Some thoughts on Independence Day

 

Today, I'm posting an entry which is meant to be current on the day my readers see it.  Too bad that I have to write something like this.

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This year, I'm no longer sure if I can still say that I'm proud to be an American.  Our screwed up electoral system allowed a bombastic, dictatorial, grifting third rate TV personality to become president.   I can only imagine what the cadets at West Point were thinking when our so-called president gave the commencement address, given their honor code:

"A Cadet will not lie, cheat, steal, or tolerate those who do."

What would you think in their position?  They are obligated to obey orders.  But in the back of their minds, some must be wondering what happened to the German soldiers who defended themselves by saying:

"Ordnung ist Ordnung" 

 

or, in English,

"Orders are Orders" 

That is, orders must be followed, no matter what.

Given that our president is trying to provoke people in California (using ICE raids to round up illegal aliens) to use violence so that he could declare martial law,  the resistance is holding firm - and GROWING!  Our president uses cruelty to achieve his ends, and has given Carte Blanche to his masked criminal enforcers (usually without judicial warrant) to snatch people off the streets of America.  The time to resist these criminal actors is now!

Two hundred and forty nine years ago, our forefathers said that they were fed up with having a king whose government didn't care about the needs of America.  I hope that the same sentiment is still held by enough people so that we can prevent another "king" from destroying our republic.

Years ago, someone asked Ben Franklin what kind of government do we have?  He replied, saying:

"A republic, if you can keep it." 

 Hopefully, we will be able keep it.....

 

In my heart, I can't understand ignorance.

 

In my heart, I can't understand ignorance.  Maybe it's that I have a desire to understand as much as I can?  Who knows?  But as I write this, MAGA is denying that the Orange Snowflake's birthday parade was hardly attended, while 11 million people attended No Kings protests across the nation.

One of my Facebook friends, a TG person who doesn't want to acknowledge the truth that only photographs can show, is caught up in the false narrative that there weren't that many people attending the protests.  But then, she hasn't seen the "Gender Correction" letter being sent out for passport renewals.

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Ignorance is either a lack of opportunity to see an objective truth, or a choice to ignore an objective truth.  If one sees the objective truth and recognizes it as such, then the person is rational.  Choosing to ignore an objective truth is something else.  I'm not sure of what to call this.  Yet, who defines "Objective Truth?"  Years ago, broadcast TV had something known as the "Fairness Doctrine."  Sadly, Ronald Reagan killed that off, and along with it died objective news casting. Today, people pick their "news" sources based on their prejudices, and never hear opposing points of view that would test their views of reality.

Sadly, news organizations without a Fairness Doctrine will slant the news to serve the wishes of their owners.  All too often people on both sides of the political divide claim that the other side is reporting falsehoods. This has resulted in the political divide we have today - to such an extent that rational people should be thinking: Should we split up the United States along its political divides and limit the harm done to people on both sides of the divide?  Or, should we put guardrails on the 1st amendment to the constitution, and somehow make all organizations claiming to report the news report it objectively.

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I have a transgender acquaintance who still yearns for some of the conveniences of her biologically male past, such as being able to pee standing up.  Another transgender acquaintance I met through a (former?) reader of this blog is obviously TG.  That shouldn't be a problem, but this person moved to the back woods of Upstate NY and was rejected by her conservative church.  They both have the same flaw - they think that their (political) tribal membership card will continue to be accepted after transition.  I'm reminded of the Jews who supported Hitler, thinking that he'd take care of ALL who supported him.  Yes, they were taken care of, but not in the way they thought.

The above two people are choosing to be ignorant.  I expect that reality will soon hit them in the face.  It's a shame, as us aware people understand the consequences of the actions of people like those two, and we hate the upcoming suffering that their type is causing to happen.  As for me, I will try to get out of the way and report what is going on objectively as long as I can.