Reading Romans on the ice (American Revelation, Explained, Eleven.)

 Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God,

(Which he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures,)

Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh;

And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:

By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name:

Among whom are ye also the called of Jesus Christ:

To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.

First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world.

For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers;

Making request, if by any means now at length I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to come unto you.

For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established;

That is, that I may be comforted together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me.

Now I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that oftentimes I purposed to come unto you, (but was let hitherto,) that I might have some fruit among you also, even as among other Gentiles.

I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise.

So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;

Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.

For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:

Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.

Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,

And changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things.

Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves:

Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.

For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:

And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meet.

And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;

Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,

Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,

Without understanding, covenant-breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:

Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them. ~Romans 1 (King James Version.)

...

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

I think it needs to be said, again, that I spent more than half my life as a conservative (small "c" for a reason) Christian, and a Republican.

I never, ever in my life would have thought that the totality of Romans 1 would apply to the Republican Party, but here we are. 

And for the record, there's nothing wrong with being gay, but if you're a gay Republican and so burning with self-hatred that you want to inflict misery on other LGBT people, there is in fact, a lot wrong with that. More to the point, it's 2025, there is no damned reason even a gay Republican shouldn't be out and proud and stand up for themselves and their own people.

But it's this idea that you have to be a Republican first, above all things, that strikes me as the basest idolatry imaginable, and that somehow the Republican Party stands apart from history and reality as if The Party itself was above even God?? It's not even ideology, it's a freaking teenage jerkoff fantasy by some kid who read Atlas Shrugged and thought Ayn Rand was onto something because she made that little shit feel justified in his intense selfishness.

And remember, Ayn Rand was an Atheist who believed in a godless world where Man's self-satisfaction was somehow the moral purpose of his life.

This crap has always disgusted me and I say that as a former Republican.

America is not "Handcuffed by history." No, history is wearing a Dominatrix getup and leading America around on a leash, because too many of us militantly refuse to understand our own history, what we have been, and what we are, leaving us as a nation open to manipulation by the worst among us...who'd gladly repeat all of our worst fuckups and more, just because they think it's funny.

In international terms we've gone from superpower to rogue state to failed state in something like five months, that's got to be some kind of record.

America is going to end up wearing history's Gimp mask, apparently by choice because we got too arrogant and entitled, and it'll turn out reality doesn't work that way.

And we are going to lose.

We are gonna feel History's riding crop and that shit stings.

And you cannot blame it all on Trump. 

This is the fruit of what's become of Republican ideology. Note: And again I say this as a former Republican...we've always had these fucking people. But for some reason, nobody gave the village idiot a platform until 2000 or so, and nobody actually let the village idiots as a group start defining Party doctrines until like 2007-2008. 

Gee, I wonder what happened there?

Oh, right.

And so tomorrow, as we take the campaign South and West, as we learn that the struggles of the textile workers in Spartanburg are not so different than the plight of the dishwasher in Las Vegas; that the hopes of the little girl who goes to a crumbling school in Dillon are the same as the dreams of the boy who learns on the streets of L.A.; we will remember that there is something happening in America; that we are not as divided as our politics suggests; that we are one people, we are one nation. And, together, we will begin the next great chapter in the American story, with three words that will ring from coast to coast, from sea to shining sea: Yes, we can. ~Barack Obama

A Black man said "Yes We Can" and got elected and all Republicans have been able to say since is "No, We Can't."

No We Can't has become Republican theology, it's all they believe. It's all they want or understand.

And they'll glory in being utterly miserable as long as they can inflict that shit on the rest of us, too.

Any war these idiots get us into, we're going to lose, and likely lose badly.

Then, to try and justify the shit, they'll claim it's the End Times.

Lather, rinse, repeat as often as we let them get away with it.

Part of it...think Vietnam and Afghanistan...is that these ass-clowns figured out how to profit from losing. I'm sure when Washington D.C. falls like Kabul or Saigon, they'll figure they can just evacuate to Russia or wherever their latest tax cheat shelter is set up.

Losing, and misery, is all these motherfuckers seem to know, or even want to. Especially so long as the "Right" people are set to profit from suffering.

Greenland is part of Denmark, Denmark is a part of the EU and NATO. Canada is a part of both the British Commonwealth and NATO. We're setting the stage to have the entire rest of the world arrayed against us...because if you don't think China will hop on that bandwagon and then Russia will shoot us in the back and do the same...you're nuts.

