nuclear war

Let Truth & Falsehood Grapple in the Free Marketplace of Ideas

~ cockroachconspiracy

 

 

 

Though all the winds of doctrine were let loose to play upon the earth, so Truth be in the field, we do injuriously, by licensing and prohibiting, to misdoubt her strength. Let her and Falsehood grapple; who ever knew Truth put to the worse, in a free and open encounter? (John Milton, Areopagitica)

 

 

In a perfect world, this would be the norm but obviously we are far from such a world. And at this time of the deadly pandemic caused by the Coronavirus, the ignorance as evidenced by Trump’s behavior may well cause the unnecessary deaths of hundreds of thousands of Americans?

 

I don’t know what could be a more obvious example of how deadly ignorance can be? Because of this megalomaniac’s narcissism & sociopathic personality, the American public, well, those who didn’t fall for Trump’s rhetoric of fear & hate, are living in a state of terror!

 

And I am very concerned that I may not have much longer to live because I’m an old fart (67 years old) & have several of the highest risk factors, so this essay is probably going to be very raw & perhaps one of my most honest essays?

 

One of the things that most surprised me when Donny boy became president was the fact that there is clearly no requirement to be able to pass a basic intelligence test for the most powerful office in the world? Moreover, what does that say about our collective intelligence?

Trump reads at level of a 4th grade student & conned people into believing in his scam university?

 

My central thesis in this essay is that I believe if we had true freedom of speech & specifically in the most common meeting places for average Americans i.e. bars, taverns, & pubs, we might have been able to persuade our neighbors to open their minds & not fall for Trump’s con job?

 

Obviously, it’s too late now but perhaps those who survive this pandemic will wake-up to the necessity of informing themselves so that it can’t happen again? I have loved learning from the time I was in first grade & I believe that it is the responsibility of those of us who are true educators, to share what we’ve learned with our fellow citizens.

 

To begin with, I stumbled across a list of 50 Characteristics of an Educated Person, which I’ll share with you at the end of this essay, & I challenge you to find a single one of these characteristics in “our” president. I, like many others, have to admit that this buffoon is very clever at manipulating the media & that’s how he managed to con his way into office. Those who believe in his honesty i.e. “he tells it like it is,” “he cares about the little guy & the working class,” “he’s draining the swamp,” etc. are beyond the pale of an ordinary or average intelligence & therefore easily manipulated by pushing their emotional hot button topics. And it doesn’t take more than two or three minutes of “conversation” with these individuals to determine if they are Trump’s cult members i.e. as soon as you make one critical remark about Trump, they shut-down & like that wall he’s building, they erect a wall in their “minds.”

 

Yeah, I know, I’m sounding like one of those elitists. You’re goddamn straight I am! You can trace my elitism back to when I was in the sixth grade & was reading at an 11th grade, sixth month level. Moreover, I was a closet elitist because I hid my elitism in my single-parent, working class background. Pretty clever huh?

 

One of the things that confuses me about Trump who keeps reassuring us that he’s a very stable genius, and uses big words, & is more knowledgeable in just about any profession you can think of i.e. scientists, doctors, generals, etc. So why has he threatened to sue any of the schools he’s ever attended if they reveal his grades? Could it be that like his tax returns, he’s afraid if his grades were revealed, the public would realize that his entire life has been one big scam?

 

Mental midgets like Trump believe that he who shouts the loudest in an argument is the winner of the argument. And he has the biggest megaphone in America i.e. the bully pulpit of the White House. As a result, the public is constantly bombarded with Trump’s lies & propaganda, and we have, as I said, very few places to refute his ignorance, racism, & fear-mongering. Moreover, Donald of the Duck Dynasty Klan has FOX “News,” to spread his lies 24/7 and we all know how “fair & balanced” they are, right?

 

And one of the key aspects of Trump’s reign of error & terror is his perpetual rallies throughout his term in office. Have you ever seen another president wage a non-stop propaganda campaign like his? It’s crystal clear that although Trump struts the world stage with his chest puffed-out and his chin protruding as far as possible not because he is supremely self-confident, but rather supremely insecure & this is why he needs constant praising from his sycophants.

 

Returning to the “free marketplace of ideas” in the title of this essay, it’s obviously a reference or an analogy to the mythical “free market,” that has been proclaimed for so many decades that it is now accepted as a truism or similar to a law of nature. But this concept is one of the most pernicious ideas in the lexicon of this perverted crony or casino capitalist system that is now literally killing us. And a little research will show that this “system” is a total farce created to keep the gullible & ignorant playing in a rigged-game that they can never win. Here is the truth behind this sham from Noam Chomsky, my intellectual & moral hero;

Noam Chomsky, considered by many to be the most important intellectual alive!

 

The free market is ‘socialism’ for the rich: the public pays the costs and the rich get the benefit – markets for the poor and plenty of state protection for the rich.

Noam Chomsky

 

Because of the successful destruction of unions in America, we are no longer of much value to the powers that be i.e. we used to serve the purpose of consuming the manufactured products that were made in America but we’ve been beaten-down to such an extent that our only value now is our incarceration.

 

I am sharing this knowledge with you, my imaginary reader, not because I’m an egotist like Donald Duck but because I believe the central responsibility of educators is to share what we’ve learned & hopefully inspire students to take up their own self education. I forget if it was Plato or Aristotle that said this in a slightly different manner but it is the gospel truth!

 

Perhaps this would be a good point at which to share some of my bona fides, & unlike Trump who thinks that just by uttering whatever words he wants to, makes them a fact or the truth, I can back up my claims of intellectual abilities.

 

In brief, I attended community colleges in the L.A. & Orange County areas off & on for about a decade. I dropped-out of many courses half-way & sometimes even three-quarters of the way through a semester. Nothing really grabbed me until I stumbled upon philosophy. I told myself, now this is a subject I can really sink my teeth into.

 

And about this time, I had the great fortune of meeting my future wife who was a Special Education teacher & finishing up her Master’s degree in Special Education. Her B.A. was in Art. Her belief in me & her encouragement inspired me & I stopped dropping out of classes after that & within a couple more years, I earned my B.A. in English literature (the philosophy dept. where I was attending a four-year university, sucked & I figured, well at least I can enjoy the reading as a literature major.

 

Moreover, I have amassed a personal library of approximately 10,000 books over the course of my life. And no, I haven’t read them all but I have dissected so-to-speak, several hundred of them i.e. made copious notes in the blank pages so I can turn to the exact page if I want to show or prove to someone that I’m not making up what I’m trying to tell them about.

 

I’ve also been writing essays & working on two major writing projects for over 30 years. I would conservatively guesstimate that I have spent at least 50,000 hours over the past 40 years reading, writing, researching, watching documentaries, listening to political programs, etc. By-the-way, when some people try to dismiss that decade of switching majors several times & dropping-out time & time again, I ask them; So, you think that because I didn’t get the official credit for the course that I didn’t learn anything in all those classes?

 

And since we’re on the subject of education, here’s a quote by Aristotle who one professor told me, was one of the twin pillars of Western Civilization, Plato being the other; “The educated differ from the uneducated as much as the living from the dead.”

 

Yep! Another one of those god-damn elitist snobs! Now, some of you who may still have some of that holy seed of curiosity left in you as Einstein put it, may be wondering how in the hell did we get to such a desperate state like the one we’re living in now? Let me break it down for you because I have also worked in the education profession for approximately 20 years.

First of all, our public education system isn’t set up for excellence but rather to crank-out cookie-cutter, conformist citizens much like that video clip of students in Pink Floyd’s song; “We Don’t Need No Education.” And if you’ll take the time to reflect on the 50 characteristics of an educated person at the end of this essay, I think you’ll see what I mean?

 

Because we have to face the ugly reality of the way our educational system is, we must rely on ourselves & that means self-education. Of course, we must first learn what is worthy of learning. And if you accept the current capitalist system that is once again fuckin’ us that I don’t see how anyone can fail to see it. But then again, I almost forgot about the Trump cult where ignorance is celebrated?

 

And this is what I’ve learned in my lifetime, the two most important skills a person can acquire that will help empower them against the constant forces that manipulate us & defraud us daily are Critical & Analytical thinking skills. The book I am about to mention was recommended to me by a Jesuit scholar. And they are some of the best educated scholars in the world!

 

Problem Solving & Comprehension by Whimbey & Lochhead. I see that the price of the book has definitely gone up over the years? I bought a paperback copy back around 1983 for maybe $9.00? Well, it saddens me to have to report that in all these years, I haven’t been able to persuade a single friend to go through the exercises/problems in this book that help to develop your critical & analytical thinking skills. Like I’ve long said, welcome to Illiterate America, another great book by one of our best educators, Jonathan Kozol.

 

Being proud of being stupid didn’t start with Trump, no, it’s long been a part of our history. And another book which I “dissected” is The Underground History of American Education by John Taylor Gatto is a guaranteed mind-blowing experience if you dare to read it? This is another one of my books that I dissected & read twice because I used it extensively in writing my magnum opus which is only three-fifths completed.

At the risk of sounding like a conspiracy theorist & I pray that you don’t lump me in with the likes of Trump’s buddy, Alex Jones, quite simply, the 1% don’t want a nation of well-educated citizens because we are then more troublesome.

 

Moving right along, the next destructive force that has brought us to the brink is the media or more accurately, the corporate media aka mainstream media. And there’s no better place to jump in than the Reagan presidency from which Donald the Dipshit, stole his campaign motto; Make America Great Again.

 

You see, before Reagan, the mainstream media which was ABC, CBS, & NBC in those days, were required to give us both sides of an issue when they weren’t just reporting the straight news/facts. By-the-way, there are far more than two perspectives on the serious issues humanity faces.

 

Yep! Reagan was the father of “fake news,” is it any wonder Trump has emulated him? Ronnie’s elimination of the “Fairness Doctrine,” paved the way for FOX “News,” Trump’s daily briefing sessions. I say this because it’s pretty common knowledge just as Trump’s non-attendance at who knows how many of the daily presidential briefings. And those that he does deign to honor with his presence must boil the complex issues down to a single page with pictures.

 

This is the leader of the “free world.” Doesn’t it make you all fuzzy & warm knowing you can rest assured that the child behind the desk in the oval office wants to keep it simple? Yeah, he’s simple alright, he’s a fuckin’ simpleton but one with the capability of starting a nuclear war if somebody hurts his feelings.

 

Returning to our slide down the slope of journalistic integrity, the mainstream media was gutted by the corporate elite who saw ratings as the key to ever greater wealth. So, like a deadly virus, “infotainment” became the accepted norm & who other than Trump was a master at entertaining with his circus act of smoke & mirrors i.e. a barrage of lies & fake news i.e. before he became a “celebrity,” he’d call in to radio programs & pretend to be somebody else & sing his own praises.

 

Moving right along in our exploration of how America became so uninformed & wide-open to manipulation by the greedy & corrupt like Trump, we have the destructive rise of “reality television.”

 

I have heard very few, if any critics point out that the basic premise of “reality T.V.” is built on the premise that a fake medium i.e. television, can & does provide us with an accurate & honest view of ‘reality.’ And who else but Trump who built his celebrity on fake stories & his grandiose lies about his success, could “succeed” on such a massive scale in a fake portrait of reality?

 

Tragically, this too helps to shed light on this dangerous phenomenon of an absolute moron & moral degenerate in charge of a nation. Trump is not merely mediocre, no, he’s monumentally incompetent intellectually as well as totally morally bankrupt!

 

There’s a mountain of evidence proving he doesn’t have a single ounce of compassion or empathy for anyone but himself. And again, this is why I argue that if his Walking Dead zombies had even basic critical & analytical thinking skills, they could see through his grand sham.

In a battle of wits, Trump supporters are unarmed.

Remember my friend, television & movies succeed the more skillful they are at causing us to “willfully suspend disbelief.” Do you understand what I’m saying? Speaking of which, I believe that a major turning point in the dumbing-down of America came when FOX “News” was allowed to call itself an authentic news station.

 

And I hold “mainstream media” responsible in that they didn’t raise hell about this propaganda channel posing as “fair & balanced” reporters of the news. This clearly was an attempt to portray themselves as loyal exemplars of journalism before Reagan eliminated the “Fairness Doctrine.”

 

But speaking of “fairness,” American journalism had been failing us for decades before Reagan. And Edward R. Murrow as well as his mentors like I.F. Stone & George Seldes revealed this in their noble & brilliant careers of fantastic dedication & tireless work in uncovering the facts behind the lies of government & corporations.

 

Another nail in our collective coffin is the birth of the so-called “social media.” Moreover, it’d be rather amusing if it weren’t for the fact that it’s so dangerously serious. If you give a shit about true reality vs. the artificial world of the plastic people like Trump, you’d eventually have to acknowledge that this supposed “social media” is de facto anti-social.

 

Why you may ask? Facebook & Twitter being the two major exemplars of this fake reality, in fact encourage people to be anti-social and hurl ugly epithets back & forth. Tristan Harris, a former employee of Google;

 

“he worked as a design ethicist at Google, where he studied ethics of human persuasion.”

 

This young man’s courage & intellectual honest touched my heart. And I’m sure if you’ll take the time to read the bio about him on Wikipedia or watch any of the You Tube videos by or about him, you’ll agree.

 

In a nutshell, Mr. Harris shared with us the key to the kingdom that has become Google i.e. razzle & dazzle people with bells & whistles so like a slot machine in Vegas, they become addicted & will keep checking back for how many likes, etc. they have received in the past few minutes i.e. they become addicted to the constant feedback. Hey, does that sound like anybody you know? Hint: Donald of the Duck Dynasty Klan who spends the majority of his “work day” watching FOX “News” for his agenda of what American domestic as well as foreign policy should be.

 

Yes, we have a teenage girl as president. And she can never be more than a few feet from her “smart phone,” because she must constantly monitor her “social approval ratings.”

 

Are you still confused or wondering why we’re in such a state of fear? Or why we are so woefully unprepared for this pandemic? No, it isn’t just Donald the Dumb-fuck, it’s this capitalist system that only cares about profit. We’ve been through this before but the “Masters of the Universe,” chose to ignore common sense & have a stockpile of the necessary equipment because they could make greater profits by keeping it ‘close to the vest’ i.e. only manufacturing on demand or as the need arose for products so as to not have stockpiles in their warehouses that weren’t being used or sold. They could save money by eliminating every possible unnecessary product until it was needed. And lo and behold, now that we’re in a national and world-wide crisis, they can’t manufacture what we, the peons need fast enough so many of us will die because of their greed & shortsightedness.

 

And I gotta chuckle or I will double-over in a fit of rage that these corporate cockroaches have the balls to ask for bail-outs in this time of crisis? Yep! Trump’s very own children are asking for their share of the government handouts while Jared Kushner tells renters they must pay their rent but he needs help from the banks regarding his loans.

