Another Galaxy, Another Time?

In between fretting about the downfall of the 20th Century order, I'm indulging myself in some Star Wars. I saw the first movie in the theater four times, and it was among the very first VHS tapes I owned. (Still have it.) I got the Marvel comic for a few issues, but I got distracted from that and didn't pursue it. One thing I've never done in all these years is to read the novelizations of the first trilogy. Lucas is credited with the first installment, the one we now call "A New Hope". When I read the first few pages though, I was struck by some startling parallels. Here is the "Prologue". 

I was gobsmacked at how much it reads like the news of the day. I guess we are enduring a story as old as time and fraught with enough drama for nine feature films and counting. Change a few names and we have the current crisis in the United States well and properly predicted, albeit from the depths of space from a time long, long ago. 

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Ignore Us When We're At Your Front Door!

Those who have told us what to think for decades need to have an attitude adjustment. They need to tell the truth about what's happening. They are cowed by an administration which threatens their revenue streams, but they have to know that we will put them out of business if they do not awaken and answer this most urgent call. It's incredibly frustrating to me that I cannot be at one of these marches due to my sundry physical infirmities. But I am going to do what I can to support them from this meager podium and other places as well. They have not arrested a natural citizen for using his or her First Amendment protected speech...yet. We must use it or lose it. 

Tap on any of the images above or use this link for more details. 

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No More "Justice"?

As you likely know, the Sweet Potato's administration has outlawed certain words from appearing in federal documents and further should be scrubbed from existing documents. The usual suspects are on the list such as "inclusion" and "multicultural", but it doesn't stop there. Of course not. 

In this new age there is no more "equality'' and "women" have been disappeared, as has "female".  I can only guess what they are using for substitutes, but I'd guess "dame" and "chick" might fill this new gap in federal locution. Also gone are "hate speech", "victim", and "race". It's a lengthy list and you can find it in a number of places, but this handy link will still serve. 

But even with all this nonsense, the one word that leapt out at me was "justice". "Justice" has been removed from the coming fascist state, but then we already knew that. Combine that with the Congress threatening to unravel the federal court system which has to this point been the only constraint on executive power demonstrated, and we see that "justice" is not a priority or even a consideration for his fascist regime. 

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Lighting The Fire Of Activism!

Here is a speech by Cliff Cash, a comedian and now one of the most potent voices speaking out against the fascism which is seeping into America. He has long been a critic of the current President and has set up a website called Donnie Loves Vladimir to document the many ties between him and the Kremlin. He pulls few punches and it's that frankness and humbleness which will hopefully get out the crowds into Washington D. C. He points up the difficulty of raising such mass protests in this large expansive country but calls for the continuing need. The legacy media has abandoned the country in no small manner, seeming to be disinterested in the large-scale protests which have been happening all across the land, in every capitol and more besides. These are protest I myself took part in, so I know they are real, and I know the fervor the people have to throw this dictator to the curb of history is real as well. As Cliff says...

FASCISTS FEED ON FEAR AND WE MUST FUCKING STARVE THEM! 

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There Will Come A Reckoning!

There will come a reckoning. It's easy to get mired in the avalanche of daily news as we watch barbarians attack our society from inside the walls. We let them in and they are all about tearing it down so that enemy at our gates can plunder and pillage at his ease. It's easy to get overcome with all that. But there's also this. 

There will come a reckoning. We will survive this and using the lessons learned rebuild and modernize our society so as to better protect ourselves from these predations. Future villains will find it harder to penetrate the refreshed and quickened civic defenses we will construct. But until that day.

There will come a reckoning.  And when it does come, these enemies we see so pumped up with power this minute will face justice, prison and more besides.  Their shabby icon is old and will soon shuffle off this mortal coil. When he does at long last or even before.

There will come a reckoning. The great American experiment is not over, and this testing time will only  make us stronger. 

"Bloodless"? Good luck with that Kevin. I hope you're right.  But just because there will be a second revolution, doesn't mean you're going to win it. And always remember, you guys picked this fight. 

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We March Again!

 

For those out there in the world who might think that American citizens are not rising up in opposition to the predations of the current evil administration, I offer the previous post and this one. We have marched, but we have been betrayed by our news media. Boycotts seem to be getting the notice of these greedy bastards and those are only beginning to get going. Companies will fall during these protests, the ironically named Target seems the first that might topple. When we train our economic might on another outlet they will take note. 

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We Are The Flood!