So yeah, we lose. That includes the most likely scenario, which is that our next war is against ourselves and everybody else just backs or joins in on the side of different factions. 

Elon? He doesn't lose, though.

I'm here to tell you, if America breaks up...either violently or otherwise...the only people who will profit are the oligarchs (like Elon Musk) currently raiding the shit out of our government and our nation's wealth and the taxpayer's money.

For everybody else, especially the elderly and the poor, standards of living just evaporate...and for the successor nations, so does military and political power and overall wealth.

And the rich Republicans won't even be happy about having all that money.

Like, in the Republican mentality, Ebenezer Scrooge, pre-Christmas Eve ghostly revelations, is ever and always the hero in every goddamn story. I don't know how people live like this, I couldn't do it.

I'm like, being serious here, does Elon Musk ever look happy to you??

And in the end, what these sad-sack motherfuckers will end up actually doing is driving away to some safe place while the world burns and all their lackeys and lesser peons and those political rivals they choose to throw under the bus get shot or guillotined or whatever, priggishly thinking they've made some sort of bullshit "point."

The goalposts will be moved, somehow Movement Conservatism can never do any wrong.

Or as some people in my circle at the time used to say, Libertarianism can never fail, it can only be failed (and this is an ideology that has never actually worked.)

Like, how these morons think they're going to take on the world after having gutted American state capacity ain't a thing I'll ever understand. You need more state capacity for fascism and war, not less.

Like, these fucking people want to be the Beast of American Revelation and they wanna just bullshit their way through with no money and no preparations at this point. 

They figure Fox News will handle it and "Conservatives" will enslave themselves voluntarily.

Note:

How's that working out for you, Vicky??

(And I've been to Indiana, it's basically one city in the middle of a giant cornfield, hardly a place crawling with Leftist agitators and Soros Agents.)

Yes, Republican bullshit is about the most puerile shit imaginable at this point. 

Reagan Wept.

(And yes, I'm quite aware that he started us down this path, I don't think he thought it would all end up in the hands of utter idiots who'd fuck it up this bad.)

I'm quite tired of this crap.

Goddamn it, America, we need to stop doing this to ourselves.

It really is that simple.

You either believe in freedom or you don't.

This is going to come down to a fight.

Prepare accordingly.

Слава Україна!

My black face fades,
hiding inside the black granite.
I said I wouldn't
dammit: No tears.
I'm stone. I'm flesh.
My clouded reflection eyes me
like a bird of prey, the profile of night slanted against morning.

I turn this way—the stone lets me go.
I turn that way—I'm inside
the Vietnam Veterans Memorial
again, depending on the light
to make a difference.
I go down the 58,022 names,
half-expecting to find
my own in letters like smoke.

I touch the name Andrew Johnson; I see the booby trap's white flash.
Names shimmer on a woman's blouse
but when she walks away
the names stay on the wall.

Brushstrokes flash, a red bird's
wings cutting across my stare.
The sky. A plane in the sky.
A white vet's image floats
closer to me, then his pale eyes
look through mine. I'm a window.
He's lost his right arm
inside the stone. In the black mirror
a woman’s trying to erase names:
No, she's brushing a boy's hair.
~Facing It, by Yusef Komunyakaa, US Army Veteran

Ten

Well the government bugged the men's room
In the local disco lounge
And all she wants to do is dance, dance
To keep the boys from sellin'
All the weapons they could scrounge
And all she wants to do is dance
Yeah, but that don't keep the boys from makin' a buck or two
And all she wants to do is dance, dance
The still can sell the army
All the drugs that they can do
And all she wants to do is
All she wants to do is dance
And make romance.

Well we barely make the airport
For the last plane out
As we taxied down the runway
I could hear the people shout
They said, "don't come back here Yankee"
But if I ever do
I'll bring more money
'Cause all she wants to do is dance
And make romance
Never mind the heat
Comin' off the street
She wants to party
She wants to get down
All she wants to do is
All she wants to do is dance
And make romance
All she wants to do is dance.

 ~Don Henley, All She Wants To Do Is Dance

(And yes, it will get worse, take it from this veteran of Bosnian peacekeeping, it'll get worse.)