Politics and musings

 My thoughts on politics lately 

 

I know I said I was going to write about the break-in and I will...but this is really sticking in my craw and I wanna get it out.  

Everyone knows I’m quite opinionated. I make no attempt to hide it.  Yet lately I have been dining on an extra crispy bucket of fuck it. I just don’t care. Most of us have descended into such brutal tribalism that we genuinely do not know where the country is headed. 

So many things have been lost. Nuance being the biggest. It's kind of why I am a huge BNN fan. I do not condone violence in any way, shape or form. That said, no one and I mean no one can possibly be shocked about what happened at the capitol. If you are, you’ve been in a coma for the last 10 months. I find our perception colors our world view. Mutes nuance, and stifles conversation. The internet has given rise to a wealth of information and disinformation. Sifting through that to find the truth is a herculean effort on a good day.  

You can like actions of a politician, but dislike the politician. You can like Biden’s message of unity, but hate his Anti-2A politics. You can like his message of change but hate his apparent pandering. You can love we have a woman of color as VP, but hate her questionable record as a DA.   You can like Trump’s middle east peace deals, love the Autism CARES act, but hate the rhetoric. You can like Pence for his renewed vigor for NASA and the Space program, but hate his policy on LGTBQ individuals. And THAT paragraph can literally go on and on and on...but I feel I made my point. If you’re looking to respond to this paragraph with a “Yeah but....” you’re only serving to make my point and you are part of the problem. More on that later.  

Unfortunately, this is not the people we are anymore. It’s become a hard line, one side or the other. With us or against us...and if you’re against us. Well then, it’s Doxing, the threat of ruining lives, careers, violence... ad infinitum. The cycle continues, grows and evolves to its natural end. Open, armed conflict on a scale this country has not seen in her borders......ever. 

Mind you this isn’t a threat, warning, dare or what not. It's an evaluation of the pattern and cycle. The folks cheering it on are usually far enough removed to not be directly, immediately threatened by it. This is important to note. Remember this for later. 

The last 10 months have seen the worst (so far...sigh) our country has to offer. With no one actually wanting to sit down and TALK. No, we tweet, we share quippy stories on FB, (Don’t get me started on ‘Fact checking’) ill-researched “News” and first to post items that fuel our confirmation bias. Seriously where is Rache Bartmoss when you need him??? We’ve seen demands, we’ve seen threats, we’ve seen ultimatums. We’ve seen people discount an entire thread or point because of a grammatical or spelling error (Elitism at its finest, yeah those folks might deserve a throat punch). We have NOT seen talk, plans, and change. 

Why? Why have we not seen any change? You can say it’s this party or that. But since Rodney king political control at the federal level has changed hands many times. In Cali, it’s stayed Democratic by and large. So please spare me the partisan bullshit. How many folk have taken the hard line, and how many have said, let's sit and talk about this? Let’s be real, both sides have compelling arguments. Governmental overreach IS something to be feared, systemic racism MUST be addressed. And these are just 2.....when you engage in the “Yeah buts...” you lose credibility. We must recognize that each side has some validity in the claims they make.  We’ve become a nation of hecklers, Monday morning quarterback who couldn’t set a post pattern if our lives depended on it and quick to call for “war” with little concept of what that would really, truly, deeply entail and mean.  

I mean really...are you prepared to see your family...friends...lined up on a wall because you believe differently than the group that caught you when you were foraging for food...water...medicine? Are you prepared to watch your home burn to the foundation...shoot a neighbor because HE/SHE/THEY were hungry and just wanted some food (or be shot)? Are you genuinely prepared to watch municipal fires that will make the Floyd riots look like a s’more roast? Are you prepared to be the victim of an errant drone strike....wrong place, wrong time?? Ooooor are you THAT fucking dumb to believe it won't happen to you because your side is “Right”!  Are you prepared to live your life out of...if you’re lucky, a backpack, anyone with sense knows static positions are a killbox. One thing war is good for, is ingraining a deep, lasting, longing hatred of the other side. Are you genuinely prepared for that? 

