History Lessons

 In the play "Wicked"  the Wizard says something to the effect of "where I come from, we believe all sorts of things that aren't true. We call it 'history'"  

As a child in the 60's I was taught a sanitized version of historical events.  Mostly American history was taught from the perspective of older white males.  Sure they threw in a woman, occasionally ( see "wives of Presidents")  or a Woman of Color ( see "Sacajawea")  but usually those women were shaded with the benefit of their contributions to the male of the species.  We did learn to realize that slavery was "bad" -just not the details.  They sugarcoated the fact that the Founding Fathers HAD slaves, if we discovered it on our own, we were told it was "legal at the time" so it should not be held against them.

I was reading an article about Thomas Jefferson, who by modern standards ( and probably by standards of his day) was a real piece of work.  I remember  JFK saying something about  him when speaking to a room full of brilliant people ( I can't recall the occasion) but he said something like  "This is the most brilliant assembly in this room, except when Thomas Jefferson dined alone"  Hogwash.   JFK was a student of history, I wonder how much history was destroyed in an effort to whitewash the Founding Fathers for future generations.  Based on what we were taught, probably a lot.

Things I know about Jefferson could fill a thimble.  I know he owned slaves and what he did to Sally Hemmings should be considered a crime.  I LOVE how the current battle cry of the extreme far right is to accuse someone of pedophilia when all else fails.  JEFFERSON, their shining star was a pedo.   Sally was a CHILD when he took possession of her and by the accounts of HER son, Madison Hemmings, impregnated her by the time she was sixteen.  Jefferson ALSO thought that Lewis and Clark should be looking for mastodons, which he believed still existed in the West.  Right.  

To quote Pappy Boyington "Show me a hero, I'll show you a bum"  No one is perfect and the fact that we are taught that they are is our shame.  

Texas wants to call slavery "involuntary relocation"  WHAT THE EVERLASTING FUCK????  Next they will be dragging out the "happy darkies" motif.  The idea that African slaves were somehow stupid and  enjoyed what the white men did is so reprehensible I can't even begin to address it.

I read an article in which the writer pointed out that the Framers were writing laws that would make THEIR lives better. True dat.   I don't see  that women or slaves or people who did not own land made out any better than they had before.  Abigail Adams  pleaded with John to "remember the ladies"  but he ignored her.  He was a real jerk too, as far as I can tell. The fact that he and Jefferson had beef does not improve my opinion of either of them.

In his interview with the January 6 Commission, Rusty Bowers stated that he felt the Constitution was "divinely inspired"  which made him turn down Trump's insistence that he commit a crime.  Something good came of that.

AS I watch the hearings, I am struck by how close we came to installing Trump as a dictator.  We don't need elections, just put the Trump family in charge.  There are people who are decrying that there is no cross examination of witnesses.  This is NOT a trial, not yet anyway that is the DOJ's job.  This just gets the facts out into the light of day.  His base is having trouble with facts, not that this should come as a surprise.  His base has been fed a constant stream of misinformation since he rode the golden escalator to declare his candidacy. I truly believe this was a scam so he could make cash and then withdraw, but either his ego or a deal with Putin to release him from his massive debt ( which if I recall is coming due soon) got into the mix and we got screwed.  The problem is that there are people who still think Trump will save this country, even though it is massively apparent he tried to destroy it on January 6.  It is my hope, that as the net begins to fall on his inner circle, they rat him out  to save themselves ala John Dean during the Watergate hearings.  They are probably as loyal to him as he is to them. 

Tuesday, July 5 and I am just trying to shake it all off

 How did I spend the 4th, you ask.  In Urgent Care and Emergency with my husband.  He had been having chest pains and we thought it might be a good idea to get it checked out before it got bad.  We both figured it would be a few hours.  NOPE.  It turned into a nine hour odyssey at Kaiser. ( Not to self, when going to Urgent care, bring the charger and a backup battery, they really should invest in those charge port things they have at Central Library)

Chris had several blood tests, a cat scan, TWO EKGs and a chest x-ray.  The diagnosis?  Not a heart attack, not blood clots.  They don't know what is IS , but are sure what it isn't.  I suppose it makes me feel somewhat better, but the helpless feeling is not one I want to repeat any time soon.  He needs to talk to his primary doctor.  