One that really caught my attention was Goldman Sachs, dubbed “the Goldman Sachs” treasury department is also asking for help? Matt Taibbi wrote a book about Goldman Sachs called “Vampire Squid” and I don’t know where this particular quote by him came form but I feel it’s as succinct a summary of why, once again, we, the 99% are being fucked while Wall St. is once again, being bailed-out against our wills & we have to foot the bill even as we are kicked out of our homes.

 

‘Nobody goes to jail.’ This is the mantra of the financial-crisis era, one that saw virtually every major bank and financial company on Wall Street embroiled in obscene criminal scandals that impoverished millions and collectively destroyed hundreds of billions, in fact, trillions of dollars of the world’s wealth – and nobody went to jail.

 

This is in reference to the 2008 Crash that came seriously close to collapsing the entire world’s economic system. But hey, no big deal, right? Place your trust in a fake billionaire who is using the White House as an ad agency to promote his business interests.

 

You see, my imaginary reader, if we were truly free to speak & I mean anywhere & everywhere, most importantly in ye olde public houses i.e. bars, taverns, & pubs like our founding fathers did when they were plotting their revolution, we might just be able to stem the tide of stupidity that has engulfed us?

 

Those of us who survive this pandemic owe it to the memory of all those who didn’t survive. I just hope that the unnecessary deaths of hundreds of thousands of Americans may at last galvanize the apathetic to rising up and slapping those greedy pigs down & imprisoning them so those who attempt to follow in their footsteps at least know that they’re not going to get a cell in any of those federal country club “prisons.”

 

We seem to be fond of declaring wars against drugs, crime, welfare cheats, etc., how about we declare a War on Stupidity? And what say you about requiring our presidents to be above a fourth-grade level intellectually?

 

It is only through exercising our minds that we self-empower ourselves & stop being victims. We must retake our places as human beings who deserve to be treated respectfully & as people worthy of all that is laid out in “The Declaration of Human Rights” or Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s “Second Bill of Rights.”

 

I leave you with this reminder; “United We Stand, Divided We Fall,” and that has been the game plan of the powerful & wealthy throughout history i.e. to divide and conquer us. It’s only our stupidity or ignorance that is holding us back.

 

My hope is that like the peasants of France who finally had enough of watching their children die of hunger & the queen consort of Louis the 16th, Marie Antoinette’s callous remark; “Let them eat cake,” was the final straw that caused the people to rise up and take back what was rightfully theirs & their right to be treated with dignity as human beings!

 

And here’s a little reminder for all you in that special category of the “1%,” you might take a lesson from history i.e. the French peasants finally reached their breaking point & chopped the heads off of half the elite of France.

 

Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I’m not sure about the former.

Albert Einstein

50 Characteristics of an Educated Person

  1. An educated person has the ability to think clearly and independently.
  2. An educated person has good judgment.
  3. An educated person knows how to learn.
  4. An educated person knows how to acquire desired skills by identifying and utilizing available resources, deconstructing the process required for learning a particular skill, and experimenting with potential approaches.
  5. An educated person has the ability to take initiative and work alone.
  6. An educated person has the ability to communicate thoughts and ideas in writing, clearly and concisely.
  7. An educated person has the ability to speak clearly.
  8. An educated person has the ability to reason analytically and critically.
  9. An educated person has the ability to think inductively and deductively.
  10. An educated person questions assumptions.
  11. An educated person doesn’t blindly accept what they are told; they go see for themselves. They can discern truth from error, regardless of the source.
  12. An educated person knows how to distinguish between relevant and irrelevant information (between the important and the trivial).
  13. An educated person knows how to make productive use of knowledge; they know where to get the knowledge that they need, and they have the ability to organize that knowledge into a plan of action that is directed to a definite end.
  14. An educated person understands human nature and has the ability to establish, maintain, and improve lasting relationships.
  15. An educated person knows how to establish rapport with others; they know how get others to trust and respect them.
  16. An educated person knows how to cooperate and collaborate effectively with others.
  17. An educated person knows how to resolve conflicts with others.
  18. An educated person knows how to persuade others.
  19. An educated person has the ability to conceptualize and solve problems.
  20. An educated person knows how to make decisions.
  21. An educated person has the ability to see connections among disciplines, ideas and cultures.
  22. An educated person is able to cross disciplinary boundaries and explore problems and their solutions from multiple perspectives.
  23. An educated person is someone who has been educated holistically: creatively, culturally, spiritually, morally, physically, technologically, and intellectually.
  24. An educated person has a broad liberal-arts education. They have a good overview of the following subjects: the natural sciences; the social sciences; history; geography; literature; philosophy; and theology.
  25. An educated person has depth of knowledge—that is, specialized knowledge–in a particular field.
  26. An educated person has achieved victory over themselves; they know how to withstand discomfort in the short term in order to achieve important goals in the long term.
  27. An educated person has the capacity to endure and persevere.
  28. An educated person is self-aware; they know how to perceive and manage their own internal states and emotions.
  29. An educated person knows where and how to focus their attention.
  30. An educated person has ethical values and has integrity.
  31. An educated person has the ability and the discipline to do what is right.
  32. An educated personis well-readand has cultural sophistication.
  33. An educated person has equal esteem for everyone, without regard to gender, race, religion, country of origin, and so on.

 

 

 

 

  1. An educated person understands their obligation to leave the world a little better than they found it.
  2. An educated person is capable of doing new things; they have the ability to generate ideas and turn them into reality. An educated person is innovative.
  3. An educated person is one whose natural curiosity has been awakened with the purpose of satisfying that curiosity.
  4. An educated person has the ability to identify needed behaviors and traits and turn them into habits.
  5. An educated person has the ability to identify harmful behaviors and traits—including thinking habits that are not serving them well—and the ability to modify them.
  6. An educated person has the ability to keep their life in proper balance.
  7. An educated person has the flexibility to admit when they’re wrong.
  8. An educated person has quantitative literacy; they know how to use arithmetic, algebra, geometry, and statistics to solve problems.
  9. An educated person can speak at least one language other than their own.
  10. An educated person has financial literacy; they have the knowledge necessary to make sound financial decisions.
  11. An educated person is adaptable and knows how to deal with change.
  12. An educated person knows how to handle ambiguity.
  13. An educated person has the ability to explore alternative viewpoints.
  14. An educated person has aesthetic appreciation; they can sing and dance well, play at least one musical instrument, and can appreciate architecture, great art, and other expressions of creative genius.
  15. An educated person has developed the personal philosophy that will allow them to be happy and successful.
  16. An educated person has the ability and the discipline to constantly improve.
  17. An educated person has the ability to pursue lifelong learning.

Addendum

As often happens when I think I’ve finished an essay, I remember some important points that I meant to make but got sidetracked from in the essay.

I think a lot, if not most people don’t realize that watching T.V. is a passive experience i.e. you’re just receiving the information, images, etc. & you are definitely not thinking critically or analytically when you’re watching T.V.

And the proliferation of T.V. shows (sit-coms, soap operas, sports programs, etc.) has slowly turned our minds into Swiss cheese. Moreover, with the advent of the Internet, the nefarious powers that only seek profit not enlightenment, have enhanced the deterioration of our mental capacities.

We are living in a post-literate society because reading requires mental effort & people primarily just want to be entertained. For example, I allowed myself to get sucked into the world of Facebook several years ago & I was excited and thought I’d be able to exchange important ideas with people. I used to write paragraphs, if not abbreviated essays in response to the important posts I read & once in a while someone would say; “I learned so much from your posts & comments.” And it became rarer over time to even get a single sentence in response. With the introduction of emojis, I became angrier because a sentence was now almost nonexistent. Yet people think they’re communicating?

Trying to get people to write is like pulling teeth & I finally gave up altogether & deleted my Facebook account about a year ago. And to illustrate even further America’s enfeeblement, it seems people today prefer texting over talking to someone on the phone. Yeah, pretty depressing! So, we don’t read, we don’t write, & we’re getting to the point where we won’t even talk.

I believe these factors that I have mentioned in this essay all point to how we’ve arrived at this tragic & deadly point in our history. The simple fact that a third to a half of the American public actually support Trump no matter how venal, crude, & brazenly only concerned about enriching himself he is. And that says more about us than it does about him.

Bottom-line, Trump has always followed his mentor, Roy Cohn’s simple battle plan for everything i.e. Deny, Divert, & Detract. Every time someone accuses you of something, Deny it. Divert their attention by changing the subject & not allowing them to pursue their accusation, & Detract i.e. start attacking their character, make shit up, do whatever you can to keep tearing them down.

This is abundantly clear in how he’s avoided taking any responsibility for his ineptitude, mishandling, & lying every step of the way in this dark time of the coronavirus spread which may kill a hundred thousand or more Americans & which was largely preventable if we had an intelligent person of moral character in the White House.

The Koch brothers & several of the wealthiest oil & gas corporations employed these same tactics in funding the massive propaganda campaign of Climate Change Denial. All they had to do was muddy the waters, question the credentials of the 98% or better of the world’s scientists who have warned of the impending disaster that will make the coronavirus pale in comparison!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Making America Great Again

~ cockroachconspiracy

 

 

 

Yeah, if you consider the 1918 flu pandemic that killed anywhere from 20 to 50 million worldwide, and the approximately 675,000 Americans who died, a great America?  Moreover, Daddy Trump said today; “If only 100,000 Americans die from the coronavirus, that means he’s done a good job.”

 

Yep, the 99%’s lives don’t matter at all, the only lives that matter are the 1%’s. You know, the ones who gave us the worldwide Crash of 2008. The ones, we, the taxpayers bail-out against our will, time & time again. It’s the same old sad song i.e. Socialism for the Rich & pull yourself up by the bootstraps for the rest of us. If you fail & go bankrupt & are fired through no fault of your own & are illegally foreclosed on, too bad, too sad!

 

The status quo must remain solvent & in control. The poor babies & hypocrites need another mansion, another yacht, another private Lear jet, etc. etc. etc. And they never change their mantra of mendacity i.e. we need the massive tax breaks (even though we pay little if any taxes) so we can put workers back to work. But they leave out the fact that they’re talking about workers in the “developing” world where they have no unions, no health & safety on the job, no voice whatsoever.

 

The “neo-liberal” theology that basically took root in the reign of Bill Clinton, the faux democrat who sold out the working class & the middle class. Yep! Another lying democrat who pretended to be our champion but sucked-up to the corporate cockroaches hoping they’d let him in the inner-circle of the corrupt elite in corporate America.

 

His price of admission to that sacred grove was passing the elimination of Glass-Steagall & the passing of NAFTA. Along with a few lesser issues like locking up every Latino and black citizen possible, slashing “welfare,” for the undeserving poor who would just waste it on food & other frivolous things like rent, utilities, etc.

 

But even these gifts that Billy Boy laid at his masters’ feet were not enough. No, he was also necessary as a perpetual whipping-boy for the crime-lords at the top of the food chain & that has continued down to this day with his wife, Hillary the Hun!

 

And in between the two democratic sell-outs Clinton & Obama, we had good old Alfred E. Newman. Yep, Georgie, the Coward from Crawford who was so spineless & stupid that Cheney, the man from Halliburton had to be employed to prop him up. And with Dick’s loving guidance, Georgie boy manipulated the gullible Americans whose minds have been eaten away by FOX “News,” into invading & occupying Iraq which has been a wet-dream for the military/industrial/congressional complex.

Pravda is Russia’s main paper but they know it’s propaganda, Americans don’t have a clue about FOX “News”

 

Yep! By unleashing a tsunami of propaganda & lies on the American public, the powers that be had a new perpetual enemy to justify their perpetual state of war i.e. the terrorists are coming! Be afraid, be very afraid! It doesn’t matter that our military is more powerful than all the other nations on earth’s combined militaries.

The $100 million televangelist & The Commander & Chief Thief!

 

And to help in this Crusade for Christianity, FOX “News” was invaluable in its 24/7 fear & hate campaign. Yep! And good ol’ country boy, Georgie “Dubya,” did his bit to help the cause of the greedy & the craven by turning a blind-eye to Wall St.’s ambitious theft scam which sent the world into a tail-spin.

 

Surprise! Surprise! Surprise! After Alfred E. Newman exited stage left, they thought they’d really confuse us with I must admit, a very clever ad campaign, in fact, Obama’s presidential campaign won an award for the best advertising campaign of the year he was elected.

Wall St.’s Liars Row, just like the tobacco CEOs years later; “We had no idea?”

 

And in the spirit of “full disclosure,” I have to confess that I too fell for Obama’s ad campaign. But, believe me or not, I knew within a few weeks after the Black Crusader on the White Horse rode into Washington D.C. that I was just another sucker. His appointments of Geithner, Bernanke, Summers, et al showed me instantly the error of my ways & what a fool I had been in voting for him. Not one single Wall St. CEO was prosecuted by Obama administration!

Obama almost literally would get weak in the knees whenever Jamie Dimon entered a room he was in at the same time. Yeah! Perhaps the worst of the worst in the financial sector of our economy with his Cheshire Cat, smug mug because he knew he was getting away with grand larceny on a national scale.

 

And now we have the piece de la resistance, the Marie Antoinette cross-dresser, Donald the Charlatan, the Duck Dynasty worship & grovel at his feet to in abject submission. I cling to the dream of Trump’s Walking Dead army waking from their somnambulant anorexia & uniting with the healthy amongst us to overthrow this tyranny that threatens not only America but the entire planet.

“Forgive them Father for they know not what they do.”

 

This duplicitous dumb-shit asks questions like; Why can’t we use our nuclear weapons? And if this doesn’t scare you, you might want to check your pulse because you may be one of the Body Snatchers? I for one, simply can’t wrap my head around the apparent reality that half of the American public can’t see how truly destructive & dangerous this colossal moron is?

 

Will the Donald of the Duck Dynasty’s Klan members still sing his praises as they & their loved ones slowly die from this modern-day plague that we could’ve drastically reduced the effects of? The misanthrope who is incapable of human sympathy, empathy, or compassion unnecessarily put countless millions of Americans at risk for catching this deadly virus because he didn’t want his numbers to go down in the polls as to how he was “dealing” with the pandemic.

And each & every day when I say to myself, this fuckin’ piece of human excrement can’t possibly say or do anything stupider, he proves me wrong? He is purposely subverting, undermining, & sabotaging the efforts of our top scientists & epidemiologists to contain & hopefully reduce the fatalities this virus causes.

The True Hoax is that Trump gives a shit about anybody but himself

If this isn’t a case of our top executive posing a clear & present danger to America’s national security, then you tell me what the fuck is? Are we going to follow this inhumane creature off the cliff like passive & obedient lemmings, or are we going to find our backbones & stand & fight for our lives?

