This just in: I have been reading about things like Bullet Trains in Japan, Universal Health Care in Canada and World Leading Free Education in Finland. This makes me wander, “Why can’t we have nice things here?”

I look at what the Biden administration has been pursuing; things like Universal Healthcare for all, Affordable Education, World Class Infrastructure and I think again, “Why can’t we have nice things here?”

It certainly looks like Democrats are trying to do the “people’s work.” But why is it taking so long?

The answer is simple, Republican Obstruction.

Republican’s, right this very moment, are trying to make the economy fail. They are doing this for two reasons. First, they want to be able to blame the Democrats for it when it happens and secondly, those that benefit are the super rich elite…the Republican billionaires. There is a third reason and it is perhaps the most likely…that is that Republicans are bad at math and have no understanding of economics.

So, if you are a Republican and you vote Republican simply because they are wearing your team’s colors, are you part of the problem?

Let’s take a quiz and see… (For best effect use you Jeff Foxworthy voice in your head as you take this).

If you think an insurrectionist like Jim Jordan should be the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee…you may be part of the problem.

If you think putting prolific liar (and possible criminal) George Santos on any committee is a good idea…you may be part of the problem.

If you think Marjorie Taylor Greene, who said she would have been armed at the January 6th insurrection, should be on the Homeland security committee…you may be part of the problem.

If you think Lauren Boebert, who dropped out of high school and only got her GED after being elected is qualified to be on the House Oversight Committee…you may be part of the problem.

If you think that we should “strengthen” entitlements like Social Security by limiting who has access to them by, for example, raising the retirement age…you may be part of the problem.

If you think Donald Trump is anything more than a mobster in a suit with numerous debilitating personality disorders…you may be part of the problem.

If you think Putin is a good guy…you may be part of the problem.

If you think Christianity should govern our country…you may be part of the problem.

If you think “small government” means banning books, abandoning historical education about race and telling a woman that she must build a baby in her body against her will…you may be part of the problem.

If you think immigrates are “taking your job” … you may be part of the problem.

If you think Fox News is anything other than a Fear/Hate machine…you may be part of the problem.

If you think higher education is bad for our country…you may be part of the problem.

That’s enough for now. You may have noticed that all of the things that I think make you “part of the problem” are positions that the Republican Party is currently and openly embracing.

Just sayin…

Time to save the world…

Jim

This just in: I think Biden is old but I don’t think he’s senile. I think Biden is soft-spoken, but I don’t thing he is not determined. Overall, I like his performance. Under his administration, our government has managed to get a lot of things done.

Let’s look at a couple of things…

1. Ten million jobs created since 2021
2. Actions taken to lower household energy costs by $100 per year.
3. Gas prices are dropping sharply
4. Passed gun safety regulations
5. Unemployment at historic lows.
6. Inflation, while high, is low compared to other countries and is dropping
7. Strong action against COVID
8. Massive infrastructure investment
9. Massive aide to Ukraine
10. Raised minimum wage for federal workers

There have been a couple of investigations as well. For example…

1. The commission looking into January 6th.
2. The investigation into Trump hiding and lying about having classified materials.
3. Numerous prosecutions of Jan 6 terrorists.

Let’s take a look at the Republican Agenda.

1. Calls Social Security and Medicare “entitlements” as if they are the government doing a favor for undeserving people. The GOP wants to lower the payments to people. In other words, once you are too old to earn, you will make less than before the GOP took over.
2. Cutting costs that help the IRS to do its job. The CBO is already projecting more than $100 billion in lost tax revenue as the GOP protects the billionaires that contributed to them.
3. Eliminate the Ethics structure that monitors the behavior of congress.

The GOP also has a couple of investigations of their own…

1. With regards to Hunter Biden’s laptop, why are there boner pictures on it?
2. They plan to impeach Joe Biden although they have not yet come up with a reason to do so.

There is some good news here. The GOP is so hopelessly incompetent and divided that they will not accomplish anything.

There is one exception to this.

One of the “give-aways” that McCarthy handed out to gain the speakership was an agreement to oppose all legislation supported by the Biden administration. This is something the GOP is good at. They are great at making sure nothing happens and then blaming someone else for the results – that nothing happened. They are also great at promising things and then not accomplishing them and then – blaming someone else for their failures.

So, let’s see how this plays out.

Right now, I intend to actively look for positive legislation introduced by the GOP.

Time to save the world.

Up, up and away…

Jim

This just in: If I had to pick a single issue that is damaging us as individuals, as a country, or as a world, it would not be wars or pollution, or the economy. It would be tribalism.

