Conservatism, A Prophecy (Fiery The Angels Fell 2022, Part One.)

Where they burn books, they will also ultimately burn people. ~Heinrich Heine

I saw this earlier today, George Takei commenting on the whole Maus thing. George gets it.

These fucking people aren't worried about harsh language, or nudity, or violence or any such things. They want to use those excuses to get rid of any criticism of Antisemitism, Fascism and White Supremacy.

I'll bet you money that it won't be very long before some CHUD kid becomes a "Conservative" superstar by writing a book report or a school paper favorable to Nazis, praising the "Accomplishments" of Nazi Germany, or whatever. Now, I'm not talking about some kid writing a paper about the BF-109 or the Me-262 and their merits vs. the Meteor or the Spitfire or about the Panzer or the Tiger Tank in the desert with Rommel's Afrika Corps, or about the hunt for the Bismarck on the high seas...I'm talking about some kid writing something in full-on praise of Nazi ideology and torch-lit rallies, the Hitler Youth, and that type of shit.

It will happen, at the rate things are going, if it hasn't happened already and the rest of us just ain't noticed yet.

And these fucking people want the Nazi shit, I guarantee you they'll pull whatever whiny pearl-clutching don't-offend-our-lily-white-sensibilities garbage they have to, so they can try and bring that about...and again...if they can make it harder for kids to get information that criticizes fucking Nazis, they might get incrementally closer in a generation or so.

Fiery the angels fell; deep thunder rolled around their shores; burning with the fires of Orc. ~Roy Batty, Blade Runner (A deliberate misquote of William Blake's "America: A Prophecy.)

I mean, come on, we live in a country where Kyle Rittenhouse walks free, and the only thing preventing these motherfuckers from forming some kind of Freikorps Amerika and fighting in the streets is fear of the fact that Federal law enforcement, the military and [enough of] their fellow citizens who have guns wouldn't stand for it and that in any real conflict, they'd lose.

Which is exactly why they're trying to ban books and burn down education as a concept, so that they can try again in another 20 years or so and maybe have a lot more idiots they can add to the mob. It's why these fucking people are now wading into our politics openly, because even with Trump gone, Lauren Boebert, Marge Green and Paul Gosar held that gate open for them. Yes, there's a fire in Reagan's shining city on a hill.

And these fuckers are the ones burning it down.

Because, fundamentally, they figure if they manage to degrade and destroy enough of this country, its knowledge and its power, maybe they can start a civil war, do a little ethnic cleansing, and get themselves a shitty little Bantustan For Whypipo.

Seems like a hell of a dumb ass thing to aspire to, if you ask me.

But don't take my word for it, they're telling you this themselves, loud as can be, right out in the open. These motherfuckers want to call other people "Communists" when Communism hasn't been a thing since 1989...but they themselves are openly trying to bring back the 1930s  and going to absolutely ridiculous level efforts to avoid saying those three little words "Nazis Are Bad."

There's only one reason people don't want to say those words.

Just one.

And it's funny how so many of these supposed "Free Speech" absolutists are clamming up these days, the second they're asked to denounce fascism or Nazis.

There's only one reason for some dude to say they'll vomit if they hear one more person on their own "side" denounce Nazis. 

Hell, I saw a Tweet before I started writing this in which Rick Scott fucking denounced the Orlando Nazis. When you've lost that Skeletor-looking motherfucker, it might be time to start thinking about calling it a day. Rick Scott might be a dirty Republican scumbag...but he seems to get that some things ain't right.

Ron DeSantis's press secretary...not so much.

Although she stops short of claiming them. That's funny.

If you're anti-Anti-Nazi, that still circles back around to "You're A Nazi." And it usually does so sooner, rather than later.

I'm not sure where she thinks blaming the Democrats for this will help, except that avoidance of responsibility seems to be hardwired into the Republican psyche by now.

I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I've watched c-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those ... moments will be lost in time, like tears...in rain. Time to die. ~Roy Batty, Blade Runner.

And they'll blame everybody else and try and pawn that shit off on whoever else they can exactly until it advantages them not to. I guarantee you, these fucking people are openly longing for the day when they can Goose Step in public...and more to the point, longing for the day when they can persecute others without reason, and without any fear of consequences.

The weird pseudo-religious bullshit at this point exists only to fool the feeble-minded and gain Man's approval for their shitty agenda. The only thing these fucking people want to do with the Cross of Jesus Christ is set it on fire.

Remember, the very first thing that the Nazis did when they came to power was start telling the Christians what they could believe and telling the churches what they could preach and teach and forcing Pagan rituals on Christian churches/

And resisting that kind of garbage is how Martin Niemoller ended up in a concentration camp.

I mean, if somebody wants to practice Christianity or Paganism or whatever the fuck...I don't care...but one of these things is not like the other one. 

If somebody finds some way to combine the two of their own free will and on their own time, great. You can settle that up with God on your own. It's not my problem. I'm a Christian-influenced Agnostic Theist, it's none of my business. But again, one of these things is not like the other one. These are different, and generally mutually hostile, belief systems.

Jesus said no man can serve two masters, for...at best, he will love the one and hate the other...and quite likely will end up despising both of them.

One will ultimately win out...and with these people involved...well they're going to stack the deck against anything that teaches about a forgiving Savior and a loving and merciful God, aren't they?

If you think these fuckers won't start forcing people to do whatever stupid shenanigans pop into their heads...and Democracy and Free Will, Scripture and the Truth be damned...you have another thing coming. Why the hell else do you think they're so aggressively going after anything that smacks of criticism of their (unacknowledged) beliefs and so opposed to critical thinking, multicultural pluralism and the simple idea that "Hey, can't we all just get along?"

(Because they don't want to.)

And the next thing they'll tell you is "Well, people are struggling and don't have time to worry about all this stuff, Democracy is too hard."

'Cause these fucking people, they're perfectly well fine with a "Little intellectual elite in a far distant capital" making all the decisions as long as it includes people like Stephen Miller and Steve Bannon and they think it agrees with their fascist bullshit.

Bullshit. 

Ronald Reagan knew that kind of talk was bullshit, for all his faults he believed in democracy and peace. The fact that conservatism has forgotten his example...and actively rejected it, in fact, even going so far as to openly revile George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush, who were Reagan's most direct heirs.

Instead, we've got people who...fuck the next election, or the one after that...they want to fight their neighbors, split the country and break off a piece so they can be ruled by somebody like Donald Trump, and spend most of their time deciding who they want to exclude from their neo-Soviet Russian satellite state?

Excuse me, seriously? What's wrong with you?

If this is what Conservatism has become, then it's become Anti-American.

And it's time for that shit to die.

A lot of good moments, a lot of legacies, will end up wasted. Hell, they have already. "Like tears in rain" basically is what happened to pretty much everything I was taught to believe. The 1980's conservatism I was taught makes me...A Democrat.

