Feet Of Clay (Babylon, One-Epstein Files Edition.)

And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.

And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.

For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.

And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.

For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.

Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double.

How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she said in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.

Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judges her.

And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning,

Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come. ~Revelation 18:1-10

...

President Laura Roslin: You have committed me to holding elections within the year.

Lee "Apollo" Adama: Madam President, with respect. You are serving out the remainder of President Adar's term. When that term is up, in seven months, the law says, there is an election. I only committed you to obeying the law.

Commander Bill Adama: You sound like some kind of lawyer.

Roslin: This is unacceptable.

Apollo: I swore an oath. To defend the articles. The articles say there is an election in seven months. Now, if you are telling me we are throwing out the law, then I am not a captain, you are not a commander, and you are not the president. And I don't owe either of you a damned explanation for anything.

Roslin: He's your son.

Adama: He's your advisor.

~Battlestar Galactica (2003) S1 E3 "Bastille Day."

,,,

Cassian Andor: What? To steal from the Empire, what do you need? A uniform, some dirty hands, and an Imperial toolkit. They’re so proud of themselves, they don’t even care. They’re so fat and satisfied, they can’t imagine it…

Luthen Rael: Can’t imagine what?

Andor: That someone like me would ever get inside their house, walk their floors, spit in their food, take their gear.

~From the Star Wars series Andor, S1, E2 "That would be me."

...

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

With the US House of Representatives back in session yesterday and the shutdown ending, the House (as expected) and on a surprisingly bipartisan basis voted for the next step in releasing the full Epstein files. Something like 23,000 pages of documents were released. I saw that right before I went to bed.

So, again, what was all this shit for, anyway?? What was all this needless suffering inflicted on people all about?? Why in the fuck do we basically not have a functioning government??

I saw this when I got up an hour or so ago.

Megyn Kelly asking *If* Jeffrey Epstein was a pedophile. I mean, WHAT??

Duh.

I swear, there is no dumber creature walking around on this Earth than the purposefully-stupid American media or political elite, and that is not a joke.

And then Trump has a massive fit about it. 2+2 = 4, there's something skeevy to it and he knows it, or he wouldn't be trying to deflect.

Why the hell are We, The People, putting up with this bullshit??

Like, I don't give a shit what you thought you were gonna get out of this, if human trafficking, murder and sexual abuse aren't big, bright red lines for you?? 

Fuck You, you don't get to participate in this conversation.

Like seriously, among other things now I have a partner and a kid to worry about.

Not that I'd have tolerated it before, either.

I don't want to...and I won't...live in a world where this type of shit is Okay. Fuck That.

And if I have to tell you Why, you're unsalvageable as a human being and should probably be treated accordingly.

I've been saying for a long damned time now, that the rot from this type of shit goes way, way further down than the just the political elite or the ultra-wealthy, like, check your Pastor's hard drive, for fuck's sake! My God.

I want an audit of our entire political class, religious figures, pretty much everybody for this type of bullshit.

I say that knowing I've done or said plenty of inappropriate things, but goddamn, I've never done them or even considered doing them to a child.

And, over the summer, because of all the ongoing events in my life, I think that suspicion has been confirmed, especially on the "Conservative" side of things. I literally saw both my partner and her daughter treated like pieces of freaking meat by the dudes who should have been the safe men in their lives, and from men that were supposedly lifelong friends and knew (from having participated in how the culture was at a previous job) or should have damned well known what sort of consequences they could reap.

Seriously?

And the only reason they didn't get it worse was because we basically decided it wasn't worth it and that ostracism was the best policy.

Being that "safe" guy should not have to be my job!

A woman's purpose in life is not to be a safe space for your schwantz, guys.

A girl or woman should not be called a whore or anything like that for simply wanting men in their life to contribute.

Nor does every fuckin' thing out there need to be sexualized. I mean, come on!

Like, Jesus, what the fuck is even wrong with people??

And the longer this drags out, the more convinced I get that it's worse than we think.

We should be wary, too. I've read the Bible. 