Tribalism is the root of all fear, of all conflict and of all hate.

Tribalism refers to belonging to a group. I am American. I am white. I am male. These are all examples of groups that I belong to. In and of itself, there is nothing wrong with this.

I grew up in Wasco, Ca, a small town of about 7,500 people. This town had two elementary schools; Carl Clemons and Palm Avenue. For some reason, we kids at Palm Avenue viewed the kids from Carl Clemons, most of whom we’d never met, as “from the wrong side of the tracks.” They were inferior. They were poor. They we not as good as us. I don’t recall being taught this but the rivalry was real.

There was only one middle school so in 6th grade when I was 12, the two groups merged into one. I was surprised to find that the other kids were just like me. There were no differences. After a few weeks of school, who came from which elementary school was unimportant and often forgotten.

Then came high school. Our rivals were the nearest small town which happened to be Shafter. We viewed them in much the same way as I viewed Carl Clemons. We even had a Shafter Day where everyone would dress up as poor people, pretending, once again, the “others we not our equal.”

College was a little different. I went to the Naval Academy where our rival was the Military Academy at West Point. All day long, you could hear the freshmen, Plebes, shouting, “Go Navy. Beat Army.” We always knew the number of days until the Big Army-Navy game. However, at the end of the game, both teams came together as one. We knew the rivalry was fun but we also knew we were all on the same team.

Rivalries are fun. They gives us a reason to watch the game; to cheer for one team over another. But they are just for fun.

Unless, you forget that they are not…just for fun.

As adults, if we are not careful, we will fall into the Tribalism Trap. And, it’s not like there is just one trap. White tribes against non-white tribes. Asians against Europeans. This religion against that other on. Republicans against Democrats.

None of these tribes are real beyond the space we give them in our heads. When people of different tribes intermingle, the boundaries go away. We find out that the “others” are not evil or less worthy. We become one.

What put this topic in my head was the recent election for a senator in Georgia. Hershel Walker was possibly the most unqualified candidate for any national office. Moral, intellectually, experientially, on every measure one could think of, he was grossly unfit. Yet, he got nearly half of the state to vote for him. Why? He belonged to the Republican tribe. Had he been in the Democrat tribe, we would have seen the same thing happen.

If we want to get along. If we want to solve issues like racism, poverty, or immigration, we will need to all get on the same team.

Tribalism prevents that from happening.

What to do about this? I don’t know. I can only work on myself and that is a full-time job.

But, I think it’s important to notice.

Time to save the world.

Up, up and away…

Jim

This just in: As the Republican Party becomes more and more unhinged, they are starting to remind me of children at play.

Remember when we were kids and used to play like we were adults? We’d watch the “big people” and then pretend that we were them. We tried to copy them without really understanding why they acted like they did. After all, we were children.

Let’s look at a few examples. Remember, these are people “playing” like they think adults act.

Republicans run for office saying, “Biden raised your gas prices!” Their playmates clap wildly, pretending to understand the economics of a free economy. They also pretend that since their Party Officials noticed high gas prices, that is all it takes to fix the problem. The children then go and vote for their Republican heros.

In response…The elected pretend adults announce their top priority for when they take office: Investigating Hunter Biden’s laptop.

This gets repeated over an over again. High inflation, the war in Ukraine, immigrants at the border. In all of these instances, the problem is pointed out, the other children clap and then vote as if their party can fix something.

The response is always the same in the end…Hunter Biden’s laptop.

Why, you may ask, is Hunter Biden’s laptop so important?

No one really knows. Remember, these are children we are talking about. They saw investigations into Trump for any number of things ranging from asking Ukraine for a bribe to hording top secret documents in a tool shed to election interference to sedition on January 6th. They saw this and decided that this was how adults act. The underlying cause of the investigations didn’t appear to be important to them. The Republican take-away from all of the Trump investigations is that this is what the party does when its in power.

Republicans cherry pick problems and then tell you, “look at what we noticed”. This make people vote for them.

Republicans support election interference and they project these actions onto they other party and people vote for them.

Republican accuse Democrats of doing a lot of things that only the Republicans do. Check out this partial list of Republican pedophilia.

Republicans vote for someone because when he was in college he played football and they remember his name.

I can’t make this stuff up.

Time to save the world.

Up, up and away…

Jim

This just in: The party that brought you tax breaks for the rich, racism, and forced pregnancies has discovered the real cause of inflation. It appears to be Hunter Biden’s laptop.