I'm good with that, now.

And you know what? If modern Republicanism requires banning books and cheating and political dirty tricks or restricting knowledge and supporting goddamn fucking Nazis for it to continue to exist...then it doesn't deserve to exist.

Period.

And deep down, Republicans, you know that. You're not the steely-eyed Cold Warriors who faced down real honest-to-God Communists and fucking won. Hell, you fuckers ain't even George Wallace...who ultimately repented of his racism and brought Black folks into government in Alabama.

You people claim you're Americans, you could've followed in the footsteps of giants and stood up for diversity and freedom in a nation of immigrants that even Reagan said has all the strength of the world..

So, why choose the shitty little Austrian Corporal who burned Germany and most of Europe to the ground instead? 

Because even Trump didn't go far enough?

See, here's the thing about books and history and knowledge. I know how that story ended.

And so do you. It won't be any different this time.

So why do it?

If we lose freedom here, there is no place to escape to. This is the last stand on Earth. And this idea that government is beholden to the people, that it has no other source of power except to sovereign people, is still the newest and most unique idea in all the long history of man's relation to man. This is the issue of this election. Whether we believe in our capacity for self-government or whether we abandon the American revolution and confess that a little intellectual elite in a far-distant capital can plan our lives for us better than we can plan them ourselves. ~Ronald Reagan

Ned Flanders Riot (Yellow Streak I.)

Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.  We didn't pass it on to our children in the bloodstream.  The only way they can inherit the freedom we have known is if we fight for it, protect it, defend it, and then hand it to them with the well fought lessons of how they in their lifetime must do the same.  And if you and I don't do this, then you and I may well spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it once was like in America when men were free. ~Ronald Reagan

In a press release today, Trump came right out and said that he intended to overturn the election, and he straight up said that it didn't work because Mike Pence didn't have the "guts" to do it.

Yesterday at his bullshit rally in Texas, Trump called upon his supporters to riot if he is arrested or prosecuted for anything.

Seriously, what more does this anti-American motherfucker have to do, to show that he should've never been elected President? Hell, he never should have been allowed to run, and he probably should've been busted for financial and other crimes years ago. How much more are we, as a country, as a people, going to have to put up with from Trump and his dumb ass mob followers before we say enough is damned well enough?!

I'm fucking tired of this bullshit!

This asshole is going to try and start some kind of a civil war before all this shit is over. It won't work, it'll show These Fucking People as the impotent cowards and shit-bird losers that they are, but it's going to end in a whole hell of a lot of dead people, for no damned good reason, if it goes down that way.

And no, I don't give a damn that way more of them will die than the rest of us. Does not a nation have a duty to protect all of its people, including from their own stupidity?

Why do we just accept the fact that so many of our politicians are enablers and exploiters of our people's bad impulses who take advantage of stupidity rather than leaders who try to show people a better way to do things and lead by example?

At the end of the day, this is the root of a lot of the damn problem. I cannot put it any more simply than that. Conservatism has become based on "Bread and Circuses" to amuse the mob rather than moderation and personal responsibility.

Of course by now, after generations of this crap, Republican voters would almost certainly reject genuine leadership in favor of enablers. They would cheerfully crucify Christ Himself, rejecting Him in favor of the false prophets who scratch their itching ears. 

I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom;
Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine.
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. ~2 Timothy 4:1-4

I'm warning you now. I'm dead serious about this. These fucking people don't follow Putin, or Trump, or some Mullah Kookamamie because they're conservative and they want a more conservative society, more religiosity, and a stricter moral code, or any kind of shit like that. They don't get wrapped up in antivaxxer woo out of genuine medical concerns, and they sure as hell don't believe in conspiracy theories because they're seeking the truth.

No, that's not how any of this works and people need to understand this right now, so that we can put a stop to it.

These fucking people want to kill and steal, they'd rather hate than eat, and they want to feel righteous while they're doing it. Does that quite spell it out for you?

I saw this today; Those Antivaxxer truckers in Canada? They didn't properly plan their whole thing, they didn't bring enough food, of course restaurants and shit aren't going to serve them. So what did these cunts do? They basically stole food from the homeless, literally threatening shelter and soup kitchen workers into feeding them.

I don't usually deal with those big words because I don't usually deal with big people. I deal with small people. I find you can get a whole lot of small people and whip hell out of a whole lot of big people. They haven't got anything to lose, and they've got every thing to gain. And they'll let you know in a minute: "It takes two to tango; when I go, you go." ~Malcolm X.

I mean, seriously, what the fuck is wrong with these fucking people?

There comes a point where either we do something about this type of bullshit...we, decent people all over the world, that is...or we become enablers.

And in America at least, for the most part it's not like we're dealing with some kind of brave opponents. 

We're dealing with people who don't even have the fucking guts to say "Fuck the President."

(I mean, who the fuck are these people, Ned Flanders?)

They won't say "Fuck."

But they'll fly a goddamn Swastika flag.

They'll abuse the less fortunate, and those charged with caring for the same.

They'll take their sissy ass afraid-to-say-"Fuck" asses and literally shit on the floor in the United States Capitol Building after they beat a cop to death with a fire extinguisher.

And they'll hurt women and children and the elderly, literally just for the sheer twisted hell of it.

And they'll hold up some pig-ignorant shit-talking cowardly narcissistic fat ass with a Hitler fetish and a desire to be some kind of petty tin-pot dictator of somewhere...hell, anywhere...like that son of a bitch is the greatest thing ever and America never had a President before his ass showed up.

If we don't step up and stop this entitled, vicious behavior and this willful stupidity, it's going to throw this country into civil war in the next couple of years. If people don't come together to preserve our civilization against those who would burn it down, well that's exactly what we're going to get.

Two or three countries where this one used to be...and one of them perpetually at war with the others, or with somebody else in the world...because all these fucking people think they want to do is go out and fight somebody.

I'll tell you one thing, though.

Anybody who ain't got the basic level of guts to say the word "Fuck" ain't gonna make it through a regular military boot camp where your eventual duty is going to have your ass sitting at a desk most of the day or watching a radar screen, much less the kind of dirty, down-in-the-weeds shit you have to learn to be an effective insurgent with blood on your hands and some cheap-ass plastic 3D-printed pistol in your pocket while you're slinking around trying to burn down society.

 

"Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn." ... "In his house at R'lyeh dead Cthulhu waits dreaming."  ~HP Lovecraft

If it comes to that, a hell of a lot of these fucking people are just going to die.

And the thing to remember, is the people trying to set this scenario up for their own personal and political profit simply don't care. 

If COVID-19 has taught us one thing, it should have been that certain political cliques and factions in this country were perfectly damn well willing to try and work up a big enough pile of corpses to bury civilization itself under.