The choice is yours my friend. The corporate cockroach class see us as only a means to an end. They know full well that climate change & destruction is real but they figure that the billions & trillions they can stuff into their pockets takes precedence over minor considerations like say, humanity’s continuation.

“The Very Stable Genius” throwing a tantrum

 

Their motto is; He who dies with the most toys is the winner! And the thought of their grandchildren playing in the rubble of a Hiroshima or freezing in sub-zero Arctic wastelands doesn’t trouble their empty hearts & souls.

If you care to know who the true Masters of the Universe are, watch this documentary:

I’ll tell you this my imaginary friend i.e. I get so few readers, guess they’re busy with their “Smart phones,” and “Socializing?” If we don’t somehow find our lost compassion for not only our loved ones but for our fellow man, we are truly overlooking that horrific abyss that Dante did a pretty good job of describing.

 

From the marrow of my bones & the depth of my soul!

You’ve been warned!

 

—Rob DeLoss, Gold Beach, Oregon, March 30, 2020

Dangerous Stupidity!

~ cockroachconspiracy

 

 

 

Of course, nowadays on the Left side of the political spectrum, it’s not PC to call people stupid. No, we’re supposed to be sensitive of others’ feelings, etc., no matter how hate & violence-spewing they are.  Well I say, fuck that shit!

the laws against hate speech don’t apply to Trump or the rich

 

We’re being killed and you tell me to be polite? Is it any wonder that we’re constantly beat by the far Right? Michael Moore said that he was talking with Steve Bannon some time back & that he asked Bannon about this & Bannon said; “the liberals or democrats are having a pillow fight while we go for the head shot i.e. shooting to kill.”

Greta Thunberg’s “How Dare You?” to world leaders says it all!

 

And let’s face it, he was at least honest in this regard. Speaking of Steve Bannon, let me lay out for you how this vile, Machiavellian strategist for Trump who played a major role in getting Trump into the White House, capitalized on the public’s general stupidity to do so.

Bannon is on a Crusade stirring-up racial hatred around Europe

 

You see, Bannon was vice-president of a company called Cambridge Analytica & the Trump campaign hired Cambridge Analytica to help in Trump’s run for the presidency. Well, Cambridge Analytica bought access to Facebook’s data base & because of Zuckerberg’s greed & not bothering to place any limits on Analytica’s use of their data on over 80 million Americans, Analytica was able to target those American voters it refers to as “persuadable.”

Brittany Kaiser, supposed whistleblower but I don’t buy it (Cambridge Analytica)

 

If you are or were a Facebook user like myself, you’ve probably come across those apparently innocent little quizzes that are posted now & then asking if you’d care to see how you measure up against others in your type of personality or some other respect. Well, from the results of these “quizzes,” and the treasure trove of other data we willingly posted & divulged on Facebook, Analytica was able to brag to the corporations it tried to sell its services to that it had over 5,000 data points on every American citizen.

 

And unbelievable as it may sound, something like 70% of Americans get their news from Facebook & I don’t know what percentage of regular FOX “News” viewers we have but FOX is de facto America’s version of Pravda (look Pravda up for yourself; hint, it’s Russia’s major, perhaps only newspaper).

 

Access to the personal data of over 80 million Americans’ personal data & all their friends’ personal data as well, gave the Trump campaign a powerful weapon with which they were able to pinpoint the stupid, the weak-minded, the gullible in every voting precinct in the U.S. & they created over a million political “ads” designed sometimes for just a handful of voters whom they knew they could manipulate into voting for Trump with their absurd, obscene, & outright lies in obvious political propaganda ads attacking Hillary Clinton.

 

So, with Facebook’s selling of all our personal data to Cambridge Analytica & the unscrupulous machinations of the likes of Steve Bannon, the stupid, the conspiracy cult believers, the Duck Dynasty crowd, the racists & haters of everyone not a White Supremacist, & especially the faux “Christian” voters, this combination of dark forces put Trump in the White House.

 

And since Trump the simpleton & malignant narcissist who refused to even follow the rule of putting his companies in a trust so he couldn’t be accused of profiting from being president, has been systematically destroying our government.

 

As a matter of fact, in today’s headlines, the Trump administration is now trying to take away Social Security funds from those with disabilities. Yep! All you stupid morons who believe this lying piece of shit, this crook, this traitor to America, this sexual predator is cutting food stamps & every part of the social safety net that many of you probably rely on & you sing his praises? Yeah, that is indeed some “special kind of stupid!”

 

To elaborate on the dangerous aspects in the big picture regarding this tin-pot would-be dictator (an autocratic ruler with little political credibility & delusions of grandeur), malignant narcissist, con man, huckster, & sexual predator the morons put in office, reflect on this; Trump knows absolutely nothing about foreign policy but loves to strut the world stage like he’s some sort of gangster.

 

You see, Trump has been partnering with the Italian mafia for most of his life i.e. they got the contracts for cement in his buildings, ensured that his employees in his Atlantic City casinos wouldn’t strike with the other hotel employees who were striking, etc. And now he has “progressed” to relying on the Russian mafia for loans because American banks will no longer give him loans because he defaulted on hundreds of millions in previous loans—yeah, this is the “successful businessman” you’ve all been suckered into believing.

 

He thinks he can bully & bluster his way through his presidency but his latest truly stupid move against Iran is playing with a very deadly fire. Iran is by far the most powerful nation in the Middle East & if we were to seriously engage in a war with them, it’d be all over for all of humanity!

 

If Trump truly had a brain, he wouldn’t have threatened every school he’s ever attended if they dared to release his grades. Moreover, his trade wars are actually hurting the American economy but he’ll lie & deny until the day he dies & his cult will turn a blind eye no matter what.

 

For example, roughly a third of the American public don’t believe the Holocaust actually happened, what do you bet they’re the same third of our fellow citizens who think Trump is the next best thing to the Second Coming?

 

It’s taken America over two hundred years to evolve & yes, we have a lot of ugly history or crimes against humanity to answer for but how in the Hell can Trump zombies actually think that the total destruction of our government’s structure & institutions is a good thing just proves my point i.e. they’re fuckin’ morons!

 

Trump is so brazenly corrupt that it boggles the mind? Step right up suckers. Stay at my hotels, play gold at my resorts, buy my products, etc. And thanks to the totally spineless G.O.P., he is given free rein to defy every norm of human decency, decorum, & law.

 

Some of you may recall that when John Kerry was running for the presidency, they made a big deal out of his so-called, “flip-flopping” on issues? This idiot flip-flops within the same sentence time & time again. He says stuff, it’s recorded, and ten minutes later he denies ever having said it. He’s called on it & claims it’s all a conspiracy against him by the Deep State. Yeah, they’re so powerful that they can immediately alter video tapes of his speaking within a matter of ten minutes. People who believe this bag of shit shouldn’t be allowed to operate a car let alone own a gun.

 

And one of the scariest things about this orangutan in the oval office is the fact that approximately 70% of so-called evangelicals love him because they believe he’ll bring us Armageddon. The destruction of the Earth is their dream.

“Christian” evangelicals’ Wet dream i.e. WWIII

 

In conclusion, here’s a little thought experiment for you; if you’re familiar with the long-running, hit T.V. series, “The West Wing,” it was a very educational program in that it showed a lot of the inner workings in the White House i.e. the wheeling & dealing in the passing of bills, how compromises are reached, what happens in times of serious international crises, etc. Now this was classified as a fictional television series but a large part of its popularity was due to the fact that it was so closely modeled on the reality of our government & how it does & doesn’t function in so many ways.

 

Now consider the thousands of insights we’ve gotten over the three years that Trump has been the president & how himself & his administration can’t seem to function in even the simplest of tasks. It’s clear to all who aren’t willfully ignorant, Trump doesn’t have a clue, won’t even read his daily briefings let along attempt to inform himself on the critical issues facing us both domestically & internationally. He prefers to spend his days watching FOX “News,” tweeting, & playing golf or holding his Nuremberg-like fear & hate rallies & promoting his hotels & resorts.

 

Now ask yourself, would I rather have this dangerous buffoon running our country & ensuring our safety & prosperity or would I rather have a real actor like Martin Sheen, in the oval office? A man of compassion & intelligence!

 

Moreover, this total moron behind the desk in the White House decides to play chicken with Iran (which is clearly the most powerful nation in the Middle East) for absolutely no reason at all other than to “look tough.” It seems pretty clear to all with a functioning brain that Trump is desperately trying to distract us from impeaching his ass because he knows that once he’s out of office, a prison cell will be his next home. Gee, I wonder if they’ll let the girly-man Tweet from prison?

Reality Deniers

~ cockroachconspiracy

“You’re saying it’s a falsehood and Sean Spicer, our press secretary, gave alternative facts to that.” —Kellyanne Conway, January 22, 2017 (re: Spicer’s claim that Trump’s inauguration was the largest ever)

Well Mrs. Conway, as Gertrude Stein would inform you; A fact is a fact is a fact. And if you’d like to show America how sure you are of your alternative world, why don’t you go to the top of a skyscraper & step off the ledge to prove that the Laws of Gravity are just an alternative fact or opinion as well?

This coming from the woman whose official title is Counselor to the President but more accurately, she’s his apologist & personal minister of propaganda i.e. Joseph Goebbels reincarnated.

David Fitzsimmons / Arizona Star
David Fitzsimmons / Arizona Star

We have arrived at this fantastically depressing day in U.S. history for a myriad of reasons but two of the most prominent factors are the rise of the “Reality television shows” phenomenon that began 20 years ago along with the rise of our own version of Russia’s “Pravda” i.e. FOX “News.”

Everyone knows that politicians are liars but at least they used to be considerably more restrained in the quantity & quality of their deceptions. But our narcissistic & totally unconcerned about reality bully-boy in the White House doesn’t care about facts & has been allowed to get away with habitual lying his entire life because daddy always protected him.

With Trump, lying has risen to another level, beyond the rational universe & this is why his base consists of born-again Bible thumpers who pray for the end of the world & those who just love his vicious & heartless attacks on everyone not like them i.e. liberals, gays, Mexicans, Muslims, the handicapped, intellectuals, democrats, journalists, women, etc. etc. etc. And of course, the greedy corporate cockroaches who are making out like bandits thanks to Trump’s tax give a ways to the super rich while slashing every program that offers a bit of help to the poor, the working class, the middle class, etc. And the 35% to 39% or so who are Trump’s die-hard fans are so stupid, they don’t care that he’s taking away their food stamps & etc. They’ll still be singing his praises as they climb out of their cardboard “homes” on Skid Row & they’ll continue to curse Obama’s very existence. trump5

But before I wander too far afield, I want to highlight the elephant in the room that is so glaringly obvious because it’s been so consistent that most of us now see it as “normal,” i.e. Trump’s habitual lying. He just recently passed the 14,000 lies mark & it doesn’t mean shit to his base. Now that’s some kind of willful ignorance! I wonder if these Trump fans tell their kids it’s okay to lie? Or do they simply ignore their kids’ lying as they do Trump’s and say; Oh, isn’t he cute?

Trump has said things & ten minutes later when he’s been called on a lie, he’ll lie about the lie and claim that it’s the fake news. Yep! I guess the “fake news” and the “Deep State” (C.I.A., F.B.I. N.S.A., etc.) are so fast & powerful that within ten minutes of Donald saying something, they can alter what he said & accuse him of lying? The poor baby is just so picked on.

Think about it, they’d have to hack into every news station in the country, rewrite every reporters’ notes from Donny’s press conference, hack into every phone, video camera, etc. all just because they hate him for no valid reason? It can’t possibly be that there is no plot to get him but that two-thirds of the country actually detest him because of his vile & vulgar behavior, his racism, his hate speech, & his crimes (thousands of them over the years & that’s why he’s maintain a platoon of lawyers all his business life), can it?

This is clearly denial of reality on a scale we’ve never witnessed before and what does it say about us as citizens of the supposedly most free & democratic nation on Earth? Okay, it’s clearly time to go back to school—pun intended—because as a country, we’re pretty damn dumb! And a common thread that will wind through this essay is the subject of “control.”

In the documentary, “Citizen Four” which is about Edward Snowden’s decision to no longer be a pawn in the NSA’s illegal spying on all Americans, he understated the issue of our freedom as very much relevant to the NSA’s unconstitutional activities. I think he was going overboard to not come off as a conspiracy nut & that’s why he simply said at one point in the film; “It’s about control.”

And control is what our public education system is all about whether you are aware of it or not and whether you accept this accusation or not. It’s real simple in its broad strokes i.e. the government basically follows the wishes of the 1% & the 1% want workers who are obedient & just smart enough to run the machinery (both physical machines & the operation of its companies i.e. accountants, salesmen, administrators, office workers, etc.) to keep their profits coming in but not too clever because they might lead the workers to organizing, protesting, boycotting, & worst of all, sit down strikes where the workers take over the plants, factories, etc.

Again, it’s important to not get off on those fun, grand conspiracies like Trump loves to because they actually serve the interests of the 1% by distracting & confusing the workers & the voters. Gore Vidal put it very succinctly, “They don’t need to conspire, they all think alike.” And unlike Trump who simply makes claims that he can’t back up, I can prove my expertise when it comes to the field of education. I graduated high school, spent 14 years going to college (dropping in & out several times before earning my B.A. in English literature), have collected a personal library of approx. 10,000 books (have probably read at least 700 of them), and have been writing for over 30 years. And last but not least, was reading at the 11th grade, sixth month level when I was in the sixth grade. What level do you think Trump reads at with that impressive & articulate rhetorical style of his? Moreover, why did Trump threaten to sue any school he’s ever attended if they released his grades to anyone if he’s so “brilliant” and a “stable genius?” Are we to believe that he’s humble when it comes to his grades and that’s why he doesn’t want them released? Yeah right, the guy who brags about himself everyday & every way he can. No matter what the subject or topic that is being discussed, Trump always finds a way to turn it into an opportunity to brag about his legendary accomplishments—almost always fantasies which are the product of his little pea-brain—yet his “base” just laps it up? Guess Goebbels was right? The bigger the lie and the more often you tell it, the more the people will accept it as truth & it becomes fact. (for those of you who don’t remember, Goebbels was Hitler’s Minister of Propaganda)

Regarding our public education system, in a nutshell, it too has been invaded & to a very large extent, has been coopted by the 1% as well as those good ol’ “Christian evangelicals” who have turned a blind-eye to all Trump’s sins because he gives them lip-service “support” in their war against the evil secularists who are destroying Christian values. I wrote a book on this subject should you care to check the veracity of my claims?