I can’t make this stuff up.

Republicans held a press conference yesterday and clarified that their top priority was investigating Hunter Biden. Without proof, they assert that he used his position as then Vice President Biden’s son to make about $50,000 in Ukraine that he would not have ordinarily made on his own.

We must get to the bottom of this. Our entire nation’s economy depends on us knowing if Hunter Biden was given favors or not.

A completely unrelated topic: A year ago, Saudi Arabia invested $2 billion in Donald Trump’s daughter’s husband. The same husband that is buddies with the Saudi Prime Minister, the same guy that killed a journalist and had him dismembered for writing unflattering stories.

Back to the real issue which is, of course…BENGHAZI and Hillary Clinton’s emails. We need to find out why the previous FOUR investigations into Benghazi failed to find any evidence of misdeeds.

As far as Hillary’s emails are concerned; she testified when asked, for 11 straight hours. Yes, she was careless and got a good scolding for mishandling confidential information.

On a completely unrelated topic: Donald Trump had troves of material classified above Top Secret. This is stuff he denied having and then when he was caught with it, he said, “I used telepathy to declassify it just before you guys got here.”

Anyway, the Republican got me excited. Some of them want to get out of Ukraine altogether. Some of them want us to fold God into the constitution. Some of them want to impeach Biden on charges that they haven’t figured out yet. They are saying, “We know he did something, we just need to figure out what it was so we can impeach him for it.”

Meanwhile, on the bottom of the cover of a New York newspaper, “Local man makes an announcement.” It directs you to page 26 where at the bottom, it mentions that Trump is running for president again. Just what they need – Orange Jesus.

What about inflation? Income inequality? Abortion? Healthcare? NATO? China? Voting rights? Jobs? Trade?

I’m sure they have plans for all of these…right? Any moment now….any moment…

Time to save the world.

Up, up and away…

Jim

This just in: Although the mid-term elections didn’t turn out nearly as bad as prophesized, I still find myself disappointed in the fact the nearly 50% of Americans think that the Republican party will either (1) accomplish something that benefits people in general or (2) will save people from the evil secret plot of the Democrats.

It all comes down to education, critical thinking and an open mind.

Of course, I credit myself with all three of these traits while, at the same time, acknowledging that I may be the delusional one.

Let me just throw a few names out there…

Hershel Walker, Jim Jordan, Donald Trump, Clarence Thomas, Lindsey Graham,

These people, and others like them, represent the worst that humanity has to offer and yet, they are the Best of the Republican Party.

I don’t want to go into details because (1) you already know and (2) if you don’t already know its because you don’t want to know and (3) listing the details would take years and cost thousands of lives.

The short version of the list is: (1) Lies, (2) Fear-mongering, (3) Lack of solutions to problems and (4) Ignoring the law.

I find all of these bothersome however its the last one that troubles me the most. It means you can do anything you want so long as you are famous or in a position of power. Trump pointed this out years ago with his, “Grab ’em by the pussy. You can do anything.”

Yesterday, Trump ignored a subpoena from a Congressional committee. The consequences – Nothing. I would be in jail. You would be in jail. Trump, is putting on the third green (aka not in jail).

This is all very frustrating to me. I don’t want the Republicans in jail. I want fair treatment under the law for everyone. EVERYONE.

On the bright side, Trump will declare his candidacy for president soon; possibly today.

The GOP infighting should be spectacular.

In the end, our government is broken but, our country is not.

We have criminals in office and gullible people willing to help keep them there.

And yet, we are still standing.

Can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings.

Time to save the world.

Up, up and away…

Jim

This just in: I have noticed that when I get into a political discussion with a Republican, it takes very little effort to get their back against the wall. Just saying something like, “Tell me about a single policy that they have,” will result in a response like, “Well, of course you know that neither party really has a policy on anything. They are all in it for the power.”

Now, you can’t say absolutely that ALL of the Republicans say or do something and NONE of the Democrats are guilty of the same crime. But you can say, “This seems to be a Republican position and nearly all Democrats denounce it.” This is my way of saying “It’s not Black and White…but it’s pretty close.”

