No, the situation with Trump is not normal, but the meme here reminds us of what therapists implore their patients who are suffering from trauma to do: Find and accept the “new normal.”
After all, if the Republicans get their way, and the charges against Trump are dismissed as being politically motivated, it is clear our country’s history of government of, by and for the people will have been lost, and the new normal will have become autocracy.
A reader offers this lecture delivered at Hillsdale College as proof that there is no scientific consensus that climate change represents a real threat to humankind. It begins:
In a recent survey of Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development countries—i.e., all the rich countries in the world—about 60 percent of respondents said they believe that global warming will likely or very likely lead to the end of mankind.
I’d sure like to see the results of this “survey,” if it was taken at all. It purports that more than half of the people living in the developed world believe something that anyone, even the fiercest tree-hugger imaginable, couldn’t possibly accept, i.e., that global warming will probably put an end to humankind.
I’m not saying that the average German, Japanese, or American is completely up to date on climate science, but they’re not morons, either. Take the worst case scenarios, in which greenhouse gas emissions cause temperatures to rise by 5°C from pre-industrial levels, and the planet is ravaged by sea-level rise, storms, wildfires, etc. Is there any eventuality in which the human race is wiped out? Of course not. There will be huge losses in land mass, food and potable water. There will also be suffering at heretofore unseen levels.
If you want to be taken seriously by people who can actually think, why start your lecture by asserting something that couldn’t possibly be true?
We have to hand it to the Republicans’ political strategists. It’s impossible to understand how they accomplished it, but they have become the party of working class Americans.
It doesn’t seem to matter that the GOP has given huge tax cuts to the billionaires and corporations, or that they have done nothing to improve a single aspect of life for the middle class. They’re against unions, affordable health care, quality public education, and adjusting the minimum wage.
Here we see Biden’s message on unions, but, somehow, it will fall on deaf ears.
Perhaps the greatest challenge to human civilization is how its leaders are chosen. We want selfless and honest people at the helm, whose ambitions lie no further than the well-being of the common man.
Yet there is no mechanism by which this can be made to happen, since the love of power is generally what motivates people to aspire to the top positions in government.
Worse, as educational standards fall, we get what happened in 2016 here in the United States, where we elected a sociopath to the White House. And here we find ourselves, seven years later, with Donald Trump still supported by tens of millions of voters.
Regarding the Sons of MAGA shirts here, I have two observations for the company making the offering:
This “organization” seems to have “chapters” only in states whose educational standards are far below the national average. I’m not sure how many “Massachusetts Chapter” shirts you’re going to sell.
I notice your emblem features a death skull, but this is a fairly oblique (that means “indirect”) reference to whatever your mission actually is. If you’re threatening to kill every kind and intelligent American, you may want to be more explicit.
Pictured here are some Ron DeSantis supporters, backing the presidential candidate in his war against Disney and the LGBTQ community. That’s a “White Pride” sign in the back of the photo at left, and a “Make America Florida” sign below.
Can’t we find something more degrading, hateful, and ignorant?
I agree with what Bertrand Russell said on the subject: Anyone who believes in eternal punishment for any crimes committed in this life cannot be consider to be completely moral.
Having said that, the meme here is funny. And, on the serious side, Pat Robertson, who spent his life enriching himself by bamboozling fools certainly deserves to suffer at some level.
Shown here is proof that Trump will continue to prey on his supporters until all but the most emotionally deranged have broken ranks and moved on with their lives.
How many will come to Miami on Tuesday?
More importantly, how many will take up arms in the next insurrection Trump orders, when it becomes clear that he will soon be tried, convicted, and sentenced to prison? No one has the exact figures, but we have to assume that the number grows smaller by the day.
From right-winger Charlie Kirk: Every “Republican” running for President should suspend their campaign and go to Miami as a show of support. If you don’t, you are part of the problem. Either we have an opposition party or we don’t. GO to Miami Tuesday, and show solidarty (sic) or we will mark you as part of the oppsition (sic).
I have bad news: the vast majority of Republicans are law-abiding people. You may have heard the term “law and order.”
Decent people do not oppose holding a common criminal accountable for dozens upon dozens of felony charges, especially espionage, and we certainly won’t elect him to lead our country once again.
Is it remotely possible for Trump to win the Republican primary? I have to admit that it is. But if you think that criminality will win a general election with close to 200 million loyal Americans, you’re out of your mind.
By definition, rhetorical questions are posed without any answer expected.
But what the hell. I have a minute before my morning walk with my wife.
I hope to leave a country where our kids are avid readers, capable of critical thinking, where even the dullest minds would be extremely skeptical of the crap presented here.