Do you think those fucking people's response to a conflict, whether it's in Odessa, Texas or Odessa, Ukraine, is going to be any different?

I sure don't!

But we're dealing with people who'd rather drink piss than get vaccinated, when getting vaccinated is the proper way to protect oneself, the only way, in fact.

And what is this urine-drinking bullshit anyway? If you don't know not to do something like that by the time you're old enough to use the toilet, what's wrong with you?

That's like, some very debased, House of Habsburg level fucked up shit right there.

Do you think, if it comes to that, that these fucking people are going to follow safe firearms-handling practices, pack their gear properly, or put on a gas mask the right way and do it fast enough...and do it the right way the first time, every time, as reflex? 

Again, I don't.

And the people who are ginning up this mob, who are the ones that keep giving Trump and the Republicans money, the amoral corporations and shit? 

They don't care how many of these damn people shoot themselves or the guy next to them because they panicked and had a negligent discharge in the middle of a firefight, or how many Army National Guardsmen end up with PTSD and shit from fighting these chucklefucks and they sure as a motherfucker don't care how many innocent people get killed or uprooted from their homes by this conflict that Donald Fucking Trump is now apparently openly trying to start.

War is good for business...but only certain kinds of business, in a certain way.

If you don't think the damn defense contractors won't find ways to sell weapons to both sides or that they'll figure some way to get a piece of the action when the Red side ends up bringing in Sukhoi North America or starting the Hero Of Socialist Labor Donald Trump People's Shipyard...you have another thing coming.

And nobody will lean into that more than the yellow-streak-down-they-back motherfuckers like Ted Cruz 

Whether it's the yellow streak down the back traditionally used to describe cowards, or the yellow streak of piss running down these fuckers legs...it'll be there.

And they don't care if they die, so long as they can make money off of misery.

We can stop this. We can stop it now.

But if that's how it's going to go, that means you have to stand up.

You have to be brave.

Brave enough to say "Fuck these people and their silly bullshit."

Either you fucking believe in freedom, or you fucking don't.

It's really that simple.

Last Post

Where Never Lark Nor Eagle Flew (The 5G Chronicles III.)

Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings; Sunward I’ve climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds, – and done a hundred things You have not dreamed of – wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hovering there,
I’ve chased the shouting wind along, and flung My eager craft through footless halls of air…
Up, up the long, delirious burning blue
I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, or ever eagle flew –
And, while with silent, lifting mind I’ve trod
The high un-trespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God. ~High Flight, by John Gillespie Magee.

...

"Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities." ~Voltaire

I heard that Voltaire quote a lot during the Trump years.

Fundamentally, though, what if the person making you believe all this silly bullshit...is you?

I guess there was some guy going around the Trump rally today talking about how he believes the Earth is flat.

Horse...and I cannot stress this enough...shit.

The Earth is not flat, the ancients knew this, it's why if you live on a coast, and you see a ship sailing away...the ship will eventually disappear over the horizon. You can see this happen.

Hell, I personally have observed the Earth's curvature, not because I've done anything special, not specifically because I was in the Air Force, but simply because I've flown on a commercial flight here and there, and commercial jets cruise at around 40,000 feet up. The altitude at which the Earth's curvature becomes visible on a clear day is around 37,000 feet. It's literally not rocket science. 

If you've got a window seat you can see it for yourself. It's kind of cool, honestly.

Well, for a few people it might be, or have been rocket science at one time, but for the average person there's no reason for it to be all that complicated. Not anymore, at least.

This stuff is part of our history. 

America broke the Sound barrier, Chuck Yeager with the Bell X-1 at Muroc AAF (Now Edwards Air Force Base) in California, The space program, starting with the Mercury Seven, up through the Gemini and Apollo programs, the moon landing, to the Space Shuttle and now the ISS. Up until the end of the Cold War, the Space program was very much considered to be on the pointy end of American power and scientific prowess.

And there was no footage erased. Hell, the footage was the damned point. They fucking broadcast from the Moon. I've seen a lot of the damn video. Seriously, what would even be the damned point of trying to fake something like that?

Nowadays, "Where never Lark nor Eagle flew" seems to best describe how fucking high on drugs these people get. Yeah, that's right. I saw Trump Jr. talking nonsense and looking like he was whacked out of his gourd at his dad's rally today too.

And the thing that gets me about this bullshit is these fucking people who think the Earth is flat or the moon landing is faked (these being basic scientific things one can, like I said, determine for oneself with a little effort) will believe wild tales of cloning and robots and secret executions and tribunals...

Because hey, if we could make a clone or a robot that looked and acted like this or that famous person...wouldn't it be fairly easy to go to the moon, or at least into Earth's orbit? If you believe all this other fantastical stuff...wouldn't you at least want to know? I mean, why isn't interplanetary or interstellar space travel ever a thing in all these people's crazy conspiracy theories?

Oh, right, it's not about any of that wondrous hyper-technology unless it can be used to beat political rivals over the head with. Of course that's also...in the context of the Cold War, what the space program was, politically.

But I'm not going to lie, I find it creepy how nobody ever dies in the enchanted make-believe world these conspiracy theorists have spun up for themselves, and everybody...certainly anybody famous...is some kind of a clone or Stepford robot...because something something Gazpacho can't frighten the masses yet or something.

Bitch, I play Vampire: The Masquerade. Your argument is, by definition, invalid. Even as regards that game and the others produced by Onyx Path and White Wolf, with every Supernatural or related creature on the planet agreeing to some variant of "The Veil Shall Not Be Lifted" the game itself still figures a fair amount of humanity knows something. 

The idea thus becomes keeping people from figuring out too much. Grand conspiracies are seldom that airtight in real life, because people are stupid. Top Secret programs and yes, conspiracies, take real effort and often, ultimately force of law to maintain secrecy, because the more people are involved the greater the chance that someone will talk.

That's just human fuckin' nature. I don't make these rules. 

People die, deny this or desensitize people to this fact at your own peril. It's the nature of the world and, if you believe in religion, death is a requirement for going into the afterlife and achieving Eternity.

Being, rather than becoming, is not a luxury granted the living for a damn reason.

We wouldn't be here if it wasn't for a purpose, and that purpose is not...this silly bullshit.

But the absolute truth is, all these right-wing bull-shitters and conspiracy theorists can't wait for the killing and the dying to start. 

They just want to fool the masses with a bunch of sunshine and rainbows crap, so that people won't think it's so bad and let them start to do what they want, figuring by then...well it'll be too late for anyone to stop them from killing anybody who doesn't bow down and behave like some kind of Stepford robot and shout Seig Heil and salute the flag with somebody's boot on their neck.

But every now and again...actually, with increasing frequency, some idiot goes off script and flies a Nazi flag. Because these fucking morons can't wait to tell on themselves, to tell that they're (in their own minds anyway) some kind of a big deal in the vast right-wing conspiracy. 