Let’s look at a few examples…

1. Republicans cheered the January 6th rioters; calling the event “legitimate political discourse.” Democrats call it an insurrection.
2. Republicans are making jokes and spouting QANON fables about an assault on a politician’s spouse. They seem to promote violence at every level; at every rally, with every snide joke. Democrats openly denounce political violence.
3. Republicans will lie to you about everything. Democrats lie about some things and I find this frustrating. A Republican lie is told knowingly and about really big issues to a following that they find extremely gullible. Democrats tend to lie by exaggerating a fact when doing so might help their position by just a small amount.
4. Let’s stay with the lies for a bit…
5. Republicans tell you Trump won the election. Democrats say, “show us the evidence and we will believe you.” There is no evidence.
6. Republicans tell you they are pro-law enforcement and yet they cheer the January 6th rioters for attacking police.
7. Republicans tell you they are fiscally responsible and yet, over the last 60 years, they are the party that has blown up the national debt. They are the party that has ruled over the highest unemployment levels. They are the party that has ruled over the smallest growth rates for GDP.
8. Republicans tell you Biden is responsible for high gas prices. He’s not. Saying so demonstrates either (1) a complete lack of understanding about how a free market economy works or (2) they are lying to you.
9. Republicans say there is a huge crime wave at the southern border. Crime has been dropping there for decades. They know this but are hoping that you don’t.
10. Republicans have no plan for inflation, immigration, international affairs like Putin and Nukes, education, income inequality, racial discrimination, LGBTQ issues, national divisiveness, climate change, or any other issue that they are complaining about.

Here is an example of how I see the Republicans trying to get your vote.

GOP candidate: “Sir, did you know that inflation is up and it’s Biden’s fault?”

Rural American: “Boy howdy.”

GOP candidate: “Sir, do you want your son to grow up gay because that’s what the Democrats want.”

Rural American: “Well someone ought to do something about that.”

GOP candidate: “I like cheap gas and white people.”

Rural American: “Sir, you got my vote.”

This….this is why we can’t have nice things.

Time to save the world.

Up, up and away….

Jim

This just in: One thing that I feel certain about is that someone has been radicalized. I’m less sure that that “someone” is not me.

Maybe it’s me. Maybe I’m the one that is drinking the Kool Aide.

If so, how did that happen? I don’t watch Fox News so maybe I’m missing out on “facts”. I watch some MSNBC but am well aware of their biases. Most of my news comes from Reddit where virtually every news outlet is represented. It’s Front Page represents those articles that have been upvoted by readers as being legit, fair and newsworthy. Maybe this isn’t perfect but it’s as close as I can get to “real news.”

So, let’s suppose I have been radicalized. How would this impact my perception of reality? I’ll post a few opinions that I have about the Republican Party and you decide if I’m wrong; if my view of reality has been skewed.

1. The leader of the Republican Party is Trump. He is possibly one of the worst human beings ever to gain public notoriety. He’s a life-long grifter, a liar, an insurrectionist and bully. The documentation supporting this seems to be vast. His incompetence while in office is well documented.
2. I saw a guy on TV the other day say it was unfair that the Liberal Communist Media was picking on Trump. Think about that…Liberal….Communist….Media. Where did he get that from? What is a single example of a liberal media being communist?
3. Republicans seem to have a political platform that boils down to: Let’s cherry pick some things that are not going well and blame Democrats. The implication is “Since we noticed inflation, you should assume that we have a secret plan to fix it.” They don’t.
4. There is a Far Side cartoon where a book from treating different horse ailments is “Shoot.” This reminds me of the Republican solution to every economic problem: Tax cuts for the rich (aka trickle down economics). Note: not only is this one of the most widely panned economic policies of all time, it is the very same policy that nearly sank the economy in the UK just a couple of weeks ago.
5. Republicans seem to have an affinity for Putin.
6. Republicans seem to be very tolerant of Racism.
7. Republican have absolutely no problem looking you right in the face and claiming that Trump won the last election. They do this while being well aware that it is a lie.
8. Republicans work hard at voter suppression as a way to win elections. Why not try doing so with sound governing solutions.
9. It there is a Republican platform beyond “blame Democrats” it is, “Stop the Democrats from achieving anything that will make them look good.” In other words, if the Democrats had a magic potion to cure cancer, the Republicans would vote against making it available.

In the end, my Radicalization has not resulted in my “opposition” to policies but rather my “disgust” at behaviors.

For example: If someone wants to win by suppressing a vote, just say so. Don’t be such a coward that you need to hide your motive. Just say, “I have nothing to offer so I need to keep that people that are likely to notice that from voting.” That would be so refreshing.

I’m tired of the lies and manipulation. It’s resulted in my radicalization; a state where I feel like the Republican Party has nothing to offer in the way of solution for anything. Radicalization has caused me to see Republican voters as being easily manipulated, intellectually lazy and at the very least, tolerant of racism.

