Rick Kinnaird

Day 499 Saturday June 2, 2018 1,078 Days to Go (or not!)

Feckless is one of those SAT type words that I have heard and didn’t really know it’s meaning.
So I did this really weird thing. I looked it up!

Here ya go:
lacking initiative or strength of character; irresponsible.
“a feckless mama’s boy”
synonyms:
useless, worthless, incompetent, inept, good-for-nothing, ne’er-do-well; lazy, idle, slothful, indolent, irresponsible, shiftless; informalno-good, no-account
“the feckless bum hasn’t gotten off our sofa for ten days”

So, is Ivanka feckless?

Well, we know the other word that Samantha Bee used, and she is that, at least physically. We can debate the pejorative meaning, I guess. You know, like the way Ted Nugent has used it repeatedly when describing Hillary Clinton. Oh yes, the outrage from the right then! The reprimands. The distancing. What? It didn’t happen? Say it ain’t true! What, it was more nod-nod wink-wink? Like the time the insurance adjuster from Texas told me don’t “re-nig” on electing Obama to a second term? And then was ready to explain it to me in case I didn’t understand – that kind of reaction to Nugent by the erstwhile Trump supporters? Yeah. I’d say that was the case. The old nod-nod wink-wink. Now that one of their own has been called out they are outraged?
Wait. Maybe they didn’t get it. Should I explain? Should I ask if Samantha Bee should have gone more Ted Nugent in her description? You know, called her a whore? Or something more pejorative?

Feckless is a big word, would “useless” have been better?
Ivanka Trump is part of the administration. She has influence over her dad. One of the few people who does. Trump has instituted a policy of ripping children out of the arms of parents. They might be crossing the border legally or illegally. They might be seeking asylum – legally. His policy sees no difference. Yet, here is pretty little Ivanka putting a picture of her head to head with a little baby? How callous can you be? I mean if that ain’t Marie Antoinette “Let them eat cake” moment, I don’t know what is. At least Ms. Antoinette never said what is ascribed to her. (I assume the baby was Ivanka’s and not a Paul Ryan dirty dishes type stage prop. Someone check that out.)

This brings me to the nature of prejudice, and what is discrimination. Prejudice is what you think; discrimination is what you do. It’s okay to do both. Yes, you read that right. It’s okay to do both. It’s just what you apply it to that can be the problem. You can have “discriminating taste.” Maybe, you like a certain kind of food or drink better than another, or a particular brand. That can be described as having discriminating taste. The term discriminating taste can be applied to entertainment. Typically, the more high brow, the more it is thought to be discriminating. Or, perhaps a better way to say it is the more the term is used in describing what a person is doing when it is high brow stuff.

Prejudice is a dislike for something, someone, or some collective group. Legally, it’s okay to be prejudiced against anything or anyone or any group because you do not go to jail for what you think. You do get in trouble for putting certain prejudices into action. That is called discrimination.

We went to the new Contemporary Art Museum at Richmond’s VCU campus. They had a display of Klan robes and Klan paraphernalia. The Klan robes were multi-colored reproductions of such robes; the cases of artifacts were the real deal. There were books, pamphlets, ID cards, song sheets, rally posters, photographs and other items: either promoting the Klan and its rules, or trying to make the case that the negro was inferior. It’s disturbing stuff, but it wasn’t that long ago.

Fred Trump, Donald’s father, was arrested at a Klan parade in New York City. The law striking down discrimination against people of color happened in my lifetime. I contend that the current aim of the Trump administration and the far-right is to overturn that ruling, and there is plenty of evidence to support that conjecture. Not the least of which is many of the nominees being put up for Federal judgeships will not answer the question was that decision properly decided.