Even in Canada, apparently.

And don't worry, Commie [or insert derogatory whatever of one's choice here] you'll get yours, they say. These people's entire problem is that other people exist. You cannot reason with that kind of shit, you can only put it down, by force.

And that gets easier when these fucking people simply won't shut up about their fascism and all the fucked up shit they want to do because of it.

In other words, these fucking people disprove their own god damn argument, they refute their own statements about all these vast conspiracy things by their own actions. Because they're stupid and they want to get a little of the power and glory they think they have coming right now.

Because in the end, these sick fucks get off on the torment that their murderous beliefs and vain words inflict on other people right here, and right now.

There's reasons most First World countries...and even plenty that aren't...literally have laws against this type of shit, and actively criminalize things like ethnic hatred, hate speech, hooliganism and racism.

Because it's fucking awful behavior and bad for society, among other things. Here in America we've too long relied on education and social consequences, but those systems are starting to fray...because one side of our political spectrum is actively undermining our traditional methods of consequences.

And it will continue to go on, unless we step up and stop it.

Because annoying or antagonizing one's neighbors or making some LGBT person or person of color sick to their stomach with anger and worry and meeting the world with middle finger upraised is just so much damn easier than reaching for the stars and trying to accomplish something...or even simply getting on a plane and going somewhere, much less the effort, hard work and risk that goes with doing hard things or serving one's country.

Believing nonsense, or inflicting pain and petty bullshit is so much easier of a way to find meaning in one's life than actually doing something, I guess.

Used to be, way back when I was a conservative, we had two words for people like that: Fucking Losers.

Ya know, I spent some time when I was a kid living in Orange County, California. There was a park by my neighborhood that was kind of known as a place where gay men hung out, cruising, as the term at the time went. One weekend the Klan was threatening to come into the city from whatever desert shithole they lived in. They started making statements to that effect awhile beforehand. My town pretty much told these people they could go fuck themselves. And this was back in the 1980's, the oh-so-righteous Reagan years...and in staunchly Republican at the time Orange County...people preferred the gays to the racists.

We, as a people, need to stop tolerating this fucking bullshit.

Stop listening to conspiracy theories and lies because they make you feel important. You want to feel that way? Well, what have you done lately?

Don't be these fucking people.

If you want meaning in your life, go out and fucking earn it. You'll feel better in the long run, trust me.

Part II

And thanks, Melo.

Bad Faith (The 5G Chronicles II.)

If we lose freedom here, there is no place to escape to. This is the last stand on Earth. And this idea that government is beholden to the people, that it has no other source of power except to sovereign people, is still the newest and most unique idea in all the long history of man's relation to man. This is the issue of this election. Whether we believe in our capacity for self-government or whether we abandon the American revolution and confess that a little intellectual elite in a far-distant capital can plan our lives for us better than we can plan them ourselves. ~Ronald Reagan

This week, Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer announced his retirement.

The Right has spent this whole rest of the week coming up with various Cockamamie ideas for what the Biden administration should do, and generally shitting their colons inside out in panicked rage, because Biden is going to follow through on his promise to nominate a Black woman for the job. 

I don't remember seeing this kind of horse shit when Reagan nominated Sandra Day O'Connor, or for that matter when George H.W. Bush nominated Clarence Thomas...although to be fair, the Thomas confirmation hearings absolutely did have people grappling with the issues of pornography and sexual harassment and there was a fair amount of assholery going on over that subject...even in my high school government class.

Hell, even a fair number of "Never Trump" Republicans have gotten in on the act, proposing that Kamala Harris resign and be nominated to SCOTUS and that Biden appoint Mitt Romney to replace her in some kind of pipe-dream coalition government.

First thing I said was, the theory is sound, but absolutely nobody will go for it, except Mitt.

I've got a better idea, if you want to go that way. Harris goes to SCOTUS, appoint Cory Booker to replace her. That way D's don't lose the tiebreaker vote in the Senate. Or hey, why not set another "First" and appoint Mayor Pete? First gay Vice President? Oh, you like that, don't you Jerry Falwell Jr? 

Or leave the Senate alone, call up Keith Ellison and see if he wants the job?

Inshallah, he would take it. 

Why not raid the House, see if Maxine Waters would like a promotion to Vice President, you know, do the real conservative thing here and stick with the status quo.

There, see how that works? Wait a minute, what do you mean "No, not like that?" Biden is the fucking President, he can appoint whoever he damn well pleases. That is literally his job.

Or does that only apply to Republican Presidents? Seriously, how old are you fuckers? Five?

Biden could keep the current balance of things, with only a slight change of variables, while still trolling every right-winger in the country.

Or he could just leave Kamala where she is and appoint whoever the fuck he wants.

See how that works, Conservatives?

 I'd go with that, because I guarantee you, you'll like whoever he comes up with on his own better than anybody I might suggest, 'cause I used to be one of y'all and I can and will find that two-meter exhaust port and drop a Proton Torpedo right down that fucker and blow up this Death Star of stupidity. Fuck you!

I'm tired of this bullshit and we, as a nation, need to stop humoring and indulging these fucking people because no matter what the fuck the rest of us do, short of becoming embittered fascist assholes ourselves, it'll never be enough and they will still [willfully] live under an escalating cloud or hate and resentment no matter what the fuck we do.

Because their whole damn problem is "Other People Exist."

And they'll make up whatever religious-sounding bullshit they have to, to make that sound righteous.

Basically, more than that on a serious level, it comes down to the same old same old, "Conservative" hypocrisy/ Of course they think they get to own the Supreme Court...even as they try like hell to hobble Congress, the Presidency whenever they don't have somebody they "like" in there, and societal institutions like education or the military.

In effect, the smaller the institution is, and the more concentrated its power, the more these damn people like it and want to control it. If the Court had 13 members, or 25 or 50, they wouldn't be as obsessed with it.

All any of these fuckers want is some kind of a magic bullet to maintain their imagined power and slow social change, and the truth is, these motherfuckers are desperate. 

They see the walls closing in, and they will stoop to any level...even if it takes burning down or sundering this whole country or subjecting themselves and whoever else they can reach to murderous fascism...to make that go away. 

Because of course, one hell of a lot of these fucking people demand that the rest of the world shout their shitty beliefs right back in their faces. 

You know, always a sign of a mature, stable philosophy that is held by grown ass adults. I mean, seriously, what the fuck is wrong with these people?

And naturally, the world never did that, and increasingly no longer even appears to because their beliefs have become entirely disassociated from reality. And the truth is, a lot of these people would rather live in a guarded prison camp of their own choice than face a different and changing world.

I mean, come on, seriously? I haven't heard this much shit about "Communism" or Satan since the 1980's. (And no, my family didn't go to the right kind of church for me to hear that kind of freakish bullshit every damn day, either. but it was still out there.) Communism hasn't been a thing since 1989 and the Cult Of The Satanic Panic was more of a thing than Satanism ever was...or ever will be.