Let’s return to the subject of the Bible-thumpers who are the overwhelming majority of Trump supporters. These people have been denying reality all their lives & trying to reach them on an intellectual or intelligent basis is about as pointless as a screen-door in a submarine. They’re infamous for their closed-minds. But what’s really scary about them is the fact that they actually pray for the end of the world & this too is why they love Trump i.e. he may just make it happen?

I was re-watching a documentary about Gore Vidal recently and he reminded me of this dangerous delusion of the evangelicals or “Christian” fundamentalists. We’re so worried about Muslim jihadists? We should be more worried about our “Christian” jihadists who have one of their own, Mike Pence, as vice president of the United States. If Trump were to be marched out of the White House in handcuffs, Pence becomes president & yet his own wife won’t trust him alone with another woman if she’s not there? So much for their faith between themselves as man & wife but we’re supposed to trust him with the nuclear launch codes? Be afraid! Be very afraid!

Gore Vidal pointed out; “39% of the American public believe in the death of the Earth by Nuclear Fire and in Rapture. Among the 39% is Ronald Reagan.”

the unholy alliance of two thieves!

I know, silly me to worry about such mundane things as the Christian loonies praying for the end of humanity. But these perversions of what passes for human beings are very active politically from their local schoolboards up to the presidency. You see, I used to be like most everyone I knew and didn’t give a damn about politics until Reagan became president.

I didn’t pay attention to the news or read about politics but I guess through osmosis or something & growing up in California while Reagan was governor, I knew we were in serious danger when he was elected president. And now we have Trump who makes Reagan look like a boy scout.

Here’s a flashback for you regarding this subject; my beloved wife, Jeri (who passed away over six years ago now) and me were on our honeymoon in Europe & we were visiting Paris. We were in some crowded public square when a reporter approached us & he had a camera man with him. He asked if we were Americans & I said yes. (guess he could tell from the goose-down coats we were wearing?) Anyway, the reporter said that he was like the Dan Rather of Czechoslovakia & he wanted to know our opinion of Reagan’s talk of fighting a limited nuclear war in Europe. I simply said that I think he’s a moron & he scares the Hell out of me. And when the camera man turned off his camera, the journalist said to me something like; “Thank God not all Americans are stupid, I just interviewed another American couple who thought fighting a limited nuclear war in Europe was a good idea.”

Commander and Dunce in Chief?

Think about it my imaginary reader i.e. how can so-called Christians believe in Jesus’ “Sermon on the Mount” which I believe all that a true Christian need practice & at the same time pray for the death & destruction of the overwhelming majority of life, plant & animal, the wiping-out of the world’s forests, mountains, rivers, oceans, etc.? Talk about cognitive dissonance, Jesus Christ!

Our Fabricator in Chief, Donald Trump’s level of ignorance is wickedly scary because he asks questions like;

Trump said he might use nuclear weapons and questioned why we would make them if we wouldn’t use them

Trump said he was open to nuking Europe because it’s a “big place”

Trump said that “you want to be unpredictable” with nuclear weapons

Trump said he wasn’t that worried about more countries getting nukes since “it’s not like, gee whiz, nobody has them”

Trump had no idea what the “nuclear triad” was

Trump said he’d be OK with a nuclear arms race in Asia

Donald Trump ‘suggested dropping nuclear bombs to divert hurricanes’

Yep! just the kind of guy to make you feel all warm, safe, & cozy in your bed at night, right? I’m old enough to remember when the Iranians took those American hostages & people had bumper stickers on their cars saying; “Nuke Iran!” and it scared me then as it does now that people could be so fucking stupid! They can’t seem to get it through their ignorant heads that the radiation released when a nuclear bomb goes off doesn’t just stay within the borders of the country it exploded in. I guess Chernobyl taught all these sorts of morons nothing?

The radiation that was released as a result of the Chernobyl disaster i.e. accident, traveled around the globe poisoning food, plants, animals, & people. Milk supplies were contaminated. I think that herds of caribou in Finland were contaminated? How does this sit with you reality deniers? Would it concern you if your children or your grandchildren were exposed to potentially life-threatening or cancer-causing levels of radioactivity? I used to work in the field of industrial x-ray back in my late teens & my early 20s with a step-dad of mine at the time and the more I learned about it, the more scared I became and I eventually quit working with this stuff that lasts for thousands of years & can’t be safely stored or destroyed.

Perhaps you’re a member of the trendy, New Age Deniers? I danced around the edges of that cult too. There was an explosion of New Age gurus & Pop Psychologists that began in the 1970s & every bookstore that I walked into, I made a bee-line for the New Age & Pop Psychology section.

I was disillusioned with the common wisdom of my elders i.e. get a job & stick with it no matter whether you like it or not. I was seeking a purpose or a calling and I hoped to find a community where I felt I belonged. I hitchhiked up & down the West coast dozens of times, checked out a few communes, hitched across the U.S., and made several trips to Europe, sometimes with only a one-way ticket and a couple hundred bucks in my pocket.

Again, and again, the ugly, harsh realities of life smacked me in the face. After reading dozens & dozens of these New Age books & Pop Psychology books, perhaps hundreds of them, I began to realize that they were offering simplistic, easy answers to many of the most challenging philosophical questions that the greatest philosophers of Western & Eastern Philosophy and Religion had been wrestling with their entire lives. I saw what an insult their pablum panaceas were to men & women of serious & honest intellectual inquiry. And what made me sadder yet was that the overwhelming majority of these self-described spiritual seekers & pop psychologist gurus were just in it for the money.

It wasn’t until around the time that I met my sweet lady, my Rock of Gibraltar, my wife Jeri that I stumbled upon philosophy and this awoke my life-long passion for knowledge in the hope of finding wisdom & peace. Philosophy didn’t offer answers in popular, best sellers in the New Age industry on subjects like Rolfing, Est, primal screaming, etc. And I came across the “work” of Gurdjieff which was extremely alluring & made Scientology look like the Mickey Mouse Club. In fact, I attended a meeting of Gurdjieff followers in Portland, Oregon and they came very close to seducing me with their appeals to my ego but thankfully, at that time in my life, my heart, mind, & spirit were very strong and I trusted my gut instinct to get away from them.

And no, it wasn’t melodramatic, I simply realized what was happening i.e. the meeting was held in a mansion in an exclusive part of town. There were expensive paintings, sculpture, vases, rugs, tapestries, etc. and we sat at a long dining-like table. I learned that I was amongst doctors, lawyers, engineers, etc. and I was just an unemployed hippie sleeping on a cousin’s couch. But when they said that we had to give 10% of our monthly income or $100 per month that I knew the game was rigged. After a little research, I learned that they were all over the world from Newport Beach in Orange County to Tokyo, London, Paris, Madrid, Rome, etc. and they were always located in the most expensive parts of these world capitals.

I read books on their guru who had died in 1949 and he was quite frank about his “shearing of the sheep” as he put it. He drank, ate the best food, womanized, etc. Trump would’ve loved him. He held orgies with the rich & privileged like Trump’s buddy, Jeffrey Epstein. And the rich gave him fortunes for his guidance in the pursuit of enlightenment.

birds of a feather (birds of prey) flock together

Anyway, I said to myself, Nah! I can smell a con artist when I see one and Trump is a con man of unbelievable hubris but he only gets away with his level of ignorance & grifting with those who are the least educated & therefore easier to deceive & manipulate.

And speaking of deception & manipulation, another reason why I finally quit Facebook for good was all the drivel that the New Agers keep posting. I was snide & sarcastic to many of them and would often comment, Thanks for the New Age Hallmark card. What angers me about this “movement,” is that like so much other crap in our lives, New Age has become a sort of religion for the young & middle aged who are so confident that they have the answers that their “philosophy” can basically be put as “Don’t Worry, Be Happy!”

Yeah, right! Our planet is dying & we have a sociopath who is running a garage sale out of the White House. Trump’s egregious disregard for any semblance of respectability for the institution of the presidency is beyond the pale. But these New Agers smugly sit back in their yoga pants eating their tofu & drinking their veggie smoothies. They act so above it all and don’t lift a finger to try to stop the thieves like Trump or Wall St. One big cop-out & they have the audacity to look down their noses at people like myself who believe we all have a responsibility to fight the system!

This brings me to one of the most critical issues that far too many of us are in denial about i.e. climate destruction & the death of our planet. The oil industry, EXXON in particular did their own study and have known for over 30 years of the massive destruction they are causing our environment i.e. pollution that kills not only the creatures dependent on the oceans but also people.

Once again, it’s abundantly clear that the almighty dollar wins out yet again. Let’s see the mother fuckers as they’re dying from lack of air, food, & water and ask them, aren’t you glad you made all that money? The oil corporations & especially the Koch brothers, have spent & continue to spend something like over a hundred million dollars every year in spreading fake news, fake scientific reports, & fake advertising denying that the polar ice caps are melting & etc.

Jehovah’s Witnesses are wondering, perhaps praying for this?

The overwhelming majority of climate scientists around the globe are in agreement about the seriousness of this but the powers that be pay off a few whores in academia and its; What climate change? Do you remember that when they built the Titanic, all the experts & engineers swore that it was unsinkable? What do you think was going through their minds as all those people were dying in the frigid waters of the Atlantic? Is that what it’s going to take for the climate deniers to face reality?

The reality is that we’ve elected to the highest position in America and the world because of our power, a failed businessman who just keeps on lying no matter how many times & ways he’s called out. Trump is the master denier of reality because if he ever faced reality or real consequences for even a fraction of the crimes he’s committed, he’d be locked-up for the rest of his days.

it’s pretty bad when even the fake news network is calling you out for fake news

Think about it. Trump stars in a fake reality T.V. series that the producers freely admit it was i.e. it was all staged & Trump insisted that every time his name was mentioned, they had to refer to him as a billionaire. Why would someone insist on such a thing if they were truly a billionaire? It’s obviously to all but the willfully ignorant that Trump really isn’t a billionaire, he just keeps claiming he is because he wants us to believe he is. This is why he won’t release his tax records.

Getting back to “reality t.v.,” I remember 20 years ago when the phenomenon started & I said to anyone who would listen, wait a minute, we’re supposed to believe that this artificial or fake t.v. show is real? I always suggested that we just live our lives because they’re real i.e. if you lose your job, you may then lose your home, etc. How’s that for reality?

P.T. Barnum was so right when he declared that there’s a sucker born every minute! Trump’s grand i.e. the biggest & best in the world, etc. casinos failed & that’s not an easy thing to do because casinos are cash generating businesses i.e. people rarely stop gambling no matter how much they win & they then end up losing it all back and then some to the casino. But Mr. Business even fucked that up to say nothing about all his other failures & most notably his fake university which he had to settle out of court.

I look forward to the time when Trump’s Duck Dynasty Klan fans are hit across the face with a two by four of reality and realize what absolute morons they were to ever believe a single word out of his mouth. But America is world famous for its escape from reality i.e. Hollywood, the “Christian Right” and its belief in Armageddon & those evil people are doing everything they can to ensure the end of the world. And they love Trump because he’s doing his best to make their reality our reality. The extremists on the “Christian Right” are every bit as delusional & dangerous as the extremists in the Muslim faith who want to kill all who aren’t Muslim. And our politicians & military leaders have done an excellent job of really pissing off over a billion Muslims around the world with minor little things like Obama’s illegal & immoral Drone Warfare program.

I understand why the majority of Trump voters are so angry at the government though they have near total amnesia when it comes to the hundreds of good things our government does. But every time you meet a Trump voter, one of the first things out of their mouths is; “He tells it like it is.”

Well no, he doesn’t tell it like it is, not even close. I think what this statement is really saying is that they feel that he speaks like they do? So, they’re really insulting themselves & admitting that they’re ignorant racists, homophobes, misogynists, and totally lacking in compassion. That’s something to be proud of?

After three years of the Trump presidency, I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s totally pointless to argue with a Trump supporter. They truly do live in an alternative universe. You may as well try to convince a “Christian” fundamentalist that there is no God.

So, what are we to do given the reality of where we’re at? I wish I could offer you some simple, concrete steps to follow but then I’d be just another reality denier. The fact is, we’re some of the stupidest people on this planet but we’re not supposed to say that. Everywhere I turn, I hear “liberal” apologists saying to not call people stupid because that won’t help. Yeah? Let’s play nice while the other side is trying to kill us or at least chase us out of our own country for daring to call a spade a spade?

I feel that part of the reason why or how we got here is because we’ve been too worried about being “politically correct.” We’ve been denying & ignoring our pathetic public education system for decades & now we believe that turning our schools into charter schools where they can teach religion & pray in school is going to make things better? Yeah right! Just what we need, some more delusional, reality denying Bible thumpers.

I am becoming more & more cynical the older I get & the more I learn about this sick, twisted phenomenon of the cult of Trump. The reality that millions of so-called “Christians,” love him when he is the absolute antithesis of their so-called values & principles, shows how hollow, hypocritical, & worthless their beliefs are.

I also wish that our so-called news organizations were giving us the facts but they too have sold their souls for the corporate dollars & their shot at celebrity. Edward R. Murrow must be rolling over in his grave at how pathetically low we’ve fallen in terms of journalistic integrity.

remember the little boy who cried wolf (Trump) Well, I told you!

Moreover, there’s no country we can escape to that I know of? This wave of fascism led by Trump is spreading around the globe & people are being killed in ever greater numbers by their presidents, dictators, & despots whom are Donald’s idols, especially Putin. I wonder at times what percentage of our military personnel admire Trump & what percentage of them are reviled by him as much as I am?

And here’s another bit of reality for you, especially to all my Trump friends, China is a little behind us in terms of AI (Artificial Intelligence) technology but they’re definitely ahead of us in terms of their implementation of AI to suppress & oppress their citizens i.e. they have more cameras watching their citizens than any other nation and they use facial recognition software. In fact, China is holding over a million Uighurs in what is basically a secret concentration camp. It has been referred to as one of the world’s largest, open-air prisons.

Tell me again what we fought the Vietnam war for? I thought it was to prevent the Chinese from taking Vietnam but now they’ve adopted a sort of blend of Communism & Capitalism and Trump just loves their leader as he does that mass murderer in charge of North Korea.

If you give a shit, you can check out the recent documentary on AI on PBS’s Frontline series & it’s sure to pick up your spirits. Remember, we mustn’t be sad as we circle the drain. Don’t worry, be happy!

So, we have China as our trading partner & note that the overwhelming majority of Walmart’s products come from China & Walmart is supposedly the world’s biggest retailer. And we have Russia with Putin the ex-KGB officer (think C.I.A.) who poisons his political enemies or has his Russian mafia take care of them and we have Donald of the Duck Dynasty Klan in charge here. What could go wrong?

