America is an idea.

"The Whacko:" Elections are great in principle, but this is no time for high ideals!

President Colin Powell: This is the ONLY time for high ideals, because those ideals are all we have. We aren't just fighting for our physical survival but for the survival of our civilization. We don't have the luxury of old-world pillars, we don't have a common heritage, we don't have a thousand years of history. All we have are the dreams and promises that bind us together. All we have...all we have is what we want to be. 

~From the Max Brooks novel "World War Z."

Well, as of early this morning, he's in. Joe Biden is officially running for President, yo. Or there's the Spanish video if you prefer. It was all over the news this morning that he was declaring his candidacy, and his first campaign ads appeared bright and early also. 

But it was his statement "America is an idea" that hooked me in.

I've said this before, a time or two, here or on Facebook. I've often paraphrased the above quote from "World War Z" in so doing.

To me, that seems to be the perfect "counter" to the blood and soil nationalism of the Alt-right Nazis and the Trump Supporters. Doesn't hurt that for better and worse, Joe has a lot he can fall back on to appeal to those conservatives who may be disgusted with Trump.

It's also inclusive of, without being dominated by, those further-Left who've thus far dominated the conversation on the Democratic side of the fence. And don't get me wrong, those people have their place, and certainly as long as they show up and vote they too should get a chance to help shape the future. But you have to win first.

Bernie has already not helped with that, along with his Bernie Bro fans. Last night I saw on Fox News something to the effect of "New Dem party platform: Voting rights for terrorists."

Now, what Bernie was actually saying was that he felt that even incarcerated people should be able to vote. Personally, I'm not sure I agree, I'm willing to be proven wrong and if such could help reduce recidivism and keep people integrated into society while they're in there, I'd support it. Certainly I think anybody who's served their sentence should be able to vote, and I don't think that should even be up for debate. As far as I'm concerned, if you get out on the last day of voter registration and can still get to the DMV go ahead and register. Use your mug shot for an I.D. if you have to! But, for now, I think you should have to pay your debt to society first and serve your sentence. Prison is, after all, meant as a punishment. But, minus loss of the right to bear arms for spousal abusers, stalkers and violent felons, I think the punishment should end when the sentence is up. I spent the last couple of days involved in a discussion about this on Facebook with a variety of people, mostly those firmly to the Left of myself.

And I think it was a discussion that needed to be had.

But of course, that's not what Fox News was even close to talking about. They're going to find nothing more and nothing less than the most click-bait right-wing OUTRAGE-worthy headline they possibly can and that's what they're going to go with.

Is THAT the idea of America that you want? 

I'm sick of anger, I'm sick of outrage, and I'm frankly sick of the people who claim Jesus the most being the people who'd be marching and shouting "Crucify Him!" in the streets if He actually showed up. 

"75% of white Evangelicals described the federal crackdown on undocumented immigrants as a positive thing?"

Hmm, interesting bit of data, that.

When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:

And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.

Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.

Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?

When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?

Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:

For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:

I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.

Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. 

~Matthew 25:31-45

*Also* an interesting bit of data. I wonder if they don't teach that stuff in church anymore?

But that's our choice, are we a country that accepts the stranger...or tosses them out, and likely our own most sacred principles with them as well?

You decide.

Which idea of America do you support? This upcoming election is a referendum on that idea.

And then of course, there's this.

I've...honestly never heard of anybody thinking that killing and eating one's political opposition was a valid idea before now, but as I've been trying to point out to people lately, this is the kind of stuff that's on the other side's mind these days. This idiot was supposedly angry about the media's coverage of Trump.

Shit like this is the end-result of the Fox News rage-machine constantly working on angry or gullible people who don't know or don't care that it's all bullshit. And ya know, there's something I've been noticing lately about the people at work who will make the effort to turn one of the break-room TV's back to Fox News. Where the average person, even in many cases the average Republican, will simply watch TV like a normal person might, or maybe half-watch it while doing something else...those who change the channel back, who seek the shit out? They'll sit there and stare at Fox News, zombie-like, like an ADHD kid watching cartoons. I've occasionally seen this before, but lately, there seems to be more of it.

If you wonder why my pull-quote came from Zombie fiction, there you have it. I'm not sure I see Fox News Rage Zombies as outside the realm of possibility, here.

An America where you can be killed and eaten for your political preferences...where ever such may spring from...is not the kind of idea that I'm going to get behind. Also, the other party is dominated by old white guys whose countenance otherwise resembles gas station beef jerky...so yeah, you can count me right out.

Just sayin.'

And then there's these fucking people.

Misogyny and religious woo woo bullshit all in one, this guy. I mean, seriously, Roosh the Douche here is basically one shout of "Allah Akbar" away from being the Taliban...only with a double dose of misogyny and superstitious idiocy on top of what you'd normally get.

Ya know, I've never quite understood what it is that these fucking people want from women, or want women to actually do, that might be within the realm of human possibility...but when what I have seen of them suggests that they'd regard the Republic of Gilead from Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale" as hopelessly "liberal" I don't have to understand. You cannot reason with this type of bullshit, you can only leave it stewing in it's own rage and hot pocket crumbs in its Mom's basement and expect to kill it with fire if it ever comes at you.

But all that has to happen to destroy that particular threat is for women to avoid fucking them for long enough and it's going to die off on its own.

All this hate and racism is another matter. That is an existential threat to our nation and to many of the people in it...and probably to a hell of a lot of white people like myself as well.

That's the level we're at here.

Look, this election isn't about "Medicare for all" or the Green New Deal or whatever your pet policy idea is or whether or not everybody gets a damn unicorn. This election is about whether we get to keep our Democracy and the foundations upon which all that other stuff is even built or by which it might even be possible. We're up against people who don't believe in Democracy, here.

We're up against people who don't believe human beings should have human rights, who would give such things to corporations only, and maybe themselves.

We're dealing with people...Americans...who reject America on political or theological grounds, or simply because they're so greedy that they don't feel they've gotten enough out of our current system even though it's mostly favored them.

And I strongly suspect that even (or maybe especially) if Democrats win, Republicans will try to break a part of America off for themselves. Among their own, that's the kinds of things they're talking about. There have been E-mails sent out by the Trump campaign that say "This is YOUR country, not theirs." But ya know...I thought we were all Americans, here?

And that's the thing, isn't it?

This election is a referendum on Trump.

Democrats have to win. We can work on all the other stuff after that. No more putting the cart before the horse here, no more unicorns. There is not going to be any Green New Deal or Medicare for All if we lose. So, We have to Win first, period.

Joe Biden seems to understand that.

Look, ya'll, I like Joe, I support him, I've said for years that I'd be happy to vote for him.

But I'm a be honest. I'm mostly just tired of seeing Trump's stupid orange face on my computer screen or the damn TV all the time.

I've said since June of 2015 that I'd vote for a moldy ham sandwich in preference to Donald Trump.

There are other candidates I like, who I'd also support. But Joe has the best chance, and if Kamala Harris or Mayor Pete were to end up in Biden's V.P. nomination slot I'd be damn happy with that.

But we gotta win first.

Joe is our best shot. To me, he represents something left over from the Obama era, which was pretty damn aggravation free by comparison to just last night, much less the last three years. 

And that is an idea that I'll gladly get behind. I'm in. I kinda liked being able to not have to pay attention to what the government was doing for a few days or weeks, if I felt like it.

And ya know, I've never felt like I had to watch things like a hawk before that motherfucker got elected.

As one of my state's house reps said, we need to impeach that motherfucker already.

The clock is ticking down, it's time to choose, which idea do you support?

America, or Trump?

The two ideas are not synonymous, and don't you forget it.