Prejudice and discrimination go hand in hand and there are interesting exceptions and changes of heart in regards to this. There are only two proven tested verified ways to reduce prejudice and hence a person’s willingness to discriminate based on prejudice. Maybe only one.
If you put people together who are prejudiced toward each other in an equal status setting, like a job situation. Their level of prejudice will go down. It may only be against that person however. Why is that? Well, the nature of prejudice is such that there can be antipathy toward a whole group (e.g. “I hate XYZ people.”) but an exception can be made for someone of that group that they know (e.g. “But Joe’s okay. He’s not like the rest of them.’) This can be caused by their actually knowing the person, and or by a person seemingly to share the same values. (Hence the comment on Joe in the aforementioned example: “He’s not like the rest of them.”)

There is also an interesting dynamic of cultural or nationalistic prejudice (and hatred or love) for a particular group, be they a race, nation, or group. A good example of nationalistic change of heart is in regards to U.S. citizens toward the Japanese. Before WWII the Japanese were thought of as they were portrayed in Madame Butterfly: clean, exotic, graceful. During World War II they were portrayed as the Yellow Peril: filthy, sub-human, little people. After WWII they once again became the clean, hardworking Japanese.

In a similar way scientists have gone through a variety of characterizations. Either they are Doctor Frankenstein out to create a monster or they are the tireless drones in clean white lab coats trying to save the world. Big scientific impacts greatly change the perception by the general populace. None was bigger that the detonation of the atomic bomb. Overnight scientists went from good hard working folks for the benefit of mankind to the evil Dr. Frankenstein out to destroy the world.

Another characteristic of prejudice is the use of selective example and ignoring those that don’t fit your belief system. We’ve seen that at work recently. The black man who saved so many during The Waffle House shooting, haven’t heard any praise for him from the right, Trump, or Ivanka.

Well, there you have it. Trump is accused of rape on multiple occasions. Ivanka is useless, worthless, incompetent, and inept. I mean, what has she done since being in the administration? Oh that’s right, got a deal with the Chinese for her brands to be marketed.

That brings me to Scott Pruitt, the EPA administrator who is working tirelessly on behalf of the oil and gas industry and his Oklahoma pals trying to tear down as many regulations as possible to allow the rape of our natural resources. The latest is that he gave folks pens. Okay, big deal you say? The pens cost $1560.00. That’s a lot of pen! Oh, correction: it was 12 pens for a total of $1560.00 or only $130.00 each. I, as a taxpayer, feel much better.

Pruitt, like Trump, has no regard for the people he is supposed to be serving. That is the American people, all the people. He does have regard for the cabal of oil and gas buds, and for his pack of cronies from Oklahoma.

Then there is – also in the nature of prejudice and discrimination – the pointing of fingers in a “well they do it too!” method of trying to justify their actions. Typically, as has been pointed out in the S. Bee vs R. Barr case one was right on the money correct and the other was a racist unjustified comment, now being peddled as a “bad joke.” And they, here’s the part that always cracks me up, the “poor me” defense. Poor Scott Pruitt he just ordered the pens and other knick knacks from two of Washington’s premier jewelers. “What’s a fella to do? Go to Office Max to get a pen?” Poor Scott, Poor Roseanne, dirty filthy Samantha Bee, good pure Ivanka, Go Eagles!

1,078 Days to Go

PS The multi-colored Klan

Day 498 Friday June 1, 2018 1,079 Days to Go

The Blue Wave is Coming.
Medicaid Expansion in Virginia helps 400,000.
Yup, a year ago – no dice.
Then an off year election and tah-da!
A big change in voting.
Quiz time: Below is a picture of the incumbents that beat out the Republicans in office.
Take a look. See if you can figure out what’s different.
They are Democrats, yes. Sometimes they ran without help of the Democratic Party.
I’m tired of the Democratic Party. I back candidates for progress.
They are called Progressives. Or Progressive Democrats.
The Republican Party is now the party of Trump, which is now a fascist, mob type operation.
There are still a few of the old Republicans left. You know the spineless, lackluster, chicken shit kind.
They are being replaced by toady lap dogs.

I don’t know about you but I like the folks who voted for a bill to help the poor, brought back $400,000,000.00 by so doing, which helped balance the state’s budget.

