The American Eagle has become the cooked Goose.
Closed Minds
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Left | Center Position | Right |
Stereotype Accuracy deniers | Religion and Science are compatible | Evolution deniers |
IQ deniers | Both Nature and Nurture are factors | |
Sex difference deniers | Social problems addressed at the lowest level feasible | Climate change deniers |
Heritability deniers | Abortion decided by mother and physician | Abortion rights deniers |
Socialism dysfunctionality deniers | Ecology involves many problems, with over population at the forefront . | |
Evolution deniers War crimes deniers |
Back in the early 1950s the choice for county judge here was between a drunk and a crook. Rivulets of tobacco juice were often seen on both sides of the drunk's mouth, which his supporters said indicated he was level headed. The crook was a part time fire and brimstone preacher. It was a close election, but the crook won as more voters thought him more likely to show up for work on Fridays and Mondays. On the national level we had similar election in 2016, with a squalid corrupt candidate on one side and a pompous and rude one on the other. We can only hope for a better choice in 2020.
So 2020 is here and our choice this time: a president who denounces riots, looting and violence in the streets, but does nothing, or a president who actively supports the people doing the riots, looting and violence in the streets. And I thought things could not get worse. |
Every day I read the news from several outlets around the world (even the NY Times) to see how far the U.S. left distances itself from reality, but there are no longer hot button issues for me. You become disengaged from a football game if your team is down 20 points half way into the 4th quarter, but I have not looked for the exit sign yet.
The Democrats would take us down the well-spelunked psychological rabbit hole of socialism. That would be a mistake, but I would not man the barricades to stop them. The further left the Democrats move, the more the right will counter with the likes of Trump. Those in the middle are left to choose between a drunk and a crook. Now where did I see that exit sign?
I read somewhere that Mohammed is the most popular name for new born babies in
England; to which the English leaders probably shrug. Europeans have
fallen out of love with Europe. Pessimism is the default attitude and there is a
notable lack of ideas and proposals that energize society. Is the twilight
of Western Civilization upon us. Has the twilight of Western Civilization come....and now
a deadly virus named after a Mexican beer has the entire country deprived of toilet paper!
5/31/20 This morning the Drudge Report listed about twenty cities
where riots were taking place. Naturally I expected the conversation before and
after church service this morning to center on burning cities....not a word.
There was a bit about the virus, the price of beef, and inflation in general,
but the only memorable line came from a retired teach who said he once had a
student named Anita Knapp. I am interested to see what the topic of conversation
is tomorrow at the coffee cave in the gym. Well, Monday and I joined the old guys in the coffee caveand the topic of conversation was ....
the price of beef. The consensus:
the retail outlets are buying low and selling high, thus making a killing.
So much for interest in the nation falling into chaos.
If mob tactics are now how we change laws and alter public policy, the
democratic republic is dead and we become yet another Third World nation. 6/23 The yellow mackerel cat is twenty something and demented.
Yesterday he was standing in the kitchen sink and yawling, so his food and water
bowls were moved to the front porch. At six o'clock this morning something
is knocking the cat bowl about, so I go out barefoot to investigate and discover
a very pregnant possum pushing the bowl around. Unarmed I can only yell and the
possum waddles off the porch and disappears under a fig tree at the back side of
the cabin. Great, just what we don't need: a nest of possums. Later in the
day I go out to the woodshed attached to the shop where the animal live-trap is
stored and hear strange noises coming from a pile of lumber stored there. On
closer inspection, four juvenile skunks are moving around what is probably their
home. I have no idea how to rid the place of a skunk family, so I call Animal
Control. As we live far from town there is no chance they will come out,
but maybe they have a suggestion. Once the Animal Control lady learns she will
not have to physically deal with the problem, she stops being defensive and says
that skunks don't like sulfur or moth balls and to let her know if that
works. Luckily, sulfur to sprinkle on the garden plants and moth
crystals to sprinkle under the blue bird boxes to keep snakes away is on hand,
so a double dose of crystals and sulfur is placed in an old coffee can.
