Premonitions

 

Premonitions: a video  

As a result of the President going around the nation encouraging the spread of COVID by the assembling of mass gatherings I made a video from art I made earlier. We are not suffering only from COVID. We are suffering as well from Trump's anti-human economic and social policies, 

I put together a series of images I created that were impressed on me by the spectacle of the President's behavior. My thoughts were moderated by the thoughts in the Old Testament book of Job.

"Call now, if there be any that will answer thee; and to which of the saints wilt thou turn?

For wrath killeth the foolish man, and envy slayeth the silly one.

 I have seen the foolish taking root: but suddenly I cursed his habitation.

 His children are far from safety, and they are crushed in the gate, neither is there any to deliver them.

 Whose harvest the hungry eateth up, and taketh it even out of the thorns, and the robber swalloweth up their substance.

 Although affliction cometh not forth of the dust, neither doth trouble spring out of the ground;

 Yet man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward.

 I would seek unto God, and unto God would I commit my cause" : Job Chapter 5: 1-8.

The book of Job fascinates me.  I'm amazed at the literary quality of the story written long ago during the bronze age. The plot and the theme are worthy of current consideration.  The dramatic work J.B. is an example of such a consideration from the near past.  

The theme of Job presents a story that seeks to come to grips with existence in the face of existence seemingly seeking to exterminate Job. Since Job represents the human condition by that token the story of Job represents the condition of you and me as well.

 You would not want to be in Job's shoes, but in a sense our condition is not much better.  Job was left sitting in a pile of ashes scraping boils that covered his entire body. While he was doing this his 'friends' spent their time trying to convince him that his problems were his own damned fault and that he had better shape up or else! 

On top of that Job had a wife who urged him to kill himself to avoid suffering. 

Job's sentiments in all of this are summed up in the following words. Job 19:25-27

 "For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:

 And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God:

 Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me."

With the chaos in the U.S caused by Donald Trump's policies, asking "what the hell is going on, why is existence doing this to us?" is a question everyone should find an answer to. 

 Good luck.  Have a nice day.

Reality Check: Comparing the Kennedy / Nixon Debate With The Trump / Biden 'Debate'

 

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Reality Check: 

Presidential Debates Past and Present

When compared with what we've seen so far between Trump and Biden, Presidential debates in the past reveal vast differences in decorum and candidate behavior between then until now.

I took a look back at the Kennedy / Nixon debate and then the current election years Trump / Biden 'debate'. Both debates are complete.  The difference between the two is astonishing isn't it? (Both debates at highlighted links.)

What happened between the time of Kennedy and Trump to transform the Presidential debates from a serious production with serious contestants discussing solutions to world problems into a side show?  We saw something very different in the so called Trump /Biden 'debate' than what we saw in the Kennedy / Nixon debate.  

The Trump / Biden 'debate' resembled an argument between two senile residents in a geriatric community confronting one another over an old dispute from high school. I was sickened at the sight. And then the President and his staff come down with COVID...or so they want you to believe.

What differences did you make note of between the two debates and the four contestants?  Which debate seemed more appropriate to a debate between two men seeking the office of President of the United States? Which one made you ask yourself: "What the hell is going on?" In the Trump / Biden 'debate' I thought the President behaved like an unruly high school student who needed to be sent to the principal's office.

From history we know Kennedy won the election and while President averted nuclear conflict with the Soviet Union and inspired a nation of young people to serve their country.

Kennedy inspired the creation of the Peace Corps and introduced the nation to the space age following the Soviet Union's lead. The Soviet Union was the first in space and the space race was on. History flowing from the Kennedy Administration reminds us of those things.

From Trump's history we know of one business failure after another from Mr. Trump.  If his Administration has inspired anyone it is not the current generation which is facing a collapsing, polluted and unhealthy eco-system in which to reproduce and raise their young. Who has Trump inspired? Oh yeah he inspired the Michigan 13. What kind of a future does that inspiration portend?

Questions for the reader:

1. What do you think America will be like if Trump remains President? 

2. How did we get in this fix?

America Is Waist Deep In It Again

 Important notice to the reader.  Google says you should be aware of the following information.

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Note: after posting a group of 13 alleged pro-nazi, pro Trump terrorists were arrested by the FBI for plotting to kidnap the governor of Michigan.  Report here from Democracy Now. 

During the contentious period of the 1960's America was involved in losing a long protracted war with the small nation of Vietnam far away from American shores.  The period was contentious because the war was an illegal war and American teenagers were being forced against their will to fight the war. 

In the end over 58,000 Americans, average age close to 19, died waging this war.  During that period Pete Seeger sang a song the censors didn't like.  "Waist Deep In The Big Muddy" finally made it to TV on a popular socially conscious variety program, The Smothers Brothers. that was subsequently canceled because of its social commentary. 

So now that you've listened to the song you can see Americans in the 21st century are waist deep, neck deep, almost over our head in another 'Big Muddy' and once again the Big Fool is saying "push on."

If all we are being told about the President's health and those around  him is true we're in deep trouble. It means the President, as demonstrated by his behavior and rhetoric, doesn't care if WE THE PEOPLE live or die. He is fully aware of the deadliness of the virus and yet his public behavior is telling people to ignore the proper health precautions. 

The heads of the military are all in quarantine meaning our military response is in one way or another restricted.  The President is responsible for this. The President is denying reality as the second wave of the COVID pandemic sweeps across the states. America is in deep trouble if this trajectory is not altered. Why is the President behaving so dangerously and erratically?  

If the internal threat to domestic welfare and tranquility poised by the virus and the President were not enough there is the threat of White Supremacist violence. The Trump Administration has embraced this ideology and has emboldened his base to accept violence and heavy handedness as the proper way to govern. Trump has done this while denying a White Supremacist threat is real. In doing so he's, in effect, calling the investigators liars or dummies. He's ignoring the warning the way Bush did.

I am reminded of the G.W. Bush Administration which also ignored intelligence about national security issues. By doing so Bush allowed the WTC Buildings to be demolished by Saudi Arabian funded criminals. We still haven't won the war he started over that, but we're still providing him his pension and healthcare. 

My question for you is this.  Will Trump's refusal to acknowledge a national security threat from his White Supremacist base as well as the COVID virus lead to an all out race war and societal devastation in the same way as the willingness of George Bush to do ABSOLUTELY NOTHING lead to the demolition of the WTC by foreign nationals and a war still going on in one way or another to this very day?

The reader may have noticed that America has been acting more strangely than ever during the Administration of Donald Trump. I think this is because the Republican Party in partnership with Donald Trump has sold us out to the highest bidders and the Democratic Party has stood there saying 'Yes sir, yes sir,' like a eunuch in the court of the king.

The madcap display of a COVID infected President riding the crest of a steroid high telling the American people to stay strong and beat the virus is about the greatest insult to decency this Administration has committed. SO FAR.

Have a nice day! Be careful who you vote for.