. He can't do anything that would bear even the appearance of losing face. He's a self-described "winner" at all things competitive. He's lived his whole life bullying, lying, cheating and scamming others to promote himself and he's gotten kind of rich doing it. He hasn't really "won" in terms of becoming the richest man in the world, but, dammit, he's become the most famous blowhard in history. The problem comes in actually trying to do the job of governing, as the President is supposed to do. Trump is clearly in over his head, but he can't admit that. He's intellectually lazy and inattentive to details. Thinking about matters of great importance is too hard for him, so he resorts to relying on pre-digested sound bites from comic book news sources. He sputters and fumbles when he talks about substance, but he can lead a "great" cheer, especially when it happens to promote him personally.

He can't drain the swamp. He can't speak for the people. He can't balance the budget. He can't restore a manufacturing base to the United States. He can't deliver the kind of tax reform people want. He can't provide "Better than Obamacare" health coverage AND cut spending. Each one of those goals is mutually exclusive from the others. He really shouldn't try to keep a promise that no one ever really wanted him to keep. He doesn't have much time in which to create a Presidential legacy. He will start to build a wall because it's going to have his name on it. He may even reform health care because it'll be called Trumpcare from now on.  Doing any of those things, however, would placate a vocal minority at the expense of alienating another, powerful constituency. The problem is, there's no consistency among constituencies. He doesn't understand that pro-lifers don't care about ISIS; tea-partiers don't care about trade balances; billionaires don't care about food stamps.

He doesn't understand that if you crack open the head of an American voter, you'll find nothing but a sea of contradictions - a veritable cornucopia of cognitive dissonance. Build a $20 billion dollar wall, but don't raise my taxes; repair the bridges and highways that I drive on every day but don't raise my taxes; give me a license to pollute but don't raise my taxes. Stop spending money on an outdated and unnecessary military and I'll gladly pay more for social programs (That one might cause his brain to explode, but that's a story for another time). He's still not going to pay taxes, himself. He wins vs the IRS. He also wins vs his contractors and his employees. He wins vs the media. He wins the hearts, if not the minds, of the disaffected "I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore!" crowd.

He's well on his way to becoming the least effective, most unpopular President in history. Each lie he tells, every breath he takes, diminishes his stature. He's made a career out of failing up in the business world. Every time the shit was hitting the fan, he could declare bankruptcy and still stand in front of a hotel, or an airplane, or a golf course named TRUMP. There is no Bankruptcy Court for failed Presidents. There's only impeachment, or a grand failure named the Trump revolution, when the Democrats take back the legislature in 2018, or the humiliation of not even being considered for re-nomination at the 2020 Republican Convention. He may be a laughingstock around the world, but he still has legions of knee-jerk supporters who believe in him. He needs one last chance to preserve a fraction of whatever shred of dignity he's clinging onto in his own mind.

He needs to rig the system before it chews him up and spits him out. He can only do so if he finds a way to resign from office, say for health reasons, or because the job is too stressful or too dangerous for his wife and kids (poor things). A well-timed heart attack before the next big terrorist attack (which will probably be aimed at a Trump Hotel near you, by the way) should provide the perfect cover for him to quit while he still has a handful of zealous supporters out there to keep the debate going for years. He'll be out on the golf course, nursing his health, massaging his own ego and reminiscing about what he coulda, woulda, shoulda done if he didn't have to step down at the peak of his popularity. He deserves the rest.

We're Going to Need a Better Fence!

The Party of Fear and Hate brings you another four years of Greed and Arrogance!

Let's "rebuild" the biggest military force in the world! Let's restore our crumbling infrastructure! Let's give huge tax breaks to the ultra rich! Let's even give health care to everyone! But first, let's put a stop to all of this unscrupulous bullying and bad-mouthing coming from the liberal media, career bureaucrats, millions of women and anyone spouting those goofy "facts." They hurt our feelings.

As Abraham Lincoln may have observed:
You can fool some of the people all of the time (2004: Bush wins second term), and all of the people some of the time (2000: Gore wins, Bush owns Supreme Court), but you can not fool all of the people all of the time (2008: Obama wins, 8 years of prosperity and sanity are stonewalled by say anything, do nothing Republican machine). 2017: THE SKY IS FALLING!

We have nothing to fear but fear itself
And terror
And panic
And horror
And dread
And shock
And alarm
And trepidation
And apprehension
And carnage
And immigrants
And non-"great" people
And gays
And the media
And Progressives
And Liberals
And Socialists
And The Truth

So why are these rich, white guys so defensive? They have all the money, all the land, all the oil, all the branches of government, all the drugs, all the money, and sexy FICO scores - what are they afraid of? Bunch o' pussies.

