‘The Truth Coming Out of the Well’, by Jean-Léon Gérôme, 1896.
“According to a 19th century legend, the Truth and the Lie meet one day. The Lie says to the Truth: “It’s a marvellous day today”! The Truth looks up to the skies and sighs, for the day was really beautiful. They spend a lot of time together, ultimately arriving beside a well. The Lie tells the Truth: “The water is very nice, let’s take a bath together!” The Truth, once again suspicious, tests the water and discovers that it indeed is very nice. They undress and start bathing. Suddenly, the Lie comes out of the water, puts on the clothes of the Truth and runs away. The furious Truth comes out of the well and runs everywhere to find the Lie and to get her clothes back.
The World, seeing the Truth naked, turns its gaze away, with contempt…
Hang onto your hat – Sandy Hook and Parkland school shootings were faked, 9/11 was an inside job, Trump won the election, the most mistreated people in the U.S. today are white males, Hillary Clinton murdered a child in satanic ritual then ordered the killing of a police officer to conceal the crime, and the 2018 California wildfires were started by a Jewish funded space laser – allow me to introduce Marjorie Taylor Greene, upstart Republican congressional representative from Georgia now sitting on the Republican Education Committee.
This woman makes crazy blush, a duly elected politician so misguided her ignorance defies comprehension. Trouble is, the woefully flawed U.S. constitution coddles bat shit in the name of freedom. Freedom to speak hate, promote absurd allegations without obligation to verify facts, adversely impact the well being of fellow citizens regardless of race or religion and flaunt all of the above with righteous impunity.
America reaped what it sowed, the U.S. has no one to blame but itself for the madness of elected politicians claiming Jewish funded space lasers started California wildfires. Conclusions are drawn, fingers pointed, walls erected and sides taken. Left vs right, partisan editorial masquerades as news. Technology facilitates hand picked reality, truth be damned. Truth takes a back seat to ideology, all is forgiven because freedom of speech allows propaganda to bloom.
Constitutional freedom of speech morphed from well intentioned ideal to weapon of politicized discontent. Ludicrous misinformation parroted on social media blossoms into foundations of misguided truth. Trump legitimized mainstream proliferation of baseless nonsense. Marjorie Taylor Greene isn’t about to apologize for claiming a Jewish funded space laser started California wildfires. Why should she? Voters in her congressional district don’t care, freedom of speech doesn’t care. Who cares?
Republican Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky tabled objection on constitutional grounds to proceeding with a second Trump impeachment trial. Forty five out of fifty Republican senators sided with Rand Paul. Paul based his objection on a misguided premise, only sitting presidents can be impeached. Despite clear constitutional consensus that impeachment serves to prevent tyranny, in this case guaranteeing Trump can never again hold political office – no American president has ever been impeached after leaving office. It’s a murky quandary, the constitution says nothing about impeachment of a former president. Reality check, right or wrong is irrelevant, two thirds Senate majority needed to go to trial will never happen.
Trump won’t be impeached, the damage is done. Quaint notions of sworn oath to uphold the constitution are meaningless. Impeachment is futile, forty five Republican senators have spoken. They scoff at all but their pitiful grasp on reality. Take it as victory that history will never forget his deplorable reign.
What can be done? How will justice be served? Forget impeachment, let it go. Concentrate efforts on irrefutable matters of law, the same law that applies regardless of office or influence. Audit his finances, leave no stone unturned, follow the money. Demand a DNA sample, require him to answer sexual assault charges in court. Investigate and verify facts of his dealings with foreign banks. Force him to understand, days of cowering behind the Resolute desk are over.
Who knew? Seems I’m a fan of country music. Huh, go figure. I’ve long recognized fondness for Bluegrass (fiddles steal my heart), Zydeco and Folk Roots. Likewise Patsy Cline, Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings – each and every one brilliant in their own way, but two steppin’, line dancing, honkytonk country? Who knew it could be so uplifting? Who knew, almost a year into the pandemic I’d be pining for a line dance with scores of carefree country music fans.
All Trump had to do was graciously concede to Biden. Chuck grace, that’s a big ask. Try terse acknowledgement or pithy sarcasm. Wouldn’t have mattered provided he grasped realty of the moment. All he had to do to protect his brand was go away.
Oh Donald, why so stupid? All you had to do to sustain your brand was fade away without a fuss. The Trump “brand”, from hotels to golf courses, steaks, casinos, fraudulent university and reality television, propelled the self proclaimed greatest living man to the oval office. Brand awareness forgave sexual misconduct, racism, misogamy, lies, hubris and pandering to right wing extremists. Alas, seems the MAGA messiah misjudged his brand power. You can only push so long before something has to give.
Trump fancied himself a big fish, his brand an undeniable global institution. I doubt he considered annihilation of his brand as consequence for behaving badly. Never mind being the only president in U.S. history to be impeached twice, Trump scoffs at impeachment. He still doesn’t get it. That said, ponder the subsequent demise of his brand.
Social media silenced his vitriol. Twitter, Snapchat, Facebook and YouTube want nothing to do with the miscreant. The PGA (Professional Golfers’ Association of America) pulled the 2022 tournament from Trump’s golf course in New Jersey. New York State is moving to cancel all contracts with Trump owned companies, PayPal suspended contributions to Trump, Shopify terminated sales of Trump merchandise, the list goes on. (see link below).
All he had to do was concede, it didn’t have to be polite or sincere. Trump may never face justice, but demise of his brand evokes a small measure of satisfaction. Sigh.
Meet John Dillermand, claymation cartoon hero of Danish public television network DR. He’s an average man who enjoys BBQ, ice cream and going for walks, despite his anything but average protracted “diller” (Danish slang for penis). Aimed at 4-8 year old children, producers think kids will get a kick out of watching a man with the world’s longest schlong tackling adversity. Show creator Jacob Ley, father of two young children, believes John Dillermand eradicates body shame and embarrassment without sexualization. From Denmark airs kids cartoon about man with super long penis (nypost.com) –
“Family psychologist Erla Heinesen Højsted disagreed with the outcry: “John Dillermand talks to children and shares their way of thinking — and kids do find genitals funny,” she told the Guardian.
“The show depicts a man who is impulsive and not always in control, who makes mistakes — like kids do, but crucially, Dillermand always makes it right,” Højsted continued. “He takes responsibility for his actions. When a woman in the show tells him that he should keep his penis in his pants, for instance, he listens. Which is nice. He is accountable.”
He’s nice and accountable when a woman asks him to keep his penis in his pants? WTF?
Ring in the New Year with a nod to Sirius, brightest star in the night sky. Residing in constellation Canis Major, Sirius often answers to the name Dog Star. Tonight and every New Years Eve, Sirius reaches its highest point near the strike of midnight making it the New Years star. Tipping your hat to Sirius is as simple as spotting Orion’s iconic belt –
This photo comes from EarthSky Facebook friend Susan Jensen in Odessa, Washington. See how it matches the chart above, with the 3 stars of Orion’s Belt pointing to Sirius?
Independent of each other, every ancient civilization from Egypt to Sumeria, Babylon and Greece revered sparkling Sirius. As we tread softly into 2021, think of Sirius as an astronomical foundation acknowledged through the ages. Resolve to gaze upward on a clear dark night, follow Orion’s belt to Sirius and smile. Happy New Year.
notestoponder 