Archives for July 2020

Day 1281 – Where Will It End? – I’ll Tell You

July 22, 2020 by Rick Kinnaird Leave a Comment

Wednesday July 22, 2020

102 Days until the election on November 3^rd

182 Days until the Inauguration on January 20, 2021

At times like this, of grave peril, I tend to retreat to fantasy. It’s not helpful to society, but it keeps me sane. My take on Hunter S. Thomson’s “I wouldn’t suggest drugs for everybody, but it worked for me.”

There are a jumble of images I am replaying in my head and then I wonder, “What if?”

There’s the young girl in the black plastic helmet when the two guys in camo that grab her and put her in an unmarked van. She repeatedly asks who they are. She demands to see identification. They don’t answer. So I wonder, “How long is it going to be before some not to bright fellows decide to go into the snatching women off the street con?”

I get this kind of mash up in my brain of “Hey, Clyde why don’t you and me go down to the surplus store and get us some camo? We already got a van,” and Donald Trump talking to Billy Bush, “You know they let you do it.”

I keep wondering when those supposed federal police are going to run into Spiderman or someone who knows a mess of karate. What happens if those camo guys get beat up, cuffed, DNA swabbed and identified for their mothers to see their faces on TV as a national disgrace?

Okay, I can dream. Dream big in fact.

Then I think of Sarah Cooper who was interviewed yesterday by Nicole Wallace. She spoke of Trump’s “empty words.” I was reminded of Alex Baldwin saying of his impersonating Trump that Trump seemed like a person searching for the right word and not finding it. That he, Trump, then settled on the word he did find and decided to repeat it several times. I thought of Seth Myers talking about working with Trump on SNL. How Trump didn’t understand what made something funny. How he, Trump, had to look at the reaction in others to conclude that it must be funny.

We are looking at a damaged human being and we are all suffering because of his leadership.

Moving on.

What’s up with the Republican governors? Other than Dewine in Ohio they all seem to have no idea what governing is all about. Most pathetic is DeSantis in Florida. After stealing that election he is now faced with actually having to do something. Whatever he has done has made the situation worse. He is backed up by Scott, a crook and a cheat; and Rubio who seems totally out of his element. Then in Georgia there’s Kemp who outright stole that election. He seems petty, nasty and sneaky. Well, yeah that’s kind of the way he stole that election. Now he has to do something and he’s doing nothing.

But this seems to be the way it is for all these governors. Why did they want the job? They have no idea what it entails. Their only motivation seems to be the consolidation and aggrandizement of power. But for what end? Other than lining the pockets of their buddies they seem to have no idea.

This is nothing new for the modern Republican party. There’s always been an undercurrent, but with Reagan it began to blossom. He really had little idea himself of what to do. But he surrounded himself with people who could direct him and use him. George Bush came in and one of the historians who chronicles presidents said of Bush that once he got to the Oval Office he too didn’t really know what to do or what he wanted to do. W, of course, was a joke. He ran to prove to his daddy that he could be somebody. He ran a second time to outdo his dad, but he was led by people had less than admirable agendas.

This all reminds me of ancient Greece and the Persian Empire. Darius II dies. He has two sons. One becomes ruler and the other, Cyrus the Younger, collects an army made up partially of Greek mercenaries and marches against his brother. The army marches deep into the Persian Empire where Cyrus is killed. Now what do the Greek mercenaries do? They try to cut a deal with whomever is around and finding no takers they have to fight their way out. They go north and make it to the Black Sea.

What’s the point? The point is that a generation later Alexander knows that it can be done. That you can take on the mightiest empire of the day and win.

The modern Republican party has figured out how to win elections. Once they win they have no idea how to govern. Maybe, that’s not of interest to them? Based on the evidence I see I’d have to conclude that their main objectives are twofold: 1) Stay in power, 2) Line their pockets. There are a few other things they espouse, but those seem to be mainly tenets that they need to say to keep some of those who vote for them happy.

It’s a perverse and dangerous phenomena.

102 Days until the election on November 3^rd

182 Days until the Inauguration on January 20, 2021

PS The author in from of the Casa de Monjas (House of the Nuns) in Chichen Itza. This building has nothing to do with nuns. It was so named by the Spanish because to them it looked like a nunnery. Actually, the real use is not known. It is believed to have been either the residential palace, the home of a high priest, or a council house. There are two distinct building phases so it could have been used in different ways at different times.