The media outlets in the United States seem to have gone silent. The shaking of the trees has brought some minor local improvements, but still the protests develop, and we march in the streets every day all over this big country. The Democratic Party leadership has been revealed to be complicit, and so those leaders have failed utterly in their responsibility to be the focus of a national uprising. Leaders such as AOC and Bernie Sanders have risen with a few others to take the place of the feckless establishment. The people came out before and our votes were stolen through computer gimmicks, he did not win. The courts hold the line for the moment, but it's feared they will not be enough. The uprising is coming nonetheless, inevitably like a mighty flood that sweeps away all before it. 

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I Am A Kentuckian!

I am a Kentuckian. 

That's been true all my life, but in my elder years it might become even more important, at least to my soul. I'm watching the United States of America get taken apart bit by bit, its mission to its citizens rarely if ever considered. Everything is done in service of whittling down the opposition when the creepy powers that be introduce their really outlandish and cruel notions upon the populace. Steps are taken to undermine the safety of those nations who once were staunch allies in what seems to be slavish service to a former KGB agent. 

Daniel Boone led settlers through the Cumberland Gap and into the land which would be called "Kentucky". The name is of course of Native American origin, but what it means is not fully established, but best guesses are that it originates from an Iroquois word mean "Land of Tomorrow". The settlements in Kentucky went on to become the only second state added to the original thirteen, which were the United States of America. 

But now I am embarrassed to be an American. I well understand the world's reaction to the insanity inside this nation as a convicted felon sells the nation off and into the hands of a foreign dictator. The world is not wrong to shun us. Foreigners should not come here. But do remember if you are able, that not all of us, in fact far from a majority voted for this, including me. (That's why I'm "embarrassed" and not "ashamed" -- two different things.) But that's of little comfort for the latest outrage.

Now it's come to light (as if anything else could be the case) that at least one innocent man and almost certainly more were bolted out of the country despite a judge's order to a foreign prison which the United States effectively rents. The blood-rage to send non-whites out of this country burns so hot that no time can be seem to be wasted on actual due process of law. This lawlessness must result in his repatriation and in the punishment of those who are responsible. But the former is almost certainly the best we can hope for. Disgust for those in my own country who allowed it and for those who will surely find some way to defend it. 

But this latest horror isn't just the problem of one election and its pitiful result. It's been coming for quite some time. Forty years ago, or thereabout, when I was a hale and hearty man in his twenties with a blooming family on the way, the nation made the tragic mistake of making a Hollywood actor its president. His nonsensical policies of trickle-down economics began the slow and steady slog to our current status as a debtor nation. Citizens decided they just didn't want to pay for services anymore and to justify that greedy decision began to blame those that needed help and those that gave it to them. We were taught to do that at the highest level and while some of us resisted, many did not. 

The aforementioned courts at the same time began a series of decisions which bit by bit made bribery legal. Our politicians (on both sides) were by and large reluctant to call this out as they benefited mightily. The media slowly but steadily abandoned its responsibilities and the only news we got most of the time was that which was pre-cooked or easy to scavenge up. More and more Congress allowed mergers to occur when none should have been allowed, but stocks were up so who cared really. 

Some did, but they were not enough. And now I live in what some call a rogue nation, unfit to have real allies and isolated. We can't be ignored because of our military might. The U.S. will continue to play a pivotal role in the future history of his planet, I just hope we are not the outright villains. Until the ship is righted though I am not an American first and foremost...

I am a Kentuckian. Maybe one day sooner than later in the land of tomorrow I can proudly be an American again...I hope. 

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The Fightin' Five Non-Negotiables!

We're in the fight of our lifetimes. The current darkness brought on by the regime of evil Republicans and weak Democrats marks a grim time indeed for the great experiment known as the United States of the America. But out of his darkness perhaps we can achieve some clarity of purposes and for the first time in decades unite the power of the people to unseat the all-too-comfortable rich who seem to imagine they are better than their peers. It happened in the 30's when the Great Depression demanded changes to the fundamental structures of our society. We are reaching that moment in time again when profound change is required. 

The UNFTR Podcast has outlined five pillars for Progressives going forward as we reconstruct our society to make it better for our children and those generations beyond that. These are aspirational but not unobtainable ideas from which a revived Progressive movement will not be shaken. These are the five "Non-Negotiables" for us to insist upon. 

1. Ending Homelessness. 

2. Building a Civilian Labor Corps. 

3. Medicare for All.

4. Election Integrity -- Getting Money Out of Politics. 

5. The Climate Trust

To read thoughtful extensive essays laying out these concepts and goals in detail just click on the links for each pillar or non-negotiable. But let me add a few words of my own. 

