Black Horse (American Revelation XXI, Three.)

And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand.

And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine. ~Revelation 6:5-6

...

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

...

It is the individual who can and does make a difference even in this increasingly populous, complex world of ours. The individual can make things happen. It is the individual who can bring a tear to my eye and then cause me to take pen in hand. It is the individual who has acted or tried to act who will not only force a decision but also have a hand in shaping it. Whether acting in the legal, governmental, or private realm, one concerned and dedicated person can meaningfully affect what some consider an uncaring world. So give freely of yourself always to your family, your friends, your community, and your country. The world will pay you back many times over. 

~Sandra Day O'Connor, former SCOTUS Justice (Appointed by Ronald Reagan, no less.)

So apparently, Pete Kegs-Breath is posting about his idiot Christian Nationalist pastor who thinks women shouldn't be able to vote and the USA should be some kind of bullshit Christian theocracy.

#1 I used to be a conservative, by dint of having gone to Christian schools I've studied our early history quite intensively, and this was exactly the type of shit the Founders didn't want.

#2 If you think this bullshit would stop with simply taking away the right to vote, you're wrong. 

#3 Over My Dead Body and I say that as a white male former-conservative Air Force veteran, Fuck You. I have a girlfriend and she has a daughter and they both have the same God-given rights that I do. 

Even at the most conservative I ever was, I would have absolutely, loudly and enthusiastically said the exact same damned thing. More, the 19th Amendment was passed by 3/4 of the population at the height of the global nadir of global and US race relations and when Christian fundamentalism was far more rampant than it is now.

Our ancestors decided this already.

And the misogynist side lost.

More to the point, what conservatism is supposed to be is based on revealed Truth and reverence for the wisdom of our ancestors.

That ain't what this crap is.

But a hell of a lot of These Fucking People don't care.

Not only are they so determined to have Power that they'll burn down the world if they have to, they actively want to burn down the world for shits and giggles.

And if you think that trend is somehow exclusive to Republicans at this point, you have another thing coming.

More to the point, what do you really think going full Christianized Taliban on women's rights, getting rid of all the immigrants (legal or otherwise) and worsening this country's mistreatment of the poor would actually do, economically??

I mean, as far as I can see if you actually wanted the Black Horse of Revelation detailed in Revelation 6, verses five and six...there aren't very many ways to go about it faster than simply reducing economic output by 51% plus on a crash basis. As I've said before, out of a dozen or so people in my department at work, only three of us are men.

All of the people that know how everything works are women, and one of them is gay and basically married.

Without the women I work with, I don't have a job, because there's nobody to run the place!

And these motherfuckers. Literally. Don't. Care.

That's what happens when willfully ignorant motherfuckers make a theology out of bigotry and a bunch of other bullshit that has not one damned thing to do with their actual claimed religion.

Especially when the actual truth is all that these people even want to worship is whatever Golden Idol they think will give them an advantage when it comes to hurting people and stealing. This shit is civilizational Fentanyl.

These fuckers want to be the nobility of Ancient Babylon, but cosplay as "Christian." Like they think God won't notice??

Or do they just not care??

(Yes, I think that's pretty much it.)

This is why I'm sick as hell of religion and I think it should not have a place in political life and its place in public life should be constrained at least by enforced custom. 

I'm tired of people bothering other people with this shit!

My partner is bisexual, her daughter is gay. I'm a secular former Christian who wants nothing to do with any of this fucking bullshit!

I want the government to stay out of my goddamn business (much less that of my family) anymore than it has to and I don't give a shit if the current government is right-wing, left-wing or some other bullshit, especially if it cannot be relied upon.

Like there's really that much difference between Andrew Cuomo and Donald Trump at the end of the day? I'm really starting to not think so.

Worshiping the State is not something I'm going to do. 

Especially if, for example, my partner and I end up having to support my Mom as she gets older. Shit like that happens a lot in the world.

So yeah, my opinion even of Democrats these days pretty much sucks.

Worshiping some goddamned idiot frat-boy narcissist?? 

Oh HELL NO, Fuck That.

There is literally no upside to any of this fucking garbage for anyone except for drunken frat-bros like Pete Hegseth and the holy joes and preachers that excuse their every debased act and gratuitous Sin.