The nice leisurely , post-visit lunch we had planned  turned into a drive thru meal, just in time for the neighborhood to become a war zone.  Gunshots and Cherry bombs.  Happy FREAKING 4th.  Because Chris was not feeling well - and frankly neither am I , asthma ( probably induced by a series of stressors that I am slowly releasing) we skipped the parade.  My beloved Adam Schiff DID ride in the parade.  I get all fangirl and yell his name, so maybe that was for the best.  I have met him a few times.  He is the real deal, unlike many of the politicians I have encountered in my job (I am looking at several seriously unctuous former Mayors )

Today I plan to make a bowl of popcorn and watch the hearings I have missed, since I was working.  I watched Watergate, Iran Contra and now this.  The marked difference is that people who follow the Former Guy in cult-like obedience will not hear the truth, since it is counter to their programming. At least in Watergate, once the truth was in the air, people saw Nixon for who he was.  The current Republican Party is not that honorable and seems to think that Trump World is the way of the future. I wonder if Pence's Conversion Therapy camps can be somehow repurposed to deprogram the Trump Cult.  It's a thought.

Speaking of Pence, he's no hero.  He did his job, mostly to stay of of legal trouble.  His former boss tried to have the mob murder him and he still licks his boots.   Shows you who HE is, doesn't it?   Cassidy Hutchinson is more a hero than he is, putting the truth out there.  Hopefully the "vanity Video project" that the Former Guy and his family contracted will show the truth in stark detail.  Wanna BET he tried to sue the videographer, claiming the film is HIS?  Also, wanna bet he has yet to pay the guy a dime? 

Still I woke up this morning at 6 am.  My retirement started today for real.  I wonder how long it will take ME to deprogram a lifetime of "early to bed early to rise"?

Happy "independence" day

 My Ass.

Seriously.  MY ASS.  The "Supreme" Cabal that passes for the highest law of the land has done the bidding of their Evangelical Masters and removed bodily autonomy from more than HALF the population.

And we are supposed to Lie down and take it.  AS IF

My Fourth great-grandfather ( that would be my great-great great-great grandfather) was a Lieutenant In the 1st Company, 2nd Battalion of Philadelphia County in the Revolutionary War . This makes me, for good or ill, a Daughter of the American Revolution. Now that I am retired I may look into it, but as I recall, they have a racist history, so while the historic connection to the past might be neat, I don't think a membership in the association would be worthwhile.  It goes without saying that the blood of warriors is part of my DNA, people who realized it was better to die on your feet than to live on your knees.  

I just can't believe we have to do this all over again.  I try to remain optimistic that Congress will act on the will of MOST of the people, who support a woman's right to choose.  

The Cabal will not stop here, they will go after all the other things that they don't like.  We need to stand in the fire NOW.

I see the Former Guy is thinking of declaring his candidacy.  Oh, decisions, decisions.  "Shall I try to avoid indictment buy declaring my candidacy and claiming that this is political and they are trying to stop me from being president." OR "should I continue to rile up my base and get those pensioners to continue to send me money until the last possible second so I can flee the country?  I'm sure Vlad will let me into Russia if I ask nicely and maybe give him Melania"  He really needs "a good f-ing lawyer" who will explain to him that he no longer is President and even as such NO ONE is above the law.  The DOJ is gathering evidence and the IDIOT had his vanity project, the filmmaker following him all over the place, that is probably akin to the Nixon tapes.  I remain hopeful.

My little town is having a parade, but I think I'll pass this year.  Just not feeling like dragging myself and my folding chairs out on Foothill Bl this year.   I have been having asthma issues and I am wiped out by them.  Better today than yesterday, as the meds have finally kicked in, but ugh.

This 4th, I will stay in and quietly reflect on the health of my beloved country.  It is not "My country, right or wrong"  it is "what the hell is WRONG with our country???"  I may binge watch the hearings ( I missed them because I was working)   I will reflect on that another time, but I WILL say this; If you want to declare that someone is lying, go to the Committee, place YOUR hand on the Bible you claim to revere and swear to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth.  Remember there IS a penalty for lying to Congress ( and I HOPE the Justices who did will face that penalty as well)

Honor and remembrance

 It's Memorial Day weekend.  Most people look at this as another "Monday Holiday" a three day weekend that begins Summer.  There are sales and cookouts and gatherings that have nothing to do with the reason behind this "holiday"

It's not a holiday.

