A Day In The Anti-Life - Health Scares

[The message was originally posted at the now defunct Rip Jagger's Dojo on July 29, 2017]

The failure of Republicans to abolish Obamacare "root and branch" as had been long promised for  years to their legions, has been an amazing spectacle. There's a lot of blame to sling about and for sure the chattering classes are up and at it, with the devoted Trumpians attaching little blame for the failure to their savior despite his incessant promises to offer up something much much better and apparently overlooking the small detail that he discovered after winning office and actually engaging one or two of the details of actual policy that health care was "hard". Still he's off the hook it seems and is apparently willing to let poor folks suffer yet again to make the point that he was right all along.

The health care bills which were put forth failed because they had as their primary reason to exist an attempt to claw back taxes. They failed as health care bills because they were not health care bills at all. And ultimately it's a lack of courage on the part of all Republicans to stand up and be counted on the promise they've bleated about for so many years. Democrats stood in line and took the harsh medicine which followed the erection of Obamacare and suffered many electoral defeats to accomplish the last big project of the Progressive program. It's the reason Democrats appear to be out of big ideas, they are; the mission is accomplished in its broadest strokes.  Individual men and women took hard votes and showed their personal success was less important than the help they would be able to extend to Americans across the land. Republicans have never been able to show that courage, or perhaps now it appears the courage is not to stand up for repeal but to stand in its way.

And now for another thing -- Trump voters! What the hell will it take for folks, even those hard-headed folks from the heartland to see that the man they have invested all their hopes and dreams with is a lying, xenophobic, racist asshole who is utterly consumed with his own immediate welfare at all times. He lies to the country on an almost hourly basis, shows zero loyalty to folks who have sacrificed their integrity to back his erratic plays, and kisses Putin's butt with weird aplomb.

These folks appear to think that only the high and mighty Trump is the one who can tell them the truth. Okay, but when he fails on health care why don't they then realize he isn't what he pretends to be. They ignore the media because they've been encouraged to think it is against them, and now it seems they have more faith in the former USSR. than CBS or NBC. The idea of patriotism seems now to be limited to the benefits of one man - Trump. How many shit sandwiches are folks going to eat before they get a clue the stink ain't a media conspiracy. God almighty!

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A Day In The Anti-Life - Troll King

[The message was originally posted at the now defunct Rip Jagger's Dojo on July 25, 2017]

Trolls of myth are ugly critters than live in the dark and make havoc for civilized folk. Likewise on these here internets, we find ugly critters who adore making life a misery for honest people. And it's a sad fact that our "So-called" President is one of these critters, he might even be their king.

This modern Troll King lives in a shadowy world of international finance and it becomes more and evident with each passing day that the dangerous denizens of those shadows have influence on the machinery of our democracy. If not directly, then indirectly by the daily denigration of communication and governing norms which have for many decades served to create the stability citizens of the United States and the greater western world have taken for granted for over fifty years, my entire life.

I have been gifted with a life free of the rigors of true chaos which was the norm for the world's population before the current hiatus of order which has been maintained by the old rules. There have been winners and losers for damn certain and those who feel left out are to some extent finding ways to act out and strike at the heart of the order they object to. Some do so out of ignorance of the true nature of society, some do so with full cognizance of the chaos they will unleash and the power they hope to gather unto themselves when the old order falls.

But these are important times and it is dangerous indeed for anyone to attempt to undermine the very pillar of a free society in the vain attempt to maintain momentary momentum. The brash self-importance it requires to sacrifice all news media in a lackluster attempt to "win" a single news cycle is short-sighted to such an extent that it seems tragically childlike.

I work with folks who often require reminders to behave in an adult-like fashion. Being childish is seen as a weakness in adults, emotions like peevishness and sulking are seen as weaknesses and should be avoided. Churlish insults are not part of the social fabric, at least not any part of one most folks want to participate in.

These are dangerous times. The election process is challenged by the guy who "won" because his fragile ego is bruised that he gained only an Electoral College victory, and so all of us must face an identity check to make sure we're sufficient American citizens. The rule of law is questioned and challenged by a "so-called" President who demonstrates guilty knowledge with almost ever utterance. The fourth estate is in danger of being dragged down by the "leader" of our country because they don't kowtow to his meager efforts to be "Presidential", even if you slap a pointless adjective like "modern" in front of that phrase. These are indeed dangerous times; trolls are dangerous folk.

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