All three of these powers have already unleashed Orwell’s Big Brother on their citizens & note that America has the largest per capita number of prisoners in the world. Edward Snowden rang the warning bell not unlike Paul Revere who warned us that the British were coming & for that true patriotic act, he is now hunted by America & forced to live in exile in sunny old Russia.

By-the-way, out of 194 nations on this planet, the U.S. ranks 124th in terms of literacy (ability of its citizens to read & write) but we’re number one when it comes to military might. In fact, our military budget (yeah, right. Since when have they ever had to stick to a budget) is very close to being equal to all the other nations’ military budgets combined.

So why is it that we’re amongst the most scared people on the planet? It couldn’t be that the politicians at the behest of their corporate masters, have drummed their war propaganda into our minds from cradle to grave since the end of WWII so they could keep the trillions of our tax dollars flowing into their bank accounts, could it?

Nah! I’m just denying the reality of our world, right? Ask around & see how many Americans are even aware of the fact that were it not for the Russians fighting the Germans on the Eastern Front, we would’ve lost WWII. And the Russians lost over 20 million people in WWII. But as soon as the war ended, the Russians became our enemy overnight. Remember the McCarthy trials of Communists? And here’s another fact for you reality deniers; Trump’s mentor, the guy who taught him the importance of being ruthless in attacking everyone who criticizes you & to always deny, deflect, & distract, was none other than Roy Cohn. Yeah, a real swell guy who mostly represented mafia kingpins & introduced Donald to many of his clients who became helpful to Donald as he created his empire with daddy’s money. And Cohn was McCarthy’s right-hand man in the un-Constitutional trials that destroyed the lives of hundreds, if not thousands, of actors, writers, directors, producers, etc. in the good old days of the 1950s. And NO! This isn’t a conspiracy theory, it’s a FACT!

In the final analysis my reality deniers, it doesn’t matter whether it’s communist China who enslaves us or Capitalist America who enslaves us because we are hopelessly brain-dead and you might as well enjoy your myriad of choices of conspiracy theories that Trump generously shares with his cult members to distract you from the reality of what an inhuman creature from the Black Lagoon he truly is!

the breakfast of champions? Yeah, right Bart

And what an amazing series of coincidences that Trump defends Putin at every turn or his actions benefit the Russians against our so-called values & principle? We’re not supposed to connect the dots that trace back decades of Russian mafia figures have been giving Trump loans when American banks no longer will or that the Russians are among Trump’s biggest customers when it comes to selling his apartments in Trump Tower. No, it would just be too unreal to imagine that we could have a traitor in the Oval Office, right?

Democracy’s Delusion

~ cockroachconspiracy
Trump, the “Chosen One” according to the “Christian” fundamentalists

 

 

“Those who sacrifice freedom for safety deserve neither.”

—Thomas Jefferson

 

One of America’s central delusions is that of free speech. And the powers that be, those CEOs who run the mammoth, corporate conglomerates who tell politicians & presidents when to shit & when to get off the pot, silence those who speak a little too freely. In nations like Mexico, they’re not very subtle & they simply murder journalists who inform the public about the corruption that is impoverishing their citizens.

 

But here in the good old U.S.A. our political/corporate elite hide their dark agendas behind grandiose words like; freedom, democracy, liberty, etc. Take five minutes to skim over the names of the most prominent right-wing or conservative think tanks & you’ll take my point.

 

You see, here in the land of the free & home of the brave, we’re supposed to just wave our flags on the 4th of July, Memorial Day, etc. and then shut the fuck up rest of the time. If you dare to question or criticize our government, as Thomas Jefferson said was not only our right but our duty, you are told to “Love it or leave it.” How’s that for freedom?

 

My motivation for writing this essay is the fact that I’m getting so fuckin’ tired of being told to either shut-up or leave when I begin to talk about political matters in bars. And it’s usually some bartender that knows nothing about what’s happening in our country & could give a shit less but has a smug sense of superiority because they have the “power” to 86 me.

 

I hate this feeling of being in a constant verbal straitjacket and want to scream Fuck you, you little flunky bartender! The older I become, the more I realize just how unfree we are in this fairy tale land we call America. My political awakening began in my late teens when I kept going AWOL from the U.S. Army because I didn’t think going to Vietnam was such a great idea.

The darkest days of my life until I lost my wife

 

And throughout my 20s, whenever I was partying with my friends, they often mocked me for my comments & opinions which seemed so foreign to them. They were mostly good natured though so I kept trying to get through to them. But again, as I grew older & was confronted sometimes with physical threats in bars, I became more disillusioned with this whole farce we call Democracy. You may think me a liar but I don’t give a fuck because I know my truth i.e. conservatively, I have spent at least 50,000 hours over my adult life reading, taking notes, listening, watching, researching, & writing about American politics & foreign policy. So, yeah, I dare to speak with an air of confidence or self-assuredness on many of the issues facing us today. And I welcome anyone who cares to challenge me intellectually because I know I’ve paid my dues & continue to do so.

 

So, go ahead, make my day as Clint Eastwood is famous for saying. When you consider the pathetic state of awareness of the average American & read the statistics regarding American’s reading habits, etc., I take comfort in knowing that I am light-years ahead of most of my countrymen. And no, I don’t give a shit how elitist that makes me sound & I know how much Trump followers detest elitists like myself because we “make them feel inferior.”

 

Well, my response is, if the shoe fits? This is a cop-out & these intellectually lazy citizens refuse to accept responsibility for their not being willing to pick up a book on a regular basis & blame those who are intellectually superior to them for acting superior. I came from the poor side of the tracks, raised by a single mother with a brother & two sisters. I was the eldest & began cooking for my siblings when I was 12 years old. Made them do their chores, their homework, be in bed on time, fought their battles, etc. So, don’t give me your sob stories claiming that you couldn’t find the time to go to the library & read and educate yourself.

 

Returning to the main thesis of this essay, over the years, I have occasionally been in a bar where we were “allowed” to speak freely and a serious political discussion/debate ensued & I absolutely loved it when I saw the spark in people’s eyes or their faces light up. And once in a while after such intense discussions, one or more of the participants would come up to me and say things like; “Wow! That was the best conversation I’ve had in ten years,” or “I learned so much, thank you!” And yeah, I’ve gotten into some heated debates with individuals but realized that their mind was closed & I was just beating my head against the wall. So, I’d end it by saying something like; Well, we’re obviously getting nowhere so can we just agree that we disagree? And we’d either change the subject or go our separate ways peacefully.

 

Continuing on, I fondly recall an experience I had while waiting in the cell outside the courtroom in Oakland, CA awaiting my appearance before the judge for a D.U.I. There were approximately six young black guys, a couple of older black guys near my age & myself. The young guys were gangbangers & drug dealers (I learned this from overhearing their conversations)

 

Well, they got into a religious debate and one of them had long, Dred-locks and was in favor of Buddhism while the others were mostly Christian. Their debate went on for about a half hour and I could no longer resist so I raised my hand like a boy in school. They cracked-up and nodded that it was okay for me to join in. I soon found myself serving as a sort of moderator & interjected at times; “Okay, now it’s his turn” and would point to another individual so he could say his piece.

 

We were let out of jail in the middle of the night & these young gangsters took me under their wings so-to-speak. They walked me to the nearest BART station & accompanied me to the best stop for me to connect & get back to the Berkeley area where my van was. And they hugged me as we parted.

 

I tell you this not to brag but to show you that even in such harsh conditions as being locked-up in jail, people can behave in a civilized manner even when discussing religion which I believe is the other taboo subject we’re not supposed to talk about in bars?

 

So, tell me, do you believe the “common wisdom” that if people talk about politics in bars, things are likely to get out of control i.e. fights will break out? I feel that what this taboo is saying is that we can’t be trusted to behave in a civil manner, especially when we’re drinking. I say, Bull-shit!

 

People start fights or get into fights in bars for any one of thousands of reasons & politics may be a reason they do now & then but that doesn’t mean that we should ban political speech in bars absolutely. If a person becomes belligerent in a bar for whatever reason, yeah, kick them out but don’t censor all of us for what a minority of assholes may do. Because this makes a mockery of our Declaration of Independence, our Bill of Rights, & our supposed freedoms.

 

Here’s something for you to mull over if you will; Why do we have over 900 military bases around the world with God knows how many “black op sites,” supposedly to protect & promote democracy abroad but we can’t speak about matters that affect our democracy at home when we’re in bars, the most common meeting place for citizens on a regular basis?

 

And no, I’m not trying to paint some grand Alex Jones conspiracy theory but it sure is interesting to note how this taboo just coincidentally benefits the 1%. What other public location or institutions allows us to speak freely to one another?

 

I have even been kicked-out of some bars for pointing out to bartenders who commanded me to shut up because I was talking about politics, when other customers were talking about local political matters i.e. city hall, road construction, etc. I’d say, hey, they’re talking about politics & boy would the bartender become flustered & immediately proclaim their authority; “Get out!”

 

Seems that local politics are basically okay to speak about but not national or international politics? So perhaps we’re getting a bit closer to the truth or the reality of our so-called “freedom of speech” in America? We’re allowed to speak freely within the confines of our own homes but hardly anywhere else? And we’re allowed to speak freely as long as it isn’t about any sensitive subjects that might offend the 1%, you know, the super elite that Trump wishes he were a part of but who won’t allow Little Lord Fauntleroy into their clubs.

 

We definitely lose all our rights when we walk through the entrance to our workplace because private employers are tyrannies and Walmart is a prime example i.e. if any employee dares to mention forming a union, they are out the door. Our election system is fast becoming a joke & is resembling more & more those “banana Republics” which we have looked down our noses at for decades even though we helped create them—see Major General Smedley F. Butler of the U.S.M.C.

This is the ugly truth behind the corporate cockroaches’ agenda of perpetual war

 

Gerrymandering, voter suppression/intimidation, tampering with voter machines, & Russian hacking which Mitch McConnell won’t allow us to do anything about, etc. has clearly made a mockery of our much-touted free elections. So much for expressing ourselves via the voting booth.

 

Moreover, if you’ll spend even a modicum of time checking out:

 

Jaron Lanier; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kc_Jq42Og7Q&t=4s

 

Tristan Harris; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C74amJRp730&t=117s

 

Chamath Palihapitiya; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J54k7WrbfMg&t=5s

 

Shoshana Zuboff; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vo6K-bPh39M

 

Edward Snowden

 

Or the recent Netflix documentary; “The Big Hack”

 

You’ll begin to realize the folly of turning to the “social media,” to save us. It is purposely designed to divide us & promote aggressive & fearful feelings between us because that brings more viewers (eyeballs) which increase their profits. Some of the above played pivotal roles in bringing about the social media so you might pay close attention to what they’re saying.

 

Perhaps most importantly, the revelations regarding Cambridge Analytica & Trump’s “winning” of the presidency proves just how extensively our “democracy” has been hacked & hence, our gradual slide into mere drones for the powers that be.

 

Specifically, what do our other supposed freedoms mean if we don’t truly have freedom of speech? Freedom of speech is the bedrock, the cornerstone, the foundation of all our other freedoms in the Bill of Rights, & the Declaration of Independence.

 

And speaking of The Bill of Rights, are you aware of how the powers that be gutted this so-called sacred document of our Republic shortly after the events of September 11, 2001? Yep! Because the Bush administration had been asleep at the wheel, they scrambled to cover their ignorance, laziness, & ineptitude by ramming through these draconian assaults on our “holy” rights & freedoms as Americans. Not very reassuring in my book i.e. just how firm is the “foundation” of this nation that struts the world stage declaring how powerful we are & that we have the best form of government on Earth. (see https://ccrjustice.org/home/blog/2015/11/17/911-decade-and-decline-us-democracy

 

If you’d care to inform yourself more on this sad subject)

 

Last night, in less than ten minutes, I came up with this list of subjects we’re not allowed to talk about in bars because if we do, within a matter of minutes, we’ll be discussing political matters:

 

  1. The recent slaughter in El Paso
  2. The Vietnam War
  3. The Iraq War
  4. The social media
  5. Losing our jobs
  6. Being homeless
  7. NAFTA
  8. Student debt
  9. Global warming
  • Nuclear war
  • Trump’s tweets
  • The coming Recession or Depression?
  • Bankruptcy
  • Health insurance or the lack thereof
  • The future of work
  • Christian fundamentalists support of Trump

 

For the past decade or better, I have tried to be tactful when people tell me that they’re not interested in politics. And my usual response is something like; Oh, I see? So, you’re not interested in whether or not you lose your job, your health insurance, your pension, etc. And believe it or not, it really does sadden me that I have to keep pointing out to people that politics affects every aspect of our lives & we’d better wake the fuck up!

what have they all died for?

 

To not do so is to spit on the graves of all those soldiers, sailors, marines, & airmen who sacrificed their lives for these freedoms that we so love to brag about to the world. We are slip-sliding into Trump’s Totalitarian Terrorism (my phrase) here at home & abroad and it’s up to us as individuals & as citizens of America to stand up on our hind legs & yell; “I’m as Mad as Hell & I’m not going to take it anymore!”

Half a million young people sharing Love, Peace, & Music for 3 days

 

I’m so glad that my “coming of age” was in the 1960s because although we were naïve romanticists & idealists, it felt so wonderful to share the same mass delusion with so many brothers & sisters as evidenced in the miracle known as Woodstock and our Flower Power Revolution.

Love, Trust, & Freedom in the 1960s. Compare that with today in Trump’s racist America & hate rallies

 

Persevere & Viva la Revolucion!

 

 

The Politics of Resentment in Post-Literate America

~ cockroachconspiracy

 

 

 

We are living in a very dangerous time because just when we need a well-informed citizenry more desperately than perhaps any time before in our history, we have a moron in the oval office throwing gasoline on the fire.

“Christian” Supremacists new version of Morality & Ethics

 

Trump’s rallies i.e. his non-stop public spectacles staged to boost his ego on his never-ending carnival of self-aggrandizement, are resembling more & more Hitler’s speech at Nuremberg. Of course, Hitler focused primarily on the Jews who were German citizens while Trump’s venom & vitriol is more generalized i.e. Mexicans, Muslims, women, or anybody not a member of the Duck Dynasty Klan.

Fortress Amerika!

 

What really troubles my soul is that this centuries-old tactic of blaming the victims of the elite continues to be effective & obviously Trump’s “base,” has no historical memory. The automatons who worship the ground that Trump walks upon are completely oblivious to his blatant manipulation of them. How in the Hell can they find “common cause” with a supposed billionaire—who refuses to release his tax returns because they most likely reveal what a charlatan he is—who has screwed thousands of people who have worked for him?

Beware of Cults of Personality & Authoritarians!