In a society which has built in so many structural limits to achieving even a modicum of success for most people, having a home to return to after a long day is a minimal expectation. No one should be forced live in cars or on the streets. And homelessness must never ever be considered a crime. The homeless we have in our country point to the failure of policies both conservative and liberal. The status quo is unacceptable and must be changed. 

Having a job in the coming years is going to be harder and harder for many as robots slowly but steadily take over jobs which in times past were sufficient to maintain a home. The vast wealth which has accumulated at the top of our society has been built on the backs of laborers who have gotten a decreasing share of that wealth. Idealistically a job should not in most cases give meaning to a life, but still a people need to be engaged with the society they are part of. 

Healthcare is a right and not a privilege. Changing the healthcare system in this country is the easiest pillar to achieve. Single payer healthcare solves nearly all the problems which afflict the delivery of health care in this country. It improves the quality and streamlines the delivery in such a way as to maximize the effort of those doctors and nurses and others who work diligently to keep up safe from our habits and the rigors of time. God knows there's more than enough money flowing through the system to keep everyone happy. 

Standing in the way of achieving all of these non-negotiables is the fourth one -- election integrity. I have watched for forty years now as the American political system has become increasingly corrupt. The rich want to own the rest of us and to that end they have purchased politicians and jurists, often in plain sight. Conservative politicians have hidden behind a veil of false comity to obscure the fact that what they want for their paymasters are de facto slaves. By buying media, the rich have successfully gulled too many into believing that their vote doesn't matter. They have rigged systems in state after state to make voting difficult. In a word, they cheat. We need to knock over the board and begin the game again. 

And beyond all of this is the world we live upon. Humanity has driven itself mad with hubris and has taken for granted life on this precious ball. (Eat it Flat-Earthers -- it is a globe.) We think we are mighty because in several millennia we have eked out a society. But the Earth can wipe all of human progress away in a few tragic moments. The planet we live on has given us great gifts, gifts we have consumed with little regard to the future. We are due for a reset. Mother Nature is not angry, she doesn't even care that we exist. 

But that's enough for now. This is a long game. It almost certainly will not be won completely in my lifetime, but that's not a reason to fight the fight. We can surely deliver some immediate victories if we remain firm, focused and united. The war is just beginning, actually I now see it has never ended. 

Note: This is a revised and updated post. 

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A HERITAGE Of HATE!

The third but I'm sure not final day of marches heads to the front of the Heritage Foundation, the trolls who authored Project 2025, the blueprint which is being used to unravel our democracy and replace it with a fascist dictatorship, all so that white men can cling to power a few years longer. These villains have perverted the very history of the nation itself to promote their xenophobic bigotry. The United States has been on the wrong side of history too many times over the decades, but it was founded on ideals which have only expanded over time. We must cleave closer to the ideal and let the hate of our history drift away into the mists of time. The founders gave us the tools to live in the modern world, we cannot let these cretins drive us back to a time when most folks were less than free. 

Let the Heritage Foundation see a little history being made right on their doorstep. 

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ALL The NEWS THAT'S FIT To PUNT!

America faces the crisis it does because much of its media, the loudly touted "Fourth Estate", the watchdog which is supposed to keep a close eye on the workings of government and crime and where they intersect, has gone silent in this crucial moment. A few voices still ring, but not with the bluster that could be mustered for something this critical. FOX News is the primary culprit, an outfit built to mislead a people who have been put under steadily increasing strain for decades. The faces and voices at FOX who have touted the current administration are villains pure and simple, and deserve a villain's fate. 

Today the march moves to the very front door of those who seek to obscure the truth of what is happening. I do not advocate for it, but I have to admit I'd enjoy seeing the FOX offices getting treated  to a "guided tour" not unlike that which was meted out to Congress some years ago when a certain felon couldn't accept the truth of his loss.  Report that. 

Tomorrow the planners of the crime get a visit when the march moves to the Heritage Foundation. 

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An ARMY On The MARCH!

Today is a momentous day, a day when Americans stand up to the autocrats who have sent out their goblins to undermine our democracy. In support of the war veterans who have served this nation, it is a small thing to ask that they be treated with dignity after their hitch is up. It is a promise, one broken by this administration in its manic effort to claw back enough money to shill out to the billionaires who are funding too much of our politics today. But on this day, the people will march with and in support of those brave soldiers who just ask for dignity. They are not just cannon fodder as the rich and powerful believe. They are men and women who have shown they know how to fight. 

My health will not let me be there, even a year ago it would have been different. But I want to send out the clarion call as best I can from my little nook of the internet. If you can take part, if you can't remember those who braved everything in service of an ideal which the people who just see money will never understand for all their bleating. 

