Every once in a while I write a short post extolling the virtue of planting trees as a tool in climate change mitigation.
Normally, these are inspired by the works of an artist I follow, Italy’s Maurizio Rega. I simply adore his piece here.
Perhaps the single most telling aspect of the moral demise of the Republican Party is its failure to criticize its congresspeople for things like entertaining racists at the White House and running election campaigns based on pure lies.
Can’t someone stand up and say, “Er, maybe we shouldn’t be doing this?”
If I were a PR guy advising them on their desperate need to regain the trust of the American voters, I’d say, “Boys, you can’t openly embrace some of the most unethical behavior imaginable. Your voters are stupid but there is (I believe at least) a limit.”
Re: the words at left, a reader notes: New Year’s Resolution: “I can not tell a lie… Neither can you!”
It will be interesting to see how this plays out, as the Big Lie continues to lose its grip on the Republican party, and Trumpism, we hope, gradually is replaced with a slightly less hateful and insane version of what we’ve experienced since the former president came to power.
The separation of church and state is one of many social and political breakthroughs that resulted from the Enlightenment, aka the Age of Reason, in the 17th and 18th Centuries. It forms the cornerstone Americans cherish;; it’s the essential difference between life in the developed world versus countries that are racked by ISIS, the Taliban, and other oppressive regimes.
Until very recently, with the advent of fanatical Christianity and the intrusion of the evangelicals into the American political scene, the separation of church and state was not only enshrined into the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, but it stood at the core of what it meant to be a citizen of our nation.
At left are the words of a 19th Century president, one who was perhaps not gifted with the intellectual horsepower of some of his predecessors, e.g., Thomas Jefferson, but a man who still hold onto this fundamental truth that almost everyone, until the last few years, held quite dear to our hearts.
Now, evangelical Christians are doing everything in their power to ensure that our schoolchildren are taught to worship Jesus, a concept that would have made our Founding Fathers turn over in their graves.
The United States finds itself up to its hips with some of the most disgusting people imaginable, and the governor of Texas is one of the most revolting.
Fortunately, the Washington DC attorney general is investigating this with an eye towards bringing charges of human trafficking.
The content of the meme here is, of course, completely correct. The right-wing “news” media label the various aspects of a functioning society that are enjoyed by the rest of the developed world as “radical.”
And they largely get away with it, because most of their audience is too ignorant to understand what life is like in places like the EU, Israel, Japan, Australia, etc.
Re: the meme at left, seriously? How many Americans understand that the middle class has largely evaporated? That we have a massive chasm between rich and poor? That more than half of Americans can’t afford an emergency cost, e.g., getting injured or ill?
Of the few who get this, how many believe that government has any legitimate right to take actions aimed at correcting the situation?
This meme came from a reader. It’s a a reminder of what happens in the absence of a separation between church and state.
Of course, Islam fundamentalists are ever more loathsome to society than their Christian counterparts, but no one benefits from what the Iranians have today, i.e., domination by the so-called “morality police,” if you can believe that bit of irony.
At this point, most Americans are hoping for a smooth transition between Trump-as-political-leader to Trump-as-prison-inmate.
Yes, he still maintains a base of tens of millions of hateful imbeciles, but that base is eroding every day, and it’s watching in horror as some of its more militant members are carted off to prison.
The ass**** shown here will not be returned to society until 2039. That may act as a deterrent to another insurrection. Lord only knows.
A society that condones the systemic mistreatment of others is closer to savagery than civilization.