 

I believe a key insight into this dreadful phenomenon lies in the politics of resentment. What do I mean by this term? Quite simply that what unites Trump’s fan club is a hatred & burning resentment towards all who aren’t like them i.e. poor, white, working class born in America people.

 

You see, all dictators, oligarchs, demagogues, etc. throughout history knew that the best way to distract their citizens from the ugly realities of their lives was to blame the “other.” And again, the “other” can be any group you choose i.e. Mexicans, Muslims, Jews, Blacks, gays, handicapped, etc.

The bigger the lie & the more often you repeat it, it becomes truth.

 

It seems to be almost axiomatic or reflexive for people to blame their fellow victims rather than the power elite who are actually the ones responsible for their deprivations. I have been observing & writing about this tragic state of affairs for decades now & I never will understand it. I guess it must be human nature to deny or ignore one’s own responsibility for not informing oneself & participating in the democratic process & to blame those even worse-off than yourself for your inability to feed your family, have adequate healthcare, put a roof over your family’s head, etc.?

 

I am continually baffled that my fellow citizens can’t seem to comprehend the obvious fact that it is the rich who pass things like NAFTA which rewards the corporations for closing down their plants in the U.S. & going overseas where they can pay workers far less than they have to in the U.S. i.e. minimum wage which is an employer’s way of saying that they’d pay you even less if they could but the law requires they pay at least the minimum wage (some rap artist pointed this out).

 

Naturally, but sadly, the overwhelming majority of Americans allow themselves to be buffeted back & forth like a cork floating in the high seas. The 1% own the mass media & have been manipulating public opinion for decades i.e. the liberal bias in the mass media—common sense tells us that those who own the media aren’t going to allow serious criticism of their propaganda to be heard on the very stations, magazines, radio, etc. they own. Why? Because this would threaten the very power structure that helps keep them in power.

The “Liberal Media”

 

And yet Donald, the Magnificent is a master at using the media to sell his brand i.e. himself, to the world. He got something like several billion dollars of free advertising as he campaigned to become president while Bernie Sanders received a small fraction of the media’s attention. Why? Because Trump is basically a “shock jock” and knows that the more outrageous, nasty, racist, etc. he is, the more attention he’ll get. And the kicker is, after getting so much free publicity from the national media, Trump turns on his benefactors & calls them “fake news,” etc. Where would Trump be if it weren’t for the so-called fake media?

the truth behind the Trump brand/logo  

 

You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to see Trump’s game plan, and his smug mug & Cheshire Cat trademark smirk says it all i.e. you really are a nation of rubes & oh so easily duped by my huckster rap. This is a good place to share a quote from the great Bertrand Russell with you;

 

“Men fear thought as they fear nothing else on earth — more than ruin, more even than death. Thought is subversive and revolutionary, destructive and terrible, thought is merciless to privilege, established institutions, and comfortable habits; thought is anarchic and lawless, indifferent to authority, careless of the well-tried wisdom of the ages. Thought looks into the pit of hell and is not afraid … Thought is great and swift and free, the light of the world, and the chief glory of man.”

 

Take a few moments to really chew this thought over if you will. To my mind, this quote encapsulates the core of the problem we’re all facing whether we acknowledge it or not. As long as we remain apathetic or unwilling to expend the energy to inform ourselves, the rich & powerful will continue to have their boots on our necks.

 

If you expect to be treated fairly without being willing to do your homework i.e. inform yourself, you are asking for what never has been nor ever will be. All of human progress in terms of lifting up the lives of ordinary men & women has only come about due to serious & prolonged struggles against the wealthy. They clearly enjoy their status, privileges, & wealth and will not willingly or easily give these “perks” up.

 

And this is what I am talking about when I refer to “post-literate America.” For example, I allowed myself to get sucked into the Facebook world even though my gut told me from the beginning that Facebook was basically a forum for teenage girls. I can’t tell you how many thousands of hours I wasted on Facebook writing lengthy responses & essays on many of the critical issues facing us in today’s world only to get a rare reply of a sentence or two. And once emojis were introduced, I didn’t even get a sentence but more often than not, a happy face.

 

Do you seriously think we’re going to mount a serious revolution for our freedom with emojis? In other words, if we can’t even be bothered to take the time to write a few sentences to each other in camaraderie or support of one another, what chance do we have of making any progress?

 

A couple of years ago, it dawned on me that since we’re clearly such a materialistic society i.e. we only value those members of our society that can prove their “worth” by pointing to their wealth, material possessions, celebrity, etc., quantification seems to reign supreme. So, it occurred to me that I should perhaps attempt to quantify my knowledge? By-the-way, before I met my lovely wife, Jeri, I had several relationships with girls/women whom I loved deeply & whom I believe loved me deeply but they invariably ended because they were afraid that I wasn’t “ambitious” enough.

 

This reflects just a part of the high price I’ve paid over the years. I too used to believe that the word “ambition” solely referred to how much money a person was “worth.” Then it dawned on me, Aha! True, I’m not “ambitious” in the usual sense of wanting to become financially wealthy but I am ambitious as Hell when it comes to becoming as knowledgeable or as wise as I possibly can.

 

Conservatively, over the last 30 years, I have spent roughly 50,000 hours reading the classics & modern classics in history, politics, philosophy, literature, etc. & unlike Donny the Liar & Denier in Chief, I can back it up. I have collected approximately 10,000 books in my personal library & have made copious notes in several hundred of my books. I have listened to radio programs on politics, collected thousands of articles, written a couple hundred essays, many of which are 20 to 30 pages or more, written a couple thousand pages on two major projects so far, read magazine articles, etc.

 

In the notes I have made in the blank pages of my books, I either copy passages that I feel are important, verbatim or I paraphrase them & often write someone’s name whom I remember having an argument with about the subject or whom I would like to show the passage to. I have also developed my own, crude symbology of stars, hearts, triangles, etc. in an attempt to show the value of said passage.

 

I hope that you, my imaginary reader, believe me when I tell you that this isn’t merely me imitating the braggart in the White House but my attempt to establish my bonifides. Continuing on with the twin pillars of this essay i.e. the politics of resentment & post-literate America, there are countless studies, polls, etc. confirming how anti-intellectual America has become over the past 50 years & even further if you read the classic by Richard Hofstadter, “Anti-intellectualism in American Life.” I basically dissected this book because I went through it with a fine-tooth comb so-to-speak, twice.

 

I went through this American classic the second time because I used it as a sort of skeleton outline in my on-going magnum opus; Truth Against the World. This project has become a work of gargantuan proportions & I’ve broken it down into three separate books. I still have a lot more to add but the first book in this series is titled; “The Christian Fundamentalists War Against Secular Humanism.”

 

Speaking of which, these so-called “Christians” personify a major portion of Trump’s & America’s politics of resentment. In a nutshell, these faux “Christians” are resentful & angry that they aren’t accorded the power & prestige as a sort of American Taliban. And to prove just how hypocritical they are, how else can you explain the fact that they staunchly support & defend Trump who is the embodiment of the Seven Deadly Sins? In brief, they prove how shallow their “Christianity” is & how meaningless Jesus’ “Sermon on the Mount” is to them.

 

We moved a lot as I was growing up but I always sought out & attended the local church wherever we went. I knew next to nothing about the differences between denominations. I simply enjoyed the experience & Sunday School. But somewhere around the age of 14 or 15, the hypocrisy just became too brazen. And at the risk of sounding grossly overly simplistic, I believe the Sermon on the Mount & the Commandment to do unto others as you’d have them do unto you, is all we need to practice.

 

Embarrassingly, we are known the world around as being one of the most illiterate nations on Earth, most notably among the so-called “advanced” nations. Many Americans openly brag about not having read a single book in the past year. Moreover, it’s become common knowledge that Trump won’t even bother to read the daily briefings that are so vital for the leader of the world’s most powerful nation.

 

Instead, Trump is noted for his watching television several hours per day & most conspicuously, “FOX News,” which any student of modern history knows should more accurately be referred to as America’s “Pravda.” (Russia’s version of the New York Times i.e. their paper of propaganda)

 

I must admit that I never cease to be amazed at the level of spectacular ignorance & utter inability to even formulate a single, coherent sentence by Trump. But somewhere deep inside I can’t help but wonder; Is this really a master act of deception on the part of Trump to distract us from his & his craven cronies consistent unraveling of our democracy?

 

In other words, is it humanly possible for someone to be so glaringly stupid in just about every sentence that comes out of his mouth?

 

In conclusion, I’d like to share with you a portion from a transcript of my favorite, alternative news station, “Democracy Now!” which I have been following for the past 20 years—nearly from its beginning. This is Wayne Barrett, who followed Trump’s infamous rise more thoroughly than any other journalist:

 

You know, he has made a career—when I say I don’t know why he’s never been prosecuted, maybe the prime time that he could have been prosecuted was at the time of his downfall in 1990 and ’91. Well, you know, the banks kept him alive, as he was too big to fail. So, they kept him alive. But I wrote in the book—he certainly didn’t sue when I said it—I didn’t say that he had made—submitted false financial statements to the bankers to get a billion dollars in personally guaranteed loans. I said he submitted fraudulent ones. Right? And I lay out a case for that in the book. He was engaged in completely defrauding the banks, and the banks knew it. OK? And they were giving him the loans anyway. So, they kept him alive. But even more so than that, the House Banking Committee wanted to do public hearings about it; the banks wouldn’t cooperate. The district attorney of Manhattan was a big friend of Donald’s. Donald was his second-biggest giver. Robert Morgenthau’s second-biggest giver was Donald Trump. Donald was the chairman of the Police Athletic League, which was Morgenthau’s biggest charity. So, he was extremely close. He hired—Andy Maloney was the U.S. attorney in the Eastern District. He hired Maloney’s brother. Right? Rudy Giuliani was the U.S. attorney in Manhattan, and we know how close they got. I wrote a whole story about how their relationship developed. I was at Rudy Giuliani’s first fundraiser when he decided to run for mayor, and there’s Donald at the main table. He’s the co-chair of the first Rudy Giuliani fundraiser for the mayorality in 1989. So, his relationships with prosecutors and the fact that the bankers—they were embarrassed by what they had done; they didn’t want any investigation of this. So, the combination of the two gave—gave them a pass—gave him a pass.

 

https://www.democracynow.org/2016/7/5/wayne_barrett_on_donald_trumps_broken

 

 

In brief, everything about Trump is a fraud and always has been. You could say that he is our greatest “flim-flam president.” And by “greatest,” I mean he represents the worst of the worst in terms of human qualities!

 

—Rob DeLoss, July 19, 2019 Gold Beach, Oregon

 

Addendum

 

Clearly in a “culture” as post-literate as ours & in which many Americans brag about not having read a single book in the past year, some even boast that they’ve never read a single book in their lives, it’s easy to manipulate their emotions as Trump obviously does. And willful ignorance & violence go hand in hand when people are looking to blame others for their misfortunes. Personally, I believe that Trump’s walking dead knows that it’s the rich who have fucked them but they don’t know where to focus their anger towards the rich or it just seems so impossible to take them on & that too is why they prefer to blame people of color.

 

Moreover, people seem to have a penchant for violence & chaos and Trump allows them to vent their anger on a regular basis which is satisfying for those of low I.Q. So, a rightful resentment toward the 1% is transferred on to the poorest victims of our society & they don’t have the power to fire you like your boss does.

 

Trump is the most audacious liar I’ve ever heard of & he even tells his zombie followers to not believe their own eyes or ears or any of the media but only to listen & believe his lies. And what is truly frightening is the fact that this dunce has the power to start a nuclear war & denies the reality of climate destruction. Trump hasn’t “drained the swamp,” but rather he is tearing down the structure of our government with every person he has appointed in his cabinet & etc. So, when your Social Security checks stop coming along with your pension checks, & etc., remember, you asked for it with your blind submission to that vile creature in the White House who I’m sure will be crying crocodile tears for you as you seek shelter on our mean streets!

 

Yep! The world-wide economic collapse of 2008 which crippled the world & from which we still haven’t fully recovered was largely due to deregulation of the financial markets & Trump is deregulating everything he can get his hands on so as to further enrich himself & his butt-buddies. Oh well?

What I imagine the inner “mind” of Trump to look like (Hieronymous Bosch)

Trump, the Malignant, Mendacious, Moronic, Malicious, Malevolent, Miscreant, Misanthrope, & Megalomaniac!

~ cockroachconspiracy ~ 2 Comments

 

 

 

I used to get tired of hearing people say, “They all lie and they’re all crooks,” and felt it was a cop-out for people who couldn’t be bothered to get involved. But as I get older & have been paying close attention to politics for well over 30 years now, I have to admit that I see their point. Yet Donald Trump is a world apart from your ordinary lying president.

the inner Trump in physical form

Depending on how you choose to look at it, he is either an Olympian liar or he’s from the lowest or worst circle of Dante’s “Inferno,” i.e. Treachery. And he definitely personifies the other eight circles of Hell (lust, gluttony, greed, anger, violence, fraud) & many more of humanity’s worst attributes.

You don’t need to be religious to see this vile creature as evil personified

 

It’s almost too fantastic to believe that in a single human being, all that is vile & despicable could exist? Yet we witness his loathsome, sickening, & despicable words and actions daily. If he were just a private citizen, we wouldn’t need to be concerned but this babbling baboon could totally wreck our economy & start a nuclear exchange due to his mind-boggling ignorance & incompetence and his schoolyard temper tantrums.

he told us he was the greatest but not that he was the greatest threat to humanity

 

Let’s start with his malignancy. The word “malignant” is most often used in relation to cancer & signifies a tendency for the tumor or the cancer to progressively get worse & lead to death. Clearly Trump is a cancer on America & by extension, the World. His rhetoric of fear & hate is spreading around the globe & emboldening dictators to follow suit.

as one of Trump’s role models, Mussolini said; “Fascism should more rightly be called “Corporatism” because it’s a marriage of the state & corporate power

 

To get a deeper understanding of Trump’s malignant nature, one only has to briefly survey the signs of a malignant narcissist which Trump displays for all the world to see.

 

  1. A sense of entitlement: the way he struts around the world stage with his head held high & that Mussolini smug mug like he’s king of the world. Daddy Fred Trump obviously instilled in him a sense of superiority to black people, poor people, etc. And Trump’s lies regarding his being a “self-made man,” are being revealed more & more i.e. he claimed that his papa only loaned him a million dollars when in fact, daddy gave him over $420 million. But Donny helped daddy too, he set up phony corporations so daddy & mommy could hide the bulk of their fortune & not pay taxes on it.

    twin sons of different mothers
  2. A lack of conscience & empathy: the first example that comes to mind is his mocking of a physically-challenged person in one of his rallies as a presidential candidate, his disrespect of the Gold-Star family who lost their son in Iraq—while Donny’s daddy paid a doctor to say that Donny had bone-spurs so he couldn’t go in the military & possibly be sent to Vietnam, & his disrespect towards John McCain who was a prisoner of war for over five years.