Thus armed I carefully approach the lumber pile and spot the tip of a black tail
disappearing down the pile. Bulls eye! The full load of my potion falls where
aimed and I stand back waiting for scampering skunks........nothing happens. Back on the 'phone with the Animal Control lady, I ask what
other advice she might have. She says using a live trap then covering the
trapped skunk with a cloth keeps it from spraying. I have been aware of
that method for years and never believed; it reminds me of the joke of catching
a bird by putting salt on its tail. Sure. My only remaining option is to
do nothing, so that is my plan. Now back to the possum problem. I will bait the trap with peanut butter and set it near the
fig tree. Hopefully, demented cats don't have a taste for peanut butter and I
know possums will eat about anything. Stay tuned, I will finish this saga
tomorrow. July 10, 2020 Well, the skunks moved on and the possum was trapped and
carried way beyond our border. I opened the trap door and she waddled away. This
morning Vicky said, "What is falling off the roof on to the patio?"
Thousands of pecan tree caterpillars tumbling to their death. Vicky, "Arkansas,
the Terrifyingly Natural State." Those remaining on the roof will melt in the
afternoon sun. I'll have to hose down the patio. The conversation at the gym this morning was politics, yet
again. Biden or Trump, what a choice. I may vote for Trump, just to see if the editorial staff of the NY Times
commits seppuku on Eighth Avenue. August 10, 2020 The virus has a grip on the country and it seems the social landscape is
dramatically changing. Education has needed a major overall for decades and the
virus may be the catalyst. Here are some of my guesses: All public schools in Arkansas will reopen this week or next
and it seems likely outbreaks in the coming weeks will send some kids home; back to plan B. The
larger school districts have a high probability of experiencing an outbreak. The
tools for home schooling, pods, and online education are available, but many kids in poor
homes will be at a disadvantage. Especially those in one parent families with
working moms; those
kids will have few options. Public colleges and universities are all bloated with a myriad
of extraneous programs and drone functionaries. This might be the time to clean
house. Students are already bringing law suits against them for
exorbitant tuition fees for cheap online courses and some football seasons
cancelled. I would love to be in charge of
reducing the cost of tuition by 50%, and given total power to do so, at
any state
university. Where would I start, he asks rhetorically? When my parents were very old and unable to do basic house
cleaning, a woman was hired to do the job. I asked the woman if the task was too
much for her. She said when she went to some homes trying to find something to
clean was a problem, but at my parents house she could start anywhere; she loved
working there. I would feel the same way cleaning up a public
university. First to go: the Sociology Department (aka, chatting about social
problems department). In other parts of the landscape, many nearly empty malls might become shipping centers for
Amazon or such, airlines will haul more freight and fewer passengers, and eating
out could revert to a once a week event of the1940s, thus leading to the permanent closing
of many restaurants. Those working at home will learn to cook. As far a national politics: I dread November. Gone are the
days when the winner of a presidential election was announced late in the
night of an election and the humbled looser concedes. I think this
election will be devoid of civility and grace. Lawyers will circle like
buzzards and there will be riots in the cities. We can only hope this is not
another 1860. How did we get to this? The most insidious form of evil comes when it is disguised as
good. Dante's Geryon, representing Fraud, is a sort of dragon with a beautiful
honest appearing face. Sagan said the dumbing down of America has lead to a
celebration of ignorance, a movement so blinded they are unable to look beyond
the face of Geryon. Like their predecessors of the Reformation, who broke out
stained glass in churches and dumped pipe organs in rivers, and the Jacobins,
who guillotined their opponents, the new Jacobins will self congratulate for
their good works in destroying the old racial establishment .... and Geryon will
smirk. The center can not hold.