In other news please don’t use the word “Rape” and “Trump” in the same sentence. If you do Michael Cohen may come after you and it will be disgusting. This according to an audio tape where we can here Mr. Cohen’s legal style in full voice. So, please, don’t write things like:
“In his divorce trial from his first wife Donald Trump was accused of rape.”
Or
“Could it possibly be true that Donald Trump raped a thirteen year old girl at the sex parties of Jeffery Epstein, convicted child predator?”
Or
“Trump, Rape, Trump, Rape, TrumpRape sounds kind of like Watergate, don’t you think?”

Please, unless you want to get your own recording of Michael Cohen screaming in the phone at you, don’t write any of the above.

1,079 Days to Go

PS Pictured are the incumbents in the off year Virginia election and the people they replaced. Also, the vote last year on Medicaid expansion in Virginia and this year. The most surprising thing about the vote this year is that some Republicans actually crossed over to help their constituents.

Day 495 Tuesday May 29, 2018 1,082 Days to Go

Comey, Clapper, and Obama – What they missed.

When my son was a goalie playing soccer we got him lessons with an all star goalie. The guy was all-Ireland, whatever that means, but what he told the young goalies has always stuck with me.
“Your job as goalie is always to be between the ball and the goal.”
He gave two specific examples that I remember to this day:
“If the ball is on the far end of the field, your job is to stay between the ball and the goal.”
He illustrated that point by saying things like, “if the ball is to the left side you should be positioned between the ball and the goal left side.” And, “You should not be hanging off to one side of the goal – taking a break.”
His other point was this situation, “Let’s say two opposing players have a fast break and are coming down the field at you. One has the ball and is getting ready to pass the ball to the other. What do you do? Do you jump to be ready for the other player to receive the ball? Do you?
“No, your job is to be between the ball and the goal. You stay on the ball, not the man. You don’t move to the other man until he has the ball.”

What does this have to do with the three men I mentioned? Plenty. All have commented about the 2016 election and the Russian interference:
Comey said he knew it was going on. He didn’t know how much, but he didn’t want to appear to be influencing the election.
Clapper said he knew it was going on and reported it to the President.
President Obama knew it was going on but it is reported, “Didn’t want to put his thumb on the scale.”

All three men kept quiet. They all had their reasons. But they missed the point.

By their silence they greatly influenced the outcome of the election.

There was a very public investigation of Hillary and her emails. This was a nothing burger, on the face of it, but it was fanned by the right wing media and the Russian bots. Meanwhile a much more serious investigation into Russian interference was going on and the public was not told. The silence of these men changed the outcome of the election.

They jumped to the man who was going to get the ball. He never got the ball. Rather the first player kicked the ball into the net.

GOAL!

1,082 Days to Go

PS North Gate, Jerash, Jordan



1,140 Days to Go

Yesterday was both April Fools Day and Easter, an odd mix to be sure.
This morning I began to think about some of the strange things I had heard recently:
Ted Nugent called the Parkland kids mushy headed,
Laura Ingraham had attacked one of them personally saying he whined about not getting into four colleges he wanted to (whether he said anything in this regard I haven’t heard),
Dave Brat’s office says the only way to fix health care is to first let Obamacare fall apart (and they are doing whatever they can to make that happen),
The head of the VA was booted out because he wouldn’t privatize the VA (there are emails between Trump appointees saying so).
So what do all these things have in common?
Two things:
1 – They are all right wing tactics and ideas,
2 – There is nothing constructive in any of it.

Bernie Sanders was on Face the Nation and asked about problems at the VA. Yes, he said there are problems, but it’s a huge government agency and by and large the people using it like it and want to work to improve it. This is not what the Koch brothers want. He said they are the most powerful political force in America today. They want, as they always do, to privatize it. Why? So they can get their hands on some of the money. One thing is clear to me. Insurance companies say they need to make a profit. That means prices will go up. How much? In the case of the private health care industry 35-40% of the expense of the insurance is in marketing and huge salaries to the people who run them. Rick Scott is a perfect example. He figured out a scam to take over a lot of hospitals in Florida. I don’t remember anyone saying services got better in his hospitals. I do remember he was brought up on multiple counts of fraud in regards to Medicare overcharges to which he took the 5th over seventy times. He’s a criminal. Now, he’s governor of Florida. Nice work if you can get it.