    Yep! Another example of that “compassionate conservatism”
  3. A sadistic streak: there are many reports of Donny being a schoolyard bully & his personal and vicious attacks against anyone who dares to criticize or disagree with him is evident in his daily barrage of rants on Twitter. Moreover, consider his repeated calls to his Duck Dynasty Klan followers at his rallies to rough up the journalists or anyone who dares to raise their voice in protest.
  4. Egocentrism: Do I really need to provide examples here? Well, just in case any of you, my imaginary readers, have been on the Moon or some other planet for the past couple of years; Donald Duck never tires of singing his own praises i.e. he’s the best, the smartest, knows more than anyone else about any subject you bring up when he’s within earshot. Here’s an amusing video clip to corroborate just in case you still have doubts?
  5. Grandiosity: well again you would’ve had to be living under a rock for the past 40 years or better to not know that Donny truly believes he’s some sort of modern embodiment of King Louis the XIV of France & every one of the buildings with his name on them (though that’s all) must be Palaces of Versailles.
    Clearly just another Joe that his Duck Dynasty Klan members can relate to in his gold-plated bubble

    Personally, I feel that his taste in decorating is more in line with the Hispanic low-riders in L.A. who are fond of velvet paintings of Jesus, cheap, plush red velour, & dingle-balls hanging from the interior roofs of their cars. But like good old king Louie, Trump believes in the Divine Rights of Kings & since he inherited his divinity from Daddy Trump, he deserves respect & absolute loyalty. And here’s another tidbit for you, his daughter, Ivanka, who he seems to have an abnormal affection for, has the middle name of Marie & she and Marie Antoinette have a remarkably similar character i.e. “Let them eat cake.” Well take heart my friends because Marie & her hubby, Louis the XVI, lost their heads in the French Revolution (pun intended).

  6. Paranoia: Have you noticed how frequently Donny whines to his Jim Jones’ Kool-Aid drinking fans that he’s the victim of a witch-hunt, a democratic conspiracy, the deep-state, etc. etc. etc.? Could it be that he has a guilty conscience? No, silly me, he clearly doesn’t have a conscience any more than Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, etc. It’s probably just the realization that he’s committed so many crimes over the decades that he knows the law or public opinion is eventually going to find him out & he’s going to pay big-time.
  7. A Manipulative Nature: Duh! Donny’s very essence just screams Used Car Salesman, Snake-oil salesman, con man, hustler, grifter, etc. etc. etc. He successfully manipulates people with his 24/7 bragging about his phony accomplishments, his threats, his lies, his fear & hate mongering, etc.

    and oh so many willing suckers, what does that tell you about the intelligence of a third of our nation’s citizens?
  8. Projection (they project their bad behaviors onto others) I call this trying to turn the tables on their critics & an intellectual cop-out because they don’t have to bother to logically refute their critic, they simply accuse them of doing what they themselves are doing.

    Clear example of “projection” i.e. Trump calls the media “fake news” when in fact, he speaks nothing but lies–5,000 to date

 

In conclusion, I could go on ad nauseam & ad infinitum about this most despicable of persons let alone our president but I realize that you most likely already agree with me or if you don’t, you’ve probably stopped reading once you read the title of this essay.

for those with a “short” attention span

I’m an old fart, technologically-challenged, & definitely not a participant in the “social media” scene. Therefore, I doubt if many people will come across this essay. I have been writing like this for over three decades & have received a handful of positive feedback from a handful of readers but one of my readers of a recent essay that I wrote was Noam Chomsky. And that simple fact & his brief response has made it all worthwhile. I will leave you with one last morsel to chew on;

“Reality T.V.” and Trump-world

~ cockroachconspiracy

 

 

 

I believe the disturbing phenomenon of “reality t.v.,” coincided roughly with the equally disturbing introduction of what’s called “FOX News?” I’d like to begin by stating up front that I may be guilty from time to time of “lecturing” but sadly, I’ve learned that I can’t take for granted what so often seems like common wisdom. In fact, the older I get, the more I feel like a living anachronism.

 

These sinister forces began to creep into our culture roughly 20 years ago & I believe that the T.V. series “Survivor” was among the first, if not, the first of these “reality t.v. shows?” I watched perhaps two or three of this series with my wife & was immediately struck by its crassness or celebration of the worst in people I.e. backstabbing, lying, cheating, etc. In-other-words, win by any means necessary. I remember saying to my wife, what is this teaching our children, this is unhealthy, etc. I never watched it again nor any of the plethora of other “reality t.v.” programs that followed. Yeah, I know, many will probably dismiss me as an elitist snob, etc. Well, I wear that label as a badge of honor especially in this time & day where we have a reality t.v. show host as our president who is a national disgrace & embarrassment.

 

Before I proceed, here’s something to mull over; Trump’s supporters represent roughly a third of the American public, and coincidentally, approximately a third of our citizens also deny the Holocaust ever happened, & as of three years ago, roughly 32 million Americans are “functionally illiterate.” If you’re not one of Trump’s fans who has completely shut-off the rational side of your mind, reflect on the hundreds of times you’ve seen Trump address the public & his bumbling efforts to put together a single, coherent sentence. Moreover, he’s stated publicly many times his aversion to reading & that he doesn’t care to read the daily presidential briefings that all our other presidents read & knew was of critical importance. If this doesn’t worry you, congratulations, you are definitely one who has drunk the Kool Aid of our Jim Jones in the oval office.

 

Yes, this is very snide or sarcastic of me but I’m not really that far off the mark I.e. like Jim Jones, Trump has repeatedly advised his “base,” to ignore everything written about him or said about him if it doesn’t come from him. Yet, that isn’t even possible because we have tons of videotape of his public comments & he’ll deny having said what he said the very next day. It’s all a vast, left-wing conspiracy designed to make him look bad. If it weren’t all so serious & dangerous, it’d be laughable but it’s not! I remember how they labeled John Kerry a “flip-flopper” when he was running for the office of the presidency, Donny flip-flops often within the same sentence that just came out of his mouth, or at most, two or three “sentences” after whatever garbled string of words he let flow.

 

Trump has been seeking the approval & acceptance of what’s sometimes referred to as “the New York City Cultural or Intellectual Elite,” for decades, don’t forget that New York City is his hometown i.e. where he grew up & where his dad & he built their crooked, real estate empire. Naturally, they—the New York “elite” have shunned him because of his obvious ignorance & disdain for culture & intelligence as well as his crude, crass, & contemptible opinions & behavior over the decades. He now seeks to destroy their credibility like a boy seeking revenge for being bullied or socially ostracized. By-the-way, New York City is considered the intellectual capital of America & has been for quite some time because it is where the overwhelming majority of American publishing corporations are located. And, the New York Times has long been dubbed, “The Paper of Record” because they were the paper that represented the highest standard of American journalism. In brief, almost all the other major newspapers in America take their lead from the New York Times i.e. their lead stories are basically reprinted in the other major papers across the country.

 

Notwithstanding, there is a sliver of truth to Donald of the Duck Dynasty Klan’s label of “fake news.” But “fake” isn’t the correct adjective to use, no, cowardly or sell-out would be more appropriate adjectives to describe the mainstream media. It’s really quite obvious, we are down to five or six megalithic corporations that own perhaps 95% or even more of our media (television, radio, magazines, books, newspapers, etc.) and they are certainly not going to allow serious critics of “our” media to be heard because it would undermine their business i.e. hurt them financially by causing them to lose advertisers which are their bread & butter.

 

As far as “journalistic integrity” is concerned, the American media have clearly betrayed the U.S. public because they have largely ceased to act as a watchdog on the government & the corporate interests. They more accurately should be referred to as “lapdogs.” And this again is why it’d be laughable if it weren’t so deadly serious that we have a “president” who is clearly proud of being an anti-intellectual. Trump is, if we are to believe that he’s actually a billionaire—who knows, he refuses to show us his tax returns—is part of that 1% who keep on reaping the lion’s share of the tax breaks & most notably the trillion & a half dollar one that he gave himself & his cronies just recently. My intellectual hero, Noam Chomsky, & his co-author, Edward Hermann, wrote the modern classic on how “our” media system really operates, it’s called “The Manufacture of Consent.”

“The” classic if you’re interested?

 

Here it is in a nutshell;

 

“ The essential ingredients of our propaganda model, or set of news “filters,” fall under the following headings: (I) the size, concentrated ownership, owner wealth, and profit orientation of the dominant mass-media firms; (~) advertising as the primary income source of the mass media; (3) the reliance of the media on information provided by government, business, and “experts” funded and approved by these primary sources and agents of power; (4) “flak” as a means of disciplining the media; and (5) “anticommunism” as a national religion and control mechanism. These elements interact with and reinforce one another. The raw material of news must pass through successive filters, leaving only the cleansed residue fit to print. They fix the premises of discourse and interpretation, and the definition of what is newsworthy in the first place, and they explain the basis and operations of what amount to propaganda campaigns.”  https://chomsky.info/consent01/ 

 

You see, my imaginary reader, the conservatives started a myth decades ago there’s a “liberal media bias” & poor conservatives have been unfairly attacked & criticized roughly ever since the New Deal was established. And the New York Times is the bastion of liberalism in America. Yeah, right! That’s why the New York Times beat the war drums for our invasion of Iraq every bit as strongly as FOX “News.” Every time I hear FOX referred to as news, it almost makes me nauseous. For all you Trumpsters, if you weren’t so blinded by Trump’s dog whistle politics of hate, fear, & racism, you might begin to realize that FOX is truly the epitome of “fake news.” And FOX “News” is where Donny, the girly-man with small hands, gets his “facts” daily along with Alex Jones who claims the massacre of those schoolchildren at Sandy Hook Elementary School was a hoax to name only one of his most egregious & shameful ‘news stories.” And don’t forget that Donald Duck also relies on The National Enquirer to keep him up to date on the latest happenings. 

 

Let me share with you another actual fact, not an alternate reality “fact” from Kellyanne Conway’s warped mind i.e. Russia’s national newspaper “Pravda” (Russian for “truth”) was Russia’s official newspaper from 1912 to 1992 when it was sold to a private company but still retains the name. The Russian people were well aware though that it was the government’s propaganda tool & was used in an attempt to manipulate their minds/opinions. Well, FOX “News,” is America’s version of Pravda but sadly, far too many Americans aren’t aware of this. And it’s so depressing that they aren’t aware. How FOX has been allowed to get away with this sham for 20 years again reflects the cowardice of “our” media’s owners & reveals that the almighty dollar is the only thing they are loyal to. And for-the-record, I hold the left-wing media in America partly to blame as well because every time they refer to FOX as “news,” they’re only helping to legitimize this dangerous farce.

“Alternative facts”

 

Here’s the brick & mortar of what real journalism is supposed to be, you determine for yourself whether FOX “News” gets anywhere close to this;

 

“…. the principles of truthfulness, accuracy, objectivity, impartiality, fairness, and public accountability, as these apply to the acquisition of newsworthy information and its subsequent dissemination to the public.[1][2][3][4]”

 

To return to the connections between “reality t.v.” and its contribution to the rise of the Duckmeister, a “clear and present danger” to not only America, but the world as well, here are some more thoughts for your consideration. I read & dissected a classic titled; “Anti-intellectualism in American Life,” by Richard Hofstadter, years ago & it was mind-boggling to say the least. Seems we’ve had a long & ignoble history of anti-intellectualism almost from the very beginning of our nation. They used to be called “nativists” & today, they’re Trump’s “base” with their mantra of “America First,” etc. And there have been movements such as the “Know-Nothings” that were proud of their ignorance as well.

 

One only has to consider the climate deniers to realize the real danger these people represent. Of course, they prefer to not look into the corporations & individuals who are funding all the propaganda behind the denial. And like Donny, science is only theory & is akin to opinion and since everybody has an opinion, and all opinions are equally valid, the 99% of the world’s scientists’ “opinions” aren’t any more valid than the Duck Dynasty Klan’s opinions. Makes perfect sense, right? Yeah, if you inhabit the alternate universe of Trump, Kellyanne, Sarah Huckabee, et al. where facts aren’t facts but only suggestions or theories. Let’s ponder this a bit? The laws of gravity aren’t scientific facts so, just because you jump out of a tree, it doesn’t necessarily follow that you will always fall.

 

Moreover, electricians, engineers, nuclear scientists, medical doctors, mechanics, etc. etc. etc., don’t need to follow “scientific facts” because they’re just theories & we don’t need to follow those speed sign warnings when we’re driving on dangerous, winding mountain roads because they’re not facts, they’re only suggestions. How open-minded, democratic, & liberating of the Trumpsters. Thanks guys!

 

Admittedly, I am not of Trump’s world of delusions of grandeur & self-righteousness and call me a stubborn Irish mule but I will continue to believe in the world of science, not superstition & Alex Jones’ absurd “reality.” Here is a snippet regarding “reality t.v.” that I feel is pertinent:

The Ugly Reality

 

 

“…. are intended to humiliate and/or exploit participants. They make stars out of infamous (well known for some bad quality or deed; wicked; abominable) personalities. The actors are untalented or unworthy of fame. They glamorize vulgarity & materialism. “Sound like anyone you know? In other words, with the advent of “reality t.v.,” the powers that be in Hollywood have lowered the bar of basic decency to the lowest common denominator. And for-the-record, I said from the beginning of this sick phenomenon, something seems mighty strange here i.e. people watching an artificial medium (t.v.) to see “reality?” Seemed to me to be a collective stepping through the Looking Glass into Alice in Wonderland.

 

Continuing on this merry-go-round of American progress, almost every time I get in a conversation with a Trump supporter, it doesn’t take long at all for them to repeat the mantra; “I like Trump because he tells it like it is.” I never ceased to be amazed at how consistent this remark is from Trump loyalists. Is it something they put in their Kool Aid? Let’s reflect on this, So, if Trump asserts that Big Foot is real, that we have the bodies of aliens in Area 51, the landing on the Moon was fake, etc. etc. etc. he’s telling it like it is? Remember, he’s a staunch supporter of Alex Jones, FOX “News,” the National Enquirer, etc. Tell me again who’s in touch with “reality,” and who’s not?