Tomorrow, the protest pays a visit to Fox News. 

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THREE MARCHES In THREE DAYS!

 

For those who can make it, there are three marches scheduled for this weekend beginning on FRIDAY. Each march has a distinct purpose. The FIRST is to gather and support VETERANS who have been like all Americans abandoned by this anti-democratic administration. The 50501 outfit has joined in on this first protest The SECOND is on SATURDAY and focuses attention on the mainstream media which as abandoned its role as the "Fourth Estate". The THIRD is on SUNDAY and final march goes to the heart of the problem, the Heritage Foundation, the creators of Project 2025, the document which is designed to demolish the nation as we know it. 

For more check out the VLADIMIR LOVES DONALD website spearheaded by comedian and social activist Cliff Cash. Sadly, I cannot go. The recent protest in my state capitol proved that marching will not be the way I can effectively help the cause, much to my regret. With a knee needing replacement and neuropathy wreaking havoc with my feet, I'm breaking down at the worst possible time. But I can call Congress all day long and I can stuff envelopes when and where needed. To quote the sage Red Green (a Canadian by the way) "We're all in this together."

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A New World Order!

The current darkness brought on by the regime of Sweet Potato Hitler and his cronies marks a grim time indeed for the experiment known as the United States of the America. But out of his darkness perhaps we can achieve some clarity of purposes and for the first time in decades unite the power of the people to unseat the all-too-comfortable rich who seem to imagine they are better than their peers. It happened in the 30's when the Great Depression demanded changes to the fundamental structures of our society. We are reaching that moment in time again when profound change is required. 

The UNFTR Podcast has outlined four pillars for Progressives going forward as we reconstruct our society to make it better for our children and those generations beyond that. These are aspirational but not unobtainable ideas from which a revived Progressive movement will not be shaken. These are the four "Non-Negotiables" for us to insist upon. 

1. Ending Homelessness. 

2. Building a Civilian Labor Corps. 

3. Medicare for All.

4. Election Integrity -- Getting Money Out of Politics. 

To read thoughtful extensive essays laying out these concepts and goals in detail just click on the links for each pillar or non-negotiable. But let me add a few words of my own. 

In a society which has built in so many structural limits to achieving even a modicum of success for most people, having a home to return to after a long day is a minimal expectation. No one should be forced live in cars or on the streets. And homelessness must never ever be considered a crime. The homeless we have in our country point to the failure of policies both conservative and liberal. The status quo is unacceptable and must be changed. 

Having a job in the coming years is going to be harder and harder for many as robots slowly but steadily take over jobs which in times past were sufficient to maintain a home. The vast wealth which has accumulated at the top of our society has been built on the backs of laborers who have gotten a decreasing share of that wealth. Idealistically a job should not in most cases give meaning to a life, but still a people need to be engaged with the society they are part of. 

Healthcare is a right and not a privilege. Changing the healthcare system in this country is the easiest pillar to achieve. Single payer healthcare solves nearly all the problems which afflict the delivery of health care in this country. It improves the quality and streamlines the delivery in such a way as to maximize the effort of those doctors and nurses and others who work diligently to keep up safe from our habits and the rigors of time. God knows there's more than enough money flowing through the system to keep everyone happy. 

Standing in the way of achieving all of these non-negotiables is the fourth one -- election integrity. I have watched for forty years now as the American political system has become increasingly corrupt. The rich want to own the rest of us and to that end they have purchased politicians and jurists, often in plain sight. Conservative politicians have hidden behind a veil of false comity to obscure the fact that what they want for their paymasters are de facto slaves. By buying media, the rich have successfully gulled too many into believing that their vote doesn't matter. They have rigged systems in state after state to make voting difficult. In a word, they cheat. We need to knock over the board and begin the game again. 

But that's enough for now. This is a long game. It almost certainly will not be won completely in my lifetime, but that's not a reason to fight the fight. We can surely deliver some immediate victories if we remain firm, focused and united. The war is just beginning, actually I now see it has never ended. 

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Against All Enemies

While there have been any number of infuriating things which have happened over the course of the last few months, for me seeing members of Congress and the Senate roll over so supinely has been at the top of the list. These guys and girls swear an oath. Here it is. 

I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God. 

(Howard Chandler Christy 1944)

That there has not until now any move in Congress to impeach the President is a violation of this oath. That the Senate needs another chance to convict him for his obvious crimes and breaches of trust is damning. These words are hopefully not words they speak with little regard for what they require, but the evidence suggests otherwise. Democrats save in certain instances are not quite as guilty because they lack power and haven't voted for most of this stuff, even when Sweet Potato Hitler lets them try. I'd love for them to yell a lot more and help focus an opposition. 