Into the Fray

Mission Accomplished?

"Space, the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its 5-year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before." - James T. Kirk

Now there's a mission statement we could live with.

Mission Impossible?

The 1/21/17 Women's March inspired me to update a few thoughts on religion, politics, and the future. And to envision a world where women take us on a voyage to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before.  It's pretty clear that Donald J. Trump is not just the most powerful man in the world, he's the most dangerous one. Not since Dr. Strangelove have we seen paranoia wield such influence in the halls of power. It's also obvious from his recent performances at press conferences and photo-ops that he's still the arrogant little pissant he always was.

If we do not learn from the pictures painted by our popular futurists, are we not destined to repeat our prospective mistakes, for the first time, again. Have we not learned anything from the post-apocalyptic visions of 1984, Brave New World, Mad Max, Blade Runner, Terminator, Sleeper, Tank Girl, or Max Headroom? Aren't we living with elements of all of those sci-fi prophesies now? Whether Big Brother assumes the form of a government, a corporation, or a dictator, are we, the people, not all left to serve a false idol of one sort or another? If we don't realize that we the people of earth are hurtling through space alone together on a big blue starship pretty soon, I fear that we will all succumb to DJT's 20:400 foresight and end up living in a desolate, oil and water deprived, android-populated, corporatocracy with nothing but a nose running our lives like a soiled tissue. Such is the danger of a Trump legacy - he may not want to bring on the Apocalypse in a religious sense, but he sure as Hell thinks he knows what's best for all of us and he'll do anything within his power to force it down our throats, consequences be damned!


How did the Republicans manage to seduce, betray and abandon middle America without anyone noticing that the preacher was a con artist? Whither religion in this administration's future? Or is that wither? Perhaps the GOP's culture of scandal and corruption will finally lead some of our good-hearted, God-fearing, middle America dwelling, flag waving, chest beating patriotic red staters to question whether God really speaks to DJT or the Republican National Cadre. Is DJT the Devil, instead of our savior? Maybe even Jack Van Impe will put the rapture on hold while we sort this out.

Is DJT the Devil? Of course not. Satan, by all accounts, is much smarter than that. But then, "The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he did not exist." - Keyser Soze (or was it?)

Trump and his minions, however, just SCREAM the Seven Deadly Sins. First: Greed, that one's pretty obvious - selling influence, votes, government contracts, and the rest of us down the river is standard operating procedure. Next: Pride, or Arrogance, virtually defines the next great "uniter not a divider," a man who so desperately wants a flattering, Reagan-esque sobriquet that he invents them himself. The dean of the Frank Sinatra School of Diplomacy and the architect of what could prove to be the least productive and most destructive Administration in American history hasn't even been able to wrest a cutesy nickname out of the Fox network. Third, if you're still counting: Wrath, the aimless man's raison detre, the unspoken motive for every bile-filled invective he tweets. Number four would be Sloth, the prime motivating force among Trump's Bush-league Transition Team of Junior Under-Achievers. And what about the rest of the Seven Deadlies? Well, um, you know, Greed, Pride, Wrath, Sloth, and, uh . . . Grumpy? . . . Sleepy? . . . Dopey? Is he the Devil? I don't think so; he lacks the style, the panache, the efficiency. Satan's tool? You decide.

If not one devil, maybe another?

Everything about the Republicans' culture of corruption reeks of that ol' debbil, spin. The foibles of Trump's lies and malapropisms are routinely shrugged off (not nearly as effectively as by The Teflon One of yore, however). Each criticism is met by a not-so-equal and opposite smear campaign and fingerpointing ("banana-fana-fo-fana"). The Trump Litany of blaming Obama, "the liberal main stream media," the "cut and run" Democrats, the "tax and spend" liberals, and maybe your grandmother is starting to ring hollow even among the GOP's core supporters. This sure as hell ain't yore granddaddy's Republican Party!

Are we to return to the Bush legacy of unbridled Greed, Arrogance, Fear and Hate? Or will, finally, moral outrage over the amoral modus operandi of far too many republicans pull back the curtain to reveal that there's no Wiz in the Wizard of Aw-shucks. Just follow the yellow brick road - there's no place like the place where the pigeons come to roost.