But of course that shit flamed out, because you can't keep that sort of thing going forever, it eventually burns out because reality is under no obligation to bend to these fucking people's will and there just weren't any Satanist cabals there. But these assholes and their panicky, scared-of-everything bullshit ruined plenty of lives and wasted a whole bunch of people's money and time anyway. Because they think that's their right to do exactly that.

Some hole-in-the-wall school board in a Tennessee town banned the graphic novel "Maus" and another one somewhere else banned Harper Lee's literary classic "To Kill A Mockingbird."

Maus just rocketed up to #1 Amazon bestseller, and To Kill A Mockingbird remains a literary classic. I read both in the 1980's and it didn't hurt me. These people are just on their latest kick to try and degrade or destroy education, period.

Meanwhile, Spotify is losing famous artists like Neil Young, millions of subscribers and literally billions of dollars over their decision to keep Joe Rogan on the platform.

And Kyle Rittenhouse is apparently looking at hawking NFT's. My guess is, because no one else will have him and that whole grift is overrun with Nazi Fucking Trash anyway. So Freikorps Kyle will fit right in.

We can all step up and stop this now, or the day will come when these assholes are coming for Capitalism, personal choice, and your freedom. 

Don't take my word for it, I'm serious. Listen to what these fucking people are telling you their own damn selves. And no, they're not being the least bit subtle about it either. There is no code to crack, these aren't dog-whistles anymore, look around!

To see these people's ideal world, you have to look no further than the gulf between internet stuff that was established a decade or more ago...like Facebook, Google, PayPal, Twitter, and YouTube...and the shit that's coming up now like Cryptocurrency, Gab, GETTR, and NFT's.

The concepts of a decade, much less a generation ago...just aren't shitty enough for these people.

And it's only going to continue to escalate. If the whole NFT thing is any guide...well, Nazis want to be able to take your money and for you to have no recourse...or likely, even to be able to find the thief.  

And similarly, since within its own house American Conservatism has already become an authoritarian yet Godless theocracy dedicated to shitty Republican beliefs, they're seeking the power to "Excommunicate" Republicans now...presumably those who aren't fascist enough.

And don't doubt that the day will come when these fuckers brand their shitty beliefs as a religion, and then alter their politics accordingly, simply to try and take advantage of that label...because it's all in bad faith...and they'll misunderstand that label too, on purpose and with malice aforethought.

Like, you thought the Religious Right was bad? Well, I'm a former member of the religious right and I'm here to tell you I think the non-religious Right is much worse, at least religion...and religiosity...put brakes on some of these people's behavior. Now they don't even have that.

*And It Will Get Worse.* 

Do Not doubt this.

Because what these fucking people want to do is hurt people, and kill and rape and steal...but then they want to go home and be safe and feel righteous about it, too, while being "protected" by some strongman, real or imaginary, forever.

Why do you think, pre-Trump, these fuckers spent 50 years embracing Authoritarian Christianity...and then abandoned it, the very second that it became unnecessary?

Or worse, the second something they thought they'd like better turned up.

What the fuck do you think they're saying when they glorify ancient Spartans and say stupid shit like "Molon Labe?"

And trust me, every last one of these motherfuckers is happy as a clam that saying "I'm a shadow on the wall of Plato's cave, it's the ideas that are really important" or even "Jesus Loves Me, This I know" is no longer the price of admission.

Seriously, all these far-right idiots are lacking right now is a government (or perhaps more importantly, a lack thereof...see also, Libertarianism) that will let them do whatever fucked up shit pops into their heads, and some way to feel justified for their cruelty and evil, racism and theft, and have such things be endorsed by whatever ruler is present. I'm serious. 

These people want to live in a world that makes 1990's Afghanistan look safe and sane and like an intellectual powerhouse and technological juggernaut by comparison.

So they can feel like men. For five minutes. Before they die.

Because trust me, they never think about the fact that there's much worse people out there, who are far worse than their most inflated visions of their own toughness.

Or that they might be creating their own enemies, or killing themselves, or that other people don't have to put up with the cruel, evil bullshit that they see as the point of existence. 

And yes, that's exactly how they see it. These are the people who look at the whole COVID-19 mess and think "If I die, I die." They don't think about it being a horrible death because, well, they don't see life as any different. The cruelty is the point...even when it's self-inflicted.

Likewise, they don't care if they're being taken advantage of, or if the money is being hoovered out of their pockets...because they see that as the Right of Power to do it, and so long as they think somebody they don't like is getting it worse they'll play along, Lyndon Johnson had it right this whole time.

The cruelty and the racism are the goddamned point, and it's all a bad-faith religion to these fucking people.

Yes, on top of that, they believe they get to go to heaven and you don't...without any damn reason for it.

Because the entire point is the "You. Don't" part.

But remember, this is America and the Constitution and our own traditions of expanding liberty say we don't have to put up with this shit.

So don't.

It's that simple. If you want a better country, you have to be a better citizen and show the fuck up and vote and fight for what you believe in.

Because if you don't...they sure will. And then these fascist sons of bitches will say you're the bad guy if you show up to defend yourself.

Do you get it yet, why history and law and even simple things like personal choice and the ability to vote with your feet or your wallet that comes with concepts of capitalism and human rights fucking matters?

Why do you think they really wanted to build a wall?

And why do you think, now that it didn't work, they want to wall themselves off from the rest of America, And then, to have within those walls some killing fields and a mall?

We have to stop putting up with this escalating foolishness. 

But that means you have to stand up.

So get after it.

Part I

Soviet Jesus (Be Brave, Three.)

Reach out, touch faith

Your own personal Jesus
Someone to hear your prayers
Someone who cares
Your own personal Jesus
Someone to hear your prayers
Someone who's there

Feeling unknown
And you're all alone
Flesh and bone
By the telephone
Lift up the receiver
I'll make you a believer

Take second best
Put me to the test
Things on your chest
You need to confess
I will deliver
You know I'm a forgiver. 

~Depeche Mode, Personal Jesus.

I saw earlier today that the Russians are moving combat support, logistics and medical units up to the Ukrainian border.

Trust me, that is not a good sign.

Because it's usually the last move before the start of offensive military operations. 

Yes, that seems like a bad idea. But as Tom Nichols points out, it's very likely that Vladimir Putin is losing his marbles and/or surrounded by boot-lickers and sycophants who are basically telling him he's Jesus.

 Certainly, Tucker Carlson seems to think that Vlad is his Own Soviet Jesus. And you can tell him I said that.

But, If such is the case, we're in for a bloody, nasty mess that there's no way we, or the rest of NATO, will be able to avoid getting sucked into it.