A few weeks ago an old friend called and said she had been
reading the Bible, the Book of Revelations I assume, because she said there are
75 active volcanoes and hinted the world might end soon in Biblical Fire. I do
not share that belief, there is little evidence that either the apocalypse of
earth nor the end of the USA is imminent. The US may well be entering a period
of prolonged self induced entropy, from which we might not fully recover, but
the heart and heartland of this country are strong. The mischievous Democrats and
their misinformed followers can only weaken us. We will survive. August 19
"There ain't nothin' more powerful than the odor of
mendacity!" The Democratic Party platform is composed of high ideals underwritten
with very low standards. August 30, 2020 The Urban Dust Bowl Like the Okies of the Great Depression, who packed up and
moved to California, the Urbies are packing up and leaving big cities for the
suburbs and far beyond. So sad.
September 13
After outdoor services at our forty member church (only twenty something
yesterday) in Washington, four older members gathered under the Magnolia tree in
front of the old church building and, as usual, discussed the news. All
are history buffs and some of our impromptu discussions have ranged from
Augustine of Canterbury's arrival in England, the alleged mistreatment of
Belisarius by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian, and Lee's failure to follow the
advice of Longstreet at Gettysburg. It is a well read group. All agree the
problems our country is facing now are relatively small when compared to so many
worse tribulations in Western history. That said, Alan, a lawyer who
relocated here some years ago from the Washington D.C. area, said, "I thank God
every day that I live in rural Arkansas." Far from the madding crowd.
September 19, 2020 1. Slavery reparations are economically predatory,
historically ignorant, politically divisive, legally unconstitutional, and
morally repellent; thus, a perfect combination for a bill designed by a
Democratic administration. Oct. 20,'20 Dear Diary, Laid up with a broken arm for a month now. When I was young
bouncing back to normal was quick and easy; I no longer bounce, just lie here
and moan in a state of boredom. Tonight is the last presidential debate; two old men hollering
at one another. Although I think democrats are insane, when Trump is gone the
media and Trump will both shut up and our nation might go quietly
into that goodnight. A quiet dotage for
this once too reckless nation. I see the arm doctor on Monday, so maybe the bandage and sling
can be discarded and a full night sleep possible 10/27/'20 The WSJ has an editorial today:
"The American Experiment Is on Life Support" with the sub-title, "
Neo-Marxists on the street and in institutions want to erase their opponents and
deconstruct the country.The gist is in this
sentence,
"Elites, especially the professoriate, bear much of the responsibility for this
state of affairs. For decades in classrooms and lecture halls they laid the
groundwork for the present moment. The politics of intolerance preached in
nearly every realm of American life assumes that those in “flyover country” are
in effect no longer fellow citizens, as they are incapable of grasping the
shibboleths of the globalist international order."
The writer is correct, but overlooks an important dimension of the mess; those
in flyover country are somewhat bemused by the situation in the big liberal cities in
the north, west, and east. Those of us living in flyover country, especially the
south, never bought the clap-trap liberal professoriate have been
peddling. Our only fear, besides the plague, is that the left wing of the Democratic party will get
hold of the reigns of power in Washington and wreck the economy through their
stupidity.
11/03/20 Election day and my vote will be cast at Crossroads on the way
home from the gym. I certainly will vote against all the amendments and all
Democrats, but am undecided about Trump. I tell myself one vote does not matter in Arkansas,
which he will win, but it does matter to me. Should I throw my vote away and
cast it for the Libertarian? There are a few remaining hours to decide.
Where, oh where, is the Deus Ex Machina when your need him? Asleep in the basket? On the
other hand, our government is telling us to hunker down (sans toilet paper) at home. That will
give Mother Nature a well deserved break from human activity.
-Big Daddy Pollitt
Election stealing and rigging now are activities orchestrated by lawyers.
Increasing ballot ambiguities also gives lawyers a way to fight over outcomes
after the vote has been cast. The election is months away and odor of mendacity
already is wafting across the country.
2. Judge Amy Barrett of the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals is my choice to replace
Judge Ginsburg. We will see what devices the Dims use to block any Trump
nomination...hopefully none incendiary