Remember after Hurricane Katrina, New York and New Jersey were devastated. The real tragedy came when the home owners tried to get help from the insurance companies. The insurance companies had been kicked out of that business years before because of their corrupt and inept handling of earlier situations. State government agencies had been set up to do the job. Here’s the difference between private and public organizations that are tasked with doing the same job: public agencies have a task which is to help and solve the problem they are tasked with. Private organizations are in it to make a profit. Public agencies may have some problems, but their goal is totally different than a for profit company.

In all the blaming the right does, have you ever heard a solution? I have. It’s called hand waving and saying something like, “then a miracle occurs.” Or “God, will intervene.” But in terms of actual solutions – no. Nutty solutions – yes. Solutions based on fact – no. In fact the right has been moving farther and farther away from facts to religious goobelty-gook and “alternate facts” (ie things that have nothing to do with actual fact.)

Paul Ryan makes everyone who works in his office read Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged” or is it “The Fountainhead”? I forget. Doesn’t matter, both books talk about the ineptitude of large organizations and the corruptive power between economic giants and governments that can take place if left unchecked. Inspirational for sure. However, if you dig a little deeper you find out that Rand was blaming this on capitalism, but what she was describing was the Soviet system, and in her follow up book, “Atlas Shrugged,” her hero was based on a psychopath who kidnapped and dismembered a little girl, took the money he got to pay for tuition to a Christian religious college.

As Bernie pointed out in his brief time on the air, we have real problems that need to be addressed and the current administration and the Republican Party have no interest in any of that. In fact, they are going in the other direction. Or as Hillary Clinton so succinctly stated, the states that voted for Trump are looking backwards and the ones that voted for her are looking forward.

Which way do you want to go? Coal, fossil fuels, pollution, degradation of our planet, controlled by a few or would you prefer good health, a clean world, vibrant economy, where we all have a voice and work together to solve problems – not point fingers?

In one of the most bizarre interviews – no, the most bizarre – of the week: Tim Scott and Trey Gowdy were interviewed on Face the Nation. They have written a book together. They are good friends. That in and of itself is bizarre, but then to hear Tim Scott say Trey Gowdy was always looking for the truth in his investigations of Benghazi and Russian collusion was startling. Trey went on to accuse the media of inflating things and saying the Adam Schiff keeps saying there is collusion and they (he and Nunes I guess) have been waiting for months for Schiff to produce this evidence. Excuse me, but (to quote Arlo Gutherie) “I think it takes a lot of damn gall” to say stuff like that when you yourself have done more than anyone, except perhaps Nunes, to subvert and undermine the truth. Your investigation into Benghazi, the 9th one by Congress, revealed no new facts, but did show your willingness to selectively redact statements to make them appear what they were not. Your belittling commentary before asking questions I found stunning. I especially liked it when you did it to James Comey, throwing in that you had been a prosecutor, and Mr. Comey very politely explained some basic points of law to you. Some of these legal points, any prosecutor worth a hoot should have known, but you got to learn them on national TV. You? The Truth? To quote Jack Nicholson, “You can’t handle the truth.”

And so, we continue down this swirling mess that has been created, and could have so easily been avoided. The White House, it is reported, is silent. As in, nobody there to make noise, because people have left and no one is filling there spots. The Green Room at Fox doesn’t have enough buffoons left to do it. The only sounds are from the Old Executive Building where a bunch of frat boy like antics are going on (literally), and they are the ones tasked with finding “the best people” to do the jobs.

Sad.

1,140 Days to Go

PS I can’t read the Japanese but I think it says, “Time to kick some ass.”