But there's a thing we need to face here, separate from, but linked to the possibility that Vlad might be losing his mind and thinking he's Jesus. We could be looking at the possibility of a religious war, here.

In December of 2018 various Orthodox groups in Ukraine started planning to form their own denomination and effectively secede from the Russian Orthodox Church, which they felt was too closely aligned with the Kremlin. In January of 2019 the Ukrainian Orthodox Church became its own thing, with the backing of the rest of the Orthodox world. Putin was enraged by this and predictably, the Russian Orthodox Church told the Ecumenical Patriarch Of Constantinople (The nominal Orthodox equivalent to the Pope) to go fuck himself and has effectively created a schism within wider Orthodoxy because these people are unreasonable fucking bastards. 

Kinda like Republicans.

Do I really need to explain how fucking nasty wars of religion can get?

And I think we need to be prepared for that.

But more to the point, we need to face the fact that we're also dealing with a trans-national clique of authoritarian rulers (and former rulers) and various ideologies that inspires every bit the same kind of fanaticism that religion does because it gives some kind of "meaning" to the lives of people who like the taste of boot-leather.

And there's a lot of those kind of people around, apparently. I'd say probably about a quarter of the US population. You know, the last people who supported George W. Bush when his poll numbers started to get down to around 20% approval ratings.

Trumpism is about the same way, as the number of people who support this bullshit drops, as other people move on, and the country and the story change, and most especially as the history of the Trump years begins to be written down, there's some of us just can't move on, and who dig in and become more radical as the world changes and moves on and they feel like they didn't get whatever they thought they would.

And if we end up in some kind of a conflict with Russia, I think at least some of these people will become violent. For some of them, it will be because they support Russia. For others, it's because people like Putin and Trump are the Asshole Lifestyle Brand that gives their life meaning...I mean, like it was with the NRA 20 years ago, or like it's the same way now with the Cryptocurrency and NFT mess.

Like the sign in Idiocracy said "If you don't smoke Tarryton's, fuck you."

Vast majorities of these people will suck at it, or just get themselves killed, but right-wing insurgency and terrorism WILL become the new "Own The Libs" brand.

And that's where we're at right now, humanity is dividing itself not so much between conservative and liberal, but between those who want to be the slaves of some self-styled God-King and those who don't."

Also, as I've said before these fools are already on the hunt to find somebody worse than Trump. I'm here to tell you, there's nothing like a war for bringing somebody up from the ranks that you've never heard of, giving them the confidence to lead a movement, and then using it to start shit.

Either you believe in freedom or you don't.

It's really that simple.

Reject the Soviet Jesus, especially if you claim you believe in the real one. These people are not your friends.

Be Brave.

Part II

Russian-publicans (Be Brave, Two.)

To those neighbors and allies who share our freedom, we will strengthen our historic ties and assure them of our support and firm commitment. We will match loyalty with loyalty. We will strive for mutually beneficial relations. We will not use our friendship to impose on their sovereignty, for our own sovereignty is not for sale.
As for the enemies of freedom, those who are potential adversaries, they will be reminded that peace is the highest aspiration of the American people. We will negotiate for it, sacrifice for it; we will not surrender for it, now or ever.
Our forbearance should never be misunderstood. Our reluctance for conflict should not be misjudged as a failure of will. When action is required to preserve our national security, we will act. We will maintain sufficient strength to prevail if need be, knowing that if we do so we have the best chance of never having to use that strength.
Above all, we must realize that no arsenal or no weapon in the arsenals of the world is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women. It is a weapon our adversaries in today's world do not have. It is a weapon that we as Americans do have. Let that be understood by those who practice terrorism and prey upon their neighbors. ~Ronald Reagan

The situation in Ukraine remains tense, last I checked, though with the pending deployment of NATO and US troops, things seem to be backing off a little. Even the Ukrainians seem to be calling for calm, while remaining vigilant, and of course the Russians deny any untoward intentions. Worth noting, our government has said they will sanction Vladimir Putin personally, if there is a war.

Hopefully things stay calm, hopefully, as we've done so many times before we can deter war. 

Once upon a time, that was the core of our military doctrine, and an important part of our character. Peace through strength, as Ronald Reagan said.

But something needs to be said here.

There's a threat, to this country, that I think people like Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush could not have conceived of, nor even imagined in their darkest moments.

The war-lovers of today, they're not advocating war against the Russians, or war in Afghanistan or any of a dozen other trouble spots. 

No, they're advocating for war against their fellow Americans, for outright murder of the different, the ill, the minority whether racial or sexual...and not only for physical violence but for the erasure of history and knowledge, for treating teachers like criminals and education as a crime. And once that takes hold...everything else is under threat too. 

And there literally are people in America who think feeding the hungry, helping the poor, etc. should be a crime. People who cannot wait to talk bad about America because Black people have rights and the poor can eat...and then they have the nerve to call others "Unpatriotic" for acknowledging our history of that our nation has flaws.

This is the future "Conservatives" want...a nation where the very-wealthy have all the power and wealth live in fortified compounds, ruling over...not governing...a vast, diseased, hungry, illiterate, ravening mob....where any government beyond the backroom-deal and the mercenary army, any sense of culture or nationhood or anything greater than the Self...and how do you even know what that means without education...has been burned down and trampled upon.

It's hard to exercise your rights, if you are not taught to understand the concept, are not taught that you have rights, and cannot read and do not know to ask to find out for yourself.

As if we could become, like Afghanistan a nation of farmers and goat herders and illiterate militiamen who claim the religion of Islam yet cannot be bothered to learn to read the holy Quran, a nation of thugs on drugs whose main contribution to the world at this point, is its participation in the Opium trade...and it needs to be noted that this came about because we, under Donald Trump, effectively abandoned Afghanistan's previous government...which at least allowed its people to aspire to be a nation known for something else. 

At least we got a hell of a lot of the people out who needed to be gotten out, and Western countries continue to get people out of there as best they can. And there's plenty of people in Afghanistan who are still resisting the Taliban.

And Afghanistan was once known for other things, as well. Just like us, though we've not come to such bad ends yet.

These fucking people would, if they are allowed to continue to degrade America...already a decades-long project...keep going until they reduce it to the current status of Afghanistan and worse. 

Don't take my word for it. Listen to them.

This Arthur Chu guy? He thinks we should have been killing anybody who got infected with COVID-19 all along, and he appears to be an Antivaxxer as well. He wants to live in a country where you can be shot for leaving your house if you are sick or at risk from the virus. How the fuck he expects anyone to meet the demands of living a life or the expenses of having a home under such circumstances, I do not know. Dude basically thinks he lives in the world of The Walking Dead already.

Just without those who are trying, for better and worse, to rebuild civilization.

And how, if you look at that series, did it work out for the privileged and the powerful when the government and the military started shooting anyone and everyone who might be infected?