But Republicans have violated this oath time and time again. Their leadership is already complicit and also needs removal. If this Congress as a whole never moves for impeachment, then the majority is ultimately complicit as well. Because of the obvious illegal depredations committed by Elon Musk and his boy squad, the President, the Vice-President, and the Speaker of the House are all immediately subject to impeachment and subsequent removal. 

Our leaders get their authority from a document not a man. Their authority is derived from law not monarchal edict. If they violate their oaths, then we as a people owe them no deference as leaders. They hold office only because they haven't had that office stripped from them. They have a very little time to perform their duties. 

One Congressman who rose to the task was Al Green from Texas. His rejection of the President's remarks about Medicaid in the long and winding State of the Union speech stole the show. He was censured by his colleagues, all Republicans and stunningly ten Democrats. The image of this black man shaking his cane at the racist President is history for us all to grok. More, and more, and more officials must follow the example of the Honorable Al Green. 

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Join The Rebellion!

I'm not quite sure when this realization hit me, but I have joined the rebellion. The United States of America has well and truly become the "Evil Empire" if that empire were led by a numbskull and his soft-handed billionaire cronies. But nonetheless I find myself in opposition to my national government, which has taken ridiculous and dangerous national and international positions. The U.S. as imagined by its felonious "leader" is a satellite of Russia. It's been all too clear to those who wish to see that our Idiot-in-Chief is beholden to the Russian leader Putin. Whether he was collected as an asset in the late 1980's or merely is a "useful idiot" of more recent vintage, the result is largely the same. 

Like Luke's Uncle Owen in that galaxy far, far away I mostly just wish to be left alone. But the Empire won't leave me alone. Clearly, they seem to want to weaken the United States, the very nation they have sworn an oath to serve. But they forget a few things. The U.S. is not like other countries for the most part. We are actually fifty states, all with a level of independence guaranteed them by the Constitution. If you scrape the federal system clean of its workforce, it will only fall to the states to pick up that slack. The confederation of states will weaken, and the power that results from such a confederation will vanish. The powers which have captured our capitol might well find themselves confronting fifty "Ukraines", each determined to restore civil order.

At some point it feels pretty clear to me that the Empire will attempt to impose some measure of martial law and deploy troops into the very territories of the United States itself. That is if the morons don't get too fascinated with an invasion of the Panama Canal or some such misadventure. If and when that occurs it will mark the end of any shred of any validity the Empire might claim and will shatter the loyalty which gives them their power to begin with. Like Luke and eventually even Han more and more will join the rebellion. These are dark times, but the victorious outcome is inevitable. The nation will stand again. 

With luck today I and my partner will be able to participate in a protest march at Frankfort, the state capitol of Kentucky. It is one march of fifty simultaneous marches across the country arranged by the 50501 outfit, to show widespread solidarity in objecting to the unseemly behaviors and unconstitutional actions of the current administration. I've got an arthritic knee doctors keep wanting to take out and neuropathy that makes walking a chore and the weather might not cooperate, but nonetheless I feel the need and the desire to participate in this small expression of my displeasure.

If you'd like to join the rebellion, if only for a day here's a link that will help you find a protest. 

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Impeach Him Today!

It was a singularly disgusting display put on by the Felon-in-Chief and his Helper Monkey yesterday as they attacked the leader of Ukraine, up until then a reliable U.S. ally. In what was clearly a staged event, the two cowards, two cretinous yellow dogs took the noble leader of Ukraine by surprise, attacking him in English in public so as to put him in a particularly weak position. 

These two ignorant trolls, like those that support them can only punch down and they waited for their prey, lured him into position and fired volley after volley of ignorant garbage at a man who fights for his life and the life of his country and peace in Europe besides, a hero who has staunchly led the defense of his invaded land against the primary enemy of peace in the world. I knew that when Potato-Head Hitler was elected it meant the U.S had become an ally of Russia, but I was aghast that he'd showcase the alliance so proudly, like one of those idiotic Presidential edicts he's constantly churning out and displaying like a clown-headed seven-year-old brat. I've now learned that the fucking Russian media was even invited into the Oval Office to watch.   

I am not ashamed for what happened because I had no hand in it. But I am embarrassed for the country which as selected such a leader, a man willing to scold an ally like a child because he thinks it will make good television. I fired off some e-mails to my Representative and my two Senators with one message:

Impeach him today. 

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