This disappoints me.

Time to save the world.

Up, up and away…

Jim

This just in: I am a Democrat. I like Liz Cheney, a Republican. I oppose nearly every political position she has taken. However, she has character. That is something I value above all else in a political contest.

Let’s take a look at what a lack of character looks like.

Hershel Walker is a candidate for senate in the state of Georgia. His resume includes the following:

1. Claims to have graduated in the top 1% of his class in college. In fact, he never graduated from college.
2. Held a gun to his ex-wife’s head and threatened to kill her.
3. Has 4 children with 4 different women and raised none.
4. He is an election denier which is the same thing and “an insurrectionist supporter.”
5. He claimed to be a law enforcement officer and an FBI agent. He is neither.
6. Claims he is against abortion and yet paid for one and tried to get the same woman to have another.
7. Claims his opponent is responsible for high gas prices. He is not.

He is a prolific liar with no political experience and lacks the intellect to do the job.

And yet…

1. Newt Gingrich says that Walker brings a “deep commitment to Christ” to the senate. This is coming from a 3-time adulterer talking about a the antithesis of a good dad and family man. He is ignoring that the man Walker is trying to replace is an actual practicing preacher.
2. Tom Cotton is going to Georgia to speak on Walker’s behalf. This says a lot about Cotton.
3. Trump likes Walker because Walker was a famous football player in college.

These are the Men of Character that represent to vast bulk of the Republican Party.

There are nearly 300 Republican running for office in the midterms on a platform that includes, “Donald Trump is the rightful president of the United States.”

Think about this.

Republicans are supporting insurrectionists. Republicans are blaming everything on Democrats but have no solutions of their own to offer. They are racist, with one Republican saying something like “Democrats want crime. They want to pay reparations so that people can take you things from you.” The implication is that black skin = crime and that Democrats want to bribe black people to steal from you because they don’t want you to have nice things.

This is the Republican platform.

In spite of all of this, it’s a toss-up as to who will have the majority in the senate after midterms.

I find this disappointing.

Not because “my side” might lose. But rather, because, so many are willing to ignore character and simply vote for their “tribe” because that is what they have always done.

Time to save the world.

Up, up and away…

Jim

This just in: I say, “Call their bluff.” Call everyone’s bluff.

Let’s take just 3 examples:

Putin is implying that he will use tactical nuclear warheads if his newly “annexed” Ukrainian properties are invaded. What should we do? We can cower. However, this will mean that anyone with a nuclear weapon can now threaten us…and win. North Korea can say, “I now own Hawaii and if you don’t give it to me I will drop some nukes.” Saying, “I have nukes and I’m not afraid to use them,” will become the equivalent of our filibuster where it is no longer required to take the stage and talk for 24 hours; you just need to threaten to do it.

Yes, maybe Putin isn’t bluffing. But either way, failure to challenge him effectively makes him the ruler of the world. A tactical nuclear device will wipe out a city. The next day, Putin will see his army defeated and his navy at the bottom of the oceans. The United States may not be good at fighting non-traditional wars like in Afghanistan. But when it comes to army vs. army, we are professionals and no one should ever doubt the outcome. Against Russian, it wouldn’t even be close.

A second example; Republicans are threatening a civil war if Trump is indicted for ANY of him numerous crimes. We can say, “Hey, let’s not get all angry about this,” and give Trump a pass. What this means is that ANY president going forward is immune from ANY prosecution for ANY act that he commits.

I say, “Charge Trump and then let’s take note of who is causing violence…and put them away.”

A final example is the 299 election deniers that are running for office in this midterm. Maybe I should better call them election “De-Liars” since they know the election wasn’t stolen then just like to say that. Here is a link to a Washington Post article that is almost beyond belief. We can not show up to vote and let Republicans vote these people into office.

Yes, let’s do that. Let’s see what happens in Arizona when the majority of the population votes for a Democrat for president and the Republican Secretary of State say, “Nah…we are going to cast all of our electors for a Republican.” Let’s see what Americans do when that happens to them.

I predict that most will not miss an opportunity to vote the frauds out next time around…if they can. I say this because Orban in Hungary has made it impossible for anyone to vote him out of office. Republicans will find a way to squirm around and ultimately justify why the electors sent to D.C. didn’t reflect the will of the people.

To bluff is to make the other person think you have a winning hand when you have nothing. Putin is bluffing. Republicans are bluffing. I say, call their bluff, not because we’re brave. Call their bluff because we refuse to live in fear.

Time to save the world.

Up, up and away…

Jim