Day 1280 – The World Turned Upside Down – or is it?

July 21, 2020 by Rick Kinnaird 1 Comment

Tuesday July 21, 2020

103 Days until the election on November 3^rd

183 Days until the Inauguration on January 20, 2021

The World Turned Upside Down was the tune Cornwallis had his band play when they surrendered to Washington. I think many of us might be asking the same question today.

There is speculation that Donald Trump may try to steal the election or overthrow the existing government. The speculation runs from a Fascist overthrow to forcing the election into The House. Any and all are possible. Currently it looks like he’s going for the Fascist overthrow or throwing the election.

Let’s not forget that he quoted Mussolini early in his 2016 campaign and admitted to having a book of Benito’s speeches on his nightstand. I looked on Amazon to see if such a book was available and it is. In fact, there are half a dozen. I’ve never heard of Donald Trump ever reading a book. I think he lies every time he speaks so I don’t believe he has or had a copy of El Duce’s speeches. I do know that he’s quoted a Klan leader and other white supremacists so I find it entirely possible that in whatever wacky stuff he sees that he picked up a phrase from Benito.

However, the lesson for all of us should be clear – this is an unprincipled unethical immoral person who will stop at nothing to get what he wants. What he wants is to survive and he’s trying in the ways he knows how and in the ways that have always worked for him in the past.

We are now seeing him testing out the idea of a secret police force to intimidate the populace. He’s started with Portland. He’s threatening Chicago and New York. The best defense I’ve seen so far is The Wall of Moms. I personally was hoping for the Fat Fucks with AR-15’s and Twinkie’s, but you can’t have everything. But think of it – Second Amendment and the famed Twinkie Defense meets police brutality with a little Stand Your Ground thrown in. Oh man. Ya, I know. But still.

103 Days until the election on November 3^rd

183 Days until the Inauguration on January 20, 2021

PS Osiris* at VMFA

*The True God and creator of the universe **

** Okay, it’s the pharaoh as Osiris. You get the idea.

Day 1279 – America’s Stockholm Syndrome

July 20, 2020 by Rick Kinnaird 1 Comment

Monday July 20, 2020

104 Days until the election on November 3^rd

184 Days until the Inauguration on January 20, 2021

I’ve read the Preface and Chapter 1 of Mary Trump’s book. It make me sad and I find it chilling. She describes the family in dispassionate psychological terms. It verifies everything I’ve said and thought about Donald Trump. She does it without emotion. Just laying out the facts and analysis. She also mentions family gatherings and behaviors. Things other people would not know about the family. She mentions these items to illustrate her psychological analysis.

Donald’s mother was sickly and mostly absent from the raising of her children. When she was able to function she was calling out for her own needs to be taken care of. Donald’s father was uninterested in his children. He found their pleas for affection as nuisances. The children learned to not ask. Essentially Donald grew up without the love and nurturing that children need. He learned to cope. He mimicked his father. He became a sociopath.

John Lewis died this week. There were clips of his civil rights work. Picture of him standing next to Martin Luther King Jr. Of his leading the march across the bridge in Selma. The one named after the head of the Alabama KKK that it is suggested now be named after Lewis. There were clips showing and explaining what Jim Crow was. It was a strategy and attempt to suppress black people. It is the same sort of behavior and tactics that the Republican Party is using today to suppress the vote and the same sort of behavior against immigrants.

I thought about Bill Clinton and the clips they are showing of him when he was President talking about putting more cops on the street. The argument being “See. They do it too.” What is being conveniently forgotten is that there were arguments to do far more both in terms of police and in terms of marriage. At the time there was the term “Wilding.” The act of randomly beating up someone for no reason. There was a amendment being proposed to have the Constitution say that marriage was between a man and a woman. Clinton blunted both efforts. He put more cops on the streets in an attempt to stop the wilding and other behaviors. After a few years crime went down and everyone from Rudy Giuliani to the Police Chief of Los Angeles was taking credit. Malcolm Gladwell pointed out that studies showed that Roe v Wade had passed 18 years before which allowed pregnant women the right to abortion. This allowed for less unwanted and uncared for children into the world. (This claim has since been disputed, but no one else has come up with a better explanation that I am aware of.)

