Reagan Wept (October Unsurprising, Nine.)

No one familiar with the history of this country can deny that congressional committees are useful. It is necessary to investigate before legislating, but the line between investigating and persecuting is a very fine one and the junior Senator from Wisconsin has stepped over it repeatedly. His primary achievement has been in confusing the public mind as between the internal and the external threats of communism. 

We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty. We must remember always that accusation is not proof and that conviction depends upon evidence and due process of law. We will not walk in fear, one of another. We will not be driven by fear into an age of unreason, if we dig deep in our history and our doctrine, and remember that we are not descended from fearful men — not from men who feared to write, to speak, to associate and to defend causes that were, for the moment, unpopular. This is no time for men who oppose Senator McCarthy's methods to keep silent, or for those who approve. We can deny our heritage and our history, but we cannot escape responsibility for the result. There is no way for a citizen of a republic to abdicate his responsibilities. As a nation we have come into our full inheritance at a tender age. We proclaim ourselves, as indeed we are, the defenders of freedom, wherever it continues to exist in the world, but we cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home. The actions of the junior Senator from Wisconsin have caused alarm and dismay amongst our allies abroad, and given considerable comfort to our enemies. And whose fault is that? Not really his. He didn't create this situation of fear; he merely exploited it — and rather successfully. Cassius was right. "The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves." Good night, and good luck. ~Edward R. Murrow

...

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

Apparently, people need to be reminded again that Communism hasn't been a thing since 1989.

Oh, sure, Vladimir Putin is trying to bring it back...and MAGA Republicans like Matt Schlapp are in bed with him! (Actually, in Matt's case that's probably a literal desire, but I'm pretty sure Vlad doesn't swing that way.)

And when I say Putin is trying to bring back the Soviet Union, and that Putin is a KGB man who had to be a Communist's Communist just to get in the door of that vaunted organization, well, here's this: This isn't a picture from the Cold War, it was taken two years ago in Ukraine, it's an official Russian MoD photo.

I mean, fuck, I just wrote about Trump praising Communist dictators last night!

Schlappy here might not like Communism, but his declared GOD, Trump, loves the shit! Now, Trump doesn't do so for any real ideological reason...but he likes Soviet Communism (as well as the Chinese and North Korean kinds) simply because under Communism, forcing people to clap for you for eleven minutes (and you'll have the first one that stops shot) is not considered out of line.

Trump is way closer to being a Commie than Kamala Harris has ever been...and for the record, it's been my experience that fear of Communism just doesn't land with people that are younger than me. I'm 50 years old, for fuck's sake!

But there's a tranche of Boomer and Gen-X MAGA's that get endlessly amped up by Red-baiting, and those people probably give these fucks money, so they keep doing it.

This is the state of your 2024 Republican Party, yo. Reagan Wept.

Here's the thing though, like Matt Schlapp...who was credibly accused of groping one of Herschel Walker's campaign staffers...Trump is all about gratifying himself and whatever debased urges pop into his head. 

Apparently Trump groped a minor at some event recently, I saw that's going around tonight, and if I had to guess nobody but Democrats and Republicans For Harris will even care.

Sorry, but that's just the state of things right now.

I mean, we're at the point where Trump basically has mashed potatoes for brains and a whole bunch of these idiots still basically think he's God. I'll never get it. Or maybe I just don't want to.

Seriously, while I'm at it we haven't had a serious conflict with France since the Quasi-war in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, because Vichy resistance to Operation Torch during WWII hardly rose to that level and most French troops in North Africa switched sides during or after the invasion anyway. Not that most MAGA's even know that much American history.

Think about that for a second.

I'm tired of this crap.

The question is, why aren't you??

You either believe in freedom or you don't.

You're either willing to be a better citizen and stand up against this shit, or you ain't.

Freedom isn't free.

And it's not what Republicans like Donald Trump or Matt Schlapp even want.

They want a world that's been contorted and forced to give them an endless narcissistic blowjob.

But that world would be hell for everybody else.

I can remember when a Republican political hack sexually assaulting another man would have landed that dude in prison much less ended his political career.

And I can remember when a Republican candidate for President groping a teenager would have immediately ended their candidacy and any support they had.

For fuck's sake I remember when misspelling "Potato" meant that Dan Quayle lost any political future he might've had!

Now these fuckers' idea of an "October Surprise" is literally to run on seeing how terrible of people they can be! As if anybody would be surprised by that??

Make Americans have standards again!

You wanna end this shit??

Make our political system have standards again.

It's really that damned simple.

 Слава Україна!

Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows. ~George Orwell, 1984.

Eight

Joe: For the last time, I'm pretty sure what's killing the crops is this Brawndo stuff.

Secretary of State: But Brawndo's got what plants crave. It's got electrolytes.

Attorney General: "So wait a minute. What you're saying is that you want us to put water on the crops.

Joe: Yes.

Attorney General: Water. Like out the toilet?

Joe: Well, I mean, it doesn't have to be out of the toilet, but, yeah, that's the idea.

Secretary of State: But Brawndo's got what plants crave.

Attorney General: It's got electrolytes.

Joe: Okay, look. The plants aren't growing, so I'm pretty sure that the Brawndo's not working. Now, I'm no botanist, but I do know that if you put water on plants, they grow.

Secretary of Energy: Well, I've never seen no plants grow out of no toilet.

Secretary of State: Hey, that's good. You sure you ain't the smartest guy in the world?

Joe: Okay, look. You want to solve this problem. I want to get my pardon. So why don't we just try it, okay, and not worry about what plants crave?

Attorney General: Brawndo's got what plants crave.

Secretary of Energy: Yeah, it's got electrolytes.

Joe: What are electrolytes? Do you even know?

Secretary of State: It's what they use to make Brawndo.

~From the film Idiocracy.