Doing that accelerated the process and got them torn apart, too.

And here's the thing.

These fucking Republicans...they simply cannot wait to tell you, to your face, how much they hate America, and any American people over whom they do not have literal totalitarian control in terms of politics and rights.

Deep down, these jack-offs want to rule over every aspect of your life, simply so they can beat off to the idea of having power.

And their followers are fucking fine with this, so long as they get to be a better class of slave than all the other slaves.

Modern Republicans cannot wait to tell anyone who they cannot rile up with a few words and set against their political enemies for fun and profit that they hate them and would destroy them if they could. If you're not willing to throw out every single thing you ever believed before anytime there's a new version of the Shitty Republican Agenda...and the time is coming when they will drop Trump in favor of someone worse...you are these fucking people's enemy.

Back in the 1990's and early 2000's Fred Phelps and his family earned international notoriety and scorn for saying "God hates America" because gay people exist.

But today, Republicans say "We hate America and want to burn it down because people other than us and our voter base get to exist." and the media and much of the rest of the political class...who are by and large not on the Republican "get to exist" list, gamely plays along with it as if this is an entirely valid point of view.

Ronald Reagan would weep to see what his party has become. Hell, George Bush (both of 'em) basically wasn't even welcome, in the end. I'm beginning to think even the shitty old racists and dirty political fighters like Lee Atwater or Richard Nixon would not be welcome anymore, because it's not enough to be the spider manipulating the passions and petty bigotries of the mob...today one must embody them. 

Not only that, you must practice them your own self, and do it enough and just the right way that the mob doesn't turn on you.

And apparently they're singing songs about this crap now.

Because the average "Conservative" never progressed mentally much past being a 13-year-old, apparently.

I remember being that age, and you know what? I remember that it sucked.

Tell me something, do you think that a political party that elevates people like Kid Rock and Lauren Boebert, Marjorie Taylor Greene and Matt Gaetz, has the character, intelligence, or strength of heart to face down the Russians and Vladimir Putin and be a modern version of Ronald Reagan telling Mr. Gorbachev to come here and open this gate and tear down this wall?

Do they have the guts and the judgment to play the chess game of armies and battle lines and fleets and SOSUS nets, or the brains to use bombers and ICBMs to deter attack instead of inviting it?

I don't fucking think so. 

I think Matt Gaetz would sell us out for a bottle of fine vodka and a night with a teenage Russian girl.

And I think he'd cry like a bitch when the Chekists led him away after they'd gotten what they wanted.

And I think Republicans as a whole will happily become an anti-American fifth column, and even armed right-wing insurgents fighting a war against their own country...if the Russians merely promise to back them and say they'll give the Republicans international recognition if they break off a piece of America for themselves.

They don't understand that when the Russians are done with them, the Russians will kill them and take over directly and appoint even more subservient yes-men. It's what they did in Afghanistan in 1979, after all. 

We know that playbook, we know better than this shit! You want to be honest, we've done that shit ourselves. So...you're just gonna let Russia...which we've always thought of as a piece of shit third world country with Alcoholism, a big Army, Communism and Nukes...treat us like we're Guatemala?

And the Russians have straight up lost about 65% of their Cold War-era military power. I don't know what the fuck any of these fuckers are even afraid of.

Fuck that!

You know, I'm old. I get that. I came up in a different time and was taught a different way.

But as I see it, now that these motherfucking people have come right out and said they hate America, its government, its military and most of its people...well I can remember a time when if you said such a thing you'd best be ready for a bare-knuckle brawl and getting your teeth kicked in.

So why in the hell are We The People putting up with this endless, stupid bullshit?!

I think I'm gonna go with Joe and Tony and the experts and the NATO guys and stand with the Ukrainians and I'm gonna do whatever I have to so I don't get sick or get anybody else sick.

And you know what? If you're not doing the same, I'll call you a stupid son of a bitch too, right to your face.

Don't like that? Stick it up your ass, 

I'm sick of all this ridiculous bullshit, Russian-publicans. You're an American person with freedoms and advantages...even if you're poor...that much of the rest of the world does not enjoy, you're not a Russian who does what the State says to do and then drinks like a fish to make it all tolerable, fucking act like it!

Either you believe in freedom or you don't, either you're a grown ass adult person or you're not. Period.

And if you don't believe in freedom for everybody...you don't believe in freedom.

Be brave, or get the fuck out of the way of those of us who can.

Part I 
 

"Work, Family, Fatherland." (Be Brave, One.)

We welcome change and openness; for we believe that freedom and security go together, that the advance of human liberty can only strengthen the cause of world peace. There is one sign the Soviets can make that would be unmistakable, that would advance dramatically the cause of freedom and peace. General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization, come here to this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate. Mr. Gorbachev...Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall! ~Ronald Reagan

I hear Republicans are all soggy and hard to light today because Joe Biden called Peter Doocy a "Stupid Son Of A Bitch."

I'll save you the trouble, and point out that Joe is not wrong, and John McCain said the same thing, so there's bipartisan agreement there.

I find it funny that so many Republicans thought Donald Trump's bigoted, crass jackass behavior for five years was the greatest thing since sliced bread. Joe Biden puts some idiot reporter who is widely known for being an idiot reporter and asking bad faith, dumb questions in his place and suddenly "That's wrong."

You know, I'm really, really sick of these fucking hypocrites.

But here's the thing.

There's a bigger problem going on here, than mere partisan hypocrisy, and it's something we need to deal with real damn fast.

You're either brave, or you're not. You're either honest, or you're not...the list goes on.

By the same token, you're either an asshole, or you're not.

The thing about people like Donald Trump is they fail on all counts because really, for them even being an asshole is often an act. Donald Trump spent his Presidency with Vladimir Putin's balls in his mouth, and the whole world could see this. Our president spent his term consistently getting tea-bagged by the fucking Russians, by the Chinese, the North Koreans, the Turks...pretty much anybody Trump saw as what he aspired to be...he actually rolled over for, while seeking their approval.

And his supporters called this "Toughness."

Mostly because he talked bad about people they didn't like, though I'll note, never to those people's faces. Trump was even too much of a coward to Asshole properly.

See. there isn't really a middle ground. Excuses are lies. Remember that.

And here's the thing.

We are very likely within days of a major war erupting in Eastern Europe. America and its allies are already supporting the Ukrainians, and a number of other Eastern European countries have said they will act to defend Ukraine because they have living memory of Soviet Communist...and therefore Russian...repression because Russia and its culture were absolutely dominant in the Soviet system.

There's no way that we don't get sucked into this thing, if shit goes down. There just isn't. At least at this point we're preparing, if not trying to get ahead of it and deter war. I have a feeling it won't be enough, but I've been saying this is going to eventually require Cold War style defense lines from Northern Norway to Turkey, including whatever's left of Georgia and Ukraine at that time.

