Here’s a comedian with a frighteningly accurate description of life in America. His bit, “some people don’t want to talk about politics,” gets at the heart of lots of folks’ reasoning: we’re not personally affected, so why should we care?
Spot on. Who hasn’t observed this in his own life?
I’m not sure whose idea this was originally, but it certainly predates Bukowski; I’m going with Bertrand Russell.
This whole concept goes back to “Socratic wisdom,” i.e., the idea that the only thing he knows is that his knowledge is limited.
Earlier this week, a Florida man and his three adult sons were convicted in a Florida court of selling industrial bleach as a cure for COVID-19 through their online “church.”
This is reminiscent of the criminal proceedings against the 1000+ January 6th insurrectionists, in that a defense case can be made that the then-president of the United States authorized their actions. Yet the judge hearing the case saw no mitigating circumstances. Sentencing is set for October.
As explained here, it appears that the 16 alleged “fake electors” in Michigan are prison-bound, and it’s hard to imagine that there aren’t many dozens, if not hundreds, in essentially identical positions in other swing states who may be on their way to the Big House. (At left we see 11 from Arizona.)
That’s good news.
But here’s something that I find objectionable, from the same notification as the video linked above: “To call for Donald Trump to be convicted, sign here.”
What honest people want is that Trump will receive fair trials in each of the criminal cases against him, that, we believe, are very likely to result in his conviction. No one who understands and respects the law believes there is any merit to Trump’s being tried according to public opinion.
It may sound like a trifling difference, but it’s not.
I understand how the author of the meme here feels, but two points if I may:
1) Even if you live to see your 200th birthday, unless you go live in a cave, you’re going to be hearing Trump’s name, because the former president made a far more horrific impact on the United States than any other single person in its history.
2) I wouldn’t say that hearing his name is a bad thing, as we must never forget how close we came to becoming a banana republic. Nor should we forget that we’re living among tens of millions of hateful morons. Forewarned is forearmed.
This from 18th Century theologian and founder of Methodism John Wesley.
To put it simply, we’ve replaced all these ideas with our love of money. Anything that doesn’t make rich people richer is a non-starter in 21st Century America.
I had to laugh when I saw this.
Of course, being a “vulgar pig” is not a crime, so I suppose the assertion here is actually fairly mild.
Actually, I never assumed that everyone, or even most people, had a basic grasp of science.
What has shocked me is how many people openly reject entire scientific disciplines that fly in the teeth of their political or religious beliefs.
When I was young, nuttiness like this was confined to minute and roundly discredited bits of society. Christian Scientists, for example, refuse medical treatment for disease, on the basis that their faith in Christ will heal them. Again, that was, and continues to be, a negligible part of our total population.
The problem is that now we have tens of millions of anti-vaxxers and climate deniers. We have the believers in the stolen election, and those who hold that education represents an overall harm to our children. And let’s not count out those who believe the stories in the bible are literally true, and that the Earth is 6000 years old, despite all the evidence that we’ve gathered from molecular biology, anthropology, archaeology, paleontology, etc.
I’m not asking that everyone read up on chemistry, physics, and biology, but it sure would be a blessing if the scientifically illiterate could somehow be prevented from ruining our civilization.
As much as I appreciate the sentiments that president hopeful Asa Hutchinson is expressing here, I would respond: If you truly care about rule of law, you need to understand that the 5th Amendment and its presumption of innocence makes it unlawful for you to deprive a person without due process.
From the late poet and writer Eve Merriam: I dream of giving birth to a child who will ask, “Mother, what was war?”
Let’s hope that the International Criminal Court have some major success in prosecuting war criminals, as this may create a deterrent for those who would wage aggressive wars and commit dozens of other war crimes.
In the absence of this, the Vladimir Putins of the world will see no reason not to illegally invade their neighbors, torturing and murdering innocent people.