Good story to go along with this. I grew up next to an....eccentric guy. Frank, Frank was a Vietnam Vet, 2 or 3 tours, 5th group.  Had a lot of knowledge, but deeply troubled. Those of you who have known me for years know I grew up with Duy Ngo, he was a consistent presence in my house.  Frank liked Duy, Frank liked the fact Duy was in the Army, Frank liked that Duy was a medic. But every so often, you saw his face change. One day he talked about it. “ I know that kid would give his all to defend me or save my life if I was hurt” But sometimes when I see him, I see black pajamas. So if I leave suddenly, do not follow” 20 plus years after he left Vietnam. It was still with him. Think on that. 

So how long do you want to hold onto your hate? 

I could go on about censorship but Leslie pretty much dunked the fuck outta that one so She summed it up better than I could. Bottom line deciding what the “unwashed masses” can and cannot hear is a dangerous as fuck slope regardless of where you sit politically. You can say they are private companies...great, send back the government subsidy money you got then. Today, and with all things Government...with Interest.  

The media-Sucks....balls...sweaty...angry...unwashed, triple OT balls....that about covers it.  

But in reality it’s a smidge deeper. I could write a whole paper on it but the bottom line is Journalists are not journalists anymore. They’re activists with a great cover. Evey source has slant. Its there when you look deep enough, the choice of words, the subtle removal of facts or adding extraneous information that has little impact at the story at hand. If you rush out to say “Yeah...my news doesn’t but I’ve seen it on “insert source here (Usually an opposing one)”...Congrats, you’re part of the problem. I will throw a bone and say there are a few folks out there that simply record what happens and present it. No commentary, no subtle OR overt analysis (because you can’t be given the hard facts and be trusted to come to your own conclusions). These are a VERY VERY RARE breed though.  

 

Another view I take issue with is the concept of racism. Does it exist? Absolutely! Now to the icky sticky parts.  What is it’s origin? “Oh its whiny minorities looking for victim status.” “Oh its uneducated rednecks who are stuck in the past”.  If you hold view (A) you are a (Insert Nazi, Trumper, Communist, Bootlicker, blab blah blah blah). Painting with a broad brush does not make you ‘woke’ or special. It makes you dumb as a fucking rock. Hard stop. Period.  And pretending you are superior because of breeding, perceived education, or some other non-factor only compounds the Rock factor.  

Are there genuine racists...yep, and sexists too. The data is far too vast to ignore. Is everyone, not quite.(Now I’m a racist, sexist white devil apologist......) Jonathan Pie did a great thing on this the night after the election when Trump beat Hillary. Go watch it, it does say some things better than I can.  

. 

So, here’s another fun story to go along with the previous post and to tie somethings together: Woman drive home late at night, works a 2nd shift job.  Stops in a neighborhood with a high Somali population and is repeatedly accosted. Has a trans friend that she confides in about the treatment over the course of a year and how she hates it. Is BLASTED publicly by this person with screenshots of the conversation and how racist she is. She is lambasted publicly by the transwoman about when they served (Under their dead name), that they saw the worst of the “Muslim population.” (Never mind for a moment that there is a wide divide between being in a fireteam with crew served weapons and a single woman getting gas). (I stopped speaking to this “friend” shortly thereafter. If you’re going to post private convos in order to feel woke, its just as bad as being dead named or called out on your former life, IMO.   This woman is then doxed, shamed, and shuffled out of her job on a “Zero tolerance” policy.  Shortly after woman’s brother was attacked at the Metro line by a group of Somali teens and is quite literally beaten out of work. She strives for a response from our State’s representative. Silence. She gains another job, in the same neighborhood. Then she is sexually assaulted by the same group that has harassed her. This is how extremism is born. Not through indoctrination, not through camps...but often from being told your life is wrong. So is she racist, or is she simply a sum of her life’s experiences and perception gained via experience? Is she a KKK member or simply someone who has repeatedly been exposed to the worst of a group...and just that group?  

 

See in our society today you would call her a Nazi, a Trumper...yet, you wouldn’t try to have the conversation. You wouldn’t try to talk to a rape victim that has been zeroed out by a specific group. Why? Because she’s white? Because it’s woke to call her a racist and move on? 

