The Uncounted- A Reading

The Uncounted

Well Said

Jesse Ventura on Colin Kaepernick

On to different stuff soon. 

Flags and other Distractions

Pretty isn't it? So a lot stuff about NFL players not standing for the National Anthem lately. The president is getting all huffy about it (as if he has no other worries). Approval ratings you ask?  And there's the other great distraction of our time, North Korea. I was always taught the above image stands for freedom, including the right to protest that what you think is wrong. "I disagree with what you are saying but I will give my life for your right to say it." - From the French Revolution, I think. Feel free to correct me. It seems utterly lost now among so many. This is distraction one.

The guy running North Korea now has some pretty mean toys. All in the last decade or so, no doubt a worry. But they have not been in a war since 1953. His role is to stir the pot of war much for the consumption of his own population. How else can he cling to power? Most likely, he's a threat to no one but his own poor, starved people. But that's not the message of the American Government. We gotta do something! The mad man must be stopped! Lions and tigers and bears, threats everywhere! Distraction number two.

Keep your eye on the ball. US Military Budget 824.6 Billion !! 
                                            Climate change denial
                                            Trumpcare

Edit: Well, we dodged Trumpcare for now! 

2 Videos

HyperNormalisation

The Century of The Self

Readings 45- as the world burns.

Trump The Destroyer
Read and ask me to just give him a chance?

The Resistance With Keith Olbermann
One of many.

Donald Trump: The Raw and Naked Face of a System that showers Speculators with Obscene Riches
Not just the Donald.

Climate
Meanwhile, watch the world burn.

Looking bleak but this is no time to surrender and throw in the towel. Stay in and keep moving forward. 

Fragmented and Off

It is hard to even know where to begin. So forgive me if this is a little fragmented and off. Looking into the future all I see is black.  

Here we are in the early days of Trumplandia. It has not taken long to see that running a business and running the US government are not the same thing. One cannot do it by tweets and decree. For the moment he (who's name shall not be mentioned here) is enjoying a creepy honeymoon phase with the party of Grumpy Old People in power. But they too will soon tire of tweets, made up facts and casting blame everywhere except where it belongs. Sure, any new administration needs time to get it's bearings but it is bad when the only accomplishment so far is better ratings for SNL. It will get worse.

One thing that is perhaps the most worrying of all are the true believers, those who think the cartoon president can do no wrong and is above all criticism. You've encountered them already, name calling bully types haunting social media. How far down the rabbit hole of decent killing fascism will they be willing to go? They can see no wrong and this is scary. They are a minority but this aspect of Trumplandia I find especially worrisome. It is like an army of brownshirts just waiting to be called fourth.

If those in power find they can ignore the courts, the only check left, we are in deep trouble. Travel bans will only be the beginning. Decent will soon be criminalized and crushed. Everything we though we knew about the USA will be gone. We have the technology today to make old-school 1930's-40's fascism seem a day at the beach. Think about it; drones, unlimited monitoring via phones / on line total control of media and movies. You get the idea.

Some questions.          

How is this delusional bunch now running Washington going to handle their first national emergency / crisis? 

What's going to happen as more and more dirt spews fourth as we all know it will? 


Will the Republicans figure it out in time or do they feel so insulated as not to even care?

Ho can, we the people, gain control over our own government (corporations own it now)?

More soon. Better write and protest while you still can. It's our only chance. 
     

Enough Handwringing Already!

Safety Pin

The first part of solving a problem is realizing you have one. No, the electoral college is not going to make Hillary president. Obama is not going to magically stay in office. We are going to have to come to grips with the outcome of the election and if his picks for key positions are any indication, we are in a shit-ton of trouble. It's easy to Monday morning quarterback and cast blame, oh it was the Berniecrats, a bunch of racists and other undesirables got out the vote, or my personal favorite- The Russians did it! None of it matters. Over. Done. We are here now with a cartoon billionaire super- villain holding the most powerful office IN THE WORLD appointing nut jobs for important positions. My hope is this will stir a new movement.

I'm not real fond of the "fight" narrative. We gotta FIGHT back. FIGHT for a better future, Fight for this or that. FIGHTING is the government's job. What's needed is a whole new game. This one is rigged for the powerful or as my Marxists friends would say, the ruling class. I have no perfect answer but here are a few ideas.

---Something akin to Occupy could disrupt business as usual and offer a counter narrative to "government sources," the mainstream media and so called think tanks. What can you think of?        

---A safe space for like minded groups to meet organize and plan. Something that serves as a gathering point for BLM, LGBT, Standing Rock, Union / Labor types, Earth savers and so on. All face the common threat of Neoliberalism. This is a powerful but largely unknown force that developed over the last several decades. Wishful thinking is not going to make it "go away." This needs to start local but grow to global. And we need to be in it for the long haul. This struggle will go well beyond the current Buffoon's time in Washington.

---Educate yourself, find like-minded folks to work with and have FUN! Keep your head up, a good sense of humor and a positive attitude. Yes there are some very dark days coming, stunning setbacks and cruelty, a lot of cruelty. But don't let any of it fuck you up- just keep moving forward. In the words of MLK, "If you cannot run, walk. If you cannot walk, crawl just keep moving forward." Not exactly what he said but you get the idea.            


 Okay, run with it!