It is supposed to be a day when we take a moment in our busy lives to honor those who gave their lives in service to this country.  Today, I am thinking about those who dies on the battlefield AND those who came back with pain so great they ended it. Call it PTSD, Battle fatigue or just haunted, these people who end their own lives are no less heroes than those who died fighting.  Our country has abandoned them.  Mental health care in this country is a joke. It is SO stigmatized, when I get a reminder call from my psychiatrist, they do not acknowledge the department they are calling from in the message. HOW,  tell me HOW is THAT helpful, if you can't admit you are seeing a doctor to help you deal with whatever mental anguish you are suffering, because THEY can't acknowledge it.  The message is on my CELL PHONE and I am the only one who gets the message, it's not like it would be broadcast anywhere.  Yes I am dealing with a few issues and it is helping, so there it is.

I am thinking about the poem "In Flanders Fields" by John McCrae, a poem that is often cited and probably the reason that VFW members wear poppies.  Poppies grew in the field where the dead were buried.  I read somewhere, and I really should check this out, that poppies only grow like that when the ground is disturbed.  The poem calls on us, the living to continue the fight that they died fighting.  I am not sure how I feel about that, but I get it.  May they not have died in vain, but so often wars are fought for old men who can't agree, by young men and women who die for that disagreement.  I notice that most of the time, the children and grandchildren of those old men are not part of the  fighting force.

I looked up a study guide and the guide MISQUOTED the poem.  I really should let them know  it is:

"In Flanders Fields the  poppies BLOW"

NOT  

"In Flanders Field the poppies grow"

I think the image of the delicate poppies blowing in the wind between the crosses that mark the grave is much more impactful, don't you?

Today is not the day to say "thank you for your service" although that sentiment can and should be expressed every day  in my opinion.  Do not wish them "Happy Memorial Day"  This is a day to honor and remember those who paid the ultimate sacrifice.

Florida and Disney

 

So, the Governor of Florida has a temper tantrum and "punishes" a corporation  for disagreeing with him.  WHAT happened to the Republican stance of smaller government and support of Big Business?  Oh yeah, as long as they are lining your pockets Big Business is fine.  When you publicly make a stand, well, you are toast.

I love how the ONLY thing that they are harping on is pedophilia,  Now, I think pedophiles are the lowest of the low. I do not dispute that, but it seems to be the ONLY argument against ANYONE who opposes the Republican Party.  This is a page STRAIGHT out of Putin's playbook.  Rachel Maddow did a remarkable piece earlier this week about just how he rose to power.  

But back to Ron DeSantis and his Cancelation of Disney.  He's totally gas lighting people in advance of the Mid terms.  A few details he left out: 

•   The Law does not go into effect until June 1, 2023. So all those people salivating over the immediate demise of Disney are going to have to wait for more than a year. 

•  Also- and I am DIRECTLY quoting from today' BRILLIANT piece fro Heather Cox Richardson ( please read it in full) "Even more, though, state law says that Disney’s status can’t be repealed without the consent of the voting landowners, a reality Republicans in the state legislature appear to have ignored. "  Essentially, the "law" is a nothing burger, if the people in the District don't approve it.  And who in their right mind WOULD?   This is grandstanding, which appears to be all the current Republican Party has in its arsenal.

I realize this was still in my draft box.  This is all I have to say at the moment about Florida, but I am thinking and getting concerned about how the Conservative movement is forcing their will on the rest of us.  We need to take Florida as a warning and fight in our communities to allow people to have free will .  the thing that ( to quote my mom ) frosts my ass is they take away your rights and call it Freedom.

I am a political animal

 I always have been interested in what is going on.  I consider myself a liberal, but I understand the conservative POV.  I think we need both sides to get it right. 

I do NOT understand the current mindset of the Republican Party.  They LITERALLY have NO platform and are dang proud of it.  The only agenda they have is that ANYTHING Joe Biden wants needs to be stopped.  I swear if he declared breathing to be mandatory , the Faithful would hold their breaths until they passed out - I would PAY to see some of them keel over in that instance.

I wonder what time Marjorie Taylor Greene will be on the stand on Friday.  Oh, she's playing the victim here to the hilt.  Haven't you heard the Truth will set you free, Marge?  She was SO sure the Insurrection would work, she made VIDEOS to support her support for it so Trumpty Dumpty could have evidence of her fealty.  Now it's just... evidence.   Get out the popcorn.  May this just be the first of a long list of reckoning for people who tried to overthrow the government.