Bill Clinton also passed “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” Now hailed as a terrible idea. Maybe so, but it blunted the Constitutional marriage between a man and a woman amendment. Which was worse?

Then let me add in one more little tidbit before we get to the main premise of this screed. I have heard multiple reports of people being in parts of the country where all they can get on their radios is right wing talk shows. Otherwise normal people become raging right wingers. I have to wonder if this is some sort of Stockholm Syndrom? And if so are many of us in the country suffering from it?

Certainly, the people who get their information from Fox News would be effected by that sort of – what should we call it? – Abuse?

So have we as a nation all been abused by Trump? It seems that we have and if so the road to recovery is long and not necessarily guaranteed.

PS Little Angkor Wat – The Temple of Boeng Mealea – side corridor

Day 1278 – This is America?

July 19, 2020 by Rick Kinnaird 1 Comment

Sunday July 19, 2020

105 Days until the election on November 3^rd

185 Days until the Inauguration on January 20, 2021

One friend texted me saying he noted a bit of optimism in one of my latest screeds.

Another sent me tweets about Federal agents snatching people off the streets in Portland.

All this in the background while I try to read Mary Trump’s book.

Some have said they read it at one sitting. That they couldn’t put it down.

I’m the opposite. I find it so familiar and so disturbing that I can only read a few pages at a time.

“How did we get here?” I keep asking. The parallels and warnings about Germany and the rise of Hitler are striking and very scary. It seems the clearing of Lafayette Square and the guarding of Federal buildings by unidentified men in some sort of police uniform was merely a dress rehearsal for what we are now experiencing in Portland.

What is happening in Portland seems reminiscent of what happened on the famed Ukrainian phone call between our president and theirs. Fueled by a wild conspiracy lie our president asked their president to hand over a non-existent server. This lie was started by Putin’s GRU. I wonder what Putin thought when he heard what Trump was asking for? Maybe, it was something along the lines of – “This guy is a bigger idiot than I thought. He doesn’t know he’s not supposed to believe that crap.”

The confluence of these sorts of random disturbing things is of great concern to me. As a friend of mine who owned a boat once told me – with a boat you can withstand one thing being wrong, even two; it’s the third one that gets you.

And that is why he reasoned you fix the first little thing as soon as possible, to prevent it from growing to two little things.

Of course, we are way passed the point of two little things. One of the things reported about Donald Trump is that he wears you down with the constant morass. Eventually, people have given up. The bankers in New York did, then internationally, that is until they got financing from the Russian mob/government, which bought Trump.

By my count we have 185 days to withstand this assault, and if we are lucky we will be done with him and his gang. I say lucky because there is speculation and talk that he will not go – willingly.

This narrative, of not going willingly, has manifest itself in two ways: one spoken and one only dimly imagined, but is now taking shape.

The first way is rigging the election to win. There are two possibilities here

This could happen by voter suppression and fraud with the help of the Republican Party and the Russians. In other words an attack on our election both from within and without.

Or by an executive and congressional coup d’etat. This would involve the president doing something to prevent the electoral college from meeting in December with enough votes to elect a President. This would throw the election into the House that would then elect a President by state vote. Each state gets one vote. There are 26 Republican states. He could win the election 26-24.

The second way that Trump could hold onto the office is by revolt. We are now seeing that he and his henchmen are not above using unmarked vehicles and unmarked policemen to steal people off the streets in Portland. Certainly, with everything we know about Trump, he will not stop unless forced to stop, be it via force, court decision, or public humiliation.

This snatching of people may be the start of either the revolt he is formulating or the coup d’etat mechanism. Whatever it is. It is not good.

It is not who we were; it is who we have become.

105 Days until the election on November 3^rd

185 Days until the Inauguration on January 20, 2021

Plate of Meatloaf, Baked Potato and Greenbeans — **Memories of Public School Cafeteria Meals under Eisenhower**

PS Meat and Potatoes

Day 1277 – So Sociopathic, So Sad, So Bad

July 18, 2020 by Rick Kinnaird 1 Comment

Saturday July 18, 2020

106 Days until the election on November 3^rd

186 Days until the Inauguration on January 20, 2021

We are learning what we already knew. That Donald Trump is a racist sociopath. Mary Trump’s book adds family background and detail, which allows for more understanding and analysis.