 

And here’s a story from the flip side of that. Young black man, raises ruckus with his friends from time to time, but nothing violent, no property destroyed.  Fucked around in school and paid the price. Did 5 years for felony marijuana possession, because that paid the bills and provided him with smoke to give his mom while going through chemo.  Now, 20 years outside of school is in college, with kids, turning his life around. Working a dead end job while he gets his education., because at least it pays the bills.  Can’t escape the shadow of dealing. Doesn’t matter he has a BA, working on his MA. Doesn’t matter that he can code like an absolute beast. Is forever pulled from his vehicle when stopped and its turned upside down.  Why...because he’s a felon, and because he’s black,….and he lives in a drug neighborhood.  Statistically speaking, it’s a wise move. Socially speaking, it does nothing. This goes on, now saddled with ridiculous college debt (Drug offenses keep you from financial aid), and no prospects because no one wants to hire a felon. The animosity grows. So he takes a manual labor job because they don’t ask questions. Now skilled but unemployable, fast forward 5 years. Body is a wreck. Smokes a little now and then to help with the pain because physical therapy and pills are expensive. Surgery is out of the question. Gets stopped after working a job he’s been waiting months on because of COVID and cop finds a joint. Well he’s a felon with a “history”. Awaiting trial for possession. George Floyd is killed. That anger boils over. He’s out in the streets protesting for change. Gets hit by an errant Pepperball and swings his arms in pain. Strikes a helmet of a cop. Now is arrested as a felon, pending trial, for assaulting a cop.  

Now is he a violent felon? Is he an arsonist that wanted to go all Silverhand and see the city burn? Its so easy to classify him as such and move on. And you do....why, because you refuse to have the conversation.  This is how extremism is born. Is he a druggie thug, or the sum of his experiences with a system that say you can change but will throw everything in the way to keep you from changing?  So is HIS life experiences, trials and pain nonexistent? And honestly now.....think on this, because I know some of you VERY well and I’m not 100% sure the statue of limitations has expired, if you were caught for 90...hell 70% of the shit you did, how many of us would not be in the same position or in a box???   

We no longer listen to understand, we no longer listen to relate, we no longer listen to grow. We...by and large, listen to find a hole in the opposing argument and burn them down. We act in a way online that would result in a very real fight in person...perhaps that is part of it. The absence of consequence. In thought, in words, in action.  I’ll chew on that and get back to those who are still reading. We went from being a beacon of hope (in some areas) to a real dumpster fire of a nation. And yes, this is where I cut you off. If you say Orange man baaaaaaad. You REALLY haven’t been paying attention the last 30+ years at all. He may have been the catalyst for all of this to come to the surface, but it’s always been there. We’re less than 2 months away from the 30th anniversary of Rodney King so Orange man bad simply will not cut it. If you really want to take bare minimum 8 decades or crap (More of you wish to really focus on black race relations) and lump that on ONE man and 4 years, you’re looking for a scapegoat. And if you really think One man and one woman in 4 years is gonna fix it??? This starts to cross into the delusionary. It takes a concerted effort, determined focus, time, and money to heal what is wrong. And whoa is it a list!!! A lot of the time I feel the country has the memory of Dory, often why we don’t really get things done and get folded over the table by past enemies/ recent frenimies.  

But I digress, circling back around to my point... why do we label folks...because its easy, it’s neat, it’s clean. It fits in our echo chamber and makes our lives oh so organized and manageable. Its so much easier to call someone a druggie thug, traitor, Nazi, commie. Than to have a conversation.  This used to be a place built on conversations. Before limitless knowledge with questionable truth and zero consequences.  And what do we do? We cheer on our sides, further the divide, oblivious of the consequences. We post our tweets, seek our echo, list the stories from the sources that tell us exactly what we want to hear. We rage against our enemies and forgive the nastiest of nasties among those we support. All the while we lumber forward, with righteous, almost religious conviction that WE ARE right and THEY are WRONG. Nine times out of ten if you flip the names around you can see the positions change. A few web series went out and did this I believe.   I am under no illusions of my survivability rate in a widespread domestic fight. Neither should you be. There are some that would last longer than others but there is an awful lot of Red Shirts out there talking smack.  So...try having a conversation. Open yourself up to the limitless possibilities of ego free conversation.   Ya never know...the country you save may just be your own.