 

Believe it or not, I will concede that I do understand to some extent why so many have fallen prey to Trump’s fear & hatred tactics to manipulate them and I even have a bit of sympathy, well at least for those who aren’t physically or verbally assaulting the rest of us. You see, the powers that be, the status quo, the power elite, or however you prefer to label them, have indeed been very clever in an extremely critical respect i.e. they have succeeded brilliantly in keeping us focused on the government’s failings & betrayals of us. But, the ignorant (remember, ignorant simply means “uninformed”) public fails to realize that the corporate cockroaches—the behemoth corporations—actually pull the strings of the politicians all the way up to the presidents. And most importantly, if it weren’t for “our” government subsidies, tax breaks, etc. of these corporate cockroaches, they’d go out of business. So, keep the rabble distracted & divided and scapegoating the victims of the crony capitalists, and the song remains the same. What saddens me to the marrow of my bones is that so many of us don’t remember the simple fact that we all bleed red when we’re cut, we all put our pants on one leg at a time, & we all want our kids to grow up in a better world, a world of equal opportunity, true justice, freedom, & a clean environment.

Only thing we have to fear is fear itself!

 

Let me review & perhaps add a bit here; If you recall in the blurb about “reality t.v.,” materialism is one of the hallmarks or “values” of a good “reality” t.v. star. Obviously, this is Trump in spades —pun intended—this moron who was an instant millionaire not because of any intelligence or talent on his part but because daddy gave it to him, struts the world stage like a self-made man. Yet, he managed to go bankrupt four times, lose his glorious gambling “empire,” be cut-off from any more loans from America’s “super banks,” and be saved by Russian gangsters who bought large chunks of his apartments & condos to launder their dirty money.

 

Donald, the Dick, has failed in every way that is humanly possible i.e. financially, socially, intellectually, & morally yet a third of the American public, including millions of self-proclaimed “Christians” think he’s the greatest thing since sliced-bread? Maybe it’s true, maybe I’m the one living in an alternate world? Oh yeah, for you “Christians” who love your furher, while I definitely don’t call myself a “Christian,” I do seem to recall something called “Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount & the simple guidelines he laid out for being a true Christian. Guess that just escaped your mind & your spirit?

 

Of course, those who don’t remember the lessons of history or more likely, never enjoyed history in high school, the frightening parallels between Trump & the most heinous dictators from the past as well as the present, can’t disturb your glorious dream of Donald, perhaps America’s first Fascist president, saving us from “fake news” and the liberals? But for those of us without the political as well as the moral blinders on, it’s damn hard not to notice the frightening delusions of grandeur that Trump entertains. [some deny this quote was from Mussolini but I feel it’s appropriate; “Fascism should more rightly be called Corporatism because it’s a marriage between government & corporations.” 

 

I’ll start with the superficial, out of respect for Emperor Trump. Simply do a Google image search of your idol & note his striking poses not unlike those of Mussolini, another popular fascist leader during WWII, you know, that trivial episode in our history where we fought against the Nazis & the fascists who Trump thinks contain many “good people.” And our fearless leader (who sadly couldn’t participate in the Vietnam war because of bone spurs) seems to have a real affinity for dictators & despots while insulting & alienating our “allies.” But don’t forget, these aren’t facts, because the Duck denies them. No worries, Donald will save the day, or will he? Could his colossal ego & ignorance be the wet-dream of Mike Pence and the “Christian right’s” desire for Armageddon & the Apocalypse to come about?

 

I have been concerned about the “Christian” fundamentalists for over 30 years & the fact that we now have one as our vice-president, is very spooky. My first book is about this scary phenomenon & as many have observed, the thought of Pence taking over in the not unlikely scenario of Trump being led out of the White House in chains, would be a nightmare surpassing any of the Freddy Kruger movies. Why? Because quite simply, Pence would surely set about in quick order of turning America into a “Christian” Taliban nation but with our nuclear arsenal, it wouldn’t take but a tiny spark to make their dream a reality.

good little lemmings

 

You might doubt my assessment of Trump’s ego? Okay, fair enough, but have you heard of his overwhelming obsession of having a military parade in Washington D.C.? The news headline the other day said that the original cost estimate of $12 million has now been updated to over $92 million dollars. And maybe, just maybe, you might wonder why we need or rather, our fearless leader wants this parade? Well, when he was in France recently, they had one and if you research it, he’s actually wanted one from the day he took office. Again, let me remind you of Donny’s admiration of dictators & his boundless ego. Yep! I can just picture him now, standing on some elevated platform with that Mussolini smugness as the troops file by & salute El Duce!

 

We can’t afford to fix our infrastructure, pay our teachers a decent salary, offer health care to our citizens, etc. but there’s always money available to stroke Donald the Dick’s ego & keep on feeding the military/industrial complex.

 

Continuing on, this “intellectual snob or elitist” whichever term of derision you care to choose, came from a single parent, my mom, who worked two or three jobs as my brother & two sisters grew. I got 40 cents a day for lunch when I was in high school & basically raised my brother & sisters i.e. made them do their chores, their homework, get to bed on time, fought their battles against bullies, etc. Yeah, I really had it easy compared to poor Donny. Oh yeah, you may choose to dismiss my criticisms as mere jealousy of Donald, the billionaire populist who speaks for all the downtrodden Americans. If you go that route, all I can say is that you are clearly a member of the Walking Dead, Donald’s constituency. Oh yeah, it took me 14 years to earn my B.A. in English literature because of not knowing what I really wanted to study, financial difficulties, and lack of discipline but I did it and I proved all my “friends” and “family” wrong. But far more than this accomplishment, I am proud of the conservative estimate of at least 49,000 hours I’ve spent over the last 30 years or better informing myself on matters of politics, history, & philosophy primarily. Yeah! I’m light years ahead of that mental midget in the White House and I challenge anyone to a mental competition! (except Noam Chomsky)

me & the Love of my Life, Jeri

 

Throughout my adult life, and especially since my confidence in my intellectual reasoning skills began to grow, I have heard the mantra of “All you need is common sense.” And it became very clear that this was a standard put-down of all us “bookworms,” etc. It was inferred that we were so book-smart that we were complete idiots and didn’t even know enough to come in out of the rain. Well, I eventually realized that this was a common defense of those who felt academically inferior because they had unfortunately been the victims of shitty teachers. I have realized slowly though, that I do in fact have an ample supply of “common sense,” and I have surprised myself as well as several of my friends who were/are carpenters, mechanics, plumbers, etc. over the years. Because I am humble & know what I don’t know in many of these trades, etc., I’m not afraid to ask what may appear to be stupid questions. And from time to time, I have surprised my skilled tradesmen friends with some of my suggestions for solving a seemingly unsolvable obstacle in a project we were working on. So, yeah, call me a braggart, but unlike your babbling buffoon of a president, I and everyone else I’ve ever met, know that those who feel the constant need to keep telling people how wonderful, how brilliant, etc. they are, are full of shit!

 

By-the-way, the next time the I.R.S. tells you that they’re going to audit you, tell them that you refuse to give them your past tax returns like your buddy Donald has done. See how long before you’re sitting in prison. Remember, he’s telling it like it is!

 

Believe it or not, I am getting close to winding this up but it’s hard to do because there’s just so much evidence & so many examples of this brain-dead & soulless miscreant’s trail of human wreckage, & although I have little to live for since the passing of my soul mate, Jeri, I do still care about & feel the pain of the billions of suffering souls around this planet due to the ugly greed of “people” like Donald Trump.

 

If I were forced to narrow down to its simplest form, the danger of Trump, I would have to say it’s the deadly combination of his ignorance & his arrogance. And because of the position of power that he holds, we should all be trembling unto our death (I believe this was Kierkegaard’s phrase?) This vile creature that walks upright like a primate but is more like a cold-blooded reptile or spineless crustacean, haunts my waking hours and if he doesn’t haunt yours, your children & your grandchildren will reap the consequences of a world which allowed such a creature from the Black Lagoon to become president of the United States which, don’t get me wrong, has a very long, and immoral history of which I’m deeply ashamed!

filling the swamp of moral decay

 

The mendacious, malicious, miscreant, megalomaniac (a person obsessed with their own power) creature known as Trump, is a reality that unfortunately, we have no choice but to deal with. And no, he’s not an aberration, he’s a symptom of a dark, underlying force not only in America, but around the world. Trump has made it okay for the worst in human nature to rear its ugly head & although I’m not a religious person, God save us from the likes of him!

so much for “Christian” Virtues!

 

Addendum

 

The American Press stands on the shoulders of the giants from our past i.e. Walter Cronkite, dubbed “the most trusted man in America,” Edward R. Murrow, who broadcast from London through the entire 56 days of what was dubbed the Blitz—the continuous bombing campaign with the aim of completely destroying London. I.F. Stone, called the “conscience of Washington” for his amazing investigative journalism in which he poured through the official documents/reports/etc. of D.C. to find the nuggets of truth often buried in thousands of pages of the Congressional Record & many other government documents. And George Seldes, perhaps the grandfather of modern free press, who lived through WWI & interviewed everyone from Lenin to Mussolini, covered the Spanish Civil War & often just barely escaped being captured by the fascists.

the grandfather of muckrakers i.e. truth tellers!

 

In fact, as I’m writing this, it’s very pertinent to the subject of Little Lord Fauntleroy i.e. Donny, born with the silver spoon in his mouth. Why? Because Trump’s number one mentor without a doubt was the infamous Roy Cohn who represented countless mobsters on the East Coast who just coincidentally became “business associates” with Trump & Cohn was Joseph McCarthy’s right-hand, hatchet man i.e. totally ruthless in destroying peoples’ lives with baseless, smear campaigns & assorted dirty tricks. And it was Edward R. Murrow who had the balls to go after McCarthy and his witch hunting tactics on his nationally broadcast CBS news program, “See It Now,” which led to McCarthy’s censure.

Roy Cohn, lawyer for the five largest mafia families in New York

 

Furthermore, it’s a sad fact that I feel I must remind far too many of my fellow Americans of what facts are. Trump walks around gloating because he has suckered so many of our citizens into believing whatever he says. Reflect on this truth if you will, “alternative facts” didn’t build the Golden Gate Bridge, put an American on the Moon, or find a cure for polio, no, these & countless other wonders were accomplished due to good old solid, scientific facts, mechanical, electrical, engineering, biological, chemical, etc. verifiable facts. And the fact that Donald, like the oil corporations have managed to confuse the general public to such an extent with the billions they’ve spent on their covert propaganda campaign to plant the seeds of doubt regarding climate change, is truly frightening. My hero, Noam Chomsky has been dubbed “Perhaps the most important intellectual alive,” by The New York Times but he often smiles & reminds his audiences that they leave out, the Times goes on to ask, “So why is he so often wrong?” Chomsky is on a list of the top ten most quoted people in Western Civilization which includes Plato, Aristotle, & the Bible and he’s the only one alive.

 

Excuse me for going on about Chomsky but I can’t honor him enough & again, it really saddens me that the overwhelming majority of Americans don’t even know who he is, including many self-proclaimed liberals. But, Chomsky says the two greatest dangers facing humanity are climate change & the threat of nuclear war. And we have this proud moron in the White House doing all he can to eliminate every regulation holding back the major polluters & he openly asks, “What good are these nukes if we can’t use them?”

 

No, my friend, what’s far scarier than this delusional dip-shit is the fact that a third of the American public are so blinded by his fear & hate rhetoric that he probably could get away with shooting someone in broad daylight on 5th Avenue in New York City? And the fact that people actually believe this delusional, would be American Caesar, shows that they are the ones who don’t have common sense.

Compassionate Conservative Christian “values”

 

—Rob DeLoss, August 31, 2018 Trinidad, CA

 

EARLY WARNING SIGNS OF FASCISM

  1. Powerful and continuing nationalism
    2. Disdain for human rights
    3. Identification of enemies as a unifying cause
    4. Rampant sexism
    5. Controlled mass media
    6. Obsession with national security
    7. Religion and government intertwined
    8. Corporate power protected
    9. Labor power suppressed
    10. Disdain for intellectual and the arts
    11. Obsession with crime and punishment
    12. Rampant cronyism and corruption

A true patriot will point out the relevant warning sign of approaching fascism when engaged in a conversation/debate with a Trump supporter.
 

 

 

 

 

Nuclear Winter or Global Hell?

~ cockroachconspiracy

Well, as our Zen master of linguistics & global politics, Noam Chomsky, has put it, the two greatest threats to humanity are nuclear war & climate change. And I find it absolutely incredible that we, especially in the West, are still so remarkably silent & passive about these very real threats to our existence? Perhaps our apathy & ignorance will be the root cause of our extinction as a species?

Tens, if not hundreds of thousands of people are dying around the globe monthly if not weekly & crustaceans like Trump are accelerating the death count & the destruction of our planet’s ecosystems which give us life. Can we really be so blind & short-sighted as to not see what’s going on?

The world’s major religions that have stood the test of time all have one common rule, law, commandment or whatever you want to call it, Do unto others as you’d have them do unto you! Ignoring our fellow brothers & sisters will not erase our culpability in the evils being done. Are we going to wait like the “good Germans” who never spoke up or stood up as the Nazis came for the Socialists first, then the Trade Unionists, & finally for the Jews?

Do you not see the ominous parallels between Trump’s agenda to “Make America Great Again” and Hitler’s program to make Germany great again i.e. first silence & get rid of the muslims, then the Mexicans, then the feminists, gays, blacks, the poor? Who will be left after the coming genocide? Do you want to live in a world of the Walking Dead, because that won’t be far off the mark?

All of us who are physically and mentally able to fight have a moral imperative to do so. There are no other options. As Dylan Thomas told us; “Do not go gentle into that dark night, rage, rage against the dying of the light!” That light my friends is the divine light in each of us, our souls, our spirits and only we can allow that light to go out.

Each and every one of us bears the responsibility & the weight of the world on their shoulders. As that beautiful song from the 1960s said; “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother.” We must look for every opportunity to not only block but to stop the further development of nuclear weapons & go even further by committing peaceful acts of civil disobedience until we succeed in destroying all weapons of mass destruction.

Moreover, we must likewise halt the fossil fuel industry and all the destructive energy practices & uses that are poisoning our land, water, air, food, & homes. What the world needs now is hundreds of millions of compassionate human beings who will use their bodies as human monkey wrenches or cogs to stop the death machinery.

The corporate cockroaches & the ruthless rich are too blinded by their greed. They don’t even care about their own children or grandchildren or as Cat Stevens asked; “Where do the Children Play?” We have to be the torchbearers of the Truth & the protectors of humanity and our Mother Gaia. Spread the word my brothers & sisters who have joined me and the countless other flower children in our human revolution for Light, Life, & Love!

Persevere in Peace!

                                                     —Rob

“The opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it’s indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it’s indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, it’s indifference.”

― Elie Wiesel (survivor of both the Auschwitz & Buchenwald Death Camps & awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986, at which time the Norwegian Nobel Committee called him a “messenger to mankind.”)