This isn't a time for half-ass ideas, half-measures, or being brave only when it's convenient. That's not even what courage is, period. I don't know why the fuck I even have to say this to people. Courage is not "Wanting to shoot people because you're overwhelmed with fear." 

A person like that will see genuine opposition, especially armed opposition...or for that matter the refusal of legit armed forces to back them...and either meekly surrender or shit themselves and run away.

Like why the fuck do you think we hardly heard jack shit from Trump for the last couple weeks of his term? The military made plain that they weren't going to go along with his schemes and Trump was exposed as nothing but a shit-talking bitch, that's why.

And likewise, the people who rallied to his cause on January 6th have overwhelmingly been exposed as a legion of cowards and freaks and people who rethought a few things when they were in front of a judge facing real consequences for their actions.

Trumpism is nothing if not an Empire Of Cowardice.

Like all the French far-rightists and Nazi collaborators who thought they'd permanently gained the upper hand over domestic political rivals by allying themselves with or submitting to foreign invaders...Republicans think "So much the better for us" when our current Democratic-run government or other people that they don't like face adversity, never mind that it's going to affect them, too. The title of this piece in the Vichy attempted replacement of the French national motto of "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity."

How'd that work out, anyway?

See, here's the thing. When the British and US invaded North Africa in early November of 1942, the whole damn thing instantly fell apart. Individual Vichy units fought well and showed courage, but more fired off a few volleys and then surrendered or fought poorly either on purpose or because they were shitty soldiers. German forces moved swiftly to conquer Vichy France, the French Navy units that hadn't already defected to the allies (Vichy's only means to project power or defend its empire) scuttled themselves in Toulon harbor and Petain and his crew became nothing more than "Yes Men" for the fucking Nazis.

And the vast majority of Vichy French troops either switched sides to Free France or ended up in Allied or Axis prison camps anyway. In the end, the collaborationist leadership was either executed or imprisoned and hardly a tear was shed for them by anyone at all. Marshal Petain, the hero of Verdun, the guy credited with saving France during World War I died a broken, demented, senile old man who to this day remains stripped of the military honors he damn well earned on the battlefield because his collaboration, dishonor and treason damned well outweighed that shit in the minds of most French people...and rightly so.

Because Petain thought courage could be applied selectively, that he could pick and choose when to be brave, and that he could somehow be clever enough to benefit himself from the whole damned mess. He thought he could spin his cowardice in the face of defeat, his inherently political worldview, and sticking it to the other guy into some kind of heroic legend.

Marshal Henri Petain thought he was going to be the Great White Hope, as did Pierre Laval, Francois Darlan and a whole bunch of other Far-rightists with messianic delusions of "Saving" France from Communism, French Republicanism and Socialism.

But in the end, nobody really believed in it.

Goddamn if that doesn't sound a lot like modern American Republicans...and especially like Donald Trump...although our Republicans are mostly just making up the Communism and Socialism, which doesn't actually exist.

When the MAGA's said "Trump 2020: No more bullshit" the "bullshit" they were referring to was things like that "Women and people of Color have rights" or "We should take care of the less fortunate." How you think that's going to look in the history books people have already written about your time, fuckers?

Of course I guess that's why Republicans are so against books and education all the sudden...not to mention the proper teaching of history.

But see, here's the thing;

All these Vichy fuckers who actually stayed that way? They ended up dead or incarcerated, most of them before the war ended, hated by everybody but a few far-right bitter-enders and there's still streets in France named after Joseph Stalin.

Granted, Communism didn't take either, and the French were serious enough about the idea of Democracy that they even left NATO for a few decades because of American meddling in their politics, and they weren't going to take that shit.

And De Gaulle? The Free French leader, a center-right conservative who actually respected French Republicanism even though he was a staunch Catholic conservative with pretty strict beliefs? He ended up being the President of France, twice, immediately after the war for a couple years, and then for about a decade in the 1950's and 1960's. He ended up being considered the savior of France, and rightly so...while history regards the Vichyites as a bad joke at best and as lapdogs to Nazi mass murderers at worst.

I think there's a lesson to be had, there. Maybe just a small one, but I'd heed it.

And look at how our own history regards Joe McCarthy, the John Birch Society and all those rabid American proto-fascists of the 1950's and early 1960's. Barry Goldwater...who before he ran for President wasn't that way...let these fuckers change his political stances and define him and run his campaign and damn it, there's an LBJ campaign ad with a little girl pulling the petals off a daisy and a voice-over of a nuclear launch countdown that aired once and is probably better-known than Goldwater's entire political campaign. 

After he lost...he tacked back to being center-right and enjoyed a long, if boring career in the Senate as a result, because fundamentally, he actually believed in conservatism and people could see that. In fact in the era of Newt Gingrich it was Barry Goldwater and Bob Dole who kind of ended up the liberal Republicans and they both said as much.

But you have to believe in something, you have to stand up for it, and in the end it has to be worthy of you doing that.

Trumpism, fundamentally, is not worth the faith people have put in it.

Because all that faith is in, is the idea of hurting other people.

In the end, if you stand up to be counted with the enemy of everything your country ever stood for, you're the one who's going to lose and nobody's going to give a damn what you think.

And you'll be damned lucky to not lose everything, or to even have a shot at getting back what you had before. That's the position a lot of anti-Trump Republicans have found themselves in, but personally I think a lot of them have a shot at it.

There's a power in the Universe, assume it's smarter than you and sees what ya done, and that it will make sure and settle things up one way or another. If you want to call that God, or the gods, or whatever, fine. Just know, it's there even if you can't see it.

And it will settle up with you.

Best to face what's coming and act now, so you can at least do so on decent terms.

There's also devils in the Universe. You can see those. And they all say the same thing. show up with big money, cloaked in bright lights, spouting Scripture and goofy slogans like "Work, Family, Fatherland" and promising you some kind of permanent political advantage or mythical Permanent Republican Majority...

And they hoover every bit of money out of your pockets while they have you entranced.

Because that's what it's really about, even for them. Nobody really believes it.

To my mind, the Devil looks an awful lot like Newt Gingrich, with Roger Stone as Screwtape plotting and whispering in his ear.

We have a choice. Once more into the breach, dear friends? 

To be, or not to be?

Either you believe in freedom or you don't. 

Being against public health or vaccines or the good of society or talking up a bunch of stupid woo woo bullshit about 5G cell phones? That's not freedom.

That's stupidity.

Ronald Reagan spoke of peace through strength. Tucker Carlson simpers like a coward in submission to a fucking KGB agent.

Conservatives, this is where you get to pick who you wanna be.

Either you believe in freedom or you don't.

It's that simple.

Make your choice, know you will face the consequences.

You get freedom by letting your enemy know that you'll do anything to get your freedom; then you'll get it. It's the only way you'll get it. ~Malcolm X.