There are several new phrases that she uses which makes things clearer than before. “Learned Disability” is, apparently, a psychological term and if I understand it, speaks to the idea that in an abusive relationship there are abusers and the abused. One learns to be psychologically impaired to allow the dysfunction to continue and for the abused to survive. This speaks to the idea of intergenerational abuse. Fred Trump, Donald’s father was abusive in that he berated and scolded his children in such a way that they learned to be submissive and abusive. It was and is a survival technique. The family was dysfunctional and it was passed along to Donald.

Mary Trump also talked about the casual and assumed way “the older generation” as she put it talked about black people and Jews. They used the N-word and spoke of Jews in discriminatory ways. She heard Donald use those terms (and the N-word). She spoke of it in terms of the casualness and acceptableness of it all. Some people now seemed shocked. I’m not and I’m surprised others are. Jews were discriminated in WWII, not just by Germans but here in America. There were tacit understandings about African-Americans and Jews at that time. One of the houses I bought in the 1980s the owners showed me the covenants their old title had. It included two large paragraphs that took up most of a page outlining whom they agreed not to sell to. This included: Jews, negroes, Arabs, Muslims, and the list went on and on. My point being that this kind of accepted discrimination wasn’t that long ago.

The issue of how could Ivanka marry a Jew was brought up in an interview of her by Rachel Maddow. The explanation by Mary was “they had money.” This is the essence of the nature of prejudice. You may not like all people of a particular race or religion, but you are willing to make exceptions for ones you actually know because they are different from the stereotype you have in your mind.

The other thing about prejudice is that the persons you make exception for may indeed be different than the people you don’t like of that religion or ethnicity, and that gets into a question of class. Many black people in the U.S. were of a lower class, and by that I mean what they valued was different, therefore white middle class people upon seeing a black person assumed they were lower class. Class in this sense is a question of values. Much of that is driven by education, economic conditions, and environment.

The Jews living in Vienna Austria in the 1930s were aghast when they saw the peasants from the rural areas of Russia moving in following the pogroms of that country. The city folks had nothing in common with the Jewish people who showed up in donkey pulled carts.

I mention that example to try to illustrate that this kind of behavior is universal. Not that it should be condoned. The only way to ameliorate the situation is to bring both sides into equal status conditions, and that, is very hard to do. It requires being aware – constantly.

I think there’s another reason why Ivanka and Jared were accepted within both families and that is that both families were (and are) dysfunctional in similar ways. The Kushner family had to escape the horrors of the Jewish ghettos of Poland. They lived in the forest in winter, emigrated to Italy, hoping for passage to Italy (good thing Trump wasn’t president then!), made it to New Jersey where they began building houses.

There’s a story about someone complaining that their life was so hard and being screamed at by one of the survivors of the escape from the ghetto where they literally had to burrow under the wall to get out. (“You think this is hard?” I can hear it.)

This also meant both in the Kushner family and in the Trump family that making the sale was important. So what if you stretched the truth? You did what you did to survive. The problem is that those behaviors become ingrained and then you have, as Mary Trump wrote “cheating as a way of life.”

Cheating, bullying, lying, intimidating are part of the shtick.

Rachel asked Mary about another incident where Donald in introducing her to Melania said that Mary had overcome a terrible drug problem. Mary had never done drugs and said as much to Donald. Donald doubled down and insisted, all the while smiling slightly to Mary. It was as if to say, “I know, that you know, that this isn’t true.”

So why do it? Mary explained. Remember, she’s a clinical psychologist. At the time of the incident Mary was gathering material to write a book about Donald. She explained that for Donald it sounded better to say that she was in this pathetic drug abused state “and then I gave her a job,” and miraculously she is all better now (due to my munificence.)

Oh boy.

So we know, once again, that Donald is a lying abusive sociopath. Great. Now what?

We have to get him out and all his enablers. They’ve been abused. They need help, but they don’t need to be running our country.

106 Days until the election on November 3^rd

186 Days until the Inauguration on January 20, 2021

PS Big Rock Candy Mountain (?)

(No, Somewhere in Angkor)