I see that the Republican Party in Tennessee tossed Trumps hand-picked candidate, a woman with no experience and NO knowledge of her district based on interviews she has given- off the ballot.  They are NOT supporting her candidacy.  Tennessee went so far as to pass a law that you have to live there three years before you can run, but since they passed it after she was on the ballot, this may not apply to her.  Still I am proud of the Republican Party there ( something I rarely say) in their standing up to the Former Guy.  I hope she loses "bigly" and moves back to wherever she came from.  Carpetbagger much?

I am watching the election in France.  Are the French so fed up that they will elect an actual Putin-loving and Putin OWING- Communist?  I hope not.  Look what happened here when we "elected" ( with Putin's interference) a Putin sycophant.    yeah.

Alex Jones is apparently spilling the tea all over the place, possibly in hope of getting help with his legal troubles regarding the BS he spewed for YEARS about the Sandy Hook killings.  He needs to lose everything, as those families did as he continued to smear them as fakes.  He is the worst instance of walking excrement I have ever seen- and that includes Steve Bannon who always looks like he needs a bath.

To Quote Margo Channing "Fasten your seatbelts, It's going to be a bumpy night."

Easter and where have I been

 To my regular readers who think I fell off the edge of the world, I kind of did.  On March 15th I had a total knee replacement.  It is a rough go and I have not had the energy or the brainpower to write ANYTHING.  So here I am.  Lots to unpack.

This is Easter Eve or whatever they call it.  I am sure there is a name for it, but it escapes me right now.  I have said it before and I will say it again; you can talk about "The War on Christmas" all you want and wring your hands and moan that "Christians are being canceled" but if you follow your faith, you will realize that EASTER is the main holiday for Christians.  Seriously, the whole thing is based on his taking our sins by dying and rising again.   I don't particularly buy into that, but it IS what Christians believe and I am not going to attack anyone for their belief as long as it makes them a better person.

I have been thinking about my childhood church and the teachings therein.  So, in no particular order:

Why are we pissed off at Judas?   IF we believe that God sent Jesus to die for us and all of this was part of His plan, then WHY are we angry at JUDAS for doing what God himself ordained?  It had to suck to be Judas.

Why do we throw shade on the Jews for Jesus crucifixion?  The Romans were in charge and they were the ones who passed the judgment.  Ok, so the whole "Give us Barabbas and crucify Jesus" thing.  Someone once told me the theory that Barabbas was a leader in an underground movement and that's why they wanted him back.  Interesting thought, but again, if God himself put this plan in motion, why are we casting blame for people doing God's will?

My faith is not the faith it was when I was a child.  I don't behave myself for hope of Heaven or fear of Hell.  I am not quite sure either exist in the mode that was presented over and over again in countless thundering Sunday sermons.  I do believe in God and have a rather quirky relationship with my creator.  I am still trying to figure it out.  I suppose I will see if I got it right at some point in the future.

I don't think God intercedes much on our behalf.  If he did , Putin and Trump would have been smote down with bolts of lighting ( something the Southern Baptist minister of my childhood constantly referenced to scare the congregation)   So far, nada from God on what going on in Ukraine, although the sinking of the flagship was a good start.

The banning of books is getting out of hand.  Honestly, today Florida banned MATH books for teaching "Critical Race theory" or as we like to call it "history"  Heaven forbid the children of that state not be taught the "Happy Darkie" theory;  that Black people are somehow inferior and appreciate being kept in slavery.  UGH.

Don't start me on Gregg Abbott of Texas.  He creates an artificial crisis and then changes the rules to somehow appear to Save The Day.   I hope people in Texas remember freezing because the power grid was substandard and the Governor did nothing and now they are going to pay higher prices for a fake supply chain problem.  Vote for Beto if you can.

But my thoughts turn back to Easter. I am making a traditional meal, somewhat abbreviated as standing for a long time is still tough.   I am going to color a few eggs and make deviled eggs for tomorrow.  I brought back my Mother-in-law's deviled egg plate, so that will hold pride of place on the table this year.  I miss her terribly.  She was a true blessing in my life and I am  proud to have been her daughter.

Happy Easter.