God burned cities and struck down whole Empires for less than this fucking bullshit.

We're talking about generational levels of Sin against children and women here.

There's going to be consequences.

Either you believe in that, or you don't.

And I'm tired of excuses, half-measures and rationalizations.

I'm tired of everything being political, I'm tired of moral relativism and situational ethics.

I'm tired of rank immorality and Sin dressing itself up as patriarchy and religion.

And I'm even more tired of the people who 20 or 30 years ago claimed to be the hard-ass moralists (and their alleged political opposition!) having Feet Of Clay and spines of Jell-O when it comes to the same shit they used to preach so hard about!

Things are, or they aren't.

Light has no fellowship with Darkness.

Don't these fucking people even read the Bible or any other Holy Books??

The Truth doesn't magically become not-the-Truth because it inconveniences you or it might negatively effect you or your side.

Truth is the only thing that gives most people a floor to stand on to push back against Power. Anybody trying to distract you from that is not your friend.

That was as true of conservative opposition to Communism in the 1980's East Bloc as it is of opposition to far-right horseshit in today's world.

Of course nowadays too many people want power without morality, rights without responsibility and wealth without work.

I mean, I've literally been on the record for about 30 years saying this isn't sustainable and it isn't working.

For the record the first time I said anything like that, the topic of the conversation was Bill Clinton.

It's not a Democratic problem, it's not a Republican problem.

Sin affects all people. It's part of the Human condition.

And when people, whether it's through base narcissism, political horseshit or simple rationalization, start saying something is not a Sin simply because they're the ones doing it??

You're already Lost, bro. You've already lost.

At that point what's the difference between you and Lucifer during the Fall, or between you and the Beast of Revelations??

You cannot appoint yourself God.

All else is just excuses.

And when the Judgment comes it's pretty clear what the Lord is going to have to say about that.

Why is this so hard for people??

When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats:
And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
For I hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
For I hungered, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. 

~Matthew 25:31-45

And what's worse, if you ask me, is that all these dudes out there want to have the enjoyment and the fruits of all this sexual immorality and they don't even want to care for their women or support their own children or take any responsibility for their own actions at all.

To these guys, life begins at and ends at ejaculation.

If you wonder why our politics is such a soup sandwich? Maybe We, The People need to start with fixing ourselves?

I'm tired of these guys, and I'm a guy.

And it's Okay when they do it, but somehow it's "Fornication" and "Sin" when somebody else (including the woman they did it with) does it or wants any kind of accountability or basic respect or social support.

I mean, come on, what the fuck??

And I'm not saying that it's all Men, but goddamn, it sure is almost always a "Man."

The ladies are choosing the Bear for a fuckin' reason.

(And who can blame them?)

We as a society are going to have to start getting a grip on this, before male entitlement (among other things) destroys the goddamned world.

His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay.

Thou saw till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and break them to pieces.

Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.

This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king.

Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory.

And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold.

And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.

And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaks in pieces and subdues all things: and as iron that breaks all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise.

And whereas thou saw the feet and toes, part of potters' clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou saw the iron mixed with miry clay.

And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken.

And whereas thou saw iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.

And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.

Forasmuch as thou saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure. 

~Daniel 2:33-45

I don't know what's in those files, but it sounds like it's bad enough that somebody thinks that shit could spark a revolution all by itself.

I don't give a damn, release the files, let it all out, let those implicated face justice.

And I don't give a damn which "Side" they're supposedly on.

My partner deserved to have a better life and not be abused or treated like a piece of meat.

Like I said, we have a kid to worry about.

And she deserves to grow up in a world where every man doesn't have to be viewed as a potential predator or a threat.

Accountability in these matters starts with us, guys.

It really is that simple.

Either you believe in freedom or you don't.

And either you're willing to fight for it, or you're not.

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

Last Post

The dark is generous and it is patient, and it always wins.

But at the heart of its strength lies weakness.

One lone candle is enough to hold it back.

Love is more than a candle; Love can ignite the stars.

~Matthew Stover, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith novelization.