Remember those Founding Fathers the neo-cons are so fond of summoning up for endorsements of everything from corporate welfare to undeclared war? Those guys were not exactly conservative in their time (why do you think we called it a Revolutionary War?). If they had modeled our government based on what the best thinkers of 250 years prior had done, we'd be living in a 1526 era feudal system where moneyed oligarchs treat indentured servants as property - a two class system where rich landowners control everything and working people tithe their hard-earned income to the overlords. Oh, wait a minute, have we come full-circle already?

We need to rein in DJT's ambitious agenda for American totalitarianism while we develop a strategic plan for the fate of humanity some 2, or 4, or 20, or 50, or 100 years from now.

You say you want a revolution?

Ladies, it seems the ball is in your court. Let us know how we can help.

The Bully's Pulpit 2017

First, a caveat: ALL generalizations are flawed.

Having said that, I can unequivocally state that there are two kinds of people: People who divide things into two groups and those who don't. Too many of us are too sure that there are only two sides to every debate, just as there are two sides to a coin.  Heads/Tails; Right/Left; Liberal/Conservative; White/Black; Male/Female.  Why, if my opinion is Right, must yours be Wrong?

Spin a coin on its edge.

Quickly, how many sides does the coin have?

Which side is light?

Which side is dark?

Which side is up?

Which side is down?



What if the coin rolls off the table and onto the floor?

What if it rolls under the fridge?

Who wins?

Us Vs. Them

As progressives, and liberals, and conservatives, and libertarians, and neo-cons and tea-baggers continue to redefine themselves in terms of hot-button issues having little, if anything, to do with political philosophy, and absolutely nothing to do with good government, we each find ourselves on opposite sides of incendiary issues without realizing that we have more in common with each other than with those who wield power and influence.  How can "we" target "them" when the target keeps moving?

It's natural for people, as for most animals, to seek companionship and community, whether based on genetic or philosophical commonalities.  We all belong to families, or tribes, or churches, or homelands, some of which we are born into and some which we choose, consciously or otherwise.  At the same time, we all have that inner Garbo that wants to be left alone - we want to feel safe and secure in our own homes.  Add to this conundrum an axis of selfishness and its no wonder we all feel conflicted about doing what's best (or safest, or most profitable, or most spiritually rewarding) for ourselves versus doing the right thing for our people (whoever they may be - our family members, or tribesmen, or whatever flock we happen to gather together as defined by whatever feather we happen to have in common).



It's easy to exploit the "us versus them" mentality. Name calling works at a visceral level by drawing clear lines of distinction. It's something we've been taught since birth. Pre-emptive talking points, repeated repeatedly and frequently, often mis-appropriate slanderous labels for the sole purpose of dividing us against ourselves. Some of those labels might be labelled by psychiatrists, or psychologists, or just plain psychos as projection - the Republicons have made such talking points an art form - debate devoid of reason, the institutionalization of the "I'm rubber and you're glue; whatever you say bounces off me and sticks to you." theory of blunt force diatribe. Hence, the "Obama" shutdown, the Democrats' "job-killing policies", their refusal to negotiate, the demons of "disastrous economic policies" and "infringements of liberties" define as self-proclaimed patriots the hypocritical factions of religious zealots, libertarians, neo-cons and white supremacist survivalists (or American Exceptionalists) who share nothing more than their paranoid delusions and misplaced self-righteous convictions.

Unfortunately, our allegiances are often short sighted and easily manipulated. Once we understand that we all carry within us a certain propensity for selfishness relative to a natural inclination to gravitate toward a common community, it's easy to see that well-meaning people can do really stupid things in the name of "what's right" without regard to truth, or justice.  It's the American Way!  It's all about defining your community.  There are some obvious identification tags - family, race, ethnicity, or gender - as well as some more esoteric ones - sexual orientation, political philosophy, favorite band, or blog color.  We, the vast majority of whom are followers, are but lemmings when a charismatic or powerful leader asserts authority.

Whether you can be characterized as a liberal or a conservative depends on how narrowly or broadly you define your community.  The closer you are to the selfish egoist end of the spectrum, the more likely you are to be paranoid - you've defined "us" so narrowly that there's nothing but "them" out there - and they hate you.  If, however, you're on the selfless, altruistic end of that axis, you can define your community so broadly, and in terms of love instead of hate, that we are all "us" and there are very few of "them" - it's just a little frustrating that "they" have all the money, and the power, and a critical mass of deaf, dumb and blind followers willing to mount primary challenges in the name of Ronald Reagan.

After all, didn't Jesus say "Do unto others BEFORE they do unto you!"?

 It's all a matter of perspective and circumstance - whom do you fear when you wake up in the morning, or go to work, or walk home at night, or go to bed alone - who's your boogeyman?