And they will gladly tread upon the poor to get whatever they think they want.

None of this stuff, by the way, came out of Trump's mouth. The problem here is Republicans.

Even Trump will end up being discarded when he's no longer a useful enough distraction, you watch.

And when all this goddamned stupidity crashes America and causes the breakup of this country, the media will gleefully cover it, politicians will give speeches and write books and hurry up and grab some small piece of Power like so many mid-level Soviet apparatchiks and far, far too many people won't give a damn as long as somebody tells them what they want to hear.

And when that happens and people like Andrew Tate and Doug Wilson and Pete Hegseth are ultimately exposed as the debased Mammon-worshipers who simply desire to have harems of concubines and wealth without work...but they've established little fiefdoms to protect themselves and to wield ultimate Power in.

And they don't care who they have to fuck over to get that.

Well, somebody is going to have to step up and go in there and put a stop to their bullshit anyway.

And more to the point, the people trying to stop that shit will have to do it with less money and resources because America is already being Oligarch-raided just like the Soviet Union of 1989-1991 was, and like Russia throughout the 1990's was, and for a lot of people things will get a lot worse unless people pull together and work together to survive.

I've said it's going to come down to a fight to stop this shit, but the truth is it'll probably be a lot of fights, and probably a cataclysmic war or two just like what's gone on throughout the territory of the former Soviet Union.

You either believe in civilization, freedom, and human rights or you don't.

There are no half-measures.

You have been warned.

And the thing to remember about these fucking purity-obsessed religionists and shit, is that fundamentally nothing short of omnicidal oblivion (including/especially self-destruction but they want to watch the world burn first) will ever satisfy these motherfuckers.

The way to stop this shit would have been to not let greedy rich people and self-involved ideologues or religious fanatics get power in the first fucking place.

You wanna drive out the Black Horse? Think on that.

Слава Україна!

Hess: So what shall we toast to, boys? I can blather on about “To health” or “To success,” but I’d like to do somethin’ a little less rote. Where you from, Brown Eyes?

Migs Mayfield: How ’bout a toast to Operation Cinder?

Hess: Now there’s a man who knows his history.

Mayfield: No, I don’t just know it. I lived it. I was in Burnin Konn.

Hess: Burnin Konn?

Mayfield: Mmm.

Hess: That was a hard day. I had to make many unpleasant decisions.

Mayfield: Yes, you did. Entire city gone in moments, along with everybody in it. We lost our whole division that day. Man, that was like 5-10,000 people.

Hess: Yep. All heroes of the Empire.

Mayfield: Yeah. And all dead.

Hess: Well, it’s a small sacrifice for the greater good, son.

Mayfield: Depends on who you ask, don’t you think?

Hess: [irritated] What you gettin’ at, trooper?

Mayfield: All those people, the ones who died, was it good for them? Hmm? Their families? The guys I served with? Civilians, those poor mud scuffers, died defending their homes, fighting for freedom. Was it good for them?

Hess: But we’ve outlasted them, son. They’re eating themselves alive. The New Republic is in complete disarray, and we grow stronger. You see, with the rhydonium you’ve delivered, we can create havoc that’s gonna make Burnin Konn pale by comparison. And then they’re gonna turn to us once again. You see, boys, everybody thinks they want freedom, but what they really want is order. And when they realize that, they’re gonna welcome us back with open arms. Ah. To the Empire.

[Mayfield chuckles, then fires a blaster at Hess' chest, killing him instantly. He and Mando then shoot their way out of the mess hall] ~From The Mandalorian, Season 2, Ep. 7 "The Believer"

Two

Nameless One: “Shadow of this life?”

Dhall, Dustman scribe: “Yes, a shadow. You see, Restless One, this life is not real. Your life, my life, they are shadows, flickerings of what life once was. This life is where we end up after we die, and here we remain. Trapped, caged, until we can achieve the True Death.”

Nameless One: “True Death?”

Dhall, Dustman scribe: “True death is non-existence. A state devoid of reason, of passion, of sensation.” [Dhall coughs] “A state of purity.”

Nameless One: Sounds like oblivion, why would anyone would want that? 

~from Planescape Torment