The strategies of Leo Strauss, Milton Friedman, Paul Wolfowitz, Donald Trump and even The Congress That Couldn't Shoot Straight rely on classic "divide and conquer" ploys that pit people against each other on the basis of race, religion, nationality, or socio-economic status, or with regard to matters of individual choice so convoluted that they defy political solution or definition, like abortion rights, gun control, gay marriage, the death penalty, affirmative action, global warming, and health care (Seriously?! Health care?!).  The fact that human beings are an irrational bunch subject to manipulation and delusion disguised as faith yields the unfortunate conflation of oxymorons like "family values" and "creation science" into a mythology of neo-conservatism that becomes the brand identifier for the 30% of the population that fear the unspecified but omnipresent disaster known as Obamacare.  These are the flock that the disaster capitalists so aptly described by Naomi Klein have learned to herd as easily as sheep (of course, the men behind the curtain - the Koch brothers and Rupert Murdoch, for example - have supplanted "the Jews" as the filthy rich capitalists who control all of our financial institutions, big businesses, the media and politicians, but no one on the right seems to have noticed). We live in a world run by autocrats who have assumed control of virtually every government, every corporation, every media outlet, and every advertising agency.  And we like it!  Why not?  Part of that little lizard brain lurking in our heads wants to have someone in authority tell us what to do, what to think and to reassure us that everything will be all right.  What happens when such an authoritarian figure attains a position of real power and throws in the element of fear, or shock?  Look around.

Every zealot's interest is wrapped in nationalism, religion, jingoism, and ethno-centrism to masquerade as the people's self interest.  The various power brokers, whether they be found in "democracies," monarchies, corporatocracies, oligarchies, or anarchies compete for survival at the expense of their own constituents.  When the petty tyrants get into the act, the warlords, gang leaders, crime bosses and lobbyists assume the guise of freedom-fighters, terrorists, islamo-fascists or saviors, depending on your perspective.  Define your community; it's "us" versus "them": Christians/heathens; Sox/Yankees; white/black (or brown).  "They" hate us for our freedom, so we'll declare war on terror. We fought terror with terror and terror won; so much for freedoms. Greed and arrogance can easily muster fear and hatred among the masses. Slap a label on the threat and point a finger at the enemy and fear takes over.  Health insurance for the unemployed becomes socialism;  gay marriage threatens family values; separation of church and state infringes on our right to impose our "values" on our neighbors.

The American two-party system has just devolved into chaos.  The Democrats have devolved into their historical herd of cats; the Republicons have gone from "Let them eat cake" (i.e., cutting Food Stamps and penalizing small farmers in the process) to "Jumping the shark." They'll promise to Make America Great Again, by which I assume they mean returning to the failed trickle-down economics of the Reagan and Bush Administrations - crippling the entire economy by making the rich folks richer and the working class poorer. Unfortunately, the dog-whistle base hears "White" instead of "Great" and assumes they'll be going along for a ride on that prosperity train. They's being taken for a ride, all right, but it's all to benefit the military-industrial contractors, big pharma, multi-national oil and Trump, Inc - let's just give those guys the United States of American Express Gold Card - with no credit limit and no plan to pay off the debt or reduce the deficit.

Look back at the past 8 years of Congressional stagnation - all to avoid giving a black President even the appearance of victory (or credit where credit is due, depending on your perspective).

Tyranny in any form, whether by majority rule or by fear, terror, and extortion based on common ethnicity or religious belief has proven to be an unworkable political methodology (see e.g., Northern Ireland, Uganda, Darfur, and South Africa or look up the definition of "balkanization" and "ethnic cleansing" - or just watch Return of the Jedi). The Evil Emperor never wins!

If we don't realize that WE the people of earth are hurtling through space alone together on a big blue starship pretty soon, I fear that we will all succumb to the disaster capitalists.  Here's an idea. Think before you speak. Shut Up and Listen. Learn. Treat those who would do you harm as human beings.

Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them? - Abraham Lincoln

It is easy enough to be friendly to one's friends. But to befriend the one who regards himself as your enemy is the quintessence of true religion. The other is mere business. - Mohandas Gandhi

If you want to make peace, you don't talk to your friends. You talk to your enemies. - Moshe Dayan

They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. - Isaiah 2:4

It's time to spin the coin again - are there just two sides? It has a head AND a tail; it's light AND it's dark; it has an edge with an infinite number of sides.  It's starting a new revolution.  I'm gonna call it secular altruism. Just do the right thing!  I hope it's not too late.


True terror is to wake up one morning and discover that your high school class is running the country. ~Kurt Vonnegut